I think shouting might reasonably be done for emphasis or frustration, it doesn't have a magical effect but it seems like something people would do.

 

Ha, I think we're talking in circles, man. My point wasn't, primarily, about his abilities. He does have some impressive feats in the series. It was about his dynamic within the Marauders, and how he was treated/thought of in general. The JKR quote doesn't say he was a bad wizard, it says it turns out he was a better wizard than Sirius thought. James and Sirius were jerks to him. Remus specifically chooses to frame him becoming an animagus as him 'needing all the help he could get'. I think you can coherently read into the canon that he wasn't treated like an equal, and I think that's an important part of his arc. I also think it's coherent to have him be functionally 'slow' at Hogwarts, either because of nerves, specific learning necessities w.e. Or, it's clunky writing to have so much of his appearances in the series be where he's talked down to/about by his friends and teachers etc. for it to be an inconsequential part of his characterisation.

 

The bumbling fool of youth who turns out to be incredibly important/undervalued in adulthood?

My god. Peter Pettigrew is reverse Neville.

 

Malfoy is Snape?

 

No, Snape is Harry with an ill-fated love interest and an unhappy ending. Malfoy is closer to a far lesser Version of James if anything.

 

Of course you realize this means war, Locke.

Seriously though, Harry is way too good-natured to ever be anything like Snape, and that's with Snape having one good parent and Harry growing up with none.

 

He's more like a midpoint between Riddle and Harry. We don't really know how his mother treated him, though.

 

After a lot of thinking, I concluded that my biggest pet peeve is when the author oversimplifies magic. Seriously, if all that a wizard needed was a lot of concentration, willpower and visualizing the spell then why they would even need going to school? Canon itself states that an Accio, far from being the most complex spell, has entire books dedicated to it, hell, they spend seven years studying magic and the genius behind the keyboard thinks Harry will become Dumbledore in the span of a few weeks with nothing more than a shonen training period and those three above.

 

A character, usually Harry, calling Dumbledore "Old Man," usually in a derisive fashion.

 

Every time I come across this, I can't help but imagine Harry turning into Ranma Saotome. And that's even when it isn't a crossover.

 

But, actually learning Magic is boring! And this is my wish fulfillment: if I wanted someone to spend years gradually learning stuff in a classroom setting, I would write about my actual high school life!

In all seriousness, here's an annoying one from ASOIAF stories: modern AUs, almost always in a high school setting. No, just no.

 

Why would you even read them?

I saw some modern AUs from Frozen on ff.net but I obviously haven't read them.

I mean, why would I? Nothing good can possibly come from them.

Its like those "Hogwarts reads HP books" stories, the very idea itself is poison.

 

I don't read them. Sometimes, I scour Archivesofourown on the off-chance I can actually find something reasonably good.

...So, many, SanSans. And Arya/Gendry. And Rhaegar/Lyanna. And Robb/Jon. And, like I said earlier, modern AUs in high schools.

Why? For the love of god, why?

 

"Snape's sneer" People who like to add that facial expression to every circumstance that Snape happens to run into.

I've read about Snape sneering while using the cruciatus curse on Harry.

Getting hit with the killing curse and dying with a sneer on his face.

Taking a shit with a sneer on his face.

Having a threesome with Voldemort and Dumbledore with a sneer on his face.

The list goes on and on and on.

 

Please say this is a hyperbole, and you didn't actually read Snape having a threesome with Voldemort and Dumbledore, never mind with a sneer.

Otherwise, this isn't even a Pet Peeve so much as my new nightmare of the week. There is just so much wrong with that image. I desperately need Brain Bleach to get it out of my head.

 

Sometimes I'm feeling a bit masochistic so I read the summaries of the slash fics on AFF.net.

 

I'm sure it's been listed here a dozen times over. But since I've come across it again and again lately, I'll list it one more time.

Occlumency Shields. :facepalm

Never. Not one time in canon do we see that. What we do read is: "Used properly, the power of Occlumency will help shield you from access or influence."

Noun.

Verb.

Learn the difference.

 

Seeing that most writers don't know the difference between your/you're and they're/their, I think you are setting the bar little high.

 

A lot of people don't know the difference between yes and no.