I have no mouth and I must scream...

 

In that case, can I nominate The Squid/Winky? And then create a lot of fake accounts just to stuff the ballot in favor of it?

If they're going to let random schmuks decide stuff like that, might as well have fun with it.

 

This is becoming a peeve of mine.

Harry: You shouldn't fear the name Voldemort it's just giving him more power over you.

Hermione: I know right? It's french and it means flight from death. It's also an anagram made from Tom Marvolo Riddle I read all about it in Hogwarts a History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.

 

^Seconded. I cringe every time I see this and I've even gotten to the point where I can't stand it when anyone gets high and mighty about how people are cowards for not saying the name.

I mean, he's the Dark Lord for Merlin's sake and it's inferred in canon (and later confirmed in DH) that every time someone said the name during the first war they could be tracked and killed through the taboo. There is a good fucking reason why hardly anyone says the name, and patronizing people who say 'you-know-who' or 'he-who-must-not-be-named' is insensitive and disrespectful towards those who lost loved ones.

I prefer fics in which Harry generally refers to Voldemort as 'The Dark Lord' (Private conversations with Dumbledore exempted), as he avoids saying the name, giving the threat the respect he deserves, but also avoids the cumbersome, and somewhat silly-sounding, hyphenated monikers.

(Yes, I just used a hyphen in a sentence mocking hyphens. I recognize that I am a hypocrite and shall make no effort to rectify that fact.)

'Tom' would also work, I suppose, but I feel that it's more Dumbledore's prerogative to use that name. When Harry says it, (especially to Voldemort's face) it just comes across as needlessly irreverent and arrogant.

Hermione automatically knowing the meaning of Voldemort's name annoys me as well. I've seen this in multiple fics and I roll my eyes every time I see it, as it's often presented as new information that would deface Voldemort's persona if it ever 'got out'.

Are you telling me that no British witch or wizard speaks French or even has a passing knowledge of Latin etymology? That's patently ludicrous. At least some wizards are educated enough to know what the name means and they likely don't think it makes him any less terrifying, given that you're likely to die if you say it.

Also, the meaning of the name itself hardly marks him as a coward or someone to be disregarded. It holds obvious and accurate allusions to immortality and 'flight from death' seems like quite a sensible ambition for the majority of the population to hold. It might be pointless to fear death, since it's pretty much inevitable, but most people do anyway. Voldemort is hardly alone in that, so calling him a coward because of it is pretty baseless.

 

Chapter 4 of A Black Comedy released 10 years ago.

 

Not really HP, but we don't have an Other Fandom pet peeves thread:

Whenever someone claims that ninja can only wear black or really dark grey/green I almost want to kill myself (or them).

I'm pretty sure ninja are supposed to blend into surroundings, so in an urban environment they'd most likely dress like regular civilians.

Oh, and I'm sure them being dressed in black in the desert or a snowy landscape would work super well

 

Agreed. It's surprising how few people realize the "traditional" ninja look came out of Kabuki theater.

 

A new pet peeve of mine is when the scar horcrux is extremely easily dealt with by some other group.

 

Harry: Hi Mr. Goblin may your gold flow and your enimies bleed.

Goblin: Come super wizard that has just shown me kindness. We shall go through the goblin initiation. Just give me a drop of blood and we will purify your soul and unlock all of the vaults that owed to you.

 

This happens a lot. When author wants to show how he would have dealt with everything easy as you please and been home in time for yet another interminable game of quidditch.

 

Much as I generally agree with you, there wasn't a Taboo on Voldemort's name during the first war. The only reason it worked in the second war is because Dumbledore convinced his friends that nothing bad could happen from saying the name. He wouldn't do that if there was actual danger in that. And Voldemort needed the Ministry's resources for the Taboo. Rowling didn't actually give us any particular reason why people are afraid to say Voldemort's name, even if similar things did happen irl.

Also, as Harry noted to Snape, only Death Eaters refer to Voldemort as "The Dark Lord". So it would be OOC if he did that.

A pet-peeve of mine is when things happen exactly the same as canon, despite massive changes to the plot. Though I understand why some writers do that, but it mostly comes off as lazy and ignorant.

 

I concede on the point that there wasn't an actual taboo on the name in the first war; I was mistaken in stating that, but I got the impression that bad things tended to happen to people who were too brazen or said his name openly. Perhaps it was a sort of 'speak-of-the-devil' superstition, but I think that there was a more tangible rationale behind people's fear, otherwise Harry probably would have encountered more outliers who said the name.

Only Sith deal in absolutes. *clears throat* sorry, couldn't resist.

To address your statement: Yes, Harry did say that, but that doesn't mean what he said is strictly true. After all, the prophecy itself refers to Voldemort as "The Dark Lord". So unless Trelawney (or the disembodied manifestation of magic itself, take your pick) is a Death Eater, then Harry's statement is logically false.

(That sounded a bit dickish and uppity...oh well... PSA: Any offense I cause is unintentional)

Harry is still mostly right in his assessment. All Death Eaters refer to Voldemort as The Dark Lord, but not all Voldemort's refer to The Dark Lord as Death Eaters. (I didn't mean to write that, but I'm tired. My sleep deprived brain thinks it's funny. It stays.)

I have a hard time believing that no one else but Death Eaters call him that. I could easily see neutral Slytherins or Ravenclaws calling him that because 1) peer pressure 2) It's descriptive 3) It sounds better than the other options.

As for being too OOC, that could depend on the fanfiction in question. If Harry is grey or dark (regardless of what side he's on), then I could see using 'The Dark Lord', especially if people around him do.

 

I think the problem with calling him "The Dark Lord" is that it gives him too much respect. Not that he should call him Moldyshorts or whatever, but Voldemort is really just a crazy murderer with daddy issues who likes to cosplay as a "Lord", as someone grander than life, it's the kind of honorific that you wouldn't give your enemies. Particularly not if you're a dark wizard, yourself.

 

This idea is pretty neat, but not realistic. People will call him Lord Voldemort because he calls himself Lord, wether he is one or not. Just as all the people today call IS the islamic state, even though it is no real state and the name just gives it unnessearcy legitimation.

 

Maybe I should clarify my position a bit. Harry Should refer to Voldemort by his proper name when he's around close allies and friends, (and not in danger of being immediately tracked and killed for it) but when he can't say the name, or it's impolite to in current company, 'The Dark Lord' is preferable over 'You-know-who' or 'He-who-must-not-be-named'.

Not only are the hyphenated epithets cumbersome, but they also imply a certain degree of fear and the latter certainly conveys respect. As for calling him a 'Lord': I mean, sure, he's not really a Lord, but what other short, relatively factual description qualifies? 'The Dark Community Organizer' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

That or 'prove' that other species 'aren't as inferior to Wizards as everyone thinks!'

 

I think we're all in agreement that while there's some room for Harry - depending on the situation - to say 'Dark Lord', 'Voldemort' or 'You-Know-Who', there is a line that fandom routinely and egregiously breaches... and it shouldn't.

 

I would like to read about a Harry that says 'Lord Voldemort' or 'Riddle' when talking about his nemesis in private, but has enough common sense, tact and respect for a society that was brutalized by said wizard, so in public uses those hyphenated names. Because he understands why they fear Voldemort and is not an arrogant prick but a good guy. And being honest, canon Harry isn't Dumbledore, he doesn't have the bragging rights.

 

Dumbledore never thought that that's how it should work, or that "bragging rights" entered into it at all. You're free to disagree, of course, but it seems like a fair few of those people who actually fought him didn't see it that way.

 

Lately, I've noticed, that from all the grammatical errors FF authors do, bad interpunction or wrong dialogue tags on questions are the biggest instakills for me. Like, I can stomach one or two and then just close the fic.

I don't know why, but it completely shatters my inner voice.