Both, actually. Many people disliked her due to her actions in HBP, but I didn't like her even before that.

 

I know you just pointed out you hate this a few posts ago but...

I try to forget most of what happened in the last 2 books anyway. So that's not really a problem for me.

Fanon has ruined her character though, which kind of makes me sad.

 

At the very least to get some poontang, you don't wanna die a virgin, right?

 

Another pet peeve: Harry acquiring friends like a dog acquires fleas. I absolutely hate it when everyone's his friend, when there's next to no hostility between the students, when conflict is completely absent, save for the big one against Voldemort or the like. I'm not saying that you have to monstrously portray a select few, while everyone else is either ignorant of their actions or silently condemning them but still doing nothing to prevent them from happening, but Christ, some antagonism would be welcome. At least, antagonism that would make some sense, rather than just bash characters.

 

People treating Ron like absolute shit. I know he did horrible crimes like get angry at Harry all of two times in seven years of friendship, not be absolutely awesome in Magic, keeping the "One True Pairing" apart, and being a Redhead, but does that justify making him into a glutenous, idiotic, back-stabbing, rapist asshole?

Similarly, I hate what I like to refer to as "Hermione-Jesus": a reasonable character in the original that some people obsessively rewrote over and over again until nothing was left of the original character but the name and the new character is described as so completely and utterly perfect, it becomes boring at best and nauseating at worst.

 

Shame there's so few fics where Ron is something more than a source for GT drama.

From the top of my head, there's that "Gryffindors never die", "Mirror, Mirror" and "Forging the Sword". No doubt there's others, but I can recall only these three at the moment.

 

You mean that "Mirror, Mirror"?

 

No, this Mirror, Mirror.

 

Of all the 'manipulative old goat' fics out there, the ones that feature PalmGreasing!Dumbledore are the most irritating.

Bribing Ministry heads and even the Weasley parents is unbelievable enough, but keeping first-year Ron and Hermione 'on the payroll'? Is this life?

Fair enough, it is taking advantage of the Weasleys' financial situation, but watching the usually nigh-omnipotent wizardly mentor guy make it rain on these witches is more than a little jarring.

 

Since you mention bribing, this is one of my pet peeves. The fandom has such a simplistic view of it, like envelopes full of cash (or gold as the case may be). In fact I doubt that's what the Malfoys are doing, at least most of the time. There are plenty of ways to bribe... a promise of preferential treatment in the bidding for a contract, the granting of a lease, a job position, the promise of later favour, a promise to buy or sell something at a certain price/volume, a promise to support a certain cause or give privileged access to certain individuals/institutions... etc.

 

Strangely enough, I think I remember a fic where Dumbledore almost successfully tempted Hermione with an internship (he was friends with a DoM worker or something) to do Harry's homework so that he'd 'stay lazy', slip him potions, etc.

But this Hermione was crushing on Harry something fierce, so she was all like 'No way, Dumbles!' Of course, Albus has his ways, and one Memory Charm and gratuitous use of Legilimency later, she was back on the payroll, except... well, she was working pro-bono. Not sure why I read it for so long... can't even remember its name now.

 

I just get this image in my head of a stressed Lucius running around at the start of the month, with a mound of gold to give everyone their monthly bribe, muttering to himself: "Can't forget Yaxley and Dawlish in the DMLE, those greedy bastards."

 

I so desperately want to think of Dawlish as a 'by the book' guy, hence his perceived incompetence, but then I remember that he was Confounded and Stunned by Augusta Longbottom and Dirk Cresswell respectively in canon. Didn't Augusta actually fail her Charms O.W.L?

Either way, the portrayal of the DMLE in many fics is also disappointing. I reckon even the 'regular' officials (a la Bob Ogden's team) could kick a reasonable amount of donkey.

 

Even that seems slightly too overt.

There is a lot of influence in just being friends. So Lucius is Cornelius' friend. That means he helps Cornelius' nephew to find a good job. He helps out Cornelius' brother-in-law with a loan. Lucius donates to his re-election campaign. They talk with each other about policy and Lucius complains about regulations that are really annoying. Lucius knows barristers to recommend to help draft new legislation. He could really use someone like Cornelius in a prominent position in one of his businesses, should he ever chose to retire from being the Minister.
Since they are such good friends, Cornelius of course takes his opinions and his advice seriously.

...and if Cornelius too often takes actions against Lucius' interests? Well then at some point they stop being friends. That's just natural. Lucius will probably find some new friends instead. He will probably help them out, since he's such a good friend. Corruption? There's no such thing in the Ministry.

No one every comes out and says: "I'll give you this and you'll give me that in return!" I imagine Indy-Harry being laughed out of the room or arrested when he tries this.

 

People who depend on fanon knowledge over canon.



The other day, I talked to an otherwise intelligent who had some truly horrible ideas about the series (Harry likes Ginny because he looks like his mother, Dumbledore paid the Weasleys to be friends with Harry, Harry/Tom is a good pairing, etc.). I later found out that she had never read past the second book and was relying entirely on bad fanfiction for her arguments. If someone's going to waste my time, I'd prefer them to be upfront about it.

 

So Oedipus!Harry has become the new Dead Unicorn? That's sad... it goes to show how pervasive fanon must be if that's what she took from the series. When did fanfiction become a substitute for actually reading the books in the first place?

Even so, how can any amount of bad fanfiction reading result in the conclusion that yes, Harry/Tom is a good pairing? Adult Harry/Tom the barman maybe, but still...

 

I remember a relatively good fic where the author explicity wrote Fudge receiving a bag of gold from Lucius Malfoy in the middle of hall, on the Ministry at broad day light, seconds from the end of a trial with the full Wizengamot.

C'mon son, if you think that's how bribes are, you're worse than a child. Wanna see how real, massive and all levels corruption work? Search operations Clean Hands (Italy) and Car Wash (Brazil).

 

Uniting the houses is something that does my head in. I can't stand every 2 bit author thinking they're harry is the first person in 1000 years to make friends with people all over hogwarts. This is usually tied into an obsession with making Harry sit in all the other tables.

 

Harry being the first person in X thousands year to do something is nearly always awful.

 

Harry inexplicably suddenly realizing he's their heir to [insert old, rich, powerful, book/artifacts-heavy family], because apparently not one member of his family ever thought to check their family tree and claim their inheritance.

Also, super-friendly goblins that will immediately become Harry's BFFs the moment he says please or remembers that one goblin's name (because we all know how that one worked out in Canon).