Characters Are Like Piñatas. The Real Fun Begins When You Break Them

Hogwarts School Uniform

The other day I read a series of posts on the Hogwarts uniform and how book!uniform differs from movie!uniform, which is more canonical and whether there’s been/there should be some retconning to unify the books, films and illustrations from different sources. Since wizarding fashion is one of my favourite subjects (particularly since the word “corsets” was mentioned in HBP), I thought I had to write a post about it. So here it goes.

On tradition and unmuggleness

As much as I like the movie uniforms, the way I see it, they’re irreconcilable with those described in the books, which, both because they’re from the book and because that’s how I see them in my head, I consider canonical. Most people point out as proof of this that in a couple of occasions we are told more or less directly that the basic (I’ll talk more about this later) uniform does not bear any house indicator (see the Penelope Clearwater and Crabbe-and-Goyle’d Ron-and-Harry Cases, both in CoS). This is true. However, what I see as a bigger issue is the fact that the movie!uniform is basically a muggle school uniform with robes instead of a blazer, which, considering how often we see wizards struggling with muggle clothing, doesn’t really add up. And given that school uniforms tend to be on the conservative side of fashion, it would make much more sense to have the Hogwarts uniform resemble traditional wizarding attire.

On openings and trouserslessness

The movie robes are completely open at the front save for one (PoA-onwards) or two (PS-CoS) little clasps, which would take next to no time to do up and undo, so the movie robes would be put on and off like a bathrobe or a coat. However, most (if not all) of the times we see Harry changing into his school robes he’s described as pulling them over his head. To me that implies that the front is not open all the way down, that maybe there’s just a small opening with a few buttons, like a polo shirt. Either that or the robes are open all the way down but fastening and unfastening them is so tedious that students simply never do them up or undo them all the way. In a pre-zipper world, a front opening like that would most probably mean a metric tonne of little buttons, at least (look up some old-timey portraits, particularly of women’s fashion. They took their buttons seriously). No one has time to fiddle with that many buttons, so it would be easier to undo a few of the top ones and pull the robes over your head.

Personally, I think the left-hand version fits the description of “plain black work robes” better. And yes, there’s no indication anywhere in the books that the sleeves are flared or gathered at the top, but they look more wizardy this way, so. 

For an even more undeniable piece of evidence that supports the idea of having a closed front, look no further than Snape’s worst memory in OotP. When he gets levicorpused by James, we see his underwear. He’s not wearing trousers. Wh. Why is he not wearing trousers??? Because there’s no risk of accidental exposure of one’s undergarments when there isn’t a massive opening on the front of one’s robes, that’s why. Also, if for some sinister reason he had not been wearing trousers under open-fronted robes, everybody would’ve been able to see his pants already and it wouldn’t have been “funny” when James revealed them.

Moreover, it seems that trousers, even though they are worn in the wizarding world, are neither required nor part of traditional wizarding attire. See the old man at the Quidditch World Cup. Trousers have been adopted to some extent, but they are not considered wizarding clothing per se, but rather a garment borrowed from muggles. So if we go back to the idea that uniforms tend to be conservative, the Hogwarts uniform would have probably been designed to be worn with no clothes underneath other than underwear.

On hats gone with the wind and cloaks

Hats. “One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.” Day wear. In the films (PS, basically), hats seem to only be worn on special occasions. And I can understand that; On set they’re probably a huge inconvenience as they like to fall off and have to be touched up constantly and may cover something/someone important. Still, canonically, a pointed black hat for day wear is part of the Hogwarts uniform.

Now, do not quote me on this, but I am positive that in one of the books there is a description of a windy day where students grab the brims of their hats so that they don’t get blown off. That’s the one and only time in the whole series (that I can remember) where the uniform hats are said to be brimmed. It makes sense, though, as traditional witch hats do have a brim. Modest brims seem adequate for uniforms. (I do think it is strange to make students wear hats indoors, but oh well.)

(Edit:  ‘ “Maybe I’ll skive off Divination,” he said glumly as they stood again in the courtyard after lunch, the wind whipping at the hems of robes and brims of hats.’ - OotP, chapter 17)

Then there’s the winter cloaks. Again, plain and black, this time with silver clasps. No crest, no house colours. And there’s also the protective dragonskin gloves, which seem to be used both as protective gloves for Potions/Care of Magical Creatures/Herbology and as regular winter gloves.

On house pride (or the lack thereof)

So far we have established that the uniform consists basically of plain black garments: a set of black robes (closed front), a black cloak, a black hat. Hence, by default, there is no way to tell what house a student belongs to just by their attire. Or is there? Here’s where the “basic uniform” I mentioned  before comes into play.

It is true that the robes, hats and cloaks are plain black when bought. And yet, there are many points in the story when Harry seems to simply know what house some students belong to, even when he clearly doesn’t know them. We get constant references to “a gorup of first year Ravenclaws” or “a Hufflepuff girl”, and since the story is told from Harry’s point of view rather than an omniscient narrator’s, there must be a way for Harry to tell apart people from different houses without knowing them personally. So how can we reconcile the ideas that some people’s house is recognisable at first sight while other people’s isn’t? It’s quite simple: CUSTOMISATION.

Bagdes, scarves, appliques, ribbons, hat ornaments, buttons, socks, belts, and a long etc, to show your house pride. Just as we can get jumpers and hoodies and caps and whatnot with the name and colours of our uni or specific college, kids in the wizarding world are probably able to buy (and make) house merchandise. These items would be available at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and parents would send them to their children once they’ve been sorted or the kids themselves would be able to get them via owl order.

Some students may only wear a small badge on their chest. Others a scarf+turtleneck undershirt+bandana+animal-shaped hat bauble combo. I love to imagine some kids wearing ridiculously tacky things, like red-and-gold neck ruffles or bee-striped boots. And those kids who are not as inclined to show off their house? They can just wear their basic black uniform.  

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

— Winston S. Churchill

Space Dividers ♡

Please reblog if you use | masterlist | coffee? ☕️

me doing anything else: omggg i just wanna write i could making so much progress on my WIP right nowww

me working on said WIP: scrolling on phone with laptop open on the same chapter it's been open on for days.

reblog if you believe fanfics are as valid as books that were published and sold by authors who write as their main careers. I'm trying to prove a point

Writing Description Notes:

Updated 9th September 2024 More writing tips, review tips & writing description notes

Facial Expressions

Masking Emotions

Smiles/Smirks/Grins

Eye Contact/Eye Movements

Blushing

Voice/Tone

Body Language/Idle Movement

Thoughts/Thinking/Focusing/Distracted

Silence

Memories

Happy/Content/Comforted

Love/Romance

Sadness/Crying/Hurt

Confidence/Determination/Hopeful

Surprised/Shocked

Guilt/Regret

Disgusted/Jealous

Uncertain/Doubtful/Worried

Anger/Rage

Laughter

Confused

Speechless/Tongue Tied

Fear/Terrified

Mental Pain

Physical Pain

Tired/Drowsy/Exhausted

Eating

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Warm/Hot

my brain during the day when I have free time to write: teehee. potato. unicorn. writing??? maybe I shou— OOO EM GEEE A ROCK! sooooooo shiny 🥺. what if I binge watch this entire series I’ve already finished again? 😶 or or… what if I rewatch this movie which I’ve already seen eight times before? 😶🙂 or??? I can just???? do nothing! 😍🥹

my brain when I try to sleep at night: listen to me, here’s the perfectly detailed plot and here’s the extremely heartfelt dialogues for your blorbo. here’s the strong-enough energy to run a marathon race against a herd of horses. FVCK. YOUR. SLEEP. GET. UP. look at all those fancy words I’m giving you. your next work is not gonna write itself🤬. get up. write. right. now. 🤬😡‼️ you. must. write. right. now. write. write. write. write. write. grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Take my Hand's Wands

Hi, hello, I'm lady_angst, author of Underneath a Sea of Stars and the Take My Hand (Take My Whole World, Too) series. In this post I wanted to rant a little about the symbolism behind the wands Hermione and Bellatrix were offered in chapter 5 of Never Forget What You Are, the first entry of TMH which corresponds to the Philosopher's Stone, as there is more to them than meets the eye. Enjoy!

Hermione's wands:

1st: Sycamore wood & unicorn hair. According to the wandlore found on the HP wiki, sycamore made a questioning wand eager for new experience and losing brilliance if engaged in mundane activities. Thus, the sycamore's ideal owner was curious, vital and adventurous, and when paired with such an owner, it demonstrated a capacity to learn and adapt that earned it a rightful place among the world's most highly-prized wand woods.

Ollivander offered Hermione this wand after realising she had a curious, inquisitive mind. The wand failed to form a bond with her because of how adventurous it was, which Hermione ultimately is not.

2nd: Hazel & phoenix feather. Again, according to the wandlore, hazel wands were sensitive and often reflected their owners emotional state. They worked best for a master who understood and could manage their own feelings.

Ollivander offered Hermione this wand in case she was emotionally intelligent on top of inquisitive. The wand failed to form a bond with her because, as we all know, Hermione is very temperamental and gets often lost in her own feelings and pride (especially Book!Hermione).

3rd: Vine & dragon heartstring: Vine wands were among the less common types; they seemed strongly attracted by personalities with hidden depths, and their ideal owners were nearly always those witches or wizards who sought a greater purpose, who had a vision beyond the ordinary and who frequently astounded those who thought they knew them best. 

Hermione's canonical wand! It suits her beautifully, as there is more to Hermione than meets the eye. She's more than just a bushy-haired, know-it-all Muggle-born. She seeks a greater purpose: rising above others' expectations of her, fighting for what's right, keeping her friends and loved ones alive. And she has a vision beyond the ordinary: seeing Bella for who and what she truly is (after messing up big time every once in a while, but hey, we all love us some drama).

Bellatrix's wands:

1st: Walnut & dragon heartstring. Walnut wands were often found in the hands of magical innovators and inventors; this was a handsome wood possessed of unusual versatility and adaptability. Highly intelligent witches and wizards ought to be offered a walnut wand for trial first, because in nine cases out of ten, the two will find in each other their ideal mate. Once subjugated, perform any task its owner desired, provided that the user was of sufficient brilliance.

Bellatrix's canonical wand! Ollivander offers it to her after analysing her: "Left-handed... Creative... Clearly intelligent... There's something else, though... Something to those eyes..." He sees her intelligence and the sharpness (and perhaps the darkness) that dwells within her, so he offers her her canonical wand. However, it doesn't form a bond with her despite sharing a connection because this Bellatrix and the canonical one are not entirely the same—her upbringing was radically different, which affects her personality and way of viewing the world.

2nd: Cedar & dragon heartstring. The cedar wand found its perfect home where there were perspicacity and perception. Garrick Ollivander believed that whenever he met one who carried a cedar wand, he found strength of character and unusual loyalty. The witch or wizard who was well-matched with cedar carried the potential to be a frightening adversary, especially if harm was done to those they were fond of, which often came as a shock to those who had thoughtlessly challenged them.

Originally, this was going to be her wand. It suits her (and her canon self) just fine. Perceptive, strong of character, and unusually loyal? A frightening adversary, all the more so when those she's fond of? Now that's just Bellatrix 100%. But! I decided against it in favour of the one she gets in the end.

Moreover, Ollivander offered this wand to her because it follows the "clearly intelligent, but perhaps a bit jagged" assessment he made of her at first.

3rd: Dogwood & unicorn hair. Dogwood wands were quirky and mischievous; they had playful natures and insisted upon partners who could provide them with scope for excitement and fun. It would be quite wrong, however, to deduce from this that dogwood wands were not capable of serious magic when called upon to do so; they had been known to perform outstanding spells under difficult conditions, and when paired with a suitably clever and ingenious witch or wizard, could produce dazzling enchantments.

Again, this wand follows the "clearly intelligent" assessment, only without the jagged bit. This wand suits her, too, since Bellatrix grows out of her shell throughout PS-PoA until she becomes self-assured and rather playful in GoF-OotP. It also goes on beautifully well with her Patronus in this story. That said, it'll take her years to get to that point, and even then she'll have a fair bit of trauma and life lessons weighing her down, which skews that playful nature and prevents a bond from forming.

4th: Blackthorn & dragon heartstring. Blackthorn wands, which was a very unusual wand wood, had the reputation, in Garrick Ollivander's well-merited opinion, of being best suited to a warrior. These wands appeared to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand would become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish.

In Ollivander's own words: “How about a wand best suited to a warrior for a young witch with a warrior’s name?”. He wanted to see if perhaps the "jagged" bit was more important than the "clearly intelligent" one with this wand. It also suits her beautifully, and it comes close to the Bellatrix we see in canon, but Bellatrix is more than this, she is more than just a warrior, as we will learn through the series.

5th, 6th, 7th...14th: Unknown.

15th: Walnut & dragon heartstring. Identical to the first in components, length and flexibility, but radically different in shape and demeanour. The main differences between the original one and this one are: the date of creation (mirroring Bellatrix's own conception) and the state of the wood (mirroring Bellatrix's own personality and morality). The walnut tree from which Ollivander got the wood for these wands turned out to be rotten. It is up to interpretation whether the first wand was affected by the affected rot or not. The same goes for the second one, even if Ollivander claims that he managed to salvage some of the wood that was untouched by it.

This ends up being Bellatrix's wand in this series; one that is so similar yet so different to the original where it matters. Like Bellatrix herself. The foundation is the same, but the end result? That's yet to be seen. Here is a reference of the original one vs the tmh one:

(I'll be honest with you, though. I just wanted to give Bellatrix a normal-esque wand so that she doesn't get arthritis from holding her canonical one. Yes, I know that UaSoS's Bella has her canonical one, but she'll put its claw-like shape to good use at one point, shhh.)

If you made it all the way down here, hello again and thank you so much for reading this post! Have a cookie🍪.

Love, Lilith xx