issue twenty-two

"Personally," said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last

Dec 06, 2021

Hold onto your butts, this is going to be a long one.

Like a chronic yeast infection, JK Rowling is back and refusing to let us live a peaceful existence. This time she’s upset that someone posted her already very public home address on Twitter, screaming victim and adding fuel to her TERF fire.

She was also somewhat in the news a few weeks ago when it was announced she would not be participating in the 20th anniversary Harry Potter special featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Rupert Grint. Perhaps she won’t be in the room physically but not only will she be making money off this, but she will also very much be the overhanging black cloud.

Which is truly the Harry Potter experience now, isn’t it? Whatever your relationship to the series, JKR is there, looming.

And look full disclosure time. I read Philosopher’s Stone when I was 6. I had my copy of Deathly Hallows sent to my grandparents while on vacation so I didn’t have to wait to read it. I waited in line all day to see the midnight premiere of Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. I have a Harry Potter tattoo (but more on that later). Harry Potter was, for better or worse, a major part of my life.

And people talk about the death of the author, the concept that once the work is out in the world, it’s no longer theirs, that the author’s intentions are separate from the text – that the writer and writing are separate. You hear HP fans joke that actually Harry wrote the series, who is this JKR? But, in my opinion, that’s an immature argument. Her views infest the series like rot seeps into the foundation. From the greedy, goblin bankers, to Rita Skeeter transforming to spy on children, to the slave race that actually loves enslavement thank you very much, you cannot separate the text from the author. That is not possible however much you may want it to be.

So where do I stand? It’s complicated. Maybe we’ll circle back to my tattoo. So yes, I have a Harry Potter tattoo. It was the second tattoo I got (maybe 17-year olds shouldn’t be allowed to get tattoos, who’s to say). But anyway, it’s “mischief managed” in script on my left wrist. Mischief managed, for the uninitiated, is a phrase associated with the Marauders Map, a fun map created by Harry’s father, James, and his group of friends (Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin) who referred to themselves as the Marauders.

(God I feel like a loser right now)

The Marauders make their first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban (my favourite book) and, through their book appearances and fandom, basically became my favourite characters. Specifically Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. And if you’re at all familiar with HP fandom, you’re aware of Wolfstar. And oh baby, was that my shit. Wolfstar fanfiction and by association Marauders fanfiction made up the majority of my fandom diet growing up and even influenced how I experience the books. God help the person who gets me going on regarding the 40 line stare. But when JKR strayed from the characterizations and understandings I had of these characters, fandom was where I could find solace. We were the ones who truly understood these characters, who saw ourselves reflected in them – whether JKR intended to or not (she can pat herself on the back as much as she wants, Hermione being a Black woman was decided by the fans before she ever gave it a second thought). Fandom took the characters that JKR developed, as if they were a rough draft, and said let me take it from here, we’ve got this. Fandom made the characters so much more ours than they ever were JKR’s.

(This is actually a really great article I often revisit if you’re interested in the Wolfstar saga)

I’ve explained to people before that the actual canon Harry Potter novels act as basically the foundation for my HP experience. Fandom is where my heart lies, and where I return to most often. I mean last summer l completely devoured a 500k+ word fic following the Marauders, specifically Remus, from their first year of Hogwarts to essentially death and it was more beautifully written than half the books I’ve read in my life. There’s a trend amongst Harry Potter fans on Tik Tok of “is this canon or fanon” and I think that speaks to the prevalence and even high regard in which people hold fandom works. And this isn’t even to mention the queer fans’ relationship with Harry Potter and fandom, something could fill several books — or perhaps I’ll write about at a later date.

So to circle back, my stance on Harry Potter. I read and enjoyed the books and even revisit them from time to time, the movies give me a specific feeling of nostalgia I don’t think I’ll ever lose, but I haven’t given JKR money in years. I already owned the books, I have the movies on DVD, I’ve never been to either theme park, and should I choose to watch the reunion, I doubt it’ll be through legal, give dollars to a TERF means. As aforementioned, Harry Potter will always be a big part of my life, for better or worse. But the ways in which I chose to engage, and continue to exist within the fandom specifically, I think I can live with that.

Was this a rambling mess? Perhaps. But I like to think that’s part of my charm.