Just Thinking About How

i love it when authors make sirius only a little bit ‘cool’, but almost in the lucius malfoy-kind of pretty way. he may be a rebel but he’s still posh and vaguely traditional. his pronunciation becomes unbearably ‘stiff upper lip’ when he’s emotional. he wears his hair long because his father and grandfather also kept it long, because it’s tradition for wizards who are of age. he wears jewellery because wizards wear jewellery, not just witches, and the look of it is great. his tattoos, if he even has them, are runes like the old magicals used to have. he only wears muggle clothes when he has to because the feeling of denim makes his entire body cringe. he smokes cigarettes but would rather smoke a pipe.

sirius black, whose rebellion is purely political, utterly ideological, and not rooted into aesthetic like what this generation is so obsessed with. he appreciates modern and muggle things because they’re interesting and fun, not lesser, but he’ll always prefer dragonhide over cow leather. his favourite leather jacket is just a transfigured outer robe for the motorbike, for the off-chance that he rides it on the roads and needs to look the part.

he can be an activist and argue for muggle and muggleborn rights while dressed like a wizard. let him be as whimsical! let him be utterly out of his depth when he needs to blend in! he can be woke AND dressed all fancy please!! ideological rebellion is a mindset NOT the way you dress omfg

Do you think Sirius had a favorite cousin in canon? If so, who?

We are told it's Andromeda, I'd have liked proof or more mention of it, of why. Was it just because she married a muggleborn? I mean that is an implication she was more open minded than her family. That being said... I go with Bellatrix. I can see them with being similar gravitate to each other. I love picturing her being a lil devious one teaching Sirius all sorts of spells, showing him pranks she did. But rarely ever getting caught. Despite her leaning into pureblood views, I also see her have her own sort of rebellion, esp as a woman who doesn't settle back, she gets in the middle of things. I can see Sirius admiring that about her even if won't admit it. (Of course Andy rebelled too but I think it wasn't the same, different type of rebellion.) This is all hc, no one come at me. Hahahah, have to add disclaimers to everything. XD I build my hcs around canon but I honestly love Bellatrix so I favour hcs that have her in it. Sorry, Andy.

Even a simple reaching action like this, when done more than once, can be guided by different sets of neurons. This phenomenon is called degenетасу. Scientists suspect that all biological systems have degeneracy. In genetics, for example, the same eye colour can be produced by different combinations of genes. Your sense of smell works by degeneracy too, and so does your immune system. Transportation systems have degeneracy as well. You can fly from London to Rome on different airlines, on different flights, on different models of air-plane, in different seats, with different flight attendants. Copilots can take over for pilots. Degeneracy in the brain means that your actions and experiences can be created in multiple ways. Each time you feel afraid, for example, your brain may construct that feeling with various sets of neurons.

Lisa Feldman Barrett, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

Oona O'Brien as Devon Lee in Cobra Kai S6 Part 3

Jenny Slate in Stage Fright (2019) // Ugly, Bitter, and True by Suzanne Rivecca // Hayao Miyazaki in 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (2019) // Mirrorball by Taylor Swift // John Mulaney on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2020)

lily doodle

James: Why don’t you just tell Marlene how you feel about her?

Remus: James had to ask Lily at least a hundred times.

James: And guess what, we’re married now.

Remus: Exactly, what have you got to lose?

Sirius: Her.

can we talk about how harry james potter appreciates the finer things in life? if tom riddle is a magpie, harry potter is a niffler.

an hour into wee harry’s freedom from the dursleys’ clutches, his newfound riches barely warm in his pockets, and he’s decided on a solid gold cauldron

and what are all his riches good for if not treating himself and his new, first ever friend to every kind of sweet on the trolley?

third year, he ponders the wisdom of splashing out on a firebolt and solid gold gobstones, but very admirably chooses to be a responsible spender

harry spots shiny gleaming metal, and he makes a beeline for it. then he proceeds to shell out thirty galleons without blinking an eye because niffler he may be, he also has a heart of gold

it’s no wonder he never misses a tiny, fluttering gold sphere zooming through the air

Can you try to extrapolate on what scars Harry would have, please? Or what he'd look like if they're healed or in the process of healing.

He gets injured many times, so it's hard to believe we won't see any marks/proof of those on his skin.

Ohh, this is fun. Okay, so we have the canon scars we know of, and then there are injuries I think are likely to have scared, but not outright stated in the text to have done so. But this is actually a great catalog for writing purposes.

So this list is injuries we see in the books that we are explicitly told left a scar or I think are likely to leave a scar (both due to the injury itself and magic being involved):

First thing first, we got his infamous lightning scar that remained from the killing curse, forehead - Oct 1981

The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

(PS)

2. A puncture wound from the basilisk fang located on his right arm, above his elbow - June 1993

But as warm blood drenched Harry’s arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.

(CoS)

3. Cut from Hungarian Horntail, arm - Nov 1994

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky — he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes [...] And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm

(GoF)

*Charlie is mentioned to have a burn scar from a dragon so it's unknown how well magic could heal a dragon-made cut. It's possible the above would not leave a scar.

4. A small cut in the crook of his right elbow - June 1995

He felt its point penetrate the crook of his right arm and blood seeping down the sleeve of his torn robes.

(GoF)

5. "I must not tell lies" scar on the back of his right hand - Sep 1995

At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry’s right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel 

(OotP)

6. Nagini's bite, forearm - Dec 1997

7. Burn mark over his heart from the locket Horcrux - Dec 1997

“I couldn’t get the Horcrux off you,” Hermione said, and he knew she wanted to change the subject. “It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You’ve got a mark; I’m sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I’ve cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it. ...” He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the half-healed puncture marks to his forearm.

(DH)

Now we have Harry's abuse at the Dursleys, which might've left scars:

Harry mentions having to duck out of Vernon's way:

“You don’t seem to need many qualifications to liaise with Muggles. . . . All they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies. . . . ‘Much more important is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense of fun!’ ” “You’d need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle,” said Harry darkly. “Good sense of when to duck, more like . . .”

(OotP)

Vernon also manhandles Harry roughly (i.e. drags him away, pushes him aside, outright strangles him, etc.) throughout the books a lot. And Petunia tries to hit him with a frying pan:

but he still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at his head with the soapy frying pan.

(CoS)

So it's clear Harry was beaten but he doesn't really mention how bad, how often, or even how he was beaten so it's hard to tell what kind of scars (if any) it would result in. Vernon doesn't seem to use weapons and only ever uses his hands to harm Harry, Petunia might've bashed him on the head with various household items, but we don't really know if any of it left scars. So, there is a place for headcanon here.

I think it's safe to assume some marks remained, but nothing too glaringly noticeable or out of the ordinary as other characters don't comment on it. Similarly, his face only has the one lightning scar so all other scars would be elsewhere on his body or hidden by his hair (if he was hit on top of his head and it scared, his hair would hide the scar).

2. His nose broke at least once but probably more than once:

He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

(PS)

From the above, I take it Harry's nose probably broke but no one really noticed. So, his nose might be slightly crooked depending on how it healed. It's not exactly a scar, but still, something to note if you want to add it to how you headcanon Harry's appearance.

It's likely that Harry broke other bones in his years with the Dursleys, especially fingers which can be broken pretty easily (I broke mine like 3 times as a child). So, it's possible his pinkies (for example) don't match each other because one broke and healed in a different shape than before.

3. Welts from Marge's walking stick:

Aunt Marge had whacked Harry around the shins with her walking stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical statues

(PoA)

It's possible this happened more than this one time and we don't know how bad it was. So, he might have welts on his shins and potentially other places depending on how bad/often you think Marge beat him during her various visits.

4. Now, I assume Harry suffered many scraps, bruises, and scratches throughout the years. Especially since he ran away from Dudley and his gang and climbed trees to get away from Aunt Marg's dog:

He was nine, and Ripper the bulldog was chasing him up a tree and the Dursleys were laughing below on the lawn. . . 

(OotP)

But I think it's unlikely they left scars. Sometimes they do if you scratch the scab, for example. But as wizards tend to heal faster and better than muggles, I think small scraps like these are less likely to leave scars on wizards or witches in general, but it's possible they did.

5. Potentially other scraps and cuts that scared throughout the books themselves. Such as from Quidditch injuries, Crashing with the Ford Anglia, Blast-Ended Skrewts, running through forests, etc. But as I said above, less likely to leave scars on wizards, probably.

I might've missed something, but I tired to include all the ones I think are likely to have left some kind of mark.

*I'm aware Draco broke Harry's nose in HBP, unmentioned since Tonks magically healed it so I doubt it left a mark. Similarly, losing all the bones in his arm wouldn't leave a mark. Other non-magical injuries (like a Bludger to the head or falling off his broom or the ankle he sprained in GoF) that were treated by Pomphery are similarly unlikely to scar.

ron and hermione photographed on the steps of their first home together makes it into the Prophet