Cora
Just as not every Mary Sue is an original character, not every original character is a Mary Sue. Even characters that can be seen as an insertion of the authors do not always take over the story in ways that promote damaging expectations or force other characters to the sidelines. “The Chances We Take” explores the way Lily and James Potter fell in love during their time at Hogwarts. It was set in what is called by the Harry Potter fanfiction community the “Marauders Era.” This time period was between the 70s to early 80s before Harry Potter was born, and covers the lives of Harry Potter’s parents and their peers (Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Severus Snape) in the years preceding their death, which occurs at the beginning of the Harry Potter series. Along with Harry’s parents and their peers named in the books, the story covers the lives of two other students: Cora and Kyra, both are comparatively minor characters, but they both have a fair amount of emotional depth.
Cora is Lily and Kyra’s best friend. She’s shy and never described as particularly attractive. She’s intensely loyal to her friends, but she’s also a realistic character. For a side character, she is incredibly complex. She seems to be the lovable but shy character that finds a way to put a positive spin on anything, but the fanfiction reveals that she struggles deeply with depression. At first glance tragedy seems to follow her: both her parents and her brother were murdered by Death Eaters (Blacksnowfalls06). This, however, is not out of place in the story. Both James and Lily’s parents were killed by Death Eaters and, during a time of war that is heavily emblematic of the Holocaust, the constant death surrounding the characters is an integral part of the story. Cora, can be, at times, infuriating. She refuses to open up to her friends mostly due to her own insecurity. This representation, however, is a realistic one. She bottles up her emotions in an unhealthy way that isn’t uncommon. Even when Lily finds out about Cora’s struggles, Cora is uncomfortable with the situation and therefore erases Lily’s memory of the encounter altogether. The only person that seems to be able to break down Cora’s hard exterior is Remus Lupin, a fellow troubled teenage soul (Blacksnowfalls06).
Cora’s character, though shy and usually not given a lot of attention by other characters, has exceptional dueling abilities, something that draws the attention of both Death Eaters and Dumbledore himself. Dumbledore explains that she has the option of going to a special school for dueling in France after her time at Hogwarts, and she is asked to join the Death Eaters by some of her fellow students. Both of these parties give her the option of playing a much larger role – of becoming either the hero of the story or a misunderstood villain. In the end, she is shown applying to the school in France, but it is not a huge plot point. She is also seen refusing to join the Death Eaters, showing her bravery (Blacksnowfalls06).
“‘Our master wants you to join his ranks’
Cora’s eyes widened, the Dark Lord wanted here to become a death eater. Which meant that these people talking to her were death eaters. She didn’t know he was recruiting people not even out of school.
‘As a gift for becoming one of us, Master has agreed to give you and your family protection from the killings of this war.’
Cora opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She didn’t want to join their side. They were the reason her parents were dead, she didn’t want to be a part of that cause. She couldn’t stand having the guilt of being the reason for children crying over their parents’ death. She didn’t want people to suffer like her.
‘Do you have an answer or not? Not that you have a real choice,’ the man said.
Cora worked up all her courage, she didn’t realize until that moment that she had any, “Never,’” (Blacksnowfalls06)
This scene shows the courage that characters can have. Cora is shy, she’s not seen as exceptional by her friends or romantic interests. Throughout the beginning of the fanfiction she is written as a side character who doesn’t get much attention, especially in comparison to Kyra and Lily who are written as more outgoing and popular students. Still Cora has enough strength to not be swayed by the evil characters, even when threatened. This moment is more powerful because Cora isn’t a perfect character. She’s a character with which readers can identify. In response to a review written by a reader of her fanfiction, the author wrote of Cora: “she’s a character I think a lot of people can relate to at one time or another. She also proves the point that James and Lily did not live in a perfect world,” (Blacksnowfalls06).
By creating a relatable character, the writer was able to both explore the pain and darker side of adolescence through an original character, and to make her realistic enough for other readers to identify with. One reviewer wrote of the story: “I have never read a HP fanfic with this much reality to it. You really want Cora to realize that by shutting out Lily and Kyra, she's not protecting them. But then you have to realize that if she did figure that out, she'd be too...plastic. Robotic and predictable. So Cora...Cora is good right now,” (PadfootandProngs91). One reader commented that she understood Lily’s perspective as a concerned friend. She saw her friend go through a lot of the same situations as Cora’s character and was happy the author drew attention to it (Jami).
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