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The Girl, The Myth, The Fanfiction

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Scholastic, 2005.

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Queering Hogwarts It’s no secret that fanfiction is used to explore romantic pairings between characters. In fan communities. This is called “shipping.” Regardless of whether these relationships appear in the canon, fans explore different romances between many characters. While these romantic stories feasibly can be about anything, slash, a term that references the “/” between two character names (ex. Draco/Harry), has been used almost exclusively for homosexual or queer pairings. Slash was a major discussion point for many early fanfiction scholars with the Kirk/Spock pairing, discussing the implications of such a prominent queer pairing in a subculture (Tosenberger, 2008, 186). Slash has come to signify gay male relationships so much that queer slash involving two women is referred to as femslash even though the term slash never explicity excluded relations between two women.

In the Harry Potter fanfiction community some of the most popular pairings are between male characters despite the general consensus that there are more women who write fanfiction. Early fan studies academics studying Kirk/Spock fanfiction, pointed to a level of “equality” or androgyny between the two men that was not possible within heterosexual pairings in the show (Frazer Lamb and Veith; Russ). Others are more critical, suggesting that straight women who write about gay man are engaging in fetishization (Brownworth; Foster). Often left out of these discourses, however, is what Tosenberger describes as “the potential to encounter and experiment with alternative modes of sexual discourse, particularly queer discourse,” (2008, 186). While slash often focuses on canon characters, aspects of the self can be seen in the exploratory aspects of slash fanfiction through engaging in the non-canon pairing of characters.

The looming shadow of the Mary Sue may explain, in part, why authors choose to write about men in romantic stories. The genre of romance is one that is typically gendered female and, in an effort to steer away from these stereotypes (or to avoid accusations of a Mary Sue), the authors focus on men. Slash then, is a way to perform romantic and queer possibilities while insulating oneself from ridicule, shame, or discomfort. For some authors, femslash simply may hit too close to home.
Queer Characters at Hogwarts
Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindlewald are the only two characters that are explicitly labeled as queer in Harry Potter. After the confirmation of Albus Dumbledore’s sexuality by the author herself, one would think that there would be a fair amount of fanfiction about the couple. Instead, what we see is the continued popularity of non-canon (or not explicitly canon) pairings such as Draco/Harry and Remus/Sirius. In fact, in Archive of Our Own, Remus/Sirius and Draco/Harry slash boast a total of 15,000 and 32,000 stories, respectively. The Dumbledore/Grindelwald slash tag only contains 3,000 stories (Archive of Our Own). This evidence suggests that representation within the stories may not be the sole reason for writing slash fanfiction.

Many fans would (and often do) argue that there is evidence within the canon for their pairing (Tosenberger, 2008, 196-197; Willis, 6-8). In the case of Remus Lupin, both fans and actors believed that there was sufficient evidence within the text to classify Lupin as queer. Actor, David Thewlis, admitted that he played Remus Lupin as a gay man and that the director of the third movie, Alfonso Cuarón, actually told David Thewlis that Remus was gay “without J.K. Rowling’s knowledge,” (Robinson). To many, Lupin’s lycanthrophy serves as a metaphor for the stigma and social exclusion experienced by queer individuals. Some even go as far as to discuss lycanthropy as a metaphor for HIV/AIDS (Tosenberger, 2008, 197).

“The insistence that slash must transgress the existing canon rather troublingly assigns to the canon a heteronormativity it may not necessarily possess,” explains Tosenberger (2008, 187). Fanfiction does not necessarily seek to represent queer romance for the sake of representation. Often, slash offers an intervention that is not inherently transgressive, but rather exploratory, “supplement[ing] stories in response to what fans view as ‘gaps’ within the canon, offering up an interpretation of what is already in the canon and ‘making space’ for the exploration of topics not expanded upon in the books (Willis, 6).

Through slash, fans have been able to “carve out a space for themselves where they are free to tell the narratives they wish,” (Tosenberger, 2008, 190). The focus on space that both Willis and Tosenberger utilize in their essays on slash, is helpful when conceptualizing fanfiction as performance within this space. Returning to my earlier discussion of the dynamic of fanfiction authors and original producers as that of a playwright and director, slash functions as the venue and supplies the audience, giving a space for writers to explore these relationships and people willing to read these explorations.

Below are two examples of characters that fit into the trope of Mary Sue and one that doesn't. These links are modeled like the fanfiction entries in Archive of Our Own and show which stories the characters come from. Click the titles to learn more!
Irresistible Poison by Rhysenn
Fandoms: Harry Potter
30 Jan 2020
Link to Actual Fanfiction, Gender, Harry Potter, Fantastic Tropes and Where to Find Them
By far the most famous pairing in Harry Potter fanfiction, this chapter attempts to explain why and how Draco and Harry pairings got so popular
Language: English-Words: -Chapter:
The Shoebox Project by Dorkorific and LadyJaida
Fandoms: Harry Potter
30 Jan 2020
Link to Actual Fanfiction, Gender, Harry Potter, Fantastic Tropes and Where to Find Them
How do slash stories function as a space for exploration of queer joy? This famous fanfiction used pictures, drawings, and handwritten letters to tell the story of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin
Language: English-Words: -Chapter:
Why Write Slash?
We see that slash functions as the stage and provides an audience for writers to explore and play with different possibilities. As such, the reasons for wanting to engage in this exploration are necessarily varied. Which begs the question: can we generalize at all about slash? What insights do studying slash fanfiction offer?

Previous academic research on the topic often focused on the erotic nature of slash, either lauding it as transgressive or criticizing it for fetishizing gay men. Looking at the examples of Irresistible Poison and The Shoebox Project, it becomes clear that we need a better framework. The popularity of pairs that exist outside of the canon even though there is a canonically gay male character in Harry Potter, suggests that queer representation isn’t the only factor at play.

A YouTuber, Sarah Z, gives a possible explanation about the popularity of slash, explaining that heteronormativity can lead to underdeveloped romantic plots in canon. Because of the assumption that “a man and a woman together is naturally going to equal romance.” The burden of developing that relationship is lighter, “but when it comes to friendships between characters of the same gender it seems like a lot of writers accidentally pen quasi-romances between them.” So when fans see a character end up with another just based on the underlying assumption that women always end up with men, they intervene, exploring a possibility that the canon chose not to entertain (Sarah Z).

In Harry Potter, I find this to be a very compelling argument. The top 5 most popular ships on Archive of Our Own , in order, are: Draco/Harry, Remus/Sirius, Harry/Snape, Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Draco. The only pair that is canon in the series is Ron and Hermione. The two, because they started as friends, had a well-developed romantic arc. It was never deemed “inevitable” that they would get together. On the other hand, Ginny/Harry, is the 7th most popular pairing, having less than a fifth of the number of stories that Draco/Harry has. Why would fans so strongly prefer this story to the canon? Ginny and Harry’s relationship both in the books and in the movies doesn’t get the attention that Hermione and Ron’s relationship does. Ginny is shown as having a crush on Harry in the second book, but after Harry saves her from being possessed by Tom Riddle, or Voldemort (Rowling, 1998). We don’t hear much about Ginny until book six, but by then, Harry is obsessively tailing Draco, suspicious that he may be a deatheater. It is no surprise that the Draco/Harry community gained traction after the sixth book (Rowling, 2005). Fans found the relationship far more interesting than the budding but woefully underdeveloped relationship between Harry and Ginny.

Remus/Sirius also demonstrates this trend but with the added nuance of queerbaiting (Sarah Z). The fact that Remus Lupin was played as a gay man in the films and the close relationship the two shared was read by many in the fandom as romantic. Additionally, Remus Lupin is only seen with a romantic interest after the death of Sirius Black (Rowling, 2007) which, for many, is further evidence. The relationship between the two characters, however, is never fully explored, explaining the popularity of the pairing in fanfiction.

Finally, there is an aspect of slash that Sarah Z. mentions that is often left out of the narrative, identity exploration (Sarah Z). According to the survey by Tumblr user centrumlumina, 42.7 percent of M/M writers were bisexual, refuting the claim that the majority of slash readers are straight women. Bisexual women make up the largest proportion of M/M slash writers and readers (centrumlumina). If, as we have seen in the case of the Mary Sue and self-inserts, fanfiction is a way to perform and navigate identities, M/M slash may function as a way for queer individuals to explore their own sexualities anonymously and comfortably while avoiding having to navigate complex gendered debates around female characters.

To Continue on the Sequential Path, Performance Path, or Rowling Path

Continue to "Why are Wizards all (or Mostly) White"

To Continue on the Gender Path

Continue to "Conclusion"
Performing Potter: Oh the Drama A project on Potter and performance would be incomplete without referencing the literal live performances that have come from Harry Potter. Harry Potter Puppet Pals is one of many examples of performances taking inspiration from the novels. Through comedy, some of the Harry Potter Puppet Pals make key characterizations of the main characters that are left out of the movies. Harry, for example, is played as “angsty” and egotistical, while Ron is played as well-meaning but naive. Obviously these characters are exaggerated for comedic purposes, but there is interpretation of the original text going on.

Though Potter Puppet Pals is an early example, there are plenty of others who have taken the opportunity to bring Harry Potter to the stage. In this chapter, I look at musical and theatrical performances (both authorized and unauthorized) of Harry Potter.
A Very Potter Musical
Potter Puppet Pals would not be where it is today without YouTube. The same can be said for many fan artworks. YouTube was created in 2005 and it looked very different than what it is today. Originally devised as a space to host video content to be embedded elsewhere, the idea to create content specifically for YouTube did not come until later (Burgess and Green). It didn’t take long for people to get creative, and by the time 2008 came around and a handful of theater majors at University of Michigan wanted to publish their Harry Potter musical parody, YouTube had already become a space where videos were shared for entertainment (Hayashi, 118).

Harry Potter: The Musical, premiered in 2008 and went viral as A Very Potter Musical in 2009 (Hayashi, 118). The musical is a jumbled up story with aspects from the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh books. Due to the success of the first musical, two sequels were created: A Very Potter Sequel and A Very Potter Senior Year.

The characters in the play are exaggerated to say the least. Harry is an egomaniac, Ron never stops eating, Hermione is the only student that does any work and is constantly taken advantage of by her friends, Draco is vulnerable and takes his insecurity out on others, and Dumbledore is wildly irresponsible. While these are exaggerations for comedic effect, they are also legitimate interpretations of the source text. Signs of all of these traits are visible throughout the series. Dumbledore in A Very Potter Musical, is particularly important, as the show portrays him much more critically than most portrayals of the old Wizard.
“He accused me of being Dumbledore's man through and through."
"How very rude of him."
"I told him I was.” (Rowling, 2005)

Throughout the Harry Potter series, Harry shows an intense loyalty to Dumbledore. Up until the publication of the seventh book, almost all characters revere Dumbledore as perfect and wise. It is not until the last book that we learn of the character’s dark past. Not always a wise old man weary of the seduction of power, Dumbledore experimented with the Dark Arts with his friend and lover Gellert Grindlewald in pursuit of immortality. Their relationship ended when a duel between the wizards, resulted in the accidental death of his younger sister (Rowling, 2007).

Despite the acknowledgement of his dark past in the seventh book. Dumbledore still remains a venerated figure in the novels and within the fan community. However, not everyone agrees that he’s a good character. Some fans point out that there are plenty of examples in the book that show that Dumbledore is actually very irresponsible and endangered the students of Hogwarts on many occasions. One of the starkest examples is that Dumbledore was willing to leave Harry with his Aunt and Uncle despite overwhelming evidence that they were abusive. This doesn’t just happen in the first book, when Dumbledore could have possibly been ignorant to the fact that Harry was forced to live in a cupboard. We see, however, that when Harry tells Dumbledore about the Dursleys, Dumbledore still tells Harry that he must stay with his guardians.

Fans also point out the favoritism that Dumbledore shows to Harry as a student and Gryffindor as a house, often unfairly giving Harry points in order for Gryffindor to win the House Cup at the very last minute. This is something that A Very Potter Musical pokes fun at.

Staci Miller of TheThings.com mentions in her Dumbledore call-out post, that Dumbledore “employed Snape and refused to hear anything bad about him,” an aspect also parodied in the show (Miller).

A Very Potter Musical’s creators describe it as an “unofficial, fan-made, parody show.” Boxman-Shabtai differentiates between fanfiction and parody, asserting that fanfiction aligns closer with the genre of pastiche, which “operates by similarity and reverence towards the work it renders,” (Boxman-Shabtai). I would argue that there are plenty of fanfiction stories out there that could be classified as parody and that A Very Potter Musical is just one example of fan-made parody content. Still, the dichotomy between reverence and critique is one that should be unpacked. A Very Potter Musical only occasionally addresses the author, and critiques seem to land more heavily on the characters themselves. In many ways, A Very Potter Musical upholds many of the themes of the original series while taking a few jabs at J.K. Rowling from a respectful, humorous distance. For example, when Ron and Harry destroy the last horocrux, Ron comments that “horocruxes are just kind of stupid” (Lang et al, 2009).

The aesthetic of A Very Potter Musical, works well with the content. Actors are costumed, but there is little hiding the fact that they are individuals in their 20s playing 12 year olds. Occasionally the actors break the fourth wall or say lines that seem out of place in the setting, such as Harry Potter calling Ginny a “freshman” or calling the dining hall the “cafeteria.” Dumbledore’s costume is perhaps the least convincing of all: he wears an outlandish robe, sandals, and a comically bad fake beard. The design of the shows seems to say, “this is not the real Harry Potter,” making deviations from the original story excusable and even funny. Still, though, there is enough similarity that fans can easily recognize the characters. While the language and appearance of the characters are exaggerated and unrealistic, the actual characterizations are pretty believable, explaining why YouTubers make comments like, “That moment when you realize that the friendship between Ron and Harry is more accurate in this than in the movie,” (Kael R.) or “love how starkid did a better job of showing Ginny's entire character arc with Harry than the 8 Hollywood movies did,” (draconitious). A Very Potter Musical was made by fans and for fans to appreciate the series, while poking fun at its issues, which describes why it remains a cult classic within the fandom.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
There are also, of course, other theatrical productions about Harry Potter worth exploring.

I am referring, of course, to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Broadway and West End productions are tremendously popular (Broadway World News Desk). Opinions on the script have “created a rift in the Harry Potter fandom,” some fans staunchly defend the show while others refuse to recognize it as canon. The split between the two groups seems to be based on whether fans have seen the show or if they’ve just read the play (Vaughan). This makes sense. For all its criticisms, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a professional production, filled with some of the most impressive technical theater out there. The sheer experience of seeing one’s favorite character live is enough to excuse even the most egregious plot holes, but the critics make some strong points.

Fans bring up that the characters don’t seem to line up with who they were in the books. Harry, for example, is easily angered and vain, while Ron is portrayed as a well-meaning idiot. In a scene in the show, Ron gives Harry’s son a love potion as a “gag.” One fan was quick to point out that Ron very nearly was killed by a poisoned love potion. “Ron would not forget about that and subsequently send a love potion to his young nephew,” (Sarner).

To the writers’ defense, the play is set 19 years after the books, which is a lot of time for personalities to change, especially after a traumatic war. It is also possible that actors portray the lines differently than how fans read them in the script. A more frequently discussed critique is the plot itself, which even the best acting can’t change. The script directly contradicts various plot points in the books.

In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, the sons of Draco and Harry are friends who use a time turner to save Cedric Diggory from being murdered by Voldemort, manipulated by Delphi Diggory (Voldemort’s secret daughter) in order for her to go back in time to kill Harry Potter before he killed Voldemort. There are more than a few issues with this. All time turners were destroyed in the fifth book and the ones that were destroyed could only go back a total of five hours. The way the play addresses this is through the “top-secret” invention of two new time turners that don't have the five hour restriction. These were allegedly commissioned by Lucius Malfoy shortly before Voldemort was destroyed.
Comedy vs. Canon

The reason why fans, by and large, seem to prefer A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child might have something to do with genre.

The plots of A Very Potter Sequel and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are surprisingly similar. In A Very Potter Musical, Lucius Malfoy uses a time turner to go back to Harry’s first year at Hogwarts to kill Harry before he defeats Voldemort. Despite the fact that both of these stories use a time turner, causing inconsistencies with the original plot of the novels, A Very Potter Sequel gets less criticism for it because it’s a comedy and not meant to follow the canon text. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, according to J.K. Rowling, is “canon.”

The genre differences between the two plays doesn’t stop there. A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel rely heavily on references to pop culture for comedic effect. The character of Harry is a great example of this. In the musicals, Harry is portrayed as self-obsessed, popular, and goofy. While there are aspects of this in the actual canon, the actor isn’t really portraying Harry Potter in the books. Instead, he is portraying what Harry would be like if he existed in the “real world,” a popular jock with a bit of a savior complex. To do this, he uses signs that are legible within pop culture. Harry doesn’t play guitar in the books. To say, however, that Harry is this type of person to play guitar is funny to fans and makes his character legible to people not as familiar with the series. These comparisons are explicitly named in the sequel when Harry explains to his friends that, in the muggle world, he would be considered "a douchebag.” Engagement with and knowledge of the text is rewarded in this parody. Fans like it because they’re given the opportunity to be “in on the joke.”

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, on the other hand, does not engage in making these connections instead, similar to the theme parks, it brings Harry Potter to a live audience, allowing for immersion in the story. It is expected to be treated as “canon” and audience members don’t get the satisfaction of getting a reference or a joke. In many ways, Cursed Child actually punishes a deep knowledge of the text because it disregards certain parts of the canon in order to move forward the plot. Fans who feel they knew and understood the characters felt upset when the characters went against fans’ views of who they were.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not a fan-work. What remains interesting is the shaky classification of “canon.” In this case, a story that was not written by J.K. Rowling, but was authorized by her, holds more weight than the creations of fans. Fans, in turn, disregard this new addition to the canon despite J.K. Rowling’s stamp of approval, offering up alternatives, such as A Very Potter Sequel, as “more canon.”
Irresistible Poison
“There really is no such thing as a typical Potter slash story: with such a variety of characters available, the tropes in Potter slash are highly dependent upon the pairing,” explains Catherine Tosenberger (2008, 195). I believe that the Drarry (Draco/Harry) slash community exhibits this clearly. Drarry is still one of the most famous pairings in Harry Potter fanfiction. The slash started early, as both of the characters make appearances in the early books and “after the release of Goblet of Fire, Potter fandom grew to gargantuan proportions.” (Tosenberger, 2008, 192). The pairing itself is an example of “enemyslash” (pairing two known enemies together romantically and/or sexually), and the fact that the two characters cannot stand each other throughout the series is part of the appeal for writers.

What we see in Drarry fanfiction is the tension felt by both parties as they fall in love with someone they don’t want to (or they’re not supposed to want to). Many stories recount the denial and increased aggression towards each other that comes out of these contradictory feelings. While these stories rarely discuss homophobia, the tensions of falling in love with someone who you’re not supposed to are apparent.

While earlier scholars discussed women’s desire for sexual equality as a key component in Kirk/Spock fanfiction (Russ; Frazer Lamb and Veith), this idea doesn’t hold in this particular ship nor the Harry Potter fandom as a whole. Draco, even though his family is rich and influential, is a powerless character in many respects. He is hated by his classmates outside of Slytherin, mistrusted by teachers, and marked as the son of a deatheater at Hogwarts and among the “protagonists” of the story. Even among the antagonists of the story, Draco is seen as needing to prove himself and his allegiance to Voldemort. After his father failed to capture Harry Potter in the fifth book and was sent to Azkaban, Voldemort forced Draco, under threat of death, to try to kill Dumbledore as a 16 year old boy. Harry, at Hogwarts, has all the power in the relationship (Rowling, 2005). This dynamic is only exaggerated in Irresistible Poison, through the usage of a love potion.

In Irresistible Poison, a famous Drarry fanfiction written in 2001, Draco accidentally swallows a love potion and runs into Harry, the first person he sees after swallowing the potion. Much to his dismay, Draco feels the effects immediately and wrestles with the discomfort of falling in love with someone he doesn’t like. Draco finally admits to Harry what happened and Harry, begrudgingly tries to help break the spell. The story covers the conflicting emotions of the two as they try to find a solution. While Harry doesn’t experience the effects of the love potion, you can still see the shame he experiences in even trying to help Draco. Embarrassed and afraid his friends will judge him or hate him for it, Harry only tells Hermione when he can’t think of any other solution (Rhysenn).

While the story makes no mention of homophobia, the two characters experience similar feelings of shame, discomfort, embarrassment, and guilt that queer people must face within homophobiic spaces. This story was written over eighteen years ago, a time when homophobia may not have been as strong as it was in the 20th century, but was certainly more prominent than it is today. The comparison of Draco’s love potion as poison (alluded to in the title) may also play with the notion that homosexuality is still a taboo, despite not being portrayed as one outright in the story. The drama and conflict is only enhanced within the unequal power dynamics between the two characters, both in regard to their characters’ statuses and the love potion. While it is important not to assume the identities of writers on the Internet, especially regarding sexual orientation, what we can see through this particular fanfiction is an exploration of the messiness of sexuality and all the contradictory feelings that come with it.

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