fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2480 ]

[ SECRET POST #2480 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2480 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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(Sabrina the Teenage Witch)

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[The Blacklist]

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[Vampire: the Masquerade- Bloodlines]

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I'm writing an HP elsewhere fic about an average wizard family during the 1997-1998 year. A family who, while not agreeing with what was going on, isn't part of the Order of the Phoenix. Regular people.

One part of the story is average slice of life stuff surrounding one of the youngest daughters in the family and her life in the present, and the other part is about her experiences during that year and how they still effect her in the present.

In the story the father who is a healer finds a way to get his son out of going to Hogwarts by making him appear to be sick enough to not go. He gives the kid some sweets from the skiving snackboxes (received by mail order) and in desperation gets the kid (who is not allergic to it) to touch some poison ivy so it looks like he's obviously ill and contagious when the ministry workers come to check up on him. He does it a very careful and controlled way.

I'm worried that this act will be seen as abusive or cruel and make the father unsympathetic (or will find it unbelievable somehow) It's sort of meant to be a time buying stunt to get his kids out of the way of the action. (basically make it look like one kid is really sick, and then ship the kids to a relative safely away from things until it's over) I'm concerned because I once saw a person who thought Hermione's obliviating her parents was a "crossing of the moral event horizon" because she "did it flippantly without concern for them and acting like she knew better".

Does it seem that cruel or harmful ? Is it realistic that it would work? What are other ways that wizards could flee England during the war? What's more is it likely that people outside the order have inklings that Voldemort and his Death Eaters are behind what's going on in the ministry?

I think people will understand. It's a tough thing, but necessary in the circumstances. I think the Hermione situation is different because it's mind control, which is a really tricky area, and also arguably because they're adults and not children.

Regarding the last question, I would think people would certainly have some idea of what was going; even if they didn't know who was behind it, they could still see the actions taking place.

Though it should be noted that the person OP mentioned who construed it as Hermione 'flippantly doing it with little concern' is reading it wrong. I mean geez seriously in the book I read she as breaking down crying as she talked about it and was obviously upset about what she did.

It doesn't totally make it all peachy but...yanno it's not like she's doing it for shits and giggles. or doing it with the air that "she knows better than those silly muggles". She actually seems like a desperate teenager trying to protect her parents int the surest way she knows.

well yes this is also true, but I do think people do consider the Hermione thing differently than they would the situation OP outlines. I think that's true whatever you think of the Hermione thing.

I remember when he went on and on about how evil she was for it I just wanted to say "yeah yeah, we don't need to hear about your hatecrush on Hermione"

People warping canon to suit their view always annoys me.

I would 100% as a parent do something that might be momentarily uncomfortable to my kid to save them from living in a warzone.

I would too, honestly

parents actually did this to prevent their teenager kids from joining the army during particular bad conflicts. I read a story (Mouse- the comic book) where both brothers had to starve for a while/got a bad diet and everything to be as sick and underweight as possible.

So yeah, it was harmful. However why aim for totally 100% safe and justifiable methods when you write this scenario? Isn't it more interesting to let your characters do the necessary, what they think is best in this difficult situation?
I think you shouldn't shy away from it.
If the father is a healer he probably should also take precautions against getting caught though.

Ohh interesting. i see.

That's true, it is. Also since he is careful about it , it's not like it would be exposing them to ebola or something. Just some itchy spots and a fever.

I know personally that even if no illness is mentioned, having rashes on your body is a good way to make people think you're contagious. When I was thirteen , I developed a skin allergy that caused me to break out in hives when my body got too warm. My teacher sent me out in the hall because she was afraid I would spread illness to the other students (I didn't complain though since it was math. It got to sit outside and read so , either way it was a win. Ironically the book I had been reading then was a Harry Potter book )

Hmm perhaps he could acquire what he needed from a roundabout source, or order it under another name. Or maybe there's potions that could fake a fever. (the mother is an herbologistso there's ingredients taken care of )

yeah, the wizard world seems kind of gullible.
If there are ways to fake an illness though, then there will be ways to detect them with magic. I mean Fred and George's shop also sold widely popular sickness candies (sry don't know the original term), so there's more awareness of such methods.
It would be fun if a "muggle illness"/poison ivy spooks the wizards so much that they let them be.

It probably depends on the background of this family as well. If they have muggle blood, then the authorities will be happy to let the kids stay at home if they have an excuse, I suppose->
That way they'll be hindered in their education, one could possibly reason why they don't get jobs etc, pick on them without pure blood witnesses/fellow students to support them.
Plus there's more focus/attention on "pure bloods" in school. If you look at history, oppressors are more than happy to prevent discriminated groups from attending school. Or they give them seperate institutions (and those discriminated groups had to go along, often because they also feared percecution), which then made them vulnerable without witnesses.

If they're thought of valueable by the Death Eaters though, then they'll want the kids in school to educate them "properly".

You said it's only to buy some time though, right?

That's true.

That sounds like a great idea. A muggle illness would be something that escapes their radar but something like poison ivy would probably freak them out. Especially if they thought it was contagious. I have an idea of them using fever fudge to further the illusion and have the younger daughter eat the remainders of the fever fudge, thinking it regular fudge and the father wort of wings it and uses that as evidence that "oh no it's spreading".

Later the kids are sent off to a relative far away and the father tells the Ministry people that it spread around and they sent the kids to relatives to recover. That's what he's trying to buy time for.

Well the mother was a pureblood, but I think the father is a halfblood and has some definite muggle background. I wanted to avoid too much (completely muggleborn) because then the question would be "why isn't the father being brought in to the ministry?"

he's a wizard, couldn't he just put a spell on him to accomplish the same thing?

either way, I don't really think it seems cruel or harmful. a bit "the ends justify the means" but not really abusive or anything. I guess it might depend on how the kid feels about it but eh

You will have to find some explanation for there being poison ivy in the United Kingdom, because it's not native there. On the other hand, they do have giant hogweed, which is arguably worse:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum

Oh shiiiiiiiiit

shitshitshit.

I need to find another way that doesn't involving exposing a child to THAT.

Hmm...maybe some sort of thing like rash powder? or a potion? I've sure there's gotta be a potion for that. Thank you btw I would have looked like an idiot if I had posted something about poison ivy in the story.

Not really on topic but that has to be the greatest scientific name for an organism ever

Heracleum Mantegazzianum! Wonderful.

Do they even have to "have inklings" that Voldemort and the Death Eaters are behind what's going on in the Ministry? Maybe the Wizarding World has conspiracy theorists who've been saying for years that Voldemort is still around and that everything that goes wrong is Voldemort's fault. The father could be a crank, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

I just think that it wouldn't be too much of a reach for someone in 1997 to conclude that Death Eaters could be involved. Honestly it seems quite obvious. Maybe during that year they spent so much time terrorizing people to keep them quiet because otherwise they call it out.

I agree - at a certain point, it's academic whether or not Voldemort and the Death Eaters are in power at the Ministry. And I think the point where they're rounding up Muggle-borns.

Moreover, I kind of feel like it makes sense to think of the Death Eaters as the militant extremist portion of a larger group of people - that there are a lot of people around, many of them in power, who agree with a lot of their views. And so, again, it kind of doesn't matter whether the Death Eaters are in power, and it's not really the relevant question.

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[ SECRET POST #2480 ]

HP-related fic writing questions

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