The Noble and most Ancient House of Black discord celebrates 25 years of PoA

Prisoner of Azkaban, aka the Book of the Fave, is coming up to its 25-year anniversary.

To celebrate, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Discord will be holding a small fest.

From the 23rd-25th May, either share in the discord, send me an ask or tag me (and I will reblog) in any Sirius-related stuff you want to share:

Rules: No character or ship bashing.

MONKEY MAN 2024, dir. Dev Patel

i envy ppl who can provide deep analysis about their favorite media and/or characters b/c whenever i like something a lot it looks like:

one of my favorite headcanons about james is that he has percy jackson syndrome aka “thinks he’s just a silly guy but the moment he’s angry everyone is actually TERRIFIED” syndrome

Saw this tweet foever ago n now i keep thinkin bout how making any character ever Canadian is funny as fuck. Theyre all canadian now

I’ll make Scott Pilgrim Venezuelan, to have a little diversity

Change a single letter and change the word game

I want to play a game with you all.

You have to make a new word by changing only one letter of the last word.

Dirt

Dire

Dare

Bare

Bard

Card

Care

Mare

Male

Made

Mode

Code

Cone

Core

Cord

Lord

Lore

Lyre

Pyre

Pare

part

Fart

farm

Fare

Fore

Sore

Sort

Soft

Sift

silt!

silk

Milk

Mill

Mull

Mule

Male

Rale

Rule

Rile

Vile

Tile

Time

Lime

Like

Hike

Bike

Bake

Cake

Lake

Like

Bike

Bile

File

Tile

Tilt

Wilt

Lilt

Kilt

Kill

Bill

Jill

Dill

Doll

Dole

pole

Hole

sole

sold

cold

mold

meld

mend

Mind

Hind

Kind

Bind

Rind

Rend

Rent

Lent

Lint

Mint

Tint

Tins

Tons

Tone

Tine

Fine

Line

Lone

Lane

Bane

bale

Sale

Sake

Padfoot: Grief and the liminal space

This is the second part of my series exploring Harry’s grief for his parents in PoA.

In my last post I discussed how through learning to fight the dementors, Harry was able to confront his repressed grief and emotions.

And in this post I will argue how Padfoot symbolises both the liminal space between life and death and grief and acceptance.

1.0 The Purgatory of Azkaban and the line between life and death.

Within the wizarding universe, Azkaban serves as something that the philosopher Michel Foucault would describe as a Heterotopia. This term is used to

‘.....describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow ‘other’: disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming.’ Wikipedia

Within Azkaban this ‘transformation’ forms part of the punishment and the institution is designed to break the will-power of its occupants and transform them to a form of ‘living-death.’

Indeed, the Dementors (who are on the surface a symbol of depression) are imbued with death-imagery. Not only are they cloaked in a manner similar to Western depictions of the Grim Reaper but they are described as having hands that are,

‘... glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water …’ PoA

Therefore, the Dementors occupy a space between life and death and so does the punishment they administer which is described as:

‘You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self any more, no memory, no ... anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just – exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone for ever ... lost.’

Even the prison they guard seems to occupy this liminal space between life and death.

Azkaban is set on an island in the North sea and this ‘island-prison’ trope is rooted in Dante’s travels to Purgatory in his poem ‘The Divine Comedy.’

During the poem, Dante traverses the afterlife and dedicates an entire section to his travels in ‘Purgatorio’ or Purgatory (a space between life, damnation and salvation).

Figure one: A visual representation of Dante's purgatory

Dante describes Purgatory as an island and it is often visually depicted as a tower which is very similar to the film depiction of Azkaban.

Within the space, ‘sinners’ are held in seven terraces according to their sin and are ‘held in place’ not just by bars and physical restrictions but by ‘divine punishments’ which are related to their sins. For example, in the tier for Wrath, the souls walk around blinded by acrid smoke which represents the blinding rage of anger.’

Indeed Purgatory operates by overwhelming ‘sinners’ with their ‘sin’ and thus removing their autonomy to leave. As Dante points out, ‘ascending’ through purgatory to paradise is possible but requires sinners to overcome their sin.

This is similar to how Azkaban holds it’s prisoners trapped within their own minds and is ‘tiered’ according to sin.

Figure two: Visual depiction of Azkaban

Within this space of ‘living-death’ Sirius Black (one of the most guarded prisoners), is able to ground himself in the world of the living and fight the effects of the Dementor-induced Purgatory by shifting into the space of Padfoot’s mind,

‘so when it all became . . . too much ... I could transform in my cell . . . become a dog. ...” PoA

So despite the Black dog being a symbol of death, Padfoot becomes Sirius’s means of clinging to the world of the living during his time in Azkaban.

As within the folk-lore of many cultures (but for this purpose mainly the UK), Black dogs symbolise death and even the nick- name ‘Padfoot’ is defined as,

‘A large dog, variously said to be a ghost, spirit, or monster, supposed to guard graves and to terrify travelers.’

Indeed even when ‘free’ from Azkaban Sirius continues to hold the duality of life and death as although free from the Purgatory of Azkaban he spends the remainder of his life a hunted man existing (not fully living) on the edges of wizarding society.

2.0 Padfoot, the grim and reconciling with grief.

As readers the first time we encounter Padfoot is when Harry flees the Dursleys after having used accidental magic.

In my previous analysis, I spoke about Harry’s repressed grief towards his parents being brought to the surface by the dementors.

Here I will argue that his first step on the path of confronting his grief, occurs here where he has his first angry outbursts at the Dursleys despite their years of abuse.

Within this scene it is interesting to note that Marge is speaking in dog-breeding terms before Harry loses control of his magic,

‘...It’s one of the basic rules of breeding,” she said. “You see it all the time with dogs. If there’s something wrong with the bitch, there’ll be something wrong with the pup. — ” PoA

And when Harry flees the house in anger rooted in repressed grief, he sees Padfoot for the first time.

Symbolically leaving the space of his care-givers who don’t care for him and coming face-to-face with someone who he will agree to live with by the end of the book (agreeing to become Padfoot’s pup).

Also having begun the journey of confronting his grief which will ultimately culminate in his acceptance that the memory of his father lives within him ( and occupy the liminal space between grief and acceptance).

And while Harry’s grief is still repressed, Padfoot appears several times as a symbol of death instead of embodying his duality.

‘’Oh, I wouldn’t read that if I were you,” said the manager lightly, looking to see what Harry was staring at. “You’ll start seeing death omens everywhere. It’s enough to frighten anyone to death.”

But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar. …’ PoA

He appears again during the chapter ‘Grim Defeat,’ right before Harry falls from his broom,

‘....the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats…’ PoA

And it is while in the hospital-wing recovering from the fall that Harry realises that the screams he is hearing belong to his dying mother (see my previous meta about this).

The final time Padfoot is seen in PoA is during the chapter ‘The dementor’s kiss,’ Where Harry and Hermione hear,

‘....they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain. …’

They follow the sound and find,

‘The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back into a man.’

At this moment Padfoot is unable to keep Sirius grounded in the world of the living and instead he is,

‘He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.’

This is symbolic of prayer and could be seen as an attempt by Sirius to ‘pray for his soul’ so as to not be dragged into the purgatory of being administered with the Kiss.

This version of Harry is unable to save them and without access to Padfoot (which he had used to protect them from Lupin’s werewolf form), Sirius is also unable to save them.

And at this point, Harry has accepted Sirius as his godfather and thus is no longer scared by the Death-omen of Padfoot, so subconsciously as accepted the duality of life and death which Padfoot represents.

So when Padfoot disappears, the future version of Harry is able to rescue them by tapping into his own duality of grief and acceptance and conjuring Prongs.

Indeed, the journey’s of Harry’s grief within this book can be best summarised by the following quote:

“You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.”

In my fic Fiat Justitia, I’ve used lots of imagery from the Divine Comedy;

‘The sweet relief of giving his soul to the Dementor beckoned him like a lake on a hot summer’s day. A cleansing baptism of oblivion, where he no longer had to think or feel, where those he had failed would no longer exist. The kiss providing an absolution for his broken soul and a release from the agony of his feelings.’

First thing you see after you zoom in is how you die

How you dying 👀

Wedding planning?? 😭

Amnesia?

The mischaracterization of people from PJO is so funny, but ESPECIALLY from HOO onward like.

“Hazel’s such an innocent little angel. She’s always nice and kind and confused.”

Hazel, who’s always ready to fight in the same way Percy is? Hazel, who made it explicitly clear she probably would’ve rocked Octavian’s shit had he not been blackmailing her? Who gets so angry on behalf of the people she loves, to the point where she doesn’t forgive those who have wronged them? Who Percy described as cursing up a storm in one of their first interactions? Who’s been shown time and time again to be FAST to anger? That Hazel?

Or Nico, who’s “a misunderstood emo. A small bean. Cute like a wet cat and innocent like a bunny.”

Nico, who’s cannonically described by most characters as “scary and unnerving?” Nico, who, for a long time, is one of the angriest characters in the series? Who’s only sassy and sarcastic because it took him FOUR YEARS to mellow out? Who’s described as being one of the most powerful demigods, who a lot of people still consider the scariest? Who’s come into his own as a character from TTC to TSATS? That Nico?

Or Annabeth who’s, “cold and calculating. Doesn’t show emotion or express herself”

Annabeth, who’s the most expressive person in the series? Who cries in EVERY book in the OG series? Whether it be for Luke, or Thalia, or Percy, or Chiron, or a literal DOG? Who expresses passion like no other when it comes to architecture and her other interests? Who’s expressed compassion for people she didn’t know? People who at times posed a threat to her? Who isn’t afraid to be angry, or happy, or snide, or rude, or excited, or scared, or ecstatic? Who’s been unapologetically herself since the moment the series started? That’s who doesn’t show emotion? That’s Annabeth?

Hi, this was me.

I can now not "perform pain correctly" - THat is, I can't get other people to realize I am in pain because of practice against letting it EVER show- Often I can't even identify it, because through the well meaning ignorance of my loving parents I was raised to internalize and ignore any and all discomfort. If I said it hurt, no it didn't, and if it hurt badly no it wasn't that bad, and I should be quiet and sit stil to be hurt like a good girl for hair brushing, curling irons and all sorts of other mundane pain. That was good and praiseworthy, to swallow your own pain like poison until you didn't notice the taste. Until you *couldn't* identify the taste anymore.

Now i have a hard time even identifying if I am aching somewhere because I am so used to my pain needing to be hidden and ignored as totally as possible, and not mattering to anyone but me and I shouldn't care either...

So yeah now I'm in therapy for a lot of that.

*stares into the near distance*

80s dad sirius black

@impishtubist I think this is some of the things that were mentioned, but he’s grown the 80s mustache.

Animation drawings for Sleeping Beauty by Marc Davis