Fic: Seeds of Hate for bitchet

[springmod]

Title: Seeds of Hate
Author: chthonya
Recipient: bitchet
Character(s): Lucius, Arthur, Molly, Bellatrix and a few contemporaries
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: ~6500
Summary: Lucius learns some unexpected lessons during his first few weeks at Hogwarts.
Author's Notes: Dear bitchet - you had several really interesting prompts, and I'd have loved to delve into more of them,

Comments

[kellychambliss]

Oh, well done. You've characterized them all so well -- the seeds of their adult selves are clearly here, yet they're so believably children and teens. It's easy to see how the blood attitudes get perpetuated year after year, family after family, House after House. I love the glimpses into pureblood politics and gossip, the totally plausible references to the views of Mother and Father Malfoy, the casual class-related phrases about "common as muck" Rita and the "vulgar" Umbridges. Quite a chilling story, really.

[chthonya]

Thank-you for the feedback - I'm glad you enjoyed it. And especially glad that you felt the characters were believable children and teens!

[chthonya]

Thank-you, and thank-you also for the rec.

I'm not sure the shock at swearing would wash nowadays (though perhaps in the wizarding world, with little mass media, it would be more feasible to shelter a child from parts of the world its parents didn't like). But in 1965 I think that especially for someone of Lucius' background, it would be shocking. Though perhaps that applies more to girls than boys. (I'm getting on a bit, but my memory doesn't stretch back that far!!)

I'm not sure this Lucius would ever have been someone I'd have wanted to know, unless somehow he'd managed to become friends with someone lacking the approved social background. But when almost all the influences around him push him in a particular direction, one he sees no interest in resisting, then breaking out would be pretty difficult.

[pitry]

I love what you did with this story. It almost broke my heart, in a way - you can actually see how Lucius becomes more and more his adult self. He does it to himself, together with the influences of his parents and house, of course, but you did a great job of characterising how he almost could have become something better.

Also, squee!Beatles :D

[chthonya]

Thank-you; I'm glad you found it a convincing portrayal of Lucius.

[kelleypen]

This is my very favorite era to read about in HP fanfics. I think you did it very very well. My only criticism is that JK Rowling established that the only Black who wasn't placed in Slytherin was Sirius. So Andromeda would have been a Slytherin too. Great story.

[chthonya]

You have no idea how hard I kicked myself when I went back to check and realised you were right. I try to be scrupulous about canon, but somehow I'd missed the implication of Slughorn's statement about all the Blacks being in Slytherin. I suppose I'd got it into my head post-OotP that Andromeda had 'escaped' by being put in another house (and discounted Sirius' comment because I'm so far from my extended family that I tend to think of family in terms of back rather than across). This will teach me to rely less on the lexicon!

Anyhow, I'm glad you liked the story, despite that cock-up.

Can you recommend any other fics from this era? It's not one I've seen much of in fanfic.

[kelleypen]

I have a few on Phoenixsong.net. There are quite a few on fanfic.net, but that site is unbetaed and it shows.

This site has a few http://lilyandjames.livejournal.com/

Thanks again for your fic. I loved it.

[diabolica]

I really enjoyed reading this! It's a very believable explanation of the antagonism between Lucius and Arthur. Bellatrix's role in the whole thing was convincing--and very chilling. Great work!

[chthonya]

Thank-you, and thank-you for the rec as well. :)

The Lucius-Arthur antagonism has intrigued me since one of the very first fanfics I read, kennahijja's And You Were Worried About Rodents?. I was hoping (in vain) that JKR would give us more background, but it's not something I've seen looked at much in fic. Which is odd, given they were in school together. I'm glad you found my version believeable!