Who is your favorite HP character...and why?

[valis2]

The Snape love interest characteristics entry was pretty thought-provoking. I really enjoyed all of the comments.

So I'm going to annoy you all further...

Who is your favorite HP character, and why? I'd love to hear the details, from the small to the large. Why did this character capture your interest? What made you first want to read/see/write/draw/etc. him/her outside of the books? What was the Point of No Return for you (when you realized you were truly hooked)?

I'll go first...

Severus Snape, as if anyone on this flist didn't know.

The first time I noticed him was bookwench2096's fault. I had read a couple of the books and wasn't really into them that much, but then she pointed out Snape's...appeal. I was still unconvinced, but at the time we were exchanging smutty little stories we called "weasels," so I sent her a quick weasel featuring Snape and an OFC. (He was convinced she was hiding something in her robes...heh.) After I wrote it and sent it off, I thought that would be it, but somehow he began to curl around my subconscious, and pretty soon I was very interested in his character.

I reached the Point of No Return only after I began to read fanfic. I read a story on ffnet somewhere, and it wasn't that great, but there was something about him that just pulled me in. The dark eyes, the bitterness, the dry wit...all of the little things that sometimes were barely in canon were brought out in fanon, and I really became completely entranced with him after reading different authors' stylized versions of him.

I wanted to write him myself after reading so many stories; I really thought I might have something to offer, and I wanted to explore blood magic as well, and that ended up being a jumping-off point for me. I reread the books in order to prepare myself, and found that in reading so much fanfic I had somehow developed a rather distorted view of him, and I was very relieved that I reread them, because it helped me develop my own version of Snape. I didn't want him to be a walking, talking fanon cliché.

I think it was switchknife, though, who finally and incontrovertibly sealed my fate. Up until I read knife's work, I had been...well...content with the ffnet stories. Once I found knife's stories, it opened up an entire new world of reading. Through knife and LJ I found many new, absolutely amazing authors who had written Snape-centric stories, and that was it. In their capable hands he became even more mesmerizing. One of the things I love best about him is that he is so well-armored; I adore stories in which he's made vulnerable, where he has to let someone help him, or worse, let someone in. His tightly-wound control is absolutely fascinating to me. I want to see the passion that I know is underneath.

So tell me about your character journey! I'd love to hear about which characters you love, and how it all happened.

Comments

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

I have a few - ever since Sirius died, I haven't had a single character to be totally devoted to. But Sirius was the first.

I can't really remember very well how it happened. I'd read Books 1 and 2, and enjoyed them very much - but it was Book 3, and Sirius in particular, who sealed my fate as massively obsessed Harry Potter fan. I think it was the angst that really appealed - the fact that he'd suffered so much for a crime he didn't commit. But I also really loved him in Book 4 - his advice to Harry, his caring - all while being in hiding - well, I really fell in love with him then. I remember him saying a few really wise things, like "If you want to get the measure of a man, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equalks," or somwthing like that.

Of course, Book 5 had to come along and ruin it all - first by making Sirius a lot more crazy than before, second by making him contradict his own words in Book 4 by mistreating Kreacher, and finally, by killing him off completely! Granted, the first two make sense from a psychological point of view, but I like heroic Sirius a lot better than screwed-up-trapped-Sirius.

Re-reading the books, I found myself drawn a lot more to Lupin in Book 3. He's the sort of teacher I wish I'd had more of. And I don't care what the fandom says, I loved the Remus/Tonks thing at the end of Book 6. It was perfect, and it made perfect sense, and I loved the fact that for once, something good was happening to one of my favourite characters! I can totally see Tonks falling in love with him, and I can see him pushing her away because he thinks he's too old/too hairy/too screwed up (none of which outweighs the fact that he's kind, gentle and down-to-earth.)

I also liked Snape - the dry wit, his general nastiness, and the fact that he wasn't an obvious good or evil character all made him very interesting. I was really disappointed in Book 6, though I still hope that maybe, just maybe he was on Dumbledore's side all along. I really want Dumbledore to be right about him.

And finally, I think an honourable mention should go to Hermione. She started out as a swot, but as the books went along, I really started admiring her cool logic, her ability to be really cutting when she wants to, and the fact that for the most part, she's a good deal more level-headed and rational than Harry and Ron. Even the way she went out with McLaggen just to piss off Ron was a very deliberate, rational decision. I love her more and more as the books go on.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Sirius Black hauled you in?! Wow! I had no idea!

I liked Sirius in GoF, I thought he was a really interesting character, smart, competent, and cool. I was a bit surprised at how quickly he went from knife-wielding psycho to substitute father figure in PoA, but by the time I read GoF, I thought, hey, he's not bad! He's pretty interesting, and what a sad story.

And then OotP really shocked me, just like you. I was quite astonished by the switch from in control adult to out of control teenager in terms of his behavior.

Y'know, I've really started to adore Remus. He has that naughty bit of sly humor, and he's just become more and more awesome as I read fanfiction.

After I read book six, I spent an entire week moping about, completely upset. One of my RL friends was stunned that I'd care so much; and honestly, I was a bit taken aback as well, but I think that I had spent so much time reading Snape and trying to get under his skin that when he killed Dumbledore I nearly had a heart attack because I just couldn't imagine it. I mean, I knew that Dumbledore was going to die in book six, I was absolutely convinced of it long before, but I had no clue that Snape would kill him.

I diverge on your opinion of Hermione, however. She becomes more and more irritating to me with each new book, and I just can't deal with her that well. She's done a lot of awful things to get to the ends she requires, and it's really turned me off in some ways. I mean, I understand that my view might be warped, but the blackmail thing in GoF really shocked me.

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

I think Remus as a character kind of reflects what Remus would be like as a real person: he doesn't jump out at you straight away as someone particularly interesting or special. It's only when you get to know him better, or have a think about him, (or reread the book!) that you start to notice all the great qualities he has.

I kinda like the fact that Hermione appears all goody-goody, but she can be really quite nasty when she feels it's warranted. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. :)