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

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I think I had a crush on Professor Lupin almost from the minute we met him in PoA -- he just seemed so kind in an utterly unfussy, unflashy way, and cheerful in the face of incredible hardship, and yet he had a wicked sense of humor and just enough of a steely streak to keep him from being too saintly. I didn't automatically think "I want to see more of this character," though. I took it for granted until OotP came out that we weren't getting any more, because none of the DADA teachers from previous years had ever reappeared, so it wasn't worth thinking about. OotP was the book that really made me impatient for more Lupin, more Marauder-era backstory, more everything. All of a sudden Harry's world was darker and more complicated, and the pieces were fitting together in unexpected ways, and I was dying to find out where it was all going. I was also dying to talk about the book, so once the initial buzz of excitement had worn off, I started seeking out fan sites, and that's how I learned about fanfic and all its possibilities.

I read just about everything Remus-centric I could find for the first few weeks, but I learned fairly quickly that a) not all of it was good; b) much of it was slash, and while some of it was very well-written, I just don't like contemplating the prospect that my literary crushes might be gay. So I became more selective in my reading, and I also figured out that if I wanted there to be more of the kind of stories I wanted to read out there, I was going to have to write them ... so I did.

HBP did change how I read the character to some extent, but I fell in love with him all over again thanks to the "furry little problem" scene and also the way he takes the time to assure Hermione and McGonagall that Dumbledore's death isn't their fault, as shattered as he is.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I didn't really notice Remus that much, until PoA. After I saw PoA I fell in love with David's portrayal of Remus. He did such a great job, just as you say. On rereads I found that I liked the character more and more, and I've become very enamored of him lately. He's smart and sly, and everything you say rings so true!

And I agree about HBP. His kindness shines through.