lord of the lectern: a riddle-era hp au

kaleidoscopique

Edgepeasant
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. One post per day
  2. 1-3 posts per week
  3. One post per week
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
Post-apocalyptic, dystopian, politics, supernatural, historical (1920s, Victorian, Regency, revolutionary eras, WW2, etc), crime, dark themes, splashes of romance

Fandoms: Lore Olympus, Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, Hannibal, Bates Motel, Death Note, Batman verse, Peaky Blinders



lord of the lectern
~ a Riddle-era HP AU ~




  • It’s September of 1950. In the Muggle world, vacant bomb sites and prefabs stand testament to recent destruction. Orwell’s 1984 is gaining popularity, the welfare state is rising, and resources are scarce. War is still so fresh that the very idea of another one seems inconceivable.​

    Wizarding Britain is of a similar mindset. Though talk of Grindelwald’s defeat has finally died, though the front page of the Prophet is dominated by a sex scandal, nobody has forgotten. Life is lived with an awareness of its transience. Modernity is in vogue. Muggle Rights activists have gained a foothold in government, and extremism is silenced. But hatred is not so easily vanquished, especially when integral to identity; it has merely been relegated to closed doors and fervent whispers. Pureblood society values tradition, and it is slow to change.​

    At Hogwarts, a new school year is dawning. The elderly Armando Dippet occupies the Headmaster’s office. The papers have finally stopped pestering Albus Dumbledore for an account of his famous duel. Life goes on as usual for the students, most of whom are more concerned with dating and exams than political context. But whispers of a new and striking addition to the staff dominate the current discussion.​

    Tom Riddle graduated five years earlier in a blaze of glory and a shower of academic awards, only to vanish from Britain after his teaching application was rejected. When he reappeared last June, features gaunt and eyes much too old for twenty-three, Dippet was desperate; the DADA professor had walked out a week earlier, leaving the position vacant for the fifth time in as many years. Riddle was hired on the spot, despite Dumbledore’s vehement opposition.​

    Most vaguely recall a dark-haired, well-mannered schoolboy. Some suspect his reasons for teaching are less than altruistic. A select few, who now refer to him by a different name, know this for a fact.​

    Though Dippet could not know it, his hiring decision will forever alter the course of history.​

    In sum: This is a Harry Potter AU, in which a young Tom Riddle/Voldemort returns to recruit at Hogwarts under pretense of a teaching post. Wizarding politics, romance, and buckets of drama are sure to crop up as loyalties are questioned and limits are tested. May contain themes of violence, language, and racist wizards.​

    Both students and staff (with the exceptions of Riddle, Dumbledore, and Dippet) are up for grabs. OCs are welcome, as are CCs from Riddle’s timeline. CCs born before 1960 are also acceptable with altered timelines. For example, you could play a sixteen-year-old Narcissa, provided you build a logical backstory and relationships to existing characters, and that nobody has claimed either of her parents. Our timeline must be logical, but it need not match up precisely with canon.​

    important links
    discord (ooc)
    in-character (coming soon!)


  • Requirements:

    • Be familiar with Harry Potter lore, and willing to research any gaps in your knowledge. Though this is an alternate timeline universe, the setting remains the same, and is key to creating a believable story.
    • Be capable of evocative, multi-paragraph replies which drive the plot forwards. Quality over quantity. Shorter posts are perfectly acceptable for dialogue/action.
    • Post once per character, per week. If you repeatedly miss this deadline you will be asked to leave, as it isn’t fair to fellow RPers. Exceptions may be granted under extenuating circumstances.
    • Be committed. If you're not sure that this RP is for you, ask. If you don't have the time, please save us both the hassle of applying and then dropping.


      Roleplaying:

    • You are encouraged to write extensive 1x1 interactions via Google Docs or Discord, then edit into a single post before posting in the IC thread. This helps to maintain a good pace to the plot, and gives you the option to write shorter back-and-forth dialogue.
    • While the focus of this RP is on plot and character development, sexual content is permitted between consenting writers, provided it adheres to site rules and is wrapped in NSFW spoiler tags. PMs are another option.


      Characters:

    • Your character must be 16+. Both students and staff (with the exceptions of Riddle and Dippet) are up for grabs. OCs are welcome, as are CCs from Riddle’s timeline. CCs born before 1960 are also acceptable with altered timelines. For example, you could play a sixteen-year-old Snape, provided you create a logical backstory and relationships to existing characters. Obviously, if someone already claimed his school-age parent, he’d be off the table.
    • Doubling is permitted. Additional characters may be granted based on proven posting abilities.
    • Characters must share a relationship/history with at least two other characters, established prior to the beginning of our story (see ‘apply’ tab for details).
    • No Mary Stus/Gary Sus. By that token, if you want to play the veela-werewolf-animagus-metamorphmagus twin sister of Lucius Malfoy, you’re going to have to justify that decision, and you’re going to need one hell of a persuasive argument.
  • characters:

    Staff:

    Blackstag, Wilhelm - Care of Magical Creatures
    Dippet, Armando - Headmaster
    Dumbledore, Albus - Transfigurations
    Riddle, Tom - DADA
    Slughorn, Horace - Potions


    Students:

    Dubhuir, Saoirse - Slytherin



  • ~Character bios should be posted in this thread. You’ll get a message from me either approving your character, requesting an edit, or politely declining your application. If we haven't written together previously, please provide a linked sample. Currently, we have room for 5 RPers.~

    This is your chance to get creative, and to persuade me that you and your character will be a good fit. Both CCs and OCs require a bio, though it needn't be long. I’m looking for three-dimensional characters: people with strengths and weaknesses, motivations and fears, beliefs and doubts. You may write out their backstory, or allow it to come out organically over the course of our roleplay. You may expand the character sheet if you find it helps to get a feel for the role.

    Both students and staff (with the exceptions of Riddle, Dippet, and Dumbledore) are up for grabs. OCs are welcome, as are CCs from Riddle’s timeline. CCs born before 1960 are also acceptable with altered timelines. For example, you could play a sixteen-year-old Narcissa, provided you build a logical backstory and relationships to existing characters, and that nobody has claimed either of her parents. Our timeline must be logical, but it need not match up precisely with canon.

    character sheet
    Name:
    Age (16+):
    Year (5-7th, if student) or Job (if staff; see 'the cast' tab):
    House:
    Appearance (art or image fc):
    Relevant beliefs/ideology/politics:
    Motivation/s (what drives their actions? May change throughout the story):
    Personality:
    Bio:
    *Key relationships:


    *Characters must share a relationship/history with at least two other characters, established prior to the beginning of our story. They could be relatives, or exes, or maybe they’re near-strangers who share a secret; whatever you like. Please keep in mind that Hogwarts is not that big, and so all of our characters should at least be acquainted. Once your application has been approved, you are encouraged to chat with other group members through PM or Discord to establish relationships, and to edit bios accordingly.

 
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Name: Wilhelm (Will) Blackstag

Age: 26

Job: Care of Magical Creatures

House: Horned Serpent (Ilvermorny)

Relevant beliefs/ideology/politics: Will understands creatures more than people. His bitter attempts to stay out of politics would be futile if he didn't have so many well crafted excuses. The CMC teacher dances around the arguments and squabbles, often trying to align himself with a neutral side. America has yet to be truly be pulled into the magical feuds of Europe, but little by little it will be involved. The stubborn new young teacher may consider finding refuge in Switzerland by the time war actually breaks again. Will has no deep affection for humans. He has seen their cruelty to their own beasts, so their reaction to the magical creatures in his world could be disastrous. Though there are some in the magical realm that treat animals in the same way, most have a better understanding for the special beasts that Will protects.

Motivation/s (what drives their actions? May change throughout the story): Magical animal protection. War in the magical and non-magical worlds threatens the lives of all creatures. He wants to teach the students to respect them and the natural world. They can choose their side, but they still need to respect nature and where their magic comes from - the natural world.

Personality: Antisocial. Stand-offish but not without compassion. Normally, he seems prickly. He helps when he can, but scurries away if things get a little too crowded. He is stubborn when he finds something he cannot leave alone. There have been numerous arguments between himself and his flat mate concerning certain creatures needing a "home".

Bio: Wilhelm is from America. Born and raised to Auron Goldstein and Orensia Blackstag

During a trip to meet with his father and Uncle Newt the train derailed in the snow storm. His mother was fatally wounded, the young boy watching her bleed out, his injuries also too great. He would have died as well had it not been for the appearance of a black unicorn. Many believe they were just the wild fantasies of a boy going through grief and bleeding out. When he was old enough he took his mother's last name.

Though he was a very studious young man he preferred the company of tamed doxies and the quiet heard of thestral that frequented the woods near his home in Foxglove, Virginia. After graduating from Ilvermorny he traveled to England for some in depth research on European dragons and basilisks. He always loved the reptiles, but they were always touchy. Drowning in his studies, he failed to secure a proper living salary in the new country. Still clumsy and prone to an irritating fear of trains he was nearly penniless when approached by a certain retiring Care of Magical Creatures professor and asked if he would like a job.

*Key relationships:
 
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Name: Saoirse Dubhuir

Age (16+): 16

Year (5-7th, if student) or Job (if staff): 5th year

House: Slytherin

Appearance (art or image fc):
Saoirse.jpg

Relevant beliefs/ideology/politics: To Saoirse, the eradication of the muggleborns doesn’t make sense, she’s a classist, and will maintain that those whose lineage can be traced back for generations, can wield phenomenal power if they have the discipline to unlock it. However, she can conceded that some who come from muggle families, can often show an adept skill for magic, and when properly trained, can turn out to be adequate witches and Wizards. Finding a way to locate magical children earlier on, could mean raising them in families who can nurture magic better than the children being left to be raised by muggles, and would eventually mean stronger bloodlines in the centuries to come, rather dwindle their numbers and magic from inbreeding too frequently.

Motivation/s (what drives their actions? May change throughout the story): Saoirse was raised as a soldier to be, with her father and mother committed to Grindelwald’s war, several branches of magic had been made available to Saoirse before she had even held her own wand. Her desire to learn more obscure magic continues to motivate her seeking out strange and often banned branches of magic, obscured and censored by a government that, to Saoirse, ripped her family apart. While she continues to devout her spare time to appease her father, who is convinced Gellert will somehow send word of an escape, or a successor, Saoirse wishes to one day travel the world again and discover old and new magics that may one day benefit herself and others who wish to know more about the power they had been born with.

Personality: Saoirse does not limit herself to the gender stereotypes of the decade, she doesn’t see herself with any natural maternal instincts, and is very imbedded in her studies, both at home and school. Her past had been well documented before she arrived at Hogwarts, and not having been brought up in the British Pureblood circle, meant the names of her fellow Slytherins had only been recognisable from books. Saoirse finds making friends difficult, her beliefs on muggleborns and bloodlines makes it hard for her to be fully accepted into the social circles that had formed in the formative years, however, over time she learned to keep quiet, earn house points, and slowly, learn the correct social cues of the time.

Bio: The Dubhuirs are an old Irish Pureblood family, hailing from Ireland and known to have deep connection to the Dark Arts, keeping up olde magic traditions that hailed from the magical creatures who had made Ireland their home. Saoirse however, was born in Nurmengard, where she spent most of her childhood, her parents deep supporters of Grindelwald, until her mother had gotten scared, worried that Gellert’s cause was losing momentum, tried to escape with her. Her father, Curran, found her packing her things, and killed her in front of their daughter.

When Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, Curran was taken by the British Aurors, where he claimed to have been under the effects of the Imperius curse. With no way to prove the validity of his claims, and indeed, the preserved opinion of blood purity, Curran was released under the conditions that he was to remain in Britain with his daughter, who was to be enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The terms were accepted, and Saoirse started school not a month after the meeting. While Saoirse had been sent to school, Curran spent his time starting to work the social circles of the British pureblood scene, some were familiar, having quietly followed along with Grindelwald's campaign, but it was there he had begun to hear whispers of a man called Tom Riddle, younger, powerful and had apparently charmed everyone he had met, Curran was curious, and began to write to Tom while he was abroad, wanting to know more about the man.

Saoirse wasn’t used to the idea of so many children in one place, with little experience in her childhood, she kept mostly to herself, her head buried in old texts, trying to learn what she could while going through the basics at school. Sorted into Slytherin, she enjoyed the dungeons, finding different places to read or sneak around. Slowly she began to open up to her schoolmates, once she had found a way to talk to them without beliefs spurring arguments. Her studious nature led to often earning her house points for her work and she enjoyed teaching those who wanted to learn, some of the magics that she had been taught.

Her past hadn’t been hidden, her father’s ‘trial’ was well publicized, and she often refuses to answer any questions about Grindelwald, or her life before coming to Hogwarts, many know that pressuring Saoirse about her past is the quickest way to end up in the hospital wing if you haven’t earned her trust, however, to those she considered good friends, or perhaps if she wanted something anther student had, she would offer small bits on information to gain favour and acceptance.

War has faded from Saoirse’s mind, she’s curious about a world that now isn’t on fire, she’s learning to lighten up and enjoy the comforts of not having to be on guard so often. Although it has taken a while, her fifth year offers her a more mature curriculum to satisfy her need to learn, however, her focus is also on her social skills and status, wanting to be a part of the clique that will essentially control the next generations of purebloods.
 
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~ Tom Marvolo Riddle ~​

Age: 23
Job: newly-hired DADA instructor
House: Slytherin (former)

Relevant beliefs/ideology/politics: Tom believes whatever is convenient at a given time, so long as it fits with his experiences. While his hatred of Muggles was once limited to a few specific orphans with meaty fists and an intolerance for difference, school days spent in the company of Pureblood peers taught him that professed belief in blood supremacy was his ticket into the circles of the successful. Most of his ideals were borrowed out of convenience, but by now he’s forged them into an ideology so well-rounded that he has convinced himself it was organic. His core belief is that he deserves more than what he has, and that he is destined for greatness.

Motivations: Tom is motivated by fear: of oblivion, of mundanity, of obscurity. He is also driven by desire: for power, for respect, for a connection to a past of which he feels cheated. He regards humanity as weakness, both in himself and in others: emotion, dependence, and physical need are obstacles to overcome. He wants the very foundations of the world to tremble beneath the force of his ideas. More concretely, he’s currently head-hunting potential recruits for his blossoming organization.

Personality: On the outside, he’s often whatever he needs to be, though pretenses aren’t so important as they once were when they were all he had. Tom can be charming, witty, and polite. He’s good at reading people, but his perception is limited to those things he deems useful. Around the few people who know him properly, he’s also a pedant, a megalomaniac, and a sadist. He’s prone to fits of anger and pageantry (especially if you poke his ego). Though he’d never admit it, he often feels inexplicably empty if he stands still long enough for emotion to catch up.

Bio: Tom came into the world with a sense of superiority, a suspicion that he was extraordinary, and the certainty that he’d been dealt an unfair hand. He never fit in with other children, and never particularly wanted to. Snakes slithered under the dormitory door to whisper to him and he dreamed of broader horizons than the walls of the orphanage in which he grew up. It was a lonely childhood.

When Dumbledore arrived to inform him that he was a wizard, it was not a shock, but the most logical of explanations for his peculiar abilities and innate sense of difference. That day, rather than a lesson on the dangers of thievery, Dumbledore inadvertently taught him the importance of playing cards close to one’s chest. Of hiding true emotions behind a mask.

Arriving on Platform 9 ¾, drinking in the scene with wide eyes, he felt at last that he was in the right place. At first he was concerned that he would be impossibly far behind, but between ambition, innate talent, and a rabid hunger for magical knowledge he soon shot to the top of the class. Thanks to the adults in his childhood, he knew a lack of connection to others would be negatively perceived, and so he cultivated the appearance of popularity, of respect for superiors. He developed an interest in magicks of the mind, and a fascination with leaders (like Grindelwald) who rose to power on a cult of personality.

In his teens, he was shaped by the discovery of his parentage. This led first to an ill-fated family reunion, then to an ancestral supremacist worldview which he tried on for size, culminating in a near-fiasco involving a basilisk. It also set the stage for a lifetime of prejudice, and his Slytherin peers only reinforced the political expedience of bigotry. During this time, pulling strings and fostering loyalties went from hobby to obsession, influenced by a newfound self-importance and an ever-grander vision, and vindicated by the discovery of the key to immortality. His many transgressions, forays into forbidden magic, and antisocial tendencies were well-disguised.

Upon graduation, he applied to remain at Hogwarts as a teacher; it was the only place he’d ever felt at home. Dippet suggested he return once he’d had a chance to experience life outside of school. And so he left Britain. His obsessions carried him from the forests of Albania to the steppes of Russia. He acquired knowledge, and power, and the whispers of a reputation. Somewhere along the way his darkness blossomed until he could no longer tell who was in control. His political goals and organisation took clearer (and ever-more-radical) shape, though they are a mere vehicle to power.

And then, last June, he returned to England. He revived his network of contacts, and accepted the Hogwarts teaching post which he had originally been denied. But, while he’d once flirted with the idea of teaching in earnest, his current plans have little to do with educating young minds and everything to do with their impressionability. His motives are not common knowledge, but he’s moved far beyond tiptoeing around authority; buoyed by freedom, he is bolder than he once might have been. Dippet, who is approaching his three hundredth birthday, remains oblivious.

At the time our story begins, Tom has created four horcruxes.

Key relationships: TBA
 
Name: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Age: 69

Job: Transfiguration Teacher

House: Gryffindor Head of House

Appearance:


20B6F5C2-4B3B-4D37-9895-430B223C2AF8.jpeg

Bio: It has been five years since Dumbledore managed to defeat his opposition in Gellert. Despite the praises and the accolades, Dumbledore couldn’t help but mourn the loss of his once lover, blaming himself for the actions of the past and vowing to never again, let someone stray so far from the path of darkness.

His commitment to himself lead him to turn down Ministry positions, there had been demands for him to run fo Minister, but Albus was firm in his decision to stay with his teaching post. He adored teaching, some part of him had always been keen to share his knowledge, and he enjoyed watching young witches and wizards grow before him.

It didn’t hurt that being so close to the children meant that he could keep an eye on several who he hopes he can help set off on the right path in life, feeling as though he had failed twice already, one having passed, another still concerning him, even more so that the student in particular had been hired, despite his protests. His only hope is that with Tom Riddle once again attending Hogwarts, he will be able to monitor the man closely, and ensure that his intentions truly have changed.
 
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