Harry potter and Romilda Vane

[drewder]

@Kimstu

Where do you get the idea that Rowling “avoids stereotypical gender roles” in non-romance situations? That’s totally not true, as shown by thousands of examples.

To name but a few: Teachers at Hogwarts call students by their last names if male but “Miss [lastname]” if female.

Nit pick Male students are almost always called Mr. (lastname) by the professors. It’s the students who refer to them by last name only.

[drewder]

@Kimstu

See my above fanwank about the actual permitted uses of love potions being strictly consensual in nature. We prejudiced Muggles, of course, naturally leap to the conclusion that those horrible witches must be doing something bad.

Well the only known use in the books is a love potion being used for nefarious purposes.

[Andy_L]

@oft_wears_hats

Recall that Voldemort was conceived while his father was under the effects of a love potion. The book did not suggest that such behavior was acceptable. The book seems to make a distinction based on consequences. Ron just got a little love sick for a bit, then was cured; no harm done. Had Romilda had her way with him or Harry, I suspect that the book would have treated it far more seriously.

I have seen the rather grim fan theory that there is no such thing as a Muggle-born - rather all children believed to be Muggle-born are the result of conception under the influence of love potions, followed by the application of Memory charms.

[Kimstu]

@drewder

Well the only known use in the books is a love potion being used for nefarious purposes.

That’s what makes my suggestion a fanwank: if we actually had canon authority for the full context and ramifications of love-potion use in the Potterverse, we wouldn’t need to fall back on speculations.

@drewder

Nit pick Male students are almost always called Mr. (lastname) by the professors.

Nope. Sometimes, but by no means “almost always”, at least in the books. It’s commonplace for almost any teacher to call a male student by surname only, but it’s literally unheard-of for any female student to be so addressed. The books are full of examples like the following:

“Weasley, straighten your hat,” Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. “Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair.”

“You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I’m talking […] Potter, you next.”

“No, not another word of complaint, Potter! And as for you, Miss Johnson, you will confine your shouting matches to the Quidditch pitch in future […]”

“Up you go, Macmillan…Careful there, Miss Fawcett…”