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Harry Potter is a very inclusive fictional universe, with different cultures, races, sexualities and beliefs, throughout the books, films but more prominently in fans’ input on social media and their art. However, many fans have taken notice to the fact that there is very little,
if any, about characters with disabilities, whether it would be mental or physical. No book series is perfect and I’m not going to pretend that Harry Potter is a gift sent from heaven, certainly not with the author we were given, but for such an inclusive universe created by the
fans, you would expect to see more canon compliant fanfictions of at least one character, either a reinterpreted version of a canon character or a completely new one, with a disability and how they manage the events that take place.
Some people argue that Lycanthropy (being a
Some people argue that Lycanthropy (being a
werewolf) is a form of disability in the Wizarding World and I agree but not wholeheartedly. From what we know of Remus’ experiences with hid Lycanthropy, it’s written and read as if it’s a chronic illness instead of a metaphor for HIV (which is very homophobic, that should’ve
been our first hint) and a lot of fanfictions pick up on this, often using this as a part of Remus’ character in disability Muggle AUs. A favourite of mine is Text Talk by merlywhirls on AO3, in which Remus has cystic fibrosis, Frank Longbottom has Type 1 diabetes and Alice
Fortescue (as she is not yet married to Frank in this AU) has rheumatoid arthritis, so I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a Wolfstar fanfiction that has a disability/chronic illness element to it. As for the canon universe, our only disabled character is Alastor
“Mad-Eye” Moody and, well, we don’t know much about him. There could’ve been such a great opportunity for a disabled student at Hogwarts who Harry and co. could’ve had regular contact with. This disabled character did not have to be a main character either, they could have been a
character like Lavender Brown, who we’ve known since the first book but was only majorly prominent in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Another argument made about the lack of disabilities in Harry Potter is that the Healers of St. Mungo’s could just ‘magic’ the disability
away. No. I know we don’t live in a world of magic but disabilities are far more complex than that. Every disability is caused in different ways and most of the time, it is permanent damage to the body. If it is permanent, how would magic fix it?
What would happen if Charlie
What would happen if Charlie
Weasley had his legs bitten off while he was working with dragons? In reality (although dragons, sadly, are not real), Charlie would be wearing prosthetic legs with crutches or would have to use a wheelchair. What about blind Muggleborns? Are the textbooks available in Braille?
How would deaf-mutes be able to cast spells before N.E.W.T level when they learn non-verbal spells? Would there be support for students with autism or Asperger’s? There’s even a CANON spell that when cast on a flight of stairs, transforms into a ramp. Yes, I will be abusing this
knowledge I have. This could have been such an easy input in any of the books. But this is J.K. Rowling we’re talking about, I wouldn’t put her being an ableist TERF past her.
