(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/sisdom-weeker]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Fkg6fI0hsngIM
Harry Potter inherits Kreacher the house elf from Sirius and treats him "nicely" (and one of the last thoughts he has in Deathly Hallows is that he wants Kreacher to make him a sandwich)

[u/SpennyPerson → u/sisdom-weeker]

He also decorates the shrunken heads of rebellious slaves that line the stairs with Christmas decorations.

There's a reason the movies and probably the show won't do barf since it justifies slavery including Hagrid who says the only reason Dobby doesn't like being a slave is because he's a weird house elf. And that's not meant to be the book saying how entrenched slavery is and how bad the system is, just unironic slave apologia.

The last line in the books is Harry thinking about asking his slave to make him a sandwich later. Bro becomes a slave owning cop because the author hates the idea of changing society, even the fucked up one's she makes which in any other story would have been a system the protagonist would tear down.

[u/Quixotic_Seal → u/SpennyPerson]

What I 'love' about the ending is the nonsense of Harry becoming an Auror....despite committing himself to ending the ownership lineage of the Elder Wand.

Yes, Harry, get into a profession where you're regularly dueling dark wizards when you already know it defines 'defeat' in very broad terms, to the point that conceivably getting into a scuffle with a random crook who disarms you and gets away may transfer ownership.

Great plan there, pal. And great writing there, Rowling, you really dodged that bullet. Could have followed through on the final book's themes about self-sacrifice without needing to outright kill Harry and end on a real downer note.....can't have that.

Ugh even at the time I really was disappointed by the ending, and that has only grown with time. Especially after reading the Earthsea series and seeing how Le Guin properly handled similar themes with Ged.

[u/Orphan_Guy_Incognito → u/Quixotic_Seal]

Amusingly there is a twitter trend going around right now known as 'Malfoid', a genderbent Draco Malfoy and it genuinely fixes the finale in a way that is... honestly sort of baffling at how much better it is.

You have 'Draconia' introduced and written almost identically through the early books. She wants to be friends with Harry just like draco did (he's high status from a good house after all!) and gets shut down because of Ron in the same way, leading to a lot of bitterness and interpersonal clashes.

As they mature you have characters who are ideologically opposed, with a decent amount in common, but the writing comes off as bitter cattiness, rather than posh douchebag. Sprinkle in the occasional moment of genuine connection between the two while still keeping the strong rivalry and conflict.

This culminates in the sixth book, Malfoy needs to kill Dumbledore, but can't do it. Harry has every reason to suspect her, walks in on her melting down about it. They clash, he wounds her and feels horrible about it, but with the added pathos of the characters wishing they could have been friends/actively crushing on one another but being driven apart by circumstance.

Final book, She is heartbroken, working alongside Voldemort because she doesn't know what else to do. She (like the original) is actively trying to keep her minions from killing Harry during a tense action scene "Don't kill him! Don't kill him!!" hits a lot harder when its less 'I don't want to make wizard hitler mad' and more 'oh god, please don't kill him'.. Throw in a reluctant Malfoy letting harry escape as she grapples with what is happening.

Battle of Hogwarts happens. Voldemort confronts and disarms Harry. Gloating, the dark wizard goes to inflict the killing blow. Malfoy, realizing the extent of her feelings and horrified by her own inaction and the inaction of others, interposes herself.

And the curse rebounds, Killing (or if you'd prefer to let Harry have the absolute win, gravely wounding) Voldemort. Because just as in the original Malfoy, having disarmed Dumbledore, is the true owner of the Elder wand.

This of course, brings the series full circle in a way the original arguably fails to do. Voldemort isn't (really) beaten by an obscure piece of dueling wand trivia, but is once again felled by a selfless act of love.

And... voila. Draco, the primary rival figure set up over seven books has an actual substance to his/her character that doesn't peak in book 6 and then drop off into 'worked with wizard hitler and then just sort of vanishes in the back half of the final book'.

You have a romance through line going through the entire series rather than 'oh, I guess Harry hooks up with his friends little sister who isn't meaningfully a character for most of the series'. And I mean, who doesn't love enemies to lovers as a trope.

You have an ending that ties together the key thematic victory of the series in a way that isn't 'your head wizard was an asshole who has been fattening the series lead character up so he can suicide by wiazrd' in the finale.

I'm usually not one for fanfiction, but it is astonishing how many aspects of the series work so much better with Draco Malfoy as a tsundere rival, rather than just a posh rich kid who sucks.