InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "PAWPRINT!"

Beth H (bethbethbeth) wrote in hp_beholder,
@ 2012-05-18 12:17:00

Entry tags:

beholder_2012, binns/walburga, cuthbert binns, fic, het, rating:pg, walburga black

FIC: " Professor C. Binns: A Personal History" for odogoddess
Recipient: psyfic
Author: ???
Title: Professor C. Binns: A Personal History
Rating: PG
Pairings: Cuthbert Binns/Walburga Black, Walburga Black/Orion Black
Word Count: ~13,300
Warnings/Content Information (Highlight to View): *Strong language (one use), one moment of domestic violence *
Summary:Transcribed from back cover of book:

Professor Cuthbert Binns (living: 1865-1963, haunting: 1963- ) is the leading Magical Historian of his day. He has published widely on topics ranging from, 'The origins of magic in native rock art,' to 'Wizard-Muggle relations through the ages', and was awarded an Order of Merlin (second class) in 1936, when his seminal work, 'A History of the magical world in 100,000 pages' became the best-selling Historical text on record.

This volume, however, is - for the first time - autobiographical in nature. It is thus somewhat experimental in nature, but serves to remind both the author and the reader that we each build the fabric of History, in our own ways, however small.

"Being in love with a person is more difficult than being in love with a book. You can carry a book with you wherever you go, but a person moves around on their own, and one is never sure where they are or where one will see them, next. Also, books get older in a predictable way: if you take good care of them they don't seem very different at all - aside from the odd scratch on the cover or a looseness to the spine - but people can change their thoughts and feelings and opinions, such that what was once written there disappears altogether and is replaced by information of an entirely different sort.

That is why people are so difficult."

Author: C. Binns.
Dictation: Gluey the House elf.
Production: A.P.W.B. Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Published, 1964; Revised, 1991.

Author's Notes: Cuthbert, Walburga and Orion belong, of course, to JKR. This tale is also somewhat inspired by 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon.

Many thanks to

bethbethbeth for once again running this marvellous fest, and to

psyfic - whose request included 'friendship' and 'a meeting of the minds' - for giving me the freedom to write this.

Professor C. Binns: A Personal History

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songquake
2012-05-28 09:34 pm UTC (link)

I opened this as the last (I think) story I needed to read in

hp_beholder this year, and left it open over the weekend, and so I am not sure at all who you are, Mystery Author, even though everyone else presumably knows.

ANYWAY. I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this! It is really hurt-y. Cuthbert's matter-of-fact way of looking at the world, and his confusion and consternation with how people don't tell the truth all the time is so well-described. I love how his dad looks after him, and want to swat his sister. It seems like Walburga really did save Cuthbert in so many ways, and it makes so much sense for Cuthbert to assess himself as having fallen in love with her. In his world, she is so sensible. And so trapped. And since Cuthbert clings to facts rather than hope, he can't see any way out.

The way Filius assists him is likewise so well-drawn. From what I understand from folks I've known on the autism spectrum, "learning the rules" is so helpful, and learning things like what facial expressions and non-literal statements mean are like a key to Cuthbert here. I love also how he comes to understand the reason for people telling stories that aren't strictly factual.

This is a phenomenal story, and I regret that it took me so long to give it a chance!

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