padfootdidit:

In the past two weeks I have read about a dozen fics where Lily is ‘prudish’ or ‘stuck up’ or ‘a goody two-shoes’ etc. etc. In the majority of these fics, the plot has been James, and/or the the other three Marauders, trying to break her out of her ‘shell’.

Let me tell you a thing. There are seven books in the series, Lily is mentioned in every one. And yet it takes only one quote to completely prove that Lily was not prudish or stuck up or little miss perfect or a teacher’s pet.

“Lily Evans. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl. I used to tell her she ought to have been in my house. Very cheeky answers I used to get back, too.” - Horace Slughorn (page 70/1 of HBP)

This one quote shows that Lily was the complete opposite of how she is portrayed in many fics. I’ll start with the obvious bit.

“Vivacious, you know.”

The definition of 'vivacious’ (taken from Collins English Dictionary) is as follows:

1. full of high spirits and animation; lively or vital
2. (obsolete) having or displaying tenacity of life

That right there shows that Lily appreciated life. She lived it fully and enjoyed herself. But then you have the synonyms of vivacious (taken from google define):

lively, animated, full of life, spirited, high-spirited, effervescent, bubbling, bubbly, ebullient, buoyant, sparkling, scintillating, light-hearted, carefree, happy-go-lucky, jaunty, merry, happy, jolly, joyful, full of fun, full of the joys of spring, cheery, cheerful, perky, sunny, airy, breezy, bright,enthusiastic, irrepressible, vibrant, vivid, vital, zestful, energetic, dynamic, vigorous, full of vim and vigour, lusty

Right there, in that one word, we are shown a character who is the complete opposite of most fanon portrayals. She is not boring and straight-laced; she is light-hearted and cheerful. She is not rude and uptight; she is cheery and airy. She is not a goody two shoes; she is zestful and energetic and vigorous. She is also dynamic. I think a separate definition is needed for that last word:

1. (of a person) positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas.

She was bright and happy and enthusiastic and vibrant. And lastly, my favourite bit of the definition of 'vivacious’. Lily was lusty. She was not a prude. She had a sex drive; the majority of teenage girls do. And she was pretty, okay, it’s doubtful that before James she had never had any sexual experiences (whether it was just kissing or more). Please do not write Lily as a prudish bitch when we have something that so clearly tells us differently.

See how much you can get from that? And that’s just one word. The rest of the the quote, gives us so much more.

The minor part of the quote, is the following:

“Charming girl.”

A simple definition of 'charming’ is pleasant or attractive. Like with vivacious however, the synonymstell us more.

delightful, pleasing, pleasant, agreeable, likeable, endearing,lovely, lovable, adorable, cute, sweet, appealing, attractive, good-looking,prepossessing

I will say this again; Lily was not a bitch. People liked her. People loved her.

My second favourite part of the quote comes after this. It’s very revealing and also something I haven’t seen a lot of in fics. I also don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned before. 

“I used to tell her she ought to have been in my house.”

Lily was, of course, a Gryffindor. Slughorn was head of Slytherin house. Two very different houses with very different attributes. Both are familiar to most of us but I just want to remind you of some specific traits for Slytherin.

Slytherin: “Those cunning folk use any means, / To achieve their ends.”, “And power-hungry Slytherin, / Loved those of great ambition.“  The Sorting Hat

Yes, Lily was good natured and kind and likeable. From this though, we learn more. Whilst Slughorn could have also thought Lily belonged in Slytherin due to her excellent Potions skills (something Slytherin is generally renowned for), there’s an extremely high possibility Slughorn saw Slytherin traits in Lily.

Meaning Lily was intelligent and cunning and had ambition. And when you put this next to what we already know about Lily, it makes a lot of sense.

I mean, she joined an organisation with the aim of bringing down the most powerful dark wizard. An organization made up of thirty of so people that was going against Voldemort and everyone he had behind him;

”In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he’d bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures.“ - Sirius Black (page 88 of OotP)

She joined this small organization - as a muggle born; the 'race’ Voldemort wanted to eradicate - that wanted to bring Voldemort’s regime down to the floor. If that’s not ambition I don’t know what is. Obviously you can also use the examples of her cleverness with information she’d never seen before she was eleven.

Slughorn saw Slytherin traits in her. Ambition and cunning and cleverness and perseverance. 

Finally, the last part of the quote:

”Very cheeky answers I used to get back, too.“

This is canon evidence that Lily talked back to teachers. In my experience, goody two shoes do not talk back to teachers. She was cheeky and spoke back and voiced her opinions. Don’t think for a second she sat quietly in class.

So, to conclude, with one quote, you can prove that Lily Evans was a multidimensional character with vivaciousness and cunning and cheek. If anyone says she was a boring, straight laced, prude - fight them.

I’m kidding, don’t - instead educate them with one quote.