There's not much known about harpies in the HP universe, so I decided to play off of that concept and write a freeverse. This is my first time writing a freeverse, and it's rather fun (:

Russian Roulette: Harpy

Challenges by the Dozen: level six [write six fics, each in a different genre] #2

Claw Machine: guilty, empty, numb

Harpy.

What is a harpy, precisely?

(not what, but who? you could correct.)

Noun. "A ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body."

Were they ravenous? Or were they simply just too empty all the time?

Empty inside, empty outside.

Empty everywhere.

The harpies had gone numb to the pain of emptiness.

They filled up the holes inside of themselves more and more but there was a small cut somewhere; the sand kept slipping out of the funnel.

So it would be up to you to decide whether they were ravenous or just too empty.

Whether they were monsters, or just poor, helpless, and oppressed beings.

Whether they had souls, or had shed them. Or that they had had to shed them.

Were they filthy? Or had the awful experiences they had been through merely left scars wrapped all around their bodies?

If you were to look at the word 'filthy' in a physical sense, then yes indeed were the harpies guilty of being filthy. Their wings were torn and tattered; every inch of their bodies is engraved with mud and blood.

They look practically feral.

(and they are feral, you could argue. but you could also argue that feral is not an okay word to describe the harpies. they are more than wild and feral, you could argue.)

But filthy is often not used in just the physical sense of dirtiness. Often, filthy implies being absolutely wretched and having no morals.

And once again, it would be up to you to decide whether they were filthy on the inside, or whether they were tormented everywhere and ached to just fly free until the end of time.

Whether they were wretched and had no morals, or whether they were just too judged by the world that almost never got a glimpse of them.

They had a woman's head. That, indeed, is just fact. It is not up for question. But you can interpret so much more from this.

In human society itself, women often get the short end of the stick. There is a bias against them in the eyes of most humans. Not all, but it is (disgustingly) common.

Harpies are all women.

It only adds to the discrimination they face at the hands (or talons) of others. Sure, it may be only one reason. But it only fuels the flame and bias against them.

On a bird's body.

Indeed, to some, they believe it is absolutely abhorrent to have a female human's head attached to a grotesque bird of prey. It is deterrent of nature, they say.

And yet, you could argue back that perhaps harpies are the true ones, and humanity is the odd one out.

Do their wings flap violently in the duration of a battle filled with screeches? Or are they beautiful and majestic wings of an angel?

Maybe harpies aren't precisely angels, but maybe they aren't precisely horrid and evil monsters. Maybe they're just like us.

And, as always, it is up to you to decide. It is all in the eye of the beholder.

And if you can't quite decide, well, you always have the trusty book definition.

Noun. "A ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body."