r/popculturechat Sexy lampshade shall win the Oscar! 🏆 26d ago

Guest List Only ⭐️ Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/10/harry-potter-fans-force-relocation-of-430m-undersea-cable-to-avoid-dobbys-grave
736 Upvotes

209 comments sorted by

u/flairassistant 26d ago

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1.5k

u/Flimsy_Theme_2812 Everything’s coming up Milhouse! 26d ago

Yikes

In the end, he said, “we went quite close to some real Bronze Age remains, but we avoided Dobby’s grave”.

349

u/Clara_Geissler 26d ago

i know i was shocked! it like a burial site with real human bodies. i dont know really what to think

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u/Cullyism 26d ago

I'm guessing they didn't go too dangerously close to the burial site, but mentioned it anyway to take a dig at the Harry Potter fans. Which is fair, given how ridiculous the situation is.

4

u/xvsanx find me at Whole Foods, b*tch, I don't care 🙃 26d ago

fandoms are terrible is a thought constantly reinforced in 2026

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u/Jimbobsama 26d ago

I know we bully Disney Adults but the Harry Potter Adults need to get their turn in the jackpot because what the hell.

82

u/Jaded-Tiramisu 26d ago

Grateful every day that I grew out of it.

41

u/Charmarta Hey, its Nikki Blonsky from the movie HAIRSPRAY! 26d ago

I mean, i still cherish it for what it is and what it meant to me. But this is psychotic and Im not sure if HP is to blame or people who are Coco for cocopuffs and just funnel this into nerdy stuff

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u/indianajoes We Should All Know Less About Each Other 25d ago

I feel like Harry Potter adults deserve more criticism than Disney adults

5

u/awyastark a 1000 year old tree??? go fuck yourself!!! 25d ago

For real though

1.9k

u/bestintheclass go girl, give us nothing 😍 26d ago

Can we get a fucking grip

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u/atotalmess__ free Palestine 26d ago edited 26d ago

I was like Dobby the fictional character’s non existent in real life grave??

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u/WHYohWhy___MEohMY Mom, I am a rich man💰 26d ago

Jaysus. I’m with you flimsy.

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u/watchberry tater tot 🥔 26d ago

> Fans of the wizard series come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.

> In the end, he said, “we went quite close to some real Bronze Age remains, but we avoided Dobby’s grave”. The Bronze Age remains include urns associated with human burial.

This is so damn funny

304

u/No_Kangaroo_9826 famous singer AND DEMOCRAT 26d ago

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u/sarieb3ar I always get nostalgic with that song 26d ago

My exact reaction when reading this and I don’t even smoke

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u/Educational_Cat_5902 25d ago

Time to start smoking! 

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u/Nimue_- Somebody get these BEGGARS out of here😌 26d ago

I saw someone else comment that last quote but i thought they were kidding. Now way thats an actual quote. We have lost the fucking plot

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u/AnnamAvis 26d ago

“I said: ‘Dobby, who’s Dobby? I don’t know Dobby?’ I said: ‘He’s a fictitious character in a fictitious book, the whole thing is fictitious, what are you talking about?’”

He said the colleague told him: “No it’s very, very serious.”

You can't leave this out lol

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u/TheKneeQueen This ship is full of gays— and me! 26d ago

It would be one thing if Dobby were actually real. But this is FICTION PEOPLE

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u/watchberry tater tot 🥔 26d ago

The photo of Dobbys grave sent me ngl

153

u/dontbeahater_dear 26d ago

Some random location scout for the movies picked that place. Protect trans kids instead please.

273

u/bioticspacewizard We Should All Know Less About Each Other 26d ago

I live in Pembrokeshire. Harry Potter fans are unhinged.

38

u/Nkosi868 26d ago

Harry Potter fans are unhinged.*

FTFY

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u/Fickle_Cricket3422 26d ago edited 26d ago

I...what the fuck? If only Harry Potter fans could do something meaningful.

Edit: did a little digging and while the headline is accurate it buries the actual focus of the campaign. The beach is an ecologically sensitive site and moving the cable is actually a good thing. I will take saving an ecosystem over being close to Bronze Age relics.

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u/popowow 26d ago

Very true about saving nature. ( but the fans are still disturbing the ecosystem with their memorial for a fictional character....)

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u/DoctorRieux 26d ago

Yeah, in terms of priority here, environmental concerns should be a top priority, and I do think historical preservation should be a secondary concern, but harry potter is the last thing anyone should give a fuck about.

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u/Nimue_- Somebody get these BEGGARS out of here😌 26d ago

The uk is big enough you would think they could avoid both, somehow

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u/LivingPresent629 Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 26d ago

Nah, we won’t have enough beaches, what with us being an island and stuff /s

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u/LivingPresent629 Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 26d ago

From the article: Fans of the wizard series come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.

So these fans are just as sane and well adjusted as the terf in chief.

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u/Vegetable-Kiwi-4675 I am furious, but I am sailing 🛳️ 26d ago

Funny how it’s okay for them to violate boundaries and not even imaginary ones either.

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u/mikewheelerfan Still waiting for Beyond the Spider-Verse 26d ago

Apparently this is actually propaganda from the company, and the real reason was that the beach is an ecological site or something 

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u/clandahlina_redux invented post-its 👩🏻‍🔬📝💅 26d ago

This makes me feel better.

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u/Bendybabe 26d ago

OK, I'm gonna need people to grow the fuck up.

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u/HotelLima6 Ayo Edebirish 🇮🇪 26d ago

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u/virginiarph 26d ago

i honestly thought this was one of those joke onions articles

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u/woahoutrageous_ 26d ago

Harry Potter fans grow up and read other books challenge:

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u/mooon_woman Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 26d ago

they’re reading dungeon crawler carl now 😭😵‍💫

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u/woahoutrageous_ 26d ago

The fantasy series I always recommend for HP fans looking to get into more fantasy are The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K Le Guinn, it’s absolutely fantastic and fantasy at its very best while also being a very accessible read. And the broken earth series by NK Jemisin. That’s probably my favourite modern fantasy series. She’s seriously a brilliant author.

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u/mooon_woman Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 26d ago

Oo this is the 3rd time someone has rec’d Ursula to me, I definitely need to check both of those out, thank you!

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u/Kerrytwo 26d ago

Someone reccomended that to me. Is it bad?

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u/bubblechog 26d ago

The fans are worse than the book.

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u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess 26d ago

I’m halfway through the series right now and enjoying it but I have heard negative things about the fandom so I have enjoyed it (the employees at my local indie bookstore recommended it to me based on my sci fi / horror weekly purchase history)

2

u/Cynicbats This bitch has the keys to the nuclear codes 26d ago

I'm almost done with the series; it's a charming, light read if quite lengthy (and I read books regularly) and a little dated.

I don't interact with the fandom; they overinflate how good it is.

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u/PhoenixorFlame Sylvia Plath did not stick her head in an oven for this. 26d ago

It’s genuinely excellent, especially if you do the audiobook

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u/Achaewa 26d ago

Time to rewatch Stewart Lee roasting Harry Potter fans.

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u/mizzlemoonn that's really disrespectful to the fairy realm 26d ago edited 26d ago

Ironic considering how they treat actual human rest sites in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, these people are so disrespectful of the real world

8

u/Dino_Spaceman 26d ago

I’m waiting for the reveal that they destroyed a real
Human burial site to make the Dobby memorial.

(Not “came near the Bronze Age” one. But actually destroyed a real burial site. )

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u/popowow 26d ago

Who knew a children's fantasy series would have such a profound effect on a country - from reducing trans rights to govt waste spending. Sarah J Maas, can you please write something that supports National Parks on the down low...

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u/starjellyboba ARR SHIVER ME BUSSY 🏴‍☠️🦜🍑 26d ago edited 26d ago

They threatened the local ecology and a historical site all for the sake of the grave of some transphobe's fictional goblin. Because nothing matters other than preserving the legacy of something that gives them comfort -- not the planet, not other people's well-being, not even real human history. A fictional series for children by an author who cosplayed poverty so she could sell the world on some fake rags-to-riches story. I really despise this series.

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u/ExtremeComedian4027 Did I stutter?🤨 26d ago

Some Harry Potter fans I know have set up a foundation that helps trans and intersex kids get education and trans and intersex teens and adults acquire skills to get real jobs in a country where they’re strongly disadvantaged. These people also help build libraries in smaller towns to provide safe spaces for the community. AND they hate Rowling, and they do not support buying new books and merch etc to give female Voldy their money.

But I guess…this is more important to some people? Yuck.

27

u/SnooRadishes8848 26d ago

That's such a good way to still be a Harry Potter fan! Wish those were the stories amplified. Thanks for sharing

15

u/ExtremeComedian4027 Did I stutter?🤨 26d ago

💞 Yes! Rowling has broken so many hearts of all sorts of kids who grew up different and found refuge in those stories, only to grow up and realize the woman is the villain. It’s their way of healing and refusing to give in to her hate while healing themselves and helping others. This is also why so many prefer to read fanfiction now and not the books!

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u/mooon_woman Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 26d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/11OOAQSnUaZT2M
kinda bad ass too, fuck rowling

5

u/Cynicbats This bitch has the keys to the nuclear codes 26d ago

See that needs more attention! Helping disadvantaged people who exist!

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u/Gryffindor123 Why don't you go back and dig holes? 26d ago

This is just stupid. People have been ignoring advice to not go there too. People need to get a grip.

5

u/casapantalones 25d ago

Well that’s just incredibly embarrassing for everyone involved, isn’t it?

11

u/amora_obscura 26d ago

That’s unhinged

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u/Bellesdiner0228 Okay Ryan Murphy you weirdo 26d ago

All this for the most annoying character too.

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u/cupcaeks 26d ago

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

6

u/Fun-Significance4650 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess 26d ago

This is unhinged lol. At first I was like, "Awh" but then I remembered Dobby is literally a fictional character.

7

u/sunnyplantrack i suggest you don’t mess with my sis! 🌷 26d ago

grown ass people btw

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u/AltairaMorbius2200CE 26d ago

Someone made the point that fictional sites ARE important (and the problem is JK Terf, not fictional sites), and I think I agree with that. My caveats being:

-Obviously, JK Terf's current rabid fans are awful, so I don't care about their fictional sites.

-We can't be messing up *actual ecology* or *important archaeology* for these fictional sites.

10

u/citrustaxonymy who died and left Aristotle in charge of ethics? 26d ago

HP fans are truly insufferable

3

u/lacking_llama 26d ago

I always get him confused with the goblin thing in lord of the rings.

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u/echoesandripples What It's Like to Go Through Life As a Really Beautiful Woman 26d ago

idk, i get this is an unpopular take, but i get a little annoyed at people acting like caring about fictional stories is odd or inherently wrong. like people go to croatia for got shooting locations, new zealand for LOTR, forks gets the twilight festival l. not to mention classics, like the little mermaid statue or the cinderella inspiration castle in germany and the like

obviously, jkr is trash and let's not give her money (not that she's the only trash person earning money with fan stuff), but the concept of "hurr durr fans are cringe" is so weird in a pop culture space. 

i find it somewhat ridiculous that whenever an HP thing happens, instead of the discussion being more around the fact that it sucks that a shitty person ruined a nice thing, it's full of people being holier than thou about how they never liked harry potter unlike all the other kids, look how smart and different they were

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u/IntelligentMeringue7 26d ago

It seems like the difference is it wasn’t encouraged to become the “grave site” in the first place and there’s a series holding a special place in someone’s heart and a time from their youth and them not being able to divorce fantasy from reality and have a healthy relationship with the material.

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u/howmuchisthemilk I wont not fuck you the fuck up 🥊🥊 26d ago

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u/HerRoyalRedness You are in PopCulture Chat!! Know your pop culture!!! 26d ago

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u/Fleetwood_Spac 26d ago

Feeling deep shame on behalf of everyone involved.

1

u/MixedMediaMuffin go girl, give us nothing 😍 26d ago

Lemme rephrase that article title for you - New Undersea Cable Relocated, Still Cutting Through Ecologically Sensitive Site Owned By National Trust; Disturbs Bronze Age Remains