Jeddy

"Our Teddy Lupin! Teddy Lupin!"

- James about Teddy

Jeddy is the slash ship between James Sirius Potter and Teddy Lupin from the Harry Potter fandom.

Canon
James and Teddy were good friends. Teddy was often treated as a member of the Potter family, frequently going to the Potters' house for dinner, almost four times a week. James was enthusiastic about the idea of him moving in, suggesting Teddy could have his room.

In his first year at Hogwarts, James was sorted into Gryffindor. However, Teddy was disappointed by this. It can be presumed he was hoping James would be sorted into Hufflepuff.

In James's third year, like all students, he travelled to Platform 9 3/4 to take the Express to Hogwarts. Teddy had just recently graduated from Hogwarts but visited to see his girlfriend Victoire Weasley. James caught them snogging on the platform, and interrupted them, asking what they were doing. Then, runs over to tell Harry and Ginny the news. Harry suggests Teddy could move in with them; a suggestion Teddy is excited about.

History of Jeddy
Jeddy is one of the most popular Next Generation slash ships in the Harry Potter fandom, alongside Scorbus. On AO3, as of 2022, there are over 1,000 fanfictions for the pairing, and on a, filtered search, there are 655 fanfictions with Jeddy as the central pairing. It is also a common side pairing in Scorbus fanfiction.

The ship was popularised shortly after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. The novel's epilogue introduced the children of the main characters, and this resulted in its own sub-fandom known as the Next Generation.

Two LiveJournal communities for the pairing were created on July 24 2007, only 10 days after the release of Deathly Hallows. These were named teddyxjames and teddyjames and contained various fanfictions of the pairing.

In 2018, on Tumblr, a Jeddy Fest was created to celebrate the pairings. Users could submit fanfiction or artwork of the pairing, and these would be put into a collection on AO3. It has run every year since its creation.

The Appeal
It is surprisingly a popular ship, despite little canon interactions. James and Teddy do not have many interactions in the books, almost none at all. They appear briefly in the epilogue for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but apart from that, no other appearances. Due to this, they are viewed as blank-slate characters, and often treated like OCs in fanfiction. This is likely the appeal of Jeddy, the ship allows for full creativity since canon only sets up the bare bones for the ship, and writers work on fleshing them out into more developed characters.

Age Gap
This ship has attracted some controversy due to its age gap. Teddy was born in 1998, while James was born around 2003 or 2004. There is some dispute about their ages as J.K. Rowling has left their official ages unclear, but with the information given, it can be assumed they have around a 5-6 year age gap. This makes many fans uncomfortable since, during James's first year at Hogwarts, he would have been around 11, and Teddy around 17.

For this reason, fanfiction at Hogwarts, is often rare, with a lot of writers opting to write Jeddy when they are older, often after graduation from Hogwarts or in an Alternate Universe setting. Many fans believe the age gap would cease to be a problem once they become adults since a 5-6 year age gap is not abnormal in adulthood. Others completely ignore the age gap, not seeing it as a problem, or decide to make them the same age while writing fanfiction. Some fans are even completely unaware of the age gap. The canon details are left vague, with some believing them to be the same age and same year at Hogwarts, and surprised to find otherwise.

Additionally, there is also some criticism towards the ship being almost like family. Though they are not officially related by blood, Harry is Teddy's godfather, and also the father of James. Some fans find Jeddy to be a little incestuous and believe they have a brotherly relationship instead, so despise the idea of a romantic one.

Common Tropes & Themes
Both characters have few appearances in canon, so writers are creative, depicting them differently depending on the author. Despite this, there are some common tropes and themes. Jeddy is often written as a friends-to-lovers dynamic, with James often having a crush on Teddy, and struggling with these feelings. Often resulting in a slow burn.

Due to the age gap, a lot of fanfiction takes place after their time at Hogwarts, as opposed to their Hogwarts years. Sometimes they are written as professional quidditch players, other times as authors, and even as bartenders.

Additionally, in canon, Teddy is a metamorphmagus, meaning he can change his physical appearance at will. This is frequently written about Jeddy fanfiction. Sometimes authors will depict Teddy specifically as trans or non-binary, both to spite J.K. Rowling, and also add much-needed diversity to the series.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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