What is canon? Options

[Vlad]

Ronsmyman asked this up in Ferret Wheel but it seems to me its a questions for all the areas. Canon is one of those thing "I know it when I see it". But I find it harder to define exactly when something stops being canon. Anything taking place before year 6 can be pretty well pinned down. but is anything from Year 6 onward always "Alternate Universe" (AU)?

If you write a very plausible year 6 story with Ron and Hermione dating is that canon because it's pretty likely from what we know that they might become a couple? How about Hermione and Draco? That one seems pretty uncanon to me (although I've read some very good stories that posit that very thing and back themselves up with canonlike logic). But what about Herione and Harry? Are all 'ship's AU? Is any story with Sirius alive (again) after year 5 AU? Or with Snape being nice to Harry?

Is it only canon if JKR wrote it or is it canon if you write it in such a way that it seamlessly and logically with what JKR has written?

What do you guys think? (other than that parodies are never canon so why is Ronsmyman even asking this question?)

[McGonagall's Cat]

"In charater" is a very goodway to think of canon.

You're right in saying that anything we write here is not canon, simply because JKR is the only one who can write Harry Potter canon - and to my knowledge she's not writing with us.

HOWEVER... what we mean about writing "in canon" is that it has to fit with what she writes.
Cho can not have blonde hair.
Tom Riddle can not suddenly become a misunderstood good guy.
Swearing is limited to phrases such as "Bloody hell" and "Merlin's Beard".
Snape can't act like Gilderoy.
And so on.

Canon is whatever JKR wrote.

We can play with and distort storylines, but not do anything that contradicts what JKR writes if the mission states "in canon".