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Nov. 12th, 2003 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heidiThe article needs a spoiler warning, as the article itself, not just the fics mentioned in it, contain spoilers for OotP and for the movie of PoA.
Since late 1999, thousands of writers have turned their hands and keyboards to Harry Potter fanfic, putting the teenaged wizard, his family, his friends, and even his sworn enemies into tens of thousands of stories. Plots include situations ranging from romance to chat rooms, locations from Disney World to Siberia and in time frames dating back to – and even before – the founding of Hogwarts, and ahead through this third millennium.
Why?
Some authors, like myself, write fanfic to make a point or flesh out an argument about the series; that’s why I wrote The Kidnapping (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Heidi), a very short story in which Ron Weasley is kidnapped by Death Eaters, and is very happy about it. Other stories hypothesize what may happen in a future Harry Potter book on and off the page, like George Pushdragon’s Estate of Sirius Black v. Ministry of Magic (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/George_Pushdragon/), which asks the question, “Who is in charge of Occupational Health & Safety at the Ministry?” then answers it with shockingly good humor, which is a bit of a relief for those who are still upset by J.K. Rowling’s decision to send Sirius Black through the veil.
On occasion, a single image has inspired a whole story, as with a number of drabbles asking why Draco makes an origami bird and flies it over to Harry in the film version of Prisoner of Azkaban, and other times, a very minor character gets major play in a full-length tale. Madhuri’s Magizoologist In Training (http://www.thedarkarts.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=11) answers the not-oft-pondered question, “what was Newt Scamander like at Hogwarts?
It’s more common, though, for a fanfic author to explore a single character in more depth than JKR’s been able to in the books. Sirius Black, Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Aberforth Dumbledore, Severus Snape – all have been the subject of thousands of fanfics. The list below will give you a few excellent introductions to Harry Potter fanfic.
A large number of the fics written since June, 2003 have included various characters’ dealing with the death of Sirius Black. Ari O, who’s one of the organizers of The Witching Hour conference (http://www.hp2005.org), has created a realistic and well characterized Harry, reacting to the devastating losses he has suffered; THE FIVE STEPS is at http://www.livejournal.com/users/ari_o/102066.html.
Sam Vimes (aka Copperbadge) understands Remus Lupin, and has managed to write a number of fics featuring the werewolf – all unconnected with each other and all wonderfully in character. A number of them can be found at http://www.thedarkarts.org/authorLinks/Samvimes/, including Breaking Contact, which explores Remus Lupin’s mastery of self-discipline, and what happens when Tonks breaks past his barriers. Sam’s Stealing Harry is an excellent “alternate universe” which asks what could have happened of Remus had stopped Sirius before he could go after Peter Pettigrew. And since he’s a Reneisance man, he’s also written about Snape’s reaction to Sirius’ death and Harry’s maturation (http://www.livejournal.com/users/copperbadge/133596.html).
Lissanne’s REQUIUM is a futurefic, set after Ron and Hermione have married, and when Ron learns that he and Hermione are to be parents, there is someone he wants to share the news with. (http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Lissanne)
Viola’s Percy Weasley, Rogue Demon Hunter (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Viola/Percy_Weasley_Rogue_Demon_Hunter/) has a very different view of Percy as, yes, a rogue demon hunter. But even more than that, the story is a realistic take on how Book Six could begin if it wasn’t written from Harry Potter’s perspective, but Ginny, Percy and Kingsley’s instead.
A LOT TO BE UPSET ABOUT by Cassandra Claire (http://www.astronomytower.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=10786)
Cassie is probably better known for her thousands-of-pages-long-and-three-years-in-the-writing epic Draco Trilogy, but this post-OotP fic is a well-characterised and humerous take on Ginny, Draco and Harry a few months after Sirius’ death. Featuring Very!Angry!Harry, an angsty Draco and a serial-dating Ginny, which makes sense, as she’s one of only two characters to have more than one boyfriend during OotP.
THE PROFESSIONAL’S GUIDE TO BADGERING PEOPLE (http://www.riddikulus.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=2556) and sequels by Maya
One of the newly introduced characters in OotP who captured the interest of more than a few fans was Zacharias Smith, also known as Random Hufflepuff Boy #3 on the cover of FictionAlley. Zacharias has been described as Draco-lite; he’s blond, he is somewhat hostile to Harry yet occasionally seems to stalk him around the school, but he’s a Hufflepuff and a member of Dumbledore’s Army. Maya takes this little bit of information and turns it on its head with a burgeoning romance between Zacharias and Draco, who’s convinced to do seven improbably things by Halloween thanks to Zacharias’ “every man for himself” attitude. If this sounds serious, or a stretch, it’s actually not; Maya’s deftness with humor and with the characterizations of both boys make this fic flow.
INHABITED BY WINTER by Yahtzee
http://www.astronomytower.org/restrictedsection/fic.php?fic=at:/authors/yahtzee/IBW.html “Remus wishes to be anywhere else; he wishes to be home, wherever that is. Number 12 Grimmauld Place isn’t it. It could be, if he were free to choose. But he is not.”
THE MAKINGS OF A MODERN LOVE TRIANGLE by Misty Flores has, at the story’s center, an article in The Daily Prophet about Harry, Ron and Hermione, which sparks another round of gossip at Hogwarts. (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Misty_Flores/)
OCCLUMENCY IN AZKABAN by Flourish
http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Flourish/Occlumency_In_Azkaban/
Tonks has built her own life from the ground up, without one face to call her own or the safety net of an extended family to rely on. Curiosity, however, has always been her besetting sin, and when she tries to seek out answers about the relatives her mother has been estranged from for years, she finds rather more than she expected. Tonks/Snape.
Snivellussnape’s The Second War (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Snivellussnape/) starts with Harry's sixth year, as a new plot threatens the security of the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle Protection Act, recently signed by the Minister. Assassinations run amuck and into the ground, and a Royal Family at risk, this is the beginning of a new adventure for Harry, and the many pitfalls that plague his quest to defeat Voldemort.
THE SONGLESS THROAT by tangledaria (http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/tangledaria/ST.html) traces Severus Snape’s journeys as Death Eater, spy and traitor, as the rescuer and the rescued.
THE LIFE TO COME by Malecrit
http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/malecrit/LTC.html
"'Do you believe in the life to come?' . . . 'Mine was always that.'" – Inspired by Endgame by Samuel Beckett and the Double Helix of DNA. Tom. Harry. Blood, genetics, power, immortality, in a set of insightful vignettes.
EMPTY FRAMES by Jedi Bodicea (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1398&chapno=1) looks into 12 Grimmauld Place just hours after the endgame in the Department of Mysteries, as the surviving Order members return to their headquarters where they must deal with their grief.
LEARNING CURVE by Nomad (http://www.cybamall.com/nomadsrealm/hp/curve.htm) is introspective, romance-free and full of excellent insight into Snape motivation post-OotP. In sum, Snape thinks Harry needs an enemy, someone close, someone who he can focus on. And neither Malfoy nor Voldemort are it.
Of course, there were tens of thousands of fanfics online before everyone got their hands on Harry’s fifth year, and as long as you can accept that they don’t mesh up one hundred per cent with the plot or characterizations from OotP, they’re still excellent reads.
The Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs. Even MWPP. There’s lots of shorthand terms for Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter, and they’re all tossed around in various ways in Hyphen’s collection of funny, occasionally angsty, and always riveting stories set in the 1970s (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Hyphen/). THE SPECULUM CURSE (http://www.riddikulus.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=38) traces what happens after Slytherins set a curse on James Potter just before an important Quidditch match, and as they can’t remove it, they move it from one friend to the other. As the curse more or less inverts personalities, Sirius takes up zen, James becomes panicky and paranoid, Peter is violent and vivacious in turns and Remus wears leather and acts the extrovert. Sirius and Narcissa don’t seem to know each other, but that’s to be expected, as the fic was written in 2000.
A.J. Hall writes about class, behaviour, attitudes, prejudice and romance in her fanfic novels. QUEER AS SCENT (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.baldwin/ebooks/qas/qas1.html) takes place in the days when Lucius and Narcissa’s marriage was new, when everyone - from the house elves to the Dark Lord - seems to have an opinion about what would be best for the as-yet-unborn heir to the Manor - irrespective of his mother's wishes in the matter. But nausea, an infestation of demons, the dinner party from Hell and even the intervention of the Uppercross and Cerne Vale Hunt aren't going to get between Narcissa Malfoy and what she wants out of life. Her LUST OVER PENDLE series is not a romance at all, but leads Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom are a couple. Instead the story is a comedy of manners set in the Golden Age detective thriller genre, and is presumed to take place after the end of the seventh Harry Potter book, and, therefore, after the fall of Voldemort. It can be downloaded as an ebook at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.baldwin/ebooks/lop/.
In THE LOST GENERATION by Barb (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb/PST04_The_Lost_Generation/ ) Bill Weasley begins his education at Hogwarts in 1975, in the middle of Voldemort's reign of terror. He never suspects that the Gryffindor prefects he looks up to, Lily Evans and James Potter, will eventually have a son who saves the wizarding world, nor that the Weasley family will eventually play an important role in the Dark Lord's fall. All he knows is that in a very scary wizarding world, Hogwarts is a safe haven where he has always longed to be--until, that is, there are whispers of vampires and werewolves, of Death Eaters and traitors, and a Seeress pronounces a Prophecy which will shake the wizarding world to its very foundations....
BEWARE THE FURY OF A PATIENT MAN (http://bloom.velveteen.net/fury.html) is a short, wry and excellent piece about Draco, who’s at school over Christmas. So is Harry. And so, they talk.
Gwendolyn Grace has created one of the better-appreciated original characters, and focuses her story, HIS MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE around Jorian Pelerand, an elf who’d attended Hogwarts with Albus Dumbledore in the late-1800’s, and returns about 125 years later to infiltrate the Slytherins. (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Gwendolyn_Grace)
I Am Lord Voldemort by Nemesis (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=48699) Evil--even pure evil-- can stem even from hearts born innocent. A study of the transformation from child to tyrant, from good to evil, from fear to anger to hatred. Not for Slytherin-haters or those of weak constitutions. This story takes the sketchy description of Toms Riddle’s life as portrayed in the canon, and creates a world about a boy who was not predestined for evil, but a victim of circumstance and heredity. Written just after the release of Goblet of Fire, it’s one of the early stories to see Slytherins as something other than a monolithic evil.
Naked Quidditch by Anya (http://www.daisygrrl.com/fics/quidditch/quidditch1.shtml) features a reckless game of magical Truth or Dare, which has obligated the Gryffindor Quidditch Team to play starkers against the Slytherins in their next match, causing furor to erupt amongst the Hogwarts students and teachers. This hysterical story, composed of the M-mails (similar to Muggle e-mail) between the Gryffindors, will having you rolling in the aisles and asking where you can find the charity calender. And on top of everything else, the Dark Lord hops in for some action as well.
Tabitha Jones’s series of stories that focus on Lily Evans’ time at Hogwarts (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Tabitha_Jones) was also written before OotP, although some of her characterizations are quite close to what JKR included in that book.
Role playing games aren’t often recommended as hotbeds of well-characterised long-form narratives, but the travelogue of Nocturne Alley’s Severus Snape, which includes voyages to Tokyo, Las Vegas and, of course, Disney World, is a funny and insightful in its diary stylings. One of the early travelongues is at http://www.livejournal.com/~potions_master/2003/07/06/ and the Disney World one is at http://www.livejournal.com/~potions_master/2003/08/12/.
A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW by B Bennett (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/BBennett) features movie night for Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny. What film does Hermione select? Star Wars, of course, which leads to not a little foreshadowing and parallels drawn between one fictive reality and another.
PARADIGM OF UNCERTAINTY by Lori (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Lori/)
Paradigm of Uncertainty (aka PoU) was the first Harry Potter fic to receive public notice outside the fandom, thanks to a review of the story in Salon Magazine (http://www.salon.com) around the time of the release of Goblet of Fire. Lori’s said her story was inspired by considering what Harry Potter would do after vanquishing Voldemort and saving the wizarding world. As the first few chapters were written before even Goblet of Fire’s release, some of the happenings, like Sirius serving in the wizarding government, are not in step with the direction the books actually took, but it’s worthwile to read, both for the excellent story and the feeling that this is the future for Sirius that might have been. Also recommended is the prequel to PoA, A Sirius Affair, by Penny & Carole (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Penny_And_Carole), which focuses more on how Sirius proved his innocence, as well as on a romance for Harry and Ginny.
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS by Arabella (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=811&chapno=1) explores the first meeting between Harry, Hermione and various Weasleys – not on the Hogwarts Express, but in a toy shop in Muggle London in the mid-1980s.
Liz Barr (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Liz_Barr) wrote Snape/Lily before OotP showcased Lily Evans’ sympathy for Severus Snape during their schooldays, and the cruel taunts he threw back at her. And since the release of OotP, her stories about Hogwarts in the 1970’s have even more depth and resonance. She’s also written a “missing scenes” story about Ron and Hermione’s reactions to Grimmauld Place, set during OotP itself. (http://www.mirrordance.net/hpfic/housewarming.html).
POP GOES THE WEASEL by durendal (http://fix.dejabu.org/) is a pre-OotP Ron-centric fic where Ron's a villain, Harry's a hero, and Draco's an evil sidekick. Suffice to say, it’s funny and almost unsummarizable.
CALL OF THE WILD by Wolfie Twins ((http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/WolfieTwins) is one of the first completed novel-length fics, and the first half of the story was written before Goblet of Fire’s release, in which we learned that Sirius had never had a trial. The authors decided to plunge on ahead anyway, setting a tradition that continued for fics that were written on both sides of the OotP release, and in so doing, created a complex wizarding universe in eastern Europe, far away from Hogwarts, but nonetheless linked to it through the maturation and education of Remus Lupin.
A parody of Dr Seuss and Harry Potter? Of course, and it works well in Minerva McTabby’s The Guy With The Eye (http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/mmctabby/guyeye.html).
So all we could do was to
Glare!
Glare!
Glare!
Glare!
And think how we hated
Each other's hair.
On a more serious note, she’s also written a sprawling epic Two Worlds and In Between - a monstrous WIP that wants to be the War and Peace of the 19th century Potterverse. It stars two young Dumbledores and Tom Riddle's grandfather. (http://www.witchfics.org/mctabby/)
Given that there and you can find hundreds of other recommendations in FictionAlley’s The Nifflers Recommend, located at http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php?s= &forumid=106 or the HP Fanfic Recommendations Yahoogroup at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/hp_fanfic_recs. Also, Rugi & Gwena’s Tough Guide to Harry Potter (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Rugi_and_Gwena/) is an A-Z overview of pre-OOTP fandom clichés and tropes; it might be a confusing introduction, but once you’ve read a few dozen fanfics, it’s a good way to see just how much you recognize as standard fanon.
In other words, once you’ve read all the wonderful stories we’ve told you about here, there’s only a few thousand other excellent stories to read, to make the wait until the release of Book Six even easier.
-0-
Heidi Tandy is a founding admin of FictionAlley, the largest fanfic site in the Harry Potter fandom (http://www.fictionalley.org/). FictionAlley also hosts message boards, writing discussion and links to thousands of pieces of fanart.
Since late 1999, thousands of writers have turned their hands and keyboards to Harry Potter fanfic, putting the teenaged wizard, his family, his friends, and even his sworn enemies into tens of thousands of stories. Plots include situations ranging from romance to chat rooms, locations from Disney World to Siberia and in time frames dating back to – and even before – the founding of Hogwarts, and ahead through this third millennium.
Why?
Some authors, like myself, write fanfic to make a point or flesh out an argument about the series; that’s why I wrote The Kidnapping (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Heidi), a very short story in which Ron Weasley is kidnapped by Death Eaters, and is very happy about it. Other stories hypothesize what may happen in a future Harry Potter book on and off the page, like George Pushdragon’s Estate of Sirius Black v. Ministry of Magic (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/George_Pushdragon/), which asks the question, “Who is in charge of Occupational Health & Safety at the Ministry?” then answers it with shockingly good humor, which is a bit of a relief for those who are still upset by J.K. Rowling’s decision to send Sirius Black through the veil.
On occasion, a single image has inspired a whole story, as with a number of drabbles asking why Draco makes an origami bird and flies it over to Harry in the film version of Prisoner of Azkaban, and other times, a very minor character gets major play in a full-length tale. Madhuri’s Magizoologist In Training (http://www.thedarkarts.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=11) answers the not-oft-pondered question, “what was Newt Scamander like at Hogwarts?
It’s more common, though, for a fanfic author to explore a single character in more depth than JKR’s been able to in the books. Sirius Black, Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Aberforth Dumbledore, Severus Snape – all have been the subject of thousands of fanfics. The list below will give you a few excellent introductions to Harry Potter fanfic.
A large number of the fics written since June, 2003 have included various characters’ dealing with the death of Sirius Black. Ari O, who’s one of the organizers of The Witching Hour conference (http://www.hp2005.org), has created a realistic and well characterized Harry, reacting to the devastating losses he has suffered; THE FIVE STEPS is at http://www.livejournal.com/users/ari_o/102066.html.
Sam Vimes (aka Copperbadge) understands Remus Lupin, and has managed to write a number of fics featuring the werewolf – all unconnected with each other and all wonderfully in character. A number of them can be found at http://www.thedarkarts.org/authorLinks/Samvimes/, including Breaking Contact, which explores Remus Lupin’s mastery of self-discipline, and what happens when Tonks breaks past his barriers. Sam’s Stealing Harry is an excellent “alternate universe” which asks what could have happened of Remus had stopped Sirius before he could go after Peter Pettigrew. And since he’s a Reneisance man, he’s also written about Snape’s reaction to Sirius’ death and Harry’s maturation (http://www.livejournal.com/users/copperbadge/133596.html).
Lissanne’s REQUIUM is a futurefic, set after Ron and Hermione have married, and when Ron learns that he and Hermione are to be parents, there is someone he wants to share the news with. (http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Lissanne)
Viola’s Percy Weasley, Rogue Demon Hunter (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Viola/Percy_Weasley_Rogue_Demon_Hunter/) has a very different view of Percy as, yes, a rogue demon hunter. But even more than that, the story is a realistic take on how Book Six could begin if it wasn’t written from Harry Potter’s perspective, but Ginny, Percy and Kingsley’s instead.
A LOT TO BE UPSET ABOUT by Cassandra Claire (http://www.astronomytower.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=10786)
Cassie is probably better known for her thousands-of-pages-long-and-three-years-in-the-writing epic Draco Trilogy, but this post-OotP fic is a well-characterised and humerous take on Ginny, Draco and Harry a few months after Sirius’ death. Featuring Very!Angry!Harry, an angsty Draco and a serial-dating Ginny, which makes sense, as she’s one of only two characters to have more than one boyfriend during OotP.
THE PROFESSIONAL’S GUIDE TO BADGERING PEOPLE (http://www.riddikulus.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=2556) and sequels by Maya
One of the newly introduced characters in OotP who captured the interest of more than a few fans was Zacharias Smith, also known as Random Hufflepuff Boy #3 on the cover of FictionAlley. Zacharias has been described as Draco-lite; he’s blond, he is somewhat hostile to Harry yet occasionally seems to stalk him around the school, but he’s a Hufflepuff and a member of Dumbledore’s Army. Maya takes this little bit of information and turns it on its head with a burgeoning romance between Zacharias and Draco, who’s convinced to do seven improbably things by Halloween thanks to Zacharias’ “every man for himself” attitude. If this sounds serious, or a stretch, it’s actually not; Maya’s deftness with humor and with the characterizations of both boys make this fic flow.
INHABITED BY WINTER by Yahtzee
http://www.astronomytower.org/restrictedsection/fic.php?fic=at:/authors/yahtzee/IBW.html “Remus wishes to be anywhere else; he wishes to be home, wherever that is. Number 12 Grimmauld Place isn’t it. It could be, if he were free to choose. But he is not.”
THE MAKINGS OF A MODERN LOVE TRIANGLE by Misty Flores has, at the story’s center, an article in The Daily Prophet about Harry, Ron and Hermione, which sparks another round of gossip at Hogwarts. (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Misty_Flores/)
OCCLUMENCY IN AZKABAN by Flourish
http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Flourish/Occlumency_In_Azkaban/
Tonks has built her own life from the ground up, without one face to call her own or the safety net of an extended family to rely on. Curiosity, however, has always been her besetting sin, and when she tries to seek out answers about the relatives her mother has been estranged from for years, she finds rather more than she expected. Tonks/Snape.
Snivellussnape’s The Second War (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Snivellussnape/) starts with Harry's sixth year, as a new plot threatens the security of the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle Protection Act, recently signed by the Minister. Assassinations run amuck and into the ground, and a Royal Family at risk, this is the beginning of a new adventure for Harry, and the many pitfalls that plague his quest to defeat Voldemort.
THE SONGLESS THROAT by tangledaria (http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/tangledaria/ST.html) traces Severus Snape’s journeys as Death Eater, spy and traitor, as the rescuer and the rescued.
THE LIFE TO COME by Malecrit
http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/malecrit/LTC.html
"'Do you believe in the life to come?' . . . 'Mine was always that.'" – Inspired by Endgame by Samuel Beckett and the Double Helix of DNA. Tom. Harry. Blood, genetics, power, immortality, in a set of insightful vignettes.
EMPTY FRAMES by Jedi Bodicea (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1398&chapno=1) looks into 12 Grimmauld Place just hours after the endgame in the Department of Mysteries, as the surviving Order members return to their headquarters where they must deal with their grief.
LEARNING CURVE by Nomad (http://www.cybamall.com/nomadsrealm/hp/curve.htm) is introspective, romance-free and full of excellent insight into Snape motivation post-OotP. In sum, Snape thinks Harry needs an enemy, someone close, someone who he can focus on. And neither Malfoy nor Voldemort are it.
Of course, there were tens of thousands of fanfics online before everyone got their hands on Harry’s fifth year, and as long as you can accept that they don’t mesh up one hundred per cent with the plot or characterizations from OotP, they’re still excellent reads.
The Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs. Even MWPP. There’s lots of shorthand terms for Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter, and they’re all tossed around in various ways in Hyphen’s collection of funny, occasionally angsty, and always riveting stories set in the 1970s (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Hyphen/). THE SPECULUM CURSE (http://www.riddikulus.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=38) traces what happens after Slytherins set a curse on James Potter just before an important Quidditch match, and as they can’t remove it, they move it from one friend to the other. As the curse more or less inverts personalities, Sirius takes up zen, James becomes panicky and paranoid, Peter is violent and vivacious in turns and Remus wears leather and acts the extrovert. Sirius and Narcissa don’t seem to know each other, but that’s to be expected, as the fic was written in 2000.
A.J. Hall writes about class, behaviour, attitudes, prejudice and romance in her fanfic novels. QUEER AS SCENT (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.baldwin/ebooks/qas/qas1.html) takes place in the days when Lucius and Narcissa’s marriage was new, when everyone - from the house elves to the Dark Lord - seems to have an opinion about what would be best for the as-yet-unborn heir to the Manor - irrespective of his mother's wishes in the matter. But nausea, an infestation of demons, the dinner party from Hell and even the intervention of the Uppercross and Cerne Vale Hunt aren't going to get between Narcissa Malfoy and what she wants out of life. Her LUST OVER PENDLE series is not a romance at all, but leads Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom are a couple. Instead the story is a comedy of manners set in the Golden Age detective thriller genre, and is presumed to take place after the end of the seventh Harry Potter book, and, therefore, after the fall of Voldemort. It can be downloaded as an ebook at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.baldwin/ebooks/lop/.
In THE LOST GENERATION by Barb (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb/PST04_The_Lost_Generation/ ) Bill Weasley begins his education at Hogwarts in 1975, in the middle of Voldemort's reign of terror. He never suspects that the Gryffindor prefects he looks up to, Lily Evans and James Potter, will eventually have a son who saves the wizarding world, nor that the Weasley family will eventually play an important role in the Dark Lord's fall. All he knows is that in a very scary wizarding world, Hogwarts is a safe haven where he has always longed to be--until, that is, there are whispers of vampires and werewolves, of Death Eaters and traitors, and a Seeress pronounces a Prophecy which will shake the wizarding world to its very foundations....
BEWARE THE FURY OF A PATIENT MAN (http://bloom.velveteen.net/fury.html) is a short, wry and excellent piece about Draco, who’s at school over Christmas. So is Harry. And so, they talk.
Gwendolyn Grace has created one of the better-appreciated original characters, and focuses her story, HIS MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE around Jorian Pelerand, an elf who’d attended Hogwarts with Albus Dumbledore in the late-1800’s, and returns about 125 years later to infiltrate the Slytherins. (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Gwendolyn_Grace)
I Am Lord Voldemort by Nemesis (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=48699) Evil--even pure evil-- can stem even from hearts born innocent. A study of the transformation from child to tyrant, from good to evil, from fear to anger to hatred. Not for Slytherin-haters or those of weak constitutions. This story takes the sketchy description of Toms Riddle’s life as portrayed in the canon, and creates a world about a boy who was not predestined for evil, but a victim of circumstance and heredity. Written just after the release of Goblet of Fire, it’s one of the early stories to see Slytherins as something other than a monolithic evil.
Naked Quidditch by Anya (http://www.daisygrrl.com/fics/quidditch/quidditch1.shtml) features a reckless game of magical Truth or Dare, which has obligated the Gryffindor Quidditch Team to play starkers against the Slytherins in their next match, causing furor to erupt amongst the Hogwarts students and teachers. This hysterical story, composed of the M-mails (similar to Muggle e-mail) between the Gryffindors, will having you rolling in the aisles and asking where you can find the charity calender. And on top of everything else, the Dark Lord hops in for some action as well.
Tabitha Jones’s series of stories that focus on Lily Evans’ time at Hogwarts (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Tabitha_Jones) was also written before OotP, although some of her characterizations are quite close to what JKR included in that book.
Role playing games aren’t often recommended as hotbeds of well-characterised long-form narratives, but the travelogue of Nocturne Alley’s Severus Snape, which includes voyages to Tokyo, Las Vegas and, of course, Disney World, is a funny and insightful in its diary stylings. One of the early travelongues is at http://www.livejournal.com/~potions_master/2003/07/06/ and the Disney World one is at http://www.livejournal.com/~potions_master/2003/08/12/.
A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW by B Bennett (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/BBennett) features movie night for Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny. What film does Hermione select? Star Wars, of course, which leads to not a little foreshadowing and parallels drawn between one fictive reality and another.
PARADIGM OF UNCERTAINTY by Lori (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Lori/)
Paradigm of Uncertainty (aka PoU) was the first Harry Potter fic to receive public notice outside the fandom, thanks to a review of the story in Salon Magazine (http://www.salon.com) around the time of the release of Goblet of Fire. Lori’s said her story was inspired by considering what Harry Potter would do after vanquishing Voldemort and saving the wizarding world. As the first few chapters were written before even Goblet of Fire’s release, some of the happenings, like Sirius serving in the wizarding government, are not in step with the direction the books actually took, but it’s worthwile to read, both for the excellent story and the feeling that this is the future for Sirius that might have been. Also recommended is the prequel to PoA, A Sirius Affair, by Penny & Carole (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Penny_And_Carole), which focuses more on how Sirius proved his innocence, as well as on a romance for Harry and Ginny.
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS by Arabella (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=811&chapno=1) explores the first meeting between Harry, Hermione and various Weasleys – not on the Hogwarts Express, but in a toy shop in Muggle London in the mid-1980s.
Liz Barr (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Liz_Barr) wrote Snape/Lily before OotP showcased Lily Evans’ sympathy for Severus Snape during their schooldays, and the cruel taunts he threw back at her. And since the release of OotP, her stories about Hogwarts in the 1970’s have even more depth and resonance. She’s also written a “missing scenes” story about Ron and Hermione’s reactions to Grimmauld Place, set during OotP itself. (http://www.mirrordance.net/hpfic/housewarming.html).
POP GOES THE WEASEL by durendal (http://fix.dejabu.org/) is a pre-OotP Ron-centric fic where Ron's a villain, Harry's a hero, and Draco's an evil sidekick. Suffice to say, it’s funny and almost unsummarizable.
CALL OF THE WILD by Wolfie Twins ((http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/WolfieTwins) is one of the first completed novel-length fics, and the first half of the story was written before Goblet of Fire’s release, in which we learned that Sirius had never had a trial. The authors decided to plunge on ahead anyway, setting a tradition that continued for fics that were written on both sides of the OotP release, and in so doing, created a complex wizarding universe in eastern Europe, far away from Hogwarts, but nonetheless linked to it through the maturation and education of Remus Lupin.
A parody of Dr Seuss and Harry Potter? Of course, and it works well in Minerva McTabby’s The Guy With The Eye (http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/mmctabby/guyeye.html).
So all we could do was to
Glare!
Glare!
Glare!
Glare!
And think how we hated
Each other's hair.
On a more serious note, she’s also written a sprawling epic Two Worlds and In Between - a monstrous WIP that wants to be the War and Peace of the 19th century Potterverse. It stars two young Dumbledores and Tom Riddle's grandfather. (http://www.witchfics.org/mctabby/)
Given that there and you can find hundreds of other recommendations in FictionAlley’s The Nifflers Recommend, located at http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php?s= &forumid=106 or the HP Fanfic Recommendations Yahoogroup at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/hp_fanfic_recs. Also, Rugi & Gwena’s Tough Guide to Harry Potter (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Rugi_and_Gwena/) is an A-Z overview of pre-OOTP fandom clichés and tropes; it might be a confusing introduction, but once you’ve read a few dozen fanfics, it’s a good way to see just how much you recognize as standard fanon.
In other words, once you’ve read all the wonderful stories we’ve told you about here, there’s only a few thousand other excellent stories to read, to make the wait until the release of Book Six even easier.
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Heidi Tandy is a founding admin of FictionAlley, the largest fanfic site in the Harry Potter fandom (http://www.fictionalley.org/). FictionAlley also hosts message boards, writing discussion and links to thousands of pieces of fanart.
