Stories that predate our primary canon.
- The Last Enemy
- Author: CH_Darling
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Date(s):
- Published: 2020-06-10
- Updated: 2024-01-22
- Completed: N/A
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Comments:
- So far the good:
- So far all of the characters are real people whom the author appears to intend to develop as such. They are not straw men who exist to be bashed.
- James and Sirius get credit for being top students.
- Not everyone who is ever mentioned in the canonical works is in their class. There are a wide range of ages.
- The rise of the Death Eaters is realistically portrayed. I actually cannot emphasize this one enough. The series weaves in plot elements from Mrs. Rowling’s list of ministers and other secondary sources, preserving them realistically, and yet creating a distopian situation such that when in book two Dobby tells us that things are better, we can see that they really are.
- Lily grew up in the non-magical 60s and 70s. There are cultural implications to this that the author handles delicately, but also does not shy away from.
- The author has this interesting plot theme where the main characters internal dialogs and externally infered motivations seem continually at variance. This is is really interesting, especially when you consider what Harry will later be told, and who will be doing the telling.
- So far the neutral:
- There is an interesting accusation that Lily gets the prefect badge as a political statement by Dumbledore. She is certainly not the top student who is naturally expected to get it. As the work progresses, this actually makes sense in the context of the story.
- In our primary canon, Snape is so into potions that even as defense teacher, supposedly his dream job, we see him brewing. Here that almost appears to be a secondary interest to him, though perhaps a growing one.
- The author uses the fannon patronymic theme for James and Sirius. I know of no non-fan fiction basis for this. It makes me wonder what other fan fiction tropes I myself unconciously accepting.
- So far the bad:
- There is this weird backstory element that Lily first crushed on James in (I am unclear which) third or fourth year. She was mocked for it. Admittedly it makes objective sense for James to have been a typical boy who is slightly disgusted with the idea of girls while young and immature. It is equally fair to state that Hagrid is not the most reliable source of historical information. Still and all, I would have chosen to have her crush on someone else.
- The story seems to underplay James’ ability in transfiguration. I don’t disagree with the author’s choice to make Sirius overall more brilliant, but in this one subject, I would have had James shine unless there is a snippet that suggests otherwise I am forgetting.
- So far the good:
- The Warren
- Author: DarkKing666
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Date(s):
- Published: 2011-02-13
- Updated: 2019-08-26
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Comments:
Because of its one-shot per chapter nature, this story could end up in any number of categories. Chapter 3 has an interesting idea of the students not caring about the house cup after 5 years of Slytherin wins. Chapter 20 is also interesting because of its perspective on the Line Continuation Act, which I have seen in other works.