Something that's somewhat common in a lot of indy!Harry fics is that Harry will, for whatever reason, get fit. It could happen during his Summer of Change, when he finds a bunch of Dudley's unused workout equipment. It could happen out on the Quidditch pitch, where Harry has gained the all-powerful Quidditch Toned Muscles. Or maybe best of all, it could happen when Harry takes an early morning jog around the lake, after which he conjures a dope squat rack in the Room of Requirement so he can bust out some reps.

I think it's pretty obvious that these tropes stem from the wish fulfillment itch that indy!Harry stories endeavor to scratch. My question is: is there any stories where you've seen the trope done well? So often the fitness angle is used to make Harry more desirable to women, which I think is kind of silly considering his fame. His status as the Boy who Lived should be enough to get him into a relationship, swole or not.

What I think is even more ludicrous is when a bit of muggle-wank is thrown in, and Harry's fitness level allows him to defeat Voldemort, Dumbledore, or any other enemies who stand in indy!Harry's way through the magic of dodging.

I guess where I'm going with this, beyond a call for any recommendations you may have that feature a buff Harry done well, is your thoughts on if this trope could ever be done well, or should it ever be included in a story.

I think you could go a couple of ways. In Victoria Potter, Hogwarts incorporates physical education into their curriculum, which makes some sense to me seeing as it's a school.

Another way you could go is just have Harry get in shape because he enjoys it, much like many people actually do in real life. Instead of having Harry decide to get buff because he thinks it'll help defeat Voldemort, or because the author wants all the girls to admire his biceps, or because he read about the abstract concept of dodging in some archaic dueling text, maybe Harry just become a fitness freak because he likes to do it.

I hope this isn't too pointless. Delete this shit if so.

 

Harry is a wizard.

/thread.

 

Harry is muscle wizard.

"Harry casts punch!" He screams, cold clocking Voldemort with a bestial rage in his eyes.

"The power Voldemort knowns not is pure protein" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes

Had to post this after reading the post lmao

 

This was my problem with the fucking defense professor in Timely Errors, the dude apparently incorporates Muggle boxing to compensate for his lack of(?) magical skill. And then at the end of the story he's actually alive and he's about to teach Harry some ninja fighting techniques. So cool!

 

Quidditch Toned Abs: Harry gains 30% Max Health at the start of each battle and is immune to Daze

 

I think it was in Ruskbyte's OotP redo that Harry becomes such an Adonis that they don't even recognize him at first. I forget the exact justification but he grows like a foot taller and gets tan, buff, and I believe longer hair, as well as LASIC. Harry the Ubermensch.

 

Russian citizen and ambassador Steven Seagal has shown that the greatest martial art is aikido, second only to exceptionally bad acting and directing skills in terms of defeating one's enemies. That's what Harry should learn, preferably from one of Ambassador Seagal's dojos.

 

Here's a video showcasing Steven Segal's weird gait while running.

 

Reading this thread was like re-reading The Rise of Wizards, which I'm almost certain is being quoted in a few places. People act like Harry didn't develop/fill out in canon, when what happened was all of a sudden he was significantly tougher than Malfoy in OotP, which is fair, because Malfoy can be assumed to be a wimp and most young men can be assumed to undergo a bit of development.

 

I've an irrational liking of that fic. Even if it checks off nearly every indy harry cliche ever documented, I still enjoy it. Might be because it was like the second or third HP fic I ever read.

 

That'll pretty much do it for you.

 

Rise of the Wizards was a solid fic for its time. It didn’t age well but prior to many of its facets becoming tropes it was a fun ride.

 

I wouldn't imagine anything ages well. The readership will get tired of the tropes it currently likes, as it got tired of the magical trunks and pretended friends. That's not really an excuse for Rise, though. A poor understanding of characters you only have because the internet memed it into your head that way is still a poor understanding of characters; the author didn't invent the idea that those closest to Harry were all traitors. In terms of being capable of seeing through the tropes of their times, I hold present and future writers to the same standard.

 

What I prefer is a Harry who cheats at getting those gains with magic. Some wizard has to have created a potion for body sculpting.

 

The Wiki lists the Girding potion [from the video games] which would enhance endurance for weeks. Then there's Re'em blood which grants immense strength for a short time. It was mentioned in Fantastic Beasts (the book), but it apparently is a Biblical reference.

 

The only one I ever liked was dimension hopping for beginners, where it was part of the back story of the AK harry (he went to boot camp or something iirc).

 

The rolling was very funny, especially during the class demonstrations.

I like buff Harry when it has nothing to do his prowess as a wizard(aside from quidditch). Of course, in those cases, it's usually at most a throwaway mention. That should be it in my opinion. I can totally see Harry doing a bit of physical work in the summer if he gets bored or whatever. Also, I like the idea of top ends brooms being very physically tiring to ride. Broom flying sounds a lot more fun when g forces actually affect you somewhat. Otherwise, it wouldn't really be that great of an experience aside from the view.