Title: Antithesis
Author: Wind Whisperer
Rating: M
Genre: AU
Length: 37,670
Chapters: 17
Words: 103,187
Updated: Sep 12, 2009
Published: Jun 10, 2008
Status: Abandoned
Pairings: None yet, author has said it won't be slash
Summary: AU - Harry has a twin brother, Eric, the hailed child of the prophecy. When they go to Hogwarts, their world both polarizes and becomes more mixed up than ever before. In such a society, it's easy to stray from the "right" path...
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4313081/1/Antithesis

SPOILERS!!!!!


I have mixed feelings about this story.

When I started reading it, I was extremely pleased: a well-written "Twin Boy Who Lived" story which didn't overdo the evil!James and Lily that plagues that sub-genre. There was no abuse, nor even a massive amount of neglect - it was implied that Harry was merely seen as second best, but he was still a well-adjusted and looked after child.

However, more recently the story has taken a serious downturn. Not only are James and Lily suddenly full of uber-hate for their son, we've also seen the appearance of manipulative Dumbledore of the worst kind - Dumbledore being manipulative for the sake of the author wanting to make him manipulative, without thinking it through, leading to him just looking like an idiot - one thing that I think we can all agree Dumbledore isn't.

The author also took a bit of a cop-out with revealing Dumbledore's manipulations, having the traditional "Dumbledore scheming in his office" scene, rather than revealing them from Harry's point of view as the story progressed.

In addition, the story has moved far too fast. We're still in the first term of First Year, and Harry is beginning to "go dark" already. This should have been a gradual process that didn't truly get going until 3rd year or so.

However, despite this, it is still pretty well written, the characterisation is good (barring James, Lily and Dumbledore), Harry is at a good level of competence, as are his twin and the other characters, and the author's plot device involving Quirrell is both interesting and original.

Overall, an interesting and enjoyable read, providing you ignore odd moments of intense frustration at how it could have been great, had the author not given in to the cliches of the genre.

I would give it 3.5/5, but since I can't vote that I shall have to go for a 3.


Checked by Minion, January 04, 2015

 

Agree with Taure on most fronts.

Best thing about this story is that it's not overblown, like most Sibling-as-BWL stories. Lily and James are reasonably neglectful, Harry is reasonably childish and his brother is reasonably talented.

But yeah, things are moving too fast. I'd have preferred if the author skimmed over the younger years and caught up with an older Harry, like in Unsung Hero. Like this, we'll have to suffer through much manipulated and confused Harry before we see him throw off shackles of foolish oaths and everyone's expectations and truly starts to shine (if it ever happens at all).

 

It's a fairly well-written beginning to a story, but most of its virtue comes from the fact that Harry isn't a whimpering, abused child, and friends with Draco Malfoy. The fact that his twin has some measure of competency is also a bit of a relief. Another nice point is the take the author has on Quirrell, who is often a weak and downplayed character in the books. Here, he's shown to be competent and willing to use whatever resources he can to accomplish his goals. 4/5 so far, in my opinion.

 

I read this fic a couple days ago, and I found it okay. I guess I would rate it slightly better than most other Sibling-BWL fics.

Only problem I found was it moved too quickly within the last 3 or 4 chapters.

3/5

 

fix up your link. Great way to partly spoil the story for me >.>

 

If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read a review

I'll edit in a warning though.

 

I think he means that you're linked to chapter 6, not chapter 1.

 

...

I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. The link clearly goes to chapter one.

/Ninja.

 

The plot is not much different than most wrong BWL stories but the writing is better than a lot of them (which is not saying much considering how badly most are written). IMO this does not deserve a 4 or higher. If the author uses some originality then maybe I will consider giving the story more credit. But at this time I will only give 3/5.<O</O

 

I liked it. Because it wasn't a normal shit-twin fic. And it held my attention. Like the Davis/Snape/Eric/Parents interaction. It's not overblown although repetitive at times.

And please never mention Unsung Hero. What a fucking failure of a finish.

​

 

3/5 (4/5 if the author doesn’t abandon the story before fifth year)

Spoilers Below
<O</O
I agree with Taure’s comment about good characterization, for certain characters: Harry’s interaction with Lyrian Derrick (an OC Slytherin prefect that resembles Tom Riddle) and Quirrel has so much potential. I wonder if the life debt between Quirrel and Harry extends to Voldemort…if it does, I’d like to see the development and result of that plot device.
<O</O
The cliché of Slytherin! Harry in a Twin-Boy-Who-Lived fic annoys me; I’d really like to see a fic in which the twins are in the same house. Nevertheless, this author does a better job than most at realistically addressing Harry’s interaction with Slytherins who oppose his blood status and his light family. Heh, it’s the first time I’ve read about a Slytherin who’s helping Harry to kill the Potters…

 

I liked it. It was a hell of a lot better than 90% of the crap, of the same genre, out there. I agree with Taure in that fact the story is moving far to fast. Harry's a first year, just now learning all about magic. And now is learning about dark magic. And I'm worried it might develop into a super Harry fic.

This story has a great originality, but still uses some cliches. And as long as it doesn't become to cliche. The story deserves a 3/5

 

Antithesis Acts

Eh. I usually like these even when Harry is half abused, but in this he's just totally despondent. I understand that the Durselys liked to 'beat him down' mentally but the neglect compared to his brother's spoiling sorta just left him lowly and lonely.

 

I liked it. A little fast paced, but I don't really mind, if it helps the author get to the good stuff. In my opinion, the real meat of the HP series didn't start 'till book 3. Hell, I actually think I might have preferred it if he would have done an introduction featuring the sorting and so on, then skipped a few years. There's only so much you can do when your main character is eleven years old, so it really limits the action.

But still, it's a good start. 3.5/5 from me.

 

Just what I needed. Another "Harry is the forgotten brother" fanfic with a pointlessly meddling Dumbledore and ridiculously overpowered OCs in which Harry spends tens of thousands of words putzing around with his brother and classmates instead of doing anything demonstrably "dark" or growing to an age at which such behavior would be possible.

I was going to vote this two of five, but then I remembered the fact that Lyrian (Harry's mega-popular dark wizarding king of the house) is only fifteen years old.

One.

 

QFT, but even with these flaws the writing's still good, and the rivalry between Eric and HP is realistic because of all the misunderstandings going on. I like it. Manipulative! Dumbledore is so boring, such a big cliche. Lyrian idea was just too idiotic. Without these two things the story woulda been 3/5

But 2/5 is it.

I'll still read the next chapter though and hope it improves.

 

The story isn't original, but the writing is quite good. Yes, I agree - the Dumbledore bit is teetering on severe annoyance, and the Lyrian character is on the verge of becoming too annoying to handle. Still - this is better than essentially all "twin" stories out there, which by now I avoid without even bothering to read. It's good enough for me to keep reading, but not good enough for true Library status - I think Binning would work though.

3/5
-J

 

Nothing special, 2.5/5

 

Two, only because the writing doesn't suck. Having Harry talk about all the ways of Slytherin house in previous chapters, then throwing a life debt out as easy as he did kind of turns me away from it. Far too predictable for my taste, as well.

 

New Chapter Up (Not got time to read it. Will Later)