Title: On the Way to Greatness
Author: Mira Mirth
Rating: T
Genre: General
DLP Category: General Or Alternate Universe
Pairing: Harry/? Not slash.
Chapters: 20
Words: 232,797
Updated: September 4, 2014
Published: December 27, 2008
Status: Wip
Other Links: FF.Net :: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4745329/1/On_the_Way_to_Greatness

Summary:
Harry lives his life as a Slytherin, while the author struggles to limit the hero's adventures to a manageable word count. The original idea - confining each school year to one chapter - has proven to be unrealistic, so instead the number of chapters will correspond to the year, i.e. one chapter for first year, two for second, three for third. This should be a workable compromise between the story's desire for expansion and mine for brevity. I hope that the end result will be enjoyable - and thank those who have read and commented so far! -From Mira Mirth's profile

Cool fic that genuinely tries to take Canon Harry, with the only difference being he allows himself to be sorted into Slytherin. That's it. No powers, Slash, Heir-stuff, quick development, etc. Its got some interesting elements. He and Malfoy are certainly not friends. First year is rather isolated. The description here is pretty accurate. Harry gradually is getting tougher, and is certainly more independent and cautious than Canon, but not unreasonably so.

I like it.


Checked by Minion, February 25, 2017
Finally labelled as abandoned

 

Not bad.
I like that the author didnt retell all the events in the story, only the changes.
However I really hope he doesn't do the same to Year 4 or any after that. Goblet of fire was my favourite book, and I really want to see an alternate version in this fic. However if he keeps up with this condensed form of chapters, that would just make this story pointless.

The story doesent really have a very good plot, considering it is just a rehash of the cannon. But since I am craving for any decent fics, was good enough for me.
3.5/4.
Will go to 4 if the author finally decides to stop following cannon, and start his own story.

 

Stormey: Are you Black Stormy, or White Stormy?

This is a fairly decent story that fleshes out characters that aren't used very often. I really like how there are no dark rituals or Orders of the Black Wicket or what other nonsense in Slytherin - just a bunch of kids who don't really get along.

The writing is clean with no noticeable errors in it.

4/5

 

My rating for it as its early is 4.3/5 , but that could go up.

Regarding length....

Author has said that he wants the chapters to increase corresponding to the book (i.e. 1 chapter to cover all of P.S., 2 for CoS, 3 for PoA, 4 for GoF, 5 for OotP, etc)

Gives more room for creative differences I guess as the story progresses (earlier sticks closer to Canon....)

 

It's a solid four out of five. I've got mixed feeling about the style, but it was a nice read, was well written, and an interesting (if not wholly original) look at Slytherin!Harry

So yeah, solid 4/5.

 

It's a solid four out of five for me too.

The problem with the story is that it has this feeling to it that the author is simply doing, yet another, rewrite of the books.
While so far the story is good and holds your interest it could quickly degrade. Of course, just like that, it can become one of the really good ones out there as well. Certainly hope for the later.

4/5 for now.

 

While you'd like the author to introduce some new ideas of his own, he has done an excellent job so far.

Very realistic, and he gives a very good account of how Slytherin functions.

A four on five for now. Could raise it to five depending on how he handles future chapters.

 

Not only has retained my interest in it until now, but I've been enjoying it very much.

4/5 from me, hoping the quality bar at least stays where it is now.

 

I dunno... nothing surprised or really impressed me here. It's a solid fic, with fairly decent flow, but frankly, I was expecting a bit more from this. More substance, more energy... more to go off of, really. In my opinion, Dethryl's They Shook Hands series remains the best of the Slytherin!Harry fics I've seen, and comparing that to this...

Well, I'm going to give this 3/5, but not a point higher.

 

This story is great. 4/5 The only thing that bugs me is the action and the fact that this is a canon rewrite. I mean some originality here and there wouldnt hurt.

@Silens Cursor : A link to that story would be great.

 

I agree with Silens - so far this series has been solid, but rather bland and predictable. I'll hold off locking in my vote on the thread, but so far its a 3/5 for me. Definitely could go up, though, because the author is decent enough.

 

Glad to oblige, DarkAizen: the link for the library thread regarding Dethryl's series is here. Mind you, it is rather AU, but I enjoyed the development and the relatively well-crafted setting that the author put together. Although I will advise anybody starting the series to be prepared for the lengthy time committment - Dethryl's got three of the stories finished and he's started on the fourth. I'd advise a sandwich if you want to tackle them all in one go.

One more thing to add to my review of this particular fic: it irritated me to no end that the author chose to focus on rather small 'development' scenes in his writing rather than the actual action sequences. Maybe it's because action's difficult to write well, I don't know, but it was disappointing to see whole sequences not be mentioned.

 

Yeah, same here. The author is too selective in the scenes she chooses to write. The action becomes increasingly important though as the years wear on, so one would hope she starts paying attention to them.

I like the characterization of Blaise, first time I've seen him portrayed anything other than the 'amused but calculating onlooker', and the Slytherins in general. Pretty funny.

 

3.5 for now, but I'm waiting with voting until storyline diverges from the canon. Writing is good enough and author scores extra points for omitting rehashing known canon events.

 

The story is well written, though I have to agree with Silens and kmfrank. There were no typos or mistakes that I could find. But I was expecting a bit more. Some detailed action sequences would have been nice.

3/5 from me.

 

I really like this story. It's well done but not over the top.
One of the best canon rewrites I have read way better than most.

4/5

 

I'll give it a 3/5 for now. Most authors tend to lose momentum around books 4/5. I'm optimistic, but I've been let down before.

 

I actually like the shorter chapters in this fic.

Rather than losing momentum like LuxDragon mentioned, it seems to me like the story is starting to speed up as the author is no longer confined to a simple retelling of canon. I like what she's done with the Slytherin ideals; they feel less like a bad plot device and more like a set of secular standards to which a witch or wizard holds themselves - as mentioned by the whole 'winter solstice' instead of the Christianized version of the holiday. A very subtle way of working in a purely wizarding religion and not something I've seen a lot of writers do in the Potter fandom.

And she manages to execute this with a very clean, transparent prose. I like it. She's not trying to write an epic worthy of Joe or Jbern or any number of authors. She's writing a very simple, engaging story and it works.

4/5

 

I'm enjoying this little fic; a believable summary of Harry's life as a Slytherin, even though the author is just rehashing canon.

What really strikes me about this story is that Harry is just another kid, he is not making a power base nor recruiting followers like in so many fics of its kind. He is, however, correcting his ignorance of the magical world on his own accord, which points to greater intelligence than canon Harry, and expanding his acquaintance circle. All this in a believeable manner for a 13 year old.

Still, it's early days to tell how this will turn out and I'll be watchful for the point where it all shifts from canon events, if it will at all.

4/5 for now.