Title: The Potter Conspiracy
Author: darklordmike
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure/Drama
DLP Category: Independent Harry
Pairing: Harry/Parvati
Chapters: 27
Words: 187,009
Updated: October 10, 2009
Published: March 4, 2009
Status: Abandoned
Summary: Slightly AU, post-GOF. A Harry/Parvati epic. Civil war is coming to wizarding Britain, and not all of Harry's friends wish him well. Very manipulative Dumbledore, with some revisions to early canon. Harry will have a backbone in this one. Rated M. Enjoy!
Link: The Potter Conspriacy
PC link: The Potter Conspiracy

Comments: While unremarkable and bland for the first few chapters, there's a large quality spike at around chapter four. Since it's the author's first posted story, I just assume it took a while to find his writing niche.

Slight changes to canon (the GoF cemetery confrontation occurred differently, Sirius was caught and kissed third year, Harry never discovering his innocence) make this AU, but not to a great degree. Very manipulative Dumbledore, but can actually justify his actions reasonably. Voldemort seems to be coming apart mentally, making Dumbledore the bigger antagonist in this story.

Despite the pedestrian start, when the plot begins to accelerate, it becomes clear the author has put a lot of effort into a plot that actually is rather original, delving into the motivations off four different factions within the Wizarding World. When the situation finally does ignite, it should prove very interesting.

I'd say 4/5 for now, rating subject to change based upon how the author proceeds. I really think it could be a five if the author keeps improving.


Checked by Minion, July 28, 2013

 

I find it has that fast paced, turn the page I want to know what happens next
feel, something you don't get in a lot of fan fiction. The Title while simple, is great, It is not the "plot point", but who is in on the Conspiracy and to what level that has you guessing.

A few small problems, but I think it is a winner. 4/5

 

I've been enjoying it very much. I would disagree with OP - it wasn't bad early on - but it's nonetheless improved along the way. Author so far is doing a good job of keeping Harry realistic in the face of manipulative!Dumbledore, and while a number of ideas in this fic aren't really new, the author presents them in a fresh and entertaining light.

A very solid 4/5.

 

Not a promising start, I'll continue to read and edit when I finish.


Edit:

Story makes me want to punch babies. The plot just sucks. A lot.

1/5

 

I’m trying to overcome the first chapters, but it’s hard. I read the very first, and then realized I read nothing that I hadn’t read too many times to count. I moved onto the second chapter and saw Molly Weasley demanding money from Dumbledore, then this:

Unless Snape is lying, I’m not sure whether slogging through it will be worth it.

 

I like the story. It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread but it is entertaining.
One of the main problems in this story is that so far it has been nothing but set-up. The most action we have seen so far is Harry falling unconscious after dementors swoop in.
He has spent a lot of time trying to define characters motivation, but it has meant that he is over 50,000 words and only now has Harry taken any action.
I think the story has too little of its actual plot written and I would recommend sitting on this one until the author writes a few more chapters.

 

The chapters are well paced, the conversation is realistic, although Ron is portrayed a touch too brutally.

Dumbledore, Moody and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix are portrayed realistically. The only downside is Voldemort himself. He seems to be totally deranged. Insanity may be becoming more popular by the day, but it is still a bit too uncomfortable to have a madman being followed by anyone at all. An explanation why Death Eaters are still helping Voldemort would be useful.

The thing I liked most about the story is the portrayal of Hermione. The girl who was torn and made to swear an oath that would break her heart to keep. Hopefully, we will get to see more of the story in the coming days.

Score: 4/5.

 

Right I'm a little bored so I'll get around to reading this.

I'm not yet halfway through the first chapter and there is a LIST a fucking list of "things I need to do to become a SUPANINJA!!" The foreshadowing smells like indy harry rehash. The Dobby "be my friend" spiel is also getting old, even if it is practically canon. If it weren't for vlad's 4/5 I'd drop it like a ton of bricks.

In his AN at the end of the second chapter the author says that he's going to make Harry work for his victories and he will not be super-powered. I'm pretty sure that is someone bothered to collect the data that it would reveal a correlation of almost 100% between authors who say that and their fics featuring a super-Harry. Of course this may be the exception to the rule but it's gearing up to make Harry pretty damn OP at the moment. [Edit] The constrained magic thing has me fearing some uber-duber ginormous well of magical power that has been clammed up by Dumbledore but we haven't received an explanation yet.

Now Dumbledore thinking that made me curious, also made me think he had a special sock for masturbation but I blame Midknight's fuck my life post for that.

The Harry/Tonks interactions was actually quite good, I have to say, opportunities for cliche abounded and the author took in my opinion the most logical option for Tonks' reaction to Harry's proposal. This is actually quite important later on in the fic

Alright author just lost all points, reset the meter to 0, wipe, release and run back, there is a Molly Weasley's special love potion and not in a lulzy Perspicacityesque way. A clueless Ginny starts him back on the track to regaining my good favor.

Alright four chapters in and the good stuff is supposed to start now and I bloody well hope it does because these four chapters have been for the most part a dreary rehash of bad indy cliches and how not to use them to satisfy an astute audience.

Tl;Dr: First four chapters are about as good as receiving fellatio from a marsupial, if you don't understand that, I'll spell it out for you. First 4 chapters are BAD. If they weren't necessary for understanding the later story I'd say skip them, as it is? It's worth wading through them to get to the later stuff.

I'm going to get a pizza and a beer, see if anything good is on the telly and then come back and try to finish the rest of this fic off.

[Edit] Right I finished the rest of the damn thing off. Deleted pointless wall of text rehashing old complaints about bad cliches.

Like many people said it does improve. I actually find myself very interested at this point and it's been added to alerts. The cliches start to become less overpowering and when he shattered Ron's tibia I was most satisfied. It also bodes very well for the future of this fic. Dodgy Indian Uncle Dinesh was pretty lulzy too. The small, Hermione self-condemnation moment was surprisingly good and her mental self-flagellation was amusing.

The only other problem I have with it is the Patil twins' motivation, it's tenuous at best and seems driven by a loose sort of Gryffindor morality which I find cloying and irritating. The convenient Uncle although midly amusing is just a little too convenient.

I'm not going to rate the thread at this stage because I believe there is substantial room for improvement although I would place it closer to 4/5 rather than 3/5 and of library standard.

 

I was preparing myself to stop reading before 3rd chapter, but it turned out I read whole thing in one go. One of best stories recommended in here for some time.

No rating from me right now, I'm unable to decide whether it's good enough for 5/5 or not, so I'll wait for more.

 

Having read through the entire fic right now... I'm undecided on how much I seriously like it, but pretty well-decided on how much I don't.

Firstly, the whole manipulative!Dumbledore got old for me really fast. What bothered me is that the 'manipulation' elements of the whole story were done blatantly, in plain sight. Every single one of Dumbledore's plans seemed ridiculously obvious and almost brutally contrived. For a man who is supposed to be one of the most intelligent wizards in the world, it was disappointing.

The insane!Voldemort also really irritated me to no end, because I don't agree with the characterization. To me, Voldemort always seemed far more methodical and intelligent than the raving, mad-cap, over-the-top villain presented in this fic.

As for Harry's characterization... well, suffice to say, I didn't entirely like it. It seemed traditional indy!Harry fare we've all seen before, with no serious personality repercussions. All in all, this Harry remains the same clueless fuck that he was post-GoF, relying on others to succeed other than himself, with just a bit more strength and knowledge in the end.

I could go on with the incredible overusage of Dobby and the Room of Requirement (both are plot devices the author exploits mercilessly), the absolutely atrocious characterization of Snape (honestly, if the Dark Lord was going insane, Snape should have said 'fuck it' and just left the damned country), the obvious plot holes (whatever happened to Fred and George - why couldn't Harry trust them?), and the fact that Dumbledore got so damned annoying with his complete lack of rationalization and explanation for his actions, but frankly, this story did not endear itself to me, at all. 2/5, and not a point higher.

 

I disagree, characterizations are one of best points of the story. Dumbledore does everything for greater good. He, unlike canon!Dumbledore, realizes that once Voldemort kills Harry the number of people able to kill him rises from one to six billions.

Harry isn't clueless, he isn't omniscient either. He doesn't know whom he can trust so he trusts noone unless proven trustworthy (Fred & George are perfect example of this).

Dobby and RoR might be overused, but they aren't overpowered and it makes all the difference. That's another good point of the story: lack of deus ex machinas. This is first story where reader can feel the hopelessness of Harry's situation instead of standard indy Harry where everyone looks like a retard for even thinking of screwing with Heir!Almighty!Goblin_Lord!Creature!Whatever!Harry.

 

Definitely agreed here. I like Manipulative!DD, but only when it's done well, which it is clearly not in this story. DD is way too heavy handed, too many people know all the details, the oaths on his friends, etc. etc. Those are not the actions of an intelligent man.

Also agreed on the Voldemort characterization. I prefer stories where Voldemort actually knows what he's doing, unlike every other story where he is a bumbling idiot who can't get anything done.

I can overlook the use of Dobby, the RoR, and Weasly!love potion, but the DD/Voldemort issue kills it for me. If it weren't for those two things, this would be a pretty good story. As it stands, 3/5 for good grammar and somewhat interesting plot, even with its many problems.

 

Hum, well I read the whole thing so far. It isn't great, and it isn't terrible. Trust me I have read much much worse, and read much much better--usually as a result of seeing reviews on DLP mind. But anyway lets move on.

Like many people I find quite a few flaws with characterization.

First is the manipulative Dumbledore. Granted generally I love manipulative Dumbledore, but this is poorly done manipulative Dumbledore. I would expect that Dumbledore, supposedly the greatest wizard of the age would at least be able to come up with rationalizations for his manipulations other than "the greater good" and "the prophecy". And I say this for two reasons: 1. "The Greater Good" is obviously a subjective quality to anyone who thinks about it more than five minutes. And 2. prophecy is one of the most arcane branches of magic there is, even in canon, and can be undone simply by one of the participants not believing in the validity of the prophecy.

Second is Ronald Weasley. I can grant that Ronald Weasley is an insensitive, boorish, uncouth ass most of the time. However, I have severe problems with the idea that he would willingly set his sister up for heart break, or that he will consciously and willfully betray his "best friend". Even if he could do the latter for greed, he probably couldn't due the former due to familial obligations.

Third, the Insane!Voldemort. I swear I usually hate stories that use this plot device. Granted I can tolerate an Incompetent!Voldemort, a Slightly-Unhinged!Voldemort and many other devices that make for an OOC Voldemort. But a completely insane Dark Lord should not have any followers, with the possible exception of Wormtail who has no other options other than living as a rat for the rest of his days, unless there was a clear and logical reason for it.

Fourth, Harry seems to be over all a rehash of the canon immature incompetent brat that is portrayed in the canon. He is maybe slightly more bookish and probably uses his brain slightly more in this story but thats about it. I would have expected that if this is meant to be an indy Harry of quality that he should be able to be more self-reliant than he is portrayed so far in this fic.

(I would also say that classifying it as Independent Harry for DLP at the present time is probably inaccurate. I expect a lot more self-reliance from Harry for a story to carry the Independent Harry Label. Hopefully we will see more self-reliance from him as the story progresses, I certainly hope so.)

Fifth, Molly Weasley, I simply cannot see that woman dosing Potter with love potion knowing that the result would be the heartbreak of her daughter. I don't care how poor the Weasleys are her maternal instincts should over power any amount of ambition/greed that she has.

Alright other than those characterization problems I would say that the first four chapters or so are pretty much rehashes and cliches of Indy Harry fics I've read before. There are slight differences of course, and the whole Fawks situation is interesting, but over all if those chapters were not necessary to know what the hell was going on in the story I would have skipped them.

I will say that I did approve of Dudley's death however, too bad the other muggles couldn't have gotten similar. Quite frankly I consider the Dursley's to be utter wastes of space, air, food, and flesh.

Now that I've discussed what I hate so far, I will state what I do like.

Hermione, I find the conflicted, but ambitious muggleborn to be an interesting plot device. I've not seen it pulled off realistically before in fanfiction. Usually with Hermione you end up with either Herman Granger, an uber-light isn't-she-great Hermione, or UtterBitch!Hermione.

The grammar. I cannot find obvious grammar or spelling flaws. That is always a plus. Stories automatically get a low score if they look like they were posted by a chimpanzee with a keyboard.

The dialog is realistic and the use of quotation marks is done in a proper fashion.

And the author shows remarkable improvement in chapters 8-10 from chapters 1-4. This is a must for leniency for new writers of fanfiction. They must show improvement--I'm not asking for perfection over night, writing takes practice and all--but I absolutely expect improvement with practice.

Over all I would say this is 3-ish/5 so far. If the writing improves, and the characterization improves and the author can come up with a reason why the Death Eaters are still hanging out with Insane!Voldemort and Manipulative!Dumbledore can come up with a rationalization for his actions that at least attempt to make sense the score will go up.

 

I find that Dumbledore's logic that if Harry dies than everyone else can kill Voldemort to be stupid.

I mean, doesn't the Prophesy mention that the one with the power to defeat the dark lord is born as the seventh month dies

Doesn't that imply that no one else has the power to defeat the dark lord? Hence, if Harry dies then everyone loses?

 

Hello all. I was a bit surprised to find my story here so soon, but thanks for providing feedback. For those of you who liked it, I’ll try to keep things entertaining, realistic, and moving in the right direction. There are a couple big twists coming in the near future, particularly with regard to LV’s horcruxes.

For those of you who didn’t like it—well, I’m not going to try to change your mind, but here’s my thinking on some of your main complaints:

Manipulative Dumbledore – it has been done to death, but I admit I thought I could do it better. He doesn’t hate Harry in this story, but truly believes that he can put down Voldemort if the prophecy is ‘taken out of play.’ He finds it fundamentally absurd that ‘only’ Harry could kill Voldemort, given how young and untrained he is compared to others. His belief doesn’t strike me as any less rational than believing that Voldemort will inevitably win if Harry Potter—a 15-year-old—can’t kill him. (And the only people who are aware of his plans to sacrifice Harry are Moody, Snape, and Shacklebolt, as he needed them to participate in his planned attack on LV; but even they don’t know everything he’s done to control Harry).

Insane LV – I can understand why this one rankles, but he won’t be turned into a gibbering idiot here. He is an insane monster who wants revenge against the world, but he has enough sense to wait and do a little planning. He won’t be incompetent so much as vicious and unwilling to restrain himself. His insanity will be balanced out to some degree by Lucius Malfoy, who enters the story next chapter. Malfoy’s machinations at the Ministry will become important very soon, and he will be very competent in the story. (That said, for a supposedly ‘cunning’ antagonist, LV’s plan in canon to abduct Harry during the Tri-Wizard was about the stupidest thing ever conceived by a literary villain).

Why do the DEs remain loyal to Voldemort if he’s insane? He’s immensely powerful and I’m assuming that he can track them through the Dark Mark. If they are already marked, their only options are service or suicide. This, of course, will make it very difficult for LV to recruit new blood, but that won’t be a huge issue in this story. I can’t say more without spoiling some things, but the conflict here will become more complex than just Harry v. Voldemort.

The early clichés, i.e., summer ‘training,’ Dobby, RoR, love potions – yep, they’re there, and I’m aware of them. I did try to put a slightly new spin on each of them, but I felt they were largely unavoidable for a story in this already-cliched genre. They will fade into the background as the story progresses, and I’m doing my best to avoid the other clichés of Indy Harry stories: super!goblins, easy emancipation, heir to founders, new super wands, incredible wealth, time-turner training, magical trunks, martial arts, etc. I’m aiming for realism.

Cheers, and thanks for taking the time to give it a read. I’ve read plenty, but it is indeed my first attempt at writing fiction.

 

Just like the rest I can't make up my mind whether this deserves a 4 for the simple reason that I read it all and it actually was interesting, despite the horrid beginning.

I actually didn't mind the 'manipulative' Dumbledore and frankly I thought it had a nice idea behind it. But the execution of the said idea was painful to read, if I can rate it that way. One of the things that annoys me the most in a story is when the author does exactly what you did in the first 2 chapters of your story - you spelled it out for us and didn't leave anything for the story to tell beside the current events happening.
I can understand that writing a solid base for the story or inserting small snippets through the means of other characters thoughts and observations, so you'd reveal Dumbledore's manipulations one at the time, could be hard and tedious job, but it is the only way of making a good story.

That said, I still found the story an enjoyable read and I'll certainly follow your fic to see where would you go from here.

edit: just a thought - if you actually remove the second chapter(yes the entire chapter) and then those few annoying lines which you did even separate with lines like Hermione self-condemnation moment(tell us about it but not by inserting a snippet that comes into the story just like a thought about your neighbor's nice tits voiced out in a conversation about politics) and then you'd actually have quite the improvement.

 

Depends on how you look at it. Based on the first five books, Dumbledore may be one of the worst planners in human history. Based on everything from designing "traps" ten year olds can bypass to not noticing one of his oldest friends is actually an INSANE DEATH EATER after spending months and months around him and much more Dumbledore is at best senile and at worst a drooling retard.

If you buy the various bullshit JKR drops in the last book Dumbledore had a crystal ball and planned all of it because he's the smartest guy evar and somehow can predict how everything will happen even after he dies. But I can still buy a retarded, heavy handed plan from Dumbledore based on the earlier books. Because someone apparently cast a banishing charm on common sense in the wizarding world long ago.

I like this story. The only downside is the trend of too many well written "realistic" stories that involve endless setup and constant fail by Harry to show they're not "another SuperHarry" fic but never get around to any actual win.

 

Does JKR actually say that Dumbledore planned his own death? I mean - my understanding was that once he got cursed thanks to the ring, he decided on the plan to `die with dignity'. But I got the impression that he did not actually plan to get cursed fatally by the ring.

In any case, I agree with you that from pathetic planning in the initial books to almost superhuman ability to predict everything in the latter two, there is a wide and almost impossible-to-bridge gap.

 

Maybe I was bored, but I quite liked this story. As has been mentioned in earlier posts, first few chapters are a bit testing to wade through, but the story picks up its pace. Then again very few stories has a fantastic first chapter and most of them are on hiatus shortly afterwards.

Didn't see too many cliches. There are some, but they are necessary to start of any independent Harry story. If not for Dumbledore's manipulation and love potion and sacrifice plans, Harry would never have to grow a back-bone right? So there are some cliches but they are not overused.

Patil sisters have never been featured prominently in any story that I have read, so this one felt quite original too.

All in all 4/5 from me because it sure deserves a spot in the library in my opinion. If you start reading this, do try to read past the initial few chapters.

 

Note: Just to be clear, I'm not ranting, just being very wordy. Excuse my talkativeness.

And yet in canon he was all about sacrificing the one for the benefit of the many and hung all his hopes firmly on the prophecy. Fanatically, even.

The author didn't really change Voldemort's character from his depiction in canon. Rather, the author kept that depiction, but has Dumbledore describe him as being obviously out of his mind.

This is actually a pretty smart move.

FACT 1: Voldemort was a master of many types of magic and, regardless of how hard or easy it was to actually perform, was one of the only wizards in the world who knew the ins and outs of Horcrux creation. During his school days he was very intelligent, and a model student. He, a bastard child, orphan, and mudblood, basically conned all of the hard-line, old school, pureblood supremacists in Wizarding Britain, to bow at his feet and do his dirty work.

This can all be boiled down to the statement - "Voldemort is very smart."

FACT 2: Voldemort took most of the school year to get past obstacles that three first years surmounted in no time flat; an embarrassment even if you give him extra points for taking out the troll for them.

He made his snake into one of his horcruxes. These are items that are supposed to ensure his immortality and he makes one out of a vulnerable living creature which he keeps by his side (and presumably in the line of fire) at all times (Except when he sent it on a dangerous mission to intercept Harry in Godric's Hollow!).

He had a mole in Hogwarts during the TWT, who was within arm's reach of Harry Potter the entire year... and yet instead of just tossing a portkey on Harry and whisking him away for the resurrection ritual, he employs one of the most convoluted of schemes to abduct him.

The only way his plan could have been more ridiculous and pointlessly baroque, would be if he created a fucking Rube Goldberg machine, which would be set off by Harry picking up the chocolate frog from a set of scales at one end... and all the way at the other end it finally drops a bowling ball on Harry's head and portkeys him off school grounds.

Honestly, canon Harry has the tendency towards being, sadly, as dumb as a post half the time. Abducting him could have been wrapped up before the opening feast was over.

He spent a year sending Harry false visions on the slim hope he would go haring off to the DOM and grab the right prophecy, when he, in all his power, probably could have sneaked in and grabbed it himself without anyone being the wiser. I mean, come on, a dozen death eaters and half a dozen school kids played a no-holds-barred version of Monkey in The Middle across the whole department and it wasn't until someone told the Ministry something was afoot that any law enforcement showed up. Taking that into consideration, Voldemort could have sneaked in and out on his own in a heartbeat.

When he finally does get his shit together, he takes over the Ministry in all of five seconds. These are not the actions of a rationally thinking person, especially not when you take his purported intelligence into account.

This can all be boiled down to the statement - "Voldemort is very stupid."

Since 'Fact 1' and 'Fact 2' are basically mutually exclusive, we have to come up with a way to resolve the conflict. Claiming that the once brilliant Voldemort has lost most of his marbles and is, in fact, fucking batshit-bonkers-insane, neatly explains this canon behavior, without changing anything.

So don't think of him as some OOC, fanon, insane!Voldemort, think of him as a true to canon!Voldemort, who has finally been diagnosed by someone who has seen enough of him, both before and after, to realize the dark lord is a few Shriner cars short of a parade.

I am not one to complain if fanfic is different than canon. That's the whole point of fanfic. However, if one's complaint is that someone is OOC, then the counterargument pretty much has to be couched in terms of them actually being more like canon than you think.

--
--

As for Molly... If she really wanted some money, well, Harry Potter has to die, Albus said so. Ginny, who already thinks she's in love with Harry, is going to be devastated either way. A few weeks of tepid encouragement from Harry isn't going to change that very much, one way or the other. That being the case, why not profit from it?

Ron... I think if Dumbledore said Harry was prophesied to die in order to save the world, and his parents were on board with the idea, I have little doubt that Ron would do it.

Giving the little shit the benefit of the doubt, if he has misgivings later... he's oath-bound not to squeal, so tough shit for Harry and Ron. Since he can't talk to Harry about it and it is fated to come to pass anyway, he could resign himself to accepting it, no matter how much he didn't like it, even to the point of convincing himself he didn't care. We are talking about the boy who, after three years of knowing Harry, convinced himself that Harry secretly entered the TWT in order to amass more wealth and fame. That's a whole fantasy world of willful self-delusion right there.

--
--

Dumbledore could be a bit more deft with his machinations, but then again, not everyone can write layer upon elaborate layer of intrigue in the first place (I seriously doubt I could), let alone make canon!Harry believably figure it all out in time not to be completely fucked. Also, reading multi-layer intrigue sometimes just wears me out. It takes a... unique fic to do it just right.

Dumbledore probably also figures that he doesn't have to employ as much finesse where Harry is concerned because Harry's isolation, ignorance of the Wizarding World, lack of accessible resources, and bad reputation are all working against him.

If he doesn't like what Dumbledore and his cronies are doing to him, who can he go to for help? Who would believe him? Who would care? Who wouldn't turn him back over to Dumbledore... or the Ministry... or Voldemort... or simply use him for their own agenda?

All Dinesh did was tell him to drop his shit, apparated him a few times, and is giving him lodgings for a few days. This alone is costing Harry 10,000 galleons he doesn't know for sure that he has, and doesn't really have access to. Let us not forget that this is the equivalent of, what, around 50,000 pounds sterling? For a pair of side-alongs and a few days of room and board?

Dumbledore wasn't too far off base thinking Harry was too boxed in to do jack shit about his situation. He very nearly was.

As for Harry not being independent enough, without super magic of some sort or some other miscellaneous magical gimmick, how's he going to do it alone? At least he honestly read up on and practiced magic over the summer without the cliché removal of the tracking charm, time dilation trunks, magically expanded bedrooms, mysterious mentors, inherited mansion that are impenetrable and undetectable, and so on.

That's more than most supposedly 'independent' Harrys do, considering most of their advantages are handed to them on a silver platter at Gringotts or due to a magical fluke that happens overnight. I could be 'independently' wealthy... if someone were to hand me a few million dollars at midnight on my birthday.

It looks like whatever 'power-ups' this Harry comes by are going to be earned. That is something you don't see terribly often. His spell repertoire looks to be greatly expanded, except for the fact that he can't use any of it because someone has put the whammy on his magic.

With crippled magic he can't use for fear of being caught, near constant surveillance, the loss of what few allies he had, dubious access to funds, a vast conspiracy out to force his destiny upon him for their own selfish gain, a government who wants him out of the way at best and dead at worst, a dark lord and his minions out for his blood... What can he do without enlisting some help?

He doesn't even have a broom now. Without some good fortune falling in his lap, the best he can hope for is to have his magic restored and evade escape long enough to seek asylum in another country that won't send him right back to England and isn't crawling with death eaters, sympathizers, or Order members and he doesn't even have a broom to ride there. He's going to have to get help from someone to accomplish any of these things.

Part of being independent is being wise enough to know when you need help and mature enough to swallow your pride and seek that help out. Once you're in a position to do more, you become more independent. Instant independence, where Harry suddenly has the power and resources to make his life do a split-second 180 is the province of super!Harry fics.

This clearly isn't part of that genre.

This Harry is powerful, but not super and his magic is currently being held back somehow.

He's smart, eager to learn (if for no other reason than to prevent his death), and willing to study, but not a genius.

He's learning new spells the old fashioned way, using books most of the upper year students have access to, as opposed to illegal magic he somehow walked right in and bought in Knockturn Alley.

He's presumably wealthy but can't get to his money.

He's a teen who is earnest but awkward in his interaction with his peers. A lot of social intricacies, particularly those involving girls, still escape him. He hasn't had the benefit of super magic or a creature inheritance to turn him into a smooth-talking pussy magnet by the time the sun rises on July 31st.

Also remember that the typical indie Harry is starting his sixth year, has an extra year of study (particularly in combat related magic with the DA), knows about Occlumency and Legilimency and is wary of having them used on him, even if he can't do them, and has heard the prophecy and had a summer to let it sink in.

This Harry is just starting his fifth year...

Word. Die Dursley, die!

I agree with your opinion on Hermione. This one is a more realistic betrayer, the reluctant and well-meaning one who never even thought her actions constituted betrayal, than the black and white versions we usually see. This one actually rethinks her actions when the truth is revealed, and finds herself to be gravely at fault. Such lucid thought is rarely displayed by the cookie-cutter betrayer!Hermione typically employed.

This makes Harry's final words to her even more poignant, because unlike those other incarnations of her, this one actually cares enough to be crushed by them and, perhaps, isn't quite as deserving of them.

A rare blessing.

That's the typical interpretation. Another way to look at it is that, as long as Harry's alive, he's the only one who can kill Riddle. Once Harry is dead, it becomes anybody's game once again. Between Harry's age, skill, and the fact that he's only one person, odds are much better with him dead and out of the way so you can swarm the dark Lord with more and better fighters.

No one in canon dares to consider this interpretation because we know damned well that the Ministry would have jumped on it in a heartbeat and either had Harry executed the minute they believed Voldemort to be back so that competent wizards could have a chance to kill him, or they would have thrown Harry at him and hope they didn't have to do any work, falling back on those competent wizards from Plan A if Harry bought the farm.

Without the assumption that Harry is the ONLY one, period (full stop ) who can kill the dark lord, there's no reason for Albus 'Greater Good' Dumbledore to do all that scheming, no reason to remove Harry's godfather and stick him in a muggle hellhole, no reason for the series to go on... Knock Potter down the stairs, pretend to cry at the funeral, then hire an army to go beat Voldemort's scaly ass.

Take all of what I just blathered on about and condense it, and you pretty much get a reiteration of what this sums up in a few paragraphs. :mrgreen:

True enough.

Super!Harry got as popular as it is/was, at least in part, because there's a certain amount of instant gratification. The longer a plot takes to play out, the more likely it will be abandoned before it resolves. The potential for a story to be abandoned is surely lurking in the back of every veteran fic reader whenever they start on a new one.