Title: The Best Revenge
Author: Arsinoe de Blassenville
Rating: T
Chapters: 47
Words: 213,669
Updated: September 10, 2011
Published: March 9, 2009
Status: Complete
Category: The Alternates
Summary: AU. Yes, the old Snape retrieves Harry from the Dursleys formula. I just had to write one. Everything changes, because the best revenge is living well. T for Mentor Snape's occasional naughty language. Supportive Minerva.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4912291/1/The_Best_Revenge

A Snape mentor story that I have found to be very good. A very good take on the wider magical world, and magic as a whole, a good characterisation of Harry, Snape, each of the Malfoys, and even Dumbledore.

The characterisation is to be noted particularly for the restraint of the author. There is little melodrama and no caricatures here. Harry's abuse is kept as it is in canon, Dumbledore is done well in that he seems heartless at first glance but it turns out that there are very good reasons for everything he does, and not just "greater good" ones, but also "Harry's good" reasons.

The only possible problem with the story is the slow pacing - we're only just reaching Hogwarts now - but it does seem right. There isn't anything that I'd choose to cut out from what has been written.

It looks like it's going to be a 7 AU, but IIRC I think the author has plans to not follow that format.

All of the authors other fics are completed, so I think we have a good chance of completion here, and it has a good update rate.

I'm going to give this a rare 5/5.


Sequel:

The Best Revenge: Time of the Basilisk
Chapters: 30
Words: 108,739
Updated: November 14, 2010
Published: March 26, 2010
Status: Complete
Summary: AU: The continuation of Book I. Not all of Tom Riddle is gone. A mysterious journal and a new Defense teacher pose challenges for Harry and his guardian. T for Mentor Snape's occasional naughty language. Supportive Minerva.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5843959/1/The-Best-Revenge-Time-of-the-Basilisk



Checked by Minion, January 6, 2013
Added the sequel

 

I'll check it out, but 20+ chapters and it's only now getting to Hogwarts? This had better be good stuff.

 

To be fair, though we're only just getting to Hogwarts now, Harry has been learning magic and interacting with his peers throughout the summer.

 

A pretty good story I must admit.

Bit surprised that I hadn't read it on FF.net before.

A bit too slow for my liking, but a very well written one nevertheless.

4/5 for the time being.

 

I really like it. It moves at a very nice pace and it a great AU.

5/5

 

Same here, it should be in the Independent Community.

 

I read the first 7 chapters of this awhile back, and was surprised at how much I liked it. I put it aside when I got busy, but it's near the top of my 'to read' list.

It's an excellent story, despite the fact that Snape became too likeable too quickly. The author seems to have a background in 18th-century, Jane Austen-style fics, and it really shows in the sophistication of her prose.

5/5 for execution, style, and intelligence

-1 because it's impossible to write one of these fics without making Snape OOC, and thus not really Snape. He really is just a snarky, greasy git.

TL; DR: very strong 4/5

 

I remember The Golden Age by this author started out great but really fizzled towards the end.

 

I generally don't like Snape mentoring fics on principle. But I've got to say, this one is certainly different.



Rated 5/5 Loved all of it so far.



EDIT: RATING CHANGED down to 4/5

I just finished reading it again and this time I am more awake. It is still a great read, but the pace of the story is very slow. 100k and just getting into Hogwarts is fine, but if the author is considering all seven years at hogwarts, it's going to be one long wait.



For some reason my spoiler command isn't working so don't read the next paragraph if you don't like being spoiled. I'm at my sisters house so maybe something is on her computer, I don't know.



The pace of the story however is only a minor issue. My concern is Harry just comes off as slighty over-powered, especially with him being able to ward his own room on the second day he learns magic. Either warding in this story will be a very common and expected skill for witches and wizards to have, or Harry is already showing signs of being over-powered. I think with Harry being able to ward his room like he did that fast, and it being classified as a powerful ward greatly diminishes Curse Breaking and Wards in general. If all it takes is copying the runes and the wards end up being successful, then anyone can ward.

That's my only major peeve with it so far, and it's personal; some of you won't even care about it.


The author might present it better in the future, but for now the rating is down to 4/5. Still a awesome read!

 

I have to admit first that I am at least partial to Snape mentoring fics in general - if they are done well, which admittedly few are. However, this one here is an exceptional find, Taure.

The characterizations are believable and spot-on, the writing is top-notch and as you said yourself there is nothing to be left out, even if it is already almost 100k of words before even arriving at Hogwarts.

Judging from the time the first chapter was posted and where it is now also leads me to assume a decent update rate.

Definitely looking forward to more, 5/5.

 

I'm halfway through it, and I kind of like it, but there still are some things that feel way off, and characters way too OOC without a plausible explanation: Dumbledore, for example; His defense of Harry staying with the Dursleys made no sense at all, he was way too unreasonable for my liking, to the point that it almost looked like a "Dumbledore bashing fic" and by the way the author expressed his liking for those kind of stories in an Author's Note, it has me worried.

At the moment, it gets a 4/5 from me. It's entertaining, and not a bad read, not in the slightest, but the slow pace and some of the most glaring flaws keep it from being an excellent story

 

I must admit, I greatly enjoyed the fic. I'm quite interested in seeing how exactly he'll portray the Malfoy family; Lucius seems to have a much different attitude toward him due to his knowledge of Runes. This, however, brings me to one of the faults of the story; it seems as though de Blassenville is making Harry out to be very powerful due to being a "Child of Prophecy." Tread carefully; these stories can turn out badly quite easily. Also, I'm hoping that the Weasley's don't turn out to be total pricks; I won't mind if they aren't in the story at all, I just don't want Weasley antagonists. Finally, as a sucker for Good!Dursley fics, I hope that Dudley comes to his senses. Vernon and Petunia are a lost cause, however.

All in all, a 4.5/5, upped to a 5/5 for rating purposes.

 

Currently 4/5. It could turn into a 5/5 if Voldemort is dealt with nicely and believably, no dues-ex machinas suddenly turn up, the characterization stays spot on, etc. It could also go horribly wrong, of course.

I don't think Harry is overpowered. I think Minerva taught him something few wizards know, that's all. Like her "window" runes that Snape has never seen before - Family Magic. His talent for flying is canon. If he studies hard, he can believably be a good student - not as good as Hermione, but good. And if she has no friends and stays so close minded about the wizarding world, Harry would always have the advantage over her.

Dumbledore had a believable reason to think that Lucious would get custody of Harry if the issue of his living arrangements ever came up. Why didn't he use his power at the end of the war to dose every death eater with Veritaserum is not explained - he was powerful, he had just won the war, the DEs were is disarray - he could grab Barty Crouch Sr. and a few of his Aurors (like the Longbottoms), some Veritaserum and be done with the DEs in an afternoon.

 

In canon Veritaserum can be beaten by Occlumency, or by casting spells on your throat/vocal chords.

 

Really? Where was that revealed? I always thought it was unbeatable in canon.

 

It is beatable, but not by the means Taure mentioned. At the beginning of HBP, Dumbledore told Harry that Veritaserum would not work on Slughorn.

 

This just made the fic for me. 5/5

Taure was quoting the lexicon Rowling's FAQ:

 

Or bite your fucking tongue off!

Browsed the fic, despite not being a huge Mentor Snape/Harry fan. It's well written and refreshingly free of too much angst, and I got a Dumbledore bashing vibe, which is always a plus if it's done well (It was). Long story short, I'm hoping the Hogwarts stuff is as good as the build up to it.

4/5, I think. Not much on number reviewing myself.

 

First off. Taure out of 4 fics you finally got one right.

I just finished the first chapter... And frankly... Snape is pretty cool here.

Spoiler

Snape whispered, "If you scream, I will curse you. Do you understand? Nod. Good. If I ever hear you use the word "freak" again, I will curse you. If you or your husband or your son insult or injure Potter again, I will curse you." His glare blazed. "And if you ever say Lily’s name again, I will fucking kill you. Are we clear about things now? Yes? All right, then. I’m off."

The primary divergence from canon here isn't that Snape got Harry instead of Hagrid. The split really lies in what the author did to Rowling's characters. Changing them from their polar selves ("I hate Potters" "Hulk hate Slytherin" "Of course you're right Dumbledore, how silly of me to second guess you") into rational free-thinking individuals. Each of the characters, from Draco to Dumbledore and everyone in between, has their own motivation and personality allowing them react accordingly to the situations provided by the author.

Lets take a quick look at a couple of the characters here.

Snape: Still an asshole, but the Snape in this story actually has a moral compass that despite his hatred for James Potter, will not allow him to simply leave a child in an abusive household. This is honestly the first time I've liked Snape in a long long time, possibly ever. The fact that he's not his normal child-molestery-creepy self helps a little.

Spoiler

Apart from him thinking about stealing Lily's panties

What impressed me the most about his character is that he's actually attempting to be a reasonable and responsible guardian to Harry, while not unduly influencing him by forming biases. In so many of these "Person gets Harry instead of Hagrid" stories, the person inevitably locks Harry in the mansion (Its always a fucking mansion), tells him to study, and then fucks off until September 1st.

Spoiler

Plus when he told Dumbledore to "Pull the other one, its got bells on it" I was kind of stoked

Narcissa: In canon, a right bitch. In this? Probably still a right bitch when the time comes, but she's a mother. Mother's develop soft spots fairly quickly for well mannered children, orphans probably even more so. In this story she reacts to Harry as a real human being would, albeit one with an agenda. She met a polite boy who is friends with her son and who's guardian she herself is 'friends' with, they went out to lunch, and then she invited them over for dinner a few days later. That is the kind of thing that happens in real life. She didn't spot him and then scowl, or snatch him up and try to give him to Lucius.

All in all its a very good story with a lot of promise, it is however horribly slow paced.

20 Chapters and we're not at Hogwarts yet. Really?

If the month leading up to Hogwarts is 20 chapters long then I can't imagine how long this thing is going to be eventually. But with 5 chapters a month in updates it's the kind of story you can check back in on from time to time.

For now it gets a 3.5 ~ 4/5

 

ok, i read till the end of chapter 13. it started out fairly good but turned out disappointing especially with Snape. It is really poor characterization having him interested too much in muggle inventions and acting as a father figure to harry. Also we all know from the books that harry is a spitting image of his father. just because he doesn't wear any glasses now does not make him look a lot more like lily.

in the books everyone says he looks like his father and then add the eyes. Here, minevra just says "his mother's eyes" come on.

it is quite obvious that the writer is obsessed with the character of snape and likes to portray him as a light wizard but he is certainly not and that's what makes this story dull as it progresses. Seeing one of my favorite character fawning over harry is definitely a mood killer to me.

Also what the f... with that rune magic. they wrote "harry" with runes and she learned all about prophecy, warrior etc. this means all the wizards with the name of "harry" have a prophecy...come on people get a hold of yourselves and stop this nonsense. also it is certainly ridiculous warding yourself and being able to key other people with a few carvings and let alone an 11 year old do it. where is empowering them, why didnt james and lily and many other Order wizards didnt do it but used so many other wards? so laughable really.

aside from these i must give credit to author for writing skill. it is certainly what made me read that far. the descriptions on the details of the surroundings captured me.

All though i criticized it viciously, the story is readable and capturing and way better than the stories out there. After the series ended, the creativity and the number of good stories coming out slowed down a lot. This is one of those stories that we can read when we have time so 3.5 from me.