Title: Harry Potter and the Greater Good
Author: Blank402
Rating: T
Genre: AU
DLP Category: The Alternates
Pairing: None atm
Chapters: 12
Words: 90,799
Updated: August 5, 2011
Published: May 28, 2010
Status: Abandoned
Summary: Dumbledore and Grindelwald combined forces and carved out an empire for "the greater good". Now, Harry must enter this confusing world and decide for himself what the Greater Good truly is. AU. Grey!Harry.

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6004275/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Greater_Good

This fic has been on my alerts for a few weeks now, and I was previously hesitant to post it up here because, though the story is now nearly 60k words in the plot has not actually progressed that far. However, following the recent update I feel it is now ready to bring to the attention of DLP.

The AU world the author has set up here of a post-war Empirical scenario, where Dumbledore and Grindelwald effectively carried out their plans and have enslaved Muggles for 'The Greater Good'. The world is now a very different place, and the author explores many of the more interesting aspects in great detail.

I enjoyed the characterisation of nearly everyone, especially the actions/reactions of Lily, James and Harry (it is rare in fanfiction for a family to be captured so realistically). Lily's character is especially good, and obviously as a Muggle-Born witch in this new world she has many reservations and objections, but is struggling to abide by her own morals and raise her son as she would wish because of the Nazi-style control of the Empire.

The premise itself is a relatively new one (a new-age genre heralded by the likes of NMB etc), and it is one I enjoy greatly. This fic so far slots nicely into this genre, and while not as good as the Skitterleap et al, it does have its own charm. The author is not the most talented, but seems to understand this and writes within his/her own limitations.

I refrained from covering many of the new aspects in this review, for I do not want to spoil the surprises, but this AU has the potential to be very, very engaging as Harry grows older (Harry is currently on his Christmas holidays in 1st year) and carves his own path. His mother's ideals clash with those of Dumbledore's, and both are major factors in his early life, so it will be interesting to see whom he chooses to side with and where it takes him.

TL;DR - 4/5 for me, definitely Library worthy as it stands at the moment; the writing is solid, if not sometimes simple, but there are very few errors. The premise as a whole, for me, has the potential to be 5/5. I am watching this fic with great anticipation.

Dark-Stallion.


Checked by Minion, January 14, 2013

 

I like this. In fact, I posted this first in the almost recommended thread, and you're right, now it is long enough to post here. I'm caught up with it and I have to say, that while the writing is not flawless and there are some pacing issues, the universe itself is fantastic and I'm loving the world that Harry inhabits. I'm very curious to see where it goes. For what's been written so far, I'd say it gets a solid 4/5.

 

Comparing this to the Skitterleap? Laughable.

However, the universe is interesting. I find myself bored by the Hogwarts scene, probably because I've read so many do-overs, but the society outside it makes me want to continue reading.

At this point no rating is possible, since it has tremendous potential for epic failure. Still, if it avoids the failtrap, it can turn into a huge success.

 

Is there anything potentially interesting about our protagonist here? Or is he not so fundamentally different from canon in actions and morals?

Basically other then a good universe, what has this story got going for it?

 

So far not anything particularly interesting in my opinion. He isn't that different, though he has been influenced by the world around him. Harry has the potential to turn interesting though, if the author succeeds in portraying an internal struggle from his two most direct sources of influence, his muggle-born mother and the Chancellor Dumbledore.

 

I obviously wasn't comparing it to Skitterleap, I was comparing the direction of the AU to that of Skitterleap; a post war, empirical world. This is a new 'fad' in fanfiction, and one I am enjoying, hence why I made the connection.

Stupid reason to not rate is stupid.

I don't see why what could possibly happen in future updates would stop you from critiquing what is already there.

Have you actually read the fic? Personally I found it to be very well written, in that it is one of the rare instances in which the protagonist actually has a three-dimensional character. He is torn, not only in the bigger picture in the moral sparring between Dumbledore and his mother, but even in his everyday life. It is a realistic representation of school life, not really liking people but pretending to be their friend so as to not upset the status quo.

This Harry is significantly different from that which we see in canon, and it is not due to the fact that he was brought up with a family, but because the author has properly penned out an actual character which has room to develop, and is already developing, as he gets older.

Dark-Stallion.

 

Finished chapters one through seven, and I already like it. The universe is just so intriguing, and it's clear that Harry will have many heart-wrenching and life-changing moments to go through as he grows older.

Wonderful. 4/5 from me thus far.

 

The word potential pretty much sums this fic up.

The world has been massively changed, but only little of it has been shown. There are the obvious changes regarding Hogwarts, like new grounds keeper and a dark arts professor, but what is Filch still doing there?

The characterizations are pretty good, I liked quite a few of them, and they're realistic. The fic is well written in general, so that's good.

The biggest problem here, in my opinion, is Harry. He's a bit too much of a blank slate for me to enjoy reading about. There is much potential for his character to grow, but as a result, he's just stunted right now.

Grindelwald was pretty impressive, and the muggle slaves were lulz-worthy. I'm enjoying the potential of this perspective - unified wizards enslaving muggles.

This fic still has a decent chance to turn into a crapfest, though. There is going to be some major internal conflict about which 'side' Harry will take, and that's probably going to be crucial in how the fic turns out. The entire 'find the magical item' adventure the boys are having seems fairly stupid plot-driver mechanic too.

For the content thus far, I'll give this a 3.5/5, 4/5 for rating purposes.

 

I really am enjoying this - I find the subtleties in characters to be very interesting, especially in the way you can see the connection to the original canonical characters. It's evolving pretty well - Harry seemed flat at first, but he gradually became more and more interesting.

4/5

 

I was wondering why my story was getting so so many more hits and reviews lately. Glad to see that most of you are enjoying it so far. I hope I'll be able to exceed your expectations.

 

It is well written with an interestingly conceived and effectively executed worldscape. Just don't fuck it up and it'll be a very solid fic!

 

Great idea. Good execution. Grindelwald is da bomb.

 

While the story holds my interest and is written reasonably well, I can't share the enthusiasm that some others have for this story. While the world is intriguing, everything else is lackluster.
-James is exactly how I expected him to be, which would be fine if he had more depth than just an overgrown child, but he doesn't.
-Lily is Molly Weasley and almost unbearable to read, IMO.
-Neville is the same, just with parental issues, he's kind of like a mixture between Canon! Neville and Canon! Malfoy. On one hand he's a coward who isn't good at anything, on the other hand, like Canon! Malfoy, he has negligent parents who he desperatly wants attention from but hates, the difference is Canon! Malfoy becomes a DE while in the story it appears that Neville surpresses his rage.
- Ron, in this story has everything that Canon! Ron wants, fame, money, and adoring fans, simply put he's boring as hell to read about.
- Harry is unbearable, he has these inner demons but refuses to choose a side, he appears to know what Dumbledore's doing is wrong but adores the old man. He needs to start to choose a side.
-Hermoine is obnoxious, a smug pacifist who is bitter at life, but she's actually fairly interesting to read.
- The rest of the characters are in character, as is the plot from PS/SS (more or less).
3/5

EDIT: After reading chapter 7 my opinion of the story hasn't really changed much, except for the fact that Harry is beginning to grow and the plot is moving okay, but I realize that the reason I don't like this story is because it is more character driven (like that piece of shit Gabrielle but less shitty) with a little bit of plot on the side, when I read FF I prefer plot driven stories with lots of action mainly because because the majority of these authors are between 14-30 who write as a hobby and can't do the characterizations correctly.
Still a 3/5 but with a chance for improvement if the pace picks up.

 

Sorry, but to arrive at the conclusions you have, and given your stated preference for action, it sounds like you've been skimming paragraphs in your haste to get to the "good stuff."

Lily = Molly Weasley ? Ridiculous.

"Neville is the same but with parental issues" is such a glaring understatement that I don't even know how to approach that.

I dunno man...the author has incorporated a lot of complexity into every major character, despite having only gotten up to Christmas break of first year, that I have to wonder just how much of this story you actually read. And the plot is apparent from a few chapters in: Harry is going to end up making a decision on whether or not to challenge the Empire (and the Emperor); how he gets to that point obviously is gonna be pretty interesting if the author sticks with this fic.

I'll agree with you when you say that this fic != your typically action Harry - he's disappointingly cowardly, in fact - but this has all the markings of a really well-crafted story.

5/5

 

I am really liking this story so far, though sometimes it's hard to read, both because as it's said Harry so far is too much of a sycophant, and because there are lots of awful things implied in the background, and Harry just seems to manage to not see it (tied to the sycophant thing).

Really like how Lily couldn't properly raise Harry because of Dumbledore, and how this AD is still "nicer" than Grindelwald, though he truly went for the 'Greater Good'.

This part of AD is much, much better done than usually portrayed in the fandom.

Also, i like how his dark arts are portrayed (needing strong antagonizing emotions, and it seems to fuel them too somewhere).

Edit: 4.5

 

It could just all be a part of him being 11, and the fact that his world, as it is with all its flaws, has always been like that to him; he has known no other way, unlike his parents etc. Obviously the real judgement of Harry's character can only be done via his progressive development, or lack thereof as the case may turn out to be.

 

Lily come off as a whiny bitch in most of chapter 1. Maybe there's a reason for that, but I haven't read past chapter 4 yet.

I like it. Don't know... Wasn't really blown away by it, but it's definitely not bad and I'd like to see where this goes.

3/5 for me so far.

 

Coming from a muggle background, she's afraid of the obvious influence that a muggle-hating dictator has on her very impressionable son.

In other words: what you see as "whiney bitch" is actually the behavior of a reasonable parent.

 

It would make more sense for muggleborn wizards and witches, as soon as their talents were identified, to be separated from their parents and have their memories modified. Getting them away from the corrupting influence of the muggle world as soon as possible would seem to better serve the greater good.

For that matter, why didn't an adult wizard escourt Hermione to Diagon Alley, and thus eliminate the need for muggles to enter that sacred place. How many muggleborns have been killed in similar instances?