Title: Blood and Water
Author: LF74
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure
Status: Work-in-progress
Library Category: The Alternatives
Pairings: None so far
Summary: What if Petunia wasn't so poisoned by jealousy her sister's magic, and when her orphaned nephew appeared on her doorstep chose to treat him as family rather than a burden? Sorted into Hufflepuff, how will the Wizarding World react when their saviour finally returns? And is being fair and loyal really as good as people say?
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13308752/1/Blood-and-Water



This is an interesting one. Incidentally, I keep thinking it's called "Blood and Custard," and have to remind myself it's Water. Anyway, the premise is as in the summary, and Harry gets sorted into Hufflepuff. But the interesting thing is that he gets developed to be darker in personality than most Slytherin Harry fics I've read (mine included). My favourite part of the story is definitely Harry's characterization. I'm going to quote the bit where I knew this was gonna be good (from ch.5, which is when 2nd year starts).

Spoiler

They picked up the rest of the books he needed in short order, as well as a selection of other books that caught his fancy. He took a particular interest in the Defence Against the Dark Arts section now that he knew he'd have to teach himself.

Yells and scuffling feet dragged his attention towards the shop entrance where, shockingly, two men were having a fist fight. Harry dashed across the shop, slipping between people to try and get a better look. Wizards fighting like muggles? How brilliant was that?

He had expected two drunkards, despite the fact that it wasn't yet two o'clock in the afternoon. Who else would start fighting in a book shop? What he wasn't expecting was a silver haired man in elegant robes to be being throttled against a bookcase by a short man with balding ginger hair. Even better than that were the two boys who were scrambling against each other on the floor, throwing desperate punches and scratching and biting. Malfoy screeched as Weasley managed to drag his nails across his face while the twins stood and watched, clapping and cheering.

But my birthday's next week, Harry thought as he gleefully watched the father and son street fight.

When the two adults were yanked off each other by a pair of massive hands and Weasley's mother finally pulled him off Malfoy Harry felt the urge to groan. It had just been getting good! Malfoy Senior struggled against Hagrid's grip as his eye slowly blackened, and the elder Weasley had a few scratches on his face that were bleeding lightly. The effects of the junior fight were even more entertaining – blood was pouring from Draco's nose, and there was a clump of ginger hair on the floor.

That said, it's not perfect. Harry feels just a little overpowered, things come to him slightly too easily without this really having been properly explained yet (fic is pretty much through third year at the beginning of fourth year atm). There is a bit of a deus ex machina in the Room of Requirement being just a little too useful. And finally there's my personal pet peeve of old wizarding families being Lords and emphasis on that political side.

That said, none of those things are done in a very over the top way, so I'm willing to overlook them and keep reading for the other enjoyable stuff, rather than immediately hitting close which is what I normally do when I read the words "Lord Longbottom." At least the kids aren't addressing each other like this.

I give it 4/5

 

From what I remember, this is a bland canon rehash with a more gifted Harry, and Neville and Susan substituting for Ron and Hermione. It's competently written, and the concept of Harry being raised as a Dursley has always fascinated me, but this really doesn't have much else going for it. 2/5.

 

Read all of it and liked it. Pretty rare to find a Hufflepuff, Grey/Dark, Talented Harry with no spelling errors or mistakes. His connection with Dudley and Petunia is a plus. I also like that he doesn't go from hating Granger at the start to being friends with her after Halloween. Pretty much every alt Sorting goes that way.

Hannah's betrayal in 2nd year is well-handled. I'm glad Harry cut her off permanently and kept everyone else at a distance afterwards. Too many stories go the forgiveness route which is annoying.

The Pureblood/Half-blood/Muggle-born side plot was interesting, and unlike a lot of stories, it seems like it won't be a one-and-done topic to check-off the trope list or highjack the story entirely. At least, I hope.

There are plenty of tropes though: Goblin portkeys, rebuilding Potter Manor, rescuing Sirius, learning advanced magic and scaring his friends, it's all been done before, but a pleasant surprise came with Durmstrang hosting the Tri-Wizard. That's a first, as far as I've read.

My taste probably needs refinement but this is a good 4.5/5, rounding down to 4.

 

I decided to give this a try just now and ended up really enjoying it! The author plays toward tropes though, but I like the balance of hinting towards manipulative Dumbledore while finding actual defenses for Dumbledore's actions in his faithfulness in the staunch conservatism of magical society as a whole- something I haven't really seen explored much.

I'm ambivalent toward Hufflepuff!Harry as a whole, but this fic makes it work in a particularly interesting way, with Harry simply having a nurtured drive stemming from Aunt Petunia's better treatment. It's believable; Harry still seems a bit too intelligent and almost on the verge of OP, but there's a path of reason toward why he is this way. As I've said above, I really like Dumbledore in this fic: I think he comes across as a tragic hero who has failed far too many times and is floundering to cope with his sorrow. The side characterizations aren't the strongest: Hannah and Susan seem cardboardish, although I agree above that Hannah's character in the first book is made stronger by her actions in the second. Conversely, Neville is fairly well fleshed-out, although one reaction in particular seemed quite OOC for him. I appreciated how the characters became strong throughout the course of the story without excessive physical training montages, although there are some for Harry.

The writing in general is very good. It's grammatically correct, with the exception of a couple typos and occasional slip-ups, but more importantly is a level above even most competently-written fanfiction. Paragraphs in general span a couple sentences and have a clear direction to them. Words in sentences fall into place rather than being simply strewn about. It's not Nabokov or Holderlin, but the author has clearly taken some time to make sure the writing is concise and effective. The pacing is similar, as the author does rehash some canon but also entrusts a good portion of the canon-fodder to the reader, compressing three years of Hogwarts into 140,000 words. Despite quite a bit of divergence, the total wordcount becomes shorter, not longer! Very unusual.

I can't in good conscience give this a 5/5. As someone said above, it has taste issues: this writer should know that training montages and goblin negotiation have a bit of a negative stigma in the fandom. The progression Harry makes in Runes and Arithmancy is a bit more than a tad unrealistic, but it's important to note that it is only in those subjects and Charms which he excels. There is bashing of Ron only, but it's extremely limited as he plays a smaller part in the story than Draco Malfoy, whose role is significantly reduced as well.

Reading the summaries of some of this author's older fics, they seem to be attempting to break free of a trope-bound mould and certainly have the talent to do so. An interesting fic with a couple new ideas and near-immaculate execution. 4/5.