Title: Harry Potter: Master of Malicious Compliance
Author: Watermelonsmellinfellon
Rating: M
Genre: Humor
Status: Complete
Library Category: Humor
Pairings: None
Summary: Harry Potter was not above doing whatever it took to get what he wanted. It often meant he'd have to go to extreme lengths to make people suffer for their stupidity, but the results were always worth it. This Harry Potter takes things too literally. ON PURPOSE.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21949021/chapters/52381363#workskin

I'm not sure how I found my way to this fic, but I'm reasonably happy I did. I wouldn't consider it the greatest story ever by a long shot: it's got its fair share of flaws (most of which I've listed below). However, none of them were so jarring that I dropped the story, which happens a lot for me. I'll start with a few major notes about the story where your mileage may vary. From the summary alone, it should be rather obvious that Harry is OOC, but I was willing to set that aside for the sake of the story. I thought most of the other characters were handled well enough (though they're far from the best portrayals I've ever seen). Furthermore, there's almost no romance to be found here: a couple of background pairings, but none for Harry, and none that have much (if any) influence on the story. The rest of my macro notes on the fic as a whole, which I feel are a bit more black-and-white, are listed below.

PROS:

• While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, I was chuckling pretty consistently the entire way through. Harry's phone call with Hermione and his initial treatment of Lockhart are some early highlights for me. The extras kept this up as well.
• It had a few interesting and/or more logical takes on canon events, especially Book 5.
• I liked the author's version of Luna, even if she's not a major character here.
• Despite the story's length (and it being almost all in one chapter) I never got bored or wanted to stop reading.

CONS:

• A lot of cliches, including the Ancient and Noble House fanon that I know most people hate, especially here. (To be completely fair, that part is barely relevant to the story.)
• It's not identical to canon by a long shot, but most of its waystations are followed pretty much the whole way through: the story rarely strays far and doesn't start weaning itself off until near the end.
• The author's portrayals of Dumbledore and especially Ron are... less than charitable, to say the least. Far from the worst incarnations of either character I've ever seen, but not great.
• The tone shift in the sixth year, while it does fit considering the lead-up, is a bit jarring. Furthermore, the author still tries to keep the humor going there and it feels really forced as a result.

In total, I would give this fic a 3.5, rounded up to a 4. It has its problems and it's definitely not for everyone, but I read it the whole way through and got some laughs out of it, and that's good enough for me. Hopefully, you'll get some laughs out of it as well.

EDIT: Fixed link, should go to Chapter 1 now. Sorry!