Title: Hogwarts, to welcome you home
Author: gesparrowhawk (FaceChanger)
Rating: G
Genre: General
Status: Complete
Library Category: The Alternates
Pairings: Harry/Ginny
Summary:
“You understand, Professor,” Harry began, after a moment, “that I don’t have my N.E.W.T.s. I don’t even have my O.W.L.s. Between everything I never had a chance the first time around, and then afterwards there didn’t seem to be much point. Hermione argued for it, of course, but I was so tired of Britain. So technically, I am completely unqualified for the position.”

“Quite a way to begin an interview, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said dryly.

Or, three years after the war, Harry Potter becomes Hogwarts' newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8125531

It's a fairly simple premise on the surface, where after the war, and marrying Ginny, Harry Potter becomes the new professor of DADA. However, it executes that premise very well, displaying snapshots throughout the year, how Harry slowly but changes things between those of pure blood and those that are not, between the houses, and working to end prejudices. After all, a good teacher can teach their students, and make it stick.

The spelling and grammar is of generally high quality, and avoids a great deal of cliches of "post-canon" fanfics. The characterization is spot-on, and there's a good deal of development after the three years post-war that's easily seen.

Most of all, all of the characters, the teachers, the adults, the students, and the children are portrayed exactly as what they are. People. People that can change, learn, and be more than what they are.

At a decently concise 11k words, this fic encompasses what it means to go home after a war, to teach children more than just knowledge, and how simple yet complex it is to change opinions.

Easily a 4.5/5.

 

McGonagall's characterization is way off.

A few grammatical issues in the story. Overuse of adverbs, and altogether just weak writing.

Its boring and uninventive.

2/5

 

The first thing I notice are the additional tags the author has provided: 'Fluf', 'Ridiculously self indulgent', 'slight angst', 'kinda ridiculous at times' 'Epiloge what epilogue'.

To lightly quote the fic: "Quite a way to begin a review".

There are quite a few issues I have with this fic. The first one is in regards to Harry's interactions with the (Late) Dumbledore.

Spoiler

When MM first invites HP to her office, HP goes all sentimental and sadly says something along the lines of: 'I still think of it as ADs office' which made me think that this Harry was similar to canon, in that he generally venerated the late headmaster. Fast forward to Teddy Lupin getting stuck in a 'trap' and HP is in the Headmaster's office shouting at ADs portrait, accusing him of manipulating him and playing chess with his life. The scene ends with HP abruptly sobbing into MMs shoulder with her comforting him

. There was no explanation for this, for how abruptly different the two interactions are. This scene broke the spell of immersion, which if I'm being honest, was barely holding together anyways.

OP mentions that the fic shows how Harry works to end prejudices throughout the year. Other than an isolated scene or two, I find this to be untrue. It's as if by the end of the year all the students are magically friends (pardon the pun) without the showing of how that happened.

There are a few grammatical problems with the story, and the pace is .. tolerable. The plot is uninteresting and the only reason I read the fic in it's entirety was because it's only 11k words.

I'm trying to think of anything redeemable in this story but come up short. I imagine the only way you'd enjoy this story is if you're looking for a short fluffy piece on Harry teaching at Hogwarts after the war. I can't really fault the author for writing this because He/She mentions that it's a "completely self indulgent [fic] based entirely on [a] tumblr post".

Underserving of a place in the library, in my humble opinion.

2/5.

 

As others have detailed before, the oneshot does have few issues. McGonagall's characterization seems a bit alien. I mean she has always been portrayed as having a stern and strict disposition, but since the fic was told from her perspective, the author should have injected a bit more warmth. Even Harry's character lacked any sort of real depth.

Grammatically while there were errors, it was still a better than most out there. (Not that it's saying much). Structuring was simplified. The pacing was straightforward and consistent throughout, but the same couldn't be said about overall fluidity. It glosses over certain part while being specific on others.

The fic seemed to lack any real motive. Rather, it meandered away, showing us little of meaning. And where the efforts were made, they felt a bit lame. D&D club for orphans and such is an example of that. It felt more out of convenience towards giving the fic some meaning rather than any serious attempt.

It has to be said that the author keeps it simple and doesn't try anything overly fancy. It is distinct from most of the others fics in that regard where we see often see cases of over-complication and fics crumbling under the weight of same. For example, even though we see most of the main characters appear, they are mostly in passing and don't seem to have a significant bearing on the theme of the fic. Apart from that they were few phrases that told a lot and were quite apt.

To conclude, this fic has nothing ground-breaking or novel. It attempts to be lighthearted and largely inconsequential. While I did like this fic for that, the same is also its largest weakness. It feels more like an epilogue or last part of series of oneshots. The lack of any significance is one of the major reason, I wouldn't want it to be in the library. As it is, there isn't enough to distinguish itself from other bland and average fics which are nothing more than a decent time waste. I have voted 3 stars to it.

 

I think I'd mostly agree with Rapscallion. This does exactly what it says on the tin; it's a fluffy, fairly flimsy series of postwar snapshots, solidly written and kind of sweet, but nothing that I'm going to pick up and reread. A cute little time waster which does at least achieve everything it set out to do. 3/5

 

Superficial characters and uninspired storyline. The only redeeming point is somewhat decent writing from a technical point of view.

 

As others have said, the characters are superficial. McGonagall is way off. And the D&D club thing was interesting but should have been explored more. While the writing is technically sufficient, I couldn't help but feel a great deal of this was telling rather than showing.

2/5