Well, I've been reading various seven-year fics, a trend I started with Santi's work that lead me to What Would Slytherin Harry Do? Which lead me to inspiration. I just about loved every part of that fic, just because it stayed close to canon, but the character made it supremely interesting and there were some brilliant twists.

So, I started thinking about doing the Holy Grail of general Harry Potter fanfiction. A seven-year saga.

I've only read maybe a dozen or so, most that haven't finished. There are some things that I like in them, a twist on the Canon timeline, how a different Harry would regard a situation, like in WWSHD. Yet, I hate beating a dead horse.

There is something else, the one thing I don't want to do is to fall into similar traps that others have. That is what this is for. I would like people to list some of the things that most traps that seven-year fics fall into. I would like to avoid those.

One thing I do know is to have the children act like children, going to be a challenge. No shopping trips and not one over-powered. I think I can avoid some of the more common cliches, but I know there are others that I might not know of, considering those here have devoured more fics than I.

So, what things should I avoid?

 

The biggest 'trap' or cliche I read in AU stories with a slightly different Harry, or Harry in a different house is the canon repeat.

If Harry is in a different house, or has different friends, then don't have him somehow end up in a bathroom saving Hermione Granger. Just because it happened in canon does not mean you should force it into your story.

Find the elements in canon that you want to keep, find the elements and changes you think make your story worth writing, and combine then into something you'd enjoy reading.

 

The problem with doing a seven-year AU is that almost everything is going to be different, and most authors can't handle that. The most important thing is having your characterisation change over time; in first year Harry has to act like an eleven year old, and slowly mature into an adult hero. It's a tricky progression that even Rowling didn't do very well.

 

As said before, don't force canon events into the timeline. If possible, avoid using either horcruxes or hallows, both are shitty plot devices. Unless you find an interesting use for them, that is. Using horcruxes to make Voldemort harder to beat is bad and using hallows to compensate for it is worse.

 

I don't agree. Sticking to canon universe's rules is important. Adding Mana Points or removing Horcruxes or Hallows are simply the things you don't want to do.

 

I regard the idea of horcruxes as the one which destroyed HP. Delete the horcruxes, and remove the hallows. And yeah, never put child politics in any House. It destroys whatever you're trying to build. A classic example of the aforementioned souring a good story is the Grey Maiden series by Chris Widger.

Oh, and even the best authors fall into the trap of saying - I'm going to fix/change/help/remove/destroy the wizarding world or some variation thereof. Even if you want Harry to do that, try being discrete about it. Example - Hmm... The most recent one I read was Aspirations, I believe. I forgot the author. Its not a complete AU, but it applies well enough to this point.

And yeah, no "wizards are sheep" stuff. Though it applies to all fanfics in general, I find AU stories more guilty of it.

 

One of the biggest things you can do with a seven-year fic, that you can't do with shorter fics, is have the reader in the dark about whats going to happen.
There are good seven year fics and bad seven year fics, and the one thing i've read in all the good ones is that I don't know whats going to happen. I don't know what scenes are coming up, I don't know what plot twists will happen, I don't know what relevance anything is going to be.
The bad ones screw this up several different ways. Some don't go far enough, and we get a non-canon harry stuck at the hip to the canon sequence of events. Others get impatient, want to get to the "my harry is really different right now" and fail to develop Harry, such that we get a 20 something action hero who's supposed to be 11. Still others fail by timidity. They change something, and follow through with that change, but don't acknowledge that things have changed. (i'm looking at you, Sacrifices).
Also, I am in partial agreement with KrzaQ. Adding things that drastically change harry potter magic is unfun. Do not change HP magic to magic the gathering, wizard's first rule, or any other magic system because you understand that one better. Where I disagree with KrzaQ is that while the rules are important, we are reading about Harry, who starts off having broken a rule, namely the killing curse kills everyone. So if you want to include instances of the rules being broken, go for it.

 

Most of the good stuff has been said. However, I'll add this:

If you're up for a real challenge, the best way to ensure you don't fall into the traps many authors do is to scrap canon events and write your own interpretation of Harry growing up and facing Voldemort. It takes a large amount of creativity - hell, writing anything completely outside canon takes a lot of creativity, and it isn't easy for most of us to do - and perseverance, but will no doubt be more rewarding. You have a lot of people here willing to critique your work, and it's not unheard of to form a separate, private group on here to discuss the plot.

If you haven't, read On the Way to Greatness. While still somewhat in line with canon, it's the best Slytherin Harry fic around, and it's a seven year fic. Most recent chapter concluded 5th year. I'd say we're due for an update, too. Been a few months.

 

scaryisntit actually has a really good idea that I'm surprised I haven't seen done before.

Somebody ought to simply rewrite the seven years properly - smooth out inconsistencies, get rid of bad plot elements, fix/deepen characterizations, not butcher the romance, etc. Oh, and of course, most importantly, come up with a new and interesting plot to arc through the whole thing. This could be done in approximately the length of the original seven books, about a million words, and a good author could pull that off in anywhere from one to four years, depending on how much time they have.

 

The whole 'Youngest Seeker in a Century' thing? Most definitely, yes; not gonna happen if, for example, he's a Slytherin or Ravenclaw.

However, depending on how you characterize Harry (basically how far back you're going to change him, from either the Sorting Hat doing the 'Slytherin!' thing, or Harry becoming a cold and malicious bastard under the Dursleys pre-Hogwarts) and everyone else, I do see Harry saving Hermione if his reasons/causes for doing so are different than the whole 'saving people' thing that canon!Harry has.

For example?

A Harry who isn't 'innocent and wide-eyed' like his canon counterpart.

If he's asocial and fairly cold/distrusting towards people in general, and gets a reputation as a major cold fish towards people who are just trying to be friendly ala his dorm-mates, Hermione could still be used after the Troll incident as a confidant/only friend, with her eventually developing into an obsessive sort-of loyal/fanatical 'Bellatrix' type supporting role for him over the years.

You would also have to develop Hermione over the years into a different character compared to the authority suck-up seen in canon if the above angle is to work, which can be done if it's started early enough - especially if you go with the 'Harry as an only friend' sort of thing/cliche both pre and in Hogwarts. Another way to do this would be for Harry to single handedly take down the troll by sheer luck, but get injured badly in the process, like having his ribs smashed by the troll's club - this guilt trip only reinforces Hermione's conscience/guilt as she sits by him in the hospital wing, and this sets the foundation of her eventual development into a fanatical friend/follower.

This would be a perfect example if you're planning for an eventual Dark!Hermione angle as well, or a smart!H/Hr pairing or H/Hr 'sibling' thing.

(Also, on a random note, JKR noted -in an interview- that Hermione had been pining for Ron since either first or second year in canon; then again, we all know how terrible her romance angles are *coughHalf-BakedPlotcough*, but this could be a good plot-point if twisted and addressed, as well as showing some more depth to Hermione's character, but if Hermione hadn't of been friends with Ron via Harry, I'm not sure that this front would even develop).

Hell, you could repeat this sort of 'bonding' thing with a different character like Daphne Greengrass or someone else, if the troll finds them that halloween night.

Also, a lot of Harry Potter canon plotlines would of been accelerated/altered if Harry had been more intelligent and less dependent upon others. Keep that in mind, too - especially if you're going for a Slytherin!Harry.

And for the love of God, no (at least not completely evil) manipulative!Dumbledore! His characterization can make-or-break a story!

There are some background elements to the series that should be used as well, such as Harry's symbolic dreams foreshadowing things to come, and the whole 'power of love' crap that can be used in different/round-a-bout ways compared to usages seen in canon.

(To be honest and IMHO, I've always thought that the whole prophetic 'Mother's love' thing was the only thing stopping him from becoming a cold cunt under the care of the Dursleys, somehow).

There's also Sirius - whilst you could have him not being a major character in Harry's life, depending on how his situation goes over the arc, he's also got a lot of issues; he has a sort of semi-delusion that Harry is James, and if Harry is a Slytherin or completely different to his parents, that would cause quite a few issues, and lead to a different relationship between them.

There's also the Weasleys; even if Harry isn't friendly with them, and only knows them as distant acquaintances, if the whole 'Grimmauld' thing goes down similar to the canon!timeline, they'd be spending quite a bit of time together; him being very vocally irritated about Molly's 'mothering' would help set the story as a stark contrast to that of canon events/relationships.

Minor characters, such as Hestia Jones' being fleshed out and used in a more prominent role would be quite awesome as well; Hestia is rarely utilized. More Tonks, too, but that's more of a personal taste thing with me.

Depending on how 'bad-ass' your Harry is, love triangles/love rectangles can be properly done if they're not the focus of the story, and do not affect it in a major way - a sub-plot, maybe. It would, however, be difficult to pull off - whilst tension between, let's just say Fleur and Ginny for an example, over Harry would add a little more flavor to the story, it might also ruin it by having too much packed into it.

Remember, the first few books gave the feeling that Harry was going to grow up into a hero, but the last two (or three, depending on perspective) majorly copped out on this, with him being nothing more than a damn chess piece pawn on Dumbledore's game-board.

Uh...not much more to say, I think, except for the obvious 'try to avoid cringe worthy fandom cliches' thing, and to reread the books before writing (and checking the Lexicon often, too).

 

Well, bigger response than I expected. A lot of it is helping. I was torn on sticking to some major plot-points in Canon, but now I think I may go a little different than before. The one thing I don't want to do is change the magic system, a least not drastically. (Insert eye-rolling.) I want something more along the lines of what the Santi did, expand on it. Clarify it, which was one thing he did amazingly well.

I will not be losing the Horcruxes or the Hallows, both I think are great ideas. I will just tweak the Horcuxes I think; there was a great idea in the plot-bunny thread I may use. Not sure on the Hallows, yet, but they will be present.

Question: How do many feel about Harry making friends. I like the Canon idea of friends-for-life, but it's so idealistic. As people grow, they grow apart and such. New friends are made, etc. Not sure on this.

One last question, what do people think on the Power-of-Love? It's the core to Canon and Harry's character, but I really don't like it, but its so integral. I'm thinking of just dropping that and part of the prophecy that deals with the Power-he-knows-not.

 

The friends' part is kinda nice, but not fully correct. There are friends for life, and its more common than you think. However, having Ron as a friend perplexes me, and so I certainly wouldn't endorse that. However, for making friends, I'd recommend looking at it from the lens of an adult watching children grow up. The first friends one makes aren't the best. But they're his first. He gets to know more people, people from other houses, people whom his friends hate. Some of them he hates as well, with others he gets friendly, and with a couple he forms a secondary group. I mean, he can't spend all his time with just his first two friends, no?

And power-of-love is (after horcruxes) the other idea which destroyed the best of Harry Potter. Yes, love should help him tax himself beyond his limits, but it should be like any other emotion, nothing extraordinarily special. Like being frightened for her child will let a mother do extraordinary things, that sort of power. Nothing else.

 

Something I hated to see on any story that got past the half-point in a redo, was that it became too convoluted. Th author sets up too many plots/friendships in the beginning, because they feel that Harry has too much spare time, and then by the second semester of first year Harry's schedule is full enough that readers need to re-read to remember why Harry's talking with the hag in disguise in the backroom of the Hog's Head while under a glamour.

I like Harry making friends, but if you're going to set him up as some soldier you'll want to make sure you keep priorities straight. Not only does a stronger Harry usually have trouble balancing the alwayslearningstrongmagictofightVoldemort and gottamakefriendswitheveryone, butthe friends he does make always either learn magic with him (making them all omgwtfpwn strong), or they get left behind and the reader definitely notices the void.

The Power of Love was actually something I liked about Harry Potter, in retrospect. It wasn't done spectacularly, but it lets the story end with the idealistic note it began on, without bogging itself down with 'Harry trains for a thousand pages and fights the bad guy on his own terms to win'.

I'd recommend reading the recently (as far as DLP goes) finished The Weapon by QTuani7. It alters the universe very well, and that is one of the main problems most fics have trouble with. Other stories that deal with Harry beating Voldemort in ways that I liked were Path of Decision (lulu42) and the Denarian Trilogy (Shezza), because they were frankly awesome and didn't have to study for three years and use every dark magic book in the works and suddenly be on Voldemort's level.

 

Harry having a fanatical supporter (other than Dobby) would be awesome, but it's very easy to fuck up.

As for the prophecy (and the so-called power of love): what if Harry didn't believe in it? Just because Voldemort & Dumbledore believe in it doesn't make it true.

 

Love is what Lily's sacrifice gave him; without it, he wouldn't of been protected from the killing curse, and it would of killed one of the main reasons for him to live at Privet Drive (the other bring it 'toughening' him up).

However, like magic itself, it's a tool/motive that can be utilized in God knows how many ways, not just like how it was used/portrayed in canon.

Also, if you do change the background of something, such as the location of a horcrux, remember the ripple effect - even the most minor of changes can severely fuck things up in the future.

Hell, in theory, me sneezing right now could set off a chain of events that could somehow get me hit by a bus whilst sitting at my PC in a week or so, compared to me not sneezing and thus not causing this future (of me being hit by a bus) to happen.

You can imagine the troubles this would cause/scenarios that this would create.

 

Sweet idea, T3t; I totally approve.

 

Yeah, maybe after I finish my current work, and the one after that as well. But in all seriousness, I don't see a reason to do seven years. A few tweaks, and I could probably end the whole damn thing in five.

 

With Harry's death? Because I really don't see how.

 

Have been thinking a bit about a 7Y fic of my own (Hufflepuff Harry) myself.
A lot of canon events can be twisted and turned just enough to make things intriguing.

For instance: instead of Hermione crying in a bathroom and attacked by the troll, try (for instance) a melancholy Harry left the feast early because it was the day his parents died. On his way back to his dorm he encountered the troll and it was Hermione and Ron (or whoever you want involved) who came to save him.
This way you can still have the troll incident with a different spin, and a potentially different Harry that still forged a friendship with others through blood and trial.

 

Well, first, by either ignoring the horcruxes or by making a plot device that renders them irrelevant. Now that I started writing this post, I actually have a decent idea that's actually totally realistic.

Because, seriously, only in JK Rowling's world would you have a bunch of objects housing Voldemort's soul and the key to his immortality hidden in places that would be obvious to anybody who knew him. Also, breaking into Gringotts should be a lot harder than Imperiousing a goblin.

Err.. apart from the horcruxes, you could have a competent ministry fighting an actual war, a population who which isn't a bunch of sheep for the slaughter, etc.

The problem tends to be Harry's young age, and thus his lack of influence, but I can't really think of a fix for that at the moment.