New cliche:

The portkey triggered, and Harry was deposited in a heap on the floor of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. As he got up, he looked around. Everything, including the house elf heads reminded him of Sirius. He barely suppressed the shuddering sobs.

Hermione screeched "HARRY!" Ron grunted something unintelligible, and Ginny looked spaced out.

She started babbling something, and Harry was not paying attention until he heard Sirius' name.

Suddenly, Hermione stopped short, her face going white. "Oh god, Harry, i'm so sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned Sirius. Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. I'm sorry again."

Harry's lip quivered pathetically. Tears rolled down his face. Then, he stiffened abruptly, and turned and ran to his room in tears. He spent the next four weeks barely eating, always running back to his room for a good cry every few minutes. Eventually, he was knee-high to a toothpick, and just half as fat as one.

Is it just me, or does this irk all of you?

I can't stand how this scene is written, they always write it to show Harry stiffen up and sprint to his room after someone says something mean or mentions Sirius. God, even JK in all her glory avoided that.

 

I know! Plus it is out of character for Harry. I mean, he knew Cedric about as well as Sirius (besides the whole 'he's Harry's hope to escape the Dursleys'), and the worst we heard about Harry grieving was when Dudley commented on Harry's nightmares. He didn't go "have a good cry" every time he heard Cedric's name or remembered Voldemort's ressurection.

 

Yeah! He just screamed himself raw.

 

Was that sarcasm? In anycase, Harry never seems to express his grief in tears. He's always seemed more likely to bottle it all up or express it through anger.

 

What? I meant during his dreams, like the little period after you wake up, when you jolt up screaming. I'm tired, so shot me.

 

New-Old one:

When they make people prank the entire house of Hogwarts.
For example:
"Harry and the Neo Marauders sat in anticipation until the house of Ravenclaw entered the great hall"

How many power and stealth you need to enchant the all 200 or whatever students of the entire house? Oh I forgot its super power Harry with a shadow sper powers. Mehhhhh.
And all the pranks are the same. If its Harry in Slytherin fic then he and his friends charm Gryffindorrs in Slytherin colours and think it's funny.
If it's super power Harry it's the opposite.
And also why oh why they make Harry afraid from Molly screeches or the bat bogey curse? In this fic he usually too much powerful so I dont see why he should afraid?

 

If he is so powerful in those fics, then why doesn't he pull off some Gandalf thingy in a loud voice like with the Balrog. "SILENCE WOMAN!!!!! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!"

 

Rest assured, it was...but it happens so many times, it gets painfully painful. I can't believe i just wrote that, but it seems appropriate to describe the situation.

In response to Shnitzel's post, i entirely agree.

What pisses me off is when they set up a prank that makes people recite songs and dance while embarassing themselves.

WTF? That sounds suspiciously like mind control if they have no control over their actions. That sounds like blatant use of a dark potion or spells. I'm sure he'd get in deep shit for doing something like that, but of course the author easily forgets that.

And why make him a prankster in the first place? When, in the six years worth that we have seen has Harry set up a prank? Yeah, it's nice if he becomes all cheery and whatnot, but it doesn't really fit in.

 

Yup definitely mind control. Most likely the author uses them because they think it will make a funny scene while ignoring the mechanics of the situation. To force someone to do something against their will is dark magic, and just another form of the Imperio curse. Plus they aren't being realistic. If those potions exist think how easy it could be for Voldie to take over the world. But that fact is ignored for the funny aspects.

I don’t mind a pranking Harry. It’s a nice change of pace from the usually angry/angst/teary. Sides its fun to see all the different things the authors can think up. True, pranking the whole house would be extremely hard but doesn’t have to have a Super!Harry. For instance a potion in the drink, if he gets a few house elves to cooperate, at meal time would work. That was done in the Secret Sanctuary. Good way to get a lot of people.

 

The problem is the originality of the pranks. Its always an entire house or Snape or Malfoy changing their hair and\or cloth colour. Seen this before.
BTW In Secret Sanctuary he manged to prank the entire Ravenclaw house to dress like dorks and sing some song. How lame is that? The brilliany duelist champ and the smartest kids in school got pranked. Bahh

New cliche:
When Harry gets his OWL's in fandom he is manages to get second or third. But it's no matter cause in a first place it's always Lisa Turpin!
All we know its her name and that she is in Ravenclaw. Not that she is fucking Percy Weasley like genius.

 

I wouldn't say that's a cliche.. personally I've only seen it a couple of times. As a named but enexplored Ravenclaw character she is a logical choice for someone who wants Harry to be smart but not unrealistically so. Thus they have stick another character in above him. The fact that Hermione isn't at the top is because they are anti-Hermione to a certain degree and want to make sure she isn't top of the year (all canon evidence would suggest that she is top). I feel that way too sometimes.

 

You didn't understood what I mean't.
i meant that it's always the same name can't they put Su Li? Or Mandy Brocklehurst? Or even some Slytherin girl?
It's almost like Traitor!kingsley

 

Honestly, I haven no idea. I'm pretty sure I've never read a fic to do with Lisa Turpin but I always imagine her as a shy but brilliant girl with little to no friends. And I just find it hard to see Hermione as top of the year.
On the other hand, I think I've only read one fanfic with Traitor!Kingsley and that was a Harry/Tonks.

EDIT: And even then he was still on the light side. He just revealed Harry&Tonks relationship to the world, putting Tonks in danger or something. That was a traitorous move to someone or other..oh yeah. The Ministry. Their relationship was classified information or something.

 

The prime example: Sunset of Britain.
I've read several of traitor!Kingsley

 

Ah, that is a prime example.
I just have yet to push myself to actually read it. Today I read all of "Refiners Fire" so my eyes are far too droopy to pull off another long fic .
Anyway, I'm fine with Traitor!Kingsley right now. There are far too many cliches in the fanfiction world for me to care about this. My opinion is probably as it is because I haven't experienced the amount of Traitor!Kingsleys you have, though.

 

For anyone who likes marauder stories, not sure if people do, never seen them mentioned here, but it really does my head in how Remus is always off visiting his sick mother

Lily doesnt date people, anyone at all, and she always always catches james cursing snape and other slytherins after they attack him. she will then shout and scream at how bad a person he is, without ever letting him explain that he was defending himself. Infact when it gets to them finally getting together, and lily has decided James is not so bad since becoming head boy, he never explains that she always gets the wrong end of the stick....

Also, they are always sworn enemies. no matter. thats annoying. I have read but one fic where there indifference is explained from the start... all the rest have them hating each other without even talking... oh well

 

Same here. Also, while I might not like him, Peter is always portrayed as an ugly person, and as an outcast of the group. Personally, I don't think that he should be portrayed in that way, as he was probably just like the other Marauders in some ways, like his attitude and such. I know that he is portrayed how he is because of his betrayal, but I think that it is because he was threatend by Voldemort. I think that in canon, Peter drops hints about that.

 

Everyone always misses the fact that he had been betraying the Light for a whole year before the Potters died.

This sounds wrong...i mean, he was in the Order, and just one look into his eyes should have told Dumbledore that he was a spy. Snape was obviously not forthcoming about it.

Then there's SNape. A lot of authors write him as running to the Headmaster AFTER Voldemort died to turn spy. Now, what sort of spy would he make when the Dark Lord was dead and gone? They always miss this simple logic...he had to have gone before, or otherwise he would have had no worth at all. And then, he was in serious dereliction of duty to fail to inform Dumbledore that Peter was a spy.

Fucking Snape, i hate his ass.

 

Personally I think its a mistake to portray Peter with any sort of darkness at all during his childhood years. I'd go so far as to even say I think Peter should be the best of them all in the years before his betrayal in any stories written. I don't mean that he should be brilliant at potions or charms or ect, just that personality-wise he ought be friendly and charming if perhaps a little shy with people outside the group.

You can speculate all you want for the reasons for his betrayal, Peter even tries to defend himself by saying Voldemort was going to kill him if he didn't comply and we see how well Sirius responds to that. "You should have died then, rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!" he roars.

JKR IIRC has yet to explain his actions herself, so its perfectly fine IMHO to plot Peter as having drifted away from the group, gotten ambitious like Percy, or any other various reasons. The problem is being able to fit that in with him still being trusted enough to be secret-keeper. The Potters and Sirius (whatever you and I might think of their judgement now) obviously trusted Peter enough to use him as a double blind... You can't exclude him or make him obviously cruel without destroying that trust.

I don't however feel that Peter was actually turned out of fear; I think he was just saying whatever he felt he had to to justify his behavior to himself--I'm not sure that even Peter himself knows why he did what he did...

Exactly!

Well part of that seems to be that Dumbledore is an idiot. Entirely too trusting and not exactly up for running a war in modern times. As more than one person has said on this very board, the most important thing to understand about Dumbledore's situation and logic (and lack thereof) is to remind yourself that in the first War with Voldemort the Light with him as figure-head was losing. It took a random happenstance of the likes with which HG Wells uses in War of the Worlds to saves Earth from the martians--it is only a lucky fluke that by happy coincidence Lily manages to sacrifice herself for Harry and Harry was a figure in prophecy that saved the Wizarding World. Deus Machina at its best. Definately not something you can rely on happening again.

Fucking Alan Rickman you mean. The only reason the character of Snape has gotten as important in fannon as it has is because there are fangirls who confuse the character, behavior and persona of Severus Snape with the body and face of the above named actor and thus are unable to believe that such a 'beautiful man' could be evil.

--bornagainpenguin