Hi. I have recently finished most of my first Harry Potter fanfiction backlog, and now I want to stop searching through tags and lists myself for a while.

Instead, I would like to hear what people here personally recommend based on what I have already read and enjoyed.

I am not looking for one exact type of story. It does not have to be specifically about a dark or grey Harry, Harry/Daphne, romance, politics or any other single element.

I am mainly looking for good, memorable stories that either resemble the works I liked or offer something interesting and new.

Here is what I have read so far and what I thought about it.

1. Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin / Harry Potter and the Secret Enemy

The second book is probably my favorite HP fanfic I have read so far.

I liked that it did not simply repeat the Chamber of Secrets with a smarter Harry. Familiar events were rebuilt and given new causes, consequences and character arcs.

Ron and the diary, Jim’s development, Lockhart, Ginny in Slytherin, the conflicts between the houses and the wider supporting cast all felt important. The story was large and detailed without becoming difficult to read.

The first book was also very good, but I saw it mainly as the foundation for the larger story.

I already plan to read the third and fourth Prince of Slytherin books later, so there is no need to recommend those. I want to try some other stories as well before returning to the series.

2. Two Unbowed Crows

I have read all currently available chapters.

This has my favorite romance out of the fanfics I have read. I liked the gradual development of Harry and Daphne from childhood friends into equal partners.

Neither of them feels like an accessory to the other. Their relationship is caring, loyal and trusting, while they gradually become stronger, more morally grey and more dangerous to the outside world.

I also liked the blood magic, oaths, earned growth in power, strong endings to the school years and the later move into politics.

Some quieter parts of the school years were less memorable, and I would have preferred more detail in some violent and intimate scenes, but these were minor issues.

3. Downward Spiral Saga

I liked this because Harry is genuinely dark.

He is not simply rude, pragmatic or violent toward Death Eaters while remaining a normal hero. He consciously joins Voldemort, becomes cruel, kills important characters and helps the dark side win.

The author actually follows this path to the end instead of redeeming Harry or revealing that he was secretly working against Voldemort.

The characters, relationships and world were less developed than in Prince of Slytherin or Two Unbowed Crows, but the story gave me something rare: a truly evil Harry and a complete victory for the dark side.

4. Worthy of Magic

I expected a straightforward dark Harry story, but it became something much stranger and more philosophical.

I liked the emotionally empty and dangerous version of Harry, the unusual ideas about magic, his connection with Daphne and his gradual movement toward becoming more human.

The middle section was sometimes slow, abstract and difficult to read, but the story was unique enough that I still remember it clearly.

5. Dark Lord Potter Part 1

I liked the traumatized and morally grey Harry, his relationship with Tonks and the way his childhood continued to affect his personality and decisions.

I also liked that Harry’s strength did not solve every emotional problem.

I disliked how the Malfoys became too good while the Weasleys became too bad. It sometimes felt as if the author had simply exchanged their roles.

I was also disappointed that the larger story stopped after the second year.

What I seem to enjoy:

- Harry as the main character, although I am open to another strong central character.
- Stories that begin before Hogwarts or during the Hogwarts years.
- Long stories with enough time for characters and relationships to develop.
- Major changes to canon that have real consequences.
- Strong supporting characters who have their own motives and development.
- A main character who changes over time instead of starting as a finished, perfect person.
- Dark magic, violence, politics, romance, unusual magic and morally questionable decisions can all work.
- Harry/Daphne and Harry/Tonks can work well, but neither pairing is required.
- A genuinely dark Harry is welcome, but I am not only looking for dark Harry stories.
- Mature content is fine.
- Completed stories are preferable, but an unfinished story is also fine if it has a lot of material and is still active.

Things I usually dislike:

- A nearly complete retelling of canon where Harry is only stronger or placed in a different house.
- An overpowered Harry with very little personality or development.
- Every character immediately admiring Harry.
- Excessive bashing where characters or families are reduced to caricatures.
- Long sections of politics, magical theory or worldbuilding without interesting characters.
- Stories that are only misery and suffering without progress or payoff.
- Abandoned stories that stop before completing any meaningful arc.

I have read around 40% of Silver King but have not finished it, and I dropped Lord of Darkness, so please do not recommend those.

I am open to both popular and lesser-known stories.

Recommendations do not need to perfectly match everything above. Something different is welcome if you genuinely think it is a strong and memorable story.

I would prefer one or two recommendations that you personally believe are good rather than a very long list of loosely related titles.

If possible, please mention:

- approximate word count;
- whether it is complete or still active;
- when the story begins;
- the main character and pairing, if there is one;
- what makes the story worth reading;
- why you think it might fit my taste.

 

Generally speaking, the DLP library is an excellent place to start your search. You'll almost certainly find something that suits your tastes in the Dark Arts or Alternates section.

Specifically, you would probably quite like Blood Crest by Cauchy. It's still updating relatively regularly, over 700,000 thousand words long, and has no pairings. The main deviation from canon is that Harry is apprenticed to a necromancer before his first year at Hogwarts. There are strong OCs and a lot of dark magic. Harry is very much a blank slate at the start of the fic, and develops a lot. The only thing I would say you should be wary of is that the story can be a bit glacial in pace sometimes.

 

Parallel Journey by InkVirus

Features a dimension traveling HP who goes to a world where Grindelwald defeated Dumbledore and Tom Riddle becomes the headmaster of Hogwarts. Essentially Grindelwald and his union vs everyone else. No pairings that I can remember.

Remember Two Things by Frostythedopeman

Harry/Astoria

Reeling from his ordeal in the graveyard, Harry Potter is left anxious and isolated with the Dursleys. A mysterious letter and some uninvited guests cause him to rethink his plans to stay at Privet Drive for the summer. Join Harry as he takes on corrupt governments, finds love, inspires his friends, and learns magic at the side of his greatest mentor, Albus Dumbledore. 5th year.

A Flaw in Fate series by 521-Dream

A single difference could change everything, a drop of water upon calm surfaces. Lady Voldemort, daughter of Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, ventures into Godric's Hollow on Halloween Evening, 1981. A decade later, Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, is sorted into Slytherin - another drop upon a surface less calm than before . . . AU, Major Divergences begin around Year 3

 

The greatest work in the fandom is Prince of the Dark Kingdom. Yes, it's full of typos. The author never has and never will learn the difference between "effect" and "affect". I don't care. It's not perfect. It has plenty of flaws. It's very good regardless.

Wordcount is 1.4mln IIRC. It starts in year one and continues until some point during year seven. It's officially unfinished, even though the author has finished it. She just won't publish the rest of year seven... for reasons. PotDK has the best Voldemort in the fandom.

 

Is Blood Crest still in first year?

 

I don't actually know. After I recced it I jumped to the final chapter to see, and I couldn't figure it out from context ques because it wasn't explicitly mentioned. It feels like OotP plot wise, but it's probably still in first or second year. I haven't been keeping up with it lol, but I recognise it as one of the better Dark Harry fics to come out in the last 10 years.

 

Nope. It just started third year. I swear summertime ends up longer than the school year as there ends up being a ton of storylines.

Tbh, I'm so baffled on where this story is going as the world is so much darker than Canon and Voldemort has

Spoiler

practically won already. [\spoiler]