Harry Potter Fanfiction Recommendations: Top 5 Must‑Read Stories

Over the past year, the speaker's life has been significantly impacted by three things: the birth of his baby girl, the discovery of Claude AI, and an unexpected obsession with Harry Potter fanfiction. As a long-time YouTuber who shares interesting discoveries, he decided to dedicate a video to his newfound passion for Harry Potter fanfiction, offering recommendations to fellow fans.

What is Fanfiction?

Initially, the speaker had a narrow understanding of fanfiction, believing it to be primarily romantic or explicit stories written by teenage girls. While this can be a part of it, he realized this perspective was akin to saying all books are like Fifty Shades of Grey. His view changed after encountering a Reddit thread discussing Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.

Harry Potter Fanfiction Recommendations

1. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky

This fanfiction was the speaker's "gateway drug" into the world of Harry Potter fanfiction. It's a substantial work, totaling 662,000 words, which is more than half the length of the entire seven-book Harry Potter series (approximately 1.1 million words). It's divided into six "books" or arcs.

Premise: The story reimagines Harry's upbringing. Instead of Aunt Petunia marrying Uncle Vernon, she marries an Oxford chemistry professor. Harry grows up in a loving, intellectually stimulating environment, learning about the scientific method, history, and mathematics. When he receives his Hogwarts letter, he approaches magic with a scientific, rational mindset. He's portrayed as a highly intelligent, almost savant-like character, who is socially awkward but constantly seeks to understand the underlying "physics" of magic. For example, he questions the mechanics of spells like Wingardium Leviosa, conducting experiments with Hermione to understand their limits and principles.

Key Features: - Rational Harry: Harry applies scientific reasoning to magic, questioning its rules and seeking to understand its fundamental laws. - Intellectual Depth: Explores themes of rationality, scientific inquiry, and critical thinking within the magical world. - Length: Covers Harry's first year at Hogwarts, similar to Philosopher's Stone, but with significantly more depth and complexity. - Audiobook Version: Due to its popularity, fans have created a full audiobook with sound effects and voice acting, making it easily accessible. - No Romance/R-rated Content: It's a "pure" story, suitable for all ages, focusing on the intellectual and magical exploration. - Author: Eliezer Yudkowsky is also a prominent AI safety researcher.

Availability: Fanfiction is generally free to read online, as J.K. Rowling does not permit monetization. This story, like others, can be found on sites like fanfiction.net and AO3, often available in EPUB format for e-readers like Kindle.

2. The Debt of Time by Shaya Lonnie

This fanfiction is even longer than the first, at 727,000 words, and the speaker wished it was even longer.

Premise: The story begins at the end of Half-Blood Prince, just before the events of Deathly Hallows. Hermione, distraught by the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore, seeks a way to bring back the dead. She discovers a blood magic ritual that can bring someone back from "beyond the veil," leading her to resurrect Sirius Black. Sirius's presence fundamentally alters the events of Deathly Hallows, as he joins Harry and Hermione on their quest for Horcruxes.

Key Features: - Hermione's Perspective: The story is largely told from Hermione's point of view. - Time Travel/Resurrection: Explores the consequences of bringing a major character back from the dead and how it reshapes the established narrative. - Emotional Impact: The speaker found it incredibly moving, comparing his emotional response to the end of Deathly Hallows. - Romance: Contains some romantic threads and a few R-rated scenes, though these are not central to the plot and can be skipped if desired. - Length: Divided into four "books" within a single EPUB file, offering a vast and immersive reading experience.

3. The Riel Black Chronicles by Murky Blue Matter

This is a series of four books, totaling 1.4 million words, making it longer than the entire original Harry Potter series. The author has started a fifth book, but updates have been infrequent since June 2022. The speaker recommends reading the first four books, as they form a complete arc.

Premise: This is an alternative universe story with two crucial differences: 1. Voldemort as a Politician: Voldemort never becomes an evil Dark Lord but instead a politician named Lord Riddle, leading a pure-blood supremacist party. He successfully passes legislation making Hogwarts exclusive to pure-blood students. Dumbledore leads the opposition. 2. Harriet Potter: Harry Potter is a girl named Harriet Potter. Harriet is a potions prodigy who desperately wants to study under Master Snape at Hogwarts. However, as a half-blood (Lily Evans was Muggle-born), she is barred from attending.

Harriet's cousin, Archie Black (Sirius's son), is a pure-blood wizard who wants to be a healer and attend the American Institute of Magic (AIM), which accepts half-bloods. Harriet and Archie devise a plan to swap places: Archie pretends to be Harry and goes to AIM, where he meets Hermione Granger (also a Muggle-born healer-in-training). Harriet uses Polyjuice Potion to transform into Archie Black and attends Hogwarts, where she is sorted into Slytherin and becomes Snape's protégé.

Key Features: - Gender-bent Harry: Explores the implications of Harry being a girl in a pure-blood supremacist society. - Political Intrigue: Focuses on the political landscape of the wizarding world, with Voldemort as a powerful, manipulative politician. - Identity Swap: The core plot revolves around Harriet and Archie's elaborate deception and its consequences. - Slytherin Harry: Harriet's sorting into Slytherin and her relationship with Snape and other Slytherins provides a fresh perspective. - Length: An incredibly long and detailed series, offering a deep dive into this alternative universe. - Emotional Impact: The speaker found it incredibly moving, even crying at its conclusion, and considers it his favorite among the recommendations.

4. Backwards with Purpose by Dead Woodpecker

This fanfiction is shorter than the others, at 392,000 words, and is split into two books. The speaker advises against looking up the title of the second book to avoid spoilers.

Premise: In a darker version of the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort, more vicious than in canon, unleashes Fiendfyre, burning down the entire school and killing almost everyone. The only survivors are Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Three years later, deeply traumatized and on the verge of despair, they seek a way to change the past. They consult Dumbledore's portrait, who reveals a dangerous, four-year-long ritual called the "Tears of Merlin" that can send them back to Harry's first year (1991) with all their adult knowledge and skills, but in their 11-year-old bodies.

Key Features: - Darker Timeline: Starts with a grim, post-apocalyptic scenario where Voldemort won. - Time Travel Done Right: The story meticulously explores the complexities and challenges of time travel, avoiding plot holes often found in other time-travel narratives. - Experienced Trio: Harry, Ron, and Ginny return to Hogwarts as powerful, knowledgeable adults trapped in children's bodies, leading to unique interactions and strategic decisions. - Murder Mystery Elements: Incorporates elements of mystery and intrigue as they navigate the past with their future knowledge. - Intelligent Characters: The characters are portrayed as intelligent and thoughtful, carefully considering the implications of their actions.

5. Manacold by Sen Lin Yu

This fanfiction is 371,000 words long and has recently been published as a proper book titled Alchemist, selling hundreds of thousands of copies.

Premise: This is a post-apocalyptic story where Voldemort won the final battle of Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and all the good guys are dead. Voldemort, seeking to repopulate the wizarding world after heavy losses on both sides, institutes a brutal breeding program. Women from the Harry Potter series, including Hermione and Ginny, are forced into concubinage with pure-blood heads of houses. Hermione ends up as Draco Malfoy's "girl."

Key Features: - Extremely Dark and Disturbing: Contains significant trigger warnings, including torture, forced breeding, and graphic violence. - Voldemort's Victory: Explores a world where the Dark Lord triumphed, showcasing the horrific consequences. - Intense Magic: Depicts the viciousness of magic when used with malicious intent, going beyond what is shown in canon. - Moral Dilemmas: Explores themes of "does the end justify the means" as the Order of the Phoenix struggles against a far more brutal enemy. - Complex Relationships: Focuses on the twisted relationship between Hermione and Draco within this dystopian setting. - Published Work: Its popularity led to its publication as a standalone novel, Alchemist.

General Advice for Fanfiction

• Free to Read: All Harry Potter fanfiction is free to read online.
• EPUB Format: Most fanfiction is available in EPUB format, which can be sent to e-readers like Kindle.
• Avoid Spoilers: The speaker strongly advises against looking up spoilers or even book titles for some recommendations to preserve the experience.
• Sincerity over "Crackfics": The speaker prefers fanfiction that takes its premise seriously and is written with sincerity, rather than "crackfics" that are primarily comedic or poke fun at the original story.

The speaker is currently reading the Alexandra Quick series (1.5 million words) and is open to more Harry Potter fanfiction recommendations.