for Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality3/13 c5 Guest
I hate this. I unironically *hate* this. It was such a promising premise, but Harry is so unlikable and manipulative here, and having McGonagall abandon Harry to have a pint like Hagrid did is so out of character for her, and this Draco flips on a dime from somehow more entitled than his original counterpart to a fawning, drooling idiot obsessed with being “just like Harry” even though that doesn’t mean anything as we’ve just established that Harry has been so out of the limelight these past 10 years that some people aren’t even sure he’s still alive. It’s entertaining to watch Harry run circles around people, but he’s just so unlikable when it comes to his treatment of other human beings. While these changes to his character are interesting, I don’t enjoy reading a story where he is the main character. He’s just intolerable. Also, this author has a tendency to write people reacting to his antics by falling back and exploding with laughter a lot when it doesn’t really make any sense for the characters (why would Harry’s parents need to walk out of the room laughing when talking about a time he bit his teacher? That’s so mean to do to a 10 year old child that you’ve raised from an infant).
All in all, this fic makes some really interesting changes that do make me want to learn more, but the writing is completely absent of any of the qualities that made Rowling’s books fun to read. So often, things are just left completely undescribed here. As of Chapter 5, we still don’t have a physical description of our central protagonist. The fact that he even has a scar isn’t mentioned until THIS chapter. I would think it might be, I don’t know, important to know how, if at all, his appearance differs from the Harry of Rowling’s novels, and if he does have that scar, WHAT HE THINKS AND FEELS ABOUT IT. What do his parents think about it? What do other non-magical people think when they see it (I will take this opportunity to bring up that the word “Muggle” is unceremoniously used for the very first time when Harry starts thinking about the exchange rates of wizarding and non-wizarding currencies, and it goes completely unintroduced and unexplained)? What does a day of Harry’s life at home in this universe look like? We don’t know any of these things, these things that might have been interesting to include details about and descriptions of in this alternate universe Harry Potter, but I guess the author just wanted to fast track the narrative to the “fun parts” like Diagon Alley, which itself only gets the sparsest of descriptions. All the fun and magic of Rowling’s world, as flawed as it is, is completely gone from this story. I hate it. The author makes no attempts to either introduce us to this world nor immerse us in it. He wants simultaneously to write his own version of the story while also critically depending on us the readers to have read the original novels to understand it. This, I feel I shouldn’t even have to say, is a bad move, and it makes me not want to keep reading.
I hate this. I unironically *hate* this. It was such a promising premise, but Harry is so unlikable and manipulative here, and having McGonagall abandon Harry to have a pint like Hagrid did is so out of character for her, and this Draco flips on a dime from somehow more entitled than his original counterpart to a fawning, drooling idiot obsessed with being “just like Harry” even though that doesn’t mean anything as we’ve just established that Harry has been so out of the limelight these past 10 years that some people aren’t even sure he’s still alive. It’s entertaining to watch Harry run circles around people, but he’s just so unlikable when it comes to his treatment of other human beings. While these changes to his character are interesting, I don’t enjoy reading a story where he is the main character. He’s just intolerable. Also, this author has a tendency to write people reacting to his antics by falling back and exploding with laughter a lot when it doesn’t really make any sense for the characters (why would Harry’s parents need to walk out of the room laughing when talking about a time he bit his teacher? That’s so mean to do to a 10 year old child that you’ve raised from an infant).
All in all, this fic makes some really interesting changes that do make me want to learn more, but the writing is completely absent of any of the qualities that made Rowling’s books fun to read. So often, things are just left completely undescribed here. As of Chapter 5, we still don’t have a physical description of our central protagonist. The fact that he even has a scar isn’t mentioned until THIS chapter. I would think it might be, I don’t know, important to know how, if at all, his appearance differs from the Harry of Rowling’s novels, and if he does have that scar, WHAT HE THINKS AND FEELS ABOUT IT. What do his parents think about it? What do other non-magical people think when they see it (I will take this opportunity to bring up that the word “Muggle” is unceremoniously used for the very first time when Harry starts thinking about the exchange rates of wizarding and non-wizarding currencies, and it goes completely unintroduced and unexplained)? What does a day of Harry’s life at home in this universe look like? We don’t know any of these things, these things that might have been interesting to include details about and descriptions of in this alternate universe Harry Potter, but I guess the author just wanted to fast track the narrative to the “fun parts” like Diagon Alley, which itself only gets the sparsest of descriptions. All the fun and magic of Rowling’s world, as flawed as it is, is completely gone from this story. I hate it. The author makes no attempts to either introduce us to this world nor immerse us in it. He wants simultaneously to write his own version of the story while also critically depending on us the readers to have read the original novels to understand it. This, I feel I shouldn’t even have to say, is a bad move, and it makes me not want to keep reading.
3/13 c78 kallocarina
Polyjuiceso spelling mistake!
(First one I seen, impressive this fic is so well written)
Polyjuiceso spelling mistake!
(First one I seen, impressive this fic is so well written)
3/12 c19 Guest
wow
wow
3/10 c33 kallocarina
Prismatic sphere is a 9th lvl wizard spell only avilable to PC's with an intelligence of at least 17 and Harry is not even the minimum age to be a lvl. 1 mage how can he do this?
Prismatic sphere is a 9th lvl wizard spell only avilable to PC's with an intelligence of at least 17 and Harry is not even the minimum age to be a lvl. 1 mage how can he do this?
3/9 c122 Guest
I liked it. Thanks!
I liked it. Thanks!
3/8 c13 Kelby Kupersmid
I literally was laughing out loud while reading this line, I can't remember the last time I've laughed while reading a book! soooo good
"Are you -" Harry said, and then shut his mouth. On second thought, no he was NOT going to ask the painting whether it was fully conscious in the sense of being aware of its own awareness."
I literally was laughing out loud while reading this line, I can't remember the last time I've laughed while reading a book! soooo good
"Are you -" Harry said, and then shut his mouth. On second thought, no he was NOT going to ask the painting whether it was fully conscious in the sense of being aware of its own awareness."
3/8 c14 kallocarina
Wait so if Harry already has the invisibulity cloak in his habd and also his moleskin pouch... Can he just generate infinite invisibilty cloaks by traveling back in time and giving one to hinself and then traveling back in time again?
Wait so if Harry already has the invisibulity cloak in his habd and also his moleskin pouch... Can he just generate infinite invisibilty cloaks by traveling back in time and giving one to hinself and then traveling back in time again?