History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / HarryPotter

** Is Harry TheHero and [[MessianicArchetype a genuine savior]] or a trust-fund orphan whose DeceasedParentsAreTheBest attitude gives him MoralMyopia to dismiss more middle-class family troubles like that of Hermione and Ron's as being of little importance compared to his adventure story? Some critics argue that Harry at times is a DesignatedHero, since most of the times he never really comes up with great magic, skill or intelligence but rather wins by luck, sacrifices made by better wizards and convenient plot coupons.

** Likewise is Hermione really the "brightest witch of her age" or merely a BadassBookworm whose book knowledge limits her curiosity and interest about unconventional and unknown branches of magic. It's noted that Hermione, unlike the other TeenGenius mentioned in the backstory (Dumbledore, Riddle, the Marauders, Snape) isn't nearly as prodigious or creative, being more resourceful in a BoringButPractical rather than creative in the manner of the Marauder's Map or Snape's Potion improvements.

*** The final book has Harry leading the trio on [[MissingStepsPlan a vague plan]] to hunt horcruxes that mostly involves camping in the wild, which justifiably gets Ron frustrated. Harry also gets involved a wacky sidequest about the Deathly Hallows, nearly gets himself and Hermione killed at Godric's Hollow, almost gets drowned chasing a Patronus to a lake and in each occassion gets saved by Hermione and Ron. His clues to finding the Horcruxes also comes by "sheer dumb luck". Likewise his skills as a Quidditch player are praised to natural talent but [[spoiler:in fact Ginny and Ron win the Quidditch Cup without him being on the team, ''twice'']]. Most of the duels he fights are against minor opponents like Draco Malfoy, with only PlotArmor keeping him from losing against Voldemort and the Death Eaters who are ordered not to kill him. He is totally outclassed [[spoiler:by Severus Snape when he attacks him at the end of Book 6, getting totally curb-stomped in the process]].
*** When compared to the fact that his parents were geniuses, Hermione is a smart witch, that Ron makes more sacrifices by going against his family, that Neville shows more decisive CharacterDevelopment and that ultimately, all his decisions were made by Dumbledore, even beyond the grave, it's hard to argue against Snape calling him mediocre as a student and wizard when what [[spoiler: defeated Voldemort had little to do with knowledge and skill]].

*** Similarly, and also in-universe, the Marauders. Up until Harry saw Snape's memories, he thought his father was a good and kind man at all times with a hint of mischief, only to see he had a good measure of malice and was a bully. It's largely implied that James grew past most of it, though, what with fighting against Voldemort and eventually sacrificing his life in an attempt to save his family.

*** There are also questions by fans if Snape's affection [[spoiler:for Lily]] was real love or merely LovingAShadow and being a StalkerWithACrush. They point out that he never seemed to care about her real personality and feelings, kept ignoring all her criticisms and the fact that after their FriendshipBreakingMoment, Snape went on to immerse himself in the Dark Arts rather than accept he was wrong and try and change . It wasn't until he accidentally endangered her life that he started changing and that was mostly because Dumbledore kept poking into his conscience. Likewise, [[spoiler:years later, he rips up a family photograph of Lily, James and Harry, keeping Lily and a part of a letter she wrote to Sirius for himself, completely ignoring that the letter and photo is proof that Lily was HappilyMarried]].

** In the final battle the Slytherins are sent out of Hogwarts. Apparently it seems that the protagonists were worried that they would support the Death Eaters. [[spoiler:It turns out that they left to get reinforcements to fight against Voldemort.]]

** In the final battle the Slytherins are sent out of Hogwarts. Apparently it seems that the protagonists were worried that they would support the Death Eaters. [[spoiler:It turns out that they left to get reinforcements to fight against Voldemort.]]

** Arthur and Molly Weasley - really the awesome parents everyone thinks they are, or a pair of selfish jerks who made life harder for their family than it had to be? Arthur clung to a job that he knew didn't pay well enough to really accommodate his large family simply because it allowed him to indulge his Muggle studying hobby, and the last book insinuates that Molly really wanted a daughter and was willing to go through six sons to have one daughter, despite knowing that her husband's job didn't pay very well for the kids they kept having.

*** While it is painfully obvious that he does not like Harry, it is possible that at least some of it was an act to fool the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, though there are cases where it was plainly stated he was acting. There's also his intense hate towards Sirius. Does he hate him enough to kill him just because Sirius was a member of The Marauders who almost got him killed, or did he hate Sirius for betraying Lily's trust and getting her killed? Keep in mind that when Snape confronted Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, Pettigrew has yet to be exposed, and as far as anyone knew, Black was the cause of the Potter's tragedy. After Pettigrew was exposed, did he still hate Sirius because he switched with Pettigrew? On that note, once he knew the truth about Pettigrew, did he treat Pettigrew with contempt bacause he hated him for betraying Lily? Or was he just that much of an ass?]]

*** Heck, look at this line from the first book: "perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like a rather unpleasant lot." I.e., are they generally bad guys, or do they only look like bad guys because Harry is an UnreliableNarrator?

** There was a theory -- "[[Literature/TheScarletPimpernel The Red-Headed Pimpernel]]" -- that Percy remained loyal to Dumbledore, and that the letter he sent Ron was meant to warn him about what the Ministry was up to, but he had to word it in such a way that it sounded like he was loyal to the Ministry in case they intercepted it. A mole within the Ministry -- someone whose loyalty to Fudge was utterly unquestioned -- would have made great sense, and Percy would be the perfect man for the job. [[FridgeLogic That didn't explain, though, why he had to be so secretive about it with his family, given that all of them are in the Order]]. Canon did not bear this idea out, sadly, and Percy was forced to eat Humble Pie for [[AmbitionIsEvil daring to have ambitions in government]] and being offended when his own father said Percy couldn't have possibly gotten his new job on his own merits.

** There is a theory that Percy remains loyal to Dumbledore and that the letter he sent Ron was meant to warn him about what the Ministry was up to, but he had had to word it in such a way that it sounded like he was loyal to the Ministry in case they intercepted it. [[FridgeLogic That doesn't explain, though, why he had to be so secretive about it with his family, given that all of them are in the Order]]. It made sense with [[spoiler:Snape, given his true nature as a triple agent and talent with Occlumency]], but Pecy had no such training or motive.

*** Heck, look at this line from the first book: "perhaps it was only Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard, but he thought they looked a rather unpleasant lot." I.e., are they generally bad guys, or do they only look like bad guys because Harry is an UnreliableNarrator?

** House Gryffindor, the house of courage, chivalry, and protagonists, can be either just as Rowling wrote about it, or in the hands of some fans it can be turned into a House full of {{Jerk Jock}}s, {{Glory Hound}}s, and bullies, even imperialists and chauvinists.

** Last but not least, House Slytherin has been discussed and defended since long before the Sorting Hat started singing about it. First the house's nasty reputation won it fans for the EvilIsCool factor, then fans defended its most famous members, Draco and Snape ([[DracoInLeatherPants thus naming the trope]]). Now you can find Slytherin fans labeling it somewhere between DarkIsNotEvil and GoodIsNotNice -- that instead of slimeballs eager to get ahead by any means, Slytherins are unsentimental, often [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]], but intensely loyal to their friends and, of course, cunning and ambitious.

** House Ravenclaw has always been a badge for the nerdier and more cerebral fans. But when ''Order of the Phoenix'' introduced Luna Lovegood, fans began associating Ravenclaw with eccentrics, mystics, and creatives, not just book-bound academics.

** Last but not least, House Slytherin has been discussed and defended since long before the Sorting Hat started singing about it. First the house's nasty reputation won it fans for the EvilIsCool factor, then fans defended its most famous members, Draco and Snape ([[DracoInLeatherPants thus naming the trope]]). Now you can find Slytherin fans labeling it somewhere between DarkIsNotEvil and GoodIsNotNice -- that instead of slimeballs eager to get ahead by any means, Slytherins are unsentimental and often [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]], but intensely loyal to their friends and, of course, cunning and ambitious.

** House Gryffindor, the house of courage, chivalry, and protagonists, can be either just as Rowling wrote about it, or in the hands of some fans it can be turned into a House full of {{Jerk Jock}}s and bullies, even imperialists and chauvinists.

** House Hufflepuff, in canon, has something of a dull reputation ([[HufflepuffHouse there's even a trope named for it]]) and for a while this was the fandom interpretation. But recently (especially on Tumblr) Hufflepuff's bywords have become "love, friendship, community, above all '''love'''" to the point where the House's in-universe traits (diligence, patience, honesty, justice) are completely obscured.

** House Gryffindor, the house of courage, chivalry, and protagonists, can be either just as Rowling wrote about it, or in the hands of some fans it can be turned into a House full of JerkJocks and bullies, even imperialists and chauvinists.

** Last but not least, House Slytherin has been discussed and defended since long before the Sorting Hat started singing about it. First the house's nasty reputation won it fans for the EvilIsCool factor, then fans defended its most famous members, Draco and Snape ([[DracoInLeatherPants thus naming the trope). Now you can find Slytherin fans labeling it somewhere between DarkIsNotEvil and GoodIsNotNice -- that instead of slimeballs eager to get ahead by any means, Slytherins are unsentimental and often [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]], but intensely loyal to their friends and, of course, cunning and ambitious.

** The masquerade. Is it really a shield set up to protect them from things like the Witch hunts of the past and being constantly badgered by Muggle interference or a shield set up to protect the massively corrupt Ministry of Magic that lacks any substantial health and safety laws, tortures criminals, [[FantasicRacism is horribly racist]], and which verges on fascism with its ideas on ''blood purity'' and how they treat Muggles? Keep in mind that it only takes a casual observation of Muggle-dom to realize that the technology (and thus the Quality of Life) of the Muggle world has equalled/surpassed magic in almost every area. A mass revelation of this could prompt an exodus of Wizards out to seek a better life -- or it could spark greater fear against the Muggles, now a legitimate and terrifying threat? Either way, a significant threat to the power base of the Ministry. Magic is Might indeed.

** Cho Chang often gets a very bad rap in fandom, often described as a petty whiner who betrayed Harry. However, the explanation given in the book is that she's simply a fifteen year old girl mourning for her boyfriend who feels conflicted about dating another person so soon after his death. Similarly, her behaviour after Dumbledore's Army is exposed could be more seen as loyalty to her best friend rather than a betrayal of Harry, and she is more than willing to fight along side the resistance and in the Battle of Hogwarts in her final year.
** Hogwarts itself; AcademyofAdventure and bastion of higher learning for the magically inclined or AssimilationAcademy wherein 11-year-olds are forced into the roles they will be stuck with for the rest of their lives through the decisions of a talking hat?
** The masquerade. Is it really a shield set up to protect them from things like the Witch hunts of the past and being constantly badgered by Muggle interference or a shield set up to protect the massively corrupt Ministry of Magic that tortures criminals, is horribly racist, is fascist with its ideas on ''blood purity'' and how they treat Muggles, has no substantial health and safety laws whatsoever and probably realizes that the technology (and thus the Quality of Life) of the Muggle world has equalled/surpassed magic in almost every area and as such fears the erosion of their power a mass exodus of Wizards trying to seek a better life would cause?