History FandomSpecificPlot / HarryPotter

** The Marauder's are usually depicted as pranksters.

* The Head Boy and Girl's share a suite of rooms, providing lots of forced interaction to fuel sexual tension. Used for Seventh Year Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione fics, Hermione/Draco FoeYay, and even fics with an OriginalCharacter paired with Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Draco, and originated with the once-popular Percy/Penelope ship. Most oddly, this is so codified that it seems to have been forgotten that the Head Boy and Girl are actually supposed to be top students. Instead, fanfiction makes it look like the selection of Head Boy and Girl is completely random. No one ever even wonders any more "How did [[SpoiledBrat Draco Malfoy]] get to be Head Boy?" This device also turns up a lot in Lily/James fics as well as fics set in the Next Generation (usually with Rose/Scorpius).

* Harry is "Lord Potter," "Lord Black," "Lord Slytherin," and/or "Lord Peverell". These titles come with multiple hereditary seats on the Wizengamot. Expect the Ministry to be portrayed as much more corrupt in these stories than it is in the books, and because they too hold multiple seats, the Malfoys and any other families are portrayed as evil for doing... ''[[ProtagonistCenteredMorality exactly what Harry is doing]]'' by blungeoning his political opponents with his voting hegemony. A subgenre has Harry discover that he is the Lord and Heir of the Kingdom of Azkaban and that the Ministry owes him several centuries worth of back taxes for using his prison.

* Despite being a grown teenager who has faced Voldemort several times, Harry can suddenly be bullied, abused, and intimidated as easily as if he were a helpless five-year-old. Harry ''never'' saves himself in these stories — he either dies tragically or gets to be someone else's damsel-in-distress. In stories where Harry does save himself from the Dursleys, he'll [[DisproportionateRetribution beat the Dursleys into submission the second they lay a finger on him]] and therefore no abuse against Harry ever actually happens.

In these fanfics, Harry's abusive childhood is usually [[PlayedForDrama treated more seriously]] than in the books. Expect rape to occur. This level of abuse will not be {{retcon}}ned as having been happening all along. Instead, it will start when Harry is [[WhatAnIdiot a grown teenager with wizard friends and a supposedly murderous godfather]].

* Vernon is entirely responsible for the abuse. Petunia and Dudley will be mentioned so little you'd think Vernon and Harry were the only people living in the house. If Petunia and Dudley do participate in the abuse, they'll essentially be Vernon's minions. Alternatively, Petunia has a HeelFaceTurn.

* There's a sect of uber-powerful magical people who basically are to wizards what wizards are to {{Muggles}}. They're called Magids in ''FanFic/TheDracoTrilogy'', the Strega in ''FanFic/PawnToQueen'', and the Druids in ''The Girl Who Lived'', but it's all the same basic idea. The Strega and the Druids are especially similar, sharing CantArgueWithElves and AuthorFilibuster tendencies. The idea of a 'double witch' is mocked in ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', as a wish fulfillment fantasy for young witches and wizards who want to have "special magical powers". Hermione realized at this point that witches and wizards don't really seem to appreciate their powers at all.

* "The Late To Hogwarts Fic," in which a young wizard or witch doesn't get their invitation to Hogwarts at age 11, or is unable to go, until later age (usually when romantic plots would be more okay, so from fourth year up) — the other way is to introduce a transfer student ([[SelfInsertFic who's usually from the same country/general area and of the same background as the author]], [[WishFulfillment and is very similar to them in all aspects, only better]]). The latter type has the added benefit of 1) making up a new, totally awesome wizarding school 2) enabling the character to have a unique, totally cool wand 3) creating an explanation for [[OutsideContextMagic unseen-in-Britain]], [[{{Chuunibyou}} totally super magic]] 4) allowing the character to have an inherited {{katana|sAreJustBetter}} 5) being an ObviousCrossoverMethod. Details not tying into the character's origins and entrance into Hogwarts usually follow the normal self-insert/wish-fulfillment procedure. The upcoming video game ''VideoGame/HogwartsLegacy'' is using this plot but its developers have already said it's not to be considered a canon work.

* Harry Is Raised Differently: For whatever reason, Harry ends up not being abused ''exactly like'' the books portray, even in cases where he's still with the Dursleys, which results in him having a totally different personality come Hogwarts. This may be justified by his NaiveNewcomer status in canon, or just using Harry as an OC stand-in; a number of these fics have Harry becoming a [[invoked]] MartyStu, but it's not universal. Sometimes it's not a good thing; Harry ends up as fat and nasty as Dudley and has to suffer major personality changes to be kind enough at the end to face Voldemort.

* The Head Boy and Girl's share a suite of rooms, providing lots of forced interaction to fuel sexual tension. Used for Seventh Year Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione fics, Hermione/Draco FoeYay, and even fics with a [[invoked]] MarySue or GaryStu paired with Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Draco, and originated with the once-popular Percy/Penelope ship. Most oddly, this is so codified that it seems to have been forgotten that the Head Boy and Girl are actually supposed to be top students. Instead, fanfiction makes it look like the selection of Head Boy and Girl is completely random. No one ever even wonders any more "How did [[SpoiledBrat Draco Malfoy]] get to be Head Boy?" This device also turns up a lot in Lily/James fics as well as fics set in the Next Generation (usually with Rose/Scorpius).

* Hermione, Ginny, or a [[invoked]] MarySue becomes a maid in Malfoy Manor. Where Draco lives. [[{{Shipping}} Do you see where this is going?]]

* A common one is to introduce a [[invoked]] MarySue with an additional prophecy. This prophecy usually concerns whether {{Draco|InLeatherPants}} sides with Voldemort or Dumbledore, how [[BlackHoleSue only she]] can guide him in this choice, and how Harry's prophecy is entirely dependent on this one. Expect the prophecy to only use vague terms about "light" and "dark" and animal imagery (Draco is usually the "Dragon," while the MarySue is normally the "Phoenix"), despite the fact that the original prophecy didn't bother with obscuring imagery.

* A (usually) female character is sent back in time to redeem Tom Riddle [[RedemptionEqualsSex with sex]]. This probably started as a way for Tom/Ginny shippers to get around the [[DracoInLeatherPants whole him-being-future-Voldemort thing]], but now it's done almost as often with Hermione. And, of course, it was also done with a certain [[invoked]] MarySue in ''FanFic/MyImmortal''.

** There is also a sub-type of Marauder fics that crosses over with the "Too Late for Hogwarts" plot: a female character (usually a MarySue and SelfInsert) is new at Hogwarts, immediatly befriends the Marauders as well as Lily, helps getting Lily and James together, and, depending on who the writer has a crush on, gets together with either Sirius or Remus.

* In canon, Lockhart is already a rather nasty guy who not only steals other people's accomplishments and passes them off as his own, but also wipes their memories of the events them so they won't tell anyone. In some fanfiction stories, Lockhart does worse: He has sex with Hogwarts students during his tenure as teacher. That ranges from only having sex with seventh-year students, who are usually adults according to the wizarding world's laws (17 years) or the muggle world's (18 years), for which he usually either receives no punishment (especially if the story features TeacherStudentRomance as a positive story element with the main characters of the story having sex with him) or a slap on the wrist (being fired) to a full-blown cild rapist who forces first-years into his bed using mind magic and then wipes the ordeal from their memories using mind magic (in that case, [[PaedoHunt Harry or another character often kills him in painful and gory ways]]).

* The United States will usually be seen as a land where blood prejudice and other restrictive elements from Magical Britain (such as the law forbidding teenagers from using magic out of school) are missing. Of course, this was before Pottermore and ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' showed that the Magical United States are even more restrictive about this than Britain.

* The Veil doesn't actually kill, but causes MentalTimeTravel, usually to [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone 1991]]. Popularized by ''Fanfic/OhGodNotAgain'', [[{{Irony}} despite it being a parody of the very idea.]]

* The "magical core", supposedly the element that allows wizards and witches to work magic while {{Muggles}} can't. The exact nature of the core is up to the individual author, but expect there to be much talk about stealing, transferring, binding, or otherwise manipulating the core like [[PowersAsPrograms it's a disc in a CD-ROM drive]]. And of course Harry/Hermione/today's badass OC has a much stronger core than anyone else. Canonically, there is no central "core" and wizards/witches are just innately magical.

* There is a truly enormous amount of fanfics where [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson]] and/or his friends come to teach or study at Hogwarts.

* Harry is "Lord Potter," "Lord Black," "Lord Slytherin," and/or "Lord Peverell" (despite it being mentioned multiple times that there is no wizarding nobility). These titles come with multiple hereditary seats on the Wizengamot. Expect the Ministry to be portrayed as much more corrupt in these stories than it is in the books, and because they too hold multiple seats, the Malfoys and any other families are portrayed as evil for doing... ''[[ProtagonistCenteredMorality exactly what Harry is doing]]'' by blungeoning his political opponents with his voting hegemony.
** It actually says there is no princes in the wizarding world, but it explicitly shows at least to three examples of wizarding nobility, Bloody Baron, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, and Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore. Plus, the wiki notes many more.
** A subgenre has Harry discover that he is the Lord and Heir of the Kingdom of Azkaban and that the Ministry owes him several centuries worth of back taxes for using his prison.

** It actually says there is no princes in the wizarding world, but it explicitly shows at least to three examples of wizarding nobility, Bloody Baron, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, and Sir Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore. Plus, the wiki notes many more.

* Stories where House Elves must be bonded to witches/wizards or they lose their magic and die. Especially ones were elves are essentially magical leaches who do work in exchange for magic. Usually to show how foolish Hermione is in wanting House Elves to be free from slavery.

* A distant (in terms of blood or just geography) relative discovers his or her connection to Harry, and rescues/adopts/comes to the aid of Harry. Again, fodder for crossovers.

* The Veil is actually just a portal to another universe. Fodder for [[CrossOver Crossovers]]. Especially ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[CommonCrossover Crossovers.]]

* RonTheDeathEater, a situation so common it became the {{Trope Namer|s}} for the entire general phenomenon: Ron is so jealous and resentful of Harry that he spontaneously does a FaceHeelTurn. Often a result of Harry/Hermione shippers wanting Ron to DieForOurShip. Alternately Ginny's been dosing the pair with Love Potion to steal Harry's money and fame. Or Hermione's the one doing it.

* Harry's real father is Severus Snape, not James Potter (despite canon repeatedly saying that Harry looks almost ''exactly'' like his father did at the same age. Sometimes this is [=Handwave=]d, more often it's just ignored.) Like the Marriage Law fic, it was initially popularized by a challenge. These fics are often called Severitus fics, after the Severitus Challenge, which was issued in 2001 by, you guessed it, Severitus. The original constraints of the challenge called for Harry's appearance to gradually change to resemble Snape's over the course of the fic, with the idea being that his original appearance was the result of a potion/glamour/whatever. (They also called for Remus to come back to Hogwarts at some point.) The challenge was extremely popular, and the name stuck even after people started to drop some of the requirements. (Sometimes people call just plain old "Snape is Harry's father" fics "Sevitus" fics.) The usual explanation is usually one of the following 1) Lily really loved Snape despite him being a muggle hating Death Eater whose ideology drove them apart, 2) James Potter never grew up and is an immature brat/jerk so Lily had a secret affair, 3) James Potter couldn't have children and Lily asked her friend to do them a favor. 4) James, Lily, and Severus were in a secret threesome relationship and Harry was their [[DesignerBabies secret potion-baby.]] When Snape was pressed into service for the Dark Lord [[MemoryGambit he wiped his own memories to keep them safe.]] 5) [[CanonDefilement Any number of inane ideas that completely ignore canon.]]

* Ron, and often Hermione or Molly (but ''always'' [[RonTheDeathEater Ron]]) is revealed to have only befriendeded Harry at Dumbledore's order. The idea of an eleven year old child pulling off this kind of long-term deception is laughable, and if Hermione is included it reaches the far side of the Gambit Roulette, given how her actual friendship with Harry began. Accordingly, Dumbledore is paying Ron (and any others involved) with money embezzled from Harry's own Gringotts account, which would only increase the odds of Harry finding out the truth. Often learned in the future, and then Harry does a PeggySue.

* The Marauders are often depicted as pranksters because Hagrid compared their troublemaking to the Weasley twins'. It is never said whether they were or weren't, but the only "prank" credited to any of them is when Sirius told Snape how to get under the Whomping Willow.
* A number of fanfic authors have Sirius/Serious puns, with "You're not Serious"/"Sirius is my godfather" as an example.

* Harry’s real name isn’t, well, "Harry." It is Hadrian or Harrison because a worrying number of people agree with Aunt Petunia that “Harry” is a “nasty, common name” unfit for their super-special, superpowered wizard god. Weirdly, it is never “Henry” or “Harold,” the two names that do have “Harry” as a nickname.

* Ron, and often Hermione or Molly (but ''always'' [[RonTheDeathEater Ron]]) is revealed to have only befriendeded Harry at Dumbledore's order. The idea of an eleven year old child pulling off this kind of long-term deception is laughable, and if Hermione is included it reaches the far side of the Gambit Roulette, given how her actual friendship with Harry began. Accordingly, Dumbledore is paying Ron (and any others involved) with money embezzled from Harry's own Gringotts account, which would only increase the odds of Harry finding out the truth. Often learned in the future, and then Harry does a Peggy Sue.

* Harry's simple courtesies to the goblins of Gringotts (like [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency remembering Griphook’s name]]) mark him as uniquely different from the racist bastards that make up the rest of the Wizarding World, and they throw all their military and economic power behind him.
* Harry uses his newfound freedom to get rid of Dudley's hand-me-downs and go shopping for new clothes, usually at [[{{Goth}} Hot Topic or the local equivalent]]. He also uses potion-steroids to fix his appearance, give himself a growth spurt, fix his eyesight, and grow his hair long. And he surgically conceals or removes his scar. This renders him unrecognizable to Dumbledore and his (once) closest friends.

* Expect Harry to end up with Hermione, Luna, or some Slytherin girl who was only mentioned once in seven books, usually OCStandIn Daphne Greengrass. [[AuthorAppeal Or all of them at once.]] Along with vast amounts of money and a dozen vaults and countless houses around the world!

Often tagged "Independent Harry," "Powerful Harry," or "pureblood culture/society/politics" (no one is sure what to call it), this genre sets up the theory that Dumbledore is a Manipulative Bastard setting Harry up as a sacrifice in order to defeat Voldemort (in more extreme cases with Dumbledore planning to take all the credit afterward). But Harry has managed to get emancipated and come into his own, with all the money and political power he needs to thwart both Dumbledore and Riddle.

* Harry’s real name isn’t, well, ‘’Harry.’’ It is Hadrian or Harrison because a worrying number of people agree with Aunt Petunia that “Harry” is a “nasty, common name” unfit for their super-special, superpowered wizard god. Weirdly, it is never “Henry” or “Harold,” the two names that do have “Harry” as a nickname.

* Harry is [[{{frameup}} framed]] for some horrendous crime and is imprisoned in Azkaban. Eventually he is either cleared or escapes, but not before the experience grants him an immense powerup, which he mostly uses to enact his revenge on those who betrayed or framed him, as well as defeat Voldemort (if the two aren't one and the same). [[RonTheDeathEater All of his friends will turn on him,]] including [[{{Hypocrite}} Sirius]], and often [[DisproportionateRetribution one of them will kill Hedwig and rip up his photo album,]] then laugh about it afterwards. (In other words, ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' [-[[RecycledInSpace with Harry Potter characters!]]-]) [[SturgeonsLaw They're almost always awful.]]
* Harry gained legal adulthood and 'full access' to the vaults and Potter seat(s) on the Wizengamot because he's in the Triwizard Tournament, despite the fact that the Triwizard Tournament has included plenty of underaged students before, just this time the school administrators rigged a external age line to keep them out. These fics explain that Harry's current vaults are a trust fund (usually justified by noting that there is only money in Harry's vault while other families store all sorts of thing in theirs).
* Harry is "Lord Potter," "Lord Black," "Lord Slytherin," and/or "Lord Peverell" (despite it being mentioned multiple times that there is no wizarding nobility). These titles come with multiple hereditary seats on the Wizengamot. Expect the Ministry to be portrayed as much more corrupt in these stories than it is in the books, and because they too hold multiple seats, the Malfoys and any other families are portrayed as evil for doing... ''[[ProtagonistCenteredMorality exactly what Harry is doing]].''

* Harry discovers he is bound by one or more marriage contracts signed before his birth or in his infancy, requiring him to marry a girl (or girls) he barely knows. Either the girl herself or her family is the villain of the story, and if the girl isn’t the villain, then she is his TrueLove.
* It is deemed suspicious that Molly asks what platform they need to get to for the boys to go to Hogwarts, the reasoning being that Molly wouldn't need to ask as she's sending her sixth child to Hogwarts, so obviously she was planted there to lure Harry into her clutches. The fact that parents all over the world play the Question Game (wherein they ask their children to answer questions the parent already knows the answer to, because the point isn't what the parent knows, but what the child knows) never seems to occur to the authors.
* Harry gets a 'magical inheritance' that instantly grants him a Superpower Lottery of magical talents and abilities, with no effort involved. Expect him to be a metamorphmagus, an animagus (almost always a dragon or phoenix), and/or have several other skills and 'lost' forms of magic that nobody else in the series has, such as a golden patronus. Sometimes Neville helps out because, coming from a traditional magical family, he knows the secrets of the magical inheritance and because they were born so close together Harry and Neville will go through their "magical inheritance" at the same time.

* Harry's simple courtesies to the goblins of Gringotts (like remembering Griphook’s name) mark him as uniquely different from the racist bastards that make up the rest of the Wizarding World, and they throw all their military and economic power behind him. This despite the fact that the goblins are pretty much always antisocial manipulative bastards in canon.

* One common variation has Harry returning for his next year at Hogwarts after being trained by Elves/Demons/Vampires/Goblins/Time Lords and has powers far more advanced than anyone in the school. (''Why'' these people chose to train him can vary between "no explanation given" to "he's [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Lord of the Vampires.]]") Staples include limitless shapeshifting, wandless/wordless magic, "almost Unforgivable" curses, fluency in a secret language and floating runes. They almost always follow the plot of a canon book, but Harry has escaped Dumbledore's yoke and therefore solves each problem with his new powers while hiding his real potential.
* Another has Ron and Hermione turn against Harry after fifth year, and he is forced to rely on new allies and come into his own with all the aforementioned political and magical power he didn't even knew he had.