History FanficRecs / HarryPotterForWantOfANail

These are recommendations made by Tropers for ''Literature/HarryPotter'' ForWantOfANail fanfic, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found [[Main/FanficRecommendations here]].

** [=LeoArchon=]: I am astonished that this one has not made the list yet. I think it fits ForWantOfANail pretty well in terms of fanfiction. And this author makes Slytherin!Harry ''work''. I was astonished when I first started reading this series, but I came to love it. It's an alternate interpretation of all of Harry's years at Hogwarts, and how they've been altered by being in Slytherin. RonTheDeathEater is not ''quite'' in full effect, though he despises Harry just because they're in different Houses. The author has changed a ''lot'' from the canon plot, and the changes fit the new Harry. As the Slytherin House Rules say, 'Slytherin does ''NOT'' mean Junior Death Eater'. The first four years are complete, and the fifth is in the works. It will not be published on FF.net OR Fiction Alley, the two main sites Dethryl uses, until it is complete. Though, in all honesty, this troper believes Dethryl could hardly do worse than the original Book 5.

* Synopsis: This is a 1940s ForWantOfANail AlternateContinuity, with former BigBad Voldemort instead being a teen-age AntiHero with the knowledge of Hermione Granger and the morality of Friedrich Nietzsche. The implication is that being given the opportunity to study Alchemy to ward off death takes away the temptation to murder etc. Per usual 1940s tradition, the BigBad is implied to be Grindelwald (we haven't met him yet), possibly Hitler, ThoseWackyNazis, and NazisByAnyOtherName. Per WordOfGod, story will continue through the school years of the Marauders and the Trio, and will include an alternative epilogue. [[Fanfic/MortisMagister Trope page here]].

* Tags: ForWantOfANail, FixFic, WarFic, AlternateContinuity

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17640221/chapters/41596166 Azurite]]'' by geoffaree
* Recommended by: Eyikl

''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/689909/chapters/1267386 The Spellmaker]]'' by [=SonnyGietzel=]
* Recommended by: feral
* Status: Dead
* Synopsis: Latin; a dead language with no practical applications except perhaps the deciphering of old texts and as a particularly quaint party trick. Thankfully, as Harry finds out, Latin is not as dead as he was first taught when he decided to learn the language. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, of course; he loved Latin, and would have been proud to know it even had it been as useless as it was pretty. But in the world of Wizards, the world of Magic, Harry realizes his rare talent with words is particularly valuable in the highly complicated and controversial subject of Spell Creation, a subject he soon becomes enamored with despite having to hide his interest from everyone. Besides, it's not like he's going Dark, after all. Smart!Harry, Dark!Harry.
[=[[reviews:TheSpellmaker]]=]

* Notes: This is Year 1. Here are [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8843768/1/ Year 2]] (Complete), [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9172339/1/ Year 3]] (Complete), [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9643440/1/ Year 4]] (Complete), [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10298096/1/ Year 5]] (Complete) and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11944194/1/ Year 6]] (Ongoing).

* Synopsis: Regulus Black survives his adventure in the cave and brings the locket to an unlikely ally: his estranged older brother. The ex-Death Eater strikes a bargain with Dumbledore, cooperation in exchange for his family’s safety. Sirius Black is faced with his toughest mission yet: managing Walburga and Orion Black—who, to his surprise and dismay, decide they rather enjoy having both of their sons back, and very quickly scheme to make this temporary family reunion permanent. AU of the First Wizarding War in which stealing part of Voldemort's soul brings a broken, dysfunctional family together.

** ''Harry Potter, Dragon Whisperer'': As he found out during the dragon challenge, Harry's Parseltongue works on dragons, so he is now offered a job opportunity in dragon reserves all across the world, which he accepts. Turns out, there are more to dragons than meets the eye

[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1087368 There is Nothing to Fear]] by Callmesalticidae
* Recommended by: Yla

** Thirded. ''FanFic/AButterflyEffect'' is brilliantly plotted, brilliantly written, and possibly the most [[BetterThanCanon emotionally real]] ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic [[Tropers/EphemeralNight this troper]] has ever read, and is especially notable for depicting a main character that is both convincingly-female ''and'' convincingly-Harry, while ''avoiding'' the gratuitous sexism that is so often prevalent in fem!Harry fics.

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5563049/1/Away-in-a-Manger Away In A Manger'' by snapegirlkmf

''FanFic/TheBestRevenge'' by Arsinoe de Blassenville
* Recommended by: @/FuzzyBoots, Mazz, Eversor, @/FollyMolly

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5563049/1/Away-in-a-Manger Away In A Manger'' by snapegirlkmf
* Recommended by: @/{{Seanette}}

* Pairing: Snape/OC
* Synopsis: AU - The Dursleys abandon baby Harry in the manger of a Nativity display. Snape finds him, recognizes him, and decides to take him in, and finds himself raising the son of the love of his life by his worst enemy.
* Comments: Rather more humane than canon Snape, as even with his hate of Harry's father, he can't just ignore an abandoned baby, even if he doesn't know anything about taking care of babies. We watch Harry grow through first year, with Snape growing as a person right along with his adopted son.

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5363935/1/ Between Ruin and Salvation]]'' by Kihin Ranno
* Recommended by: @/LostLenore
* Status: Complete

''FanFic/ThreeSlytherinMarauders'' by severusphoenix
* Recommended by: feral

* Synopsis: [[HeelRealization After realizing how they're treating Harry]] and fleeing an abusive Vernon, Petunia sends Harry and Dudley into the care of her childhood acquaintance and only contact in the wizarding world-—Severus Snape.

[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626497/chapters/67591873 A Different Professor]] by [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsphodelWolf15/pseuds/AsphodelWolf15 AsphodelWolf15]]
* Recommended by: @/NaruHinaFan
* Status: Complete

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5363935/1/ Between Ruin and Salvation]]'' by Kihin Ranno
* Recommended by: @/LostLenore

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6036153/1/ Torn]]'' by Neurotica
* Recommended by: Thagomizer

''Fanfic/TheyShookHands'' by Dethryl
* Recommended by: [=LeoArchon=], Jay Llenrup, [=SteakAddictsAnonymous=], atrasicarius, @/BaronPraxis
* Status: Dead (last updated October 2017)
* Synopsis: Suppose Draco Malfoy introduced himself before he started acting like an ass. What if he had asked Harry's name before insulting Hagrid? A friendly handshake in Madam Malkin's leads to an alternate but realistic universe which is eerily like the canon, featuring a cast of first year Slytherins as you've never seen them: normal children. Join Harry Potter and his new friends as they discover their magical talents and help him to explore the world that has been kept from him these past ten years.
* Notes: This a complete rewrite of canon, book for book. It dies near the end of year six.
* Comments:
** [=LeoArchon=]: I am astonished that this one has not made the list yet. I think it fits ForWantOfANail pretty well in terms of fanfiction. And this author makes Slytherin!Harry ''work''. I was astonished when I first started reading this series, but I came to love it. It's an alternate interpretation of all of Harry's years at Hogwarts, and how they've been altered by being in Slytherin. RonTheDeathEater is not ''quite'' in full effect, though he despises Harry just because they're in different Houses. The author has changed a ''lot'' from the canon plot, and the changes fit the new Harry. As the Slytherin House Rules say, 'Slytherin does ''NOT'' mean Junior Death Eater'. The first four years are complete, and the fifth is in the works. It will not be published on FF.net OR Fiction Alley, the two main sites Dethryl uses, until it is complete. Though, in all honesty, this troper believes Dethryl could hardly do worse than the original Book 5.
** [=SteakAddictsAnonymous=]: This is the one fic I read which sounds like you are actually reading Harry Potter. I am talking as a person who disdains pretty much all Harry Potter fanfiction for the reason of not being canon, being too much of a wish-fulfillment, being something Harry wouldn't do, for simply not sounding like JKR, and pretty much everything and anything. (I wind up reading almost everything tongue in cheek.). The author does an excellent job of taking the text and making it JKR's style. It changes from the canon plot, but in such a way that could have happened it is almost like an alternate Harry Potter. (A Real Alternate Harry Potter. Like if JKR wrote the story differently and sold it, not like a fanfiction that has an alternate outcome.) This is a true For Want of A Nail Fic, and I highly recommend it to everybody. I particularly like the way the Slytherins are expressed, as the author said "as children".
*** And here, is the counterargument by @/MakiP: The story is very good, there's no denying that, the characterization is excellent and it does a good job showing Slytherins as people; the problem is Harry. I'm afraid Slytherin made him an unpleasant person, he's arrogant, buys into the whole "blood purity" thing and [[spoiler: he declared himself the Heir of Slytherin!]]; also Dethryl seems to be an anti-Gryffindor bias. Oh and [[spoiler: Hermione being killed by the basilisk after she's been bullied by Harry's little friends]] is enough for me to despise the story
*** 'Buys into blood purity'? You clearly haven't read the whole series yet. Harry will readily remind ANYONE that he himself is a half-blood, going so much as to quote one of the rules of Slytherin house: 'Blood matters. Ability matters more.' And since when is having an anti-Gryffindor bias a bad thing? It's a refreshing change from all the fics that depict Gryffindors as heroes who can do no wrong. [[spoiler: As for the whole thing about Hermione, look at things from Harry's perspective: she's an insufferable, know-it-all bookworm who thought it was proper to gawk and make statements about his fame without asking. If she's your favorite character, then I apologize. But no one said you had to read it.]]
*** I have to agree with Maki P here. The story is written well, but the author's anti-Gryffindor bias, Harry's far less than stellar attitude and a few other things definitely make it subjective. For example, [[spoiler: Hermione getting sent to Hufflepuff because Millicent Bulstrode bribed the Sorting Hat, Harry allowing and enjoying Crabbe and Goyle beating up Ron and his friends, the treatment of Percy, the whole switching Houses deal, etc.]]
*** [[spoiler:Keep in mind, Ron has been nothing if not an utter slimeball to Harry in this series. Besides, Harry does stand up for Neville at one point in first year, and tells off the other first year Slytherins for picking on pure-bloods outside of Slytherin. Except Ron, because Ron's gone out of his way to antagonize them. As for Hermione, well, wouldn't you be a LITTLE upset if someone starting pointing and gawking about you, rambling off interesting yet irrelevent facts about you like you were an exhibit at a zoo rather than a person? That's how Harry felt, and bribing the Hat to sort her into Hufflepuff was his idea of payback.]] And, again, what's wrong with anti-Gryffindor? Rowling's anti-Slytherin, so turnabout is fair play. But, as you say, it's all dependent on your preferences.
*** [[spoiler: True, Ron has been less than nice to Harry, and that smacks of {{Ron The Death Eater}}, (where do people get this idea that Ron would go out of his way to antagonize Slytherins from?), but then again Harry has acted much, much worse to Ron, so he has no reason to talk. As for Hermione, yes she was a little rude there, but far from unbearably so, and certainly not deserving that kind of revenge. that fact that the Sorting Hat could be bribed at all doesn't come off well.]] Well, in any case, it is a balanced portrayal of Slytherins, since aren't stereotypical monsters, but far from nice people, so Dethryl deserves a clap for that at least.
*** The statement that Harry has bought into the blood purity and racism of Slytherin is incorrect and shows that Maki P has not read the whole series. Harry's problem is with Muggles, not Muggleborns. Slytherin fed into his hatred of the Dursleys, and from his limited worldview, Slytherin is right about Muggles (violent, barbaric, etc.). In fact, by Y4 [[spoiler: Harry doesn't care about blood at all, only magicalness. He gets into a confrontation with Theo and brings up the fact that the Muggleborn Hermione Granger beat Theo in every subject in first year to try and crack Theo's attitude about blood purity.]]
*** Harry explicitly believes in the improtance of Blood Purity in this story. He puts it second only to ability. That means it's more important to him than morals and overall attitude. If you like the story, just say so. But don't pretend the story's lead isn't exactly what he's being accused of being.
*** @/MakiP again. No, I haven't read the whole thing, and that's part of the problem; the "heroes" seem too detestable for me, and I found the extreme anti-Gryffindor attitude hard to swallow. I think this has to be said, so readers know what they were getting into. (I wasn't, and I think I got hurt for that.)
*** @/Silverwind91: It's not just the extreme anti-Gryffindor attitude that is hard to swallow. I will freely admit that i did not get very far into it myself, but that was because it's as Slytherin-can-do-no-wrong as much as other fics are Gryffindor-can-do-no-wrong. There are token 'evil' house members to be better than, but for the most part it feels like the story was written by slightly less morally bankrupt Tom Riddle.
** I myself didn't like the writing style, I find it stilted, there's no flow to the characters speech, at least in what I've read. I don't think the writing even remotely resembles JKR, though the plot is decent.
[=[[reviews:TheyShookHands]]=]

''FanFic/{{Emperor}}'' by Marquis Black

''Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7227123/Gracques Gracques]]. Read [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13954101/1 here]] or [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33810715/chapters/84053710 here]]

** The most interesting thing about this fic is Voldemort's cynical, calculating narrative voice which gives a very different perspective on Hogwarts and the characters from the books. The story varies in tone from moderately to extremely dark, and the latter moments generally involve canon characters meeting terrible fates, so beware of that. The structure is somewhat weak; most of the plot takes place in the first two years at Hogwarts, whereas I was hoping for more of a slow burn. It's also totally straightforward, with Voldemort facing no real setbacks and experiencing minimal character development in the course of his mission, which is why the ending feels so anticlimactic. The combination of Voldemort's perspective and your own expectations about redemption in storytelling may make you tempted to root for Voldemort, but if you do then you will be in for a series of gut-punches culminating in the biggest gut-punch of all in the final chapter. The story is very true to Voldemort's character in the sense that he ultimately views everyone and everything but himself as a disposable tool, but it can be perilously easy to forget that at times. As a last note, Harry's dialogue makes him sound immature to the point of having an AmbiguousDisorder, even at 12 years old. This could very well be a result of Voldemort's grooming, but I found it very distracting. Ultimately, despite my complaints, I found it to be an absorbing read. If you can tolerate some painful moments, I tentatively recommend it.

''Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7227123/Gracques Gracques]]. Read [[[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13954101/1 here]] or [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33810715/chapters/84053710 here]]

''''Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7227123/Gracques Gracques]]. Read [[[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13954101/1 here]] or [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33810715/chapters/84053710 here]][[note: Alternate Archive of our own link]]

[[reviews:HarryPotterAndTheMotherWhoLived]]

''''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13954101/1 Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived]]'' by [[fanfiction.net/u/7227123/Gracques Gracques]]

Recommended by: Tropers/EricW
Status: Ongoing
Synopsis: Halloween, 1981. Lord Voldemort decides to humor a disciple, and decides to "spare" Lily Potter. However, when the killing curse still rebounds and ends the Dark Lord, young Harry Potter grows up not with extended family, but a single mother. And after 11 years away, Mr. Potter and Lily Evans begin their new lives with magic.
Pairing(s): Lily/James. Others still to come thanks to it being only 3rd year so far in the fic.
Tags: Butterfly Effect, Lily Evans Potter Lives, What-if, Friendship, Rotating POV