Fanfiction – “Realizations”

Title: Realizations
URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1260679/1/ (alt.)
Author: Wishweaver
Source: Harry Potter
Rating: 6/6 (and 1 bonus point)
Type: Alternate Universe (Takes place between books 4 and 5 among other things)
Length: 33 Chapters so far

Do you think you could live Harry Potter’s life? I know I couldn’t. He’s got a strength of character that’s downright inhuman… but so far, everything has been decided by someone else, be it Dumbledore, the ministry of magic, Voldemort, the Dursleys, or whoever. What if he was given an opportunity to shape his own life? What if he didn’t want to go back?

Realizations is a definite example of good fanfiction. The borrowed characters and settings feel realistic and in-character, the original characters are definitely well done (In fact, the author gets a +1 bonus point for them.), the writing makes you feel as if you are there, and it manages to feel familiar without re-using any of the existing plot.

I wish I could give this fanfic a 6/6 for originality but, because the setting is pre-existing, I have to give it a 5.5/6. (For it to be a 6/6 would require both familiar and well-done original characters in a new setting.) I know I’m being a stickler for the rules here but I don’t want to start handing out 5.9/6 ratings.

Also of note, this is my first time giving a fanfic a preemptive 6/6 rating. I haven’t re-read it yet but I have an extremely strong desire to do so and it’s only been a week. It’s got that “freshness” that is so rare in fanfiction but, when encountered, can even make original works feel cheap. Thanks to it’s lasting quality, this is currently my second favorite fanfic of all time.

Grammar: 6/6
Originality: 5.5/6
Overall: 6/6

Bonus Points:
+1 for doing such a good job on the original characters

Fanfiction – “Realizations” by Stephan Sokolow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.