Harry Potter's horrible clichés, Part 1
-Horrible cliché no.1:
Harry is recognized as the Heir of Gryffindor line, Slytherin line, Ravenclaw line (they don't see Hufflepuff stylish enough to have Harry as the Heir), and blah blah blah line which must be Noble and Ancient and Rich. At the same time! In the same paragraph! And this little 'occurrence' has never mentioned ever again. Figure, Harry is not powerful and worthy and unique without a Noble and Ancient Bloodline and a lot of money.
-Horrible cliché no.2:
For absolutely no reason at all, Harry must have another wand. Which, for some reason unknown, must be made of truly unique and rare and expensive materials: Phoenix tear, Basilisk venom, Dementor fang, Vampire blood blah blah, and all in one wand! And after a chapter in which the author goes on and on about how Harry picks out these materials and why they are special, this wand does the same role as Harry's phoenix wand, and shows no more power nor special talent. How the author sees this is worthy to the plot I do not know.
Ah, you say because your Harry is different, his magic is different and so his wand must be different. I see your point, but let me ask you, does your Harry decide to fight against Voldemort and fulfill his destiny or not? If he does, please, he is the same person I know. His magic is different? Just change his wand a little bit, but don’t disregard it totally. It’s his fate to have that wand, after all.
-Horrible cliché no.3:
Harry decides in a sec that he needs a snake to be his familiar. When he's totally satisfied with Hedwig. Hey, I have no aversion to Harry being friendly with snakes. But please, give me a reason why Harry sees fit to do so. Tending to one pet is tiring enough. And Harry already has troubles that worth twenty lifetimes. He does not need people to shun him again as another Dark lord just because he unthinkingly associates himself with a (popularly believed) Dark creature.
-Horrible cliché no.4:
Harry, for some reasons again, decides that reading books like a Hermione will make him more powerful. And so he buys lots of rare books from every bookshop available. And so he reads. And so he becomes powerful. Oh, please, everyone knows that Harry has no chance with learning theories. He lacks the patience! Like most boys, he likes action, and he learns best when his life is on the line! He is not a bloody Hermione, because, God, one is enough for us already! If reading books makes Hermione better at DADA, it will be Hermione, not Harry, who receives an Outstanding OWL at DADA.
-Horrible cliché no.5:
Harry is abused (beaten, staved, insulted, raped) all his life and becomes broken beyond imagination. He becomes a withdrawn and submissive and scared and spineless putty who always believes himself a worthless freak, because, oh, 'Uncle Vernon does not like insolent boys' and 'Uncle and Aunt said I'm a worthless so I must be'.
/Scoff/ As if that would keep his defiant blood in line. If he can't stand that house anymore, he will run away and live the life of a street kid, like other kids abused before him. Some may lack the courage to leave home. Some may lack the cunning to survive the street. But Harry Potter lacks none. Why do you think he is sorted into Gryffindor and nearly sorted into Slytherin? There's no way in hell he would be obedient and blindingly swallow every single words those horrible people feed him. You say he won't know he is treated wrong because he has been treated like that all his life? You have a point there, providing that he does not meet normally treated children and does not have any simple observation, which, I'm sure you realize, he does. Again, he is not stupid.
I'm not stopping you from writing an Abused!Harry fic. I know that his shame of 'freakiness' is his characteristic insecurity. I also know that it is this insecurity that leads to his unique hero-complex. I just want you to give Harry some credits. You see, even subconsciously, he turns his insecurity into something that helps other people. Harry is strong. Do not deny him that. Seeing Harry as a submissive puff (no offence, Hufflepuff lovers) is disturbing enough. Seeing Harry as a submissive puff that cannot do a thing without others' comfort and protection is just plain disgusting.
Conclusions:
I know you just want to make Harry more special. But don’t you see, he is already special! All you need to do is to give him some horrendous situations and he will prove himself to you, no need for fanciful wands or pets or titles. In fact, bothering yourself with those superficial values will blind you from seeing the real Harry that we all love and admire.
You want to see Harry from different angles. You want to see him dark, abused, sarcastic, hateful, angry, submissive, broken or withdrawn. Great, me too. But you have to be careful. You have to keep in mind that it’s not in his nature to be submissive or hateful. If you make him to, well, give me reasons. Make me believe you. It’s your job. Because if you fail, you’re not writing a fanfic about Harry Potter, but stories about someone I do not know.
Clichés themselves are not horrible. What horrible is the way you use them with mindlessly. How to avoid horrible cliché? Simple, whatever you do, just give me a reason. Tell me why it is important. Explain to me why it must be the way you think it is. Do not just dress Harry up as a stylish hero with absolute nothing of his own just because to you a hero must be cool like that!
Harry is recognized as the Heir of Gryffindor line, Slytherin line, Ravenclaw line (they don't see Hufflepuff stylish enough to have Harry as the Heir), and blah blah blah line which must be Noble and Ancient and Rich. At the same time! In the same paragraph! And this little 'occurrence' has never mentioned ever again. Figure, Harry is not powerful and worthy and unique without a Noble and Ancient Bloodline and a lot of money.
-Horrible cliché no.2:
For absolutely no reason at all, Harry must have another wand. Which, for some reason unknown, must be made of truly unique and rare and expensive materials: Phoenix tear, Basilisk venom, Dementor fang, Vampire blood blah blah, and all in one wand! And after a chapter in which the author goes on and on about how Harry picks out these materials and why they are special, this wand does the same role as Harry's phoenix wand, and shows no more power nor special talent. How the author sees this is worthy to the plot I do not know.
Ah, you say because your Harry is different, his magic is different and so his wand must be different. I see your point, but let me ask you, does your Harry decide to fight against Voldemort and fulfill his destiny or not? If he does, please, he is the same person I know. His magic is different? Just change his wand a little bit, but don’t disregard it totally. It’s his fate to have that wand, after all.
-Horrible cliché no.3:
Harry decides in a sec that he needs a snake to be his familiar. When he's totally satisfied with Hedwig. Hey, I have no aversion to Harry being friendly with snakes. But please, give me a reason why Harry sees fit to do so. Tending to one pet is tiring enough. And Harry already has troubles that worth twenty lifetimes. He does not need people to shun him again as another Dark lord just because he unthinkingly associates himself with a (popularly believed) Dark creature.
-Horrible cliché no.4:
Harry, for some reasons again, decides that reading books like a Hermione will make him more powerful. And so he buys lots of rare books from every bookshop available. And so he reads. And so he becomes powerful. Oh, please, everyone knows that Harry has no chance with learning theories. He lacks the patience! Like most boys, he likes action, and he learns best when his life is on the line! He is not a bloody Hermione, because, God, one is enough for us already! If reading books makes Hermione better at DADA, it will be Hermione, not Harry, who receives an Outstanding OWL at DADA.
-Horrible cliché no.5:
Harry is abused (beaten, staved, insulted, raped) all his life and becomes broken beyond imagination. He becomes a withdrawn and submissive and scared and spineless putty who always believes himself a worthless freak, because, oh, 'Uncle Vernon does not like insolent boys' and 'Uncle and Aunt said I'm a worthless so I must be'.
/Scoff/ As if that would keep his defiant blood in line. If he can't stand that house anymore, he will run away and live the life of a street kid, like other kids abused before him. Some may lack the courage to leave home. Some may lack the cunning to survive the street. But Harry Potter lacks none. Why do you think he is sorted into Gryffindor and nearly sorted into Slytherin? There's no way in hell he would be obedient and blindingly swallow every single words those horrible people feed him. You say he won't know he is treated wrong because he has been treated like that all his life? You have a point there, providing that he does not meet normally treated children and does not have any simple observation, which, I'm sure you realize, he does. Again, he is not stupid.
I'm not stopping you from writing an Abused!Harry fic. I know that his shame of 'freakiness' is his characteristic insecurity. I also know that it is this insecurity that leads to his unique hero-complex. I just want you to give Harry some credits. You see, even subconsciously, he turns his insecurity into something that helps other people. Harry is strong. Do not deny him that. Seeing Harry as a submissive puff (no offence, Hufflepuff lovers) is disturbing enough. Seeing Harry as a submissive puff that cannot do a thing without others' comfort and protection is just plain disgusting.
Conclusions:
I know you just want to make Harry more special. But don’t you see, he is already special! All you need to do is to give him some horrendous situations and he will prove himself to you, no need for fanciful wands or pets or titles. In fact, bothering yourself with those superficial values will blind you from seeing the real Harry that we all love and admire.
You want to see Harry from different angles. You want to see him dark, abused, sarcastic, hateful, angry, submissive, broken or withdrawn. Great, me too. But you have to be careful. You have to keep in mind that it’s not in his nature to be submissive or hateful. If you make him to, well, give me reasons. Make me believe you. It’s your job. Because if you fail, you’re not writing a fanfic about Harry Potter, but stories about someone I do not know.
Clichés themselves are not horrible. What horrible is the way you use them with mindlessly. How to avoid horrible cliché? Simple, whatever you do, just give me a reason. Tell me why it is important. Explain to me why it must be the way you think it is. Do not just dress Harry up as a stylish hero with absolute nothing of his own just because to you a hero must be cool like that!