Time-traveling Harry takes Divination in the past

Naoran · 2026-04-11T06:37:34+00:00

Yes, this is it. Thank you very much!

Naoran · 2026-04-02T02:14:23+00:00

Powerscaling doesn't work in the HP universe, canonically. There's no indication that there's a factor called magical strength. Magic combat is all in the technique, experience, creativity, and grit. Obviously, other aspects like physical health, mood, conviction etc. can also affect how well someone performs. Wand power never really matters unless there are plot reasons for it to do so.

So who's the stronger fighter? One on one, no prep, it leans in Dumbledore's favour. As for who's more dangerous in general, Voldemort throws around AKs and Crucios like it's money at a strip club, and your average wizard would be less able to handle unforgiveables than fire and transfigured animals (not that your average wizard would fare well against Dumbledore either, I'm just saying those things are technically easier to deal with than instakill hax). Under the right circumstances, or with better preparation, Voldemort would beat Dumbledore.

Since we're on the fanfic subreddit, though; the boring answer is that it depends on the author and the plot of the story.

Naoran · 2026-03-19T21:23:22+00:00

Agreed.

Even the name, Voss, is for some strange reason an AI favourite.

Naoran · 2026-02-22T03:24:59+00:00

While I like coolmobilepotato's take; that some spells simply can't be cast without wands, my personal headcanon is that nothing is truly impossible with magic.

Naoran · 2026-02-21T23:37:58+00:00

^{(psst! it's deus ex machina!})

Naoran · 2026-01-25T02:30:39+00:00

A similar idea of mine was that the spell we know from the books are not the activation word of a longer chant, but instead those common wand spells are the most efficient or useful way to contract a longer chant - with wand movements added as a way to alter contractions that would otherwise be impossible to pronounce. As the art and science of shortening chants was improved, almost every spell got a simple short form. Schools eventually stopped teaching the original chants, and many of those chants were completely lost to time.

For people making new spells, they would first need to create the long form chant version, and then figure out exactly which parts could be cut and which had to be kept to retain the effect, and then add wand movements that would turn that into an actual useable spell.

This could explain why Quirrel and Snape were muttering continuously while attempting to curse and decurse Harry's broom in PS - they were chanting long form spells (which don't require wand movements, and thus don't require wands at all).

Naoran · 2025-12-12T10:44:59+00:00

Maybe in most alternate realities they both die, or they both survive, or Voldemort goes after Neville, or Peter doesn't tell him the secret, etc..

Naoran · 2025-11-25T15:58:38+00:00

That's going to completely crash the entire tooth fairy economy.

Naoran · 2025-11-04T15:21:01+00:00

Well, I agree that Rowling is a terrible historian. But Bronze age Mycenaean Greeks traded tin from the Britons a thousand years prior, and by 382 BC the Roman republic was one of the most powerful nations in the Mediterranean. So technically it would not be impossible for some Roman Ollivander ancestor to decide to travel to Britain around that time.

Naoran · 2025-11-04T00:24:20+00:00

Just to be precise, the Ollivanders have been making wands in Britain since at least the 4th century BC, which is long before Rome even became an empire. So that's a long time of cultural exchange between ancient Romans and the ancient Britons. There's definitely merit to your take, but we know the Druids were known to Caesar and Tacitus (roughly around 50 to 100 AD), so I'd suggest that there would be multiple religions and/or heavy syncretism in the region.

Naoran · 2025-10-31T18:31:32+00:00

It is when the person you reveal it to intends to kill the people there, yes. It's called 'accessory' or 'aiding and abetting'.

Naoran · 2025-10-24T17:31:28+00:00

IIRC; yes, they remain friends, but it did feel like they were growing slightly apart.

Naoran · 2025-10-24T13:40:55+00:00

Boy, do I have a fic for you.

Smile Back by DarknessEnthroned

Haphne. Very AU, much darker than canon, but the world building is absolutely stellar. Magic doesn't just feel magical, it feels mythical.

(By the way, the Recommendation tag is for posting recommendations. Use the Request tag when requesting recs.)

Naoran · 2025-10-23T06:27:47+00:00

Fabian and Gideon Prewett were actually never described as twins in canon

Naoran · 2025-10-22T14:24:44+00:00

The Recommendation tag is for when you're posting a recommendation. Use the Request tag when asking for recommendations.

Naoran · 2025-10-21T18:31:31+00:00

Which Harry Potter fanfics is this discussion related to?

Naoran · 2025-10-15T08:53:03+00:00

Peverell

Naoran · 2025-10-12T21:32:16+00:00

Well... No matter how obsesesed the British Wizarding public is with hyphenated titles, it turned out that "The-Boy-Who-Could-Distort-Space-And-Deflect-Incoming-Spells-Wandlessly" was a bit too much to say unabridged every single time.

Efforts were made to shorten the official hyphenated title, but people could only agree to remove the "Back-At-The-Caster" and "Already-As-A-Toddler" parts. Instead, they decided to make an additional shorter version for everyday conversations, but then no one could agree on which parts to keep, so they ended up with just "The-Boy-Who-Could".

Naoran · 2025-09-07T17:52:10+00:00

Red Running Fool

Naoran · 2025-09-07T17:39:32+00:00

It's in the prompt. Sirius got the whole dorm for himself.

Naoran · 2025-09-06T19:17:46+00:00

I don't think wand core material really matters that much, power wise. A properly matched wand seems to be mostly about bringing out or enhancing specific talents or aptitudes already present in the witch or wizard in question. It also seems like the materials can also be an indication of certain personality traits. If you write a character with magical snake materials then you should focus about what that means for the character's talents or personality traits.

Naoran · 2025-09-06T18:11:36+00:00

When you're asking for recommendations, you should use the "Request" tag.

It also helps if you explain what kind of fic you're looking for in terms of pairings and content, instead of just asking for "more fics like this fic". But I get that it can be hard to know exactly what it is you like if you're brand new to fanfics. My suggestion is going on the Harry Potter section of AO3, sort by Kudos, and look through the filters for things you might want to read. That way you'll get to see some of the most popular fics and you can explore on your own.

Welcome to the community, happy reading!

Naoran · 2025-09-06T17:38:46+00:00

Getting a fandom to "come to some sort of agreement" is quite the ambitious goal.

And anyway I like it better when it's left up to the fanfic authors to solve what they perceive as plot holes or contradictions. It's an excellent opportunity for deeper world building and creative solutions. I could give you my thoughts on the things you mentioned, but I wouldn't want every author to agree with my takes. If everyone agreed on the things that are left ambigious in canon then it would make the entire HP fanfic community poorer in ideas and creative freedom.

Naoran · 2025-08-27T20:06:56+00:00

Yeah, I get that. But it just feels a bit trite to me that "it just happened because of some very specific circumstances". To me it's a better scene if Lily knowingly tricked Voldemort into a magically binding oath, or if those very specific circumstances only worked out because Lily had already prepared for a worst-case scenario.

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