The Big Book of Potter Cliches

Author's Preface: Most stories weave tales of glory or of evil... Or something anyways. This however, isn't like those as it's mostly a tribute to (And Potentially a bashing of) all the cliches and (in my opinion) overused things in the Harry Potter fandom. Some Idea's I've used will also appear in here, and if you enjoy those cliches that's fine, but most of the time (sadly) these cliches aren't executed well leaving a sour taste in one's mouth.

Therefore, I truly hope you enjoy this special work.If any readers out there have good insight please drop me a review or PM and I'll add your comments to the proper area. In a way this will be a work of many hands.

Chapter 1

When looking at a story the first thought that usually comes to mind is: 'is it any good?' But, judging if it is a 'good' or 'bad' story isn't a simple task of just glancing at it and going 'oh that's good' or 'oh that's bad'. Instead, it usually takes a bit more digging. (Assuming that you're not looking at the bottom of the barrel fics on fanfiction . net.) One good way to help gauge a story is by the 'cliches' department.

So, this begs a new question: What is a cliche? Merriam Webster describes it as: "...a trite phrase or expression; also: the idea expressed by it."

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that a cliche is a bad thing. However, it is a commonly used theme that plagues many, many stories and often these cliches are entirely pointless! I'll be the first to admit I have written stories with cliches, some being terrible even. (Even if the story itself had excellent reception, I myself cannot look at that fic without cringing.) But, this isn't a writing lesson exactly, this is a review on cliches that torment our intrepid heroes.

Cliches come in all types and colors, and thus one cannot cover all of them but we can certainly try.

Cliche #1: Magical House Trunk (Magical Trunk Fic: MTF)

While I'm unsure who first used this Magical Trunk to act as house/Time Compression Chamber/Super Training center idea, it has procreated unto countless fics. Some are stellar epics that use the cliche for what it's worth and move on. Other stories turn this cliche into the entire focus of the story; essentially locking the hero (Harry of course) in this trunk for decades before emerging and killing Voldemort. (relatively easy at that many, many times…)

Here's an outline for a potential MTF fic:

Harry leaves Hogwarts and on his way home a trolley bumps into his, knocking his trunk (which he didn't properly secure being twelve and all) out and causing the wood to break badly. (Magical school supplies may or may not spill out if they do, Harry could face all sorts of legal and political problems for violating the statute of secrecy, and questioning by Muggle Authorities too.)

Because of the damage to his trunk he asks to be dropped off in London instead of going back to their home so he can replace the damaged thing. Stops at Gringotts (may find out about a trunk left by parents which is one way) or after getting money stops at the trunk shop and has a nice discussion with the shopkeeper. Our noble hero decides on a special 'home' trunk at that point, which he uses to stay fed at the Dursleys or whatever.

It's an idea to work with anyways.

Dangers of the Magical Trunk Fic: As a highly overused cliche it shouldn't need to be said, but they usually turn out to be… very predictable. Another danger of a Magical Trunk Fic is that people tend to isolate one or two characters with very little interaction from anyone else. Now, using the full Harry Potter cast can be difficult, and I'm just as guilty for focusing in one or two characters and writing off all the others as inconsequential, but that is doubly as dangerous in a MTF. Remember: "No man is an island." and as much as Harry would probably appreciate feeling safe, he's not the type to hide away while Voldemort is on the loose. He'd want to confront those that'd hurt those he loved.

Cliche #2: Harry is Mega Rich

As he's the son of James Potter; a well respected Pure Blood Family it wouldn't surprise me if he was wealthy. However, many fanfictions take this overboard. Does Harry really have to have 10,000,000 Square Acres of land, and ten times the amount of money every single time? After you reach a certain point (Around 5 Million) money becomes rather pointless; just numbers, and as most people have trouble imagining a single million properly having a billion Galleons (which is a thousand million for those that are math illiterate*) is well beyond overkill.

Good writing sometimes does use overkill, but those kinds of sums are hard for the audience to get their minds around. Can you picture a million gold coins? ...Didn't think so. I strongly encourage using a more realistic number. Bill Gates for example is worth 66 billion. This includes all his holdings. And people can't begin to wrap their mind around that number. I seriously doubt that Gates himself can wrap his mind around his actual value.

In short, if he needs to be mega wealthy that's fine, he can be; but if it doesn't improve the story try to cut back on that. Protag's need to have trials and struggles. Money problems can be one of those!

Instead of the Potter line being super rich, maybe they used all their wealth helping others? Maybe they were just well respected but not overly well off and the cost of the wards for their home took what wealth they had left? Yes, in canon Harry was well off thanks to the vault of gold that his parents left him, but fanfictions can ignore facets of canon if they want.

Outline Ideas:

Harry is super-duper rich; why not use it? Hires assassins to take out Voldemort's minions the minister, whomever.

Uses money to make an army.

Uses money to buy a lot of potions that enhance his abilities, stamina, etc.

Uses money to bribe officials (Could be fun if you're running a particularly dark fic)

Uses money to support the Auror division (Dragonhide Jackets, etc)

Uses money to hire mercs (It's a lot easier to hire a group to do the fighting for you if you've got the money…)

Downsides of Mega Wealthy Harry Fics:

It leaves one less challenge for harry to face, and if he was smart he could abuse that wealth to beat Voldie and or any other challenge. Wants to pass NEWTS? Just bribe a few officials or threaten assassins. Seriously, with enough money a person can make just about anything happen. It can be used to take out 99% of Harry's problems in one fell swoop.

Another problem is it's just an unneeded mention off to one side. Of course, this cliche often gets paired up with other ones. (Most infamously paired with the next actually…)

Cliche 3: Harry's milkshake brings all the girls to his backyard. A.K.A. the Harem Fic.

How many times have I seen every girl in a fic drooling over Harry? (Or Draco)

A harem isn't very realistic. Yes; there are a few good harem/multi fics out there, but most of the time they're made for the sake of smut and smut alone. (And even those scenes can be poor... My poor eyes... I wish I could have skipped studying cliche 3 completely)

Worse yet, many of these fics portray males (e.g. the writer and Harry) as misogynistic, or just plain sexist. Boys, there's a reason a lot of women hate us guys. These power fantasies is often one of those reasons. I'm not saying you have to be politically correct, but remember there's more than just boys on a website. It's especially important that you're careful when writing a fic that is potentially sexist and on a grand scale. You wouldn't write a racist Harry now would you? The concept is really the same... Or would you...?

That isn't to say that you should refrain from having the girls all love Harry Potter. Quite the contrary, if you decide to do so, think about ways you can make it interesting. Give the Protag conflicts to overcome. Such as trying to avoid rabid fan girls or something.

Maybe he gets so desperate he approaches Snape and the git poisons him or something. Life throws curve balls. Fiction should do the same!

Outline idea: Hogwarts has old bylaws of vassalage, allowing for marriage contracts to be issued by the headmaster, all the girls want free and are willing to do whatever it takes to not have that happen. Even if it means seducing MC or being impregnated or whatever. Find a way to be original or execute the cliche well. Either way works. Maybe the girls (or boys if that's what you're doing.) are desperate for someone that will respect them and treat them well?

Cliche 4: Voldemort is actually not so bad

Voldemort was created to be an absolute monster, so naturally people pity him and desire to see him change. Canon verified that this isn't possible, but if done well it could be possible in an AU. However, as a cliche one has to be careful! Cliches are dangerous, but if used right can make great stories. As a psychopath odds are he'll descend into that madness more than once! One can use that to make great conflicts. Murphy's law should apply to most stories: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.

Other things you can keep in mind is that no one is truly 100% evil. Evil people will sometimes do good things. Maybe Voldemort just outright kills someone instead of torturing them because he felt bad for them? (Or at the very least more neutral things.)

Redeeming Voldemort would not be an easy task. It shouldn't be treated as such either. Reuniting his soul won't instantly make him a good guy. Many people with full souls are evil. Draco for example has never killed anyone, but it's obvious that he's twisted.

Cliche 5: Dumbledore is evil

Personally I enjoy this cliche when it's done right. It's a lot of fun to give Harry another challenge to face. But turning him into a joke early on because of how powerful Harry is isn't very realistic, nor does it give Harry a big challenge either. Make Harry work for victory please. Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard, have that reflected when challenging the man. Evil bumbling Dumbledore can be done well for laughs, but when writing a serious story this should only be applied if you're absolutely desperate for tension relief.

Remember: canon states that Dumbledore is an incredibly powerful wizard and the only one Voldemort feared. Let the story reflect that. I'd be very nervous of a man that could face off against the force that caused world war II and beat him single handedly. Not killing him but sending him to jail. (Which is much, much harder.) That same man at over one hundred years of age still commanded the respect of the populace and the fear of the 'greatest dark lord in history'. Dumbledore was not made to be weak or stupid originally and anything outside of that will likely be out of character.

Plot Idea: Harry is indoctrinated from early age by evil Dumbledore and Hermione being a muggle born hasn't been influenced by Dumbledore yet; sees what has been happening, and tries to free him. Needless to say, that puts her on the blacklist. She kidnaps Harry and slowly breaks the hold Dumbledore has on him. Meanwhile she's pursued by the Ministry and Dumbledore alike. Potentially getting captured at one point or another.

*For the most part, writers on fanfiction . net are U.S. based and do not have the method of calling out a thousand million as a billion . While much of Europe still uses the format, much of the world has long since converted to 'billion' as the method of saying the number. If wanting authenticity, 'billion' is still the way to go considering the conversion of Britain as well. (Especially since HP takes place in the 90s.) To be fair, there are times that a thousand million could be used properly and automatically raging about the number being used is not the fairest thing a person can do. (Including myself...) However, knowing your own region's way of saying the format, or that of the actual territory you're writing in is a duty of a writer. For example using 'Armor' makes sense in the U.S. but not in Australia or the U.K. Both regions have a 'u' added into Armour. (A fact that I've teased some of my aussie friends over more than once.) Please respect the region you're in (or even better the region you're writing for.) and it's dialect. What is proper english in one part of the world does not always apply to every part. (Though that could open another can of worms so I'll leave it at that…)

I'd like to thank user Aralicia for the message that they sent my way, the details of the use of thousand million was informative and useful.

Chapter 2

There are far more cliches than just those first five of course, and we could spend much, much more time on each. (I may end up revisiting each one, perhaps even giving notable examples, both good and bad.) Still, there are several other very… Infamous cliches that we haven't even begun to cover, and so it's time to look at a few more…

Cliche 6: The Soul Bond

By now if you haven't found a fic with a Soul Bond you probably haven't been reading Harry Potter fanfiction. (Which begs the question: How did you find this?)

At any rate, I have no idea who first came up with the 'soul bond' thing in the first place, but be that as it may, it's perpetuated and found its way into numerous fics of every type. Snarry? Check. Harmony? Check. Lunar Harmony? Check and double check. R/Hr? Check again. I don't even read some of these types of fics and I'm well aware that the cliche is in 'em. Even if the Soul Bond isn't needed odds are fairly good that there will be a Soul Bond there somewhere.

Personally? I'm not a big fan of Soul Bond fics. It's too easy to write that in my opinion. Yes, there are excellent Soul Bond fics out there, but for every one good soul bond there's a hundred terrible ones. I really can't stand it when authors use it as a crutch. You want to write Snape and Harry get together? Give em a soul bond! Poof! Insto romance between two characters that hate each other! A lot of people use it as a cop out and that's just bad writing.

Most the time Soul Bonds fall into the Lazy, Lazy writing category. They don't explore the relationship between characters, and they take out the work of getting the duo (or however many) together. Part of a romance story is focused on the two getting together. Lily and James Potter didn't fall in love overnight. Arwen didn't fall for Aragon and become completely devoted to him (and vice versa) via some type of magic. They had bridges to cross, they had trials to overcome. Love will have pitfalls along the way. That's how it works. Anything less is; in my opinion an insult to love and relationships.

Okay, so Soul Bonds irk me most of the time.

A good Soul Bond Fic? Uh… Well, one that doesn't take all the work out of love. That's all I'll say about this particular cliche.

Cliche 7: Yaoiz iz hawtz:

Okay, this applies to far, far, more than just Harry Potter, but there's an unbelievable number of Darry fics out there and 'Yaoi is hot' sums that up in one sentence. Okay, so you think Yaoi's hot? That's your opinion and that's all well and good, but the idea a good story does not make. At least not on its own. Personally, I don't hold an interest in Yaoi/Yuri, so there's not much I can say besides 'Have some sort of plot beyond Smut!'

I really don't have a lot to add to this so I'll move on. If any readers out there have good insight please drop me a review or PM and I'll add your comments to the area.

Cliche 8: Marauders are gay

Okay, so this ties into the prior cliche, but how many fics have you seen that had Remus have the hots for Sirius?

Figured as much.

Some just throw the two together in the background without giving reasoning, without putting much emphasis on it or anything. Sometimes it's tasteful, but most the time it's not.

Consider the Wizarding world for a moment: just how far behind are they? Just when did the books take place?

An openly gay couple in the victorian era? Good luck not getting stoned. (As in hit by rocks till you die kind of stoning.)

So far the cliches have been a good way for me to vent, to get rid of some of my annoyances with HP fics. But, now we're getting back into more serious ones that I can potentially list possible plots for.

Cliche 8: Time Travel:

You knew it was coming, I knew it was coming, the only question was… When was it coming?

Time Travel. It's a trope and cliche that's abused in every medium. T.V. Shows (Looking at you Doctor Who!), Video Games, Anime, Books, and of course Fanfiction.

Sometimes it's well done, (as Doctor Who has demonstrated.) but most of the time it's poorly executed.

But… Why does time travel fascinate us so much? What do we gain from time travel obsession?

Well, on a philosophical level, it's fairly easy to see why we're so interested in it. We all have things in our past we'd like to redo. We made mistakes, and all of us would like a second chance and that carries over to fanfiction many, many times; thus giving a hero a second chance. (Or third, or fourth, or 9.9 millionth time.)

Now the outline options:

While Time Travel is an overused cliche it still can be a fun one to abuse. It's interesting how just one small change can throw a path completely off balance. My best advice when doing a do-over fic? Just have fun with it! Have the characters royally goof things up and do all sorts of things that they didn't do in canon. Maybe have them take over the goblin nation and lead the goblins to war with their new centaur allies or something.

Still, a cliche is a cliche and like every other cliche it has its fair share of bad eggs. (Author's note: I wasn't thinking of Light of Honor, honest! ...Why is no one believing me…?)

Unlike some cliches Time Travel fics can be truly exceptional. (Such as Quantum Leap.) Those exceptional time travel fics are a blast and enjoyable to read. In those cases I have no qualms about encouraging you to read them. However, please realize that it is a cliche, and while using cliches isn't a bad thing if you're looking to be original you'll need to look a bit more than this.

Seriously, time travel is one of the oldest cliches out there… It's just one that can be highly entertaining.

Cliche 10: Dark!Harry

We've finally gotten to double digits and the last I'll be writing for a while (feel free to send me suggestions on what cliches to cover next too!)

Dark!Harry is the antithesis to the hero we all know and love. He's edgy, potentially cruel, and will do just about anything to achieve his goals. He's fallen.

Dark!Harry can range from being more gray, focused on righting wrongs by doing anything it takes (or even just doing things he wouldn't do normally) to being absolutely ruthless in achieving his goals. Sometimes Dark!Harry even becomes the next dark lord too.

Like time travel, evil renditions of the same character have been around as a cliche for a long, long time. Perhaps it's our interest in our own darkness that drives this cliche so well?

At any rate, whatever fuels our obsession with this has caused this cliche to explode. Sometimes it's well done. Most of the time? It's just thrown together for the 'I wanna do evil version!' sake.

A character like Harry shouldn't immediately fall. It should be gradual. People don't go from being all light focused to all dark in a matter of a second. (Most of the time unless you get something to cause them to break and even then they may start to revert back to the light.)

Possible Outline for a dark!harry Fic: After using Crucio on bellatrix Harry finds that he kinda… enjoyed using that on her. So, the next time he encountered a death eater he tried it again… And again… And then, before he knew it he grows twisted…

Another version is he is just pushed too far by circumstances and his mind breaks, thus crossing insane!harry with dark!harry. There's a lot of ways to make evil harry happen.

Well, here we are another Big Book of Potter Cliche installment. This time with a few overhauls to the original 'book' too! Anyways, that being said, I do have a few small announcements. First: Crystal Song's Newest chapter is starting to come along finally. Secondly, I've almost come to a decision in regards to Radiant Chaos, and lastly, after those two fics are finished I may stop writing in the Harry Potter Fandom. I haven't decided yet, but it's something to be aware of.

At any rate, we've had a great ride thus far, and I hope that we all can enjoy it to whatever conclusion that may come to pass.