A/N: Ever since seeing DougDoug's "I used an A.I. to make videogame characters fight to the death" video, I wanted to try to see how well an AI could write a piece of fanfiction. And, today, I finally decided to test it!
This small piece of fanfic was written by NovelAI. The length is short because of the limited free trial I used. I will be honest and say everything was a lot more coherent than I expected. x)
This is the info I told the AI to use for this story:
Memory: The AI will better remember info placed here.
- This is a Harry Potter fanfiction. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger found a magical spaceship and intend to use it to fly to the Moon.
Author's Note: Info placed here will strongly influence AI output.
- Hermione Granger is very good at magic. Harry Potter is very good at piloting spaceships. Harry and Hermione are in a romantic relationship.
'What I wrote'
'What the AI wrote'
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a magical school inside of a large magical castle. While exploring the grounds of Hogwarts Castle, they stumble on a secret hangar hidden under the Great Lake. Inside, they find a magical spaceship left by the Founders. It is capable of voyaging to the Moon.
The ship requires two wizards who can cast spells and work together as a team if it is to be piloted to the Moon. Harry and Hermione are both skilled at magic and are attracted to each other.
"What should we do about it?" Harry asked. "Should we try to use it to fly to the moon?"
They were walking through the grassy field that surrounded the castle, past the enormous, ancient trees. A few feet away was the lake, its surface rippling gently in the wind. They had just come from Professor McGonagall's class where they learned more about the founders of Hogwarts and the importance of the Stone of Scone. After the lesson, Harry had suggested flying the spaceship to the moon, but Hermione had been horrified.
"Absolutely not," she said. "We don't know how to operate it."
She was right; neither Harry nor Hermione knew anything about operating a spaceship. But they did have one advantage over the pilots of olden times—they could read. And there must be instructions somewhere in the spaceship for operating it.
But what would happen if someone else used the spaceship? What if it crashed into the ground or fell out of the sky and landed on top of somebody? That wouldn't be so bad, except that the people inside might die. The spaceship was made of magic, which meant it couldn't hurt anyone, but even though it wasn't alive, it still had feelings. If the ship felt pain when it hit the ground, it might never fly again.
And then, after all this time, the spaceship would finally get to go to the moon.
Harry and Hermione decided to return to their dormitory and study. Maybe they'd learn something useful during dinner.
After lunch, they returned to the hangar. It was empty. There was no sign of anyone having been here since yesterday afternoon.
Harry and Hermione looked around. The spaceship was gone.
"It was here last night!" Harry exclaimed. He ran toward the entrance.
He stopped short.
Something was blocking his way.
A large, black, metal object.
Harry stared at it.
Was it a door?
There was a small button on the side.
Harry pressed it.
Nothing happened.
"Well, I suppose you're going to tell me to push harder," he muttered.
He pushed the button again.
Still nothing.
"I guess it doesn't work like the Floo Network," he said.
They stood there, staring at the button.
Finally, Harry said, "Let's go back to our room and look for some instructions."
They walked across the courtyard and entered the castle.
In the corridor outside their common room, they came upon Ron Weasley, who was holding a copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Hey, Harry! Where've you been?" he said. "You missed dinner!"
Ron took off his glasses and rubbed them with the hem of his robes.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Sorry. We went out to explore the grounds. You know, the usual thing."
"Where did you go?" Hermione asked.
"To the Forbidden Forest," said Ron. "We climbed up onto the top of the Astronomy Tower and saw the stars. Then we found a spaceship. Well, Harry did."
"What spaceship?" said Harry.
"It's a spaceship," said Ron. "I mean, it's a spaceship."
"It looks like a piece of junk," said Harry.
"That's because it is," said Ron. "But it has a lot of buttons. So we figured maybe it does something."
"Like what?" said Harry.
"I'm sure we'll figure it out," said Ron.
They continued down the corridor, passing the portraits of famous wizards.
"Do you think we should talk to Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said.
"Maybe," said Harry. "If we can find him."
Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a tall, thin wizard with a bald head and bright blue eyes. He had a habit of disappearing whenever he wanted to take an evening stroll.
"Professor Dumbledore will be in the library," said Hermione. "He likes to read books."
Harry nodded. He liked reading too.
They followed the stone staircase to the third floor and walked along a hallway lined with portraits of wizards.
"Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing to one portrait.
"Ernie Macmillan," said Hermione. "He was the youngest ever Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Harry peered at the painting. It showed a young wizard wearing a long robe. His face was hidden behind a pair of round spectacles.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Harry asked.
"No," said Hermione. "It's just that Ernie was the youngest ever Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He only taught for one year before he died of a mysterious illness. He was only twenty-seven years old."
Harry didn't say anything.
"His parents were killed by Death Eaters," Hermione explained. "So he became an orphan."
"Yes," said Harry.
"Did you know Ernie?" she asked Ron.
"Yeah," said Ron. "He was my friend. He had a twin brother, Bertie. They were both brilliant at magic. I remember once they levitated a whole load of apples above the Gryffindor table. It was amazing. But they got expelled from Hogwarts after they tried to kill a Muggle. Ernie was sickly anyway. He had to have special potions brewed for him every day. Anyway, he died. He had a disease called Lupus. It's really rare. It attacks your joints and makes them swell up. I think Ernie was allergic to something. He always had a rash on his hands and knees."
"Lupus?" said Hermione. "What kind of disease is that?"
Ron shrugged. "I don't know much about it. All I know is that he was the youngest ever Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and he had a twin brother who was a great wizard. And now they're both dead. It's horrible. Imagine being the youngest ever Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and then dying of a stupid disease."
"How sad," said Hermione.
"It's not funny," said Ron.
"Of course it isn't," said Harry.
They reached the end of the hall and turned into another corridor.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked.
"To the library," said Hermione.
The library was located in the center of the castle, near the Great Hall.
The library was huge, with hundreds of shelves filled with books.
The walls were covered in paintings of wizards and witches.
The ceiling was painted with constellations.
The library was quiet. Only a few students were studying.
Harry and Hermione sat on a bench in front of the fireplace.
They opened a book titled How to Operate a Spaceship and began to read.
Harry's wand was resting against his knee.
"This is boring," he said.
"Don't worry, Harry," said Hermione. "We'll figure it out."
Harry glanced at her. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning over the pages of the manual. Her hair was tied back and she wore a sweater that was far too big for her.
She was concentrating hard.
"You know, I think we should try to fly the spaceship first," said Harry. "Just to see if it works."
"What?" Hermione looked up. "Why? What's wrong with that idea?"
Harry pointed to the manual.
"Look," he said. "It says here that we need two wizards who can cast spells together."
"But why do we need two wizards?" she asked. "Couldn't we just use one?"
"Because it needs two wizards," said Harry. "Two wizards working together. Two wizards who can work together. That's what it says."
"Well, we haven't seen any other wizards around," said Hermione. "Have you?"
"No," said Harry.
"Then let's just try it," she said. "Let's just try it and see what happens."
Harry sighed. He pulled his wand from his pocket and held it in his hand.
"Right," he said.
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
He imagined himself flying a spaceship.
He pictured the controls and the levers and the dials.
He thought about how to move forward and backward and turn left and right.
He was ready.
He opened his eyes.
He was standing in front of the spaceship.
He lifted his wand and pointed it at the control panel.
"Expelliarmus!"
The spaceship shuddered slightly as a bolt of green light shot from the tip of Harry's wand and struck the panel.
"Ouch!" he said.
The spaceship rocked violently.
Harry and Hermione jumped to their feet.
The ship was rocking from side to side.
Harry grabbed hold of one of the levers and tried to pull it back.
It didn't budge.
"I think it's stuck," he said.
He pulled harder.
Nothing happened.
"It's stuck!" Harry cried.
"What should we do?" Hermione shouted.
They stood there, staring at the spaceship.
"I don't know what to do," said Harry.
He looked around. There was nobody nearby.
"Should we go and ask Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione suggested.
"He'll tell us to go away," said Harry.
"Well, what else can we do?"
They stood there, staring at the spaceship.
Harry glanced at his watch.
"I suppose we should go back to our room and study," he said.
They walked down the corridor, past the portraits of famous wizards.
"Do you think we should go and tell Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head.
"No," he said. "We'll figure it out."