When I think the story is solid enough, making a fanfiction of it seems more like a waste of time. Because I believe that fanfictions are frustrations about works that have problems of some kind and are still attractive for some reason. So fanfictions for some authors are attempts to do better and an opportunity to practise creative writing. That's why I think that making a fanfiction of The Godfather or The Lord of the Rings is a disrespectful act precisely because of the excellence of those works.
For the same reason, I understand why there are so many fanfictions of shows like Power Rangers, or Star Wars or even Glee, as has become my speciality. Because even with some fascinating universe-building, even with captivating characters, there are too many holes, too many flaws and too little sense in the original stories. So it becomes a challenge to try do better.
Does this mean that I think the Harry Potter literary series is flawed or weak enough to make a fanfiction about it? Not at all. I'm a fan of J K Rolling's writing. I think she's the best author of works for young-adult audiences sinc Tolkien. In fact, Tolkien was one of Rolling's main references. That's why I would never touch the Harry Potter's main timeline. But then came that theatrical fanfic called The Cursed Child, and the Harry Potter film prequels. The first is simply an inferior material based on the original universe. And the second shows that although the Harry Potter universe has plenty of room for expansion, Rolling is not a screenwriter.
It was these extensions that motivated me to do the fanfic based on the Harry Potter universe. I did it with the characters from the Glee universe simply because I feel comfortable working with their personas. Well, since J K Rolling herself has given this indirect permission by authorising works that are not as good to what she has produced... why not? It would be an opportunity to at least try to do something interesting using this universe.
The fic was developed using the same logic as Rolling built HP: growing the characters according to their age and the year of school they were in. The premise is the same as the original, but the effort was made not to repeat it. That was the big challenge. The original wonder trio had to be there to mentor the next generation. And the main characters developed had to take their own course. Santana differs from Harry Potter a lot. She was a bully at first, obviously a powerful witch, but is completely detached from power issues. Santana's antagonist, Sam Evans, has the opposite story, being an underdog with dreams of greatness and jealous persona.
Lily Potter was always planned to be Santana Lopez's romantic partner. Her end game. But it was also necessary to add a point of tension between Santana and Samuel. Quinn was that point of tension, but not as a love triangle way.
Rachel was the main point of connection with the premise of Glee, making the crossover happen. I also needed to create some secondary characters to add volume and fill in gaps. Adila Amondi was my favourite original character.
Santana was potentially powerful, but she had to work hard from the start. The same happened with Samuel: he had a tutor who helped him develop his power. In fact, Zabini represents those tutors who parasitise their pupils and try to insert their ideology into them. In this way, Samuel wasn't a villain who was born bad, but a guy who was groomed in life to be in a certain position. Samuel had no ideas of his own: he repeated the ideological commands of his mentors. I tried to show that manipulation was also present in the other side. Santana was manipulated into playing a certain role too. The difference was that Samuel had nothing more than this role imposed on him, whereas Santana had a family, friends and her own goals. The prophecy became an end for Samuel, while for Santana it was an obstacle. It was something she had to fulfil in order to finally move on with her life.
I was very concerned with Finn Hudson in this fic. I have an absurd dislike of this character in the original series, so it was an effort to work with him here so that he was a clueless asshole, but one who changed. Finn was a character who, like Sam, aspired to greatness, but unlike Sam, he had an ethical sense. I hope that in this way Finn has become a character who grows on the reader's heart.
I hope you enjoyed the fic. Leave your thoughts.