Harry Potter: 20 Must-Read Fanfics

The best Harry Potter fanfiction is among some of the most prevalent on the internet, as the devoted followers of the world of Hogwarts have built on the Wizarding World lore in their own unique ways. The constant expansion of the Harry Potter universe — whether via new films like Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, games like Hogwarts Legacy, or the upcoming Max series — proves that audiences are far from done with the franchise.

However, another way fans have self-managed to stay connected with the beloved Wizarding World has been through Harry Potter fanfiction. From furthering canon storylines to imagining a future to re-writing favorite non-canonical ships, the best Harry Potter fanfiction further enriches the Wizarding World. Despite the reputation fanfiction can sometimes have, the world of Harry Potter has also attracted some incredibly capable authors, meaning the best Harry Potter fanfiction is an enjoyable high-quality read.

20 Something Wicked Comes This Way by Williamcipher

Harry’s Chance At A New Life Takes A Dark Turn

While many of the best Harry Potter fanfics focus on romance or Harry’s future, Something Wicked Comes This Way by Williamcipher offers a darker take on the titular Boy Who Lived. It also features one of the most intriguing alternate-universes and uses of time travel in Harry Potter fanfiction, and the uses of both tropes is incredibly justified and logical (rather than simply being a “what if” scenario).

In Something Wicked Comes This Way, the adult Harry has become jaded and apathetic by adulthood, with the psychological scars left by his struggles against Voldemort never truly healing. As such, when presented with a chance to live his life anew without the emotional damage from his status as the one to conquer the Dark Lord, Harry takes it. He finds himself in an alternate timeline living a peaceful life with Severus Snape as his guardian. However, it transpires that even here Harry cannot escape his past, as it seems his destiny is intertwined with that of Lord Voldemort no matter which dimension he grows up in.

19 Harry Potter AU Where Everything is the Same Except Harry is Gen Z by A_Hallucination & Cosprinkle

A Hilarious Fanfiction That Never Takes Itself Too Seriously

There are many completely serious, well-planned, and intricate Harry Potter fanfictions out there that are also quite funny. However, Harry Potter AU Where Everything is the Same Except Harry is Gen Z by A_Hallucination and Cosprinkle isn’t one of them, though this doesn’t stop it being a must-read Harry Potter fanfic for a specific type of reader. The title reveals everything that needs to be known about this particular Harry Potter alternate universe fanfiction, and it’s just as hilarious and tongue-in-cheek as the on-the-nose title suggests.

Harry Potter fanfic readers seeking a surreal break from the serious and detailed examples out there need look no further than Harry Potter AU Where Everything is the Same Except Harry is Gen Z. The story doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and this completely works in its favor. It’s laugh-out-loud funny throughout, and the simple premise works for the bombastic tale.

While it may not be to every reader’s tastes (especially those who want their fanfiction to spiritually feel in-keeping with J.K. Rowling’s original work), Harry Potter fans who want to see their favorite franchise hilariously parodied by giving the central character a completely different worldview thanks to being born a few decades later will find Harry Potter AU Where Everything is the Same Except Harry is Gen Z beyond enjoyable.

18 Evivative by Vichan

Harry Lives Life As A Slytherin

There are many examples among the best Harry Potter fanfictions that explore how Harry’s time at Hogwarts would have been different if he’d been sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. However, Evivative by Vichan (along with the sequel, Redivider) explore the idea in an incredibly unique way, and one that delves deeply into the philosophy of both houses and how this impacts Harry’s actions.

Rather than being an alternate universe that shows what would happen if Harry had always been a Slytherin, Evivative instead sees Harry resorted to the same house as Malfoy, Snape, and almost all the Death Eaters, during his sixth year at Hogwarts. What follows is a fascinating and incredibly dark tale where Harry truly pushes his own boundaries when it comes to how far he’ll go to achieve his goals, and sees him go to such lengths to defeat Voldemort that he has to question whether defeating the great evil in his life is leading him to become a monster himself.

17 Dark Heritage by Drops_of_Nightshade

Entering The Wizarding World Early Makes For A Very Different Harry Potter

Many of the best Harry Potter fanfics out there play around with Harry’s personal timeline. There are great stories where Harry Potter never grows up in the Muggle world with the Dursleys, as well as those that see him only learning about his heritage as a wizard when he’s well into adulthood. Dark Heritage by Drops_of_Nightshade follows a similar theme, but it’s the execution of this idea that makes it a must-read piece of Harry Potter fanfiction.

All in all, Dark Heritage doesn’t actually change the Harry Potter timeline all that much, as the only difference is that Harry leaves the world of Muggles at age 8 instead of age 11. However, these three years end up making all the difference, as Harry spending a few short years being adopted into the Black family before starting Hogwarts leads him to have completely different, and much darker, ambitions in life. Not only will this story by Drops_of_Nightshade appeal to those who enjoy alternate timeline fanfictions, it’s also one of the best that positions Harry as a potential villain instead of a hero.

16 SNAKES ARE VERY NICE by Oulixeus

A Strange Harry Potter Fanfic That Makes For A Surprisingly Good Read

Harry being a Parselmouth is an integral part of his backstory in Harry Potter. It’s one of his first clues about his magical heritage in Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Stone, and being able to speak Parseltongue is also key to his connection to Lord Voldemort. It’s also the inspiration behind one of the strangest, but surprisingly coherent, pieces of Harry Potter fanfics out there – SNAKES ARE VERY NICE by Oulixues. While the title may make this fan-written Harry Potter story seem flippant and not worth attention, fans shouldn’t be dissuaded.

SNAKES ARE VERY NICE is a surprisingly readable tale that explores how a young Harry might have reacted had he realized he could speak to snakes at a young age, without the background knowledge of Parseltongue and the wizarding world. Communicating with the limbless reptiles, combined with the psychological trauma at the hands of growing up with his abusive aunt and uncle, led Harry to believe that he himself was always meant to be a snake.

It’s a tale that mixes equal amounts of body horror as it does with humorous moments (especially when Uncle Vernon begins to document Harry’s strange behavior), and earns its place among the best Harry Potter fanfics for being a truly original take on Harry as a character and the circumstances of his childhood.

15 Harry Potter And The Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong

An Alternate Universe The Redefines The Relationship Between Harry And Aunt Petunia

Many of the most popular Harry Potter fanfictions take place in alternate universes that tweak certain aspects of the story, be it by altering single events or changing the premise entirely. One of the most intriguing of these comes from Harry Potter fanfic author Less Wrong, which redefines the world and character of Harry Potter by changing the backstory of a most unlikely character — Aunt Petunia. In the fanfiction Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Aunt Petunia didn’t marry Vernon Dursley but, instead, settled down with a biochemist named Professor Michael Verres-Evans.

This led to Harry having a completely different (and happier) upbringing than his life at Number 4 Privet Drive. By the time his Hogwarts letter arrives, Harry is a bright young boy who holds a deep fascination for all things scientific, which leads to some interesting results when he’s introduced to the borderline-nonsensical magic of the Wizarding World. It’s an incredibly unique piece of alternate universe Harry Potter fanfiction that shows even the simplest change to a relatively minor character can have far-reaching consequences.

14 The Aurors by FloreatCastellum

Harry’s Life As An Auror Is Incredibly Frustrating Thanks To An Inept Trainee

The Aurors by FloreatCastellum is a particularly brilliant Harry Potter fanfiction due to the fact it mixes some laugh-out-loud humor with a surprisingly deep and intricate plotline, as well as introduces some original characters who seem to fit in perfectly with J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. The story takes place several years after the Battle of Hogwarts and chronicles Harry’s career as an Auror. However, much to his chagrin, he finds himself paired with an incredibly inept trainee named Theia. Theia is an incredibly endearing character, and her relationship with an ever-frustrated Harry is guaranteed to put a smile an any fan of Harry Potter fanfic.

However, The Aurors also stands out due to its exploration of Harry and Ginny’s adult relationship, and that it also includes an incredibly well-handled mystery plotline that is all-but-guaranteed to keep readers sticking through until the end. Seeing an adult Harry dealing with the pressures of being overworked and a mentor to young Theia is definitely the core appeal of The Aurors, but it’s an all-round solid piece of fanfiction in every respect.

13 The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And Doe by SiriusUntilTheVeryEnd

A Deeper Exploration Of The Romance Of Lily And James Potter

There are many pieces of Harry Potter fanfiction that explore the life of the Marauders — Harry’s father James, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew — and their time at Hogwarts. The Harry Potter books and movies showed snippets of this period, but the fandom has expanded on it significantly, especially when it comes to how James Potter eventually won the heart of Harry’s mother, Lily. However, when it comes to fanfictions that explore this romance, few can top The Rise and Fall of the Stag and the Doe by SiriusUntiltheVeryEnd.

The Rise and Fall of the St ag and the Doe
has an immense amount of appeal not just to avid readers of
Harry Potter
fanfiction, but to fans of romance stories in general.

The Rise and Fall of the St ag and the Doe has an immense amount of appeal not just to avid readers of Harry Potter fanfiction, but to fans of romance stories in general. Author SiriusUntiltheVeryEnd does a fantastic job of weaving together a narrative of key moments in Lily and James’s relationship, including both the ups and downs. It’s especially noteworthy since the story doesn’t paint their romance as a love-at-first-sight situation, but instead one that develops over many years despite an initial animosity and even dislike of one-another.

12 Swung By Serafim by flamethrower

What If Gilderoy Lockhart Had Discovered The Chamber Of Secrets

Few Defense Against The Dark Arts teachers are as memorable for Harry Potter readers as the fraudulent Gilderoy Lockhart. The Professor in charge of teaching young Hogwarts students self-defense in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was, by all accounts, a liar and something of a buffoon. He met his comeuppance during a key moment when he attempted to cast Obliviate on Ron and Harry, although it backfired spectacularly — so spectacularly that the spell landed Lockhart in St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries due to implied brain-damage.

The Harry Potter fanfiction Swung By Serafim, from author flamethrower, answers a simple question — what if Lockhart had successfully cast Obliviate on Ron and Harry? This piece of alternate timeline fanfic completely changes the events of Harry Potter after the Chamber of Secrets. Lockhart takes credit for discovering the Chamber, and Harry and Ron find themselves with their memories completely wiped — all of which, of course, makes life far easier for Voldemort when he attempts to rise to power.

11 The First Day by little0bird

The Emotional Aftermath Of The Battle Of Hogwarts

The Battle of Hogwarts was the emotional climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and while it saw Harry finally triumphant over Voldemort, it also included the deaths of many characters. The fanfiction The First Day by little0bird is an incredibly, incredibly emotional one, as it explores the immediate impact and aftermath of this bittersweet victory. While the movies skip straight to the epilogue, and J.K. Rowling’s novels offer a little exposition, neither fully reveal how the survivors came to terms with their losses and started rebuilding the world Voldemort had all-but-destroyed during the Second Great Wizarding War.

The First Day dives into the first year following the defeat of Voldemort with unflinching emotional rawness, showing just how much of a toll the struggle had taken on those left standing. This fanfiction also explores the start of Harry and Ginny’s relationship in a post-Voldemort world too, meaning there’s plenty of touching romantic moments too.

10 Heal Thyself By astolat

A Story Of Redemption For Draco Malfoy

Although originally established as an arrogant, condescending, and dark rival, Draco Malfoy evolved to become one of the series’ most beloved characters. He could be very easy to hate at times, but there was also a sense of feeling sorry for him which inspired a following of fans who wanted to see him go down a better path. Draco is regularly the star of Harry Potter fanfiction too, with many stories focusing on redeeming his character and giving him a happier ending, such as Heal Thyself by astolat.

Villain redemption stories are always interesting, and this fanfic gives Draco more of a turn around than the movies and books did.

The story also focuses on a relationship between Draco and Harry which, despite them constantly being at odds in the books and movies, is a popular relationship in many corners of the Harry Potter fan community. Villain redemption stories are always interesting, and this fanfic gives Draco more of a turn around than the movies and books did.

9 Fate Is A Four-Letter Word By Philo

A Look At Harry Potter’s Life After The Official Story

While some Harry Potter fanfiction re-write current canon, others expand Rowling’s original plot by taking place in the future, as in Fate Is A Four Letter Word. The story chronicles a grown Harry’s failed attempt to live a normal life and the new adventures that await when danger returns. After seeing Harry’s victory at the end of the story, it is interesting to see that his life after defeating Voldemort was not perfect.

The ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 teased the adult lives of these beloved characters as they watched their children begin at Hogwarts. Imagining what else the future has in store for Harry is fun while also holding onto a hope that the story can continue in the official canon eventually. In the meantime, this offers a compelling idea of what that future could look like.

8 Blindness By AngelaStarCat

A Reimagining Of Harry As “The Boy Who Lived”

One of Harry’s best qualities was his willingness to persevere, despite whatever pain and loss he was going through. He constantly keeps trying against all odds, and that determination is built upon further in Blindness, which changes the outcomes of Voldemort’s attack on baby Harry. The outcome leaves Harry as a much more vulnerable hero than the ones fans know, but his heroic spirit remains.

AngelaStarCat’s tale is among the best Harry Potter fanfiction because it gets at the center of Harry as a hero and how, regardless of his powers, he has the heart and bravery to fight for what is right. While Harry could be frustrating at times in the canon stories, this is a reminder of why fans cheer for him and why he remains so beloved. Interestingly, the story was inspired by the author’s own experiences.

7 Seventh Horcrux By Emerald Ashes

A Comedic Look At Harry And Voldemort’s First Meeting

The best Harry Potter fanfictions are those that can be visited again and again. Seventh Horcrux, by Emerald Ashes, is one such piece of fanfic. The story takes a look at the first encounter between Voldemort and Harry which goes in an unexpected new direction. That first moment between Harry and Voldemort is a pivotal one for both of these characters, so it is not surprising that so many fans are interested in revisiting the moment and adding their own spin on it.

Although it’s given a seemingly darker premise, the fic is known to be a comedic and bewildering one. Harry and Voldemort are one of the most iconic hero and villain duos in pop culture history so it is a lot of fun playing with the idea of their relationship.

6 A Marauder’s Plan By CatsAreCool

A Sirius Black Solo Adventure

The Marauders inspired Harry Potter fanfic of their own despite being an aspect of the story that has ended long before Harry’s journey begins. Sirius is undeniably one of the most beloved Marauders, and his character arc has been re-written by many Harry Potter fanfiction authors who preferred to see Harry’s guardian, which didn’t have to end with his early death.

Sirius was always seen as the only real family that Harry knew in the story, and it is touching to see them get more time together.

He is one of the many supporting characters who would benefit from stepping into a more central role in his own story. A Marauder’s Plan by CatsAreCool depicts Sirius doing his best to give Harry a better, more loving home after the events of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Sirius was always seen as the only real family that Harry knew in the story, and it is touching to see them get more time together.

5 Lady of the Lake by Colubrina

A Romance Between Hermione And Draco

While Draco and Harry are one of the most popular couplings in Harry Potter fanfiction, many also like to imagine the possible relationship between Draco and Hermione. Their similar personalities and opposing views, along with Draco’s learned hatred for Hermione, give the two the perfect dynamic for an enemies-to-lovers trope, which fanfictions like Lady of the Lake by Colubrina optimizes.

It is another story that takes place after the events of the books and movies, showing what life is like for these two. While Draco is somewhat directionless, he finds purpose and love in following Hermione on her own mission. The story has a bit of a thriller element, but the main draw is this love story that blossoms, showing the ways in which these two seemingly incompatible people found each other.

4 The Serpentine Subterfuge by murkybluematter

An Alternate Reality Of The World Of Hogwarts

One of the best things about Harry Potter fanfiction is the many ways it breaks through the canon and creates entirely new universes with loved characters, taking the details fans know and using them to create exciting new realities from which new stories can rise. The Serpentine Subterfuge, by murkybluematter, does precisely that. The sequel to fanfiction The Pureblood Pretense focuses on an alternate version of the Wizarding World with a female character as its lead in the form of Harriet Potter.

The story follows her tribulations as she continues to pose as a pureblood boy. While it might sound like a gimmicky premise to reimagine the main character, Harriet Potter becomes her own full-fledged character with a story, purpose, and passions that are all her own.

3 The Last Enemy: The Howling Nights By CH_Darling

A Marauders Adventure With Some Beloved Characters

The Marauders are a popular topic for Harry Potter fiction, with many writers and it is not hard to see why. It is an exciting history of some of the universe’s key characters that is only teased in the books and movies. Many Harry Potter fan stories take to expanding on their teenage adventures and developing their most popular ships, like Sirius Black and Lupin.

The Last Enemy: The Howling Nights by CH_Darling depicts the Marauders, along with Lily and Snape, navigating through their lives amidst the brewing war. Seeing the character dynamics between the young versions of these characters play out is a lot of fun, giving insight into their future selves or expanding the characters fans barely got to know. It is another sign that the Harry Potter franchise demands a Marauders prequel at some point.

2 The Disappearances of Draco Malfoy By speechwriter

A Different Path For Draco Malfoy

While it is fascinating to see how fans create stories within areas of the Harry Potter timeline that were not seen in the books or movies, some of the best Harry Potter fanfic comes from a pivotal moment in the canon story being changed in a crucial way. Draco Malfoy was one of several Harry Potter characters that deserved a redemption arc, and The Disappearances of Draco Malfoy by speechwriter fulfills that by altering the canon events of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The story paints a world where Draco lowers his wand and joins Dumbledore and Harry’s side, rather than staying with the Death Eaters and doing the Dark Lord’s bidding. It is a triumphant moment for the character that is hard not to cheer for. It also features a prominent Hermione and Draco romance.

1 The Augurey By La-Matrona

A Fulfillment Of The Popular Harry-Hermione Ship

The Harry and Hermione ship, fondly referred to as Harmony, is another regular coupling in Harry Potter fanfiction for those who want to see their non-canon romance played out. Though Hermione and Ron were the ultimate endgame in the canon story and a couple that many fans love, there is still a significant portion of the fandom who would have preferred Harry and Hermione take on the friends-to-lovers arc.

The Augurey grants fans that slow-burn build-up between the two following Hermione and Ron ending their relationship, whilst also incorporating elements from Cursed Child in an exciting new way. However, the story is not just about giving into the fan demand for a Harry and Hermione romance, but rather it uses that hook to explore these characters and also give great moments to other characters in the Harry Potter universe.