My Second Tomarry Big Bang Submission

surviving

Harry Potter is Really Magically Powerful

So, in continuation to this post, and my desire to show some love to Harry James Potter, this post is dedicated to showing how magically powerful Harry actually is in the books — which is insanely powerful. Harry doesn't think of himself as a great wizard, but he is — definitely powerful enough to be Voldemort's equal (and Dumbledore's for that matter).

Under the cut are some quotes from the books that prove this.

Accidental Magic

Let's start with Harry's childhood accidental magic. Tom was considered prodigious for being able to steal things with magic and make animals obey him intentionally. Neville, as a late bloomer, bounced when thrown, which is the bare minimum of childhood accidental magic young witches and wizards should be doing.

Now he came to think about it…every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry…chased by Dudley’s gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach…dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he’d managed to make it grow back…and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn’t he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn’t he set a boa constrictor on him?

(Philosopher's Stone, page 44)

Harry has:

Apparated out of Dudley's reach when in danger to get away - advanced magic only allowed to practice from the age of 16!

Growing back all his hair from not liking the bad haircut.

Disappearing the glass of the Boa Constrictor case and leashing it

not even when he’d had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he’d somehow turned his teacher’s wig blue.

(Philosopher's Stone, page 84)

4. Turning his teacher's hair blue.

We see Harry is capable of aparation, transfiguration, and various charms at a level that is considered prodigious. Harry was incredibly advanced as a child according to his feats of magic before even knowing magic was real. And while he wasn't as intentional as Tom, he was aware enough to know odd things happened when he was "furious or upset" that the odd things responded to him.

Intuitive Casting

I wrote later in this post about this, but I do want to write a whole essay about how magic works in the Wizarding world, but like, really in short, emotion and intention matter in magic. A lot.

And we see Harry make use of this fact to great effect. Using spells with intention to change the way they behave and they work for him because of how magically prodigious he is.

Harry raised his own wand. “Protego!” Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from Harry — and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his — a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner. . . . A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies. . . . A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick — “ENOUGH!” Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the chest; he took several staggering steps backward, hit some of the shelves covering Snape’s walls and heard something crack. Snape was shaking slightly, very white in the face.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 591)

This is from the last of Harry's and Snape's Occlumancy lessons. What's interesting here is that from Snape's words, it seems the protego spell isn't supposed to work like that. Harry is magically powerful enough to make protego (shield charm) to defend him from Legilamancy, turn the Legilamancy onto Snape and disarm Snape.

No wonder Snape is shocked, it really isn't supposed to work. Unless you're Harry Potter, that is.

He did say in their first lesson the rules of magic don't seem to apply to Harry.

“Reparo!” hissed Snape, and the jar sealed itself once more. “Well, Potter . . . that was certainly an improvement. . . .” Panting slightly, Snape straightened the Pensieve in which he had again stored some of his thoughts before starting the lesson, almost as though checking that they were still there. “I don’t remember telling you to use a Shield Charm . . . but there is no doubt that it was effective. . . .”

(Order of the Phoenix, page 591)

What I marked here is the fact in all their occlumancy lessons, even the first, Snape always placed a few memories in the pensive. He chose memories he didn't want Harry to see and place them there.

Okay... so why is that a big deal?

Snape repeatedly belittles Harry's magical skills, and yet, he fears Harry would turn the Legilemancy connection back on him. Legilemancy as Snape explained is no easy skill:

“Only Muggles talk of ‘mind reading.’ The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter . . . or at least, most minds are. . . .” He smirked. “It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly...”

(Order of the Phoenix, pages 350-351)

As such, he doesn't expect Harry to be capable of it. But that’s a lie. He clearly thinks Harry is skilled enough to be a threat in this situation. That Harry just might be able to turn this around and glimpse his own memories, which is no easy feat.

And Snape is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. If he thinks Harry is uniquely magically prodigious to be capable of this, then Harry probably is. Especially considering how much Snape hates Harry and how much he'd rather think he's stupid, useless, and unskilled.

“SHE KILLED SIRIUS!” bellowed Harry. “SHE KILLED HIM — I’LL KILL HER!” And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches. People were shouting behind him but he did not care. The hem of Bellatrix’s robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming. . . . She aimed a curse over her shoulder. The tank rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within. The brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long, colored tentacles, but he shouted, “Wingardium Leviosa!” and they flew into the air away from him. Slipping and sliding he ran on toward the door.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 809)

Okay, so can we talk about this Levitation Charm? Please?

Like, get this, he uses Wingardium Leviosa, like a shield charm that sends multiple magical projectiles away from him. This isn't how this charm works, but it is if you're Harry Potter. (again, this is that intention use I mentioned)

The point is, that Harry is magically powerful enough to bend the way spells are meant to work to fit his will and situation.

And when Voldemort possesses him at the end of the fight in Order of the Phoenix:

He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature’s began. They were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape — And when the creature spoke, it used Harry’s mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move. . . . “Kill me now, Dumbledore. . . .” Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again. . . . “If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy. . . .” Let the pain stop, thought Harry. Let him kill us. . . . End it, Dumbledore. . . . Death is nothing compared to this. . . . And I’ll see Sirius again. . . . And as Harry’s heart filled with emotion, the creature’s coils loosened, the pain was gone, Harry was lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood. . . .

(Order of the Phoenix, page 816)

Harry kicks Voldemort out.

As I mentioned, I have a a whole theory I'm drafting about magical theory and how magic works in the Wizarding World, but emotion as Harry describes in this scene is part of it. Emotion drives childhood accidental magic. Emotion is required to cast the Patronus charm and any of the unforgivable. Because of how emotion is tied to magic in this world, this instance is Harry's magic kicking Voldemort in his full power out of his mind.

Which is an impressive feat of magic.

Advanced Charmwork

“Oh — yeah —” said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. “Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum —” Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. “Did you see that?” said Harry excitedly. “Something happened!”

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 238)

This is the first time Harry cast a Patronus Charm. On his very first try of this complex charm, most adult wizards fail at — he succeeds. It isn't a perfect casting. His happy memory isn't happy enough, but the problem isn't Harry's skill.

The fact he succeeded in casting it at all with how crap his life has been up to this point is a testament to his magical talent.

Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed “Crucio!” Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had — she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 810)

Harry, at age fifteen, casts the Cruciatus Curse for the first time. An advanced piece of dark magic that is tricky to cast. Sure, it wasn't the best cast Crucio, but it did work.

It did land.

It worked enough for Bellatrix to stop laughing and start taking Harry seriously.

Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the first time in his life, “Imperio!” A curious sensation shot down Harry’s arm, a feeling of tingling, warmth that seemed to flow from his mind, down the sinews and veins connecting him to the wand and the curse it had just cast.

(Deathly Hollows, page 452)

Like with the Cruciatus Curse, Harry succeeds in the Imperius curse on his first try (and the second try that happens immediately after). In general, Harry learns to cast most spells (even the advanced ones) incredibly quickly — like, on his first try. That's insane!

As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, “Crucio!” The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. “I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.”

(Deathly Hollows, page 502)

And he gets better over time, both with the Cruciatus Curse, as we see here and his fully corporeal Patronus which is considered an unbelievable feat for a fifteen-year-old:

“Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapor or smoke?” “Yes,” said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly desperate, “it’s a stag, it’s always a stag.” “Always?” boomed Madam Bones. “You have produced a Patronus before now?” “Yes,” said Harry, “I’ve been doing it for over a year —” “And you are fifteen years old?” “Yes, and —” “You learned this at school?” “Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the —” “Impressive,” said Madam Bones, staring down at him, “a true Patronus at that age . . . very impressive indeed.”

(Order of the Phoenix, page 141)

I agree Madam Bones, Harry is impressive and is Voldemort's equal magically. Harry isn't just Expelliarmos. he's clever and talented and very magically capable with every spell he tries his hand in.

Exploring Harry’s trauma

Ginny suddenly twirled around to face Gracie, waving her arms around. “You saw that guy didn’t you? The one that came with me?”

Gracie nodded slowly, afraid of angering her any further.

“He is handsome isn’t he? I saw you looking at him.”

She flushed, not meeting Dudley’s eyes over Ginny’s shoulder.

“He doesn’t look like he’d be scared of many things don’t you think? He’s a, what? Policer? Police man? Is that how you say it?” She ran a hand through her hair, messing up her ponytail.

“He’s seen a lot of scary shit, believe me, stuff that would give anyone on their right mind nightmares for days.”

Ginny turned around towards Dudley again, clenching her fists. “Yet you know he gets panic attacks when he’s in cramped places? The strongest man I know, and he can’t stand to be in dark small rooms for more than a few minutes”

Dudley flinched again, and Gracie felt bile climb to her throat. Jesus Christ, what on Earth was happening?

“You know that man? The man that is so nonchalant about his own well being that he’ll spend a whole day without eating if no one reminds him?”

Gracie saw guilt flash in Dudley’s eyes, and she knew Ginny saw it too. She was praying on him like a cat prays on his food.

“Oh, but you know why already don’t you? You know the reason his eating habits were so fucked up as a child they carried onto his adulthood. The guy that is so terrified-”

Her voice cracked, and she took on a deep breath before continuing.

“So terrified of being a father given he never received love as a child. Terrified that when the time comes he won’t know how to give it back. The guy that still has a scar on his sternum from when you and your friends pushed him down the school stairs.” Ginny’s voice was a poisonous hiss, getting Dudley to turn a shade paler with every word.

She stopped right in front of him, breathing harshly. She took something out of her pocket, a piece of paper maybe, and slammed it against his chest.

You could hear a pin drop. Gracie thought with a touch of hysteria on Petunia’s red face when Dudley snapped at her. If she carefully stepped around Ginny to get inside and dry off would she notice? Would she kill her with all the righteous fury of an avenging angel?

After a couple of seconds of excruciating silence she spoke again, softer this time.

“That’s his address. I know you were a kid, and I know you shouldn’t carry your parents’ sins, but if you’re just a bit sorry for what your family did to him, you’ll get in touch, and you’ll apologize for everything.”

She backed away, clenching and unclenching her fists.

“It's the least you can do.”

Read the rest of the story on ao3

Tomarry recs Part II

(go here for part l)

So, these fanfics are not all time travel, but they still are Tomarry, meaning Tom Riddle x Harry. If you’re interested in the time travel trope go ahead and check those out, they’re all amazing and really well written. Some of these have a different dynamic, but they’re still pretty good. Enjoy!

- [ ] A Dangerous Game: Incomplete, 283k. The whole Chamber’s mess happens in Harry’s fith year (I think) and Diary’s Horrocrux realizes Harry is one too, so he kidnaps him. Hilarious, smutty and vulnerable Tom, really good. https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059681/chapters/29871909

- [ ] What He Grows to Be: Incomplete, 266k. So, Harry goes back in time to change the future and adopt Tom to hopefully influence positively on him. He does, kind of? Tom’s still a manipulative homicidal asshole, but he is obsessed with Harry so he is willing to make concessions. The whole adoptive father/son is not everyone’s cup of tea, but nothing happens while Tom’s a minor. (From what I remember sorry 😭) https://archiveofourown.org/works/19042240/chapters/45228508

- [ ] Death and the Devil Child: Incomplete, 93k. Sassy, powerful Harry and whipped Tom. The dynamic between them? The sexual tension? The way Harry completely wipes Tom’s ass from day one? He travels back in time as Master of Death with Death at his side cosplaying as a teenage girl. Really good, give it a try. https://archiveofourown.org/works/51578491/chapters/138645514?selected_id=130367584&commit=Go

- [ ] if we were lovers: Complete, 266k. Muggle au, dark academy, inspired on If We Were Villains. So completely different from anything I’ve read before, an amazing spin on the trope. https://archiveofourown.org/works/51875998

- [ ] Everything We Dream Can Be Real: Muggle au, dead dove, do not eat. Complete, 51k. Harry wakes up in a world with no magic where he doesn’t know his friends and goes batshit crazy. Serial killer Harry and detective Tom. (They’re both crazy honestly). Be aware of the tags. https://archiveofourown.org/works/33828601/chapters/84101440

- [ ] And the Living will Envy the Death: Incomplete, 80k. From the writer of What He Grow to Be. Time travel to Hogwarts 1942, they are both the same age. We need the author to update 🙏🏻 https://archiveofourown.org/works/43500502/chapters/109361971?view_adult=true

HINNY

(Meaning Harry and Ginny)

✨ 5k to 40k words

✨ 60k words and on

Helloooo! So I’m looking for a beta or just someone in general that’s interested in reading over some chapters and commenting ideas before I post them. For anyone in the Harry Potter fandom that reads this and feels interested, please write me a message! I’d really like to exchange some thoughts. Thank you!

no because harry and ginny during their little ministry balls and quidditch parties are so call it what you want coded

mr. harry james "i want to wear her initial on a chain 'round my neck" potter wearing his slim, silver necklace with a 'G' pendant thats placed outside of his robes

and

mrs. ginevra molly "my baby's fit like a daydream, walking with his head down, i'm the one he's walking to" potter who can't keep her eyes off of him for one second

More than 15k Ronarry

✨ A tangled mess / 16k / Ron remembers those days after the war, when he felt nauseous with grief.

When all he wanted was to hide from it, but it was everywhere. In George's blank, still shocked face. In his mother's hands, folding Fred's laundry carefully, to put it back in a drawer where it wouldn't be touched anymore. In his father's tears, hidden in the shed amongst the things he was forever tinkering with.

And then, there was Harry.

✨ Prelude and Fugue / 16k / It took over an hour, from the time Harry arrived at work, for him to realise just how different today actually was.

✨Somnia / 17k / From the time they're eleven years old, Ron is always there to help him find his peace in those dark and lonely hours of the night. Turns out, Harry has helped Ron find his too.

✨ Four Gallons of Oblivious / 17k / Ron is head over heels in love with his best mate, but it's going to take more than a horrendous orange sofa, painted pornography, and opening a shop together for him to let Harry know.

Written for the prompt: Best friends since day one, they decided to share a flat after the war. Can I ask for oblivious idiot(s) and mutual pining?

✨Strings Attached / 26k / It's not always easy to be secretly in love with your best mate, but Harry manages it well enough. At least, he does until a product gone wrong binds him to Ron's side for the foreseeable future.

✨sea green, see blue / 30k / Harry looks at him-nothing more, nothing less, just looks, for a moment, features unreadable yet distinctly soft, like he's laying eyes on something worth cherishing. The kicker, really, is that Ron can recognize the look already; Harry's looked at him like this before, many times, really, at breakfast or in class or at Hagrid's, the Burrow, Hogsmeade-it's how he looks at Ron, most of the time. Yet Ron isn't sure he's ever seen it quite this close, close enough to really take in the depth of it and the way it's like Harry's green eyes fill to the brim with affection. No one-and Ron means no one, not his mother, his father, his siblings, nobody-has ever looked at him like this before.

Only Harry has. And Ron's only just now realizing it.

✨Wish Fullfilment / 57k / A canon retelling of the original series from Ron's POV, but with a twist - every witch or wizard has a soulmark that reflects their soulmate's deepest desire.

Ron gets his at just five years old, but the words aren't what anyone expects.

15 fics with Militant Harry

I don’t know you guys but I’m equally soft for recluse!Harry and for militant!Harry. Maybe because I’m a sucker for political fics? Truth is, seeing Harry get involved can be so thrilling and inspiring. He doesn’t need to be attached to the Ministry to care about people - I love it when he’s doing the good deed behind the scenes, dismantling corruption while on the run, funding charities or unapologetically using his fame and voice to leverage better policies for those who are marginalized. That’s such a beautiful and powerful Harry trope imo, and the best thing is that in many of the fics I highlight below, Draco either seduces him into joining the revolution, or is there to inspire and help him along the way. Talk about a power couple! I hope you all enjoy these as much as I did ♥️

A Little Death Never Hurt Anyone by @tackytigerfic (E, 4k)

Harry's getting good at slipping through the Veil. He's determined to win the war, even if means he has to raise the dead to do it. Draco just wants a stiff drink and a good night's sleep.

And Save Me From Bloody Men by @blamebrampton (T, 10k)

Draco Malfoy once watched others fighting to stop the world falling apart. This time, he's not just watching.

Two Zinnias and the Scent of Lemon by @the-starryknight (M, 16k)

The Ministry didn’t turn bad overnight. Harry didn’t suddenly turn rogue either. Between covert Legilimency links and Polyjuice disguises and running and running and running, Draco has forgotten what it is like to have a safe harbor that isn’t a person. If there’s an art to fighting back, then they’ll find it hand in hand.

Vortex by @xanthippe74 (T, 20k)

Ten years after that conversation, the idea of perfectly-matched soulmates feels more like a curse than a blessing to Draco. Who would want a soulmate who was a schoolyard bully, a Death Eater, and a convicted felon? Certainly not Harry Potter. And Draco is determined to take this secret to the grave.

Unfinished Business by cupiscent (E, 20k)

Ten years after the War ends, Harry and Draco still haven't got their act together. But maybe it's not too late.

Doing the Lambeth Walk by @blamebrampton (T, 26k)

There are only three traditional choices for the cashed-up hero after victory. Harry Potter is too young to settle down and provide the wizarding world with a happy ending, and has too acute a sense of humour to spiral downwards into a spectacular flame-out. That leaves a life of good works. Choosing to lead it in Muggle Brixton comes with its own set of challenges, including Malfoys in the biscuit aisle.

The Nobility of Ascent by Lomonaaeren (E, 27k)

Not even his own fame and power are enough to get the Wizengamot to pass laws protecting Muggleborn and orphaned children, so Harry swallows his pride and goes to Draco Malfoy, who can teach him how to convince the prejudiced old bastards to listen to him. And Malfoy hasn’t even named a price. Which…concerns Harry, but he’s found a cause worth living for. And maybe someone, too.

Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho) by @writcraft (E, 65k)

Draco is lonely, Harry hates the press and it won’t stop raining in London. Harry discovers a magical street that’s close to disappearing forever and Draco realises he’s one rainy night in Soho away from finding everything he’s been searching for.

A Young Radical's Guide to Love by @blamebrampton (T, 66k)

Memories of the war are still fresh, which is all the excuse Decent People need to do appalling things. In this quietly waged conflict, Draco Malfoy is happy to be on the right side of things for once, and even happier to find he’s not alone.

Dear Enemy by GingerTodgers (T, 69k)

An anonymous benefactor makes a generous donation to Harry Potter's School for Squibs in exchange for a weekly letter from the Boy Who Lived. What begins as a chore soon becomes the only outlet Harry has to talk about the war, love, life, hope, redemption, his renewed obsession with a certain blonde nemesis and how he really, honestly, believes that this will be the year Puddlemere United reclaim the Quidditch League Cup.

Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love by @aibidil (E, 80k)

In which a group of wizards' rights activists goes on the offensive after a prohibition against love potions, forcing the magical world to confront the horror of magic's role in sexual assault and the murky legal nature of consent. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco are swept together to solve the case, and in the process they're made to confront their own love and lust—with and without potions.

Super Rich Kids by @thusspoketrish (E, 81k)

Draco Malfoy has become disillusioned by the glitz and glamour of the scandalous lives of the Post-Second Wizarding War Pureblood Elite. Enter: one existential crisis, one group of thieving cynical friends, and several terrible, terrible decisions.

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them (or Draco Malfoy's Guide to Stop Dying and Start Living Instead) by nerakrose (T, 96k)

Malfoy is way too interested in coroner reports for somebody who's definitely not looking for ways to die, Harry wants to be friends with him, and Ginny wants to break up with Harry.

Who we are in the shadows by @quicksilvermaid (E, 100k)

What happens when you’re forced to become the very thing you despise? Ex-Auror Harry Potter, tossed out of the Ministry for something he had no control over, has been looking for a way back to his former life. When he comes across Draco Malfoy in the criminal underbelly of Wizarding London and in need of protection, Harry figures bringing him in to face the Ministry's justice is his ticket back to everything he's lost.

By the Grace by lettered (T, 140k)

Harry is an Auror instructor. Malfoy wants to be an Auror.