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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.
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.
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.
“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.
(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
Ok, so this list was born after I read the beautiful fic called The Devil’s White Knight. It’s about Harry traveling to an alternative universe where Voldemort was killed in his youth, where his parents are alive and his whole life played out differently. He still has his memories though, and a whole lot of trauma, so he goes through a journey of getting to know a family that loves him unconditionally while struggling with everything else.
I was obsessed to say the least. I started looking for similar fics that gave me the same feelings and that explored Harry’s trauma and power as the key to Voldemort’s defeat, and how he fit into his new life. Thse are some I enjoyed a lot.
- [ ] Devils White Knight: 65k, complete: Please give it a try. https://archiveofourown.org/works/6854605/chapters/15646567
- [ ] To make it better: 175k, incomplete: It’s Drarry, Wolfstar and Jegulus. How beautiful is that? It explores Harry’s mental health and his alcohol addiction post war. Honestly breathtaking. https://archiveofourown.org/works/39312627/chapters/98377947
- [ ] In Another Life (I would make you stay): The Potters are from Pakistan. Harry’s alter ego stays in his mind like an annoying Jiminy Cricket. He has a little brother. 112k, complete: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903207/chapters/47142952
- [ ] Across the Universe: 3k one shot told from James’ point of view. It’s a shame its not longer, this one hits all those sweet spots for me. https://m.fanfiction.net/s/4180686/1/Across-the-Universe
- [ ] To be Human: 80k, incomplete: In the middle of Bill and Fleur’s wedding Harry is called into another dimension by suspicious forces. https://archiveofourown.org/works/47583439/chapters/119924326
- [ ] Potter by any other name: 85k, complete: After the war Auror Harry gets in the middle of an attack on Diagon Alley and suddenly appears in front of Auror Mad-Eye Moody and Auror James Potter. He lies about his name and decides to help them. The family feels were strong on this one. https://archiveofourown.org/works/39836340/chapters/99738360
- [ ] The Incalculable Power: 76k, incomplete: So so so SO good, Draco and Harry travel back in time to the Marauder’s time in Hogwarts. They are intrigued by the new transfer students. https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632333/chapters/70181604
- [ ] Stunning Shifts: 106k, incomplete: During a publicity stunt, Harry and five others are sent to another world where a well timed Stupefy made all the difference. As Harry looks for his peers and a way home, another Harry investigates the odd arrival of his doppelganger. https://archiveofourown.org/works/552828/chapters/985108
- [ ] You’re somebody else: 54k, incomplete: Harry escapes Malfoy Manor and appears in the middle of the Potter’s home. He is freaked out to say the least. https://archiveofourown.org/works/36528937/chapters/91094224
Let me know if you’re intersted in more recommendations! I’ve been reading a few similar fics.
Soooo, for the Tomarry girlies, hope this reaches you. Here are some recommendations of the pair. You should know that all of these have something in common though, aside from being my favorites. These are TOMARRY fanfictions, meaning Harry x Tom Riddle, not Harry x Voldemort. (So, most of them time travel)
I feel more comfortable with this ship, and I’ve found that it tends to be less toxic, (though not always). Another important thing about them is that most put both Harry and Tom in equal footing, meaning: no abuse or manipulation (tho Tom certainly tries), or just any funny business.
If there is anything I love about these fics is how Harry confronts Tom, questioning his beliefs and social standing by just being good ole Harry. Sassy, magically powerful and impulsive Harry. So yeah, enjoy!
- [ ] Wear Me Like a Locket Around My Throat: Technically incomplete, but it’s basically a second part. The main arch wraps up very nicely, so I’d count it as complete. The secondary characters are amazing, I fell in love with all of them. I don’t why, but Hogwarts feels pretty nostalgic in this one. 220k https://archiveofourown.org/works/7189349/chapters/16316573
- [ ] Terrible, but Great: Incomplete, still updating. The author has already written most of the second Arch. Tom reaaaallyyy wants Harry to submit and follow the Slytherin hierarchy. Harry won’t. They have the most epic confrontations. 173k https://archiveofourown.org/works/35714410/chapters/89052469
- [ ] Of Kings, of Pawns, and of Men: Incomplete: This one is addictive, I’m telling ya. I couldn’t stop reading. Not time travel per se, but still amazing. A tiny bit of Drarry. Harry befriends the Slytherins (Blaise, Pansy, etc) Tom is OBSESSED with Harry, like absolutely crazy about him. 146k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8323864/chapters/19063957
- [ ] you belong to me (i belong to you): Incomplete: Auror absolute boss bitch Harry. He reincarnates in another boy. Sort of? He catches everyone’s attention (Tom’s) when he starts acting differently (confident, powerful, won’t take shit from anyone) than he did before. 112k https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270490/chapters/25203408
- [ ] Earning his notice: Complete: This one is very short, but I feel like it sums up all my favorite tropes. Definitely give it a try. So my boy travels back to Hogwarts, is sorted into Hufflepuff, manages to fly under the radar during his school years and starts working on a shady business on Knockturn Alley. Everything is fine until his shop is attacked by Death Eaters, and ✨surprise✨he earns Tom’s attention. 40k https://archiveofourown.org/series/1174940
- [ ] At the end of every road: Complete: Crack treated seriously. Fluff, sassy Harry. Tom courts Harry, they get engaged. Sort of. Harry becomes a professional Quidditch player. 90k https://archiveofourown.org/works/46642903/chapters/117465823
- [ ] What Souls are Made of: Complete: My two fav things: Golden Trio friendship + Tomarry (Ron and Hermione travel back in time with him) 277k https://archiveofourown.org/works/35109247/chapters/87462256
- [ ] Stab right through: Incomplete: Snarky Harry, I love him. He gets sorted in Ravenclaw (Harry is equally confused) Tom is intrigued. 80k https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051324/chapters/27288978
more recommendations here: Part ll