Review: Ambientem by Eshnoazot
Summary: Magic is an ecosystem, and the magical world has been culling magical people and creatures for generations. It has finally gone too far - and the collective consequences are finally being felt. When magic starts disappearing, crumbling quietly in post-war Britain, it causes a cascade effect across the wizarding world. Not a single magical child has been born in almost a decade.
Twenty-three-year-old Harry Potter discovers this when the wards of Diagon Alley literally come crashing down on top of him. So ends the life of the Boy-Who-Lived. Yet again, he returns to the station between life and death.
With a new chance in a new world, Harry - now eleven-year-old Harry Fleamont - is given a chance to figure out how to save his dying world. In a new world that seems much more perfect in every sense of the word, Harry is faced with a growing threat from a much more dangerous Voldemort, and the reality that jumping universes just makes vulnerable and poor wizards who just want to eat a regular meal and afford to buy a pair of Merlin-damned socks.
Dimensional Travel/ - Harry P., Draco M., Blaise Z., Theodore N. - 10/30 Chapters - Words: 109751 - Rated General
Read it on AO3
Status: WIP (last updated March 15, 2020)
Review: In the interest of full honesty - I approached this story with low expectations. I’d recently been finding myself starting all these alternate dimension stories only to be disappointed with where the plot went.
The characters are a big focus within the story - Eshnoazot’s Slytherin characters feel like the fanon!pureblood characters on crack. The children really don’t come across as 11 year olds, but they steal the show every time they talk so I can suspend my belief to believe they’re in line with their universe. There are definitely times when you can feel that the story focuses on its characters more than the plot - but I personally think the characters are interesting enough to make up for it.
More than its precocious characters, I loved how Ambientem immerses you with its unique take on the culture of the wizarding world. The story is extremely detailed, but the details of the world bring a sense of rich history to Harry’s new dimension.
The reader is always peeling back the layers of this new world along with Harry - and I think this sense of mystery is one of the story’s allures. I’m interested in following this story just because of all the things I’m itching to know - how does this world relate back to Harry’s old world?, What other changes will this world show?, and so many more.
Rating: 4 / 5
