Harry Potter Fic Writing Tips #1
Okay so, I’m currently rewriting the entire Harry Potter series with one of my friends so it’s less fucked up because we both feel we can improve the series further in a creative direction that we would love to see portrayed on film.
One of the major things I’m changing in the series is the way they use and perform magic. That entails making spells, curses, and charms to be more versatile and creatively used in the series.
Now, this can greatly apply to fanfics and stories that you create within the Wizarding World as well.
I’ll give you an example of what I mean:
Example:
In Deathly Hallows we see this battle scene happen during what I like to call, ‘The Flight of the Seven Potters’:
“I’m comin’, Harry!” Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, “Impedimenta!”
The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest: For a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One of his fellows almost collided with him —
There’s nothing wrong with this sequence at all! In fact, it demonstrates the usage of a spell in combat quite effectively. However, what if we make the spellcasting a little bit more... creative?
“I’m comin’, Harry!” Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again. He crouched as low as he could, glimpsing a trio of cloaked Death Eaters. An idea popped into his head as quickly as another flash of green light whizzed past him.
He pointed his wand at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, “Duro!”
The spell hit the middle Death Eater’s broom, and it instantly hardened into heavy stone. The man yelped in surprise as he plummeted towards the ground, still holding on to his stone broomstick.
“Carpe Retractum!” Harry bellowed. The spell hit it’s mark, seizing the broom of another hooded figure. He drew his wand backwards, and the broom—with the Death Eater still on it—was pulled forwards, colliding into his comrade.
In my opinion, this feels like a much better battle sequence than the previous one and shows the depth of Harry’s proficiency with magic. Toying with the idea that magic is a versatile tool, and that spells nontraditionally used for combat can be used as such.
This can be used in a variety of situations. For example, using the spell Aqua Eructo to blast someone’s face with water as opposed to putting out fires with it. Using Alarte Ascendere to propel your opponent up high (We know this works on living things because Lockhart used it on a snake). Using Epoximise to stick a target to one location, and then using Everte Statum to throw them back but since their feet are magically stuck and it’s applying the amount of force to throw someone back it would maybe dislocate their joints (?). Using Wingardium Leviosa to levitate an object in front of you to block Avada Kedavra as a makeshift shield as shield charms don’t work against it.
This is all hypothetical anyway, but you can see that just by using other spells that aren’t Stupefy or Expelliarmus, you can make your combat sequences more interesting.
Hope I helped you!