All art courtesy of the amazing @arcturus-night-star <3
Welcome to WBWL week! If you know, you know, and if you don’t, you’re welcome to hang around or see yourself to the door!
Wrong Boy Who Lived Week is a week about this beloved, self-explanatory little trope - the Boy Who Lived / The Prophecy Child being incorrect!
Whether Harry is the BWL and no one knows, or he’s the Prophecy Child but the BWL is genuinely someone else, or maybe they think it’s Harry and it’s not; this week is all about secrets and subverting expectations!
If you want to read some cool stories in the trope, might I suggest a starter pack of Sarcasm & Slytherin by AnonymousMagpie, Yo Dawg by RelenaDuo, the Harrison Gaunt Series by Sandra_Taylor, A King of Sinners and a Queen of Saints by Purplemango and RyuukTheHatter, For The Greater Good Verse by lucky_katebishop, A Rose By Any Other Name (Will Still Prick Your Finger) by InTheShadows, Sybillance by Aspionage, Dumbledore’s great mistake by shineyma, and Carve a Smile Upon My Face by Satine_Ainsel? These are not all of them, not even all of the big names, but they are my favorites. There’s one missing because I can’t find it, just know they’re amazing.
The “basic tropes” included in a WBWL recipe are a Gryffindor Twin (who might be a prat), a Slytherin Harry, bad dumbldore, living-but-bad-parent-potters, and a family having trouble reconnecting. But! That’s not the only way to do it! There are THOUSANDS of ways to do it, whether following the recipe or making your own.
While many WBWL stories double as twin aus, there are some other fun examples, like Tony Stark - The Boy Who Was Not Attacked as a Child by WombatRat, Seven Months Away by Disorganizedkitten, Switched by PseudoLeigha, Sohpie Roper by Glacilumi, the kids who chose themselves by dirgewithoutmusic; the core of the Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived trope is that Voldemort’s Vanquisher is not who the world expects, and that leads to misconduct that may or may not doom the world. Sometimes Voldemort’s Defeat comes out of left field. Sometimes it’s avoided.
Always, it’s very interesting.
So, I've given you much ado, but let's get to the meat of it!
The event runs from July 25th-31st. We have seven prompts, for seven horcruxes, seven books, seven friends, and even seven chosen ones!
Decoy
Self-fulfilling
Reunion
Betrayal
Benevolent | Malevolent
(The road to Hell is paved with) Good Intentions
Conspiracy
What can you submit? Just about anything!
Art
Drabbles
Cosplay
Edits
New fics
Updates to existing fics
I know that most people hanging around already have an au or two running, and may not want to start something new- so don't! Give us little updates as part of the event, matching the prompts or not! Do an expansion pack of drabbles for your au, add chapters, make fanart! It can match a prompt or it can just be in the trope. We're here to celebrate it! To motivate everyone!
Have an au you haven't published yet but want to? Let's see it!
Maybe you DO want to start something entirely new! Do that too!
The only rules we really have here are A) use your own work, no plagiarism and no ai, but properly credited recursive is fine, B) tag appropriately, because I'll be reblogging with your tags attached, and C) tag the blog specifically, tumblr is a meanie sometimes and there's a chance not every post will show up in #wbwl week 2025. Tag with that too, though ;)
Hi! What do you think about Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived with Severitus? What if the wrong Potter is doted on by the parents and Severus is forced to take care of the spare child until they grow close, until Harry takes the name Harry Prince just to spite the Potters? What if out of sheer hate he joins Voldemort and his adoptive father helps? It's a whole thing I'm thinking about, totally not a wip, i swear... /lh
- @arcturus-night-star
OMG!!! While it’s not my favorite trope of all time, I do love a good wrong boy who lived with Severitus. I’ve read quite a few fics with a similar premise and always seem to enjoy them.
I especially love when Severus just goes along with Harry’s choices, sticking by him whether he decides to go dark, gray, or stay on the light side.
(Personally I have a preference for dark/gray Harry)
ESPECIALLY, when it’s a main point that Severus is loyal to ONLY Harry when it comes to his vows/love for Lily. It’s very interesting to see a character who has such a strict code for himself that doesn’t necessarily rely on morals but instead on their love for another person, it creates such complex situations within fics.
If you ever finish that WIP send it over!!! The Severitus fandom is always hungry for more (I am no exception please)
This is my HP side blog. Main @ravenite-void (likes come from there) and my AO3
the Arc art tag! I draw a lot, both shitty sketches and full paintings :)
Current WIPs:
Equals, now and forever, M, 70k Tomarrymort, time travel, Dark Harry
16/40 Last update: 26. 4. 2026
Time is a fickle thing.
Harry Potter slips through time almost 50 years into the past and has to deal with teenaged Tom Riddle, a very questionable business he started almost by an accident and the fact that he can only return back to his time by living through the years in between and not screwing up the timeline in the process.
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WBWL Week posting! (hosted by @wbwlweekofficial )
Series
1. Imitative 4/5, T, 4.7k
The fateful night on Halloween 1981 left Hadrian... different. In an order to protect him, the Potters decide to establish Aeron as the Boy-Who-Lived figurehead to both protect Harry and keep him out of the sight of the masses.
7.2. (as in a sequel to Day 7 of WBWL week)
Root Fire
M | 15.6 | 5/? | Harry & Sirius, Harry & Neville, Dark!Harry
Root Fire (n.)
A fire that spreads underground, burning quietly through the roots of trees and shrubbery, often at a high temperatures. It can be brought back to surface when the ground is aggravated or it collapses.
Harry Potter had been left at the doorstep of Privet Drive number 5 the day Voldemort fell.
He had been told his parents died, that no one else wanted him... Yet the day before his eleventh birthday, a man showed up on the doorstep claiming to be James Potter, his long dead father.
Harry hated them. From hate stems desire for revenge and right there is the start of the world shattering into pieces.
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Wip Tag Game master post (ask me about wips that haunt me)
Thought I might compile all of my fics in one place, so here they are! (ao3 username is aspionage)
completed:
A Patchwork Family(350k): In the summer before third year, Harry is sent to live with Snape and Draco until school starts again, and the three of them gradually begin to realise how wrong they are about each other. Lots of angst, Harry and Draco brotherly bonding and non-biological Severitus.
Whispers in the Castle(38k): Nine-year-old Harry Apparates himself to Hogwarts, and tries to hide in the castle to escape Little Whinging. Meanwhile, Severus attempts to put a name to a new, particularly tiny first-year. Fluffy with a little angst, and a fun Christmas-y undertone!
The Parent Trap(87k): Harry Evans, raised by single mother Lily Evans and her best friend Mary Macdonald, begins at Hogwarts and is shocked to meet his twin brother, Simon Potter. The two of them quickly begin plotting to get their parents back together, and switch places over the summer. Closely based off the movie.
Sybillance(457k): A Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived fic where Harry Potter is taken back from the Dursleys aged nine to live with his family. He has to learn to try and bond with his parents and siblings after growing up without them. Features parental Sirius Black, Slytherin Harry and lots of angsty family moments.
oneshots:
Evening, Prime Minister!(5.6k): Minister for Magic Hermione Granger tries to cope as she is forced to deal with Boris Johnson's incompetence during the pandemic.
have yourself a merry little christmas(9.1k): The marauders all gather in Godric's Hollow for Christmas, all with secrets they're trying to hide from each other. Entirely Christmas fluff. Wolfstar and Jily.
Harry Potter and the Duke of Edinburgh Award(11.9k): Harry and his Gryffindor yearmates go on DofE together, featuring all of the drama that brings.
wips:
The Rat Trap: Sequel to the Parent Trap. Peter Pettigrew escapes from Azkaban, and Harry and his family must cope with the fallout, including the revelation that Simon may not actually be the Boy-Who-Lived. Also features Seer Ron, and a Regulus Black who isn't as dead as some might think.
Chapters: 20/20
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage Sex
Relationships: Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Luna Lovegood/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/ Orignial Male Character, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter
Characters: Harry Potter, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Original Potter Family Characters (Harry Potter), Theodore Nott
Additional Tags: Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), Parental Severus Snape, Good Malfoy Family (Harry Potter), Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Tom Riddle is his own warning., James and Lily are bad parents, I'm Sorry, Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Ron Weasley Bashing, Hermione Granger Bashing, Dark Harry Potter, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, BAMF Harry Potter, Seer Luna Lovegood, Occlumency (Harry Potter), Harry Potter Has a Twin, Red-Haired Harry Potter
Series: Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Sounds of Hogwarts
Summary:
Freaks don't deserve to speak.
And being a freak is all Harry Potter knows.
Surprised by the reunion with family he had been told never wanted him and startled by the acceptance of magic in the wizarding world, Harry finds himself curious and in love with his new life. Everything is wonderful - well, as long as he ignores the ugly sneer on his twin's face, the disgust in his father's eyes, and the bearded man who has fucking twinkling eyes.
Instead, he focuses on the airy blonde-haired girl that makes him smile, the steel-eyed boy who defends him, and the clumsy plant lover who is probably the bravest person Harry has ever met. He also can't help but focus on the shadowy figure that seems to float behind his Defense professor and the stone of life singing to him from its hiding place in the castle.
I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. J.K. ROWLING DOES. I'm just having fun
Yo before I go back into hibernation for another sixteen thousand months, figured I'd send out feelers cause idk how often people check tags.
I'm going to run a WBWL week in July, 2025. From the 24th to the 31st.
I'm still figuring out prompts, haven't a clue as to what I'm doing for graphics, and don't know yet the likelihood of things being written/drawn specifically for the event versus pre-existing fics being updated during the event, etc. But it will be happening.
The WBWL tag on ao3 has 886 works as of 2/6/2025 so I figure there's enough going on, if the authors wandering that tag all chip in. Or half of them chip in. Or two of them chip in. Idk guys, I'm doing it whether or not people join in.
I think it'll be neat!
So! If this sounds fun! Check back in on July 1st, come listen to me ramble about organization in The Grimoire, send in asks for prospective prompts, ect. I don't expect it to be very big during the first year but if there's enough interest shown, making a month long event is not much more work than a week long event. Just for reference. And I like organizing things.
