Fanfiction Example

[Annette Varghese]

Find a short fan fiction (or just a portion of a longer one) and talk about what it changes about the source text.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11577120/1/Harry-Runs-Into-An-Old-Muggle-Classmate

This fanfiction described a day when Harry, Hermoine, Ron, and Ginny went to a pub in Muggle London and ran into one of Harry’s old muggle friend from before Hogwarts. It was an interesting story because nothing much is told about his life before Hogwarts besides the Dursleys. The story changes the source text because Harry’s muggle friends have never been discussed and there is not much known about their life after the war. They make various references to the first book, but also introduce a new character Katrina and her wizard husband. This is an example of how the fanfiction author does make use of the “death of the author” convention because they make assumptions about what Harry Potter’s life was like before the Sorcerer’s Stone.

[Grant Glass]

Hi Annette,

Thank you for the interesting example! Do you think this fanfiction is saying anything about the source text? Or do you think this is just fleshing out the narrative a little more?

[Author]

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