ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be an update for The More Manly Journal of James Potter in late May to early June. This school year was horribly hectic and I'm sorry. A preview will come soon. May 14, 2009

My icon: I made it. So, no taking. The quote, however, you're free to use that.
My livejournal: The place I try and update often, but I'm not succeding. Oh, well. Homepage link brings you to it.
My C2: PM me if you are interested in being a staff member.
My forum: Click here to view the Deleted Scenes From Harry Potter forum.

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM A RANDOM MIND...

To those of you who illegally copied Midnight Sun and posted it over the internet causing Stephenie Meyer to quit writing it indefinitely: you bastards.

Stupid teachers say stupid things.

Name: opungo. I don't give out my real name on the internet, so I'm going by my penname.

Gender: Female

Where my penname came from: Actually, it was a big mistake because my memory is terrible. It was supposed to be oppugno (that's the spell Hermione used to attack Ron with the birds in HBP). So when I was creating my fanfiction account, I was wondering what I should make my penname and I decided to use a spell from Harry Potter. That spell came to mind but I didn't remember it right. Thus, the name "opungo" came in to existence.

Favorite Books: The Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, the Princess Diaries series...I'm sensing a pattern.

Favorite Fanfictions to write: Harry Potter. I like writing about the Marauders especially.

Favorite Fanfiction to read: I like Marauder era ones with plenty of Marauders (yes, I like humor, alot) and James and Lily (so cute)also like Baby Harry ones as well. They're a bit hard to come by so I'm always really happy to find one.

Fanfictions I don't like to read: Slash. I have nothing against gay people. But most of the time, people don't WARN that it's slash in their summaries. That's the main problem I have with it. Implied slash, however, I will read and occasionally write about it like I have done several times in Deleted Scenes From Harry Potter (by the way, that story was delted off of here by .

Fanfictions I reccomend: Basically the fanfictions in my favorites and the ones in my C2.

The upside to reading Harry Potter fanfiction: It holds you over until the next Harry Potter book comes out, or it can change your mood, depending on the genre. Though sadly, there are no more books. Just the movies and the theme park opening in Florida.

The downside to reading Harry Potter fanfiction: The addicting or enjoyable stories get discontinued or deleted. A lot of the plots also remind me of Shakespeare's plays: same plot, but squeezed into every corner of the FanFictionverse. Scroll down to Opungo's Guide To The Most Commonly Used Plots in Harry Potter Fanfiction to see what I mean.

If you are new to fanfiction:
(ask permission to copy through PM)

1. "Slash" and "Yaoi" are stories with guy-guy or girl-girl pairings. "Yaoi" is specifically guy-guy pairings (thank you demonic wyvern). "Femslash" is specifically girl-girl pairings. If you see this in a summary, that's what it means.

2. If you see initials in a summary (HPGW, RWHG, BWFD, RLNT, JPLE, etc, etc) those are the initials of characters the authors pair up in stories.

3. OC means "original character"

4. OOC means "out of character"

5. rudolphtherednosedolly gave me a more detailed description of the Mary Sue character: a mary-sue is more than an original character. First off, a Mary-Sue is usualy very pretty,smart,rich, and everyone loves them i.e.seems perfect. They have extremeley long names and are related to one of the older characters like Dumbledore, Snape, and Sirius. The story of a Mary-Sue will most likely begin with them having some horrible past.

6. Don't let one bad review (or as they're called here, "flames") get you down. Sometimes they have ideas to make your story better in there ("constructive flames") and sometimes it's just one person. A lot of the time, the flamer has had an account forever, but hasn't written a single story themselves. Also, don't get real mad and blow your top off if somebody gives you a flame. I've seen people do that and they write in CAPITALS IN THEIR AUTHOR'S NOTES ABOUT THAT ONE FLAMER. When I see that, I think: "Wow. They're worse than the person who gave them the flame."

7. Don't judge a story by the first chapter. I almost did that once. I was reading this story and the first chapter was funny, but there were some bits in there where I was thinking, "Huh?" I almost just clicked out of it. But I decided to read on and I'm glad I did because I really like the story now.

8. Please, please, PLEASE, if your story is a slash story, have that in your summary or at least put it in bold print in the very first chapter. I don't like slash (I have nothing against gays) so it's kind of a shock when I'm reading a story and all of the sudden there's slash. There are also many other people on fanfiction that may not be comfortable with it.

9. AU stands for Alternate Universe. So that means an AU story could make the Marauder's girls instead of guys, Snape a Gryffindor, Harry have a twin...you get the idea.

10. If your spelling and grammar are terrible or you can't get a sentence or paragraph to flow right or something like that, get a beta reader, or beta for short. They help out a lot and make your story top quality.

11. D0 n0t typ3 in chat sp3ak. N0b0dy lik3s it and it is ann00ying 2. It's als0 against th3 rul3z. An L0L in r3vi3s is OK but d0 n0t us3 it in st0ries. You hated my typing in chatspeak, didn't you? Glad to get my point across.

12. Oneshots are stories with one chapter in them. Sometimes there are twoshots with just two chapters. But if your story has fifteen chapters in it, that is not a fifteenshot. That's a story. A multi-chaptered one at that. So if you see "oneshot" in a summary, that's what it means.

13. If you see a story that has any of the following or similar phrases in the summary: JamesLily fluff; JPLE, slight fluff; HarryGinny fluff. That simply means that there's some "Awwww, how cute!" romance in there.

14. This kind of goes along with number 8: If somebody warns you that their story is slash, do NOT go read it anyway and leave a flame because you didn't like the slash! They WARNED you in their summaries so don't get mad about it!

15. C2's are communites where stories of certain categories or generes are added by staff members and the creator of the C2.

16. Do not stick to writing one genre. Branch out and write for different genres.

17. Sometimes, instead of writng the initials of the people they pair together, people will combine the names. Examples: Herronnie (Hermione and Ron), Dramoine (Draco and Hermione), Drarry (Draco and Harry), Snarry (Snape and Harry).

18. Kiska King asked me to add this one: Don't just say in your review that the story is awful. Most writers rely on reviews to improve their writing and for encouragement.

19. Subplots- Good. Subplots that overshadow the main plot- BAD.

20. Give yourself a few months to settle in to fanfiction and write a story or a few oneshots before you go off and make a C2 or forum. Stay away from joining them as well. Just wait a little while and then join.

21. Flaming is just a waste of time. If you didn't like the story, either don't review or leave a constructive flame on what they can do to improve it.

22. Even if you don't support the ship, go read stories that have ships you don't support.

23. If you're writing a Harry Potter fanfiction, it's more canon and realistic to the series if you use traditional and simple names. NOT names that would be suitable in Rivendale. Unless you're writing a story about purebloods.

24. Allow annoymous reviews. This way, you get more reviews.

25. Rate properly. For instance: excessive cursing, violence and such, probably T. Describing sex actually happening, DEFINITELY M.

26. Review once you have read the story all the way through. Do not leave a review after you are done reading a chapter. It's extremely annoying. Especially if the story is 20+ chapters long. Any less than that is OK.

27. Check the rating of a story before you go and read it. I made that mistake once. My poor mind shall never be the same again.

28. Do not put author's notes in the middle of a story or, worse in the middle of a sentence. It is really (A/N: HAHA! I just had a brilliant idea from an article I just read for the next chapter of a fanfic) ANNOYING!

29. Spellcheck, the dictionary, and the thesauras are your friends.

30. If the characters in your story are so incredibly emo (short for "emotional" and a person who's emo is usually negative) from chapter to chapter that even the emo readers are screaming "Shut up already!" to the computer, you've got a problem.

31. Learn to respond to bad reviews. If the reviewer is giving you criticism on how to improve your writing or they're pointing out things as to what caused them not to like your story. Just thank them for taking the time to review your story and move on. However, if what they're saying has NOTHING to do with your story and they're just insulting you. Ignore the review entirely.

32. Reviews are very useful for the writers. The review boxes here say: "It is extremely helpful to use this oppurtunity to comment on an aspect of the story that can be reviewed. A well rounded critique is often the most rewarding tool for the writer." So please, for the love of Edward, don't just stop halfway through a story, point out something that's wrong and then click away. Sometimes, the writer may have fixed that later on. Also, not all of us are walking encyclopedias so don't give up part way through a story just because we got a point wrong.

33. PPWM or variations of those letters stand for Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Thank you mandamedieval. PWP stands for "Plot, What Plot?" and is a smut scene. Thanks Phoenicity.

34. Canon means that it's accurate to the book and usually refers to the pairings. So James and Lily, Ginny and Harry, Hermione and Ron, Remus and Tonks, Arthur and Molly all count as canon. Thanks to HeadWayUpInDaClouds.

35. This is once again from HeadWayUpInDaClouds and I decided to keep their original words: I would advise that newbies make their profile a reflection of them AND their stories. I tend to read a profile before I read a story, and usually if the profile is freaky, or to stupid to stay awake to read without your brain turning to mush, you probably don't want to read the stories written by that author. Also a good way to tell if you are going to be okay with the language/morals of the author.

36. I have been lazy with this but I have found a definition for lemon thanks to Dactyl who definitely did their research. According to Wikipedia, lemon means "Explicit sex stories in general, especially in anime fan fiction, are known as lemon, a term which comes from a Japanese slang term meaning "sexy" that itself derives from an early pornographic cartoon series called Cream Lemon. The term lime denotes a story that has sexual themes but is not necessarily explicit. "Lemon" stories without much plot other than sex are also referred
to as smutfics or as PWPs ("Porn Without Plot" or "Plot? What Plot?")."

If you have an item you think should be added to this list, send me a private message. Until then, the most important rule on the above list is: Try not to be the reason I add something to this list (numbers: 8, 11, 14, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, and 32 are examples of people driving me to add another item to the list.)

COMPLETELY MANLY JOURNAL SERIES

Well, that's what it's being called by some people and since it's gained so many reviews, views, favorites, etcetera, I have dedicated a special section of my profile page to it. What makes it special?...I don't know, really.

1) The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter (Complete): James Potter's mother gives him something remarkably similar to a diary to "write down his experiences". James, however, quickly ammends this saying it is a journal. The completely manly joural of James Potter. He keeps to his mother's wishes however and records the trials of being Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, friend, and the admirer of one Lily Evans (his fellow Head Girl). His rivalry with a Ravenclaw named Michael Davies and a new friendship with sixth year Prefect Annie Simmons prove to be the source of some rifts in the budding friendship between James and Lily. Unlike the previous years, however, they attempt to make ammends and make their friendship stronger. But some strong words from Lily might be hard for James to ignore and hard for their would-be love life to overcome.

2) The More Manly Journal of James Potter (In Progress): The sequel skips over the first few months of James and Lily's relationship and you see them again in April. Times are hard for all young witches and wizards. NEWTs are fast approaching, the seventh years will be departing Hogwarts at the end of the year, and then there's the looming threat of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. James Potter, Lily Evans, and the rest of the students all have big plans after they graduate but they may or may not turn out the way they hoped.

3) The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter from Lily's POV: I felt that Lily needed to explain some things herself, so I'm giving her a chance. Here's an excerpt:

"No! No! NO!
Why? Why would Professor Dumbledore ever think of doing this to me? This couldn’t have anything to do with accidentally lighting his beard on fire back in second year, could it? I said I was sorry a thousand times and he said it was fine, that it was an accident, and he put it out pretty quickly, anyway. I was honestly aiming for Black! Dumbledore needs to learn to let things go because holding a grudge against me for this just seems ridiculous and his payback is just plain cruel."

Next chapter progress: It's close to being done. Very close.

Other exciting updates: The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter has been translated into GERMAN! Here's how you find it:
1. Go to
2. Click on "Bücher" (it's on the left side of the page and in blue letters)
3. Then click on "Harry Potter" (it's in the middle on the bottom)
4. On top (under the advertisement) there are some grey words. Click on (Suche)
5. In the first line you can write the titel. The title wasn't translated so it's exactly the same
6. Click on "suchen"
Thanks to eselliebe for taking this on! Another link to come soon...

LKF (Little Known Facts):

1. Here are ALL the Beatles songs James played in The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter: Across The Universe, Revolution, P.S. I Love You, Yellow Submarine, Hey Jude, All My Loving, All You Need Is Love, I've Just Seen A Face, If I Fell, Girl, Something, and She Loves You

2. Annie was originally going to be a fifth year Hufflepuff and the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain Sirius sits next to in Potions was going to be James' main competition with Lily instead of Michael Davies. But I see a lot of fics where Lily has a chance of being paired with someone from Hufflepuff which makes James go into jealous mode. So, at the Prefect's meeting, James realizes Annie is a sixth year Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain I mentioned once never gets his chance with our favorite redhead. The Ravenclaws needed more love! Er, sorry, wrong word. Maybe 'attention' was better suited...

3. The book James accidentally steals in Chapter 5 of The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter: Stolen Books and Annie, is actually a little allusion to the For Dummies books.

4. I had several different scenarios in my head for James telling Lily all about the misunderstanding in chapters 14-15 of The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter:
--My first, very early, plan was for him to go on an adventure around Hogsmeade, trying to break up Lily's date, explain the misunderstanding to her, and tries to win her over again. He would've accomplished two out of three and Lily still would've needed time before he accomplished the third objective. Thinking this made the plot move too fast, I discarded it.

--The second scenario was him following Lily around obsessively trying to explain to her, but only getting angry retorts out of her. This got him pissed two and the two went back into their old habit of snapping at each other's necks. Then McGonagall makes them stay after class after an embarassing Transfiguration lesson dealing with the two of them and helps them put things a little more in perspective before leaving to let them sort it out by themselves, which they do. Much snogging occurs. I thought it would've been too embarassing for our two young lovers to have a professor help solve their problems, so I threw this idea away too.

--The third is closest to the final product. James, following his mother's advice, sends Lily a letter. However, the boy is much too stubborn and absolutely refuses to wait around. So he goes for a slightly-direct approach and spends a large amount of time during the day sitting on the ground below the girl's dormitory window, throwing rocks at it to announce his presence. The next Saturday, he's sitting outside, freezing his butt off, when Lily finally takes pity on him and comes downstairs with a blanket, wraps it around the two of them, they make up, snog, BAM! Instant love! Why did I discard it? I wanted to give them privacy for their first kiss and keep the rest of Hogwarts on their toes as they wondered what was going on with James and Lily.

5. The book James reads in Chapter Three of The More Manly Journal of James Potter: Baby It's You is a slight allusion to Pride and Prejudice. Look at the title again. It' Fitzwilliam's Guide to Advanced Charms and the Theory Behind Them.

Should I add anything else to this section?

Harry Potter ships I support

Harry/Ginny- It took Harry long enough to figure out his feelings!

Ron/Hermione- They're just so great on how they try and hide how much they like each other.

James/Lily- Without them, there would be no Harry Potter.

Remus/Tonks- Remus couldn't hide his true feelings forever.

Bill/Fleur- True love. And cooking lessons too. You need to re-read HBP to get that joke.

Lily/Snape- I still won't read stories that have them snogging in there, I just think their tale is kind of tragic. Especially for Snape. I ship them more as a friendship.

Harry Potter ships I do not support

Harry/Hermione- I've read several that are OK, but they don't belong together. There's absolutely no sexual tension between them like there is with Ron and Hermione

Dumbledore/McGonagall- Ew! No. No way. They're old and crusty and-blech!

Remus/Sirius- I have nothing against gays, but Siriusly, they were friends! Half of the Marauders! Just because they "embraced like brothers" and "quarreled like an old married couple" does not mean they were actually a married couple.

Fred/George- OH. MY. GOD. THEY'RE BROTHERS! THEY WERE IN THE WOMB AT THE SAME TIME. That's gross.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN AUTHOR IF...

You talk to yourself a lot. (e.g. Hmm, what would happen if it was sunny the day Bella got hit by the van? Oh, story idea!! Must get computer!)

You talk to yourself about talking to yourself. (e.g. 'Why do I constantly ask my self random things?')

When you talk to yourself you often talk to yourself like you're talking to someone else. (e.g. 'Have you ever noticed that deliver could mean someone's liver?')

After uttering a profound peice of wisdom like that above, you stare at the cookie in your hand with awe and say, "Wow,this stuff is great for sugar highs...'

You live off of sugar and caffine (the two greatest things ever discovered!)

You'll check your e-mail every day of the week and then dissappear off the face of the earth.

You're e-mails tend to be pages long and incredibly random.

When replying to an e-mail, you'll never actually address the point of it.

You tend to collect Bic Stics off the ground like picking pennies off the ground.

No matter where you are in a room you never have to get up to find a pen/pencil and paper.

The letters on your keyboard are wearing off. (once a key actually fell off!)

Your friends and family think that you have carpal tunnel syndrome.

People think you have A.D.D.

You think it'd be cool to have A.D.D.

You constantly start talking in third person, present or past tense.

You start thinking about making lists like this and start giggling for no "apparent" reason

Your friends stopped looking at you funny for no apparent reason a loooooong time ago.

And FINALLY, the one way to tell if you're a good writer: You failed English 101.

(copy that into you're profile if you fit one or more of the descriptions)

OPUNGO'S GUIDE TO THE MOST COMMONLY USED PLOTS IN HARRY POTTER FANFICTION
(Some plot devices instead of actual plots are used in the list below. I am also guilty of using two of these, admittedly.)

1) James and Lily tutoring : Ollivander said himself that James' wand was excellent for Transfiguration (this fact was proven in POA when you learned that James was an Animagus) and Lily's wand was perfect for Charms (again, this was proven in POA when you learned exactly how James and Lily hid from Voldemort) so everybody assumes this must mean James' weak point was Charms and Lily's weak point was Transfiguration. So in their seventh year, after being forced together as Head Boy and Girl, they have to spend even more time with each other so they can receive help from each other. And, no surprise, they grow on each other, fall in love, get married, and have Harry.

2) Hermione goes back in time and meets the Marauder's while they're at Hogwarts: Yes, this is actually common. I was surprised at first, but it actually makes sense in a way. Everybody knows from reading POA that Hermione had a Time Turner the whole year. So what usually happens is somebody bumps in to Hermione or she accidentially turns the Time Turner back too far and suddenly, she's back in the 1970's with Harry's dad and the rest of the Marauder clan. Then she usually falls for Sirius or Remus.

3) Harry goes back in time and meets the Marauder's and his Mum while they're at Hogwarts : This plot is actually less common than the Hermione one, but it's still pretty common. The ways he goes back in time varies. I've read him going back in time by Time Turner and some sort of necklace. I wrote him going back in time via Room of Requirement. Then Harry realises where he his, panics slightly, but Dumbledore comes to the rescue and disguises him as an exchange student who was sorted in to Gryffindor. Sometimes a fake name is given, sometimes one isn't, but everybody generally acts the same to seeing two Potters who are almost exactly alike in appearance. Then the big plot twister: Lily falls for Harry and Harry has to get his Mum to fall for his Dad or else he won't exist.

4) James was placed under some sort of spell that put him in to a coma that night at Godric's Hollow and he wakes up thirteen to fourteen years later in his grave: I've read one where Lily survives, but that's simply because she left the house temporarily. But most people realise that Lily had to die because it was her love that protected Harry. So James wakes up, sees his and Lily's tombstones, gets heartbroken because he thinks his wife and son are dead then he finds Sirius and Remus and finds out (gasp) that Harry's alive. Then an OC former lover of Sirius steps in for some reason (in almost all of these stories I've read, the OC former lover is a witch with a capital B when you first see her) and they're awkward for a while, then they have shouting matches with each other, then things get patched up. All the while, things between Harry and James are rather awkward because James looks like he's still in his twenties and Harry's been through a lot with no parents. The time period for James to wake up makes sense because that's when Voldy made his return to his body.

5) Hermione and Draco become Head Boy and Girl during their seventh year at Hogwarts: RandomObsessivePsychoFanGirl gave me this one...and I'm starting to wonder why I didn't think of it. The plot is simple. Hermione gets Head Girl (no surprise there) and when she gets to Hogwarts it turns out that the Head Boy is...MALFOY! Then things are even more horrible for the two of them when they have to share a Head's Dorm with each other. Then, as they spend time with each other, they start to fall in love and live happily ever after. Because "mudblood" and "twitchy little ferret" were obviously pet names this whole time.

6) The Head's Dorm: First of all, there is no such thing as the "Head's Dorm" at Hogwarts. If there were, than Percy wouldn't have showed up in the common room during POA immediately after Ron woke up screaming that Sirius had come in with a knife, but it still survives on fanfiction. It's most often used with James and Lily. James is delighted, Lily's horrified. Forced to live in the same dorm (seperate bedrooms and a bathroom that connects the two, I've hardly seen it written differently), they have to try and get along. Lily notices James has mautred that year and warms up to him. Then you know the story from there. Once again, they get together in the end.

7) Final Battle Stories: Amee C gave me this one. This plot usually takes place before, during, or after the final battle and it's usually a Harry/Ginny pairing. One of them always dies and the survivor reflects. So if you're going to write about the final battle, write something unique about it.

8) MWPP era that includes a "too wild" Sirius, "obsessed over Lily" James, "bookworm" Remus and "traitor" Peter: Amee C gave me this one as well and since she wrote alot about it, here's exactly what she said: "Okay Sirius's character is more rebellious and just doesn't want to follow the rules because he's spent his entire life following them and he just wants to prove to everyone that he's not some goody-two-shoes; he is NOT some sugar-crazed teenager! It is absolutely insane how authors make him to be so hyper and gah! James's character isn't just him obsessing over Lily, okay? So don't have him bring up Lily in like EVERY SINGLE CONVERSATION HE HAS. James was also very loyal to his best friends. He was a show-off, and he was a Chaser on the Quidditch team. His entire life did not revolve around LILY! And Remus's character isn't just that he's a bookworm. Sure, he was studious, but he was a MARAUDER. He does TALK, he was their FRIEND, and he most likely wasn't always so studious! It's annoying when authors do this! And lastly, Peter; who is involved in the story but he doesn't actually do anything because the author says "He's a traitor and he doesn't deserve to take part in my story!" Well, 1.)HE'S A BLOODY MADE UP CHARACTER! and 2.)He was their FRIEND! So that means that he WAS in their lives! He did make some sort of an impact! And also, Peter isn't so stupid that he's barely passing all of his classes. He GRADUATED, didn't he? He BETRAYED his friends, didn't he? This means that he does have a brain! He is smart! No one wants to believe it though!"

9) Lily goes through Platform 9 3/4 barrier and sees friends with Rivendale-ish names, accompanied by extremely long descriptions- I thought it was just one person who did it, but no, a lot of people will start out chapter one of a James/Lily story this way. Lily will go through the barrier sees the Hogwarts Express and there's a very long description of how much she missed it, how sad she is to be in her final year, and something about what happened to her during the summer (usually involving Petunia being horrible to her) then somebody says her name from behind, Lily goes all happy and hugs her first elf-named friend, than the second, and sometimes a third. Usually there's only two.

10) Lily gets pregnant and breaks up with James- Pretty simple story. Lily breaks up with James soon after finding out she's pregnant because it would be "unfair" to him to bear the responsibility of being a father. Then they meet up nine months later when Harry is born and James does his best to get in to Harry's life while Lily wants him to go away. Eventually he gets to visit Harry frequently while falling back in love with Lily. Lily, however, is doing her best to not admit she still has any feelings for James. You basically want to smack the two of them while reading the story for being so stupid.

11) Marauders and Lily read the Harry Potter books: sparklingstone asked me to submit this one. I totally meant to put it up earlier. Here's what happens: The Marauders and Lily are usually just sitting around the common room, then either by magic or by somebody randomly finding the first book, they get a copy of it. After marveling in the fact that this Harry kid has the same surname as James, they start reading. Lily always starts randomly bursting in to tears at parts that aren't even that sad, the five of them get mad at the people who are mean to Harry, and they're all way to overly suspicious of what's going to happen in the books.

12) Snape and Lily have friendly conversations after what happened after the DADA exams: Another plot point, but this has been popping up in fics everywhere in the aftermath of Deathly Hallows. I think it's mainly just to fill up space, but come on people! There was a reason why there was a humungous gap in Snape's memories between Snape and Lily outside the portrait hole and twenty-something-year-old Snape meeting with Dumbledore about keeping Lily safe from Voldemort. It means they weren't best friends anymore! Get this stuff right, people.

13) Mischaracterization of Cho, Fleur, and Lily: Thank you Mouse and Stupid Productions and FountiannaJeunesse for suggesting these, I have seen this a lot and I'm glad they suggested it. First of all, Cho: She's a Ravenclaw, that means she's smart. She also played Quidditch, so she must've been athletic too. And she was just confused about Harry and Cedric in OOTP, so she wasn't a witch with a capital B as many people seem to think. Give her a break, her boyfriend died, that's tough. Now for Fleur: She is neither a wicked temptress or a ditz. Since you all need your memories refreshed: She was a Triwizard Champion! So she must've been smart to get in it. And since FountiannaJeunesse had a lot to say about the Lily mischaraterization, I'm putting up her original words: Lily too is often portrayed as a world apart, ice queen, that is always studying. I have read fanfictions where she is terribly harsh, writers often forget that she was extremely popular and had lots of friends. When she does have friends they are (a lot of the time) a Mary-Sue esque best friend for Lily who happens to be either dating or in love with Sirius or Remus. It just gets old after awhile...

14) Sirius and Lily switch bodies: Thanks to The Fifth Marauder for submitting this one and the next four. Self-explanatory. By some spell or potion gone wrong, Lily switches bodies with Sirius. They are forced to live as each other (for some odd or stupid reason or another) and hide the truth from their freinds. Then, while in Sirius' body, she realises she likes James and kisses him. James gets really disgusted and the whole school thinks they're gay. Then they eventually tell all their friends the truth and Dumbledore, but he takes such a freaking slow time to do anything you get annoyed.

15) Lily's two best friends: Lily has two best friends that are like Mary-Sues. They're probably the most popular girls in the school and they like Sirius and Remus, who, convinently like them back.

16) Lily and James make a deal: James makes a deal with Lily that he won't ask her out for a certain period of time if she does something for him. OR, James makes a deal with Lily that she goes on one date with him, if she doesn't like him, he'll never ask her out again, if she does...well you get the point.

17) Hogwarts Exchange program: Dumbledore decides that they are going to have an exchange student program. A complete Mary Sue comes and falls in love with Harry or Draco or someone. She's probably a canon character's relative and is American.

18) Truth or Dare: Characters play truth or dare. Probably with all characters from every era and every house. Yes, the Golden Trio is playing with the Inquistorial Squad. Yes, the Marauders are playing with the New Death Eaters. Might use a veritaserum potion or a truth spell on the room. Many characters get together, etc.

19) Hermione finds out her parents arent's really her parents and she's reallly a pureblood or her parents are really magical but are in disguise to hide from You-Know-Who: Then seven years later the truth comes out. Then she meets Draco at some pure-blood function. He doesn't recognize her and immidiately falls in love with her. Once he finds our her true identity he learns to accept her and they eventually fall in love. Thanks to RandomObsessivePsychoFangirl for submitting this.

20) Tonks is obviously in love with Remus... Remus is unsure and does nothing about it, so Sirius plays matchmaker in any number of ways, getting them drunk, teasing them or outright telling them, instead of minding his own business. Thanks to Peanuckle for submitting this.

21) Voldemort steals baby Harry from the Potters...: either killing them or leaving them unconscious, and raises Harry as his son and heir, ususally with the title 'the Dark Prince'. Most go overboard. I mean, Bellatrix and Lucius raising this boy they KNOW isn't their son and growing affectionate
and loving him? And then Voldemort loves Harry so much he can't kill him at the final battle! I was like, huh? HE'S THE DARK LORD. THERE'S A REASON HE HAS NO HEART. And Dumbledore giving up hope on Harry being alive, then at an Order/Death Eater battle Sirius or James captures Harry and realize who he is. Harry then attends Hogwarts, is forced and/or sorted into Gryffindor, has an annoying little brother, is popular and everyone likes him even though he's insane and hates everyone, fights ridiculous creatures called 'Daywalker' vampires, (sometimes with or without a giant white wolf), and finally chooses to leave Voldemort and live with his family, 'coming over to the light'. God. Moony8193 had plenty to say about this so I kept most of their original words. They also reccomended a story that follows this plotline called "The Darkness Within" in case any of you want to read it.

22) Marauders, Lily, and Instant Messaging: If some of you actually thought about it a little bit, you'd think that computers weren't common in the home back in the 1970's (and I doubt they'd even be in wizard's homes) and IM wouldn't have been around if computers weren't all that common. So the Marauders talk to each other, they get Lily's screenname, give it to James, he attempts to woo her (it doesn't work), but eventually in conversations with the Marauders, Lily falls for James just before the school year starts. Petuntia usually makes an appearance by posing as Lily and declaring her love for James, then she and Lily wrestle for the keyboard.

23) OMG! MAKEOVER: I have finally stopped barfing from typing the previous statement long enough to explain this plot. Basically, either at the beginning of the school year before they get on to the train, or before a date with James, or before instigating a plot to annoy James, Lily's friends strap her down in a chair and pretend that she's their own personal Barbie doll while they forcibly apply make-up and force her in to their clothes and then James is just completely awestruck at how Lily looks and she just blows him off. Oh, come on. With how Lily ignored James all those years and refused to go out with him, who honestly thinks she would've let these bimbo friends of hers force some gunk on her face that she obviously doesn't want? Get a life. Excuse my rudeness, but this kind of story just really makes me mad.

24) Off to the Muggle School!: Thanks to books4evah for this addition to my list. I've kept their original words for the description of this plot: There are those stories where the author has the characters go to a muggle school. sometimes it's completely AU, and they're muggles in the first place, and sometimes it's ones where Hogwarts has an exchange program type thing. In both, all the characters go to a muggle school, usually in an American town, that usually has some connection to the author's personal life, and they do stuff there that is a lot like the author's personal life. Basically, it's an author's excuse to write a typical trashy teen novel (the ones for girls), using Harry Potter characters.

25) Yo-ho, yo-ho, it's a pirate's life for Potter!: Um, what? Apparently according books4evah this is a real plot. AU, obviously. Basically, either James or Lily are captain of a pirate ship and for some messed up reason, the one that isn't the pirate captain ends up on the ship. Then they bicker a lot before they make up and start snogging. People, I loved Pirates of the Caribbean, but is there really any reason to combine the two?

26) Hermione gets hot: Thanks to Lilmissxx for submitting this. So, summer before Harry, Ron, and Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts, Hermione gets hot (hence the title of this bullet). Hermione also randomly decides to change her fashion choices to mini skirts and low cut tops (showing off her conviently new big breasts). Harry and Ron usually become hot too and all their flaws are gone. Um, excuse me? People, these book series would have been HORRIBLE if the characters we knew had NO flaws whatsoever. Having flaws is what makes people human, even fictional people.

27) Lily and her Mary Sue friends go on holiday: Thank you HalfBloodHannah for this addition to the list. Well they go on holiday somewhere far away and expensive and to their surprise, the Marauders are at the SAME place (Le GASP! It's so predictable!). Though it's all by accident they're in the same place. Remus usually reads and blushes around one of Lily's friends, Sirius flirts around a different girl every day while secretly pining for one of Lily's friends, Peter almost never appears (let me say this one more time: he's FICTIONAL), and James stalks Lily while she calls him a thousand different names. Then she randomly falls for him, usually after another girl catches his eye.

28) Another Hermione time travel story: From rebeccaaarteaga, thank you for your contribution. Long story short: Hermione goes back in time and falls in love with Lily.

29) Freaky Friday with Lily and Ginny: Also from rebeccaaarteaga. Lily and Ginny switch places so Harry thinks Lily is Ginny and James thinks Ginny is Lily.

30) Maiden Name Mixup- Thank you BaybieGirlSarah for contributing to this ever-growing list. Apparently, in Marauder-era stories, girls will run around with the last name of Chang or Brown referring to Cho and Lavender several decades afterwards. Unless they got divorced or got pregnant and never married the father, wouldn't they have a different last name?

31) Dark Lady- Thank you Phoenicity. Basically, girls get kidnapped by Voldemort and they're used as a Dark Lady.

32) Tom Riddle and Mary Sue, sitting in a tree: You have got to be kidding me. Thank you again, Phoenicity. Tom Marvolo Riddle, back in his school days where he was drop-dead gorgeous instead of butt ugly, falls in love with a transistion student and a Mary Sue. Sorry, but he really only loved his snake and...that was it.

33) James and Lily: Green With Envy: Cherrykisses21 had a lot to say about this plot, so I kept most of their original: At the start of the year, James ignores Lily and Lily realises she actually liked the attention and then James starts dating some really slutty girl just to make Lily jealous. Sirius hates the girl so he and Lily pretend to date to make James jealous and it all ends in a big fight, then everyone kisses and makes up. It is okay if wrriten originally but it is a bit overused.

34) Potter to James, Evans to Lily: James loves Lily, she hates him, they become heads together, get to know eachother, blah blah blah, and then the big change in their relationship comes when James is like "Dont call me Potter, call me James" and this weirds Lily out hardcore, until she starts calling him that, and then the name James becomes some sort of aphrodisiac for her, and then they fall in love. That whole name business is good the first few times you read LJ, but after the hundredth time, it gets really, really old. Thanks to steponme6013 for submitting this.

35) Professor James Potter: James come back to Hogwarts after being a Quidditch player or Auror and is Lily's professor (Transfiguration, mostly). Lily is in her seventh year (always) and they fall in love (Potty lurves Lily!) because they knew each other back in school or they "bump" into each other in the corridor. Thanks to Lilyflower101 for submitting.

36) Potter Twins: Thank you Phoenicity. Harry has a twin brother or sister, that sibling is raised by Snape.

37) Marauderettes: The girl version of the Marauders which includes Lily (of course) and three other girls. They all hook up with their boy counterparts. Thank you cocopowder.

If you want me to add to the list of Most Commonly Used Plots in Harry Potter Fanfiction, then send me a Private message. I'll make sure to credit you. If I accidentally didn't, just send me a message and I'll correct the situation. Until then, it's OK to use one of the common plots, just make sure to make something about it original.

Harry: Yay! The Hogwarts Express! We’re going back-HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO IT? (he finally got a good look of the train which is covered in graffiti)

Hermione: Who would do such a thing?

Ron: (while looking at a picture of the Dark Mark that was spray-painted on the side of the train) I have no idea. Could have been anybody!

That is from Chapter 14 of Deleted Scenes From Harry Potter. Coincidentally, several days after I posted that chapter, the people who vandalized the Hogwarts Express were caught and arrested. Their sleeves were lifted up to reveal the Dark Mark on their forearm. No, I'm kidding about that. But they WERE arrested. They were boys from ages 12 to 15. Ministry of Magic officials say the boys will spend three to five years in Azkaban for their crimes.

Stories I've Written/Am Writing

(Multi-chapter stories on the top, oneshots on the bottom)

Back to the Past: Harry's Wish (COMPLETE):

Harry accidentially goes back to his father's time, via Room of Requirement. He has to find a way to get back to his own time while dealing with the Marauder's pranking and his mother's unwanted affection. At the end of the story, Harry gets a big surprise. COMPLETE!

Back to the Past: Harry's Wish Part II (DISCONTINUED):

The demanded sequel to the first story in the series. Harry's back in his own time, but not for long. Before the D.A. members show up for a meeting, Ron accidentially wishes himself, Harry and Hermione to do a bit of time traveling, this time to the FUTURE! They'll meet their kids, there'll be awkwardness, and Harry and Ron try and fix their future. DISCONTINUED. I just can't come up with anything else for this story. I didn't even want a sequel, I just wrote one because everybody else wanted one. So stop asking me to continue it!

The Completely Manly Journal of James Potter (COMPLETE):

Mum bought this stupid thing for me. I have no idea why she bought it for me. Oh, yeah. Something about "writing down my school experiences". My mum’s gone mental. I think it’s official. She basically bought me a diary! Wait, no. I will clarify it now so it doesn’t haunt me for the remainder of my Hogwarts career: This a journal. The completely manly journal of James Potter.

The More Manly Journal of James Potter

Mum just wrote me the other day and asked if I was still writing in here. That’s when I remembered I haven’t been writing in my manly journal for almost a month. But I’m making a comeback with it and it’s manlier than ever. Well, I'd like to believe that, anyway.

All At Once

My way of celebrating a year of being on fanfiction: make a fic comprised entirely of oneshots on all the HP relationships, friendships, and a family fic or two. Some of the oneshots are revised oneshots I never posted on , some are oneshots I've never written down before but intended to, and some are ideas I had for multi-chapter fics but decided they'd be better suited as a oneshot. It's a great mess of forgotten work, but I think everybody will like it fine.

The Ape Man

Holy crap. A non-Potter fic. This is a modern take of the old Tarzan tale. References the original Tarzan of the Apes, the Disney Tarzan, and the short-lived TV series Tarzan. While on a trip to Africa with her Dad, Professor Porter, to study gorillas, Jane Porter meets a stranger named Tarzan: a wild man in the jungles of Africa. It is soon discovered that he is the son of John Clayton and Alice Clayton, who died there some years ago. For the first time in sixteen years, he is brought back to America to discover a whole new kind of jungle, where the laws of his jungle no longer apply.

Privet Drive Rescue

How exactly DID Ron, Fred, and George sneak out of the house and find out where Harry was? This oneshot explains it all.

Boy's Don't Cry

Songfic. Oneshot. Harry's thoughts and feelings for Ginny while he's off with Ron and Hermione, battling evil and finding the Horcruxes.

I Confess, I Am A Werewolf

In Remus' second year, he finally tells his friends that he's a werewolf, worried that they'll abandon him. But they're as loyal as ever. Oneshot.

Fight! Fight!

Harry and Ron...their friendship can endure anything...NOT! In GOF we saw Harry and Ron refusing to talk to each other. Though the fists never flew in the book or film between the two, in this oneshot fists will fly, glasses will be broken, along with Ron's hand and most of the furniture in the common room.

Remus! Thy Name Is Moony!

Oneshot. Sequel to I Confess, I Am A Werewolf. All about how Remus got to be known as loveable Moony. Full moon. Moony. Oh, ha ha.

The Fall Through The Veil

What was going through Sirius' mind during the fall through the veil and what happened to him after. Oneshot.

Perfect

Songfic. Oneshot. Pretty much exposes the true relationship Draco has with his father. The first fic I've written that centers around someone other than a Gryffindor, so...go read.

Proposing to Lily Evans

Oneshot. Yet another "James decides to propose to Lily" story. But with an interesting twist.

Remus In Denial

Oneshot. Sirius figures out that dear Moony has a thing for his little cousin Nymphadora Tonks. Remus denies it (hence the title) and sets out to prove to Sirius that he has nothing but platonic friendship feelings toward Tonks. He fails miserably.

What's Wrong With Remus?

Oneshot. Tonks notices something is strange with Remus' behavior and she come to the only possible conclusion while having dinner at Grimmauld Place with Sirius one night and realizes she has too has feelings for Remus.