Harry Potter and the Paradigm of Uncertainty
"Describe Harry Potter and the Paradigm of Uncertainty here"
One can but try. Harry Potter and the Paradigm of Uncertainty by Lori Summers is one of the early classics of the Harry Potter fandom, and is in brief a Continuation fic showing what the characters have been up to since leaving Hogwarts. It focuses on the non-canonical relationship between Harry and Hermione.
This simple description, however, fails to capture the full essence of the... experience that is Paradigm of Uncertainty. We have Harry as a spy. We have a new wizard war, an arch-villain not introduced until later on with a backstory that has to be seen to be believed, and lots of weird shenanigans on the way. None of which, amazingly enough, detracts from the well-written character-driven narrative.
Can be found here.
- Alternate Universe Fic: Forced by the fact that it was begun when Harry Potter itself was still an ongoing series, and characters died or didn't die, got together or didn't and events happened or didn't happen that contradicted the fic.
- Arc Words: Anything to do with the changeover ritual in the first story, and anything to do with the Guardian in the second.
- Back from the Dead: Ron Weasley in the third story.
- Canis Latinicus: Parodied and (of course) lampshaded
- C-List Fodder
- Continuation
- Crossover: With an obscure but surprisingly good Urban Fantasy teen romance called The Changeover, and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Espionage Tropes: Most of them put in an appearance, sometimes with lampshades attached.
- Fake Defector: Quinn and Draco in the first story.
- Future Badass
- Gainax Ending
- Heel Face Turn: Allegra, possibly
- Heroic BSOD: Harry, after the villain stabs to death a minion magically altered to resemble Hermione in the first story.
- IKEA Erotica: Deconstructed: it's used in a sex scene in the second story that specifically was just a case of the characters performing the physical actions with no associated feelings.
- Lampshade Hanging: Lots.
- Loads and Loads of Characters
- Mind Screw
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend
- Shown Their Work: Lori's explanation of wizard genetics makes more sense than J.K. Rowling's.
- Slash Fic: There's slash, but it's not the main focus of the story.
- Storming the Castle: In the first story to avert the villain's nefarious scheme involving the changeover ritual, and in the third to rescue Ron.
- Super-Powered Evil Side: Harry in the second story.
- Trilogy Creep: Averted by Gainax Ending when Lori realised she'd have to write another novel-length instalment to tie up all the plot points.
- Time Travel: When this is introduced is about when the Mind Screw really begins to kick in.
- Title Drop
- Urban Fantasy: Paradigm of Uncertainty takes the Urban Fantasy elements already present in Harry Potter, turns them up to 11 and adds some more.
