Nobody Cared

by Etherian

Fandom: Harry Potter
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11 yr old Harry misses the Hogwarts Express. Snape is sent to find out why. What he finds changes any preconceived notions he might have had about the Boy-Who-Lived. AU, manipulative!Dumbledore, DE's, Voldy, but no horcruxes.

Genres: Fan Fiction

1476 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2015

Reviews

[AE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oddly enough, I think the problem was... It was too long, or the character development wasn't really there for me. It just felt like I was constantly slugging through the daily/weekly events while being reminded how good of the not-Death-Eaters Severus and Lucius are, which is okay at first, but exhausting by end.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it did a pretty good job of selling me on Severus and Lucius as mainly sympathetic (albeit imperfect) characters, offering a realistic perspective on Remus, and a sadly plausible indictment of Minerva McGonagall's blind spots, and in presenting Dumbledore as a perhaps-more-than-in-canon scarily ends-justify-the-means manipulator and user — without changing him into a criminal of venal greed as some Dumbledore-bashers do.

The changes in Harry, Draco, and Hermione's interactions (and those of several Weasleys, et al), were good, too, though abused Harry does have a bit of realistic two-steps-forward--one-step-back issues in his recovery, learning what normal families, friendships, punishments, etc., are like, and often acting younger than his age. Snape's own reserve and inexperience make it more difficult for them both. Oh, and Hermione's parents turn out to be unworthy, too — fanfic sure has taken their bare outlines into widely different directions!

This is a kidfic with a suspense subplot (re. the Philosopher's Stone and Quirrell, of course), with hardly any romance, just some marital flirting between Lucius and Narcissa, and the early stages of a friends-to-lovers relationship for Severus near the end.

So, there is some good content here, BUT... I just wasn't ever especially enthused, and it's a lot of pages. The writing style is simple A then B then C, without literary loveliness or finesse. Of course, I do still plan to read the shorter sequel, Nobody Cared: King's Island, fwiw.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11346960...
or https://archiveofourown.org/works/423...
(I tend to be a completist, unless I actually dislike a story/'verse.) 🤷

Oh, I should note, I read this story at AO3, not FF.N (as in the URL given in the book data):
https://archiveofourown.org/works/392...
N.b., https://archiveofourown.org/series/32... has the main story + the sequel.

Also, there's a minor content warning for something terrible Harry witnessed in the past.

Final note: there were some problems with proofreading/mechanics (including prepositions too-often duplicated at beginning and end of a clause), and I believe a few minor internal inconsistencies remain even in this revised version.

Update/ETA: The sequel is like a long, somewhat-episodic vacation epilogue, with a wedding and a birthday, still just that little bit flat. There's a minor crossover in that sort-of-Marvel's-Loki appears as a quickly defeated antagonist, and "Donald Blake" (Thor) is one of the competitors in a broom event they watch.

[Deeze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out well but then dragged on way too long.

Some of the side stories were not needed and just took away from the main story. Especially Hermoine's parents.

A few inconsistencies and OTT moments also took me away from the story.

But the focus of Harry and Snape was very well done and without the rest would of been a very good story.

Funny that I can totally accept a good Snape yet a good Lucius is totally beyond my belief lol.

[mirabilos · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, too angsty for me, and a very tedious read

also, it’s oc-clu-men-cy, from occludere, and suuuure, Dudley’s chatting online, and playing games online, with his friends… in 1991…

this used to be on AO3 but is now only on FFN