The Fanfic First Lines Meme

[snorkackcatcher]

Meme garnered from dolorous_ett whose selection was here:

I have supplied 14 first lines (or first few lines in my case) from 14 different works of Harry Potter Fanfiction. Your mission: guess the work.

If you wrote one of the works, it might be a good idea to keep quiet about it for a bit -- let one of your loyal fans do the guessing!

There is a lot of HP fanfic out there. Inclusion -- or otherwise -- in this list does not necessarily mean anything at all - except that I've decided to use it for my game. Oh, and because I'm an attention whore, one of the quotes is mine.

ETA: Most of the ones I thought people would get easily are spotted now -- of the rest, two are probably best known to people who have frequented CoS, two have been Niffled (one of them Niffled by me), one is mine, one is by someone on my flist, two are oneshots, and four are chaptered/novel-length. If that gives anyone any ideas. :)

ETA2: Answers now added.



1. There was nothing better after defeating a Dark Lord than sitting around trading Chocolate Frog Cards with the Weasleys. If you asked Harry, it beat the public celebrations and ecstasies all hollow.
Herpetology by Andrea13 and Persephone_Kore, spotted by a_t_rain


2. "Professor Snape."
The man in the black robe turned slowly and looked the speaker up and down. "A Weasley. Long red hair and fang earring. William, is it not?"
Once Upon A Time, In Egypt by Josan, spotted by dolorous_ett


3. Hermione had walked past the picture for weeks. Down the stairs from the Gryffindor common room, past the archway leading toward the library, and into a dusty, narrow hall that suddenly opened into an inviting windowed alcove: she had worn a path day after day and night after night, looking for a quiet place to read.
The Prefect's Portrait by Arsinoe de Blassenville, spotted by tree_and_leaf


4. Harry was standing beside the heavy, old wooden door, straining to hear the conversation within the room. He leaned against the cold stone wall and studied the Marauder's Map, which he was clutching. Neville Longbottom had his wand out and stared over Harry's shoulder at the map. They looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to do.
Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Feint by CassieVerte


5. It was only three days since the start of term and already Draco Malfoy was dissatisfied. It was evening, well after dark and he stepped onto the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.
'My kingdom,' he thought sarcastically as he trudged through the thick sand of the pitch, and it was.
Draco's Delicate Condition by Alice in Muggleland


6. "I swear to die for you, Harry. I love you." Hermione's voice was clear, and the bluebell flame flickered in the center of the circle, near her feet. She held his hand tightly, and Harry was amazed to see, by the look in her face, that she meant what she was saying.
After the End by Arabella and Zsenya, spotted by lazy_neutrino


7. "Merlin's beard," sighed the tall, handsome, well-dressed, messy-haired, bespectacled, lean-and-tough-as-a-Seeker, droolworthy James Potter, as he threw himself dramatically back onto his bed and shut despairing eyelids over his brilliant blue eyes. "Lily Evans hates me!"
The Small Green Bottles of Doom by Flitting aka Triskelion


8. 'Don't you get it yet?' said Padma Patil incredulously, after spending three hours attempting to teach her slightly less adept sister the basics behind a Patronus charm.
Parvati Prevails by a_linz


9. He would dress in his dark blue suit, his Sunday best his mother would say. Everyone else would be in dress robes but it didn't feel right to him. In his world, the one where brooms didn't fly and owls didn't act as postmen, men wore suits on such solemn occasions.
Snapshots by The Treacle Tart, spotted by octobersnow


10. There are six Quidditch stadiums in the British Isles designated as 'League Venues'. They were constructed to order in suitably deserted locations, have been thoroughly enchanted with permanent Muggle-Repelling Charms, and can be magically expanded to seat as many as five thousand wizards and witches for big games.
Toujours Pur by SnorkackCatcher :)


11. I hate all manner of slimy and smelly things, and thus have always thought it a great misfortune to be born into a family of apothecaries. Sure, I know the difference between fluxweed and gillyweed, and how to juice a leech (which, by the way, is as disgusting as it sounds), but I could never love these things as my father does.
By the Numbers by Wolfcat, spotted by a_t_rain and jesspallas


12. "So I'm dead."
"Yes. At least everyone thinks so. I moved quickly to get things arranged . . ."
Harry looked without comment at his Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, as he elaborated on how quickly he had taken advantage of the chance to make everyone, especially Lord Voldemort, think he had been killed at their last meeting.
Among the Muggles Again by snuggle the muggle


13. Liam Grady normally liked the way his father's car always managed to get to the front of a traffic queue. He had even learned to notice that split second when the world outside would blur, and the car would suddenly be ahead of all the others.
The Greatest Kind of Magic by Private Maladict, spotted by lareinenoire


14. Night had descended on Grimmauld Place. The gloomy orange street lamps added only little light to that of the waxing moon in the cloudy sky above. The square itself was deserted. A slight breeze rustled through the withered trees around it.
The Summer of the Phoenix by Jolie, spotted by dolabellae

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

Three is The Prefect's Portrait. I know I've read 2, 6 and 9, but I can't think of the names...

[snorkackcatcher]

It is indeed. 9's a recent ficathon story (probably on FA by now though) -- glad someone else read it.

[tree_and_leaf]

I really enjoyed it, too, so I'm sort of irked I can't remember it...

[snorkackcatcher]

octobersnow called it just now. :)

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

14 is The Summer of the Phoenix by Jolie, isn't it? Where did she go? She was great.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

She's still around, but RL is busy, I think. And, yes, she has written some terrific stuff. I recognised that one straight away, too!

[snorkackcatcher]

Oh good -- her Sirius-Phineas two-hander was excellent too.

[snorkackcatcher]

Correct! I wondered whether that one would be distinctive enough.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

13. The Greatest Kind of Magic, I think it's called? I do remember Liam Grady being a lovely OC.

[snorkackcatcher]

Oh good, I'm glad someone else has read that one. :) It's one of those stories that look horribly cliched for the first half a dozen chapters and then really hit their stride.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

6 is After the End, Arabella and (I can't remember how to spell it) Zsenya(?).

[snorkackcatcher]

Correct, and that's the right spelling. *checks surreptitiously* :)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Is 2 Josan's "Once Upon A Time In Egypt"?

[snorkackcatcher]

Yes indeed. I found a copy on my hard drive when I came to do this. :)

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

#1 is Herpetology by andrea13 and Persephone Kore.

#11 sounds an awful lot like a Lupin / Vector fic I read ages ago, but can't remember the title or author ... I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it was called "By the Numbers"?

[jesspallas.livejournal.com]

You're right, 11 is "By The Numbers" by Wolfcat. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Spot on. Glad someone else read it, it's really quite sweet. :) Pity the sequel was left hanging, although it would be canonshafted by OotP.

[snorkackcatcher]

It's a good stab -- you're right with both. (I was surprised #1 didn't go immediately, I thought it was very distinctive!)

[octobersnow.livejournal.com]

9. Is "Snapshots" by thetreacletart?

[snorkackcatcher]

Yay! I'm so glad someone spotted that. :)