The Other Champion

By Srikanth1808

Status: Complete, Word Count: 97,700, Pairings: Harry Potter/Daphne Greengrass, Cassius Warrington/Iris Parkinson, Genre: Adventure/Romance

Read the Fic Here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12392763/1/The-Other-Champion

Author’s Summary: Cassius Warrington of Slytherin has been chosen as the Hogwarts champion for the Triwizard Tournament – now what?

My Thoughts:
Characterization: The Other Champion focuses on four characters: Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass, Cassius Warrington, and an original character named Iris Parkinson. Out of these four, Cassius Warrington is easily the most fleshed out. His arc in this fic is one of the most compelling I’ve read in a fanfic, and he has one or two scenes that tug at my heartstrings in just the right way. His arc also ends in a truly powerful and unexpected way. However, don’t mistake my praise for Cassius for dismissal of the other three characters. Harry is also incredibly well written in this fic. His overall arc is probably the strongest, as he goes through the most tangible changes. However, the moments his character truly shine are when he’s interacting with Daphne. Every single interaction these two have feels like extra care and effort went into it. While Iris Parkinson doesn’t have quite as much depth as the other three, she still works really well as a character Cassius’ age for him to bounce off of. Their dynamic is also very cute, and it works very well. The characters absolutely fucking carry this fic, and it likely wouldn’t work without them.

Plot: The plot is pretty straight forward. Instead of Cedric, Cassius Warrington was the Hogwarts champion. He gets an interesting and compelling backstory, give Pansy an older sister, and then just let things play out. These changes cause ripples, and the end result if rather different. So first of all, I’d like to say that this fic has, easily, the best ending I’ve ever read in a fanfiction. I wouldn’t quite call it a tear jerker, or anything like that, but it is incredibly emotionally moving, and I am still shocked that Srikanth pulled it off as well as they did. Other than the ending, I think this fic’s plot is very solid. The pacing is top notch, the jokes are funny, and the character moments work.

Dialogue: This fucking fic has some of the smoothest, most natural dialogue I’ve ever seen in a fanfic. This becomes especially obvious whenever Harry and Daphne interact, but it’s always excellent, no matter which characters are talking. I really don’t have anything to say here, because it’s just all around fucking fantastic.

Romance: Out of the two main romances in this fic, I consider the Harry/Daphne one to be superior to the Cassius/Iris one. Its progression is natural, their dynamic is both adorable and heart breaking, and I really feel like Srikanth does an outstanding job writing them like awkward teens without making it obnoxious to read. The dynamic between Iris and Cassius is also written very well, and it makes the ending all the more impactful, but the absolute standout of this fic is the romance explored during Cassius’ flashback scenes. There’s so much raw emotion present in those scenes, and I am blown away every time I read them.

Writing Mechanics: The writing is mostly good in this fic. The grammar is accurate about ninety percent of the time, and there’s the occasional spelling error, but it’s mostly pretty tight and doesn’t have too many flaws in it.

Overall Thoughts: The Other Champion has been on my radar since I started reading fanfiction, but I always put it off because I didn’t think the summary sounded very interesting, but holy shit was I wrong! This story is amazing! It’s basically a character study of Cassius Warrington, one of the Slytherin Quidditch team chasers. It spends a lot of time just following him and looking at how he thinks, and explaining why he thinks the way he does, and I love that kind of thing (when it’s done well). It also features some excellent Harry/Daphne romance, and I love how that particular arc is handled. I can’t say much more without getting into spoilers, but Srikanth does something very different with it from what fanfiction authors normally do, and I really like that. Besides that, it has a fantastic ending, even if it might make you tear up a little bit. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

Final Score and Recommendations: I recommend this fic to the following people: if you like romance, if you like retellings of Goblet of Fire, if you like Haphne, and/or if you like fics that make you feel things. Overall, this fic is brilliant. It does everything that a year four retelling needs to do for me, and it’s a fantastic Haphne fic as well.

Tier: Top Tier

Written on 05/20/2021