Manacled

There are mixed feelings about the “Harry Potter” series in general. This once-loved world of flying owls, castles, and a destined boy could feel semi-tainted to some due to the creator's personal beliefs. I will not discuss that, as that could be an entire essay on whether readers should separate art from the artist. This recent controversy, paired with the direction of my enjoyment of fantasy and what I seek out for myself, has driven me away from the original Harry Potter story. I love grimdark and darkly complicated stories with gray characters and fraught circumstances. And sadly, at this space in my life. The original “Harry Potter” story no longer does “it for me.”

It is too sweet.

But I posit to you, “dear reader,” as the illustrious Eleni would say, what if it wasn't saccharine but filled with real and truly flawed human beings dropped into an impossible scenario?

What if the bad guys won? What if war were actually war, the winning side hindered by morals that had no place in war and a side that had no scruples against using the most heinous spells and magic? What would that look like?

“I have warned you. If something happens to you, I will personally raze the entire Order. That isn't a threat. That is a promise. Consider your survival as much a necessity to the survival of the Resistance as Potter's. If you die, I will kill every last one of them.”

It is an interesting thought experiment, and up until now, no fan fiction author has hit on the right tone and had the necessary skill to immerse you in a new version of Harry's world convincingly until now.

First, something I don't usually do is give you trigger warnings. This new story has violence, sexual assault, and torture. And certainly not if you are a minor or young person; save this story for when you are a little older and jaded. I believe that all of these elements served a purpose in service to the narrative. There is no fridging on my watch. But it is still hard to read.

Firstly, if you are unfamiliar with shipping, let me elucidate. Shipping is when you, the reader, want a story that veers away from the original, takes two other characters, and puts them in a love match.
Popular ones in the Harry Potter fandom can be anything from Harry and Hermione to Harry and Ron to Regulus Black at Grimgotts and a room full of frisky goblins. Have at it. That is one of the most excellent parts of fanfiction. It is done in love to the original story, and frankly, it is so outlandish that it is hilarious to read. The story Manacled is an 876-page masterpiece of the genre written by SenLinYu that has become the defining Dramione ship piece and currently is sitting at 34k views on Goodreads with a 4.67 rating. It is not just successful as a fanfiction piece; it is successful as a novel in general.

“If he's a monster, then I'm his creator. What did you think was the source of all his rage?”

The plot revolves around Hermione and Draco Malfoy a couple of years after the start of the second wizarding war. Some creative license has been taken here. Instead of the story being rolled up in a “happily ever after,” People are dying in the most horrific ways, and the resistance barely survives.

We start the story with Hermione in the dark, in pure sensory deprivation, where she has resided for 18 months. She has held on to her sanity by sheer will alone. We don't know when in the war this is; at this point, we know the harrowing experience Hermione has been through. Hermione is unceremoniously dragged from her cell by rough hands and put forth before the one and only Dolores Umbridge. Dolores has become the Dark Lord's prison warden. And Hermione was one of his most protected prisoners. She is the last living member of the Order of the Phoenix, but oddly enough, she has memories buried down in her mind that are protected and sealed away from even the most practiced and skilled legilimentalist. The memories are the only thing keeping her alive.

A doctor examines Hermione and figures out that the only way that the memories might be recovered in any safe, usable manner is a magical pregnancy. Due to the sheer amount of death that this generation of living witches and wizards has had, Voldemort has started a birthing program, a la Handmaid's Tale, that shuffles off living witches, manacles them, and gives them to trusted death eaters to impregnate. Along with the birthing program, Voldemort has decreed that people will be married and pairs off individuals in the hopes that more babies can be born.

“Be careful. Don't die.
Only because you asked.”

While this chunk of the story borrows heavily from ideas found in The Handmaid's Tale, it doesn't feel hackneyed. The author makes these ideas of power and manipulation and the subjugation of women work within this narrative framework. For intents and purposes, the witches are handmaids; instead, they replace God with subservience to the Dark Lord. To control the magic the witches can wield and objects they can touch, the witches are manacled with a bracelet that stops the magic from flowing out of their bodies. No eye contact, talking, escape, or free will.

Because of the delicate nature of Hermione's case and the pure paranoia of Voldemort, the father of the future babies that Hermione will have must be wholly and utterly loyal to Voldemort and be a strong legilimens. That man has become the High Reeve, Voldemort's enforcer and truly terrifying individual. And he is none other than Draco Malfoy—Harry Potter's bratty nemesis who has come to a very dark place in this story. At this point, dear reader, you might think, “Oh, ok, this is the part with the porn soundtrack. They look deeply into each other's eyes and fall madly in love.”

You could not be further from the truth.

Hermione is psychologically flayed; she is broken down piece by piece. While the idea of a ship is lovely, people are people and are messy. Nothing that happens to Hermione is pleasant, nor to Draco. The world is ever-changing shades of gray. But all of it is necessary to support a complicated story that might have some of the most complex writing I have ever read. When the bough breaks and memories start to break through, we are shifted back to the height of the war when everyone was alive. Ron has become promiscuous; Harry seems to have aged a decade and, on particularly bad days, fights in underground clubs for release, and Hermione, the heart of the original story, is the glue that is holding everything together. Hermione becomes a chameleon with her brilliant brain, does whatever she has to do, and is whoever she has to be to save those she loves, even if they no longer love or appreciate her back. She sacrifices bits of herself slowly to give the resistance inches against the dark lord.

“But as she tried to unravel him, he grew increasingly tragic and terrifyingly human.”

The teenage bad boy sent to save the damsel trope is old and does a disservice to both of the characters involved. In real life, neither a “bad boy” nor a damsel are one-dimensional. People just are more challenging to figure out. And while this story could have stayed at that superficial level, it did not. Throughout the 800+ pages, we learn how incredibly complicated good and evil can be. That evil is just a matter of perspective.

There are a couple of things to overlook when reading this. This is fanfiction; a few chapters are a smidge repetitive, and given a good once-over by an editor would have sliced those away, along with the occasional grammar mistake. But it is few and far between.

“Pragmatism has stolen away any luster of heroism from her.”

To sum up, Manacled is a complex war story based around a well-known ship. It is one of the most complex stories of its kind I have ever read, and it now puts the original Harry Potter in stark relief for me. One who reads this cannot walk away unscathed in one way or another. Still, as an experience, this rich story has added much-needed nuance to Harry Potter's best friend, Braniac Hermione, and Harry Potter's nemesis Draco Malfoy. They are all so much more than the sum of their parts.

This was honestly better than the original HP books. I loved it so much and I have a new found love for the Dramione ship. This FF is 18+ and I would read up on the trigger warnings before getting into it. It is definitely a verryyyy dark romance. I plan on reading some of SenLinYu's other AO3 reads now!

I never write reviews, but I need to leave this review for future me. THIS BOOK, OMG! I did nothing other than reading this for 3 days. It completely wrecked me, made me feel anxious and sad, but in a sort of good way?! I'll never stop thinking about this story and these characters. The author did such a good job exploring trauma during war times, and what it feels like to be lonely. Also, how the world building was expanded beyond the HP books was incredible. I truly don't have words to describe this book, it is now one of my favorite books of all time! Please go read it if you don't mind bawling your eyes out and having this book consume your life lol

The story / plot wasn't drawing me in. It's so similar to The Handmaid's Tale with that magical HP spin on it but I wasn't drawn in like how I was when I read The Handmaid's Tale. I could feel myself falling into a slump whenever I tried to read the book and I wasn't excited to pick up my kindle to read. I also happened to see an ig post of artwork from the story which spoiled the ending for me so I don't feel the need to complete the story.

I probably should have taken some vacation days before reading this book. I read the version with the 19 epilogues (ok it wasn't 19, but it felt like it). I basically didn't work, eat, and barely slept over the 3 days I took to finish this thing. I just could not put it down, smh.

The author's clever use of flashbacks, the chronology of the story, the dramatic and harrowing plot twists, and he exploration of bondage...the many forms it can take and how the characters chose to deal with the trauma/ relationships surrounding it...I was just blown away. This book dealt with some heavy themes brilliantly, dealt with the many shades of love honestly, and did not shy away from sad and sometimes disgusting ways people can treat one another in order to reach their goals.

As much as I loved loved loved this fanfic, a tiny part of me wished it could have been broken up into 2 separate books or novellas...not sure what they would be called but yeah. There was just so much to digest. One day I'll go back and re-read it more slowly and maybe my heart won't be racing the whole time!

I am a sucker for angsty fanfics and this is how I came into this fic although I am not a fan of Dramione in general.

On one hand, the writing is excellent, but on the other hand everything in this fic is so removed from canon - the tone of the fic and characterisations of the Trio to boot - I had problem believing I was reading a HP fanfic if not for the character names. Also the development of romance between Draco and Hermione just seemed forced to me.

For the whole time I was binge-reading this fic just so I could get to the ending and be done with it, but even the ending was anticlimatic. Nothing changed in the Old World and the two were stuck on an island for the rest of their lives.

I much prefer “Do Not Go Gentle” from the same author which is the only believable Snamione fic I have so far come across.

This is my July book recommended by a friend. Why yes, it is June. But when Kat started raving about this book, I decided I'd start giving it a listen every now and then on Spotify, hoping that by the time it got to July I'd have wandered my way through it. But then....I got a few chapters in....and then....I couldn't stop. Last weekend I had to just give up and declare myself obsessed and plow my way through. And what book has me so obsessed, you ask?

It's.....Harry Potter fanfic??!? In this dystopian re-imagining of the HP world, Voldemort wins, Harry Potter is dead, and there is a Handmaid's Tale-style “repopulation” program. It is pretty dark (all the trigger warnings!). It is difficult to talk about the plot too much because there are lots of twists and turns and I really don't want to spoil anyone on anything. It is really, really good. Like....I think it's my favorite read so far this year?? (I'm willing to explore the possibility that I had low expectations going in.) The darkness is handled so well, and the ending is so on point, it never felt like the answers were too easy but it also never felt as if there was no hope. If this sounds interesting at all to you you should really give it a read.

And about that - I'll link to an online copy of the book below, but as I understand it this will likely only be available until the end of this year? The author, SenLinYu has a book deal to write a similar (but non HP) story that will be available for sale (Alchemised) in the fall of 2025. I will likely read that one as well!

Anyway, this book is great, read it!

5

This is a distressing read that I unfortunately cannot recommend. This book attempts to weave a tragic love story, but instead, it shockingly forces readers to confront and, in a way, rationalize instances of rape and abuse. The narrative is deeply unsettling, as it depicts the main characters enduring irreversible psychological and emotional trauma. The portrayal of such sensitive topics is handled without the necessary care or depth, leaving the reader feeling more horrified than empathetic. Furthermore, the character development is shallow, robbing the story of any meaningful or redemptive qualities. It's disconcerting how the serious issues of abuse and trauma are used as mere plot devices, rather than being addressed with the gravity they deserve. Overall, Manacled left me more traumatized than moved, turning what could have been a powerful story into a harrowing and unpleasant experience.

This was everything!

Everything you didn't know you needed from the world of harry potter. I mean you guys, this was everyrhing. Omg the feels.
Very well written first of all, but also, the world building was fantastic. It made sense somehow, all of it. And it got very very dark. In a lot of ways this is a toxic ship, but still, you get it! I mean i shipñed for sure!

Now not wanting to continue the rant, read this if you want to expand on this wizarding world, if you think that maybe harry potter wasnt the most interesting character, if you wanted to see different sides of this conflict. But you'll end up staying draco and hermoine for sure! Still, the ending could've been more cohesive, but i repeat, this was everything and left me an incoherent blabbing mess. Loved it and highly recommend it!

Btw, this author's writting style was great, can't wait to see what's next...