Mirai's Review: Calculation

Are you interested in a world where Harry Potter was born a genius? With fanfiction, there comes the tendency to have favourite stories, read stories that show up on your feed, or just outright avoid the terribly written ones. Of course, I have read a number of fanfictions, ranging from horrific to jaw-dropping beautiful. In this post, I’m going to talk about a popular fanfic entitled “Calculation” by fringeperson. 

Rated K for most ages to read, it is a story set in an alternative universe where Harry Potter was a mathematical genius. With allusions to the original plot, it takes its own twists on the magical tale to fit the intelligence this Harry carries. It has over 1000 reviews and favourited by many. 

The characterization sets up the entire tone for the story⁠—calculated and focused, yet entertaining. Much of the humour comprised in this piece of fiction makes me enjoy the tiny details. The writer clearly crafted a delicate piece to write this alternative interpretation of Harry Potter. The way Harry Potter comes off really invokes much of the narrative's awesome twists. It surprised me very much when the Sorting Hat made its climatic decision and it only rose its storytelling from then on. Notably, characters like Severnus Snape and Ron Weasly are given different dimensions that makes the reader, myself included, interested enough to read until the cute ending occurs. 

A criticism would be the choppiness from the jumping from one scene to the next. There should’ve been more built up towards certain interactions between Harry Potter and other characters, such as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. It focused intently on his pet, rather than the people involved in his social circle.

Overall, this fanfic portrays an excellent interpretation of Harry and answers a lot of the financial problems Hogwarts would encounter had the original plot focused on it. The grand take away is that even with a marvelous world-building, there comes a time where we as writers can take flaws of the original work and turn it into our very own masterpiece.

Personally, I give it 5 out of 5 hearts. Not only does this fanfic show an interesting premise, but it also does it in a way that even younger readers can understand.