The Shadow of His Wings
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Shadow of His Wings |
| Author(s): | Mirabella |
| Date(s): | 2005–2007 |
| Length: | ~295,000 words |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure with a dash of romance, slash (WIP) |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| External Links: | The Shadow of His Wings (author's site, archive link) |
 The story at House of Hobbits, last updated in 2007. | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Shadow of His Wings is a Harry/Draco story by Mirabella. The story is still a WIP and the last update was in 2007.
Author's summary: "In which Evil faces an insurrection, Good faces an unexpected betrayal, and Harry means to find out which side Draco is on. Harry/Draco, R."
More detailed summary: "Harry is in his early twenties and teaching at Hogwarts with his former nemesis Draco Malfoy. The final battle against Voldemort never took place as You-Know-Who apparently preferred to go in hiding to prepare his next move carefully, thereby lulling the Ministry into a false sense of security. As the story starts, Voldemort is getting ready to unleash some pretty scary force on the unsuspecting wizarding world, while Lucius Malfoy has plans of his own to become the next Dark Lord. Dumbledore is gone, the Ministry is useless; needless to say, the situation is not ideal."[1]
Recs and Reviews
Multi-chaptered fic: The Shadow of His Wings by mirasfics remains the best multi-chaptered H/D fic I've ever read, because adulthood is messy and difficult, especially when there's magic involved. This story has everything - magic, romance, intrigue, interesting characters with motives and agendas, fight scenes and well-thought out plot lines. I can't recommend it enough and re-read it myself every month or so.– starlighter, 2005 [2]
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this fic is that it is equally good on the adventure and romance fronts. Mirabella came up with many exciting ideas about magic: tricky spells, scary wards, devilish plants, horrific necromancy and disquieting visions fill this tale to the brim and keep the story exciting and surprising at every turn. Fans of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade will appreciate the scenes of exploration into heavily protected territory.
For once, overflowing imagination goes hand in hand with great sensitivity: Compared with stories like the Saving Connor series by Lightning on the Waves for example, which has a lot of exciting ideas about magic but a somewhat looser grasp on the psychology of characters, this tale paints rather believable characters.
One might argue that towards the very beginning, the author is slightly too biased in favour of Draco Malfoy, making Harry looking like a bit of a fool in comparison, but the tendency is rather light and soon enough most characters gain in complexity and credibility. Great stories can often be judged from the quality of secondary characters and this is no exception: Ron may be a tad stereotypical, but Lucius is suitably impressive, Percy is strangely fascinating like a car crash on the highway and oh did Hermione break my heart.
The part played by romance is just as it should be in an adventure story: it helps driving the story forward and keeps things more interesting but without slowing the plot in any way. No pointless sex scenes here, the story comes first.– elskuligr, 2008 [1]
What if the war never ended? What if Voldemort just disappeared, and there was never any clear resolution? What if the line between friend and enemy blurred until you realized that there had never been any difference at all?
"The Shadow of His Wings" is a dark future!fic that takes these questions and runs with them. Even as the characters question events and each other, you find yourself doing the same, and the line between good and evil, if there is one, is never clear and distinct. This is a story that really makes you think about the things you see in the Harry Potter books, and even more about the things that you don't see. The conclusions Mirabella leads you to sometimes aren't pretty ones, aren't happy ones, but they're ones that just may be true. In a dark world, who can you really trust? Who's good? Who's evil? And how can you ever really tell?
But darkness isn't the extent of this story. There's humor and light and love in here, as well as the darkness. I think that's one of the things I like best. Waiting and watching and anticipating the next bit of light. That's a big part of what makes this fic enjoyable for me.
As usual, another big part is characters. All of the characters that Mirabella writes are fully realized and fully 3D, and that's something that I love about this. They each have their own reasons, their own goals, their own beliefs. Mirabella really brings everyone to life in an absolutely believable way. Every single character has emotions, has thoughts, has ideas, and each one brings something unique to the mix that is simply irreplacable. All the energy and planning that went into this fic really show, particularly in this area.
The only problem that I can possibly think of with this story is that it isn't finished yet, and so requires patience in waiting for the next part.– tani, 2005 [3]
A very interesting story with a very well conceived plot and a beautifully depicted universe.– foryourpleasure, 2009 [4]
Another highly memorable and epic fic is The Shadow of his Wings by Mirabella which I enjoyed intensely, though tragically it remains incomplete and simply drops off after 21 chapters. If the lack of resolution bothers you then avoid it but I can't push enough how much this gem deserves reading.– Camille, 2009 [5]
References
- ^ a b elskuligr. Fanfic reviews, 22 November 2008 (Accessed 11 August 2011)
- ^ starlighter. The Harry/Draco Rec List, 03 July 2005. (Accessed 11 August 2011)
- ^ tani-recs. The Shadow of His Wings by Mirabella (M), 10 July 2005. (Accessed 11 August 2011)
- ^ foryourpleasure. Harry Potter: Harry/Draco Recs Hogwarts Era, 04 September 2009. (Accessed 11 August 2011)
- ^ camille reads. Harry and Draco - My Favorite Harry Potter Fan Fiction Stories, 08 October 2009. (Accessed 11 August 2011)