Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge

Challenge
Name:	Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge, Reptilia28's challenge
Date(s):
Moderator(s):
Founder:	Reptilia28
Type:	challenge
Fandom:	Harry Potter
URL:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge, also referred to as Reptilia28's challenge, was a challenge issued by Reptilia28. Among the requirements of the challenge include that after Harry Potter was killed by Voldemort, he's sent to Death's office, where Death is about to get fired because Harry was not supposed to die yet, that Harry is supposed to find his soulmate ("Some Granger girl"), and he is sent back in time with his memories intact to correct his mistakes. Common tropes that can be found in fanfics based on this challenge include Weasley Bashing, with Ginny Weasley using love potions on Harry, as well as Manipulative!Dumbledore. The challenge was previously posted on reptilia28's FanFiction.net page, but it was removed and there was no Wayback Machine archive. According to TV Tropes, reptilia28 appears to be dissatisfied with the challenge since the plots 'seem to blur together into one giant mass'.

The Challenge

CHALLENGE:

Challenge issued by "Reptilia28" - Originally on Portkey(dot)org verbatim:

A funny little challenge I just came up with. It's a comical twist on the time-travel category.

STORYLINE:

• Harry is killed at 17 during a fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.
• Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.
• When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soulmate ("Some Granger girl...") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soulmate part.
• Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.
• Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Harry had to have died at least three times before this one.
• The memory keeping contract must be included.
• Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soulmate turns up in his rant.
• Obviously, must be H/Hr.
• Have fun.

OPTIONAL:

• Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises.

Example Fanfics

• Tabula Rasa, reptilia28's own take on the challenge (2007)
• Death's Pride by Paladeus (2008), Harry/Hermione/Luna
• Harry Potter and Afterlife Inc. by Dunuelos (2010)
• Harry Potter - Three to Backstep by Sinyk (2014), combining this challenge with CoastalFirebird's Challenge where Daphne Greengrass is Harry Potter's soulmate, making this a Harry/Hermione/Daphne fanfic
• Harry Potter and the Angry Grim Reaper by TomHRichardson (2020)
• Master Of Dying by Motherof4dragons (2022)

Reception

[UndeadBBQ]
I despise these challenges. I really do. They sound like the author of the "challenge" was too fucking lazy to write his own damn story and decided to ask other people to write it for him.

This is a prompt:

Harry is killed at 17 during the fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

The entire rest is a commission. It restricts every bit of creativity the author could push into it, but hey - puts cynic cap on - that is probably why so many fanfiction authors like it.

[mrguymiah]
It reminds me of a pseudo interview Burnie Burns (Writer of "Red vs Blue") did. "For starting authors, I say give yourself constraints. Too often we're told writing is an open canvas where we can do anything we want. We get overwhelmed by choice and stagnate. I had two forts in a box canyon, a couple of vehicles, and a skull. It forced me to be creative with what I had." And I think that's the appeal. It gives direction in the endless void of possibility.

Links

• Reptilia28's Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge tag at AO3
• Dont fear the Reaper... reptilia28's Challenge community at Fanfiction.net