Freelance language professional Poorva Chakravarthy has been a fan of the franchise ever since the first book came out in 1997. But it was only a decade later that she started writing stories set in the Harry Potter universe. “I fell in love with the series so much that I wanted to write about it too. I wrote stories with a friend of mine,” says Poorva. Her stories, hosted on fanfiction.net, are a mix of action, adventure and romance. Though the writing has taken a backseat now, Poorva is slowly getting back to her scrolls again. “I fell out of love with the HP universe after HBP came out. I’ve recently gotten back into it and have an adult perspective on the series now,” she says.
Fanfiction was something Deepika Rajagopalan took to after the release of the final book in the series in 2007. It was an opportunity for her read about her favourite characters without having to deal with the fact that the series had come to an end. “At one point, I was one of those people who practically worshipped the series,” she says.
The reading gradually turned to writing about Harry, which helped this accounting student hone her writing skills. “It allowed me to think beyond the basic plot line.” she adds. Deepika’s stories almost always centred around humour, with dashes of drama, action and suspense, from time to time.
Aakanksha Srinivasan was 10 years old when her Harry Potter craze took off. “I loved reading the books again and again. I still do,” she says. But the books weren’t enough for the now 21-year-old media student. She wanted more magic. And when she ran out of good fanfiction to read, she took up the quill. “I started writing about Harry and his adventures when I was fifteen,” she says and adds that she had to juggle the writing along with her college commitments and other things. Though she reads just about anything she can get her hands on, her favourite genre to read and write is the romcom genre. “It’s like an escape from reality for me,” she says. Her stories have been published on harrypotterfanfiction.com