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That Old Black Magic
Head Auror Harry Potter and his magical partner, Lord Draco Malfoy, are cast back in time against their will and at the whim of fate to right the injustices done during the second blood war. Faced with a nightmare filled future, a looming war, and the forced to deal with people long dead to them–they must navigate the past, protect the future, and learn to forgive before it’s too late.
532 pages, ebook
First published October 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 9, 2019
Harry Potter fanfiction. Not for everyone.
One of my favorites by Keira.
One of my favorites by Keira.
January 8, 2021
So I read this story for the third time today. I really like a good time travel fic and this one had the added feature of not only Harry traveling back in time but also his long-term partner, Draco Malfoy.
So we have these two badass adult men dropped into their teenage bodies. They immediately start shaking shit up and lying their asses off to friends and family. Harry and Draco are very much a unit here and this synchronicity is attributed to the fact that they are a soulbonded archmagus pair (basically super powerful soulmates). They are both "light" but in more of a the ends justify the means kind of way.
The Weasleys don't necessarily get bashed but Ron, Ginny and Molly are heavily flawed people. Dumbledore too is looked upon as generally on the side of good but less then ethically perfect.
I personally find the author's writing style very relaxing and easy to come back to. In particular, I like her sense of humor and the pure competency of her main characters. I wish I had that sort of drive and ability to keep on top of my shit.
The writing is also very dialogue heavy which I have mixed feelings about; it certainly adds to the story's wittiness but it may come at the cost of a certain level of descriptive depth into the characters' internal thoughts and feelings. And because Harry and Draco are so competent, the story might lose some of its tension because those very decisive and successful external actions lack a counterpart of that character internally angsting or feeling unsure.
I mention the story's tension in particular because, with Harry and Draco being so badass, I simply trust that they're going to be able to fix whatever trouble they find themselves in. They're just so certain that I'm not really worried on their behalf. And as a reader, I lose some of that on the edge of my seat feeling as a result.
That is not to say that Keira Marcos isn't a fabulous writer. She is ridiculously talented. I recommend anyone who likes slash fics (or even Harry/Hermione) to check her out. My criticism is small but hard for me to articulate.
So we have these two badass adult men dropped into their teenage bodies. They immediately start shaking shit up and lying their asses off to friends and family. Harry and Draco are very much a unit here and this synchronicity is attributed to the fact that they are a soulbonded archmagus pair (basically super powerful soulmates). They are both "light" but in more of a the ends justify the means kind of way.
The Weasleys don't necessarily get bashed but Ron, Ginny and Molly are heavily flawed people. Dumbledore too is looked upon as generally on the side of good but less then ethically perfect.
I personally find the author's writing style very relaxing and easy to come back to. In particular, I like her sense of humor and the pure competency of her main characters. I wish I had that sort of drive and ability to keep on top of my shit.
The writing is also very dialogue heavy which I have mixed feelings about; it certainly adds to the story's wittiness but it may come at the cost of a certain level of descriptive depth into the characters' internal thoughts and feelings. And because Harry and Draco are so competent, the story might lose some of its tension because those very decisive and successful external actions lack a counterpart of that character internally angsting or feeling unsure.
I mention the story's tension in particular because, with Harry and Draco being so badass, I simply trust that they're going to be able to fix whatever trouble they find themselves in. They're just so certain that I'm not really worried on their behalf. And as a reader, I lose some of that on the edge of my seat feeling as a result.
That is not to say that Keira Marcos isn't a fabulous writer. She is ridiculously talented. I recommend anyone who likes slash fics (or even Harry/Hermione) to check her out. My criticism is small but hard for me to articulate.
May 25, 2018
No matter how many times I read this story, I enjoy it every time. For one, its just that good and two, Harry never belonged with Ginny. Seriously, I hated her character. I love this author and what she does with her characters and stories, whether fanfiction or published work, consistently blows me away. Nothing ever gets old for me either and I just can't wait until she continues the series. Yes, I'm fangirling a bit and no, I don't care. lol
January 21, 2026
3.5 or so, rounded down mainly because The End caught me by surprise, which makes for a less-satisfying final impression. There are many clever ideas here, as well as a few things I was less pleased with. I'll see how much of my scribbled notes I can babble about without getting too spoilery. Though this is going to be rather long, a lot of it is just part of the rich background, not really details of the plot.
♦♦♦♦♦
First of all, the prologue opens with 30-year-old Harry and Draco mid-sex-scene, which made me a bit startled and uncomfortable, not knowing the nature and history of their obviously well-established relationship/ dynamic. I don't enjoy glimpses into the bedrooms of "strangers", but it soon moves on into investigation of the sad circumstances that lead to their involuntary leap back in time and age.
Regarding the depictions of certain canon characters:
♦ I can agree re. having Molly Weasley meddling with mainly unselfish intentions, but condescending misjudgment of Harry's maturity and necessities, and sometimes terrible consequences. At least she is shown recognizing her mistakes, expressing contrition, and improving in some ways.
♦ Callow and jealous Ron also develops awareness of his own faults, and improves somewhat, though Harry has learned caution re. depending on his support.
♦ Ginny, however, is deeply, delusionally convinced Harry is meant to be hers, despite not truly knowing him beyond his mythologized media misrepresentations, and she's dangerously foolish and ignorant in how she tries to bring that about, in her loathing and suspicion of Draco. Harry manages to exercise forgiveness, seeking aid for the lingering taint that made her willing to go so far.
♦ Harry doesn't allow Dumbledore to get away with his manipulative secrecy this time, and it's posited that the Headmaster didn't know how abusive his Muggle family were — partly because Petunia refused Poppy Pomfrey permission for any full magical medical scans of Harry, and partly because that evil Ministry toad Dolores Umbridge blocked any investigation of alerts from the wards on their home!
(N.b., Cornelius Fudge is another whom Harry confronts early and powerfully, and though his enlightenment is only from self-interest, he does become a bit less ineffectual.)
♦ On a more-positive note, Dudley required counselling after the Dementor incident, and even without being able to reveal what really happened, discussion of his family brought him to a wiser, kinder attitude re. Harry, and Harry and Dumbledore offer to aid him toward better health.
♦ There's actually an interesting idea I may adopt as headcanon re. why Snape's private Occlumency lessons were quite so terrible for Harry, involving interference not caught due to the lack of communication between mutually-hostile instructor and student. The revelation has an impact on both of them, and Shape has fewer instances of knee-jerk unpleasantness.
♦ Being a girl-turned-woman with much more study-smarts than people-smarts myself, the one depiction that truly bothers me is Hermione's. I always felt it was a stupid choice on Rowling's part to have them all just laughing at SPEW instead of making sure Hermione knew and understood what house elves actually wanted and needed (since they are sometimes abused), but here they tell her the facts, and she shuts her eyes to even the possibility that she's gotten the wrong idea re. "freeing" them. Surely her character has more intellectual integrity than that?
Her bossiness and sense of academic superiority, well, maybe that's more accurate, though I don't know/ recall if canon supports Harry as any more than average in the scholarly, rather than practical, aspects of Hogwarts's curriculum.
Other clever premises, some of which Ms. Marcos has used variants of in other fics:
♦ Harry deliberately avoids antagonizing the Goblins as happened in canon and beyond in their original timeline, rewarded with a beneficial alliance, and more of his Potter heritage that he'd been denied.
♦ One training device Harry and Draco are given access to is a "magical holodeck" borrowed from the Aurors — and ex-Auror Moody is very impressed by their ruthless and efficient warrior teamwork.
♦ It's discussion-worthy that the principal antagonists in this volume are among those supposedly on the side of the Light. Between Ministry ambitions and Unspeakables' suspicions (not entirely unfounded, since the "boys" have to conceal the true origins of much of their "rapid" skills and knowledge, but leading to unjustifiable methods), and several people thinking they have to (and have the right to) "protect" Harry from Draco — whose life or death is in fact tied to his own, ... with "friends" like these, Harry barely needs Voldie and his Death Eaters for enemies!
I wasn't thrilled with one minor element that was meant to be amusing. Among those whom Sirius slept with as a young manwhore was Severus Snape ("a great shag", IIRC his wording)! Sorry, but even if things are better now as they work together to protect both their godsons, schooldays hate sex is not a "light" interaction to have as a foundation.
And of course, the main plot point with which this book concludes is carrying out the ritual needed to complete Harry and Draco's soul bond to best effect and least chance of destructive wild-magic side effects, which they'd spent much time planning for. This isn't really "my thing", either, involving as it does sexual intercourse with witnesses. It's well-handled, with the participants in both the final adult and junior wizarding circles carefully chosen and generally respectful, but still...
(I should clarify, though, that if you're looking for lots of the hot-'n'-kinky, look elsewhere. Neither the opening nor closing sex scene is protracted, and in between they have to keep their teenage bodies virgin for the ritual.)
One repeated minor goof that bugged me a bit was use of "magus/ archmagus" apparently as plural as well as singular. Surely almost everyone, Christian or not, is familiar with "the gifts of the Magi" (wise men, plural)?! (Plus occasional apostrophe errors and such, though nothing major. As usual, the author clearly states her rejection of any "unsolicited beta" efforts.)
You may be wondering at this point why I even said I liked it above a flat three, but it is vividly and grippingly written, with well-rounded and appealing, not-too-grey protagonists. I just feel it's important to warn other potential readers about what I found to be drawbacks, in case those issues matter even more to them.
There are, however, also some genuinely fun bantering dialogues and other moments, like the various T-shirts Dobby wears with sayings such as, "My master could kick your master's arse," and the badge Harry's issued upon entering the Ministry at one point, identifying his purpose/role as "Living Howler".
As I mentioned to begin with, this story ends a bit abruptly, with what I consider a fairly brief denouement. It's still labeled as "The War Mages, Book 1", but the author has downgraded the "trilogy" from "Don't bug me about when the next installment[s] will be written" to "I never wrote the planned sequels. Stop asking." Now, I didn't expect the boss battle to happen in book 1, but it ends before their bond is even announced, i.e., Draco's identity confirmed, and before they get back to Hogwarts for the next year — they'd landed . I'm sorry to hear that we'll probably never get a resolution showing the pair at the height of their bonded powers, defeating the bigots whose short-sighted, murderous international campaign had in their AU future started the end of magic in the world.
Content warnings: Child abuse (Draco as well as Harry, plus references to it being common in Dark Magic families to strengthen heirs' reactive magic); spousal abuse, including mention of marital rape; attempted sexual assault and attempted use of psychotropic potions (both from individuals who should have been allies!); alt-timeline death (additional warning in 1st spoiler, so read if you have triggers) ; and other violence (both actual and against simulated opponents).
**********
11/2022: I still feel this is a more-than-3★-but-less-than-4★ read, though the ending didn't jar me this time.
1/2024: Seems I get a little closer to rounding up each time, but since the points I made are still true...
keiramarcos.com/fan-fiction/that-old-...
133K, posted in three sections.
♦♦♦♦♦
First of all, the prologue opens with 30-year-old Harry and Draco mid-sex-scene, which made me a bit startled and uncomfortable, not knowing the nature and history of their obviously well-established relationship/ dynamic. I don't enjoy glimpses into the bedrooms of "strangers", but it soon moves on into investigation of the sad circumstances that lead to their involuntary leap back in time and age.
Regarding the depictions of certain canon characters:
♦ I can agree re. having Molly Weasley meddling with mainly unselfish intentions, but condescending misjudgment of Harry's maturity and necessities, and sometimes terrible consequences. At least she is shown recognizing her mistakes, expressing contrition, and improving in some ways.
♦ Callow and jealous Ron also develops awareness of his own faults, and improves somewhat, though Harry has learned caution re. depending on his support.
♦ Ginny, however, is deeply, delusionally convinced Harry is meant to be hers, despite not truly knowing him beyond his mythologized media misrepresentations, and she's dangerously foolish and ignorant in how she tries to bring that about, in her loathing and suspicion of Draco. Harry manages to exercise forgiveness, seeking aid for the lingering taint that made her willing to go so far.
♦ Harry doesn't allow Dumbledore to get away with his manipulative secrecy this time, and it's posited that the Headmaster didn't know how abusive his Muggle family were — partly because Petunia refused Poppy Pomfrey permission for any full magical medical scans of Harry, and partly because that evil Ministry toad Dolores Umbridge blocked any investigation of alerts from the wards on their home!
(N.b., Cornelius Fudge is another whom Harry confronts early and powerfully, and though his enlightenment is only from self-interest, he does become a bit less ineffectual.)
♦ On a more-positive note, Dudley required counselling after the Dementor incident, and even without being able to reveal what really happened, discussion of his family brought him to a wiser, kinder attitude re. Harry, and Harry and Dumbledore offer to aid him toward better health.
♦ There's actually an interesting idea I may adopt as headcanon re. why Snape's private Occlumency lessons were quite so terrible for Harry, involving interference not caught due to the lack of communication between mutually-hostile instructor and student. The revelation has an impact on both of them, and Shape has fewer instances of knee-jerk unpleasantness.
♦ Being a girl-turned-woman with much more study-smarts than people-smarts myself, the one depiction that truly bothers me is Hermione's. I always felt it was a stupid choice on Rowling's part to have them all just laughing at SPEW instead of making sure Hermione knew and understood what house elves actually wanted and needed (since they are sometimes abused), but here they tell her the facts, and she shuts her eyes to even the possibility that she's gotten the wrong idea re. "freeing" them. Surely her character has more intellectual integrity than that?
Her bossiness and sense of academic superiority, well, maybe that's more accurate, though I don't know/ recall if canon supports Harry as any more than average in the scholarly, rather than practical, aspects of Hogwarts's curriculum.
Other clever premises, some of which Ms. Marcos has used variants of in other fics:
♦ Harry deliberately avoids antagonizing the Goblins as happened in canon and beyond in their original timeline, rewarded with a beneficial alliance, and more of his Potter heritage that he'd been denied.
♦ One training device Harry and Draco are given access to is a "magical holodeck" borrowed from the Aurors — and ex-Auror Moody is very impressed by their ruthless and efficient warrior teamwork.
♦ It's discussion-worthy that the principal antagonists in this volume are among those supposedly on the side of the Light. Between Ministry ambitions and Unspeakables' suspicions (not entirely unfounded, since the "boys" have to conceal the true origins of much of their "rapid" skills and knowledge, but leading to unjustifiable methods), and several people thinking they have to (and have the right to) "protect" Harry from Draco — whose life or death is in fact tied to his own, ... with "friends" like these, Harry barely needs Voldie and his Death Eaters for enemies!
I wasn't thrilled with one minor element that was meant to be amusing. Among those whom Sirius slept with as a young manwhore was Severus Snape ("a great shag", IIRC his wording)! Sorry, but even if things are better now as they work together to protect both their godsons, schooldays hate sex is not a "light" interaction to have as a foundation.
And of course, the main plot point with which this book concludes is carrying out the ritual needed to complete Harry and Draco's soul bond to best effect and least chance of destructive wild-magic side effects, which they'd spent much time planning for. This isn't really "my thing", either, involving as it does sexual intercourse with witnesses. It's well-handled, with the participants in both the final adult and junior wizarding circles carefully chosen and generally respectful, but still...
(I should clarify, though, that if you're looking for lots of the hot-'n'-kinky, look elsewhere. Neither the opening nor closing sex scene is protracted, and in between they have to keep their teenage bodies virgin for the ritual.)
One repeated minor goof that bugged me a bit was use of "magus/ archmagus" apparently as plural as well as singular. Surely almost everyone, Christian or not, is familiar with "the gifts of the Magi" (wise men, plural)?! (Plus occasional apostrophe errors and such, though nothing major. As usual, the author clearly states her rejection of any "unsolicited beta" efforts.)
You may be wondering at this point why I even said I liked it above a flat three, but it is vividly and grippingly written, with well-rounded and appealing, not-too-grey protagonists. I just feel it's important to warn other potential readers about what I found to be drawbacks, in case those issues matter even more to them.
There are, however, also some genuinely fun bantering dialogues and other moments, like the various T-shirts Dobby wears with sayings such as, "My master could kick your master's arse," and the badge Harry's issued upon entering the Ministry at one point, identifying his purpose/role as "Living Howler".
As I mentioned to begin with, this story ends a bit abruptly, with what I consider a fairly brief denouement. It's still labeled as "The War Mages, Book 1", but the author has downgraded the "trilogy" from "Don't bug me about when the next installment[s] will be written" to "I never wrote the planned sequels. Stop asking." Now, I didn't expect the boss battle to happen in book 1, but it ends before their bond is even announced, i.e., Draco's identity confirmed, and before they get back to Hogwarts for the next year — they'd landed . I'm sorry to hear that we'll probably never get a resolution showing the pair at the height of their bonded powers, defeating the bigots whose short-sighted, murderous international campaign had in their AU future started the end of magic in the world.
Content warnings: Child abuse (Draco as well as Harry, plus references to it being common in Dark Magic families to strengthen heirs' reactive magic); spousal abuse, including mention of marital rape; attempted sexual assault and attempted use of psychotropic potions (both from individuals who should have been allies!); alt-timeline death (additional warning in 1st spoiler, so read if you have triggers) ; and other violence (both actual and against simulated opponents).
**********
11/2022: I still feel this is a more-than-3★-but-less-than-4★ read, though the ending didn't jar me this time.
1/2024: Seems I get a little closer to rounding up each time, but since the points I made are still true...
keiramarcos.com/fan-fiction/that-old-...
133K, posted in three sections.
March 9, 2026
Read on author's website. Well written and entertaining. Might reread in the future. Has some interesting world building, but for supposedly being ruthless and willing to do what needs to be done to fix things Harry kept letting people who hurt, tortured or threatened him and Draco off with a warning and that thoroughly pissed me off.
October 25, 2017
Clicheed filled to the brim but an enjoyable read, nonetheless.
November 2, 2019
This fanfic is actually quite good! Well thought out too, there were too many lords from the ancient of this or that though, for my tastes at least.
February 17, 2023
love it.
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