What is 'Alchemised?' Nonbinary author's 'Harry Potter' fan fic scores major movie deal
Everyone is talking about Alchemised, the Harry Potter fan fic-turned-novel that just scored a major movie deal this week. Could this be the answer to ditching J.K. Rowling without losing the remnants of a beloved world so many people grew up with?If you need to catch up, here's what we know.What Is 'Alchemised'?See on InstagramAlchemised is a dark romantasy novel by SenLinYu that started as a Harry Potter Dramione (Draco/Hermione) fan fic called "Manacled." It follows Helena Marino (fka Hermione Granger), an alchemist and healer with missing memories who has been taken prisoner by a powerful necromancer. The story has also drawn comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, if you want a better idea of the vibes.The fan fic version was first published on Archive of Our Own (Ao3) in 2018. After earning a ton of readers, it was pulled and repackaged as an original novel that will be published by Del Rey at Penguin Random House on September 23, 2025.'Alchemised' the movie (@) As if that wasn't bold enough, it was announced on Wednesday that Legendary inked a whopping seven-figure deal for the movie rights to Alchemised, which an anonymous source told The Hollywood Reporter may be one of the highest amounts for a book's movie rights (not taking inflation into account).Not much else is known about what will become of the film at this point, but Legendary is obviously putting a lot of cash behind it, so there's little doubt we'll see some big names tossed around in the future.Who is SenLinYu?See on InstagramSenLinYu is a first-time novelist who uses they/she pronouns and has decided to retain their pen name for publishing. Their website bio notes that they live in Portland with their family and "started writing in the Notes app of their phone during their baby's nap time."What does this all have to do with 'Harry Potter?' (@) Well, as mentioned, Alchemised began as Harry Potter fan fiction. Many of the fans who are preemptively hyped for the novel have already read the Dramione version and come to love it.There's already some question as to whether this might be a way for a very specific subset of Harry Potter fans to keep their love of the franchise sort of alive without directly supporting J.K. Rowling. The author is nonbinary, so at least not somebody who's out there attacking trans people on social media.That said, it's unclear just how heavily the serial numbers were filed off to make this publishable without infringing upon copyright. What HP fans initially fell in love with was already set in a post-canon alternate universe take on the books, with a much darker tone than the original, so it's not like we'll be reading about 11 year olds getting sorted into Hogwarts houses.Online delight and criticism (@) The popularity of "Manacled" really cannot be overstated. It's extremely well-known in Harry Potter fandom, especially among Dramione fans. It will undoubtedly sell very well, and Legendary will almost certainly make bank on the film.Still, there's plenty of criticism to be found before anyone even touches on the story itself. Fan fic even alternate universe fan fic that takes liberties with the world, relationships, and other aspects is built on existing work. Legally, it exists in somewhat of a gray area. Writers of original works have often turned a blind eye to it, though some of us are old enough to remember the era of Anne Rice sending cease-and-desist letters to anyone writing in her worlds.The uptick lately in things like Alchemised and The Love Hypothesis not even being mentioned in the media without a nod to the source material makes some people nervous that powerful writers or studios might decide to change their stance on letting fandom be.There's also the sense among some fan fic readers and writers that using free, community-driven sites like Ao3 as a testing ground and then repackaging the work for profit is somewhat of a betrayal of the intention behind fandom. It's a controversial topic, to say the least, and one that's likely to see a lot more discussion after Alchemised is released.And then there's the Harry Potter tie-in, specifically. While supporting Alchemised can be seen as a middle finger to Rowling, the endless mentions of the franchise help keep it alive. If people who didn't care about Harry Potter before fall in love with Alchemised, will they seek out Rowling's work as well? Will her platform grow?Considering her already extensive reach, that might be a fruitless question to consider at this point anyway. And the same is likely already true of Alchemised itself. All of the cats are already out of the bag, for better or for worse.
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