If You've A Ready Mind

If You've A Ready Mind is a novel-length (approximately 90,000 words) Harry/Draco AU by Maya that was posted in ten installments on her LiveJournal between December 2005 and July 2006. The story uses the common Harry Potter fanfic trope of the sorting AU — sorting a character into a different House — to show how Draco Malfoy might have developed in Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin.
The action in If You've A Ready Mind spans the first six books of the Harry Potter series, but is written from Draco's point of view. 
It includes similar themes to Underwater Light, but is consistent with Order of the Phoenix canon.
Summary: "A re-telling of the Harry Potter books with Draco Malfoy as a Ravenclaw. Special features include Anthony Goldstein's inhaler, Cho Chang's charms, Gregory Goyle's alarming identity crisis and Ron Weasley's allegedly enormous broom."Summary from the Potter Slash Archive, where it was categorized "humour/AU" and rated R. (Archived 18 February 2007.)
This story, along with Maya's other fics, was taken offline in November 2008 when Maya went pro.
==Reactions/Reviews==
*"Maya wrote "If You've a Ready Mind" to show people why if Draco wasn't a Slytherin, he would have been a Ravenclaw. Personally, I was convinced. The events in the story in many ways stick quite close to canon, even to the very end. Many of Draco's decisions are the same. Many are also different. But throughout them all, there is a sense of Draco. With every step he takes, you can feel that this is something that Draco would do, and not just something the author thought would look nice. That is something that I really find amazing about this story...She does what some would claim is the impossible; she keeps Draco canonically in character, and yet she makes him immensely likeable.....The story itself starts out very light, both in length and content. However, much like the books it mirrors, it grows more serious and lengthy as the story goes on. Despite this, it remains just as readable throughout, grabbing your attention and not letting go until the very end. In other words, "If You've a Ready Mind" is amazing from beginning to end."tani-recs dated Sept 17, 2006.
*"I love this fic, SO MUCH. I love Maya’s humor and her Draco is TOTALLY AWESOME. I love how Draco tries to be a good Ravenclaw and how he still hates on Harry and his relationships with Hermione, and Cho, and Terry. GAH! SO MUCH LOVE!"Ric Rec dated August 21, 2006.
*"Maya is one of the most popular HP writers, but most of her work just doesn't float my boat. This fic, though, is utterly squee worthy. The characterization of Draco is slightly different, but still recognizable - his belief system is somewhat shifted, but he's still a plotter, meloddramatic, and things still have a tendency to blow up in his face. And just because he's not Slytherin doesn't mean he's not prejudice."rec-a-day post dated Jul 14 2006.
*"This is an AU in which Draco is sorted into Ravenclaw, by Maya. It follows Dracos years through Hogwarts, growing darker as the times become more dangerous. The piece bear Mayas trade mark humour, wit and intelligence, and carrying an underlying darkness beneath it. The entire piece follows canon closely, with some obvious alterations due to AU. This is precisely what I want an AU to be."terrybell at crack_broom. Harry/Draco, posted 05 January 2006. (Accessed 30 September 2016.)
*"Harry/Draco. Novel, AU of the first six books. I know I go on about Maya fics, but... Guh. I'm fairly sure this is my favourite work of fanfiction anywhere, and definitely makes it into my top twenty favourite novels of any genre. Brilliant and funny and adorable. Draco is Sorted into Ravenclaw. Some things are different, but some things were always going to be the same."cest_what on LiveJournal. Harry Potter Fic Recs, posted 03 January 2005, updated 19 August 2008. (Accessed 30 September 2016.)
==Fan Art==
*RavynAshling created a piece of fanart for the story, featuring Draco's adorable (non-canonical) glasses: Ravenclaw!Draco. 
*Cayxess did something similar.
*One section of the story inspired localfreak to draw Study Some More:"I find myself with various deadlines wooshing up to me for large and evil-looking essays. I panic. I am, by nature, a procrastinator- I'd rather read for fun than spend long tedious hours researching essays. I needed a fic, a fic which would inspire me to work. And so I re-read If You've a Ready Mind by Maya (link removed as the author took down all her fics :( ). In this fic Draco Malfoy is sorted into Ravenclaw and therefore quite a few chapters were dedicated to frantic, obsessive studying...So I took one of the more inspirational quotes and drew it up, that I could prop it on my desk and look at it every time I flagged."
*This line: ""Draco, because he wasn't used to not being on the sort of terms with people he was kissing that would make gestures appropriate, drew his hand through Potter's silly hair and was surprised at the reaction he got: Potter pressed his face against Draco's wrist, as if hardly anyone had ever been affectionate with him before." inspired EntropyIncarnate to draw If You've A Ready Mind.
* Glare-of-Death by ~kotofeika
* Draco with Glasses by *summer1716 - Draco trying on a Slytherin scarf for someone so they can see how he looks in green
*Ravenclaw!Draco by lillithium (23 September 2007) - Inspired by a scene from the last chapter of the story.
== References ==
 
Category:2005 Fanfiction‎
Category:2006 Fanfiction‎
Category:Slash Fanfiction