It's always darkest before the dawn

The good ones always manage to make him quintessentially Harry while bringing out his more sneaky aspects. I mean he is. He breaks rules and is good at finding ways to sway the staff, for the greater good, of course :P

And that's exactly why I love fics in which harry is in Slytherin. Especially one that is called Saving Connor. It is the first book in an epic series where Harry is the brother of the Boy Who Loved and is raised to protect and defend him. Too bad he gets into Slytherin though :P
It is absolutely amazing. The author changed so many things from canon but still managed to make everything fascinating. Book 1 is good but it is in sequel that this series really starts to shine.

I still have 3 books to go in that series. (Have I mentioned that is really long? Like realllyyy long.) but it is really worth it.

I agree that all tropes are overused, and that's probably because this fandom has been here for a long time. But even now, they are still entertaining.