I had these thoughts myself, and actually started writing one. But, it's actually the sequel to another story I was writing, that I suppose you could 'sorta kinda' call magical-inventor!Harry, if you were desperate to put a label! on it.

So, doing the math... I've never posted any of these stories I mention (which makes sense, since none are remotely finished and may never get there), so the hopes of me ever getting around to posting the sequel for one are pretty much nil.

Yeah, even I'm disappointed by the amount of fail there.

This factor applies to anything I write, space travel or not.

In a word: Yes. Witness the zillion Star Wars, Star Trek, and Stargate crossovers, The Culture, Halo, a smattering of Metroid, a certain StarCraft fic, Kris Longknife: Legend (Bluminous, I am looking at you) and Doghead13's motherfucking Harry Johnson stories... :awesome

Not that this fact diminishes the entertainment value. At All.

Quoted for truth. Thank you! How many times does this need to be stated?

And, the fact of the matter is, that Harry and Hermione (Harry for power and the drive to make the project happen, Hermione for research and runes... and both for silly muggle notions like space exploration) on their own could probably make a spaceship built and powered by magic, without a single muggle device, and fly it to the end of the universe.

In which case, the failure of electronics and computer systems are a very moot point.

So what's stopping Harry and his friends from making their own star trek?
(Red hair = red shirt, s'all I'm sayin'.)

I know; I've written it, and I'm not even that good, so surely others could make it work.

The most basic part of a rocket, propulsion, could be done a dozen different ways, just using magic. The whole notion of providing fuel for a long journey becomes ridiculously easy. What pushes the craft?

"Propulsion units/points" enchanted to emit...
Banishing spells in the right direction?
Controlled Explosion hexes?
Blasts of air?
Maybe it really does act like a big broom that is piloted from the inside, though that means at least one crew member has to be at the helm if the ship is going to go anywhere... and better have good reaction time if it's going to move at interstellar speeds.

Or maybe propulsion is provided by more mundane means, but the entire ship is powered by steam, using a closed system to heat the water, then cool it back down using nothing more than blocks of material enchanted with heating and cooling charms, instead of a radioactive reactor core.

Fuck thermodynamics right in the ass, this is a magical spaceship.

And maybe it uses continuous line of sight apparation, and can use the portkey effect to jump to previously recorded destinations.

Maybe it uses probability drive.
And instead of an AI, it has a living wardstone that controls and powers the ship's "shields" (and has a pleasant female voice, and can appear as a hologram/apparition/ghost/visual manifestation anywhere on the ship). I'm sure we've all seen this kind of thing in numerous "living Hogwarts" fics over the years.

Although shields may be unnecessary when your hull has an "unbreakable" charm on it.

Massive stores of supplies can be kept in magically expanded containers, with preservation/stasis charms. The cargo hold, itself, could be vastly expanded. Crew rooms could be quite spacious, or kept their original size, in case of a catastrophic collapse of the expanded spaces.

I doubt I need to mention that Room of Requirement = Holo-deck.

We already know there are charms to alter gravity, creating it probably isn't much harder. Until then, there are gloves/shoes with 'thought activated' sticking charms.

Magnets- I mean... Fresh air? How does it fucking work? Magic provides every kind of excuse from the easy "*POOF* We have breathable air." to the somewhat more elaborate "Look at our magical plants! Our plants are amazing! Neville is responsible for the growth of our plants which were chosen for the efficiency with which they scrub carbon dioxide out of the air and produce oxygen, and their modest water/sunlight/nutritional needs. It looks more like a fantasy rainforest than a hydroponics lab, but it works."

And, for food, they eat house elves. :fire "Youssa people gonna die?"

Actually, in all seriousness... for the dark version of magical space travel, I could see purebloods (who are too lazy to find a better solution) coming up with propulsion that is powered by house elves "rowing" to generate energy, like slaves on a trireme.

I don't want to think about that, though, because I desperately wish to avoid seeing a Dobby=Ben Hur IN SPACE story.

 

Haven't read it myself: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4826239/1/Magical_Mars

 

I read this a while back and found it mildly entertaining:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4889157/1/Radical_Edwards_Amazing_Good_Cook_Brother

It's a HP/Cowboy Bebop crossover. Hasn't updated in forever and only has a few short chapters, though.

 

Well technically the wizard would need some sort of full body bubble charm as they would still die very fast in space if they were completely exposed. Also, despite being very fast (firebolt is 150mph top speed right?), I doubt that a broom would have enough power to penetrate into space.

Any physics guys (Pers) feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Brooms obviously ignore gravity; it would just take a very long time to get to the moon and require a lot of food/water.

 

Hehe. In a nutshell, magical space travel could run the gamut from 'indecipherable from technology' to 'container with a force field around it', as in the movie Explorers awesome).

D&D's Spelljammer falls somewhere in the middle.

 

Loved that line. Harry and Co would have enough redheads to last them at least 9 away missions on unknown planets.

There was a book series that I read ages ago where wizards were able to teleport themselves and a pocket of air to Mars from Earth. If they had the universal coordinates or something.

This spaceship/broom could have a couple of phoenixes shoved in the engine compartment to supply energy/magic/apparating power; provided they don't get pissed off. :fire

 

As much as I don't really care for HP/SPACE! crossovers, I'll be damned if I let a halfwit like LessWrong keep any fic from being written. When you publish the crossover, kindly point any nay-sayers right here - right to this post. This post right here.


@Nay-sayers: if two people in different parts of the world can come up with calculus, I think we can agree that the relatively Less Educated Yudkowsky isn't the only person drumming up "original" fanfic ideas. So either enjoy the story, or fuck off.

 

I've read it a while ago. Has some OCs I don't really care about, Harry's relation with Hermione is too weird to me and it gets really dull after a while.

 

I just read it, and I must confess to not knowing what you're talking about, in regards to their relationship. Clearly they're friends. Aside from that, the author hasn't gone into much detail yet about that subject. Or anything else, really. How is that "too weird"?

If you want to talk about weird, how about the end of chapter 9. Where the hell did that come from?

And, yes, some of it was a bit on the dull side. For me, part of this was precisely because we don't get to see much of Harry interacting with Hermione.

 

Hmm, a non-crossover story like that needs some conflict and this is traditionally provided by aliens in a story like this.

So... will the aliens know about magic? Are there magical and muggle aliens?
Maybe they'll be laughed at by the other magical aliens, because they let their muggle counterparts beat them to space.

 

Weird in a sense that I couldn't understand their motivation to leave together if they hadn't an emotional connection beyond mere friendship. If they had been lovers it would have made far more sense. There are certain patterns you expect stories to follow, for instance Gattaca without the haunting love of the pair and will to start a new live together on another planet wouldn't have been such a strong theme if they would have been "mere" friends.

P.S. And to say the truth I must have intentionally obliviated myself of the sudden bisexual orgy or wtf that was in the last chapter of a dead fic Maybe that was the writer's idea of a fuck you good bye.

 

I actually have been trying to come up with a Harry in Space concept that DOESN'T strip the magic out of his way. Granted, I have him building his own spaceship using a combination of tech and magic and it does FTL using a drive that is based off Apparition. Posted on FFN Here.

One guy I talk to keeps asking how this is still Harry. Granted, I'm trying to keep this Harry and everything that makes him Harry, even if this is a crossover at this point. Honestly I could see a few concepts that a wizard could build a spaceship using their magic, at least for a lot of it. Broom riding enchantments, bubblehead field, cloak, apparition or portkey based FTL. Weapon systems that spout out concentrated magical energy.

Just saying.

 

I need to see a Captain!Harry fic piloting what is essentially a replica of a spaceship he saw in a cartoon when he was a kid through the universe and causing havoc with every other species out there... Kind of like Browncoat; Green Eyes with the humour of Dimension Hopping for Beginners and the chaos of Make A Wish. It would be hilarious.

 

So, basically just Make a Wish in space, but written by nonjon?

 

... Am I the only one... when thinking of this idea... harkens all the way back to the Muppet Show and think Wizards in Spaaaaacccccce.

 

It would be amusing, but I was referring more to the situations therein rather than the writing style. Harry goes about from Empire to Federation to Psychic Union and everything just seems to collapse around him... Just, pure, awesome.

Bah, I'm doing a horrible job describing it, I'm gonna catch some sleep.

 

Well... I think their decision to go together is less about their relationship with each other and more about the fact that neither of them have a compelling reason to stay on Earth.

Spoiler

After all, their families are both dead, and Harry has always felt alienated from his own people. He even says, in the story, that he won't miss Earth.

Watch the spoilers...

I believe the author's notes said that was directly inspired by a scene from the original series of Mars books.

Heh, I've been doing that in my head every time I click on the thread.

Most "In Space" Harry Potter stories are played as Serious Business. Some comedy ones -written by the right author, of course- wouldn't go amiss.

The Harry Johnson fics aren't necessarily comedy, but they have plenty of comedic moments.

The sequel that will never be to the story I'll never finish had plenty of humorous moments, but it wasn't really a comedy either. A possible angle involved a run in with a certain AI...

 

I know folk have been thinking of using spells and what not to survive in space against the temp, lack of air, things like that. But what about other space hazards? Cosmic Radiation, high intensity solar winds, Cosmic rays that the Earths atmosphere filters out on a regular basis like simple UV rays?

 

I have no doubt that magic could easily defend against such things.

The real problem, of course, is the wizards being aware of radiation in the first place in order to develop protection against it.

Though the shield charm might be flexible enough do the trick anyway.