Challenge #1: Post Deathly Hallows AU - The Redemption of Voldemort

There are so many stories dealing with Harry going back in time in some manner or another to save the wizarding world from the destruction wrought by Voldemort, but I have yet to see a story about Voldemort himself going back . . . at least, in this particular capacity.

The story goes AU during the final battle in the great hall of Hogwarts. When Voldemort launches the Avada Kedavra at Harry, and Harry returns fire with his Expelliarmus, rather than meeting and the Avada Kedavra bouncing back, the Avada Kedavra simply misses Harry. Harry's Expelliarmus does hit, and it disarms Voldemort. Harry quickly stuns him after that.

Like Gellert Grindelwald before him, Voldemort is sentenced to life in prison upon Harry's request; due in part to Harry's "saving people thing" and due in part to Harry wishing for the deaths in this war to just come to an end. This incurs a life-dept to Harry from Voldemort.

Harry and the wizarding world go on with their lives all happy shit as can be, almost just like in the Epilogue with one exception: Harry, on rare occasions, goes to Azkaban and visits Voldemort.

150 years later:

Harry is an extremely old man now. He has been an auror, he has been Minister of Magic, and he had been the Headmaster of Hogwarts for the last thirty years. Now, every Halloween, he has been visiting Voldemort, who has after all this time long since repented of his misdeeds. Voldemort is now an emaciated, shriveled, corpse of a man hoping that some day soon his magic will finally just give out and let him die.

When Harry comes to visit him one last time, Harry lets Voldemort know that he forgives him now and Tom Riddle dies in peace.

Astral Platform 9-3/4:

Dumbledore approaches Tom Riddle, whose soul is now whole once again. Dumbledore asks him if he is ready for his next great adventure. When Tom Riddle asks what it is, Dumbledore shows him that there are many parallel dimensions, each one at a slightly different angle from the origin of time. Dumbledore shows Tom a dimension where the wizarding world does not improve after Harry Potter defeats him, and so he offers Tom a chance to relive his life in that dimension beginning at any point he chooses. Tom chooses to enter his young "self" not more than a few moments before Dumbledore arrives to tell him that he is a wizard.

This Tom allows Dumbledore to take him into the wizarding world and upon his return to the orphanage with his supplies; he returns the stolen items and apologizes.

Rules:

* Tom Riddle actually has to have repented of his heinous crimes.
* With repentance comes penitence and "restitution": Tom Riddle cannot simply decide not to do evil in this new timeline; he actually has to attempt to make the wizarding world better.
* Tom Riddle will only receive his memories, not his skills or abilities in Magic: he MUST go back to Hogwarts and re-learn magic.
* Tom Riddle will discover that many of the other families in Slytherin are actually dark, he just happened to be magically gifted, charismatic, and an heir to their Hogwarts House and so they latched upon him. Without his leading them by the nose, he discovers that someone else will do it in his place.
* The story must follow canon; i.e. Dumbledore lost his sister Ariana during a fight between himself, Aberforth, and Grindelwald, etc . . .
* Tom must use his Slytherin cunning and ambition to better the wizarding world, despite the best efforts of his peers, who, at best want to maintain the status quo, and at worst, want to be the next dark lord.

Suggestions: The Dolohov family has ties to Grindelwald and Antonin Dolohov wishes to succeed Grindelwald some day and or gather followers of his own. In the original timeline, Tom Riddle, who easily surpassed him, enticed him away from his loyalties to Grindelwald into following Voldemort. In this timeline, without that enticement, Dolohov will be the houses budding dark lord. Other potential candidates are Abraxis Malfoy or Evan Rosier.

 

This is an interesting idea, but I see one major flaw in it, which can be described in pretty much one word: Why?

Why would Harry want Voldemort to go back in time and change shit? The War is long over, there is more or less peace in the Wizarding World, and to top it off, Voldemort has seemingly repented. It is not as if the Wizarding World is facing destruction/have been destroyed. Why would Harry want to risk the whole world descending into chaos if Riddle had screwed up? There is simply no motive for him to do so.

Do not say it is to give Riddle another shot at life. It would be like risking an entire forest for a single sapling. And even if Voldemort has truly repented and Harry has more or less forgiven him, or tried to do so, his prison sentence is his just punishment for the atrocities he had committed, and Harry would not and should not try to change anything, irregardless of Riddle's repentence.

Besides, given the one-dimensional characterization of Voldemort in canon, it does sound implausible for Voldemort to ever repent. Blame JKR for writing him that way if you must.

 

Not to mention that if Voldemort goes back in time to that far before Harry's birth, who's to say there will even be a Harry Potter.

Interesting idea...

For me to poop on.

 

Well, you two have certainly given me something to think about. One of the things I didn't like was JKRs proposition that all of the characters in the series except Voldemort were redeemable.

 

I like the idea, before he ever goes back, for a nice little one shot. Voldemort goes to prison, yadda, yadda, yadda, he repents, he dies, and in the afterlife he sees a smiling Dumbledore, who is happy that Tom finally did repent as he had always wished, and Dumbledore says, "Welcome to the next great adventure, Tom."

Simple, powerful with a good author at its head, and finish. Your idea probably sounded like fun on paper but if written you would either just get the same old Harry learns uber magic and goes all political buff just with Voldemort as the new Harry or you an emo, buttsecks fic depending on whether it was a human being or a slasher writing it.

 

It could be Ghost!Dumbedore who wants to give Voldemort another chance, and Harry wouldn't care. Ghost!Dumbledore loves second chances.

 

There's already several one-shots like that, where Voldemort meets Dumbles and they go on the next great adventure . . . the end.

This is about Tom Riddle fixing his mistakes. We always see Harry Potter going back and whatnot. I want to see Tom Riddle go back. I'm certainly not an emo.

 

I'd like to see Riddle going back too, but in your challenge there is simply no reason for him to do so.

IMO Time-Travel fics where the time-travelling is intentional and not accidental must have a solid motive for the main character to do so or it's auto-fail, no matter how good the writing is.

Hence I seldom read them because the motive for Harry going back in time is more likely than not the war with Voldemort somehow destroying the entire wizarding world and killing EVERY single person Harry loved/knew/talked to/walked his dog with. Frankly, this plotline is contrived and unoriginal.

It will also explain why my favourite time-travel fic is that marvellous one-shot by IP82 titled, "The Last Dinosaur's Roar".

 

There is some potential for humour though, methinks.

 

A thought about this idea recently poped up in my head. Some pureblood fanatic who had all his life (and the lives of his grand parents' and parents' too), heard tell of the great Lord Voldemort who would cleanse the wizarding world of muggle borns et al, researches a way to send a soul back in time. He figures out that he cannot go himself (he wasn't born yet), but that he can send the old, and wisened Voldemort back into his own self.

When he breaks into the prison to send Voldemort back, Tom Riddle thinks he's going to be killed, and is surprised to be sent back. Little does the pureblood supremist know that Tom Riddle has since repented of his evil, and now sees a way of righting the wrongs.

Thus, the idea can still work, and Tom Riddle goes back unintentionally.

However, to keep things interesting, Tom cannot arbitrarily weild magic like he used to. His old body could - that was after years of training. He's got all his memories, but just because he knows HOW to cast a spell, doesn't mean he CAN cast it. The story would have to be essentially DH compliant.

 

It seems an interesting idea, but meh. I dont like the time travel thing too it.

Personally, to improve the idea, Id nix it and have Riddle in prison. Harry somehow manipulates the remaining death eaters to believe Riddle = Mudblood becuase of his mother being so talentless with magic and his father the muggle.

Over his beginning career leading them, its framed up to look like RIddle controlling them from prison, and eventually gets executed, but by that time Harry has already pretty much set himself up as Riddle/Dumbledore-level powers.

And continue on from there.

 

. . .

(-_-);