Alright, this one was inspired by the "who needs magic?" thread, and Aekiel mentioning that there are probably Muggle Governments who want to take down the wizards.

At the age of sixteen, Harry is kidnapped by two men who introduce themselves as MI-5 agents and take him into custody. When he gets in their car, he comes face to face with a Death Eater (I really don't care who), and freaks. The Death Eater just smiles at his questions and says he'll know soon. The car arrives at a government building at an unknown location, where he is introduced to the Illuminatus in his local area.

Here's the upshot: The Illuminati are worried about this world they have no control over, and thus wish to subvert and control wizarding society. They don't tell Harry or any of their converts, such as mister Death Eater this, but cloak it in a facade of wishing to "liberate the wizarding world from terrorists, fear, and oppression." Now, anyone who's a smooth talker could suck in Pre- or Post-HBP Harry easily, so that (somewhat flimsy) cause sticks. Now from there, the story can go in several directions. Either Harry helps the Illuminati with their limitless resources take over the wizarding world, ushering in a new era of peace prosperity, and shadowy control by himself as the new Illuminatus of Wizarding Britain; or perhaps he breaks with the Illuminati after discovering their true motives and saves his friends (blech). Or, Harry is slowly corrupted by the new power and control he wields as an Illuminati agent, jaded by assassinations, driven cynical by the MoM's draconian efforts to control the populace as they hunt for this new threat, and sees the only person who can be best for the world is himself. He maneuvers through the power structure, becoming the Newest Primus Illuminatus, Puppetmaster of the World.

Thoughts? I actually want to write this, and see how well it's received at DLP.

 

That's an interesting angle, muggle secret societies trying to take hold of the wizarding world.

The way I see it, best way to apply this idea would be to go post-HBP (without Dumbledore to keep the government under wraps), and have Illuminati somehow retrieve (or just locate) Voldemort's Horcruxes. Given their supposed wealth and influence in the muggle world, that wouldn't be too implausible to achieve.

And then, once they have the Horcruxes in one way or another, they approach Harry and have him run certain errands for them, in exchange for the items; stuff like stabilize the Ministry, get in bed with Scriemgour, use his name to gather influence, make alliance with goblins, take over Hogwarts etc...

At the same time, they could be doing the same thing to Voldemort, although that's a lot more risky (+ they'd need to actually retrieve the Horcruxes).

 

All three choices sound great, choose the one you like the most. Personally I'd go with Harry is slowly corrupted by the new power, becoming the Newest Primus Illuminatus, Puppetmaster of the World.

 

That might be a good way. I'd rather have Harry join the Illuminati thought, so instead of locating them and doling them out, they could offer their assistance to get the 'cruxes for Harry to destroy. This way, they control when one goes down and they look like the good guys to Harry.

I really can't see them making deals with Voldemort; In this story, the Illuminati don't make deals, they rig everything so they control all the events without you knowing.

Edit: @Guest: I like that one too. And your name. That's awesome.

 

Mind magic could be a problem. If the power of a Muggle group like the Illuminati is secrecy, how do they maintain this secrecy in the face of magic like Legilimency and Veritaserum?

 

Mindless - thanks.

Taure - either by avoiding direct eye contact at all times, or by using some enchanted items or magical artifacts they've found. And by not being captured and interrogated.

I imagine the actual Illuminati head honchos have no direct contact with wizards. They work from behind the scenes pulling the strings of pawns who know nothing about the conspiracy.

 

Actually, they don't. It would hardly be dramatic without strike and counter-strike. At first, protection against those two and the Imperius is next to nil, but they are carefully on a need-to-know basis. This protects against major setbacks, but as the story goes on they will develop new weapons, methods and armor/shielding to defend. Remember, the Illuminati don't know much about their enemy, so the early story will be mostly raids for artifacts, knowledge and intelligence, so Harry is going to be a special operative to gather everything he can, until they have developed what they need to go on the offensive, at which point the fight will turn around.

Edit: @Guest: Exactly. The Illuminati are the type to play shadowy puppet-master who go by code names and live in carefully hidden bunkers or in plain sight as famous Muggles.

And here's an idea: Ranking members are equipped with suicide devices, so they can never betray their secrets. Detpacks, poison pills, whatever.

But my big question never got answered, though... Do you like it?

 

Not to mention that sunglasses have been around for at least forty years - Legilimancy requires persistent eye contact. Smoked glass lens (worn whenever any member is outside) would be an easy dodge.

 

I'm generally not a fan of the Illuminati conspiracy theories and don't really have much knowledge on them, but this seems like a good enough premise for a fic. And so long as they start off from the very beginning in regards to defending against magic then sure, it's a brilliant idea.

Of the three options you've thought up, the last one is definitely the one I'd go for . Something about being hidden in the shadows, pulling the strings on every major event in the world appeals to me on the deepest level (how this goes with my dislike of the Illuminati theory is beyond me ).

EDIT: Just a random thought I had: Morpheus glasses - the absolute defence against legilimency!

Aekiel

 

They will. Magic>Tech will be going on for a while, but about mid-length the Illuminati will develop countermeasures and weapons designed to kill wizards. Although at the start, you'll see some very ruthless acts that may involve nerve gas.

 

Mindless, if what I'm guessing is correct, you highly admire this organization you're thinking of.

Just don't make the Illuminati too powerful. Have them make at least one major fuck-up in the story (that doesn't involve Harry Potter). Maybe more.

 

Don't worry- they'll be getting their heads handed to them for a good while.

 

O_O I suddenly have an urge to go back and read the Illuminatus! again. A very original bunny, this one... I'd read it if you write, Mindless.

 

Actually, no, Legilimency does not requires eye contact - it just makes it easer.

 

Maybe the Illuminati have squibs or have interrogated some to learn of the magical world. Could be they are an ancient order that disappeared or was too few in number until this century where they make a come back. They grow in number, resources and have gathered many ancient artifacts from around the world.

There would be no need to expose themselves to the death eaters (they would certainly not want to and I cannot see them acting so rashly).

The muggle world could widely be aware that the group was rumored to at one time exist, however have no idea that it still does.

The group could have and use some mystical powers (even if it is just artifact based or similar to wiccans). Yet much weaker than wizard magics.

For the most part the wizarding world's magics could be very limited, for example they depend on wands, everything else like runic is barely practiced (runes would be limited to mostly constructing wards and artifacts like trunks). Yet there could be so much more to magic beyond the European wizards. There could be various tribal forms of magic (tatoos, ceromonial, totem), Asian (hand seals, scrolls, body) and others.

The Illuminati would be very secretive and careful, which is why they have yet to be discovered by the wizards and why most muggles do no know they are around.

What if they contacted/abducted Harry right after the ootp ends, maybe at the station after his relatives and members of the ootp meet, the dursleys could be drugged and locked left in their car. While Harry is drugged and taken away.

They contact Harry due to several factors that make him the best candidate. He is a potential 4th player in the war (the ministry, dumbledore and of course voldemort are the other players). Harry is not yet an adult wizard making him more vulnerable and less dangerous (at the time of abduction).

The Illuminati could already have a significant shadow empire (mostly consisting corporate influences, including large defense contractors). To the Illuminati the wizarding world would pose a huge threat that must be either neutralized or co-opted. They could have agents in place in major countries like America, China, Russia and India, that would be where most of their focus is centered, yet there could be minor agents elsewhere.

The wizards could think that the Illuminati were wiped out when they were driven from Europe centuries ago, by the church (and more secretly the ministries of magic).

Maybe they have a base/safehouse already, that they paid gringotts to ward using their squib contacts. Not that the squibs would be told much (most likely they would be mislead, really would it be all that unusual to them that a muggle defense contractor would want a location or locations warded?).

 

If a Death Eater reveals himself in the car, then Harry's panic-response wild magic could easily cause a major accident.

 

Too bad that won't happen.

Ding ding!

 

That hasn't happened since Harry went to Hogwarts. IIRC, Hagrid or Dumbledore told him it was necessary to learn there in order to "control" his magic. Anyway, you could always make the DE Karkaroff or Bagman, someone that Harry wouldn't immediately mistrust.

I'm interested in what role Ron and Hermione play in this. Is it the stereotypical we're-with-Dumbledore-Harry-he-knows-best bullshit, or are they actually going to have some depth in this? Hermione's going to stick by Harry, at least in the early stages of the story; Harry might end up killing her when she becomes too "disagreeable". Ron, well, kill him off. Or have him fucking Ginny. Just get him the hell out of the story.

This bunny, quite frankly, makes me hard. Looking forward to the story!

 

Actually, the last time I *remember* Harry doing accidental magic was when he blew up Aunt Marge. PoA, I think. Still, if the DE was ready for it, or if they were smart enough NOT to draw an extreme response, that would work.

It's a pity that they put so much effort into suppressing accidental magic - if Harry could still apparate (like he did when he was eight,) then he could have escaped the graveyard. He could have thrown Draco off the Tower. Not to mention what would have happened to Snape a time or two.

 

Originally I was going to have them fully against him, but I rethought. Hermione will stick by Harry for the start, but she will grow distant as she sees the full extent of Harry's new brutality (i.e. the Illuminati gassing entire towns to plug security leaks, attacks on civilian targets, and Harry actually killing his enemies with extreme prejudice. This part will take a while as no one just alters their morality overnight.) Ron will try to believe the better of him, but will quickly become disillusioned as the full extent of the attacks hits the papers. Ginny will actually remain irrationally infatuated the entire time, turning a blind eye to atrocities, until she is the victim of one.

On a side note, I'm starting this tonight.