I've always been fascinated by the Familiar bond - there simply aren't enough stories that actually treat the concept with respect.

Classic AD&D familiars aren't mindless slaves. They're animals that are slightly smarter and significantly tougher than the rest of their species. If I remember correctly, the Familiars can see through each other's eyes and sense each other's emotions. In the lore I know, a Familiar can help regulate its wizard's magic use, keeping the wizard from getting exhausted or mesmerized by a spell.

I can see a long term Familiar bond strongly influencing Harry's animagus shape. It isn't unreasonable that the bond might make it much easier (or less risky) to achieve the animagus spell. It could be fun to watch a pure Kneazle, able to draw on Harry's strength of will, terrorize Mrs Norris and Fluffy.

Would an empathic bond inhibit Snape's legilimency assaults?

A cat's "the devil may care but I don't" attitude about other people's opinions could be a very good influence on Harry. Snape would be a pain, but not a major blot on Harry's life. AD's emotional manipulations would simply roll right off the boy. Ron's noisy tantrums would bother the hell out of a cat, and that would lead Harry to avoiding him. Studying (a quiet pastime in a comfortable location,) would be encouraged.

Quidditch would be a source of ongoing friction between the two.

Ten years of bonding with a cat would probably cause Harry's impulsive self-sacrificing tendencies to never really get off the ground.

If the cat is small enough (and I had an 8-lb cat once,) he could spend a lot of time in Harry's book bag, or in a magically-enlarged pocket. Harry wouldn't have to leave him during the day.

The cat would be a major asset in exploring the castle. He'd always be able to backtrack their path, so they'd never get lost. He'd be able to *smell* the Basilisk - an important clue there. He wouldn't give a flaming rat's ass about the shunning during years 2 and 4. He'd be able to smell potions added to the food. Ginny's amortentia would get her expelled. Or possibly get switched to Ron's plate (I need to take a moment and picture that.)

I really dont' like the Thundercat animagus idea - furries give me the creeps...


edited to add: Is there a listing of Harry-with-a-Familiar stories anywhere?

 

Ha. Averis, Banner--I'd read either one of those stories, provided they weren't just "Harry repeats canon with a cat."

I thought the Menagerie fic up for review had an outstanding idea, but wasn't executed very well. A comic adventure that makes the familiars the real heroes has all kinds of potential.

Is there any consensus on what the familiar bond entails in canon? Does such a thing even exist? Hedwig can understand human speech and communicate with her little barks and nips, but that seems to be it.

 

Owls are magical in the HPverse in the first place so seemingly more intelligent ones shouldn't be that far out there. From what I recall though there is no bond between human and animal, the word familiar is only used in the Hogwarts letter too, I think.

 

To add to Banner's kneazle-or-cat-influenced-Harry...it might make him a bit more vicious in duels and fights as well. Cats do tend to play with their prey, after all.

I'd definitely read one if it was done right.

 

I've heard and read a lot of ideas that have Harry or another wizard who is a Fundamentalist Christian, and as such, hates magic users.

Well, that got me thinking, why not have his fury against magic users be Righteous Fury?

By that I mean, why not have the book that made Harry hate magic users be The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer and/or similar books?

http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60040181019&type=Book

 

What if Harry's fundamentalist family, upon learning their child is a wizard take it as an oppurtunity to eradicate the world of evil? You know, suffer not a witch to live and what-not. Harry would infiltrate the wizarding world intent on killing all wizards.

I'm thinking a parody type thing, a kill-off of sorts. For example, Harry seeing Ginny's disappointment at not being able to attend Hogwarts, decides to snuff her out as a mercy killing before ner Satanic powers can corrupt her soul. Or Draco Malfoy, arogant and evil from his occultist ideology is far to gone to be saved- but not too late to be eradicated. Hermione, a muggleborn from a proper christian family has fallen for the temptation. But Harry, noble and kind, will not let her soul fall to the devil; guess who dies next? Etc, etc.

Meh, I don't know.

 

Post GoF, Grindelwald who's remorseful over becoming a dark lord and everything he's done to Dumbledore, decides to try and make amends for his life. After hearing that Harry and Dumbledore are telling everyone that Voldemort has returned and are being slandered by the Prophet, decides to make him his heir, thinking that with Dumbledore teaching Harry 'light' magic, and he teaching him dark, Voldemort won't stand a chance.

By using some old connections, the German equivalent to Gringotts, or something similar, he is able to have all of his personal belongings placed in Harry's possession, as well as a two-way mirror he can use to communicate with him. After telling him about the Hallows, and his past with Dumbledore, he is able to gain Harry's trust and train him over the summer, using a spell, or one of the things he gave Harry, to disrupt the Tracer from informing the Ministry of him using underage magic.

Over the summer Harry is able to advance to somewhere slightly above N.E.W.T. level in dark and general magic, and with Grindelwald for company he doesn't become an emotional wreck, he matures a little, and gains some confidence.

Harry goes for a walk, packing all of Grindelwald's things in his trunk before shrinking it, and putting it in his pocket as a safety precausion (The Dursley's still try to lock all of his magic things in the broom closet, and therefore don't know that he's been training all summer) After Harry saves Dudley from the Dementors, Harry's demenor is changed just enough so that Petunia reacts differently and let's slip that Lily knew Snape, something like:

After getting to Headquarters, he tells Hermione, Sirius, and Ron about Grindelwald, while unsure about it, Harry is able to guilt them into agreeing not to tell anyone about it. Harry, furious about Mrs. Weasley's row with Sirius, makes a point to completely disregard anything she says, and spend time with Sirius. At some point he also asks Snape about his friendship with Lily. At the hearing Dumbledore gets Harry off and he returns to Hogwarts, Ron and Hermone eventually accept Grindelwald as good, they form the DA, where they also teach dark magic. Grindelwald is able to train Harry in Occlumency, but in a moment where he lets his guard down, Voldemort is able to show Harry the vision of Sirius being tortured.

At the DoM Harry is more violent using dark magic to kill all of the Death Eaters except Bellatrix before the Order arrive. Once Voldemort shows up Harry participates in the duel and is able to take Voldemort by surprise using the Dark Arts, which causes him to posses him, thinking he's going to die, he starts imagining his loved ones, Sirius(who doesn't die) Hermione, Ron, Luna, etc. Causing Voldemort to leave his body, get spotted by the crowd of people that arrive at the Ministry, and apparate away with Bellatrix.

Harry is able to get Fudge to agree to allow him to use magic outside of school because of Voldemort, Dumbledore tells Harry about the prophecy and that he must return to Privet Drive. Hermione offers to spend the summer with him for company, and romance blossoms.

Any ideas on where it could go from there, any changes that could make it better?

 

The removal of Grindelwald deciding to make Harry his heir.

 

I'm a big fan of a Grindelwald trained Harry, but I think that the story would be better if he didn't come off as completely benevolent.

The first way to do this would be to have Grindelwald operate on some false assumptions - namely that Dumbledore is actually training Harry to win and will therefore have a "light" influence in his magic to counteract the "dark" that Grindelwald teaches Harry. Instead, the reality will be that Harry is learning everything he knows from the previous Dark Lord and therefore begins to lean toward dark magic solely, as that will be the only powerful magic he knows.

The other way to go - and the one that I prefer - is to have Grindelwald be the twisted idealist that he is portrayed as as a young man. He supports Voldemort's pro-wizard stance, but is appalled at the Death Eaters' behavior and actions. Their actions and motivations are not those of superior beings as Grindelwald believes wizards to be, but of mad animals drunk on their own power. Furthermore, Voldemort is a twisted psychopath who has embraced the title and role of Dark Lord where Grindelwald always saw himself as a visionary. Through his vast knowledge of the dark arts, Grindelwald has a unique perspective on the level to which Voldemort has fallen, performing rituals that even Grindelwald was too high minded to attempt.

Even as a Dark Lord, Grindelwald had a healthy respect for his immortal soul.

Seeing that his noble cause has been twisted and perverted into something truly disgusting, Grindelwald seeks to put an end to Voldemort through tutoring of the person most likely to achieve that end - a young Harry Potter. While Dumbledore avoids trying to meddle too directly in Harry's life, Grindelwald does the exact opposite and attempts to shape Harry into a powerful wizard who can bring the Wizarding World into a new age of prosperity.

Best of all, Grindelwald can recognize that Harry is a horcrux and know of a ritual that can remove the fragment of Voldemort's soul from him without Harry having to die, neatly getting rid of that bit of canon fail.

 

It made me thinking - what if Grindelwald's remorse was treachery - he trains Harry in powerful magic, but also corrupts him and turns him slowly against Dumbledore so Harry could take the Hallows for himself.

Of course, Grindelwald is bound by unbreakable vows not to use the Hallows ever again, or not attack Dumbledore so he circumvent this with Harry, who will he his 'hand'.

I'd be a great idea for a Dark!Harry, and it leaves room for an Indie!Harry as he can still rebel against his master, Grindelwald.

 

When Harry first starts to show his accidental magic somebody notices. Not some random passer by, or an ancient league of super wizards, but an Agent of the SCP Foundation on a mission to find a powerful item. He sees Harry aparate onto the roof of his school. He calls his bosses and tells them what he's found.

The Foundation decides to investigate when, and when they see him perform some other accidental magic, they decide that Harry is a Reality Warper and needs to be taken in.

 

That's where I was thinking of going with it, but staying more in the grey area.

That would certainly make things easier.

Hmmm, maybe..... I definitly like him becoming Master of the Hallows though.

---------- Post automerged at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

I'm not sure exactly how cannon this is, but it was interesting. I got from Here

 

I highlighted the things I like about it.

 

It's all I saw.

And fuck you guys who are all totally like Ooooh omigawd Banner what a great idea! You're so smart!

 

Seratin - You forgot the WTFPWNS awesome wand of Grindewald that WTFPWNS the Elder Wand. It's a must.

 

@Enflamed: Howdy's idea is pretty awesome, and suggests a way for Grindelwald to have a more subtle influence on Harry's character. Scrap all the stuff about the two-way mirrors and inheritances--the only thing that needs to happen is an owl correspondence between the two of them. Grindelwald almost certainly isn't allowed magical artifacts in his cell, and his wealth and books would be long gone. But if they were to begin writing one another for whatever reason, Grindelwald's influence could slowly corrupt (improve?) Harry's thinking with respect to using the Dark Arts against Voldemort.

I'd suggest setting this in sixth year rather than fifth. Sirius is dead, Harry now knows the prophecy, and he's disillusioned and desperate to do something when he sees Dumbledore and the Ministry just fumbling around. Grindelwald could pour some poison in his ear with respect to Dumbledore, which Harry would be more receptive to in sixth year.

Perhaps he could capture Malfoy and forcefeed him veritaserum, derailing Dumbledore's retarded master plan. Maybe he even kills Malfoy in their little bathroom fight, or sets a trap for the invading DEs when he discovers the plan. Maybe, like Howdy said, Grindelwald helps him discover that he's a horcrux, causing a permanent break with Dumbledore. All sorts of possibilities for Harry to take some initiative and see the usefulness of Grindelwald's advice.

 

i like this idea a lot. someone should try their skills in this bunny

 

So... owls are welcome at Nurmengard or what? Not that the idea is bad, but methinks y'all are trying too hard to get Harry and Grindelwald together - if, at any point in canon, Harry Potter got an email from the Dark Lord Grindelwald he would forward it to Dumbledore, and then delete it immediately.

 

Harry could always go on a conjugal visit.

 

I'll pretend this was a complete thought and reply.

If Grindelwald were on the up and up, this isn't an unlikely thing to do. If he truly wanted to make amends for his wrongdoings, what better way than to help out the obvious new champion of 'the light' in any way he could?

It's not like a gay man who has been rotting in prison for most of his life is likely to already have any children who could inherit from him, so what does it matter if he signs everything over to Harry?

Then again, unless the goblins (or whoever) have zero accountability to the Wizarding World, it also isn't likely that the wizards haven't seized everything Gelert owned, up to and including his left nut and right kidney.

It even works if his motives aren't pure. He could leave Harry a bunch of stuff that could potentially corrupt him.