Dude. Hivemind. I actually wrote 70000 words of something similar two years back before abandoning it - the Horcrux actually appeared as his twin brother slowing going insane and using the DA in a Fight Club-esque way to go hunt down Death Eaters and the like. I think the ultimate goal was for the Horcrux, having seen what his actual self was capable of, to get himself out of Harry's head, kill Voldemort and pals and come back in a few decades with a less insane way of conquering Britain. Full details escape me at the moment, but I probably have it written down somewhere. A shit load of DA kids died trying to fight actual Death Eaters in the final battle. Good times.

Anyways, as for the connection thing (How does he manifest, how does everyone not suddenly suspect that Harry has a brother et cetera), mine had a lot to do with perception. The Horcrux stays hidden in Harry's mind for years, but the graveyard blood-sharing and Voldemort trying to tap into that connection during Harry's fifth year eventually bring it out from behind Lily's protection. The Horcrux manifests in tiny ways - experimenting with taking over Harry's body, but cannot fully take over unless Harry himself is killed.

So the Horcrux alters Harry's memories and occasionally does a bit of mind-screwing so Harry doesn't notice the occasional odd look from Ron or Hermione, or even prevents him outright from mentioning his "twin brother's" existence. Harry is used by the Horcrux, mostly in his sleep for about an hour at a time, to renew an Imperius Curse on a random student to be used a "flesh body" - someone to do all the work for the Horcrux, and to pose under glamour as the new take-charge DA as part of his Death Eater-killing plan.

Long story short, while it had some great ideas, I kinda tripped myself up trying to perfect the big twist without being too overt, the little inconsistencies started to pile up and the middle act got a little iffy. That and I tried to make the main pairing Harry/Luna - Luna is without a doubt the biggest bitch of a character to write satisfactorily. Trying to replace her with Katie started a whole new chain of problems. Never again.

But the basic idea (Horcrux goes all Tyler Durden on Harry) still has merit, and I'd love to see it done in a consistent and generally awesome way.

 

This has been eating away at pieces of my conscious though the last month.
I've seen and heard of stories where Harry is trained by Nicholas Flamel, or Merlin, or the Founders etc etc insert-ancient-skilled-wizard-here... but why never the Peverell brothers?

If indeed they were merely three exceptionally powerful wizards, would they not have some merit in his own growth? Typical thrust-through-time either on Harry or on them and go from there, but I can't see what the point is beyond maybe learning how to work out his own Hallow or line of them.

Another take that I've actually put down in word is that upon dying each brother became drawn into Deaths' service, waiting to be called on by whoever would next unite the Hallows-- to guide them more easily to destruction or to greater destiny. The two who failed would work to undermine while the one who succeeded would work to aide.

 

That could work. I'd read a fic like that.

 

The discussion of Celestin's plot bunny (mostly the post by MattSilver) Gave me an idea.

What if during the scene in the Forbidden Forest where Voldemort kills Harry instead of having the intended effect and getting rid of the Horcrux it instead destroyed Harry's soul leaving the Horcrux free reign of Harry's body? Imagine the possibilities!

 

Dunno, can't really think of too many. A) Voldemort sees Horcrux Harry as a possible ally - unlikely in my opinion. B) Voldemort decides Horcrux is competition/it's a trick by Harry and kills him, or maybe seals him away somehow if you want to go with the idea that he wants to protect the Horcrux. I suppose you could expand that to some sort of future 'return of Voldemort' thing. I can't really see the Horcrux escaping or anything if Voldemort didn't want it to.

Maybe it did the same thing that Harry did in canon, and then... what? Helped kill the real Voldemort and then proceed to take over the wizarding world or something?

 

I was thinking more of a setting for an okay-ish next-gen fic. There seem to be none of those.

 

Because 'The Next Generation' concept plugged by Rowling's Crapilogue is damn near impossible to salvage?

'Albus Severus', anyone?

 

I actually think that idea is quite interesting. The AK destroys Harry's soul, not the part of the Horcrux - prophecy fulfilled, Riddle/Harry posession thing akin somewhat to Celestin's bunny but without the Fight Club references, a small buffer zone in which he's still 'Harry' to some extent, going through the motions, but is actually a completely different person and he can't figure out why. The final scene in the hall, rebounding curse or w/e, happens as it did in DH. Harry's a hero. Back on track with Ginny. Auror training. Life is good...

Except his psyche is gradually devolving from Harry's into Voldemort's. Nothing so cliché as 'memories are unlocked!' and 'blackouts' and so on, but rather that he sees things completely differently, begins to behave strangely, etc, and decides that actually no, he's not going to be burying any of the Hallows in the Forbidden Forest. He's going to keep them. As his behaviour gets stranger - in some places more violent, in some places a non-reaction whereas Harry would have charged right in - his loved ones believe that the psychological trauma of defeating Voldemort has taken its toll and show him more and more love and support, give him space when he needs it, and gradually throughout this an Auror-Recruit, Boy-Who-Won Harry Potter is becoming a monster without a stable ministry, leader of the light or crack resistance to stop him. It gets really nasty when finally someone - Hermione, for example - confronts him, asking him what's wrong and trying to justify some of his behaviour...

I think I sense an :awesome/5 story in there somewhere.

 

I'm loving this concept. I could see Hermione falling to a sudden attack during this confrontation. As she dies, Harry Riddle starts thinking about Horcruxes... and smiles, looking at the Elder wand in his hand.

Somewhere at St. Mungoes, Luna sits up sharply and mumbles, "ohhhh, we're fucked."

 

Cool idea, but...

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

 

Lol my thoughts exactly on that little tidbit. Fortunately, I think wordhammer was joking xD

I'm writing HPAC at the moment, but can't get this idea out of my head. I think Neville could have a seriously interesting arc in there also, later on - he being one of the few who starts to recognise the signs for what they are, whereas the Weasleys and remnants of the Order are on Harry's side nomatter what.

A Neville (light) versus Harry (dark) arc as the fic progresses would be insanely cool. P'raps. Depends on how the author handles it. But there'd have to be some resistance from somewhere.

 

Drop it. Write this instead.

 

Hey! Some of us are eagerly awaiting the next part of HPAC!

 

Others of us have never even played AC.

 

What is AC?:awesome

 

Assassin's Creed.

 

Technically, a story in which Harry dies and the Horcrux takes over could be placed at any point in official canon: Maybe the Dementors suck out Harry's soul in Year 3 (either on the train or at Hogwarts), leaving that tiny piece of Riddle behind to take up residence unimpeded.

If the soul is like a big ole turkey dinner to Dementors, complete with peas and mashed potatos, then the little bit of Voldemort added on would be like gravy. So it seems reasonable to me that the Dementor gorging himself on Creme De La Potter would likely dip Harry's soul into Voldie's for that extra added taste, and swirl it around to catch all the juicy drippings before gobbling it up. The leftover remains would be mostly Voldie, but with a tiny sprinkling of Harry remaining to make the eventual change that Grinning Lizard suggests easier to hide from the usual busybodies.

Or perhaps my imagery leaves a bit to be desired due to hunger. :backpedal

 

@HeroOfStupidity: I have one of the most obnoxious, shameless self-promotional sigs imaginable - yes, AC = Assassin's Creed.

Not necessary. I'll be 200,000 words in before it starts to be be a serious part of the story, and it'll be explained as if to newbs anyway and integrated in a realistic way - it actually takes place just after the first game has finished. It's only called Harry Potter and the Assassin's Creed because of how important the AC bits will become in the final arc of the story and because it sounds kinda cool.

If I remain as blocked as I am on 4 and 5 for much longer, it might well be considered.

The name escapes me at the moment, but there's a WIP that has almost this exact thing happen - Dementors suck out a bit of Harry's soul (I think it happens on the train ride, too) and it gives Horcrux!Riddle a manifestation in Harry's mind. The worry with a divergence there is how much it would resemble this other story.

The only reasons I jumped on Legion of Melissa's idea of it happening in the forest are a) there's nobody alive who could really have the power to stop him outright, and b) it gives Dark Lord Potter nearly all of canon to shit on in a decent non-Epilogue-compliant playground.

 

I'm pretty sure the third-year idea has been done in Perfect Lionheart's crackfic, which is insanely long and terribad. If you do it, do it well to scrub the fail out of my head.

 

Talking about Horcrux's and Harry either losing his or being controlled by it, coupled with someone saying that the pain Harry feels when near Voldemort is the soul piece trying to get back to Voldemort (how the hell does that work?). I came up with the relatively simple point of divergence that seems plausible enough that can have multiple paths.

In PS, Hermione either gets the potions riddle wrong, or the riddle was deliberately misleading. Instead of drinking the potion that allows him to go though the fire, Harry drinks something else. The Draught of Living Death, an excellent potion for stopping a trespasser so you can deal with them later.

Harry being 'dead' can then spiral into a bunch of other stuff. With Voldemort so near, the Horcrux is able to tear itself free and rejoin him. Or the Horcrux becomes free and starts to posses Harry. Or it tries to do so but fails.

Or, with Quirrelmort still in the room scratching his head at what to do, but without Harry to press to confrontation, Dumbledore shows up and blasts him. Wraithmort flees, maybe he tries to fly into Harry's body as he's leaving. Who knows.

Harry gets the antidote, and returns to life, but his close encounter with death made him more in tune with the Horcrux, so it starts to posses him then, or something.

These are all separate little plot elements that could happen from a pretty simple divergence. Feel free to use it if you like it.