You could try an approach like Zennith (The Other Side of the Coin) - you don't necessarily have to have Harry at Hogwarts the whole seven year. Makes it easier to do time-skips, if you ever need it.

Everyone is pretty much tired of reading how Harry defeats the Troll/Basilisk/Dementors/etc. And the problem with originality is that there is only so much you can do at Hogwarts.

enembee's By The Divining Light is also pretty good in that respect; we don't see a lot of Hogwarts, but when we see it, it is pretty awesome.

Well, have Harry apprenticed to Dumbledore. He'll get plenty of influence by being in his association.

 

@ jormungandr

My point in using the saving Hermione from a troll point as avoiding the dreaded canon repeat was in the logic of it.

If Harry is a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, or not friends with Ron, he'd probably never even notice that the bossy girl he'd met on the train wasn't at the feast that night.

When you're forcing elements of your story to change just to suit every canon event, then you've missed the point.

Krzaq has a very good point as well - the universe itself is brilliant, and if you change that, or the laws that hold it together, too much, then you're no longer writing Harry Potter fanfiction.

 

Personally I like the concept of the horcruxes, just not how JKR wrote it. Its a perfectly logical way for Voldemort to keep himself alive, but don't write Harry going on a quest to find them, cause thats more than likely going to be boring to read. Do something imaginative with it, and then you don't have a problem.

Inky: Apprenticing Harry to Dumbledore can only help to a small extent. No matter who he is apprenticed to, he is still only a child who just found out about magic when he was 11. Even a year or two of being Dumbledore's apprentice won't make much difference, because Harry would still have to learn the basics of magic. He may learn them faster, he might learn the entire Hogwarts curriculum in 4 years instead of 7, maybe even 3 if he is more than above average intelligence. But he will still be of the same level as a basic student of Hogwarts. Dumbledore isn't going to teach him secret and powerful spells and techniques, nor trust him with sensitive blackmail material, until he is a proper adult and not likely to misuse it.

OP: On the question of the Hallows, include them but don't make a big deal out of them. They are a stone which can bring back someone's shade; an invisibility cloak; and a wand that is supposed to make you invincible but doesn't. They are useful but not story breakingly powerful. As for making the owner the Master of Death, who knows what that might mean, or might mean nothing at all.

The Power of Love could be an interesting plot point to make use of if you write it well. Don't go with the willing sacrifice or the 'my mummy died to protect me so you can't harm me' routes. The Power of Love could be the ability to bring together a diverse group of friends who are all willing and ready to fight and die with each other, rather than anything magical.

On the topic of friends-for-life...when you are at High School you make a couple of friends you will stay in contact with, quite a lot of friends you will say hi to and have a chat with if you seen them when you go home from University, and even more folk you'll have got on well with at school but won't care about afterwards.

Make Harry somewhat similar. If he is a nice person, or even a not not-nice person, he'll probably make a fair number of friends. Folk he gets on well with, can chat to, ask for a hand with his homework, who will ask him for a hand with their homework etc.

Give him a best friend, nearly everyone has one at school. The person he trusts with his problems and secrets, who trusts him with theirs. The person he wants to spend the majority of his time with, at least for the first few years of Hogwarts. This person is more likely to be male than female, and will probably be someone Harry shares a dormitory with.

If Harry is a fairly popular, nice guy, then have him have quite a range of friends throughout the school. Its not a stretch to imagine Harry making time to chat with a Ravenclaw outside Transfiguration when they both arrive a couple of minutes early; to chat with a Hufflepuff outside of charms when they are waiting for Flitwick to arrive; even to chat with a Slytherin in the library when he notices that they're reading a book he's used before. Its not a deep conversation, but its still communication, is still showing the rest of the school that Harry is a normal person. That is something I feel was lacking in the books.

Don't play up House rivalries too much. In first year the majority of the kids won't be too bothered about House rivalries, by 2nd year and on into 3rd and 4th, ok I can see them cliquing up somewhat in their Houses but not to the extent usually assumed in fanon. By the time they are in 5th year and up they will be too busy if the books are accurate in how much time is spent in those last 3 years studying for your classes and exams.

 

As I mentioned before with the 'Youngest Seeker' thing, I do agree with you on this point.

Basically, however, it all comes down to how the author writes it.

They could use it or another such event as a major launch pad to create more divergent events (such as Hermione eventually becoming Bellatrix mkII) - that'd hardly be following canon events, right?

 

@Jormungandr

You've mentioned twice in this thread turning Hermione into a "Bellatrix" style character. Is that really such a good idea? Bellatrix was batshit insane and slavishly devoted to Voldemort, beyond any reasonable level. Not a particularly interesting character to have as more than a side show every so often. If the author were to include a character like that too significantly in the fic then it would be a severe detractor for me.

If you want to involve Hermione you are much better off utilising her as a knowledgeable friend, that person who is excellent at research and knows all sorts of useless information. But more than that, include her as that person who can always suggest a solution to your problem, as that friend who, whilst not your best friend, can usually be relied on to help you get through whatever is going on in your life.

Doing it that way would bulk out the rather 2D image of her given in canon, whilst avoiding the idiotic cliches in fanon.

 

I was sort of using it as an extreme example; though the idea of her (or, on the other hand a another lesser used character) being a complete fanatic/ruthlessly devoted somewhat appeals to me, as I haven't really seen it done before in any of the fan fictions that I've read.

(I think Luna's characterization in 'Defence for Two' -the story adopted from Pers- comes sort of close, but it feels sort of...odd to me...similar lines, but not what I'm looking for, I guess?)

I also agree with your former post; Harry in canon was pretty shy and disbelieving (taken from the first few chapters of PS) when it came to the magical world - he'd be able to spread his wings freely in both social and self-development aspects after being out from under the Dursleys/Little Whinging's thumb, when at Hogwarts.

 

Thats the main thing I think, most people re-invent themselves at least slightly when they under go such a significant change of circumstance. Harry may very easily be written as changing quite a lot upon arrival at Hogwarts, as he immediately adapts to both what he wants to be, and to what he perceives to be the best way to be in this new situation.

 

To me the big challenge here is that you need to come up with a setup where (1) everybody else in England is unable to stop Voldemort from taking over, but (2) Harry saves the day. It's hard to have him do it on sheer badassery--making teenage Harry more powerful than even an older Dumbledore (magically or politically) is a tough sell. Rowling did it with a bunch of Plot Objects that only Harry was allowed to accumulate.

If you don't have the overarching plot figured out you're ultimately either going to abandon the fic, give Harry some kind of bs powerup, or reprising the Rowling plot object move. If you do figure out the overall plan, I think you've got a lot of wiggle room in how Harry develops. Regarding Harry's political standing, I think the earliest time Harry can really be influential is after the Tri-Wizard tournament if he wins it on his own merits. It's supposed to be a death-defying contest for 17 year olds, winning it shows he's legitimately talented. I don't think it really puts him in the same league as Dumbledore though.

 

A way around having to power Harry up to ridiculous extents would be to reduce the scale of the thing. Don't make Voldemort a threat to the nation, make him a lone psycho with a few devoted followers, vaguely Manson-esque. Give him a fixation on Harry, which explains why he is relevant to the story. Make highly clever, the aurors never manage to catch him or track him down. Just have Harry have to deal with the knowledge that one day its going to come down to him and Voldemort, and no one is going to be there to help.

That gives him reason to improve his skills as rapidly as possible, and for others to help him. But it stops from having to take it to silly extents, or to bend belief by having this person who wants to take over the country (Voldemort), fixate on a school child (Harry) when its of no use to his overarching plan which is seemingly well thought out.

 

I'm going to be controversial here and say the best way to do a seven year re-write is just to not fucking bother in the first place. Ultimately it just becomes canon with your inflection on it, which is piss boring to read for the hundredth time. Perhaps I don't understand the appeal of it, but the last thing I ever want to do with my life is read canon ever again, in any form. With a platform as broad and open as Harry Potter, why would you want to tread the same old paths everyone else has done?

Unless you were to literally write a brand new story arc for each of the years I'd advise against this. And even then you end up with a quasi-Alexandra Quick which was even more terrible than most re-writes in its own little way.

 

Some 7y fics start with Harry being in another house and makes 2 friends who are almost similiar to Ron and Hermione in characterisations. Avoid this. This will become canon repetition.

According to my opinion, there was no 'power of love'. In the prophecy, it is known that Dark lord can kill harry only after he marks him as his equal. So, the first attack by Voldemort cannot kill harry and thus reflecting the Killing curse. Maybe Voldemort might have survived if he made a physical mark on harry and then sent a killing curse.

Regarding the level of Voldemort's threat, in PS Cp 1, Dumbledore says that the war has been going on for 11yrs, and still 3/4th of the Order is alive. It's just that Voldemort is terrorising the nation but failing in conquering it. Imagine 9/11 attacks twice a year.

Regarding harry's personality, if you guys remember, Harry used to like his scar before knowing that he is a wizard. Why make him hide it and shy away from fame? I am not suggesting Lockhart but the whole problems for canon harry would have been a lot easier for him to solve if he used his fame.

Hermione is not someone who can become Harry's Bellatrix. Her upbringing doesn't support it. If you really want to do something, use a slytherin OC like Daphne by making her attracted to power and becoming loyally devoted to Harry (maybe Harry's confident)

Lastly, my main question. Why even go to trouble of having friends? Voldemort don't have any. You definitely don't need any to write a fic.

IMO, I would really like to see you write a fic where Harry is a replica of Voldemort. A slytherin to boot, smart, top student, uses his fame, charming, manipulative, no friends only aquaintances, uproot malfoy's powerbase, and maybe loyal follower in Daphne. (I wouldn't mind if you put some sexual situations and violence)

 

The problem with writing a fic where Harry has no friends at all, is that its not something most readers can identify with. Almost everyone will have at least one good friend, probably more, whilst they're at school. Trying to write someone who doesn't, will a) be very difficult to do properly, and b) be difficult for the reader to like and enjoy.

Voldemort didn't have friends you say...is there proof of that? Friendship doesn't have to be huggywuggy closeness, it can be sharing a joke, doing homework together, things like that.

And even if Voldemort didn't have friends at school, why does that mean Harry shouldn't. If your aim is to write a fic where Harry is the exact same as Voldemort, then fair enough, but thats not really interesting, cause all you're doing is placing one character with another characters name.

And someone who does not have friends is not charming or manipulative, he is a loner who will be noted as being out of the ordinary because of it. If you are charming and manipulative you have a lot of friends, especially if you are also a good student etc.

 

Actually there is a 'power of love' in the books, but it's tied to selflessness and self-sacrifice. The power he knows not from the prophecy is actually several things:

1. Lily's sacrifice and blood protection: She loved her son and sacrificed herself for him, which protected Harry from a lot of things. Voldemort thought he knew how to get around it, but he only managed to anchor Harry to life for as long as he himself lived (A sort of reverse Horcrux). Because of it's pure nature, Voldemort did not fully understand the magics involved as he considered light magic beneath him.

2. Harry's love and pure heartedness (aka the whole gold-colored polyjuice potion, which apparently is the mark of a good person). This is what drove Voldemort away from Harry's mind after he was briefly possessed. It was also his self-sacrifice and love that protected everyone from ol' Tom's curses during the final battle.

3. The soul fragment itself in Harry's scar. Voldemort did not know of it and destroyed it himself.

4. The mastery of the Elder Wand. When Voldemort killed Harry in the Forbidden Forest, Harry had resolved to go to his death willingly and did not fight back nor did he acknowledge the fact, that he was the master of the wand. That is why the ownership of the wand was not transfered to Tom and that is why, when Harry claimed the wand during the final duel, it turned on Tom and killed him.

 

What I am trying to say is, Everybody considers Harry as a friend, but Harry considers everybody as a tool.

 

Its practically impossible for that to be the case sunkarapk. An 11 year old doesn't think like that, a 13 year old doesn't think like that, I have trouble imagining a 15 year old who thinks like that. Maybe at 16 or up, yeah that could work, but not before that.

 

I'm actually leaning towards a different plot-device for mostly each year. I believe I will stick to one or two. Mainly at this point, reading this thread I find that following Canon would be the death of me. Which is both a relief and burden, since my crutch is gone, but I've leave to be creative. As to why? Not sure why I get the urge to write somethings, I felt the urge for this, put it away for a few days but it wouldn't leave me alone.

@sunkarapk: I was more or less looking for general pitfalls to avoid, not a plot-bunny wishlist of your own personal wants.

@Everyone else. Thanks for the all the advice and discussion. I've already got the first chapter out and will be posting it soon.

 

Lookin' forward to it!

 

I have trouble imagining a 11-year-old Riddle not thinking that.

A fanatically loyal friend/follower/subordinate would make an excellent read, if done well. I'm not sure I've ever read it done well.

Since someone mentioned it: Imo, manipulative Dumbledore is a must. Just not the way it's usually done. He's still a genius. He won't be (easily, most likely at all) outsmarted by Goblins. Or a teenager. Hell, he probably won't even have malicious intentions behind his manipulations. But he's still a giant spider sitting at the centre of his net.

 

I think the biggest problem with a 7-year fic is that it takes so long to write. That's where so many attempts end up failing, really; they can't finish the damn story. I mean, hell, jbern hasn't even finished his 7-year story yet, and in that each chapter is a year in about 5000 words. And lets be entirely honest, where canon became irreversibly screwed was with Time Turners, not with the Horcruxes or with the Hallows. The whole saga of Harry Potter wouldn't work if the Death Eaters got a hold of one time turner, even with the limitations put on by fanon. Example, Death Eater A sees Harry Potter at, say, 11:30 AM on November 3rd, 1994. He uses his time turner to go back an hour, and turns the place into a deathtrap that Harry blunders into. Game over.

A horcrux is a phylactery that's a little easier and cheaper to make. Phylacteries have been in fantasy much longer than J.K Rowling has been alive, and the concept predates western culture. The Hallows are no different than any other artifact level objects that litter the epic fantasy genre. I suspect the reason they feel so wrong for the story is that J.K. Rowling failed to set up her big finale in Books 1-4.

I do have to ask, what exactly do you hope to achieve with a 7 year story that can't be accomplished in either an After-Hogwarts Story, a mid-series AU, or a 1-year? Many of the strongest stories in the fandom are the ones that start out in the middle of the series or later. Look at Joe's Wastelands of Time, jbern's Bungle in the Jungle, RB's ridiculous Make a Wish, Heather Sinclair's Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod, or nonjon's A Black Comedy.

If you're going to just rehash canon, there's no point in writing the story, and if you're going to do a complete rewrite, why start with a bunch of 11 year-olds? Most of the real conflict of the series begins in book 4, and really, what most people want to rework is the whole Second War arc, because of how little sense the whole thing made.

 

ASBOT: One of the main reasons to go for a 7 year story, is the sense of depth and vigour you can give the world, rather than the sometimes rather rushed and under-described worlds used in single year or mid-series AU's, especially when those fics rely on changes to earlier years, but only mention them briefly or vaguely, or even worse, rely on explanation in AN's to explain why things are the way they are.