@Menace: I don't think I would like to read this. But it has good potential.

 

its more the idea that even if he dies, he'll wake up the next morning good as new. And It would suck after awhile, because you watch your friends and family die around you. It would be a never ending groundhog day, you just repeat after you die.

 

Why would that be so bad? Sure, having everyone you know and love die over time sucks. But to live life over and over again, while not even having to live the same life, sounds a lot better than being dead. Isn't this basicly what immortality is all about?

 

Why should they try, you just showed conclusively that the world is fucked anyway.

 

An idea I had while trying to find a better reason for Voldemort to have gone after the Potters when Harry was a baby (because I've always regarded the prophecy as a terrible plot device that no supposedly intelligent wizard should have taken seriously)... I wouldn't find it unlikely if it has been done already, though.

So, the prophecy never happened. In 1981, Voldemort had 5 Horcruxes-- the diary, the ring, the cup, the locket, and the diadem. He was one Horcrux short of his goal, and the obvious choice was the remaining Founder's relic-- the Sword of Gryffindor. Now, the Sword was located in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, and it would have been nigh impossible for him to steal it right from under Dumbledore's crooked nose (the only one he had ever feared, blah blah, you get the idea). The only other way to retrieve the Sword was to have "a true Gryffindor" pull it from the Sorting Hat, which was still a bit more accessible, being taken out once every year and all that. He had his then-loyal Death Eater Snape teaching Potions at Hogwarts. Snape manipulates his way into being put in charge of organizing the Sorting Ceremony in September, and transforms the little stool students sat on during Sorting into a Portkey. On the other "end" there waited a Death Eater that would kill the first student to sit on the stool, steal the hat and take a second Portkey to another location, or just Apparate away with the Hat, so that their location wouldn't be revealed.

Now, even though Voldemort had the Hat, it would still be useless since neither himself nor anyone in his entourage was a "true Gryffindor". He knew, however, that one of the only other people, besides himself and Dumbledore, who knew about this special ability of the Hat and was able to exploit it was James Potter (in canon he was said to have been a close friend of Dumbledore's, go figure). He gets James kidnapped and tortures Harry in front of him with the Cruciatus curse to persuade him to take the Sword out of the Sorting Hat for him. James attempts to harm Voldemort with the sword; he's largely unsuccessful in his attempt, causing him only a small cut before being thrown on his back by defensive magic, but this angers Voldemort enough so that he throws an AK at Harry as a punishment for his father. James takes the curse for his son and dies, activating the sacrificial protection. With James dead, Voldemort then proceeds with finally making the actual Horcrux out of the sword; victim: Harry. The curse rebounds and the rest is yet to be outlined.

I'm planning on having Harry grow up in a single-parent household, with Lily.

Anyone wanting to poke holes in this plot bunny is more than welcome to do so.

And sorry for the evil wall of text of doom.

 

Why is Snape teaching at Hogwarts? In canon, him overhearing the prophecy set into motion a chain of events that directly led to Dumbledore hiring him knowing full well that he is a Death Eater. How would he become the Potions teacher here?

 

If he could get Hat
Why not use that instead?
Do not understand

 

Definitely rooting for Harry/Lily if anybody wants to write

 

The Love Protection only worked in canon, because Voldemort gave Lily the choice to live and she choose to die in a desperate attempt to protect Harry instead.

I doubt a Port-Key made by Snape will work in Hogwarts.

Why not just turn the Sorting Hat into a Horcrux, if he has that anyway?

And what Moridin said.

If you want a different reason for Voldemort to go after the Potters and still want Lily alive, you could go with the old 'Gryffindor's Heir' plot device. Slytherin's Heir wants to kill the last of Gryffindor's Heirs, who just happen to be the Potters. When entering the house, he blasts the door open, burying James under the rubble, out cold but alive. Voldemort can't see James, so he goes after Lily and Harry. Thanks to Snape's plee (and Lily not being a heir anyway), he offers her life and she refuses. Cue protection, Voldemort beaten, James a single parent.

Or maybe James just blew up some of his most loyal Death Eathers and he wants some personal revenge (but Snape begs him blah blah blah). It really doesn't have to be complicated.

 

Then we can't have Harry/Lily.

No other point in reading it.

 

James and Lily were just about to do some sexual experimentation with Polyjuice (they have to do something while locked up in their house), so it's actually Lily that survives.

And in desperate need for some sexual action.

 

Well, not unless someone wants to write baby Harry / Lily Potter's dead body... Actually, some things are better off unwritten.

 

I'm pretty sure Snape was already teaching at Hogwarts by the time the Potters died in canon. Granted, his application came after Trelawney's, but he must have been at Hogwarts in September 1981. As for Dumbledore knowing he was a Death Eater, didn't he find out when Snape went to him to ask for help in saving Lily? In this timeline, since the prophecy never happened, neither would Dumbledore know about Snape's allegiances.

And how is my idea any different? James did have a choice of watching his son die, just like Lily did in canon. I don't think that the fact that the sacrifice wasn't preceded by a few lines of dialogue makes it any less of a sacrifice.

I don't see why it wouldn't. The Goblet Portkey worked, and it was still located on Hogwarts grounds.

You do have a point here, but I can see Voldemort not valuing a tattered old hat as much as an ancient sword, as a potential Horcrux. Remember that he destroyed the Hat in canon.

As for the idea with Gryffindor's heir, I know I wouldn't read that. More than one Founder's heir in a story sounds to me like bad indy!Harry.

 

You have an answer to everything...

 

The Goblet Portkey is only modified/hijacked by Crouch Jr., to add one extra leg to the journey. He didn't, or more likely couldn't create a Portkey into or out of Hogwarts - only Dumbledore (or the rightful Headmaster) could do that.

I looked it up on the HP Wiki and re-read the part with the Sword in CoS but it isn't conclusive: Does Riddle even know of the presence of the Sword in the first place? It is hidden in the Hat after all. If he doesn't know of this relic he might resort to the Sorting Hat, which is arguably the most famous Founder's Relic of all.

 

Actually, I believe that Snape is emotionally blackmailed by Dumbledore into teaching at Hogwarts after Lily's death.

IIRC, Snape overhears the prophecy -> Snape tells Voldemort, and learns that Voldemort plans to kill the Potters -> Snape approaches Dumbledore, who makes him turn on Voldemort, albeit secretly -> Voldemort kills the Potters -> Snape gets hired as a Potions Master in Hogwarts ostensibly to collect information on Dumbledore in case Voldemort returns, but actually to act as Dumbledore's spy when he does and to protect Harry.

The difference is that Lily was given the choice of surviving, not just watching her son die. She could have stepped aside and lived, not just been the next target as James would have been.

Also, what Oruma said. The Goblet was already a portkey, Crouch just added a leg to the journey it took.

 

When Snape came to Dumbledore the first time, Dumbledore asked him if he had a message for him from his master. So, he already knew Snape was a Death Eather. So if Snape didn't repend, and he wouldn't without Lily in danger, it would be very strange for Dumbledore to make him a teacher or trust him in any way.

It's all the difference in the world. If Voldemort hadn't given Lily that clear choice, there wouldn't have been any protection. That's the whole point and that's why there's a difference with any other situation where someone just jumps in front of a spell. The same thing happened at the end of DH. Voldemort gave Harry a very clear choice. Come to him and die or go and know his friends get slaughtered. Voldemort has to give him the option of walking away.

This, exactly. I always hated the idea, that anyone could just make a Port-Key in Hogwarts. If that were true, HBP would have been a lot shorter.

Wasn't the sword lost for ages, before Harry took it out of the hat? I doubt anyone (except for possible Dumbledore with his mad guessing abilities) knew the sword could be gotten through the hat. Remember it wasn't actually hidden in the hat though, it just works as some sort of portal. Otherwise Neville couldn't have pulled it out.

 

Got any sources for that affirmation? Both the book and the wiki seem to simply state that Crouch Jr. turned it into a Portkey like any other, Hogwarts appearing not to have any special status or restrictions in what transportation by Portkeys is concerned.

First of all, the Sword isn't hidden per se in the Hat; more like, it can be teleported from wherever it might be at the moment and materialized inside the Hat as soon as a Gryffindor reaches into it for that specific purpose (or if he just needs help).

Secondly, it seems a bit unlikely that Voldemort doesn't know of the existence of the Sword. He knew of all the other Founders' relics, and the existence and history of the Sword of Gryffindor is very likely common knowledge for anybody remotely interested in that stuff (I mean, Godric seems to be depicted everywhere with it in his hands, so it can't be the most obscure of artifacts, right?). Granted, he clearly didn't know about the trick with the Sorting Hat in canon, but hey-- it's an AU fic after all. Writing a scene explaining how he found out about it can't be the most difficult thing in the world.

Again, sauce. He was after the DADA teacher position after all, there's evidence all over canon that he really wanted to have that job; I don't believe he was just teaching because Dumbledore "blackmailed" him into it. And he can't have been at Hogwarts just because he promised himself/Dumbledore he would protect Lily's son, because if so, wouldn't his first 10 or so years of teaching have been wasted since Harry was with the Dursleys? And even if we were to accept the other premise as true, the one with collecting info on Dumbledore, why on earth would he do that for a master he knew to be dead even before he had gotten the post, and to whom he wasn't even loyal anymore? Not to mention I highly doubt that, in ordinary circumstances, one can apply for a teaching post after the beginning of a school year. None of this makes any sense.

Ah, yes, I see now. Missed that particular bit.

Apparently Rowling didn't hate the idea. I wouldn't find it unlikely if they strengthened the protections surrounding Hogwarts after the incident at the Tournament, though.

 

"The timing of this application is of interest. Severus' application came after Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, but before the Potters' deaths (31 October, 1981)."

From the Potter wikia page on Snape. The part about why he applied is not given, but there is speculation that Voldemort may have sent him there. So yeah, I was mistaken about the timeline, Snape becomes a teacher before the Potters die, but as ViolentRed points out, Dumbledore knew Snape was a Death Eater, and didn't trust him. Why would he appoint him to a teaching position at Hogwarts? I think Dumbledore wanted him at Hogwarts so he could protect him from retaliation from still loyal Death Eaters or people who didn't believe he was reformed, and also so Dumbledore could keep an eye on him.

The premise about collecting info on Dumbledore wasn't why he went there, it was the reason he gave Bellatrix for staying in Hogwarts and not searching for Voldemort in the start of HBP IIRC (I think he even admits to her that he thought Voldemort was dead, and after that he was there for Dumbledore's protection). From the sound of it, it seems like a reason he had thought of much earlier for sticking around near Dumbledore.

 

I'm actually in the process of trying to write this, mostly from the point after the fact at the end, but I'm not too sure if the idea is one that I can do justice now.

The idea is this: Unimpeded, Dumbledore and Grindelwald did do what they dreamed of in their youth and unite the Hallows over time, with the foreigner taking control of Aberforth and Ariana via Imperius before things could reach the canon implosive point after the younger Dumbledore tries to persuade his brother not to take Ariana along on the trip.

Without the death of his sister Albus doesn't come to his senses in time and goes along with the dark thoughts.

They took over, ruling for seventy or so years, and have had to put up with constant assault from other wizarding countries and individuals strong enough to fight them.

Flamel was among them and the descendants of the Potter line who were robbed of the Cloak united with him and others to figure out what could be done to prevent their country from sinking into such destruction and tyranny.

Dumbledore himself grew weak with guilt in his older age and actually assisted in the effort to some degree, partly sabotaging the very thing he had built over time due to regret for the lives sacrificed.

One way or another, with little scraps of aide and the rallying of forces, James Potter manages to wrest control of the Cloak as its proper master from their hands shortly before the enforcer of their armies, Tom Riddle, tracks down and kills him and his wife.

Cue prophecy, up-raising of Harry by Dumbledore and Grindelwald to fight against the rebels, and eventual heel-face-turn as he learns of his heritage and the prophecy and that the vicious asshat who supervised his training, Riddle, was the one to kill his parents.

Harry manages with Dumbledore's hidden teachings to overcome Riddle and defeat, but not kill him, as he keeps the other man hostage to the wording of the prophecy; no one else can kill they two, and at that time frame in the world its useful for when the true battles must be fought.

Eventually Dumbledore passes the Stone on before he is killed by Grindelwald for betrayal, and after a long series of back and forth struggling coupled with the rest of the rebels aiding him, Harry is able to break into the stronghold and take over or otherwise gift to the MacGuffin allowing time travel.

I was imagining a Back to the Future style consequence to time travel here, wherein whatever changes Harry tries to make it will take so much resultant time for the ripple to get to the point where it will eliminate Grindelwald, and as a result it would give him time to send back troops and otherwise do something to try and keep his rule intact.


Does anyone else think this could be a solid read if done well, or am I clutching at straws with a piss-poor concept?