Well, fuck.

Err, is it ever specifically mentioned that Dumbledore was the secret keeper or was it just implied?

Edit: I just wasted post 1000.

Fuck my life.

 

It's both explicitly stated and implied in that the handwriting on the note Harry was given in OotP was his.

 

I've been thinking about this for awhile, I guess you guys could iron it out if it doesn't make much sense.

James is away while Voldemort attacks Lily and Harry, leaving James and Harry the only survivor. James essentially ends up resenting Dumbledore, while Harry ends up resenting Dumbledore and James, the only father figure he essentially has is Severus whose hatred for James increases with him being the only sole survivor.

James is bitter but doesn't neglect Harry, but he and Sirius spoils Harry.

In my opinion, this could be an interesting Slytherin independent Harry as well, and if you wanted to go throw in politics, you can have James dabbling in politics, befriending people Dumbledore wouldn't approve of and him eventually leaving the Order. I always wanted to see Lord James Potter teaching Harry the ropes.

 

Major question is how does Snape end up being a father figure for Harry, I would think that James doesn't allow him anywhere near Harry, at least until Hogwarts. Why does Harry end up resenting James, if James and Sirius spoil him?

But also what exactly is the plot here? All I can see is a starting premise, what are you planning on having Harry do. Will it just be the usual defeating Voldemort, is Voldemort even in the story?

 

I don't plan on writing this, just a bunny that's been hoping around my brain for awhile.

Harry could view James as being weak for him not being there to protect/save Lily, and he could resent Dumbledore for either putting them in the situation or just doesn't agree with his views.

I picked Severus due to his dislike for James.

The story would obviously be AU, since James is actually alive which effects practically everything. Of course, Voldemort will be back and etc. I just laid out the blueprint if you will, someone more creative could build upon it.

 

There was an interesting discussion about Lilly's protection in the Questions thread that got me thinking about this bunny.

Basically its like this, in order for the protection to work Lilly had to do a very dark ritual one that involved the sacrifice of new born children and their mothers hence granting her child the protection of the lives of 10/20 children. However she doesn't fully now what she's doing and by that act Harry becomes an abomination that Magic itself wants to destroy, also from then on Harry is haunted by the souls of those sacrificed.

Dumbledore is the only one alive who knows what James and Lilly did, but he also doesn't fully know the consequences, so he leaves Harry at the Dursleys, he discovers that Harry is being Haunted and his mind is slowly descending into madness during a routine visit. So he erects a mental barrier/wall(think what death did for Sam winchester) and more or less modifies Harry's memories.

Well during his Occlumency lesson with Snape, the wall comes down and everything comes crashing down on him.

What do you think, interesting?

 

Learn how to use capitals consistently (heh, alliteration xD), then WRITE THIS.

 

I was reading 'Death Shall Have No Dominion' and I came across an interesting passage that sparked a potential plot bunny.

Okay, my first thought after reading this was:

-

Harry has been prophesized to kill the Dark Lord, but is hopelessly outclassed despite his dedication to his studies and the tutors that are helping him. Moody, Shacklebolt, even Remus have done their level best to teach Harry, who will be entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, how to fight and survive, but even they are losing faith in him. Voldemort is leading the first battles of the war and though some of his Death Eaters are falling, the damage is greater than his losses and he has been unscathed despite Dumbledore and the Ministry's best efforts.

Further, Harry has been having extremely painful visions that are slowly causing changes in him. At first, he can't tell the difference from the dreams of his fifth year, but as the dreams become more defined, he realizes that whatever Voldemort is doing to himself is also unleashing his own power. As Voldemort fights to regain his humanity and undo the damage done to him by his horcruxes, Harry's strength is increasing rapidly.

Attempting to harness it, Harry finds himself wholly absorbed in the rituals that the Dark Lord is doing, sacrificing Muggles and Wizards, and though he is sickened by the loss of life, he welcomes the feelings and unrush of power when they come to him. Dumbledore eventually explains to him that the dark nature of the magical transfer will cause him pain if he uses it, as his actual body has never gone through the ritual, only his mind has knowledge of the magics involved.

Thus, whenever he casts something dark it is as powerful as Voldemort's magic, yet it seriously hurts him to the point that he can barely stand afterwards. Only becoming fully-consumed by the Dark magic will grant him a reprieve, and he's unwilling to allow himself to slip that far.

When Harry begins hunting horcruxes along with Dumbledore, the horcruxes react differently, attempting to latch on to him as if he was Voldemort himself. The portion of Voldemort's spirit becomes fused to him, and he even begins to look somewhat like a younger Tom Riddle. He also becomes more charismatic in front of his peers, quicker to plot and scheme, and swifter to curse something if things go wrong. Afraid of what he's becoming, but fully aware that if he doesn't absorb the horcruxes he'll be unable to beat Voldemort, he's resigned to finishing his task no matter what the cost.

After Hufflepuff's cup is absorbed, Voldemort realizes that Harry is taking his power from him, both through his rituals and his horcruxes, so he sacrifices Nagini to take his own power back. He also starts prodding their connection, torturing Harry, who has to learn how to defend himself against it just to remain conscious.

Eventually, when the two finally have their showdown, they are so evenly matched that if Harry didn't have green eyes and Voldemort red, only a few people would even know the difference. In fact, Harry is cast down by his own friend at some point (Ron?), who Voldemort murders immediately, laughing at the irony. Injured, but still standing, Harry tries a desperate last spell, unleashing Fiendfyre on Voldemort, who is unable to defend it. Harry screams, preparing for the pain of his life, but he's completely unaffected and he has a sudden, jarring realization that he truly has become a Dark Wizard just as he watches Voldemort burn in front of him.

-

I also assumed a Harry/Daphne relationship (wouldn't young Tom mixed with Harry find a Slytherin girl?), Ron/Hermione, Tonks always being around when Remus is around, and then Harry fucks off Daphne after the last battle, realizing her dark ties will only bring him problems in the long run, and the last scene is a conversation with Gabrielle at Bill and Fleur's wedding. (Really, I'm serious).

...

Thoughts?

 

Interesting though personally I'd go in a different direction with both of them influencing each other. There would be much more compassionate Voldemort and ruthless Harry trying to kill the other one before they are the same person. Everyone else would be wondering if ultimately these two amalgamation will be more like the Dark Lord or the Hero of the Wizarding World and which side of the war (if any) will benefit from this.

 

It certainly sounds interesting. I'd read it.

 

I'd say do it, but there's just the small matter of No Angst to clear up. Finish that before starting anything else, or I shall be mighty displeased.


And you won't like me when I'm displeased.

 

Not really a plot bunny, more an idea that came to me while I was watching Highlander, but what about Immortal!Harry post-DH? What do you think? Possible story there?

The problem, I think, would be that it could easily descend into an angst-filled piece of crap as Harry whines about how unfair it is that he's going to outlive his friends and how he can't have children and how he's just killed Voldemort and now there's hundreds of people out there who want his head.

 

Maybe a one-shot, maybe. Because immortality takes away most of the thrill in story, no suspense would be left. But a crossover or something innovative by a good author can make things interesting. I would read it just out of curiosity on what happens after immortality.

 

Pers already did it, though if I'm honest I don't think he did a good job. I'm usually a big fan of his writing, and I have a soft spot in my blackened heart for both the original Highlander movie and the TV show, and yet the crossover Pers wrote fell flat for me.

The problem was partly that I felt he tried to write either a comedy/parody with some action/adventure, or an action/adventure piece with some comedy/parody, and in the end there wasn't enough of either one. Of course, it's equally likely that I went into the story with my expectations too high, owing to my rose-tinted views of both Pers's writing and old Highlander stuff so as always, YMMV.


Anyway, unless there was an equally amped-up villain for immortal!Harry to face (and by that I mean that Harry was still an overmatched underdog) then the story would quickly lose all tension and/or just become an wangst-fest as mentioned above.

 

The immortality story might work with a series like Incarnations of Immortality, or Maybe the DC/Marvel universe. But they're a bit of a stretch, if you really want to do an immortal!Harry, you really should just do a one shot or a series of one shots with the immortal Harry over the years.

 

Or maybe a Harry that survives as "Gran Harry" or "Uncle Harry" among his direct/indirect descendents, one that is cool with things and eager to learn new things, like pilot a space racer or whatnot. Or he can be the embarrassing old relative who hits on all of his descendents' female friends, from green skinned space babe to the kiddie Veela... until danger appears and he kicks ass and take names.

Alternatively, he lives to guide the wizarding world to peace - but in this story, we actually see him do it instead of the usual 2 paragraph affair seen in "happily ever after" endings.

edit: GreenMile!Harry by me. It's short and bad, yeah.

 

This is an idea that I find myself thinking about a lot, whenever it's getting a bit hard to revise or work on the other stories I've already started.

It's post DH, during the time that Harry has either just qualified or is nearing the end of his training as an auror. It starts at the culmination of a challenging case (but nothing spectacular) and he and his mentor/senior partner have subdued a dark wizard in the forest of dean. The setting allows Harry to reflect on what's happened briefly since the end of canon, and establish the situation of himself and other characters now.

After that, the plot kicks off with a glow from the south. Imagine the scene from Empire of the sun where it's like there is a second dawn. After this they find out that Greater London is essentially gone, and Britain is in turmoil. The muggles have no idea what is going on, and the wizarding world are almost as clueless. I think that Harry would lose Ron, Hermione and Ginny and a number of other minor characters in this.

The story then progresses and is set around the world. The wizarding world is at some point revealed to muggles, and Harry along with two other people try and unify nations to fight the threat that is spreading from London.

The dangers would parallel a lot of revelations and other apocalyptic traditions and so Harry would face a lot of opposition from religious people and institutions who fear that he's actually part of the problem, that it's a trick etc.

The cause of the problem would be the veil in london, which is slowly eroding the barrier between life and death. I'd have a more personified threat in the form of supernatural harbingers (partly inspired by Raven Dragonclaw's elemental series) that are the personification of various disasters mixed with Good omen style horsemen.

As this all picks up, Harry would have to find out that to save the world he has to truly become the master of death, and that it's a more difficult and challenging trial than simply possessing the three hallows.

 

That reflection part would be better off somewhere after the start of main plot, not at the start of story. Because reflection at start is too common.

Anyway, this plot has potential. I don't remember precisely which, but I have read this sort of story somewhere.

The story would require a lot of time and effort, much more than a normal story because making something of this magnitude realistic is very difficult. Even a bit of complacency, and the story would turn into horror show.

 

I think it's necessary at the start because it grounds it, but it's not a big detail. It's just that that is one of the scenes that I've thought about more often. I'd be interested if you could find out what that story is.

And yes, it opens itself up to a lot of ideas but it would be difficult to write well so I'd rather get some practice first before I go for something so complex, or let someone else write it.

 

First person, or Third? If it's First, which is rather difficult to pull off, I can understand having the reflection whilst he is in the Forest of Dean. If it's Third, I can still understand it, but you'd have to not emphasise it too much. Far too many stories are screwed up royally because of stuff like that, because they try and incorporate some First Person into the Third, and it usually doesn't work.

Tbh, I wouldn't suggest putting this Forest of Dean bit at the beginning. It would be a good scene for reflection, as Harry reminisces about the Horcrux hunt, but it would be so much better if it's there after he finds out Ron and Hermione are gone, as you can really focus on the pain their loss has caused.

One more thing though:

Do not make this an angst filled piece of crap. If you're going to, simply don't write it. This plot has a lot of potential, and I would hate to see it fucked up.