Well hey guys, I'm new here and I was wondering if I could get some help?

Basically I want to create a story following Lily and James etc; as they fight the death eaters when Voldemort was at his most powerful. A.K.A the first wizarding war

I'm also trying to make a darker world than what we read and see in the movies. Like we see spells that Harry's taught in school reduce things to dust but we don't really take notice of it, the potential those spells have in real-life situations.

So any tips about how I could go about making this without it seeming to out of place or overdone?

 

Personally, I'd play up the social effects more than Voldemort's power. While he was an extremely skilled wizard he was still only one man, but the threat he represented could pervade an entire society to the point where nobody dared speak his name.

The fear of Voldemort should be everywhere, and more than that, the fear that someone close to you is a Death Eater. The Imperius Curse should be a huge part of this. I see it as the single most terrifying spell in the books, and it should be one of the greatest fears for most people. Right below coming home to find the Dark Mark above your house.

More than that though, there should be societal effects. People should be afraid to leave their homes, not be willing to trust strangers, not be willing to help if someone is in need. It should break down relationships, force apart friendships, and put the main characters through all sorts of stressful situations. Maybe a close family member gets Imperiused, or revealed to be a Death Eater, or outright abducted/killed.

Battle scenes shouldn't matter so much in this type of story, because the Wizarding World doesn't wage war like that. Voldemort took over Britain not because he was a powerful wizard (though it helped), but because he was the scariest motherfucker in the country and everyone else knew it.

 

Wow... That's brilliant, I'd thumb you up, but looking around I can't find it so a huge thank you is in store.

As for 'you-know-who' should the characters be calling him such or Voldemort, I completely forgot the He-who-must-not-be-named part of the story, thanks again. Any other ideas people?

Hope I can do it justice, I know I can write it, it's just being able to write it well enough for my own standards if you get what I mean?

And would anyone who reads this care to beta my first chapter?

 

Just post it in WbA and face the music - the symphony of madness and improvement.

 

There is this story titled 'Rise of the Fourth Maurader'. It's in the Almost Recommended section. It portrays a decent social and political picture of the early days of Lord Voldemort's rise.

Firstly, get the time frame and ages of the known first war characters correct.

Secondly, his original agenda which attracted purebloods like flies into his service 'must' be touched. The situations within the dark pureblood families 'must' be written. After that is the formation of the Order and it's recruitment.

Next are the key assassinations by the DE's and the impact of those on the war effort. Next is the entry of the new generation, AKA the Maurader's and their age group into the war effort.

The most important thing is the portrayal of Dumbledore and Voldemort. They need to be at a different level, whether it's magically or in schemes or political calls. Then is the the escalation of war in favor of the Dark side and finally, it ends with the BWL.

There is no canon proof that Dumbledore asked the Order to fight with 'stunners'. It's a fanon concept.

So, yeah. That's what I think are important things one should concentrate when re-creating the first war.

You story must go into the WBA section, where our critics tear it apart or compliment. It depends on you really.

Good luck!!

For ideas, check out 'All these Complications' on livejournal. The author took down her works from ffn.net for no solid reason.

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If this your first time writing a Harry Potter story, then I suggest you choose a cliched plot--bunny and try presenting in an original way. Doing the first war as your first story is a risky project since there are so many chances of trolling.

 

Dovaekiin's post is very good.

I'd add one thing: it might be interesting to show the gradual decline of Ministerial authority. Voldemort's rise was described as him taking over the country - that would be a very interesting thing to show. How certain areas of the country, as the war proceeds, fall under Voldemort's de facto control. Though the Ministry is still intact and claims legal authority in the areas, in effect the Death Eaters administrate them.

A story recommendation for ideas is Master Slytherin's Ruin. It's a bit on the "traditional war" side of things, but the atmosphere is great.

 

Like everyone said follow dovaekiin's advice. A question I would pose though, is how much does voldemort participate. At the beginning of the first war nobody knows who this man is, except dumbledore of course. But I feel he would need to play a bigger role than the mastermind behind his shadow puppets. He would need to prove himself not only to the masses, but also to his followers. Once he has established himself, then I would back seat his personal role in the war and focus on his fear campaign.

Also for a story like this I feel you would need to have a meticulous plan for your story as there are a lot of key bits and pieces of information scattered through out the books that would need to fit in.

 

Well, given that this is a Lily and James story it would make more sense to have Voldemort start off as a bit of news they heard of through gossip or the news, then progressively have him play a bigger and bigger role. It would match up mostly with how involved Lily/James are in the war and their growth as characters.

This way you get to have a closer look at the indirect effects Voldemort had on Wizarding Britain, as I mentioned before. It's an age old method of storytelling: few authors are able to pull the big bad out at the very start and have him remain scary for the entire book. It's better to have him show up once or twice before he becomes the focus (as a character). For some good examples see the Lord Ruler (Mistborn) or Darth Vader (A New Hope). Both are hyped up from the start, but it's only in the last half/quarter of the story that they become an active threat to the characters.

 

Yeah, I'm primarily aiming to keep it Lily/James centric but since I've been researching it's hitting a bit of a brick wall.

The war lasted 11 years, they were only there four the last four, as for keeping Voldemort hidden for a while, he tried to recruit James and Lily straight out of highschool.

Perhaps the opening chapter, say 1-5 summarise these years and then direct on James and Lily/ The Marauders? Getting the story set in the first few, the world etc; and then bringing in the main characters?

What I'm looking for rightnow though is the moment when the First Wizarding War began... the date say 1970 when the Marauders etc; began year one but there's no set event where everyone declared it was a war if you get what I mean? No prominent deaths or anything, has anyone found something similar to what I'm looking for by any chance?

 

I don't know. Voldemort was already known by some of his followers in the 50's. Remember that when he went to ask for the post of DADA a second time, Dumbledore knew Dolohov, Rosier, Muldber and Nott were in the Hog's Head. I think he only needed hearsay to do all the work, with the occasional Dark Lord activity, to inspire fear in the masses. Don't forget that there are like 3k/3,5k magicals in Britain, publicity it's a lot easier.

 

Knowing the Daily Prophet, I think it alone provided the much needed notoriety and fear for Voldemort among the masses. Of course the slaughter of pure-light oriented families would have sent out a strong message that no one is above the DE's reach.

 

Those people knew him from school as Tom Riddle who then became Voldemort. Nobody knows who Voldemort is. He has to make a name for himself or people would still call him Voldemort instead of You-Know-Who. Or he could do a taboo on the name Voldemort, like the second war, and just send his death eaters to kill them. That would provide enough fear for the people to both fear him and never say his name.

From what I have seen of the Daily Prophet, it isn't too keen on the facts. The prime minister could take the Fudge approach.

 

Barty Crouch was the head of the DMLE at the time and he took a seriously hardline stance against the Death Eaters, so I doubt the Minister for Magic would go the Fudge route. If I'm remembering it right, Millicent Bagnold was the Minister before Fudge, and she followed the same reasoning. It was under her that the Unforgiveables were made legal for Aurors.

As for the transition from Voldemort to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, I would write it as Voldemort gaining power through conventional means (muggleborn murders, abductions, etc.) as well as a word of mouth campaign about his goals. Following that I'd show how careful use of the Imperius Curse could allow Death Eaters to reach key places in the Ministry (like Augustus Rookwood and Walden Macnair) that would allow them to affect legislation, with the high point of this campaign being having Voldemort himself create the Taboo on his name.

Of course this would take years to happen, given that Voldemort would not be powerful enough in the social sense to do so in one go, as happened during the Second War. Plus it would have to happen subtly. If a few of his spies were caught it could mean the entire operation falls apart, for instance. Lots of opportunity to show Dumbledore and Voldemort's non-combat battles in there.

 

He became Lord Voldemort at the time he was still in Hogwarts.

Someone as narcissistic as Riddle, should have let some people in the secret. Of course, I might be wrong, but the memory Dumbledore showed Harry (the one where Voldemort reapplied for the DADA position) is from 1955 give or take. Voldemort was 28 years old. And there were rumors of his activities. He presented himself with that title. I think an author should start in that time to make a correct interpretation of the political and social climate in Britain.

 

Now that I think about it, the only reason he used a taboo on his name was to find people who resisted him by saying Voldemort during the second war, during a time when everyone said You-Know-Who. It would seem rather pointless to shed his muggle name in favor of Voldemort, which he wants to be known as, to then throw in a taboo and get a different title. The You-Know-Who should just be something people say due to terror. And the best way is like emiya said, with the imperius. It is hard to spot and anyone could be under its influence, it fits the era perfectly.

Okay I concede that there would be rumors of his practices. But where did these rumors come from, he had to do something in order for there to be rumors. The question is when, where and how. Did he murder his way through Albania and practice dark magics, or did he make people who didn't support him disappear.

Since it is from Lily/James pov then it wouldn't matter if he makes appearances or not, just the results need to be shown.

 

He murdered at least his father and his family, and Hepizbah Smith before trying for the DADA position, even if they were unknown to the Wizarding public at the time. He also worked for Borkin and Burke's despite having multiple job offers in more reputable establishments. That alone would be enough to fuel some controversy in such a small community, much like Dumbledore's choice to become Headmaster of Hogwarts rather than Minister for Magic.

 

How? I was under the impression Dumbledore was the only one to piece together that information and kept a tight leash on it. Everyone knew going to work for borkin was weird but the death of smith was blamed on her old house elf. I also don't recall the DMLE investigating the riddle murders. Why would they? It was muggles. He then disappeared from the uk for years, the public would have forgotten a smart orphan boy working for a disreputible seller. It seemed to me the only one to suspect Tom was Dumbledore, not the wizarding community

 

A lot of great advice above a further thought worth considering though - particularly since this is a fic centred on Lily and James - is Voldemort's effects on the Muggleborn community. You could look towards pre-war Nazi Germany for inspiration. Muggleborns leaving gradually over time and fleeing Britain. The wealthier at first and an increasing flow as Voldemort's power grows and as he gains more control and mastery of Britain.

@Taure: I agree with your thoughts on how it would be interesting to explore the lack of ministerial control and growth in Voldemort's control over the country. I am curious though how you think that would work in a magical context, with things like apparition etc. And seemingly very few locations of magical importance.

 

You're forgetting how small the Wizarding community is. Tom Riddle scored pretty much perfectly on his OWLs/NEWTs, was Head Boy, 'protected' Hogwarts by outing Aragog and was well known as intelligent, courteous and ambitious. Then he joined Borkin and Burke's. There was bound to be at least a little gossip about him at that time. It would be like Prince Harry going on a six week bender around South Africa in such an isolated community.

I meant to address Hepizbah and his father separately, guess I forgot to edit that bit. I meant that rumours can easily be tied to people that, on the surface, have nothing to do with them. Just look at Rita Skeeter's articles on Harry and Dumbledore for examples. Either way, Dumbledore only confirmed Voldemort's murders over time. He must have had some kind of hint in the first place to start looking; the rumours are Occam's Razor applied to this situation.

 

Then the question becomes who knew Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort. I was under the impression very few did. He killed all his relations to his muggle past. He also sucked everyone's dick, he was viewed as the golden boy not a killer. His award for catching Hagrid, perfect grades and general ass kissing would have been all good publicity. Working at borkins would have seemed a waste of talent, not a nefarious plot. And Prince Harry going to south Africa would spread harmless rumors. I doubt people will be saying he is going to rape, pillage and plunder his soul away.

Only his school friends, which we know are few, and Dumbledore, know Voldemort is Tom Riddle. The public doesn't connect the two, they have nothing but rumors of a rising dark lord. Where did they get those? It isn't from good grades Tom and confirmed accidents. It's Tom fucking Riddle, he didn't drop the ball. It took Dumbledore years upon years of detective work and inference to find the events that transformed him from Riddle to Voldemort.