On the topic of mission subtitles:

Horcruxes are Forever is my favorite on the list :3

How about some of my own?

Hallowfinger
The Man With the Golden Wand

Yeah no, I'm not doing this anymore. This is too much, and we can be punny when I finally reach that point in writing this (and we fucking will, yeah!)

@Sin, the new most!helpful (two super insightful plot posts to Pers's one xD): I hope the cinnamon rolls were amazing :3 I might go get some me-self

I am damn certain that I want Gawain Robards (Insert Auror Name Here) to be that rouge patriot who thinks it's far better to ask for forgiveness than permission, and dies before it even starts.

It'll be really sticky to plan, but I think the execution and the character development down the line (based off this first trust rather than sluggishly moving through contrived trust-building scenarios) would be far, far better.

They WILL be folded into the Ministry - hell, in canon pre-thisfic, the Ministry was already afraid that Dumbledore would seize power - if 7 super secret agents were working alone, that would drive them batshit, and drive them to make nice, as they had made nice to Dumbledore so long, long ago after he prisonified Grindelwald.

And I can see much drama from their methods. I won't have a bunch of nancy-boys-and-girls afraid of killing people and Nurmengarding them instead, that defeats the whole point of a Bond-type fic.

Giselle Zabini could work - not quite sure where in Europe she would have been from previously, but I think that there's fairly good chance that she's British based on Blaise's attendance and Zabini being an Italian name. Of course, she could be hiding from authorities with warrants out for her arrest in Britain, where they would let a murderer go if it didn't mean dealing with Albus Dumbl-

Oh my god. Giselle Zabini is in England because she killed one man (Blaise's father? Some later dude?) too important or too many, perhaps she messed up a kill or something, and there's a warrant out for her arrest in multiple countries, but she manages to evade it by being in Dumbledore's shadow, whether he meant to cast it or not, and now she's desperate because they're far more likely to finally tackle England!

Avalon Initiative? /me exchanges the secret Nasu cross-internet handshake with Sin. Pretty sure this will end up getting used unless someone thinks of something dramatically better. Though I'm sure my readers on ffn will groan and sigh because of my previous fics

It's pretty much 100% that Snape's gonna be in this mess and I'm going to love writing him. SO MANY SECRETS. :3

The dosier idea is brilliant. To expand on it, I suppose I'll write up dosiers for every character and put them at the end of the chapter sort of like how Lamora puts Pokedex entries at the end of his chapters :3 And then every time they do something amazing, epic, learning new skills, etc, the dossiers get several lines of updating on the bottom of relevant chapters.

Definitely shooting for characters and not caricatures - I think this fic is highly character driven, how people react to their missions, maintaining their masks in front of the world they take by storm and how they deal with their mounting pressures and infighting internally to create this group of agents.

Death Eater fighting is definitely on the docket. I can see the group using secrecy to get into a place like Gringotts, but I also see them literally fighting their way out rather than relying on a deux-ex-dragochina. xD

And I can definitely see them doing recruitment amongst the people they know.

Oh actually, that's probably the best way to introduce any sort of spy. A bad recruitment decision that forces them to bat down the hatches, send the wards up, go on the run, have epic escape scenes and survive.

You aren't nearly butting into my creative process - I've barely thought too much about this with the new chapter released on my fic, etc. Just the thinking I do in this thread and when I catch CrackedMind on Skype (which we have both disappeared from for like, 48 hours >_>)

@Oruma: Oh my god.

I didn't think of yet another Hogwarts Professor as a handler recruited of some sort.

But it makes so much sense. Also, if there can be anything that curbs Harry's bloodlust upon seeing Snape... him choosing some very important things to say to McGonagall (thus revealing a secret he probably doesn't want to, to the group) would both help them all simmer down, while also making the agents closer.

They ARE going to need a handler if I kill off Gawain Random and there's definitely some amongst their number who would come up with this position from scratch, if not from spy movies. I can't see Snape, Harry, Fleur, Giselle (subject to change, sort of), Krum or any students they recruit as anything but actual agents in the field, while McGonagall's definitely too old to go through missions herself and too obviously on the side of the Light to deceive anyone as to her purpose.

This story planning is everything I wanted.

Everything.

edit: missed a comment after I finished sin's and jumped to Oruma's awesomeline.

I mentioned in the other thread, I think, that Dumbledore had tons and tons and tonssssssss of files in the Ministry, that Aurors, International relations people, diplomats, etc, all probably updated without any idea that they were that extensive or important.

Somewhere in my head, there's a scene where the group just up and copysteals all of Dumbledore's files, probably copying everything and actually just taking the ones that are of them and other people who oppose Voldemort (Hogwarts Professors, Order Members and all) - there's also a fairly good chance that Dumbledore kept those far more sensitive ones in his own care in his office, and I'm pretty sure Fleur's and Krum's respective files won't really be missed unless they're looking for them very specifically - also, they'll probably believe Mrs. Miss? Zabini managed to get her own removed, if they're looking for her's.

I'm already thinking of some sort of report of the more obvious missing files from some Death Eater to Voldemort, painting a huge target on the back of people that Dumbledore kept close to the chest.

 

Reading that just gave me another idea. If they get really desperate at some point and make a bad recruitment, it would be pretty badass to have them grab someone from Nurmengard. Doesn't have to be Grindlewald, but some dark wizard they grab because it would give them another look at the underground, besides Snape. It would be badass to have them break in to get one guy that they need for a mission or something else.

 

Happy to help, Lungs. /handshake

I've exhausted my creative juices for the moment, but I'll make sure to post any thoughts I have if something comes to me.

 

Subject Zero?

Don't mind me I am in ME binge.

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume that there are a ton of bad people trapped in there, people that Albus Dumbledore knew were bad.

I'm not sure if they'd make recruitments in there, but I can certainly envision a breakout of some sort, especially after Voldemort murders Gellert (assuming he does).

 

This looks awesome.

The only thing I have to add is that if Fleur = Bond girl, Hermione = Moneypenny. Yes, no?

 

This is an idea I formed while thinking about the Ginnymort thingy I posted earlier in the thread:

On that fateful night in Godric's Hallow, Voldemort brings Bellatrix with him, just in case something goes wrong.

The events go somewhat as they did originally, with James dying first,
Lily sacrificing her life and Voldemort casting the Killing Curse on young Harry.

This is where things diverge.

While a piece of Voldemort's soul latches onto Harry, the main soul piece and The Dark Lord's mind enters Bella's body.
Unlike the Quirell Possession known to us from canon, this time a mind-meld of sorts happens, and it effectively gives Voldemort a new body to fully control.
The problem is, that he no longer sees himself as Tom Riddle.
She sees himself as Bellatrix Riddle, the Dark Lady.

To make the story more recognizable, we will assume that it will take some time before her power fully returns and she gets used to the new situation.

Dumbledore arrives to see the damage and Bella escapes, fearing that attacking Harry again will do the same thing once more.

Fast forward several years later, the Dark Lady returns and the war starts again, with Harry being only about 3-4 years old.

The story would begin proper with Harry turning 11 and entering a war-torn Wizarding Britain.

 

Lately I watched Groundhog Day (again) and was thinking about doing HP fic using this idea (again). The problem was that I wanted do something similar to Phil's journey from being selfish person to selfless one and at least canon Harry doesn't really fit this theme.

And then in a discussion about spy!Harry someone mentioned a person who is just perfect for this fic - Cormac McLaggen. He is arrogant and egocentric, already has his potential Rita in Hermione and I think a Christmas party day could work as his Groundhog Day.

I think it would work as a five chapters fic. In the first one, we see his first day and first repetitions when he is figuring things out.

In the second one, he uses a time loop for his personal gain. Getting even with people he dislikes (Ron) and trying to woo every attractive girl in Hogwarts. Including Tonks, because I think she was there at the time and who wouldn't go for her? And it would work to show how much of bastard Cormac is, because he uses her emotional problems to get her into bed. But there is one woman who repeatedly refuses his advances and that's Hermione. It actually makes him more and more interested in her.

At the same time, he gets bored with living in the time loop and by the end of this chapter he is resigned, because nothing he does ever matter and tries to kill himself.

In the third chapter, in one of his various attempts to end himself, he crosses Voldemort. That actually gives him a new goal. He wants to defeat the Dark Lord in one of his repetitions, but he faces two problems. One, no matter how much he trains, how much experience he gains, he just doesn't have a sheer talent to win with Voldemort in a fair fight. He may become the best dueler after Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, but these two are just out of his league. And two, the Prophecy (that he doesn't know about) stops him from simply getting lucky and succeeding in any of his attempts to cheat.

In order to learn more about Dark Lord, he tries to get to know Potter. After many unsuccessful attempts where he simply tries to lie his way into getting information, he finally opens up and even tells about the time loops. That makes Harry trust him with the story of his life. After learning everything, Cormac is inspired to be a better person.

The fourth chapter is about him trying to live up to his decision. He is not very successful at the beginning, but slowly and surely changes and without even knowing it starts winning Hermione. As in the original movie, he learns some interesting and unusual skills and helps various people in the castle deal with their problems on that day. Definitely helps Tonks to show how much he changed.

The fifth chapter is the end of the loop. The perfect day that ends with him getting Hermione and becoming friends with Harry (not Ron though since it takes more than one day to deal with his jealousy over Mione).

 

All I saw was Cormac/Tonks and I immediately decided I had a new OTP for life.

(Also, in all seriousfaceness, any well-written Groundhog Day HP fic would always be appreciated from me. Neat-o idea.)

CORMAC/TONKS. FOR. LIFE. I didn't choose the Cortonks life, the Cortonks life chose me.

 

I'd actually like to see one with Tonks, or another secondary character, being the protagonist.

A more tragic one with Fleur, during the Second Task, would be pretty awesome:

First time around, she dismisses Harry even when he saves her sister.
Second time around, Harry dies saving Gabrielle.
Third time around, Gabrielle dies.
Fourth time, both of them die.

Or something that makes more sense.

Ultimately, Fleur would end up being like her later book/mature self, compared to the haughty and spoilt brat she was pre-Tournament/when it started.

In trying to save Harry and Gabrielle (because in each loop, he always tries to save her sister), she gets to know him and, slowly, falls for him.

Twist at the end could be that, although she got to know him for a long period of time via the loops, to him it's completely out of the blue, and he rejects her.

This leads to, I dunno, stalker!Fleur, or something. Or you could go the happy ending where the...uh, "guy gets the girl" "girl gets the guy."

EDIT: or one with Tonks reliving the DoM battle day over and over, with various people dying every time (Sirius, Harry, etc).

 

(...)

The fourth chapter is about him trying to live up to his decision. He is not very successful at the beginning, but slowly and surely changes and without even knowing it starts winning Hermione. As in the original movie, he learns some interesting and unusual skills and helps various people in the castle deal with their problems on that day. One of them is Tonks.

Cormac feels pretty bad how he used her in his earlier loops, but unlike with other people he can't easily help her without really getting to know her since her problems aren't simply caused by bad luck on that day. Ultimately he finds right words and actions to get her out of her depression.

The fifth chapter is the end of the loop. The perfect day that ends with him finally making Hermione interested in him enough to get her if he wants to. But then Cormac realizes that he doesn't feel anything for her anymore and it's Tonks that took his heart.

I changed it for you. Now it reads even more like a Hollywood rom-com, but whatever. Go and write it.

 

Guys! GUYS!! I just had the awesomest idea! I can't believe it hasn't been done before.

What if, Harry - Harry Potter - was Muslim?

Don't dismiss it straight away! Think it over first. Let it sink in! I promise you, the possibilities will hit you like a truck.

Flying carpets! Arabian nights! Hogwarts ... WITH MINARETS!

Oh man, this is so good...

 

:facepalm [/10characters]

 

Don't be silly. Harry's the good guy.

 

Even more fucked up than usual, bro.

I approve

 

And he reads out of a little black book...the good guy

 

This forum is named DARK LORD POTTER.

 

One man's Dark Lord is another man's saviour.

 

Instead of making Harry Muslim and grow up in the Middle East, Triple_9, how about we use the previously suggested IndianaJones!Harry plot bunny? Putting a new spin on the trite term "Indy!Harry", we start the story at the end of DH. After the provisional Ministry is established, Harry decides that he needs a break from bureaucracy; paperwork was always more of Hermione's thing, and Harry, after the life he lead, was bound to be restless with his "Saving People" thing.

With the recent tumult in the Middle East, as different magical sects strive for dominance in the power vacuum created by troubles in the Muggle Middle East, the ICW has commissioned the formation of a group of Curse Breakers to travel to the magical community in Persia. The purpose of this group, which resembles a magical UNESCO, is to secure the Persian artefacts in danger due to the regional conflicts and to send them to the ICW Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Harry leaps at the chance of exploration and assisting the ICW with their mandate of international peacekeeping. He's surprised to discover to those joining him on the group are Bill Weasley and his French wife, who will function as a translator and expert on magical foreign affairs, Rolf Scamander, and Luna Lovegood, who somehow got employed as an expert on Sphinxes and other dangerous creatures.

The trip involves ancient tombs, Egyptian mummies, enchanted carpets, and horrifying creatures called djinns. However, it is not all fun and games. Gringotts, who have recently incurred damages to their vaults, have kept their eye on obtaining more treasure and would leap at a chance of paying Harry Potter comeuppance. No intruder of Gringotts, after all, goes unpunished.

The Goblins have a long memory... Rumours that Harry Potter also has possession of three, potent Hallows further intrigues the ICW, who are not as benign and altruistic as they seem.

 

Plus, Fleur.