To add to the growing pile of possible CoS divergence points, I've always wondered how things would have turned out if Harry had interacted more with Diary whilst it was in his possession, or if Ginny never managed to steal it back. Even ignoring the obviously dramatic impact that Riddle attempting to possess Harry would have, a Riddle who chose not to for some reason could become some sort of confidant or tutor for Harry, much like a magnified version of Snape's potion book and far earlier on in his life.

It'd also be interesting to see a story where Remus kept in contact with Harry after PoA, though I admit that I'm not entirely sure how it would impact GoFthat much. Perhaps a greater one would be if Remus ever got into contact post-PS, inspired by Hagrid's letter that was asking for photographs - I could see that greatly changing the nature of PoA, since Harry's had consistent contact with a friend of his parents for a while now, and could have possibly heard of Sirius Black and the nature of his crimes prior to his escape. In addition, having such a tutor figure emerge in his life could push him to try harder in school.

 

I think that the best possible PoD in CoS is when Fudge decides that he has to do something about the attacks without any evidence. I've a bunch of notes on a fic where he accuses and tries to arrest Harry after Justin and Nick get petrified, forcing AD to take Harry on the run with him.

 

Harry would also likely be (rightly) blamed for Umbridge's disappearance - no Dumbledore to save her from the centaurs.

 

I've got a couple I'd like to see, I guess.

1st Year, Troll Incident

A couple possibilities here. Maybe the Troll doesn't head for the Girl's Bathrooms, ad somebody dies. Maybe Ron or Hermione die during the fight. I also remember that some of their female classmates were trying to get Hermione to come out, maybe they succeed? Or maybe one or two of them persist and keep trying, so it's not just Hermione that Ron and Harry save.

Just a thought, really.

Before-Canon, Voldemort's Decision

This is before the start of the books (Obviously) and it's really just a simple question of "What if Voldemort held-off on deciding who to go after, Neville or Harry?" How long does he wait? A few months? A year?

Interesting possibilities, especially if he hold of for something like 5 years, (Harry would be 6) meaning 5 extra years of terror for the wizarding world. What would Voldemort do with it? Harry would actually have memories of his family and at least a general knowledge that wizards exist and he is one. He'd probably know Remus, Peter and Sirius, and possibly that they can turn into animals.

There are also other thing to take into account, like if some people would even be born, considering that it would be an unsafe time for many children. Older students would actually have memories of the war, and maybe some would have been killed.

Plus, how would the Durlseys be, with hoe extra years? Better? The same? Worse? How would Harry react to his new home? Does he even go there in the first place? After all, maybe Sirius matured enough to not immediately go after Pettigrew. Hell, maybe Pettigrew was ousted in that amount of time.

Just so many possibilities, with a few extra years.

 

Here's a fairly massive POD inspired by those who aver that Lily did nothing but sacrifice herself and let Magic do its thing: in the hazily described events in the Dumbledore home, Ariana manages to pull off a Lily-style Power of Sacrifice protection for Aberforth, her favorite brother, during the Albus/Aberforth/GG/Ariana brouhaha. The curse rebounds and kills one of others, an event which changes the course of history.

This could be used to set up a GG-controlled world (the rebounded curse slays Albus) without Albus Dumbledore to stop him, or perhaps it gives us a much different Albus, one who is still fiercely ambitious and severely embittered. Perhaps the loss of his love inspires him to take up their shared dream.

 

I don't think I've seen it mentioned so far in here, but a potential PoD in GoF is that Moody actually subdues Barty Crouch Jr when the latter comes after him. If Moody managed to take him alive, and Fudge doesn't thereafter get him kissed immediately, I could see a lot of the trouble from the following year or two being nipped in the bud.

 

The point is to make things more difficult for our protagonist, not less difficult

 

Which is a very good reason not to write it. Trouble is something stories need more of, not less.

BWL!Aberforth. Heh. Could be interesting, though I don't usually read stories from that era.

A couple of days. The rest is spent hunting the families. Knowing Voldemort, rather than wasting so much time on making the right decision, he'd just decide to kill both as soon as he could and be done with it.

 

An interesting PoD bunny I've thought of before is Dumbledore succumbing to the curse on his hand in HBP. No epic duels or betrayals, just Dumbledore quietly dying in his sleep one night before Harry gets the memory from Slughorn. This would leave Harry with only one lead on what was so essential to defeating Voldemort. Even after getting the memory, he'd have no real clue on what they could be or how to find them. Cue studying/training montage as he tries to find out more about the nature of Horcruxes, what Voldemort could have chosen, and what the other memories Dumbledore showed him could have to do with the task.

I'd imagine this would lead to a more proactive Harry who has to deal with his own problems rather than being lead around by nose by Dumbledore.

 

1) Gellert defeats Dumbledore. World War 2 has a different outcome with Grindelwald possibly assisting the Axis powers. Harry grows up in either a world conquered by Grindelwald, or a different cold war between the muggles that leaks into the wizarding world with wizards on both sides assisting their muggle counterparts.

2) James and Lily leave England instead of hiding under the fidelius. Harry attends Durmstrang or Beauxbatons? Or Neville becomes the BWL and they move back to England after Voldemort's defeat. If they come back to England they get the Frank and Alice Longbottom treatment. Since he's not the BWL Harry gets raised by someone other than the Dursley's.

3) Cedric (or another champion) grab the trophy before Harry can get to it. Voldemort either decides to abort his plans that night or uses Cedric instead. So, we get a Voldemort who didn't use Harry's blood and there's no triumphant look in Dumbledore's eye that night.

4) In CoS, Lockhart is able to successfully place a memory charm on Harry and Ron. Without Harry around to stop it the diary sucks the life out of Ginny. Lockhart either finds himself fighting the basilisk or Riddle while trying to dump Harry and Ron deeper into the chamber. He dies. Harry and Ron . . . depends on the author.

5) The Triwizard tournament is held at another school. Harry's name still comes out, so he is forced to travel to the other school and has to get by without the help of Ron and Hermione to train with him.

That's all I got for now. Anyone know if these have been written decently yet?

 

Fleur wins the tournament and fem!Voldemort is born.

I had a plot bunny once using #4, and while it was well received, I didn't go much further than Ginny dies... Lockhart takes credit for slaying the basilisk, allows Ginny to die, and Tom Riddle is reborn. Harry knows nothing, Lockhart returns to Hogwarts and retains his job, and Gilderoy makes Harry take advantage of his fame and then uses it to his own advantage. A few years later, at the end of the maze, Harry is a part of Voldemort's rebirth, and the Imperius curse that Voldemort casts on Harry removes the presence of Lockhart from his mind. Gilderoy is found out and chased from the school by Dumbledore, though he isn't captured.

Harry swears his revenge on Lockhart, there are two Voldemorts running around, and Harry takes a greater interest in protecting his mind. Dumbledore reveals the prophecy early. Knowing that young Riddle will not be effected by the prophecy, Dumbledore trains Harry to combat the younger Voldemort.

 

And I'm sure the Veela blood will give a certain exotic glam to her snake like looks.

 

You mean to tell me a dude from Jersey would pass up tapping dat serpentine tail?

 

Not necessarily - Voldemort still has a loyal servant, and with access to Harry denied to him, he may just follow Pettigrew's suggestion and find somebody else to provide the blood for his ritual. Then, of course, there's the massive political uproar that Crouch Sr.'s blatant display of corruption would provoke, especially being so fresh in the wake of the World Cup's attack and the Ministry's failure to keep a hold of Sirius only a few months prior.

In fact, if Crouch Jr. knew about Pettigrew, which he almost certainly did, then that could lead to a situation where all the cases from around that time were reviewed more thoroughly and to the discovery that Sirius Black (and possibly others) were sent to Azkaban without trial.

So, you actually have a possibility for a situation even worse than that of OotP - Voldemort's risen, possibly in secrecy as he wanted, and public faith in the Ministry has already taken a rather massive hit.

 

Dumbledore or Harry does something smart and publishes the truth of Tom Riddle's origins and him being a half-blood in the Daily Prophet. Let's see how good his recruiting is when people find out the war was because Voldemort couldn't get over his father having abandoned him. The best place to announce this is fourth year or sixth year or during the early years of the first war.

 

Vold-Wow would be too pale for my New Jersey guido self to handle. Muff cabbage, yo.

 

Just like how Germany rejected Hitler for not being blonde haired and blue eyed.

Ideology is a means to power - so long as Voldemort offers people power, they will follow him.

 

This is a false analogy- a fitting one would be the publication of irrefutable proof that Hitler was a (Half-)Jew.

I always thought that Dumbledore didn't try to reveal the truth early on because it was impossible to firmly establish the connection between Riddle and Voldemort.

 

Even if there was no solid 100% proof, if Dumbledore early in the first war went out of his way to claim that Voldemort was a half-blood son of a muggle and a near-squib, I think Voldemort would loose his credibility to people who would potentially join him. Not to say that no one would join him, or that everyone would believe the claim, but image the implications of say Bellatrix Black, about to graduate Hogwarts, Voldemort appears, and just as she considers joining him, it is revealed to all that he is a half-blood she so despises. Image if because of this, Bellatrix never joins Voldemort in his war, perhaps supports his ideology and cause, but never actually joins him because she never wanted to sully herself by joining a half-blood.

Then take into consideration that she isn't the only one who express these views. Image an entire legion if not generation of canon Death Eaters never joining Voldemort because they did not wish to bow to a half-blood. They is the potential that much of what we see in canon does not happen. Remember, this is early in the war when Voldemort is not as feared.

 

I guess Ollivander's statement that the wand that did "great but terrible things" was sold to an eleven year old boy called Tom Riddle would be enough to convince the sheep that make up majority of the wizarding world. Then there's Slughorn who probably wouldn't object much for confirming the rumor, especially if it came out early enough, say soon after Voldemort's first fall in 1981.

More probable reason could be that revealing Voldemort as half-blood in the early 80's might have spurred anti-half-blood/muggleborn movement, especially as it was "proved" that said half-blood had had many respectable purebloods under imperius curse.

edit: I also find it interesting that the schoolboy Voldemort is shown as a "Prince of Slytherin" and head boy, even though he is a penniless mudblood with no familiar contacts, all things that should place him firmly in the lowest caste of Slytherins. Especially as there's people like Orion Black (according to JKR's family tree) in the Slytherin house at the same time.