That was the intention

The entire idea is that:

1. Voldemort took over Wizarding Britain completely during the First War.

2. He somehow has the power to bully other nations into agreeing with the Global Memory Charm and the Global Fidelius.

3. Draco has just reached the age of 17, and this is his first Purge.

4. Harry is not out of the question for this setting. James and Lily may be alive, or maybe not. Perhaps eventually we could see Harry as the hero who ends the Purge and defeats Voldemort.


Now imagine you're a muggle in this world. Once every year, on March 1st for 12 continuous hours the worst possible horrors are made real. Hundreds of people die, are tortured or become insane. Some even are left soulless bodies. Buildings are burned to the ground, various other property is destroyed. Basically hell on Earth.

Then, as if by magic, everyone forgets what happened (the Memory Charm) and in fact is physically incapable of figuring out what happened, even evidence from cameras is somehow removed (the Fidelius).

Muggles simply "wake up" on March 2nd to see everything wrecked and hundreds dead, disfigured or insane.

Not a pretty scenario, but that's Voldemort for you.

 

Yeah that's about what I figured. Truthfully, it's for a time travel bunny I'm toying with and it's an easy way to have Harry hide his identity. The best I've come up with so far is that people need to be trained to use the ability, sort of like animagi, but I'm struggling to come up with how people know he's a metamorphmagus in the first place.

 

From what I can tell in canon it doesn't seem to be trained and it is something you are aware of from a very young age.

However if you are just looking to make him look different there are other ways to do that. Potions, charms, self transfiguration, etc. all come to mind. Maybe, hide the scar and slightly change the hair. I doubt even in a magical world people would jump to the time traveling conclusion. I mean quite a few families are related to each other so I'm not even sure the similarities would be that big of a deal. Especially if you are going back far enough that it would take awhile for people to notice.

 

Came here from my thread on extreme AUs, because a post about the specifics of the fic I talked about may be warranted. In all honesty, it's more of a world bunny than a plot bunny, though. Here's what the whole thing entails (copypasta from an older document of mine):

--

So, it would appear that both my worldbuilding document and my plot bunny document have passed the 4k word benchmark, all without a single word of actual story written. (Well, more accurately, written but discarded because I've changed my mind about plotlines in the meantime.) I think I might be enjoying this a bit too much.

I've been working on this fanfic for 4 to 5 years and made innumerable adjustments to the main plot and setting in the meantime. Here's the basic idea for its current incarnation:

It's a massively AU fic with a completely different historical background. There is no Statute of Secrecy; magic is a feature of the world which nigh anybody could harness, and the line between wizards and Muggles is heavily blurred. (I took the decision to eliminate the Statute on the basis of the fact that it's a cumbersome constraint, since I have no interest in getting the reader through a transition from a familiar Muggle setting to the wizarding world; there is no point for a purely Muggle world to be there if I never insist on exploring it.) I've redrawn the map of Europe, giving the new countries historical names inspired by kingdoms and principalities which once ruled that territory (usually but not always names of medieval states, picked on the basis of euphonia). The physical map of the world itself got revamped, drawing on past positions of continents in geological eras some hundreds of millions of years ago. (There is no historical accuracy or consistency to any of it; creative anachronism at its finest.) I'm planning on the mid-to-late stages of this story to take place abroad, so that readers get a feeling of the size and scope of this world, and a glimpse at foreign magical cultures.

Beside the expansion on the international setting, another major change to the world this story takes place in is inclusion of several different forms of magical spirituality -- several religions competing for supremacy in Europe, heavily influencing the cultural divisions between different factions. The religions have a plausible in-universe reason to be there, since in this fic there actually is an astral plane of existence populated by spiritual beings (a bit like Dredsen's Nevernever but not quite), which is going to come up in relation to a lot of plot points involving death, Horcruxes, the Veil and other metaphysical mumbo jumbo. In addition to religious traditions there are several secret societies or cults with a spiritual as well as political role. Sources of inspiration include Western esotericism, knight orders, the Roman Catholic Church, and fictional religions. Another consequence of this is an expansion into the metaphysical basis for magic, as well as the modification of the higher-level uses of magic into seriously eerie mindfuck.

The type of government would probably be monarchical (because seriously, what's Britain without a queen/king?), with the Blacks as the royal dynasty. You'll witness the decline of Britain (which, btw, is not called Britain in my story) parallelling the decline of its rulers, and the extent to which official legitimate power is undermined by Voldemort and other conspiracies. The entire setting is considerably more old-timey.

Hogwarts is a bit changed. I'm making it more exclusive and pretty fucking expensive, so no Weasleys in Hogwarts, lol. (They'll be in the fic, just not as students.) As well as that, I'm toying with the idea of changing Hogwarts to an apprenticeship-based system as well as increasing the academic division by House.

Several plot points will probably stay the same as in canon: Voldemort is vanquished and then comes back; Harry goes to Hogwarts; Sirius goes to prison; Dumbledore is a Good Guy; Horcruxes exist; one or both of the Potter spouses die. (Thinking of keeping Lily alive.) Beyond that, I can't guarantee much. There are a few surprising twists I don't mean to spoil: characters dead in canon and alive here, or vice versa; the eventual allegiances of some characters; Voldemort's motives; the stakes of the story and the heart of the conflict; and quite a few romantic entaglements that leave everyone worse off. (That's my taste in romance. Tragic romances, unrequitted love, romantic triangles/polygons/tesseracts, fucked up pairings, and more angst and suffering than gratuitous sex and wish fulfillment veela pairings.)

The original premise of the story was "what if Voldemort knew Harry was a Horcrux?"; the point was to remove Mutually Assured Destruction as the heart of the conflict, seeing as I find that boring to read about and somehow unfitting. Instead we find Voldemort in the uncomfortable position of having to ensure the survival of a weak boy who roots for his defeat on top of everything, see whether Harry stays true to his morals or changes allegiances, or use Harry as a window to the inner workings of the villain clique. Only, I kept thinking of the issue and realized that Harry is completely unfit for this role, since his entire personality and background place him on the other side of the conflict.

And there's all the rest of the things I legitimately do not know yet, which is why I can't start the story. I don't frickin' know what happens at the very beginning of the story, how Voldemort disappears and who is his last Horcrux (Harry probably isn't, the role I'm planning for him does not fit that profile), and the whole plot hinges on that. I swear this feels exactly like trying to solve a complicated math problem, rather than like writing fiction. I mean, I've thought up quite a few versions, and I probably could get away with writing any of them, but they lack that certain thread of destiny, if you know what I mean. I don't want it to look contrived, like it came out of nowhere.

Other stuff... a general Gothic feel to the story. Dark castles, horror & mystery, gloomy moods, character corruption, insanity, dysfunctional romances and decadent families. Death Eater ideology inspired by a certain real-life faction that you're probably not familiar with. A focus on Voldemort and his deranged psychology; in a certain sense he is the main character of the story, despite being absent for the first few books. I want to pull an ASoIaF here, in that at first the baddies are shrouded in mystery, appearing as a looming threat to the protagonists, and then the story switches to their POVs and you get to see their inner workings, thoughts, motives, dramas, privies (no, not literally) etc. Some OCs, lots of POVs. A certain amount of Death By Irony. Supernatural mindfuckery (in the "magic makes you crazy/illogical" sense). An exploration of social classes. A progression of settings from idyllic to apocalyptic. A rather bittersweet ending. Prose leaning towards purple. A word count into the hundreds of thousands.

P.S. It's such a behemoth that I don't know whether it'll ever get written.

 

It could be interesting, though the plot itself is the weak point in my opinion - there are enough stories about Horcruxes. Why not invent a completely different way that Voldemort uses to be immortal?

Also, the lack of muggles actually disturbs me. Every Fantasy story I read had the common people, and wizards were rare. But I guess it could work.

Overall, I think it would be better as a completely original story, with difference in the plots of the main characters so as to avoid allegations of plagiarism.

Questions:
Why does Sirius goes to prison? would they throw a member of royalty to prison without a trial, like in canon, or does Sirius goes there for a completely different reason?
How do the Potters fit into this hierarchical system? are the old families basically aristocracy?
Is there even a point of divergence from canon, or is it just a different world altogether?
Why would Voldemort care about destroying the Harrycrux? it's not like he needs that piece of soul anyway - it's gone forever from him, and he has enough other Horcruxes.

 

I don't remember having said anything about the plot itself That's spoiler material.

Neither did I say there were no muggles. The ratio of wizards to everybody else is the same as in your average RPG. The reason why not everybody is a wizard or witch in this world is the same reason why everybody is not a physicist in real life. Yes, they could devote their lives to practicing magic if they had talent, but not everyone chooses to learn a lot of magic.

If this stays a fanfic, then Horcruxes existing would be one of the few remaining ties to canon, although that one too is liable to fall. Besides I kinda like the idea and it fits with the metaphysics of the world so far.

I either don't know the answers yet, or I'd rather not spoil them. No point of divergence, the whole thing is an AU, read the first line.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much the angle I've decided to take if I ever actually write the story (which I probably won't).

 

This has probably already been done, but no-one cared.

Harry Potter and the Responsible Adults

All those complaints about 'plot holes' and how characters are 'obviously evil because of X' can be addressed by a single (short, boring) fic. Or perhaps it could be a collection of One-Shots where a single 'evil decision' is flipped and you get to see what happens.

Harry is removed from the Dursleys by social services and Dumbledore, upon being nearly crushed at the news of Harry's unfortunate childhood does everything to see him happy.

The Philosopher's Stone is never kept in the school, instead Harry has an uneventful year where Snape is removed for gross misconduct and Draco Malfoy spends a significant amount of time in detention for picking fights.

Dumbledore works out what the creature in the chamber of secrets is after the second attack and quickly works out what it's Ginny who's involved (portraits is spiez!), he confiscates the diary from her and, after some inspection, destroys it and starts the search for other Horcruxes. Harry again has an uneventful year.

In third year some stuff actually happens though Lupin clues Dumbledore in on the Map when he takes it off Harry and they quickly notice Pettigrew. Pettigrew is captured, Black is exonerated in absentia and all is well. Mostly this year is just Harry angsting over Black. Oh joy. Black has to undergo significant rehabilitation followed by an in-depth investigation into his suitability as a guardian before Harry is given the option of being assigned to him. His foster parents are actually nice folk though so he decides against it.

Fourth year Dumbledore obviously notices that Crouch is impersonating his 'old friend' Moody and calls the Aurors on him immediately. Harry doesn't get entered in the tri-wizard. Nothing happens. Voldemort is without followers (how he got Crouch in the first place I have no idea) and is stuck in wraith form again.

Fifth year. Apart form Harry realising he has a penis literally nothing happens.

Sixth year and by this point Dumbledore has found and destroyed (with backup, obviously) most of Voldemort's Horcruxes. The only ones remaining are Harry and the cup in Bellatrix's vault. This year is uneventful apart from a well adjusted Harry having a few girlfriends.

Seventh year and Dumbledore has finally gone through all the legal hoopla to get access to Bellatrix's Vault and destroys the cup. Unfortunately it seems that Harry really is a Horcrux and now he tries to find a away to remove/destroy it without killing Harry. Hermione (of course) suggests medically inducing heart failure using Muggle techniques. It works, Harry is rid of the Horcrux and Voldemort dies somewhere or other.

Harry and Hermione get together and have lots of babies. The end.

And whenever someone points out how it's 'stupid' that these things weren't done then I can just point to this as one of the most boring stories ever written and say, 'That's why.'

 

FTFY- All else is sound.

 

If you change the final pairing, then 10/10 would read.

 

Like other people said, you lost me at "Harry and Hermione."

 

I am not sure why you would keep everything canon, only to make it H/Hr at the end. It makes no sense whatsoever in the context of the story.

 

Why would it matter? Pairings are not that important to the overall idea of this story. I'm not entirely sure why everyone seems to be focusing on the pairing when it is a rather minor detail. If a pairing works or not especially in the case of a full rewrite has more to do with how the characters are written and how the new events impact their personalities.

 

Eh. Fanfiction writers/readers are testy about their ships, man.

 

New events? What new events? The story is pretty much all of canon minus some of the more memorable stuff. The story is about how boring normal Harry's life would be -- I guess I just don't see the point of breaking the canon ships for a story with this premise.

(My reasoning is almost the complete opposite of what Republic would suggest. Having no real preference for any pairing, it just makes more sense for this story to retain canon pairings, unless boring-Harry has some real reason to marry Hermione that canon Harry did not, author's biases aside. Not that it would matter much either way -- if this story is ever written, I doubt it will be more than a one-shot to prove a point.)

 

The memorable stuff would have a huge impact on someone's life though. Stuff like being taken away from the Dursleys, never being in those life threatening situations, etc. should have an impact on the character's personality. How that effects the interaction between the characters would depend on how it is written, but it shouldn't be the same just to be the same.

 

This is Fan Fiction. It exists to break canon.

 

As the story would exist to be the most boring Harry Potter fan fiction in existence I chose a final Harry/Hermione ship for exactly that reason. It's boring.

 

If you ever played KOTOR, you'll recognize this immediately. All I did was replace some things.


Wizard Wars - Knights of Walpurgis

"Greetings, prospective students. It appears we have a late entry. Who do you bring before me, Sirius? A young boy, bristling with magic?"

Black grinned at that.

"A boy that has had some training, it seems, my Lord. Very promising, I think."

The Dark Lord stood up from his throne and slowly walked closer to them. Meanwhile, sweat started appearing on Harry's forehead. What if it went wrong? What if Voldemort saw through their charade?

Red eyes bored intensely into Harry while the Dark Lord spoke.

"That I'll judge for myself, thank you. Tell me, boy... what do you know of the dark arts? What preconceptions has your mind been polluted with?"

Harry took on a more calm expression. "I've killed too many dark wizards to have preconceptions about them."

This seemed to amuse Voldemort, who glanced at Sirius for a moment before focusing back on the boy before him.

"Most impressive, if it is true. Those who were too weak to stand against you deserved their fate, so expect no retribution from us. There is much you can learn from the Death Eaters, and we from you."

Harry almost wanted to reply, but Voldemort continued speaking.

"The Order of the Phoenix equates the light with goodness and strength and the dark with weakness and evil. That is their tradition and it is truly no surprise that they cling to it for comfort."

He suddenly turned around and went back to sit on his throne, and as he sat he continued his speech.

"We, however, do not tread magic as a burden. We treat it as a gift, a thing to be celebrated. We use it to acquire power over others, and why should we not? Because the Order says we should not?"

Despite himself, Harry was shocked to realize that what the Dark Lord was saying started to make sense. That was not a good sign.

"We are as magic is meant to be. The Order would hide that from you, they would tell you the dark arts are too quick, too easy, all so that they need never challenge the passions that lie within them."

"Joining with us means realizing your true potential. It means not stifling yourself solely for the sake of hide-bound shamans and their antiquated notion of equality. Be what you were meant to be."

Voldemort then turned to Weasley.

"What say you, Ronald? Are you ready to learn the secrets of the dark arts? Dare you?"

The ginger was only eager to reply. "I dare, my Lord! I am ready!"

Harry had to suppress the desire to roll his eyes, Weasley was such a follower.

The Dark Lord either didn't see it that way, or he hid his opinion as he continued.

"Brash and fiery, as expected of your bloodline. Turn that passion to your advantage, child. What of you, Zacharias? Are you ready?"

The blond boy in question stood up proudly.

"I am, my Lord. More than ready," replied Smith whilst kneeling back again.

"I sense much anger within you, young one. That is good. That will provide you power."

Voldemort then looked at Harry.

"And you, young boy? Does this interest you? Are you ready to learn more of what I speak?"

It was part of the mission, Harry was expected to infiltrate the castle. He had no real choice to begin with.

"I am ready to learn more."

The Dark Lord seemed satisfied at that. "And so it shall be."

 

Stop trolling- I mean stalling and write a story.