The general overarching plot of HOMM3 leads to an extinction-level event called the Reckoning. It's all in the text boxes.

 

Just a random thought: What if there was a Harry Potter / Power Rangers fusion?

How would one even go about making it? What would be the goddamn point?

Well, here's one idea.

Instead of Rangers, there are Wizards. To make them superheroes protecting muggles, there would have to be no Statute of Secrecy. To make that happen, I propose sending a group of magical people to an alternative universe in which there is no magic. They'd be the only magicals there.

Of course, them just being in a world full of muggles doesn't mean they'd be willing to become heroes. We need a villain, clearly.

As we're talking about Harry Potter here, then the obvious villain is Lord Voldemort (Zedd was a Lord too, so it even fits). We'll give him Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange to act as his Rita and Goldar.

Now for the Rangers/Wizards and their Zordon. The Zordon replacement needs to be be wise, but unable to fight on his own. I say that after Dumbledore dies he leaves a ghost. I know this is a little implausible because Dumbledore isn't the type to be afraid of "passing on", but we are talking about Power Rangers here, a little suspension of disbelief may be required.

For the Rangers/Wizards I propose Harry Potter (Red Wizard), Cho Chang (Blue Wizard), Cedric Diggory (Yellow Wizard), Nymphadora Tonks (Pink Wizard) and Blaise Zabini (Green Wizard). Following Power Rangers lore a little bit here, Blaise would obviously be evil at first before joining the good guys.

This is as far as I got with this before it became too silly even for me.

 

So Bellatrix as Rita Repulsa, Voldemort as Zed, and Lucious would have to be Goldar.

 

Indeed.

Spoiler

Rita and Zedd did end up having a child after all :fire

And of course, Lucius has golden hair. Ahem :/

 

It's a shame I can't remember their names, but Crabb and Goyle would be the two punks at the high school. I think one was fat and the other one skinny.

Edit: They where called Bulk and Skull so maybe instead of Crabb and Goyle it would be Crabb and Theodore Nott.

 

Bulk and Skull, I believe. Crabbe+Goyle for Bulk, Theo Nott to be Skull.

One might rework the idea based on Harry getting recruited by a lone alien warning him of an advancing invasion fleet. Harry implores the ICW that they need to take action but they're adamant about the Statute of Secrecy being kept, even in the face of Armageddon.

He meets with friends at the Hogs Head, because that's where secret organizations are meant to be formed.

"Right. What we need is to show up and do extraordinary things without hinting that magic is behind it."

Luna (of course it's Luna) suggests "You could be Superheroes. If we model it after some of the muggle popular media but without using anything to personally identify the heroes, then you could even set up multiple teams from different regions."

"We'd need to wear masks, but still all be identifiable. And the teams would be small but using common code names, like colours."

Hermione adds, "And the costumes have to be unquestionably heroic, but still practical."

The fun part will be the argument over who gets to be Red Ranger and who is saddled with Green.

 

I was just reading Through the Looking Glass by James Spookie.

Spoiler

It has Hermione dropping out of Hogwarts, because nobody helped her when she was attacked by troll in the bathroom. Her magic was bound and she left magical world.

So I thought it would be interesting, if Hermione just decided to change schools. Beauxbatons!Hermione would be quite interesting, especially as a champion in Triwizard Tournament. Or she could just be a protagonist in her own adventures in France and show different school of magic.

 

Oh, I agree Hermione being removed would be interesting. But who says we need to follow her?

I'd be down to read a story about Harry and Ron dealing with the rest of their adventures without Hermione.

 

Probably not what you'd intend, but I wrote this into an aborted ideas file a while back:

For want of a nail, a toolbox and maybe a division of engineers:

Picks up just after the Weasley-Delacour wedding, where the trio escapes to London at Hermione's guidance. They quickly attract the attention of the senior Death Eaters that have been assigned to follow up on the Taboo being broken. They escape then but end up running into the Death-Hounds again and again, seemingly for no reason (they don't commonly talk about V, but when they do, trouble comes in another minute. Hermione yells at them for flustering her, Ron is yelling that Harry's still got the Trace, Harry's saying Hermione should know about Tracking charms, including how to detect them, she's blaming Harry for not learning such from Dumbledore, Harry blames Ron for distracting him all year with utter meaningless crap, Ron counters 'don't talk about my sister that way', Hermione suggests that Ron's fascination with Ginny's love life borders on the incestuously obsessive, Ron calls her a fucking cunt slag for taking Krum into her skirts, Harry yells that they need to not fight each other, when they already have to fight Voldemort!

A minute later, Hermione is killed by an ambush.

Ron helps Harry escape. These two are screwed and they know it. They settle back into a safe place, argue about love, friendship and how stupid they are. Ron points out that saying 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' isn't seeming quite so silly now, is it? They lost Hermione's preparations, so they don't have the research, any food, the tent, or a fucking clue how to go about their task. A quick assessment also brings to light that they don't have the snitch or the fairytale book Albus gave them, as they were in Hermione's pouch as well.

"Who were those two, anyway?"

"No idea. I didn't even get a good look at 'em, truth be told."

"We are so fucked."

"Really, alot, yes."

[ Since it'd be at least worth it as a comedy story, rename it Dobby Ex Machina, and...]

Dobby pops up in front of them with the pouch, the sword, and Fawkes.

"What with wizards being so stupid, Dobby collected all that the formerly Great Harry Potter will be needing. Dobby wishes he had noticed the Possibly-adequate Harry Potter's brain damage before now and taken him to decent healers at St. Mungo's, but there's no use in Dobby crying over dropped eggs."

"Dobby! You're the best friend in the world!"

"Oi!"

"Shut UP, Ron. Dobby... will you stay to help?"

"Dobby is afraid not, Mister Harry, sir. Dobby is going to the Carribean- at least there, the muggles have an excuse for their stupidity, from all the hemp they smoke. Dobby is leaving cursed Britain. You're all a bunch of twits."

 

I posted these ideas the HPFF reddit—on the "The Fics that You Want to Read or Write..." thread—but I'm also putting some of them down here, if only because I know there are folks here with the chops to make these ideas come to life.

The Order of the Basilisk: Two former friends meet on the eve of World War II and in the end, Grindelwald stands over Dumbledore's corpse. With Elder Wand in hand, no one else poses a challenge to him. The Dark Lord conquers and rules an united Europe with an iron fist over Muggles and Magicals alike for the last half-century, the Statue of Secrecy a relic of the past. However, one group opposes the Dark Lord from the shadows, led by a man whose name cannot be said except on pain of death–so instead, they call him "You-Know-Who." Meanwhile, on the boundaries of Grindelwald's Union, one Harry Potter is about to graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, long having been under the guidance of Headmaster Tom Riddle...

Tom Riddle / Voldemort - centric, Massively AU, with shades of Mentor!Voldemort with respect to Harry.

Spoiler

Massively AU divergence, as the summary suggests, Grindelwald won the duel against Dumbledore and is Master of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald conquers Europe and has simply been known as the "Fuhrer" for the last fifty years.

THE STATE OF THE WORLD:

1997 in this world is massively different, even leaving aside Europe. The breaking of the Statue of Secrecy has had severe consequences: while areas like the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia and others have managed to create amalgamated governments over both magicals and non-magicals to achieve an uneasy peace, other areas such as the Middle East, South America, and others continue to have intense non-magical / magical conflict. As such, the world has a lot more problems to worry about than just what's happening in Europe.

The USSR still exists by 1998 in this continuity and is actively exploiting its magical population, with China following a similar pattern. Eastern Asia continues to feel the specter of Communism, only with magic involved this time, with Cambodia, Vietnam, and other areas within its sphere of influence. South America consists of a group of squabbling nation-states, with magically enhanced wars not helping matters. Meanwhile, the United States has significantly expanded, with Canada agreeing to merge with it, as partly forced to do so in response to a ploy by Grindelwald's forces at one point. In addition, it's annexed Japan into its umbrella, along with the islands between it and Hawaii, with Japan serving as a forward area with respect to the USSR and China, with relations tense between the three superpowers.

Africa continues to be divided, though now cut off from the forces of colonization, new rulers rise to fill the various power vacuums. The Middle East is a morass of culturally charged violence and tension, with a relatively democratic India sandwiched between an anarchic Middle East in the west and communist China to the northeast. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh remain a part of India here and sectarian tensions involve Killing Curses just as much as they involve bullets these days.

Australia, as always, is doing its own thing.

Meanwhile, Grindelwald simply rules over the "Union," which reflects his desire to ultimately unite not simply Europe, but the entire world. He rules from his seat in Berlin, declaring himself "Fuhrer." He controls what would largely form the modern European Union today, including Britain.

He has consolidated a significant degree of power within Germany in particular, with the feared wizarding prison Nurmengard serving as the final station for the most significant dissidents and opponents of Grindelwald's rule. Durmstrang to the north now serves as the premier school of magical training in the Union.

In recent years, he's set his eyes on taking advantage of the confusion in the Middle East, and has been considering a campaign on Russia.

Muggles are actively subjugated and exploited within the Union, though Grindelwald doesn't care about blood purity. He does however find no problem helping himself to Muggle technology and increasing numbers of witches and wizards in his research departments are studying Muggle science and technology just as much as they're studying magic.

Outwardly, the Union gives off a veneer of respectability and it even seems like the sort of place you might want to live: even the Muggles, though second-class citizens at best, don't find life there to be too bad necessarily. There's only an illusion of freedom, however: people are tightly regulated and controlled and people live in constant fear of the Fuhrer and his "Knights of Walpurgis."

Britain lies on the western boundaries of the Union, but as the former bastion of Albus Dumbledore, it was one of the most closely watched areas of Grindelwald's Union. The royal family is extinct, their massacre as one of the first acts Grindelwald took upon conquering Britain. The goblins have been brutally put down, unable to withstand the combined might of Grindelwald's forces, and wizards now run the banks. Cornelius Fudge provisionally heads the Ministry of Magic as Grindeldwald's steward, with Dolores Umbridge heading the Muggle Affairs branch, who effectively acts in a role similar to what the Muggle Prime Minister would back when that position existed, and acts as the final say in Muggle matters in Britain, short of Fudge or Grindelwald himself. Elections are still held to provide an illusion of freedom, but it's widely known open secret that the major ones are rigged in advance to favor Grindelwald's chosen candidate.

Hogwarts continues to be the main magical school in the British Isles. There continue to be competent instructors for the core subjects, such as Minerva McGonagall for Transfiguration or Filius Flitwick for Charms. Nonetheless, though it suffers continual interference from Grindelwald's appointed monitoring board, and as Dumbledore's former school and home, Grindelwald keeps a close eye on it, and a closer eye on its Headmaster, Tom Riddle.

CHARACTERS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

Grindelwald is the Fuhrer of the Final Reich, the supreme ruler of the Union, the Master of the Elder Wand, and is widely considered to be the most powerful Dark Lord in history. Through a combination of science and the Dark Arts, he's significantly increased his longevity, retaining his youthful good looks. However, he is still desperately on the lookout for the Hallows. He once considered Horcruxes to attain immortality but dismissed the idea, finding the concept even beyond the pale for him. Referring to Grindelwald by name is a capital offense in the Union; the only acceptable title is the "Fuhrer." His personal symbol and mark is that of the Deathly Hallows, and it is part of the flag for the Union.

Grindelwald is not some sort of haphazard murderer or thug. There is no equivalent of the Muggle Holocaust currently on going or anything like that; however, he firmly detests the concept of anyone besides himself being in control. In person, he displays a very sophisticated and charismatic demeanor, belying his nature as likely the most dangerous wizard on the planet.

The Knights of Walpurgis are Grindelwald's close followers and associates, each of whom has been personally branded with a Hallowed Mark that allows Grindelwald to summon them or come to their side. Several are some of his surviving allies who fought with him during his campaign to conquer Europe, while others have been carefully handpicked out of thousands of potential candidates. To be a Knight of Walpurgis in the Union is an honor of the highest degree and conveys an enormous amount of social status.

The Order of the Basilisk is an officially designated terrorist group that has been the abiding enemy of the Union for almost the last thirty years or so. Their first major act was blowing up a statue dedicated to Grindelwald, injuring several dozens of people and killing a few civilians caught within the range of the blast. They have since then continually opposed Grindelwald and his regime, relying on asymmetric tactics and a combination of propaganda, espionage, and outright terrorism. Members of the Order are known as "Death Eaters" and each official member is marked with the "Dark Mark," a magically concealed symbol consisting of a snake protruding out of a skull that is placed on a Death Eater's left forearm. The Dark Mark is considered a symbol opposite that of the Hallowed Mark, with the title of Death Eater conveying the concept of victory over Death; and hence, over Grindelwald. To be discovered as a Death Eater or having been in material support to one is an instant capital offense in the Union.

Voldemort or as he frequently refers to himself as "Lord Voldemort" is the leader of the Order of the Basilisk and has been considered Public Enemy Number One for almost the last thirty years. It is illegal to print or say his name, so he is frequently referred to as simply "You-Know-Who." While not the Fuhrer, he is a Dark wizard of remarkable skill and power, facing Grindelwald in single combat several times. While having never defeated Grindelwald in a fight, Voldemort shows remarkable resiliency, surviving what should be lethal curses and has thus far displayed total immunity to the Killing Curse. To say or print his name is an instant capital offense in the Union.

His true identity is Tom Marvolo Riddle, current Headmaster of Hogwarts. British witches and wizards in general largely resent being ruled over by Grindelwald and the oppressive policies in Wizarding Britain in particular don't help. As such, Voldemort is considered to be the face and symbol of the resistance against Grindelwald. Use of his name was made illegal to try to prevent Voldemort from being taken as a rallying point amongst the populace.

Tom Riddle is the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, having obtained the post in the late 60s. He formerly served as Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts soon after he graduated, from 1951 on until he became Headmaster, once the Defense Against the Dark Arts post was replaced with the Dark Arts position. He is reported to be a very recluse individual person in general, though genial and friendly enough as far as anyone can recall.

Tom Riddle is in actuality Lord Voldemort, the head of the main resistance faction against Grindelwald. Voldemort here is by no means a "good guy," more of an anti-villain. While not prone to torturing others on a whim or the like–he prefers the soft sell–he's quite Dark and pragmatic and a great deal more so than most would be comfortable with. He's no stranger to committing atrocities and the Order of the Basilisk frequently skirts the line between revolution and terrorism.

Voldemort decides to strike back at Grindelwald and form the Order of the Basilisk as a matter of part enlightened interest, as well as part resentment for Grindelwald attacking and taking over Hogwarts when he conquered Britain. Rather than focusing on dominating Muggles and others, he's been focusing on resisting Grindelwald's rule and safeguarding Hogwarts, so the same qualities that made him a terrifying Dark Lord in canon are being used here for "good."

Voldemort has two Horcruxes here: the Gaunt Ring and the Diary, and he has settled for a three-part soul. These Horcruxes are what has given him his legendary durability in magical combat even against Grindelwald, as well as contributing to his longevity in his Tom Riddle guise.

Harry Potter is the son of James and Lily Potter, born on July 31st, 1980. He is a well-respected and liked seventh year at Hogwarts, a member of Gryffindor House, serving as Qudditch Captain as well. He has consistently been one of the top students in the school, having been personally apprenticed to Headmaster Riddle ever since he entered Hogwarts, with only the likes of Hermione Granger beating him out in exams. His father, James Potter, is a former world-class Quidditch Chaser, having played for Puddlemere and also participating in the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympic Games. His mother, Lily Potter, is a well known Potions Mistress and currently teaches the subject at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter is the Child of Prophecy spoken of by Sybill Trelawney, which Voldemort recognized. He is currently being groomed by Voldemort to ultimately face Grindelwald by his side, and both of his parents are experienced Death Eaters. He sees Voldemort almost as a grandfather figure here, though as a really exacting, rather scary grandfather perhaps.

THE PLOT:

The story would take place from 1997 to 1998, during Harry's final year at Hogwarts and as he graduates. The story is however firmly Voldemort centric.

The story would largely alternate between Riddle's work as Headmaster, his interactions with Grindelwald's oppressive administration, his work in the Order and the encounters he has with both Order members and Grindelwald, and his mentoring of Harry. While Voldemort can't quite beat Grindelwald in a duel, he has the seeming ability to survive what should be mortal injuries, even shrugging off Killing Curses and the like. (This is, of course, due to Voldemort's Horcruxes tethering him to life)

Meanwhile, there'd be a fair bit of politicking in the background, with Grindelwald interludes primarily in Berlin to be used to give a taste for the broader and significantly changed HP world, such as a delegation from Russia coming over to visit and discuss certain negotiations with Grindelwald.

Harry in turn, has been under Voldemort's tutelage for some time. He's a Gryffindor here, but has received extensive Dark Arts training–then again, every Hogwarts student since the 50s has by now. He's not particularly fond of the current Dark Arts professor, Severus Snape.

Nonetheless, with his own natural talent and hard work along with Voldemort's tutelage, Harry has been a very potent and skilled wizard in his own right. Furthermore, as Voldemort and Harry discover, with the two brother wands being used together, they're able to achieve an effect almost matching that of the Elder Wand. This allows Voldemort and Harry to become a very, very effective tag team in combat.

Sometime before the climax of the story, Voldemort is turned mortal. Grindelwald finds out that Tom Riddle = Voldemort and in addition that he has the Resurrection Stone. Grindelwald personally attacks Hogwarts, and in their duel, he destroys the Ring Horcrux with Fiendfyre, though Voldemort is able to escape with the Stone. In addition, it becomes clear that Harry Potter is a Death Eater and he too is made into a fugitive. Unfortunately, his parents are killed by Grindelwald himself.

Grindelwald is eventually able to deduce that the Stone was a Horcrux and that Voldemort made more than one. Later on, Grindelwald tracks down the Diary at the Crystal Cave from Voldemort's youth and destroys the Diary, turning Voldemort mortal. (Grindelwald, at least, finds the idea of mutilating your soul to be an utterly insane idea. He favored Hallows, not Horcruxes)

Voldemort for his own part is immensely shocked, having turned mortal once more, and Harry ultimately picks up the slack shortly as acting leader of the Order. Voldemort does manage to recover enough, but he doesn't quite come to reconcile with mortality until towards the end of the story, and after Harry uses the Stone to talk with his parents.

At the very end, Voldemort and Harry have one last climactic duel against Grindewald when his forces invade Hogwarts. Finally coming to peace with his mortality after the loss of his Horcruxes (the Stone partly helps here), Voldemort ends up sacrificing himself in a move that allows Harry to make the winning attack, letting Harry to gain the Elder Wand and become Master of Death, before Harry finishes off Grindelwald.

Voldemort would not necessarily be redeemed here, but reconciled in a fashion; he remained an unrepentant Dark wizard to the end, one who was very much capable of cruelty and atrocity, but one that was able to form a connection to a degree with Harry.

Close the story with Harry's reflection on the mixed legacy of his grandfather figure, someone who was vital to overthrowing Grindelwald, but who committed more than his share of atrocities along the way. To both Britain and the world, he's simultaneously considered a revolutionary, terrorist, martyr, and villain. Harry, now Master of Death, takes over a resurgent Order of the Basilisk, vowing to carry on Voldemort's legacy and take the fight to what remains of Grindelwald's Union and reclaim Europe once more.

Anyone that's got a good feel for alt-history and a careful grasp of Voldemort's character I think would enjoy writing this story.

By Ministerial Decree: In the immediate wake of Voldemort's demise, Wizarding Britain is a country hanging on by a thread. A strong and clear leader is needed to set the course–so when Kingsley makes the offer, Harry reluctantly accepts and becomes the youngest Minister For Magic. With the Wizengamot nonexistent and the Ministry in shambles, Minister Potter will need to eke out a path largely by himself. Between gossiping reporters, Death Eaters on the run, and the lingering corruption of the previous administrations, he'll have to tackle the most difficult challenge he's faced yet: politics.

Harry Potter - centric, post-DH divergence, Minister!Harry plot.

Spoiler

In the immediate wake of Voldemort's defeat in DH, Kingsley isn't made emergency Minister For Magic—Harry is. With the chaos following the Dark Lord's fall, Kingsley convinces Harry that he'd be the best man for the job, as a rallying point and as a symbol for hope and change. However, with the infrastructure of the Ministry of Magic in shambles, a virtually non-existent Wizengamot, and so forth, Harry pretty much just is the government of Wizarding Britain at this point. The Order intends to use Harry more as a figurehead given his inexperience, but Harry's a pretty willful guy and intends to actually be the Minister For Magic, not just in name only.

Basically, this should be a fast-moving political thriller, with emphasis on Harry really being pushed to his limits dealing with several problems at once. He'll have to govern Wizarding Britain largely on his own, while dealing with political pressures from multiple sides, given his temperament and inexperience. There are a lot of problems left over even with Voldemort dead, between Death Eaters on the run, the government in shambles, assassination attempts, and politicians challenging his current administration. Him and the Order would clash heads at times, since Harry is not content to just be a figurehead Minister For Magic, the way Thicknesse and arguably Fudge were.

The story would conclude about a year later, with Harry lifting martial law once a semblance of order has come back to Wizarding Britain, and active elections on the Wizengamot are being held, with Harry having successfully navigated through multiple crises, most particularly with the Death Eater situation. Close with Harry's intention to run for the Minister For Magic legitimately.

The title's a play on Tom Clancy's Executive Orders, the main inspiration for this idea.

A plot bunny suited for those that can write politics well.

The Mudblood Queen: Though the brightest witch of her age, the Sorting Hat recognized Hermione Granger's cunning and ambition. Formerly ostracized and bullied within her house, she's learned to fend for herself as the "Mudblood of Slytherin." Unsatisfied with the status quo in Slytherin and the Wizarding World at large, Hermione seeks to be a new agent of change. She'll just need to start making a few connections at Hogwarts and that secret "Defense Association" that Potter mentioned seems like a promising place to start...

5th year AU divergence, Slytherin!Dark!Hermione, Hermione / Krum pairing and neither Super!Hermione nor Evil!Hermione.

Spoiler

Slytherin!Hermione story, since we all know how driven Hermione is. (She did become the Minister For Magic after all in Cursed Child) Applied Cultural Anthropology is likely considered the archetypal Slytherin!Hermione, and it's an excellent story and all, but the angle I was considering was going to be quite different.

The story would begin properly in 5th year, not first year on as ACA did. Furthermore, Hermione would not be friends with Harry and his group here, having not at all participated in his adventures with the Philosopher's Stone, Slytherin's Heir, the Dark Lord's Servant, or the Triwizard Tournament. Hermione's her own person in this story, having grown herself, independently of Harry's adventures. Also, Snape never bothers trying to mentor Hermione. That's not really his thing. In addition, I don't really find any kind of politicking or the like plausible for 11 or 12 year olds, so a 5th year story sets a nice spot for such interactions to happen.

The starting point to this story would have Harry and his friends approaching Hermione to recruit her for the burgeoning DA, knowing her reputation as the brightest witch in their year—as well as that she isn't your typical Slytherin. It would continue on as an alt-5th year story, with Hermione juggling handling the Slytherins, her studies and her own independent Dark Arts work, dealing with Umbridge, interactions with Harry and the DA and the friendship she begins developing there, and her relationship with Krum, someone she is both genuinely attracted to romantically, as well as a relationship she is able to use to leverage her position in Slytherin.

For her own personal narrative, Hermione would take increasing amounts of power within Slytherin House, effectively establishing her own power bloc, and already recruiting some of her first followers in Slytherin... (Shades of Tom Riddle, anyone?)

She would also serve to partly aid Harry's quest, but the focus would still firmly be on Hermione's own plans and ambitions. By the end of the year, Harry is still lured to the Ministry by Voldemort, who made Harry believe that Remus was hostage.

Hermione accidentally kills Umbridge when she attempts to Crucio both Harry and Hermione and both of them along with Luna, Neville, Ron, Ginny, and Tracey end up going to the Ministry. The Order still arrives to rescue them, but unfortunately Remus ends up dying, with Harry losing the last link to his parents, and he kills Bellatrix Lestrange in the Atrium. The rest of it largely plays out similar to canon.

Close the story and Hermione's arc at the end of the year with the establishment of her first circle of Death Eater analogues.

Some quick notes: This isn't a Super!Hermione story or an Evil!Hermione story. She's willing to do nasty things to get things done, but isn't actively evil. Also, Harry is still largely the better duelist and better at spells like the Patronus Charm. Hermione's in character here, just less restrained and a bit more self-driven. Thematically, you'd go for strong Snape and Tom Riddle parallels for Hermione, though she's ultimately her own person at the end of the day.

Also, while Harry / Hermione interactions and friendship are important here I feel, I think it's also important to avoid Harry / Hermione. It risk subsuming Hermione's role in the narrative as subordinate to Harry's, which is not the case. The focus is firmly on Hermione's story and the resolution of the story involves her creating her own version of Riddle's Inner Circle, with Harry and his group outside Slytherin as close friends and allies. Harry's story intersects with her own and it plays a role in building her character and her relationships, but it should never overtake her own story.

Some backstory: in her first year, she was nearly killed during the Troll attack on Halloween—Parkinson and Malfoy's bullying that day got to her—and quickly learned that she'd need to fend for herself in Slytherin House. Second year, she missed out on a significant portion of due to being petrified by the Basilisk. It was really in her third and fourth year that she'd come into an entity in her own right, devouring as much advanced magic as she could, and delving into the Dark Arts whenever possible.

By her fourth year, Hermione would have firmly established herself as a potent independent figure in Slytherin House, with lots of nasty things happening to her bullies and others that tried to cross her—think what she did to Edgecombe in OotP, but worse. She's come to be known as "The Mudblood of Slytherin," though it's a less of an insult here than a title to be wary of. None of this behavior reaches the Professors, who believe that Hermione's a model student. Only Snape actively mistrusts her.

While few in Slytherin actively associate with her—Daphne Greengrass tolerates her and she's sort of friends with Tracey Davis—she's managed to generate enough fear by this point that people leave her alone. She'd have also established further reputation by entering into a relationship with Viktor Krum as the Triwizard Tournament progressed, with the two of them both planning on continuing the relationship even as a long-distance one. It also helps that Krum's helped her out with her studies in the Dark Arts throughout the year, as well as sending over some Dark Arts texts for her to peruse after he leaves Hogwarts.

At the same time, Harry and his group have been having their own independent adventures. In first year, Harry managed to figure out Snape's puzzle, stumbling through it similar to how he managed to solve the Sphinx's riddle in GoF. In second year, it was outside-the-box thinking from Luna that allowed Harry and Ron to rescue Ginny. In third year, unfortunately without the Time Turner, Buckbeak was killed. While Harry was able to produce a Patronus to drive off the Dementors, he was unable to save Sirius, who was Kissed. Fourth year proceeded similar to canon by and large.

The title is obviously a play on "The Halfblood Prince" as you can imagine.

Again, folks that can write teenage politics and intrigue well might enjoy writing this.

 

I've been playing a lot of Mass Effect recently. Also watching a lot of Archer. A retelling of select moments from the ME trilogy filtered through Archer seemed the obvious conclusion - Sterling A. Shepard, the galaxies most dangerous Spectre.

Spoiler

Obviously, Shepard would have Archer's personality. Ashley Williams would take on the Lana role, with Kaiden Alenko filling in for Cyril and Garrus for Ray. Mordin only needs a few twists to fill in for Krieger, and Kelly Chambers practically is Cheryl anyway. Probably Miranda as the Katya analogue, largely due to already having the catsuit. Pam...maybe Jack, I guess.
Spacer/Ruthless background for Shepard - Spacer to bring in his mother, Ruthless because "Rampage!". Infiltrator or Soldier, no biotic powers. Primarily Renegade actions, although not always (and some would need a few changes to better fit Archer's personality). Legion would never get taken on as a party member, because cyborg/AI - he'd presumably have a serious issue with EDI too. Destruction ending would be the obvious choice.

 

I like this idea a lot.

Mordin Solus is basically Krieger already. Nerf/downgrade EDI to an analogue of Krieger's virtual girlfriend.

Pam as Jack is ehh. Not quite. Pam should be, like... Samantha Taylor? Nah. Liara, maaaaaybe?

"Other Barry" is obviously Shepard's clone. I'm cackling to myself imagining Sterling Shepard doing the Citadel DLC and finding out he has an evil clone.

This is a brilliant idea and I will be very sad if you don't write it.

Taure and I have spitballed about an Archer/HP fusion with a grownup Harry Potter as an Archer-analogue Auror, but this works a lot better.

 

Newcomb: I kinda feel the obvious choice for Pam would be Wrex or Grunt, other than them being male. Could gender-flip them, I suppose. Good call on EDI though, I hadn't thought of that.

 

A Harry Potter / They Live crossover would be interesting.

In They Live earth has been infiltrated by aliens from the Andromeda galaxy. The aliens use special holographic technology to pose as humans and have gained positions in human governments.

They have also used their semi-hypnosis technology to place hidden subliminal messages all across the media to make humans into ignorant slaves.

The aliens wish to transform Earth's climate to one resembling their homeworld by speeding up global warming using carbon emissions.

I'm curious how would their infiltration affect the wizarding world and if they would even be noticed.

And if wizards noticed these aliens, would the do anything? On one hand the Andromedans pose a threat to all humans but on the other hand they are non-magical and therefore the muggles should deal with them.

Another take on the crossover would be making the Andromedans themselves magical and their illusions and subliminal messages are actually advanced charms/spells designed to take over Earth.

The human magical world is infiltrated as well with even the British Ministry being infiltrated by hidden aliens.

Then one day someone discovers the truth and decides to expose the aliens, but finds it difficult as they have the Aurors under their rule.

Maybe it could be Harry or at least someone from the Order? In fact, if the Ministry is infiltrated by aliens and the Aurors cannot be trusted then the only other ally would be Voldemort.

Sure, the Dark Lord wants to get rid of muggleborns, but I doubt he'd be happy with ALL humans becoming stupid slaves, since that would include him and the pureblooded wizards.

 

An I idea I had a while ago was a thematic crossover between Harry Potter and the tv show Boss.

The idea is that a few years after the war and Voldemort's death, Harry (with the assistance of a slytherin friend) runs for and wins the office of the Minister for magic. Upon winning, he finds himself torn between the hard realities of politics, the almost institutional corruption and the rampant racism still present in the ministry via the old guard.

So to do the right thing, to help people, Harry begins to resort to less than legal or moral means to achieve what he wants. Bills such as anti-blood purity discrimination acts are passed, greased along by blackmail and extortion.

naturally, this makes it easier for him to get re-elected.

as times passes, harry becomes more and more ruthless in his methods. His friends and allies are drifts away, or are driven away by how cold and calcualting harry has slowly become. eventuallyl it culminated in an action where his closest advisor, that slytherin who introduced him to politics, betrays him, though unsuccessfully.

his most loyal friend tells him that he could not longer justify what they were doing because they were no longer doing what they did for the people, but for power itself.

In my mind, it ends with harry sitting alone at his desk, successful beyond measure, yet completely alone.

 

I think it's a question of time after the release of Fantastic Beasts before somebody writes the story 'Harry Potter turns into Obscurial thanks to Dursleys' treatment of him.'

 

Well, Harry wasn't abused in canon, so I doubt that would happen realistically, but if he was abused then him becoming an Obscurial would have interesting ramifications.

 

Truth be told, I'm pretty sure someone has already written a fic or two exactly like that long before the movie came out.. The only change now is that we have a canon name to call it and a few rules to work with.

---------- Post automerged at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 AM ----------

Brainstorming an idea right now that I'd like to build into an outline. There aren't nearly enough good fics featuring Romilda Vane, so I'm thinking of something that might work from GoF forward.

Working Title: Lazarus

The idea? Seeing LV's resurrection spooked Harry even more than it did in canon... before learning about the concept and execution of a Horcrux, I see Harry believing that he saw a dead man literally returning to life. If LV could do that, than what else could Magic be capable of? I'd begin with Harry at the hospital wing in the immediate aftermath of Fudge having Crouch Jr. kissed and late that night he wakes up... and sees a random (to him) 2nd Year watching him sleep. She asks if what he said about LV's return was true (I'm going by Harry's wailing in the GoF film in front of all the schools) and he confirms it. Romilda Vane tells Harry that she believes him and an odd friendship blossoms as he finds someone he could explore the furthest reaches of Magic with. I feel as though the summer before Harry's 5th year would be the ripest time for someone new to work their way into his circle of friends, considering the frustrations he had with Ron and Hermione not telling him anything. Still working out logistics because I don't want that summer to simply be an exchange of letters. If he left Privet Drive for... hell, I don't know, a lunch or something... would Dementors still show up? If there's no trial, how much initial antagonism would Harry have with Umbridge? What place would Romilda have in Harry's circle of friends? What role could she take? I easily see her telling Harry she's just as good as researching as Hermione is in order to impress him - assuming Harry's anger at his friends lasts until Christmas or so - and Harry learning she may have fibbed about that a bit. They would both have certain strengths and weaknesses, and I'd like to work within JKR's concept of Magic (that the average Witch/Wizard has the same Magical potential as someone like Dumbledore).

Roadblocks? I don't want to canon rehash. Making Harry more assertive w/o Super!Harry becoming a thing. Not making Harry a sudden genius, but still having him accomplish great things with Magic (LV made a Horcrux by 16, and Grindelwald was kicked out of Durmstrang for freakish experiments in the Dark Arts at the same age). Writing the damn thing (because I'm pretty shit at keeping deadlines without a framework already in place).

Thoughts?

 

Random idea.

Hagrid is expelled from Hogwarts in 1943, following Tom Riddle's plot, on the suspicion of releasing dangerous magical creatures. Dumbledore is unsuccessful in convincing Headmaster Dippet to allow Hagrid to stay on Hogwarts's grounds, and Hagrid is forced to leave Hogwarts.

However, a former Hogwarts student who faced similar circumstances comes to hear about Hagrid's plight, on Dumbledore's word. He decides to take Hagrid under his wing, seeing something of himself in him. Before long, the two are caught in a whirlwind adventure between chasing after new magical creatures across the Continent on the one hand and dealing with the height of both World War II and Grindelwald's machinations on the other.

And the wizard mentoring Hagrid here?

None other than Newt Scamander, of course.

 

To be honest, why on earth would Dippet allow Hagrid to stay on the grounds? If you believed that someone was releasing a monster into the castle, paralyzing muggleborns and even killing one, would you say, "Hmm, lets stick him in a hut in the front yard! That'll go perfectly."

Of course not. You'd kick him out for good and make sure he never comes back. The only way Dumbledore would be successful is if he manages to convince Dippet that Hagrid was innocent, in which case he wouldn't be expelled.

Re: the plot bunny, a Hagrid and Scamander adventure fic sounds like an awesome time to me. I'd definitely read it (assuming it was well written ofc).