Following the Norman conquest in the real world, many Anglo-Saxons travelled east to enter the service of the Byzantine Empire as part of the Varangian Guard. Indeed, the guard would soon become dominated by these recruits. Given that this is pre Statute of Secrecy, local wizards may have go with them. After all, wizards who sided against the invasion and its wizards allies (such as the Malfoys) would face the same emigration pressure as muggles.

So, Anglo-Saxon wizard joining the magical core of the Varangian Guard?

 

The plot bunny I keep coming back to but never quite start writing: Seven Sorcerers. A Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven style story set post-war. Harry, while travelling abroad on the job, stumbles across an impoverished magical community suffering under the predations of a band of dark wizards. Unable to do anything officially due to bureaucracy and international politics, Harry decides to step in unofficially, going on 'holiday' and assembling a group of whatever former Battle of Hogwarts veterans are available and willing at short notice to come with him.

At this point, I'm trying to decide who the titular seven sorcerers would actually be, aside from the obvious Harry. The concept as it stands can be entirely canon-compliant and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

@RumbleintheDumbles To help us with brainstorming who the wizards or witches could be, the OG Magnificent 7 were:

The gunslinger (Harry)
the drifter/outlaw (Dung Fletcher?)
the mercenary (Malfoy?)
the PTSD veteran (an AU Moody that lived? Shacklebolt?)
the fortune seeker/gambler (Draco Malfoy? a goblin perhaps? Bill Weasley?)
the CQB knife guy (Crabbe? Millicent Bullstrode?)
the young trigger happy buck (Teddy Lupin?)

 

I was thinking Dennis Creevey for a Chico-style character - with his desperation to prove himself being part of how he was affected by his brother's death.

 

This could be a lot of fun. If you go for a more Mag 7/Western approach, you could use grittier characters and a darker tone. If you want an Ocean's 11-style approach, you could use more sophisticated characters and a lighter tone.

Just in terms of possible characters, like @MonkeyEpoxy said, how about:

Cho Chang - remorseless assassin/mercenary who went off the deep end after Cedric's death/the war. Likes to use knives on her pureblood victims

Madame Zabini - femme fatale serial killer specializing in seduction and subtle ways of murder like poison

Blaise Zabini - either his mother's protege or a rich, gambler/ladies' man who owes Harry a favor

Griphook - greedy renegade goblin who tries to undermine his allies

Lavender Brown - massively-scarred by Greyback and now possessing wolflike qualities; gets out of control around the full moon

Lots of different ways you can go, all of them fun.

 

Ooh, Cho as a badass knife fighter is a good one. I hadn't thought of that. Would need to be before she marries the unnamed muggle she eventually ends up with but that's easy enough given that we don't have a timeline on that.

Blaise is a good shout, too. Arrogant, suave tossers are fun to write and I can see how he'll fit in the group dynamic already.

I was thinking maybe Seamus Finnegan as an explosives guy. Being good at making things explode seems like a useful skill to have on board when you're outnumbered and fighting on prepared ground.

 

No story is complete without a drunken Irishman who likes to set things on fire.

I'd be wary of using things like C4 in a Harry Potter fic, though. It's fine in moderation, but the Irish aren't good at moderation and it can ruin immersion.

 

Harry Potter/The Order 1886 - Sort of fell back into the Game (Order) a while back and felt like the world building and world itself has a ton of potential.

While Werewolves and Vampires or Half-Breeds as they're known in the Order have reached Global Awareness, Wizards have still managed to remain active under the Statute of Secrecy their existence known only to the British Government and Order itself.

The story was going to follow Harry serving as part of the Order after defeating Voldemort, set upon the case of a murderous beast rampaging through the streets of London.

Basically blending HP with the Order world and taking elements from it, trying to build a tightly woven Horror/Thriller piece that tops out at 30-40k words.

 

Before her death, Rowena Ravenclaw constructed a final monument to her efforts in life, simply called Rowena's Tower. A place that exemplified the properties that she believed those sorted into her Hogwarts house should hold, a place of great and terrible wisdom, trials, mental and occasionally physical tests to prove one was worthy of ascending through the floors. The prize at the end of the journey, supposedly, her diaries. Her treasures. The most important of all being her own portrait.

Just to set foot inside you must pay in wit, willpower, or wealth.

For each puzzle presented, you must offer another tribute for the means to advance, should you lack the foresight to bring it with you. After a thousand years of exacting tolls from all who were foolish enough to step inside and live to walk out again, the Tower has amassed intellect, and developed sentience that borders on psychopathy. It no longer tests one under the guidelines that Helena enchanted, but to watch as lives are squandered and crushed.

A team of the best Aurors and Curse-breakers in the world are selected to dismantle the living nightmare before it can grow any further. Can any of them survive, let alone accomplish their goal?

 

Do you mean Rowena Ravenclaw?

 

Helena Ravenclaw is the name of the Grey Lady, the daughter of Rowena who IIRC stole her mother's diadem and ran off, only for the Bloody Baron to hunt her down and perform a murder-suicide.

 

I know, but the post doesn't seem to be about her. Unless there was something more to the Grey Lady than being a petulant witch who was jealous of her mother.

 

lul whoops, yeah, I meant Rowena. Just goes to show how long its been since I've read the books.

 

Battle Royale


Voldemort wins the war and becomes king of Britain and what not. There are still elements of rebellion, however. As a disciplinary measure, Voldemort decides to take the most problematic people and drop them all in an arena to kill each other. The last man (or woman) standing will get a cookie.

In practice, the type of people who would cause problems for Voldemort’s empire aren’t too likely to all kill each other without some incentive, so Voldemort threatens family and/or friends of all the participants. The winner’s loved ones will walk free.

 

Hungerwarts

 

Churchill is born in Germany, and Hitler is born in Britain, effectively switching the countries they rule over

 

I don't think that's how politics works

 

it’s called a story bro

 

Churchill was imperialistic enough to pull a nazi germany. Would still require a lot of different changes for Him/Hitler to rise to power in their different places, but could be a fun switchup.

I still maintain that the best alt history is a WWI in which Britain joins Germany.

 

More likely is they don't defend Belguim and set that shit out. France falls and the eastern front opens up.