I made a thread last year about how I would set up a "hard sci-fi" Stargate AU, with a BSG-esque Earth against a more grounded Goa'uld. This thread is basically the complete opposite of that. What can I say? I like hard sci-fi and I like fantasy, but I don't like them mixed...

So first I'd like to identify the aspects of Stargate that I think are most worthy of preservation:

1. The ancient Egyptian gods (and the gods of other pantheons) were aliens who took possession of humans.
   
   
2. Those gods exported humans from Earth in large numbers to form the population of an empire that spanned large parts of the galaxy.
   
   
3. The gods which rule that empire are arranged in a quasi-feudal structure, with constant competition between the gods for power.
   
   
4. Transport between planets occurs instantaneously by means of a system of portals known as Stargates.
   
   
5. Superhuman levels of intelligence enable an individual to better perceive the secrets of the universe. Knowledge and understanding of the way the universe works give you the ability to directly manipulate it, which manifests as powers which appear magical.
   
   
6. However, these powers are not magical, but rather come from a superior perception and understanding of natural law and the ability to manipulate energy. It is possible for beings to become extremely powerful if they become sufficiently advanced, even to the point of shedding their physical bodies and becoming beings of pure energy.

Now I'd like to identify the parts of Harry Potter I think should be kept in a fusion with a sci-fi universe such as the above:

1. Certain humans are born with special powers that the rest of the population lacks.
   
   
2. Those humans are small in number but there are enough of them to have formed a secret society which exists in parallel to normal society.
   
   
3. That society has a school where these special individuals go to learn to control their powers, an exercise which involves a significant amount of study.
   
   
4. There is inequality between these individuals, such that some have much greater powers than others.
   
   
5. One such individual attempted to take over this parallel society but was killed in mysterious circumstances surrounding a boy called Harry Potter, who was left an orphan.
   
   
6. Harry Potter grows up in the normal world but displays special powers from an early age. When the time comes, he returns to the parallel society to attend the school for those with special powers.

Having identified these key features of each universe to be maintained, I think an interesting consistent universe can be established. Many elements of Stargate will give way to become more fantastical, whereas many elements of Harry Potter will give way to become less so.

Magic

The main thing that has to be sorted out is the magic. Harry Potter magic is simply ill-suited to a space setting: it's too wacky in its behaviour, too charming in tone, too occult in apparatus, and too powerful in application.

At the same time, Stargate already has well established fantastical elements which can be adapted to serve as the basis of a "magical" society on Earth. These very same fantastical elements can be turned back upon Stargate to replace certain sci-fi elements so as to put human magical society and the alien society on a unified, consistent footing (essentially, the aim is to avoid a clash of “technology vs magic” but rather to form the two into a single, coherent system).

So the HP magic system would pretty much be discarded in its entirety. As described above in points 5 and 6, superhuman feats derive from more advanced biology and specifically a much more evolved cerebrum. This results in high intelligence and a keen, almost intuitive perception of the way the universe works. This higher intelligence, perception and understanding also permit an individual to design advanced technology (relative to their education level).

The full range of powers open to advanced individuals (the “Gifted”) would be, in order of difficulty:

• Heightened strength, speed and reflexes.
  
  
• Superhuman intelligence and memory.
  
  
• Telepathy.
  
  
• Rapid cellular regeneration and dramatically decreased ageing.
  
  
• Telekinesis.
  
  
• Energy manipulation and projection (basically shields and energy attacks).
  
  
• Manipulation of matter.
  
  
• Ascension (shedding of physical body, becoming a being of energy).

Origins of the Gods and Gifted Society

The origins of “magic” would be tied up with the history of the gods.

The gods are the last remnants of an advanced alien race which achieved all of the above powers except ascension. That race, with their superhuman intelligence, devised the Stargates and over many millennia seeded the galaxy with them.

But then their society descended into a devastating, galaxy-wide war, and their powers and technology were such that their entire species was on the brink of extinction. During this war, Ra was born. He was the next step in the evolution of the species, the first to achieve partial ascension, being able to become a being of energy. However, he still needed to inhabit a physical body, not being able to exist for long in a state of pure energy.

A cult-like following developed around Ra, consisting of a small group of houses: Ra's own family, plus the houses of Odin, Kronos, Huangdi, etc. He led these houses on an exodus out of known space, a journey which lasted centuries, during which he tried to teach his followers how to ascend. A number of them achieved this feat, but not all, and over the course of the exodus their group slowly dwindled in number as even the decreased ageing of their race succumbed to old age. Only the ascended were ageless, able to inhabit the bodies of children born during the exodus (a controversial practice which almost split the group apart, and which lay the foundations for many feuds which would last thousands of years).

Eventually the group happened upon Earth around 5000 BC. Humans were compatible with their own biology, though far less advanced, and the ascended were able to possess humans as puppets, taking over the minds of their hosts and still having access to their full powers. The different families went their separate ways upon finding Earth, setting themselves up in different regions of the planet, ruling the locals as gods. The last of the non-ascended died out and only the ascended families remained, fewer than 100 individuals.

For a long time, they contented themselves with Earth, building ancient civilisations of grandeur and high technology. However, that technology was kept on a tight leash, linked to the power of the gods, with the educated class kept to a minimum. Even then that educated class was only taught what they needed to know.

After a while the gods grew restless and curious about their old people. Around 3500 BC they built a Stargate and ventured back to their old worlds. They found only devastation. On every world, they came across only overgrown ruins and the signs of widespread use of weapons of mass destruction. Not a single member of their species appeared to have survived.

The gods immediately began reclaiming the old territory of their people, exporting humans in massive numbers across the galaxy through the network of Stargates. Each House (i.e. each dynasty of gods) claimed territory, with the head of each house distributing territory to the other members of their family. Earth remained the capital of their empire, but as the human population beyond Earth began to eclipse that of Earth itself, increasingly it was a ceremonial capital only.

At this time, wars began to be fought once more between the gods. On Earth, conflict had been limited to low level skirmishes, as Ra had ruled supreme, able to exert his great personal power over the other gods.

But once the vastness of space was once more open to them, their group fragmented. Ra’s personal power was no longer so significant when he was at such a great distance. While each House nominally recognised Ra as their overlord, in practice his control over other Houses was weak - indeed, each god now had so much territory and resources that they were each largely independent, though Ra remained the strongest.

During these thousands of years, the gods made a mistake. Always a species prone to vice and passion, they began to indulge in the pleasures of human flesh. Of these unions, some bore fruit, giving rise to humans with advanced biology and powers. Their talents varied, but the most powerful among them were capable of telekinesis and even some energy manipulation. At first the gods were pleased with their newfound ability to reproduce, setting their children up as trusted lieutenants on Earth, ruling their nominal capitals in their names while the gods themselves were busy building their empires in the galaxy beyond.

But over time, these Gifted humans began to sympathise with their own people more than their distant gods. They began to stir rebellion and around 1500 BC it all came to a head. The Gifted waited for an opportune moment, when they believed that all the gods were off planet, at which time the collective civilisations of Earth renounced their gods, declared their independence and buried the Stargate in Egypt.

Unfortunately for Earth, this act was not without consequences. Many advanced systems were sustained by the power of the gods, and further systems still only the gods had knowledge and understanding of. The Gifted had some education and high intelligence, but the gods had withheld much from even their own children. Their knowledge was insufficient to maintain the high technology of the era of the gods, but they were able to sustain industrial civilisations.

The Gifted initially continued to rule, but were over time replaced by regular humans. In some places this occurred when two Gifted ended up killing each other in a fight over power. In other places the transition was more peaceful, with enlightened Gifted passing the reins to wise humans under their tutelage. A particularly devastating war between Gifted-led civilisations around 1200 BC resulted in the so-called “Bronze Age Collapse”, which spelt the end of ancient industrial civilisation. At this point the Gifted agreed that they should not rule human civilisations, making it the fundamental law of their society.

Civilisation declined rapidly. Here and there the Gifted continued to act as advisers, and under their influence civilisations would experience golden eras, but the tendency over time was for the Gifted to withdraw from the affairs of society and limit themselves to their own, separate community, small in number and distributed across the globe, but able to use their powers and superior technology to remain in contact. A large group of Gifted withdrew to what they felt was a distant, far flung island where they would live untroubled by the affairs of human civilisation. This was the island which would one day be known as Britain.

By 1000 BC, human history merges with real world history. Some Gifted intermarry with regular humans and elements of their advanced biology enter the general human gene pool. Occasionally a genetic anomaly occurs whereby a person with the full powers of the Gifted pops up, born to regular humans who happen to carry the right combination of dormant genes. Such individuals are inducted into Gifted society. The Gifted continue to exist in their separate society and occasionally play a role in the world, but they do not rule, and knowledge of the Gifted is limited in regular society, with their abilities becoming mythological.

Fast Forward Part 1: The Present Day on Earth

The situation on Earth largely mirrors that of Harry Potter. The main differences are: a) the changed magic system, b) the lack of magical creatures, and c) there are no national “Ministries of Magic”, but rather a single global governing body for the Gifted, which is based in London.

The Gifted now live in complete secrecy. They have schools where they study advanced science, mathematics, philosophy, etc. and learn to control their powers. These schools are not “hidden” from Muggles, but they exercise extremely selective entrance criteria. Further, many of the world’s top universities have secret societies of Gifted.

Their powers vary significantly from individual to individual. “Pure Gifted” with access to the full range of powers are quite rare, as over the years the Gifted gene pool has become mixed with that of regular humans. The most common Gifted powers are the first three rungs. Cellular regeneration is significantly rarer, and telekinesis rarer still. But the variation between individuals is not just of what powers a person has access to, but also the strength of those powers. For example, not all Gifted are equally intelligent, though all are at least equivalent to a very intelligent human.

“Muggle” civilisation is as it is in the real world, unaware of the Gifted and their powers. However, unbeknownst to the Muggles, the Gifted play a significant role in their society. While the rule against ruling Muggles is obeyed, there’s no rule against making money off them, and many of the world’s technology companies are owned by Gifted, leaking some limited inventions into mainstream society.

The Gifted have a vague knowledge of the truth of the gods and the wider galaxy, but much of their own knowledge has also become distorted.

Enter Tom Riddle. Born in 1949, he is an anomalous Gifted, and especially anomalous for the fact that it quickly becomes clear that he is an enormously powerful individual. When he is inducted into gifted society, he develops a fascination with Ra, eventually coming to see himself as the Heir of Ra.

He begins to advocate that the law against rulership should be repealed and that the Gifted should once again take control of the civilisations of Earth, raising them up to a spacefaring people. He also advocates the practice of eugenics to produce more Gifted individuals. He gains a following but the majority is opposed to him, and when he fails to make progress, he begins a violent campaign to take control of Gifted society.

It is at this point that it is revealed that Tom Riddle has achieved partial ascension, essentially becoming equal to one of the gods. He seems unstoppable until one day in 1981, when he goes to kill James and Lily Potter, a pair of powerful Gifted, but is apparently destroyed in mysterious circumstances in an interaction with their infant son Harry.

That infant son grows up with his Muggle relatives but it is clear that he is not normal. His intelligence is such that Muggle school bores him, and from an early age he is developing powers which are reminiscent of Tom Riddle. When he is eleven he starts to attend a school for the Gifted and excels.

Fast Forward Part 2: The Present Day in Space

Following the loss of Earth, the gods have continued to expand and rebuild their civilisation. They have ceased the practice of producing offspring with humans, having learnt their lesson, and the birth of a demi-god is one of the few things that can unite the gods against one of their own number.

The number of humans spread across the galaxy now numbers in the hundreds of billions.

Divine society is extremely stratified, with an educated class of humans serving directly under the gods as their generals, governors, researchers, traders, etc. This educated class (which is itself highly stratified, with its own aristocracy) is a tiny percentage of the total population (maybe 0.5%) but, given the size of the population, is still large in absolute terms.

The gods consider this educated population a necessary evil of having an industrial, space faring civilisation. If they didn’t take the risk of educating their subjects, then a rival who did would have too great an advantage over them.

Beneath the educated class is a large semi-educated class. They are literate and numerate and may be educated in a single skilled task, but they do not have a proper general education. They form maybe 70% of the population and are “free” but have few rights. This class makes up the majority of the gods’ armies.

At the bottom of the ladder is the remainder of the population, who are uneducated slaves, used as expendable manual labour.

A typical god may rule 3-5 industrialised planets (“core worlds”), with maybe 50 other inhabitable planets within their territory which have some population (“farms”). The head of a House might rule around 20 core worlds and 400 farms. Ra’s realm includes 30 core worlds and 700 farms.

The total number of habitable planets within Divine Space is therefore around 600, of which under 500 are industrialised.

In terms of technology, the main form of faster than light travel is that of bent space (think BSG). This has extremely limited range as an FTL drive on board a spaceship, and interstellar travel takes months if not years, depending on the distances involved. However, with a stable entrance and exit point in the form of Stargates it is instantaneous.

Ideas for Stories

I can see three ways this could go.

The most “Harry Potter” route would be a story set mostly on Earth, following Harry vs a still-alive Voldemort.

A middle ground option would be a story mostly set on Earth, but the villain is a god in hiding on Earth (Osiris/Seth), with Voldemort truly dead.

The most “Stargate” option, and the one that was the primary inspiration for this post, is the idea that the Muggles have found the Stargate. The Gifted whisk it away, taking it back to London where they begin to explore the galaxy through it as in the original show. Harry (as an adult) would be part of the front line team which is exploring the galaxy.

Regardless of which option is taken, the long term arc for Harry would be the unlocking of his full powers, which mirror those of Tom Riddle as a result of the freak event which occured in 1981.

 

Something sort of related, have considered continuing Stargate 2069 or is that abanonded?

 

Nice, but I kinda feel like this is more original fiction inspired by both franchises with the same names.

Never got that type, better off doing an original story.

 

I'd read this book. I prefer fantasy over sci fi so I'd lean more heavily on that. I always have a hard time with suspension of disbelief regarding technology when we're dealing with super geniuses. It definitely seems more like original fiction than anything to do with HP though.

 

Interesting idea, but why chose one option?
You can mix and combine them. Tom Riddle is still alive, weaker then before, but still strong. Harry fights him through his teenage years to into his adulthood. In his adulthood Stargate program is opened. Harry and his team goes into space.

It could be a long continuous arc of Harry's development and his essential ascension.