I have a Crossover bunny stewing in my head for quite some time now, and I was thinking why not try actually writing it? I have a pretty extensive Backstory, some reasonably creative Deconstructions, and some major plot elements. The problem is I can't quite figure out how to write the damn thing without Rehashing it.

Is there anyone hear who read the Percy Jackson books and would be able to help me work on the Plot to avoid any potential Rehashing?

 

PM me the plot. I recently re-read the books, so I'll be able to help. I'm pretty good at coming up with ideas (more so than writing).

Or you can post it here and everyone can post their thoughts. Up to you.

 

I'll start by posting the Backstory. Not all of it would be relevant for a while (if ever), but still. I'm a devotee of Tolkien and Backstory.

1. Wizards and witches were "created" when a bunch of Roman children of Hecate (goddess of Magic) did some really powerful bit of Blood Magic some 2,000 years ago. It's implied that's what caused the Great Fire of Rome. They not only gained more versatile abilities with Magic (if dependent on a wand and saying/thinking Latin), they were able to pass the ability onto their children, and they to their children, and so on.

2. The Roman gods were furious at this for a whole list of reasons (killing a ton of people to do the Blood Magic ritual, defying the gods in a blatant way, the Fire). They were banished from Rome.

3. Later, the Greek counterparts were convinced by Hecate to forgive them. Despite the Latin they still use for their spells, they became accepted by the Greeks. They even earned an honorary section in Camp Half-Blood as "Hecate's Chosen". But the Romans (gods and demigods alike) still despised the wizards and witches for what they did, and to this day they speak of the dreaded and treacherous Virgas. While Greek gods will still have kids wit wizards and witches, Roman gods never do.

4. At some point, the Three Brothers (powerful wizards, not demigods) attempted to reach the Underworld for their own reasons. Hades was furious, but he acted nice and offered each brother a gift. The eldest wanted a wand with the power of a god (Hades used an elder tree from his garden and a threstel hair from his stables), the middle wanted to be with his beloved again (Hades was clear on a physical gift, so he got the Stone), and the youngest had the nerve to ask for a piece of Hades' Helm's invisibility. Blah blah blah, you all know the rest.

5. Three of Hogwarts' Founders were demigods: Gryffindor (Zeus), Ravenclaw (Athena), and Slytherin (Hermes, from which he gained the ability to talk to snakes). Hufflepuff was an "ordinary" witch, albiet a gifted one from a distinguished bloodline. They vowed to create the school after noticing how no one seems to bother teaching Magic the same way the Camp teaches other stuff.

6. Slytherin, however, grew to believe "ordinary" wizards and witches were unworthy to learn Magic from him. Add that to his experiments in Blood Magic (which the Greek gods forbade the wizards from using as a condition of joining the Greeks), and the rest of the Founders banished him. But because of his Blood Magic experiments, his descendents gained the ability to speak to snakes (this didn't use to be hereditary).

7. At some point, Gryffindor had the goblins make a special sword made with both celestial bronze and goblin steel, to have the properties of each metal. Long story short, the goblins now hate demigods, especially children of Zeus (which, naturally, Harry is).

8. Nicholas Flamel was a wizard and son of Apollo. After witnessing the horrors of the 100 Years War, he grew terrified of death and, with the help of his "ordinary" witch wife, created the Philosopher's Stone. Over the years, he grew rich and wise, albeit not too powerful since he was already an old man when he made the Stone.

9. Over time, the wizards and witches came to forget the gods, becoming either nominally Christian or outright atheists. This is especially the case for good Pureblood families like the Malfoys, who believe people who follow the gods (like the Weasleys and Lovegoods) are backwards morons for clinging to such primitive beliefs.

I should note that it's heavily implied the Weasleys are descended from Gryffindor and the Lovegoods can traditionally see through the Mist.

10. Grindelwald is a son of Hades. Grindelwald believed that wizards (demigod and "ordinary") should rule the world. He also resolves to gain the Deathly Hallows for some of his father's power. He gains a massive following and comes closer than the rest of his half-siblings of actually winning. However, Hades doesn't really like Grindelwald. Hades is both relieved and shaken when Dumbledore beats his son: relieved because the powerful threat was defeated, shaken because a "mere" wizard defeated the wizard demigod son of the Big Three.

11. Shortly after the War, the gods are all shocked by how powerful Grindelwald was. They force every single god to vow to never have children with wizards or witches again. Shortly after, only two wizard demigods lived: the imprisoned Grindelwald, and the secluded Nicholas Flamel.

12. Naturally, Zeus eventually breaks his vow with one Lily Evans. Lily briefly broke up with James, and during the breakup she gets pregnant from Zeus. James and Lily do get back together. James is surprisingly accepting of the pregnancy both because Snape rendered him sterile after going one step too far and because James knew about the gods. Initially, only the Marauders and Dumbledore are told.

13. Voldemort, as a young man, quickly discovers the truth about the gods. He gets the idea that he should be a god himself. He uses horcruxes to make himself immortal, which earns Hades' everlasting hatred. But what he really wants is to merge his blood with that of a wizard demigod (an ordinary demigod wouldn't work). But until Wormtail told him about Lily, he had no real way to get wizard demigod blood.

14. From here, you know the drill: bla bla bla Prophecy, bla bla bla Secret Keeper, bla bla bla Lily sacrifices her life, and so on.

I'll get to the real story later. But for now, any comments on the Backstory stuff?

 

You realize being Zeus's son will have an affect on Harry's appearance.

Also by the 90s the Greek Gods are exclusive to the US. The Roman gods are not. So unless Lily was in the US during the 90s then. Harry is a son of Jupiter.
But you can probably change that but Harry being a son of Jupiter over Zeus would make it a lot more interesting.

Also maybe something to with a Hestia and Hufflepuff they are remarkable similar.

Thats all I really got for now

 

1. Yes, I'm aware of that. While Zeus' black hair could be passed off as James', I've been considering having people spread rumours Harry is an illegitimate child.

2. That's also something I thought of. In my story, the gods go abroad from time to time for any number of reasons, including a night with the locals. In a prologue I might go with, Dumbledore and Chiron even have an agreement where Dumbledore sends word to Chiron if he finds any demigods in at least Britain. Although I would be fine just letting Lily go abroad instead.

3. Hufflepuff is deliberately not a demigod. This is both to help explain why she's so willing to accept "the lot" and to help hammer in a Deconstruction of Purebloods (since Hufflepuff was both the traditional Pureblood founder and the type of person Slytherin wanted out of Hogwarts.

 

Personally, I'm deeply suspicious of the "Harry was actually a demigod" trope. Haven't seen it done well yet (then again, I haven't seen a good HP/PJ crossover either).

I guess that it automatically grants a level of involvement for Harry in the PJ world but it seems cheap. Not saying it can't be done but it automatically has a level of cheesiness to it that can be hard to overcome. Isn't the general connection that you set up already enough? That Voldemort seeks to become a god, that there is tension between Roman demigods and wizards, that Harry has one of Hades' Hallows?

 

This seems a bit overly convenient, adding a breakup just so Lily can get pregnant, James sterility and casual acceptance... Why not just have Zeus use the same old trick that he used on Alcmene? Shape shift into James to seal the deal. Could be also used to explain why Harry looks like James and adds some conflict once Harry inevitably finds out.

 

I agree there isn't a good HP/PJ Crossover idea. That's kind of why I wanted to write this in the first place.

And as for Harry being a demigod, I intend to make that more than just a cheap way for him to get involved. I will actually explore what it means to be a demigod wizard, the good and the bad stuff. Hell, in my plan there isn't even a mystery to it: Harry learns what he is well before Hogwarts.

And I'm not saying your idea is a bad one, but on its own there isn't quite that much of a connection to make a story. There's nothing really convincing the gods and demigods to try and stop the would-be god, the Roman demigods and wizards are too far apart for any realistic reason for them to encounter each other, and how Harry himself would be that involved outside of Voldemort wanting the Cloak. And for that matter, it wasn't my intention to have the Hallows be a tool to actually attain godhood (it's been done to death, literally). The Hallows are just really powerful artifacts.

...That's not a bad idea actually. Or maybe I could go with Theseus' story of two fathers (one mortal and one god). The only thing is I need a reason for Voldemort to discover Harry's a demigod when he's still an infant, since in this story Voldemort wants Harry for his blood in order to become a god.

 

If Voldemort is searching for a demigod, it stands to reason that he would be developing a magical mean to find one. He did create unaided flight in canon and that was hardly vital to his plans. The Mist and the distance from the regular half-bloods could be thwarting his efforts until Harry's birth.

And given that you had Dumbledore beat Grindelwald, you should come with a reason for why Voldemort isn't going after the known demigods, he ought to be on the same weight class at the very least.

 

That could work, although I'm not a big fan of Voldemort developing a magical means of finding demigods only for such a potentially powerful means to never show up again. It just seems so wasted, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a word/term for it on TVTropes.

Also, I kind of want both Harry and Dumbledore to know he's a demigod before Hogwarts. Harry so he could spend some time at Camp Half-Blood, and Dumbledore so at the very least he could arrange for Flamel (one of only three surviving wizard demigods, along with Harry and Grindelwald) to teach Harry wizard demigod stuff.*

And as for Voldemort needing Harry specifically, I already thought of it: Voldemort specifically needs a wizard demigod, since an ordinary demigod wouldn't match with him enough with him and would kill him. But the wizard part of a wizard demigod would be compatible enough for it to work. But until Harry came along, Grindelwald was in prison, Flamel was in hiding, and both were too powerful for Voldemort to simply take their blood). Add that to the fact Harry's a son of Zeus, and it's only inevitable that Voldemort would want Harry specifically.

*I know Flamel teaching Harry has been done before, and is usually done terribly. But in my version, Flamel explicitly teaches Harry very slowly, over the course of a few years. Harry doesn't suddenly become an Uber-Wizard, he initially gets his ass kicked by the frail old man. He progresses bit by bit, and even by the climax he isn't an Uber-Wizard, just a pretty good wizard demigod still reliant on a healthy combination of his friends and allies, the Hallows helping him out a bit, and Sheer Dumb Luck.

 

If that bugs you then just have Voldemort use the ability more than once, that would make substantially more difficult for Harry to hide from him and would make the Dark Lord more dangerous. Which would be a good thing; with gods walking around and divine intervention being an actual thing, it might be a challenge to maintain Voldemort's threat level.

And regarding Harry and Dumbledore's knowledge of his divine origins, you could have Snape play a similar role to canon. He learns from Voldemort (for whatever reason--maybe his way to find a demigod needs more people to be precise) and goes tattle to Dumbledore. Snape would certainly enjoy being the bearer of those news.

 

Perhaps take a page out of canon HP and make it similar to Taboo. Voldemort can't find Harry unless Harry uses his demigod abilities. Wand does not count.

This way it is threthening enough to be revelant but not so much so people ask why he hasn't won already.

Also for parentage go for Thesious.

 

Regarding Harry's father being Zeus; I honestly don't really like the whole 'James is sterile and Harry is someone else's son', so maybe use a bit of what happened with Thalia and her mom? God's don't often have more than a child with a mortal but Thalia's mom had two. You could use that to make Zeus be the only James on this universe and Lily actually managed to get him to stick around for a bit by using his different aspects.

Honestly, I dont really like Harry being anything other than James' and Lily's son but its and idea. This way you could have 'James' still alive and not have a huge change in the timeline.

 

I second the "Lily Break Up with James" idea is lacking, and feels way too convenient.

Why not move James's death back a year? I don't know how much you plan on writing that part of the backstory into the actual story, but if you're following the PJ narrative, at some point Lily or others will tell Harry how he came about.

I'd maybe cast it as: James dies in a raid/ambush/whatever. Lily is distraught and withdraws from her friends. Sirius and Remus try to help, even Peter a little, but she rebuffs them. Ares, who, due to the war on the island, visits often, has been accompanied by Zeus a few times. Zeus has taken notice of Lily before. Seeing her bereaved, he sees an opportunity and takes on the form of James, who he's seen before.

He explains to Lily that because she's so bereaved, Hades has allowed him to join her during the night until fall equinox, but he must not let anyone else see him, nor may she speak of it to anyone else.

At first, she's hesitant, but over a fortnight, he wins her trust getting into her bed the last night (her dismissal of small inconsistencies can be handwaived either by her emotional state making her not actually noticing them, or his explanation that spending time in the Underworld is beginning to change him). Harry is conceived. But the act of physically being with her "husband," and then losing him again (this time forever, she thinks), is too much for her and she clings to him as the sun rises, daring Hades to come and get them both.

Hades, hearing his name called, is infuriated that James found a back-way out of Hades and goes to draw him back, maybe even throwing him into Tartarus for the deed. When he shows up in Lily's house, however, he's instantly aware that "James" isn't James, but his brother, Zeus. He tells Zeus's secret to Lily, and then halls Zeus off to Poseidon, leaving Lily stunned.

She still keeps everything secret until a month later, she finds out she's pregnant. Cut off from everyone else now, she turns to Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who take her to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, who has been given the right to call on Hades for defeating Grindelwald, uses it now. After a meeting with Hades and Zeus, the two gods call on Artemis (you can use Eileithyia, but she wasn't part of the PJ world and really, a number of Greek myths almost mix the two) and beg her to have Lily give birth a month early so she can claim James as the father. Artemis agrees, and Harry is born a month early.

The fates, however, take note and are furious (no pun intended) with the gods interfering in the destinies of man again, so they decide to punish Zeus by having his child be destined to face the man that killed his supposed earthly father. The idea being if he dies, he was James's child and a snub to Zeus. If he lives, it proves he's a greater wizard than James, which would cause people to wonder if he were a demigod, exposing Zeus's secret. Thus, Zeus loses either way.

________

This direction also saves you the problem of Voldemort using magical means to find Harry. He doesn't have to. The fates betray Harry's position by tricking Peter to reveal where he is.

And, since the gods are intimately involved (again, no pun intended) in the story, you sidestep the "God in a box" trope. Now, the gods have reasons for their involvement that are part and parcel to the story itself.

Not sure you wanted to go that deep into background, but at least I think it's viable, and better than "Lily and James break up." Or, "James willingly accepts Lily's infidelity after someone supposed claimed he was James."

Today's reader would have a bigger problem with the latter, asking questions like "Wouldn't she recognize inconsistencies?" "Wouldn't she wonder why he was so much better/different/worse in bed?" (And if sex with Zeus was worse, then you fall into the James Potter, Sex God cliche). Or, with a nod to HP canon, "In the middle of a war, would she really accept someone returning home before he was supposed to without checking - such as Remus did after the Battle Over Little Whining?"

EDIT: It also provides you with a question to build plot: how does Harry defeat Voldemort without revealing his true father?

 

I would like to startoff by saying that I'm not a writer and that any advice I give may in fact hinder your story since I'm not as good at the art as most others on this forum. But here's my analysis anyway:

A variation of this has already been done numerous times.

Why were the children of the poeple who did the Blood Ritual banished? It wasn't their fault. Then again, why not just kill the whole lot and be done with it?

If Hades was so pissed, why didn't he just outright kill them? Why the dog and pony show? Why not take his items back in the end?

Why can't Hufflepuff be a Demigod as well? Why is she always the odd one out?

Why can't it be hereditary anyway? Like Frank's ability to transform into different animals is hereditary.

"Long story short"? What's the reason? If it's the whole "Only the person who paid for it get's to own it" then that's OK but why do they hate the rest of the children of Zeus? And why did Gryffindor even ened such a sword?

You would think Hades would have something to say about Flamel messing with Immortality. Besides, most Demigods aren't that afraid of death since most of them will go to Elysium? Unless Flamel thoguht he was goign to end up in the Fields of Punishment for some reason?

Has there been a single Christian wizard in Harry Potter? And you'd think it would the more traditional families such as the Malfoys that believe in the old ways. Besides, it kind of takes away from the charm of the Lovegoods if what they've spouting is actually true.

Why doesn't Hades like Grindelwald?

Numerous "Mere" non-wizard demigods have defeated and even killed Gods before.

"Briefly broke up"? This has also been done before, but more for Severitus.

Again, you'd think Hades would step in. And merging blood, really? A bit of a convoluted plot. What would that even do? It's not going to make you immune from Zeus striking you with thunder.

And Zeus did nothing to protect his son because...?

You've definitely got too much backstory here and incorporating it all would be near impossible.

 

I think I'll need to think about the Taboo idea. It could work, depending on how the actual story goes.

Ok, let's just stick with Harry having James and Zeus a father ala Theseus.

1. First of all, have you read about the Greek gods, real or from Percy Jackson? They are all extremely petty, and won't distinguish the people who did the Ritual from their children. And in any case, at that point it was still mostly the people who did the Ritual and some children. And as for why not kill them, maybe they ran away and hid from the Roman gods until the Greek gods agreed to pardon them with strict conditions.

2. I was going with an Orpheus idea here, where they went to the Underworld, managed to convince Hades to get what they want, only for it to backfire for two of the brothers. Maybe I'll tone down his anger and he decides to give them a reward since he's impressed.

3. I agree Hufflepuff's always the odd one out, but it was also very deliberate here. If she's the only non-demigod it would help explain why she's more welcoming. It also serves as a jab at Purebloodism by making Hufflepuff a Pureblood Slytherin would want to banish here.

4. In Percy Jackson canon, they established the characters can talk to animals their respective parent created or is associated with (like Percy and the zebras). I also wanted to go with the idea that Blood Magic is heavily frowned upon, and a sign of how deep into Blood Magic Slytherin was in was making his ability from Hermes to talk to snakes hereditary.

5. Because they're goblins, both Gryffindor and the goblins believed the other attempted to kill the other over the sword, and a really long and petty grudge is my Deconstruction of how goblins will instantly swear loyalty to the first shmuck who is nice to them. And as for why the sword, I was planning on giving it either to Harry (Gryffindor's brother) or Ron (Gryffindor's descendent) during some big fight from the Sorting Hat. But in hindsight, is that kind of sword too Sue-ish and I should just leave it as an ordinary goblin steel sword?

6. First of all, Daedalus was also kind of afraid of death and lived for thousands of years in artificial bodies, although to be fair that had a lot to do with killing his nephew and his rival is an Underworld judge. As for why he's afraid of death, you have a good point with a fear of the Field of Punishment. Let's say he did something especially terrible fighting either during the 100 Years War or in some generic fight with Roman demigods.

7. To be honest, I mostly said Christian in the same way most people in Britain are Christian, which is to say not really doing anything religious most of the time. Let's just keep them atheists. Of course it would technically make sense if Purebloods were more traditional, but this is again a Deconstruction of Pureblood stuff since they're the ones who forgot the gods while other families didn't. And as for the Lovegoods, why can't it be both: they can see through the Mist, but half the time they are simply making shit up.

8. Because Grindelwald is doing his own thing in defiance of his father, to the point where he isn't really directly involved in World War Two.

9. Grindelwald proved the kind of damage a wizard demigod could really do, especially when you unite other wizard demigods, wizards, and demigods from different parents under one banner. Minus the Titan/overthrowing the gods stuff, he was kind of an early version of Luke and his rebellion.

10. Like I said before, I changed it to Harry is a son of both of James and Zeus.

11. Hades doesn't stop Voldemort for the same reason he didn't stop Daedalus: presumably a combination of not finding him and not able to do that much about it. As for what such a process would do, of course it wouldn't make him a literal god. It would make him more powerful, but not a god. It's just something he deluded himself over and became obsessed with.

12. ...same reason he and the other gods do jack shit for their children: they don't interfere with their children except on very rare occasions. You could probably make a drinking game out of every single time a god doesn't help out their own child in a dangerous situation. I forgot if there was an oath or it's just something they did, but either way it kind of fits with the gods. But if it makes you feel better, maybe I'll screw the Love protection and just have Zeus responsible for Harry surviving Voldemort as a baby and how he got the Scar.

13. No argument with you there. I always put way too much focus on the Backstory. I don't like leaving it at "Here be Monsters", I have to know what monsters are there. Even if I write this, I know a large chunk of it won't be used, but if nothing else it would help give me some guidelines and keep things reasonably consistent.

 

Then, I need to reiterate this:

The result would be a lot of your readers, IMO, thinking Lily willingly cheated on James. Remember, just because the Ancient Greeks wrote in a certain way and their audiences accepted the authority of the genre doesn't meant modern audiences will do the same. The problem with writing the ancient Greeks is that you have to have one foot in the past and one in the present. So make sure you close up the gaping plot hole of "How did Lily not recognize it wasn't James" without resorting to the "God in a Box" cheat.

 

Good point. I suppose I really can't escape the issue of Harry's demigodhood is reliant on either one of his parents willingly cheating on the other or being outright raped by a god (which, while closer to the original Greek mythology, would be a bad idea for a lot of reasons). With the other demigods, at least the mortal parent was single.

You know what? Let's go with your version: James dies, Zeus tricks Lily into sex, Lily gives birth to "James'" son, the Fates destine Harry to fight Voldemort as punishment for Zeus. Hell, Harry discovering that could drive a wedge between him and his father in an emotional scene.

Now the question is where I have Harry's childhood. I see no reason not to keep the Halloween Night relatively intact, especially since James admittedly didn't do all that much. But should I have Harry bother spending any time with the Dursleys, or should he be shipped straight to Camp Half Blood (which is an ocean away from Voldemort and the Death Eaters in a place explicitly designed to keep people safe from monsters and train kids how to fight).

 

Eh, you lost me at the 'Harry is a son of one of The Three!' thing.

Seriously, it's been done to death. Literally every demigod story is either Bolt, Helmet, or Trident.

Or has Harry as a shit-baby. Yes, that is actually a thing.