We all have loads of ideas about how we would like to change canon this way and that way, but a lot of those ideas would involve massive changes to the plot.

(E.g. my idea of not resurrecting Voldemort in 4th year and keeping the "magical boarding school with an annual self-contained mystery" focus of the first 3 books.)

That's not the subject of this thread. This thread is about how you would tweak canon. That is:

Changes you would make to canon which would not significantly alter the central events.

And yes, I did brazenly steal the idea for this thread.

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I would make Harry mildly better at magic in HBP. This is not a huge change and wouldn't actually have any impact on events. I'm not making him a genius, just having him struggle less.

It would change the way we think about Harry slightly. It would also make Harry feel like he had more agency as he relied on others less, would make Harry's level of talent in HBP more compatible with PoA, GoF and OotP, and would make Harry's success in DH seem less lucky.

This can be achieved with just three edits:

I would change Harry's Charm's OWL grade to an O. PoA Patronus, GoF summoning charm and his very strong shield charm all point to quite a bit of talent in Charms. Though he often has to work hard to get the hang of a spell, once he can cast it properly he tends to be very good at it.

There are two other quotes that I would alter:

I would alter these slightly to put a more positive spin on it. I would retain reference to the magic being challenging, but I would place the focus on Harry applying himself and feeling like he was making progress. E.g. in the second quote, I would have Harry be a bit more optimistic about his chances with the spell, mentioning that he was improving in nonverbal magic.

Harry being this average at magic doesn't do anything for the plot, so it's in there for the sole purpose of making Harry seem normal. But Harry wants to be an Auror, and indeed we know from JKR that he later did become one, and a very successful one at that. Changing HBP to give Harry a grasp of magic consummate with those that enter that profession is a neat change and doesn't negatively impact any later plot direction (remember that the Auror office is so selective that most years they don't accept any new trainees).

Harry's HBP magic struggles undermine a lot of what happened in previous books. Harry was able to resist the Imperius curse and defeat Voldemort in priori incantatum, both feats of sheer mental willpower. Then JKR has him struggle with non-verbal magic, which Snape says is a matter of mental power.

Similarly, Harry teaches the DA in OotP and it seems like he genuinely is leading and teaching them, showcasing that yes, he is talented beyond that of a normal 5th year. Then he enters 6th year and struggles in his best subject, DADA. Apparently the twins were just humouring him throughout OotP, not mentioning once that actually Harry wasn't even at the level of a 6th year.

The upshot of HBP is that Harry relies on Hermione more than ever for magical input, though at times in DH he comes out with magic that you wonder where the hell he learnt, because it sure wasn't covered in HBP and doesn't match how Harry was depicted in 6th year. This change corrects that problem.

Now over to you.

 

I'd remove curses, jinxes and hexes of the 'point-and-shoot beams of light' variety.

I remember reading as a kid and just hating how unimaginative and boring it was.

Not having the trio become animagi seems like dropping the ball too imo. This may have something to do with rezzing Voldemort too early - eating up any free time they could have had to learn.

 

Pretty much what you said, Harry actually getting down and working hard at school once Voldemort is resurrected, or when Sirius dies - particularly in the area of defence.

Connected to my first point; not using Hermione as an educational crutch.

Not having Harry win via wandlore ex machina. THis wouldn't change the outcome of events, it would just make Harry not feel like the most ridiculously lucky person in the world.

Stopping magical battles feeling like they're just a lot of smaller duels. The way Rowling writes battles pretty much feels like she's writing every character for themselves. None of them seems to actually work and coordinate together to fight the enemy.

Not enough variation in the magic learnt; despite seven years of schooling there only seems to be a dozen spells (if that!) that Harry uses. Also, the spells and other magic like Portkeys are usually introduced the year they play a crucial part of the plot. Apparition for example should have been introduced in second or third year, instead we see it in fourth. Foreshadowing the magic more than a year in advance would be nice.

I would make the puzzles that protect the Philosopher's Stone actually seem threatening. The fact they feel watered down (I think Snape's was the only serious threat to a trained wizard) greatly contributes to horribly transparent MOB!Dumbledore stories. They really should have been actual protections, not puzzles.

 

A little more backstory on Harry's paternal family would've been nice.

 

I think i would make Harry slightly more observant of his surroundings, just so Hermione-as-worldbuilder isn't as necessary and to make the world-building as a whole seem more smooth.
At least as far as tweaking goes, i have to restrain myself from writing up a lot more, but i think this one fits the criteria the best.

 

I'd make Harry more interested in magic.
There isn't the slightest hint in canon that Harry actually enjoys doing magic, or is amazed/curious about it.
It's magic for God's sake.

 

I fully support the notion of Harry being presented as gaining confidence and competence with magic in the last books. I'd even go so far as to make him the head of the class in Defense as a particular snub to Snape's taking over when Harry was teaching seventh years just a few months back to a level beyond NEWT requirements.

Also make him a natural at silent spells due to his affinity with his wand- something that can be shown later to cause issues when he has to use borrowed ones.

I'll tack in my original thoughts from the Reddit thread that inspired this:

* Hermione wasn't given the Time Turner- she found it deep in the library along with some notes on its use by the previous owner; when they break the rules on changing time it actually causes the device to break afterwards, preventing its use in later books

* The goblet of fire is the Triwizard cup. Not only does it make the function of it make sense while limiting its application to a stupid contest, it's efficient. There could even be a joke about 'I realise Diggory is dead, but did you bring the cup back with you, Potter?'

* Harry hears (after the fact) about the Order trying to intervene in the breakout at Azkaban, making their existence meaningful- as it stands, they appear to be guarding the prophecy, guarding Harry and sending messages like 'Voldemort is back; pass it on'

Howabout redeeming Ron as a traveling companion? Given his interests, wouldn't it follow that he might have a talent with food? Have it so Ron learns how to transfigure food from edible raw materials in a way that is not just effective but really appetizing. In this one small but meaningful area he could show up Hermione and it would make his absence or incapacitation more painful for the other two when they have to make do.

Oh, and for Quidditch: the three goal hoops are different sizes with different point values (5, 10 and 20) and catching the snitch is worth a reasonable amount that also makes a tie game impossible- I chose 42.

Even funnier if it's mentioned in the epilogue:

Harry said, 'You still talking to Hermione through your kids, Ron?'

'She changed Quidditch. It's not right.'

Rose tugged on her father's jacket and said, 'Mummy reminds you that the Cannons have won more games in the year since they adjusted strategy under the new rules than they had in the past twenty years altogether.'

'You tell mummy that some traditions just can't be changed and... hang on.' Ron looked up at his wife and asked, 'Did you get them to change the rules, knowing that the Cannons would figure them out first?'

Hermione replied by whispering into Rose's ear.

Rose smiled and said, 'You're welcome.'

 

I don't know if it counts as a tweak, but I'd really increase the number of students and teachers at Hogwarts. They don't all have to be characters, but we never get the impression that there are more than 300 students and about 14 staff members. That's like, nothing.

 

I would totally remove Harry's "I am not Voldemort" speech post 'Flight of the Phoenix'. Hated that bit when I first read it and still do.

 

So much stuff... I dislike that not a single person opposing voldemort even contemplates the notion of just murdering everyone. Malfoy senior is an obvious death eater and nobody does shit. Both sides are hopelessly stupid. I think the issue I have is mostly that the story dangles on the fence between kids and adults books, which obviously limits
That stuff. But when you have wizard nazis that just does
not fly.

 

Have to agree on this. It's one of the hazards of trying to make the books have more adult appeal while still keeping them as child-friendly. The Death Eaters are just too evil, compared to the good guys and the measures they take against them. You can't mix Harry's "If we kill the bad guys, we're just as bad as they are!" naivete with stuff like Death Eaters regularly killing, mutilating, and torturing the good guys. It just doesn't fit. Eventually it feels like the Order of the Phoenix and Ministry might as well just be sending Voldemort a strongly worded letter asking him to not kill them so much.

 

I would add in more stuff into DH.

The gang could have been fighting death eaters and solving a mystery or two along the way without any major changes to the direction the story is heading.

For example instead of them getting snatched out of the blue perhaps they were setting another trap for the snatchers and an unusually competent group showed up and overpowered them. Instead of just learning the location of the locket from Dung they were planning to liberate a muggleborn camp and noticed Umbridge with it. Harry loses his wand in a fight with some werewolves trying to protect a muggle village.

Or perhaps that crosses the line of 'tweaking'. Smaller ones would be Harry being friends with more people and him having regular contact with friends during the summer. The night bus exists. What would it change if he just took it over to Hermione's, Ron's or someone else house pre-rebirth.

 

Yeah... And it really brings up the question of WTF the order of the phoenix is up to. From the books, we get that they keep tabs on the suspected death eaters and guard the prophecy.

1. Destroy the sodding thing. Problem solved.
2. Why do people rally to this cause when they do EVEN LESS than the Ministry?

As you said, the Death Eaters are almost comically evil. There are no redeeming qualities about any of them, no character depth. Except, possibly, with the Malfoys and Regulus Black.

 

And Snape. He was an asshole, but he helped the anti-Voldemort side.

 

Scrap the Ginny romance entirely, or rewrite it so that is actually makes sense and doesn't come out of the left field. Maybe have Harry date a few girls, with the relationships lasting only a few months, like any other normal teenager.

No fucking "monster in his chest", either.

 

I'd offer a bit more of an explanation for Voldemort's scheme in GoF. Not much; I know it's stupidly elaborate, but I think it can be explained by something as simple as saying that getting Harry is the best case scenario, but anyone's blood will do, and by definition the person grabbing the Cup is supposed to be one of if not the single most talented witch or wizard of their generation, which has to count for something. Literally, a couple of lines in Dumbledore's speech at the end and the whole thing works a lot better.

The big one though would be making Ginny a more prominent character, which I realise puts me in something of a minority...I actually think the relationship between her and Harry is a good idea in principle, but she appears so little that it's hard to reconcile what we see with the love of his life that the epilogue gives us. Give her a few more scenes throughout the series, make a slightly bigger deal of the relationship in HBP and DH, and it would work. Alternatively, cut out the romance altogether. It's not like you lose a lot from current canon without it. EDIT: hi there, ninja!Jorm

Other than that, I guess just the usual sort of thing; Harry being a little better at magic, that sort of thing.

 

I thought the rapid transition from DH to HBP was really abrupt and illogical. A change I would make would be to delay Voldemort's takeover and Snape's tenure as Headmaster by maybe 4 months, so that Harry and co. go to start their final year at Hogwarts but are driven out or flee during a defeat. After that, they could commence their guerrilla warfare camping adventure as they attempt to finish what they started at Hogwarts. It would give it a lot more continuity, in my opinion.

 

After Trelawney's second true prophecy at the end of book 3, at which time he knows Voldemort's return to power is imminent, Dumbledore realizes that his hopes of Harry's having a normal childhood are folly and he opts to train him properly. I even wrote a story based on this, though it remains a (to me) surprisingly infrequently used jump-off point for fanfiction.

You can't put stock in her first prophecy without the second. And the second leaves Dumbledore's subsequent inaction inexcusable.

 

It's a fairly minor issue, but I would change Hermione's response and attitude to Harry using Snape's notes to be better in Potions in sixth year. Her being pissed that Harry is getting an easy ride is fine, but I think she'd want to take efforts to actually understand why these alterations result in better potions instead of just dismissing it as being... dangerous? I can't really remember exactly what her reasoning was. I just think her natural curiosity and desire to learn would win out over her adherence to the rules, especially in sixth year. She's already recognised that the Wizarding World is majorly backwards in many ways, I don't see why she wouldn't consider the possibility that the Wizarding World is also extremely slow to adapt and recognise academic progress.

 

Hi, a bit divergent on the things listed so far but some dates. Just remove 'since 382BC' from Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382BC. It always struck me as strange/ off. More recently though while dreaming/world bulding I just can't for the life of me make it work in my mind.

(pre post edit - wow really went off there -TL;DR Merlin being a Hogwarts alumnus is also problematic)

Does that mean a shop named 'Ollivanders' was founded, never being renamed, and the Ollivander name never dying out? Even ignoring further Pottermore stuff like him coming over with the Romans (I am no historian but I am pretty sure that wasn't a few centuries BC) I still have issues. Granted we aren't given much info but I always felt that to trace your blood/ancestry back to the founders was a feat in itself. None of the founders from 'only' 900AD(ish) have heirs bearing their last name. Malfoys/Lestranges would come with the Normans or later I imagine, the 'Most Ancient' Blacks I can see going back that far or even further but add 1300 years to that for the 'Ollivanders' and combine an unbroken line of family trade (even if the name changed) and I have my doubts.

Besides I always thought that times were turbulent and founding Hogwarts was a great step in unity and stopping conflict (and history/records is sketchy even to wizards before then). Which leads me into the next point...

Merlin. Even if this isn't in the books. Is a Slytherin and was a member of King Arthurs court. So now I have to figure out how Merlin (who I figured was already legendary pre history figure by around 1000AD) was taking classes like every one else. More than that being member of a Kingdom/court, that somehow wasn't recorded/alluded to, and which ruled beside William the Conqueror or equally factual pre-Norman British Kings/nobles (all pre statute of secrecy).

Not easy to try and remain canon compliant. Then I find it a slippery slide of what to keep/accept and what to throw out/ignore (why is it any less legitimate than the new pottermore update which had some interesting stuff).