Thanks to a post in the Harry/Fleur thread, I read Defender of Beaxbatons which unfortunately seems to have been abandoned by now.

There seemed to be some pretty good ideas in there, and thus I put forth a challenge for a Harry/Fleur fic (or series of fics) that doesn't involve making Fleur younger of Harry older.

Rules (My thoughts and suggestions are in italics below the points, but don't have to be used.)

- NOT a one-shot.

- Something traumatic should happen upon Harry's 8th Birthday
Due to a violent encounter with the Dursleys?

- The above event is so scary for Harry that it causes Harry's magic to transport him to France, with the end result being that he gets to Madam Maxime - though not transported straight to her from England.

- Madame Maxime explains to Harry that he is a wizard etc. and makes the decision to allow Harry to attend Beauxbatons starting that September (the same year that Fleur Delacour is to start of course)
I'd suggest that the earliest he meets Fleur would be at the same time as the other 1st Years. Maybe the reason for the decision could be because Madame Maxime knows of the prophecy somehow, or maybe it's just because of something totally different.

- Beauxbatons is an all-girls school - with the obvious exception of Harry now, who gets his own room.
I'd suggest that the school is not split into houses like Hogwarts.

- Secrecy Oath - nobody is able to tell anyone from outside the school that Harry is attending.
Perhaps there will be a rumour with outsiders of a male student attending, but will usually get dismissed as rubbish or denied by Beauxbatons staff / Madam Maxime.

- Dumbledore is unaware of Harry's absence from the Dursleys until what would be his 1st Year at Hogwarts.
Maybe any detection wards he has on Harry's location is actually tied to Petunia on the assumption that she would have kept him there as per the letter left with Harry upon his placement at Privet Drive.

- Harry's whereabouts and identity shouldn't be known by anyone outside of Beauxbatons (especially not Dumbledore) until their visit to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament.
If the rumour suggestion was to be used, perhaps it could be confirmed in a way similar to in Defender of Beauxbatons, though not without prior warning to anyone. Whether or not the rumour suggestion is used or not, I'd still expect shock of a male student, but hope that the actual identity of the male student didn't come out straight away - though perhaps at this point Dumbledore may discover it, but not anyone else.

- Harry/Fleur - obviously there needs to be a relationship between Harry and Fleur.
Though I wouldn't really expect the relationship to be before Harry & Fleur's 6th year at the earliest, but I'd most likely expect them to be together by the time Beauxbatons visits Hogwarts for the tournament

Other Thoughts/Suggestions (also don't have to be used, but I'm rather partial to them)

As I said, there were some pretty good ideas is Defender of Beauxbatons, so I do like the idea of a sudden oath (without Harry realising how binding it is until Fleur points it out) to protect Fleur like in the flashback.

If the above suggestion (Harry's oath to Fleur) was to be used, how about Fleur's being chosen by the Goblet to represent Beauxbatons forces Harry to compete together as her partner?

Just to clarify, his oath to Fleur means that the Goblet contract includes him (something nobody would have known/expected) when it chooses her - so although she only puts her name in, when it spits out her as the pick, it says 'Fleur Delacour and Harry Potter' and they get to work together in their tasks (so only have one dragon to face together, not a dragon each etc.).

EDIT: After a quick lurk in IRC, it seems that this will turn out to be a major fuck up of an idea for me to post. Nevertheless, if it is then I can learn from it so I'm ready for my bitch slapping.

EDIT2: Yep, I'm learning - and obviously this challenge is cancelled.

 

Thanks for the feedback Sesc - I guess the reason I immediately put 'NOT a one-shot' was the thought that most one-shots just seem to be way too short, and I assumed that there's a few things that could be done with this.

It is probably obvious that I'm no writer (and if I did attempt to, it would turn out horribly).

It might be at the most that it should've just been posted in the Harry/Fleur community as a plot bunny (or elsewhere depending upon if it's too fanboy/girl-ish).

 

NOT a one-shot.

'cause longer is always better.

Something traumatic should happen upon Harry's 8th Birthday

Ooh, teh angst!

The above event is so scary for Harry that it causes Harry's magic to transport him to France, with the end result being that he gets to Madam Maxime - though not transported straight to her from England.

Because naturally, she'd

Madame Maxime explains to Harry that he is a wizard etc. and makes the decision to allow Harry to attend Beauxbatons starting that September (the same year that Fleur Delacour is to start of course)

Right. Makes perfect sense

Beauxbatons is an all-girls school - with the obvious exception of Harry now, who gets his own room.

Of course. You can't give Harry a proper harem unless he's at an all-girls boarding school.

Secrecy Oath - nobody is able to tell anyone from outside the school that Harry is attending.

Wha...

Dumbledore is unaware of Harry's absence from the Dursleys until what would be his 1st Year at Hogwarts.

The rest is just massive facepalm.

In conclusion:

 

Fair enough.

As I said, I'm not a writer but your responses make it clear to me that my imagination fails (and steals from fanboy/girl cliches) and I didn't think logically - at this point in time anyway.

I guess the main reason I posted the 'challenge' was because I thought that there should be more Harry/Fleur stories and hoped that my imagination was good enough to provide a few ideas.

 

I think it could work if instead of Beauxbatons, he teleports to the TNG Enterprise, where Deanna Troi adopts child!Harry. Fleur becomes a holodeck construct that Harry falls in love with, but she perishes in an unfortunate episode where Wesley directs a neutrino field through the Enterprise to defeat an alien AI that had taken over control of the ship. Obligatory heartbreak ensues. Harry's brief brush with Beauxbatons is short-lived, but not his memories of his one-time love. This psychic resonance, the seeds of which are planted early, is key for what ensues. (Foreshadowing: it's what's for dinner).

Harry's destiny is revealed in an episode where Piccard is captured on the edge of the galaxy by R, an omnipotence similar to Q, but needing more dental work. Harry teams up with Wesley to save the day, but Wesley buys it in an unfortunate disrupter incident with a Romulan invasion squad working with R. More heartache ensues as his best friend's body is loaded into a pod and fired into a protoplanet. The writers are threatened with donkey punches if they do a Spock "back to life" thing.

Timeskip.

Cue Picard and Harry chatting in the ready room, where Harry wrestles with doubts and his destiny. Picard reminds him of his obligations as a junior Star Fleet Cadet. The needs of the many outweigh those of the few, or the one, so Harry is sent back to his own time. It's revealed that for several years, Worf has been teaching him self defense, Troi, the mind arts, Number 1, how to play trombone, and Data, magic. (Data, while not able to use magic himself, finds the subject fascinating and delves into it with machine-like efficiency). Harry has obtained a wand with a core of unobtainium and he's learns his first six years of Hogwarts spellcraft (again, the holodeck proving useful) and become an animagus--his form is Spot the cat.

The animagus form doesn't actually play a role in the story, but it's obligatory to include one whenever possible.

Harry returns to Earth, beaming to the Great Hall in the middle of his sorting in fourth year. However, he is three years older than his canon self, so it's really seventh year for him. Dumbledore "hmms" and "dear boy"s a few times and Snape is Snape. Harry is sorted for his last year of classes; in the process, he senses great hostility in the Hat (thanks, mama-Troi!).

Beuxbatons and Durmstrung arrive and the tournament is held. Harry and Fleur are both seventh years. Harry wields a phaser against the dragon. Fleur falls for his roguish charm at the Ball. He vows to protect her always, and she, him. Through a miracle of magic, they develop a Soul Bond and have lots of anal sex (a fixture in all my Soul Bond stories, as some of you know).

The rest, as they say, is history.

Oops. Did I hijack a thread again?

 

Very much so.

 

/me too.

Even the summary contains more plot than most fics I've seen lately.

 

lol, Perspicacity is so awesome.

I do like Sesc's idea though-That of the previous British government eventually being ousted and escaping to the protection of the French. It's not something I've ever seen, and it's a logical transition to Harry/Fleur.

 

Your plot ideas are good, but if he implements them they will totally change what he was proposing. The easiest way to get him to France is via Dursley's (job promotion or something.) If you really want to get rid of them -and have some angst, as you hinted- you could have them feeling safe enough from Dumbledore to just send Harry to the orphanage. Just an idea, but it does seem to conform more to the challenge. Non-challenge related - someone should do it.

 

This fairly begs for some tittering fangirl to try to hijack the AU and write it as a Harry/Wesley slashfic aka pukefest.

Jesus, Pers, your imagination is on a whole different wavelength than mine. Then again, I was never that big a Star Trek fan.

And by the way, when the girl is a Veela who can become a fireball-throwing bird, you wait for HER to start the anal sex conversation...

 

And that's a bad thing, how? :banana:

 

Now that I have seen more examples of what a proper plot is like (incidentally Perspicacity - although I don't like Star Trek, I'd definitely read that), it shows that pretty much the whole 'challenge' I was proposing was terrible and that I should leave it to the ones who actually have experience with this (as such, consider the challenge cancelled if it wasn't already obvious).

Anyway, thanks for the replies everyone - I appreciate all the feedback and will make sure to pay more attention to the way things work around here

 

Your memory is correct, but I liked the idea of it being one - though it obviously wasn't well thought out.

 

I like the idea of Beauxbatons being an all-girl school.

Not for the harem, but because it begins the slippery slope towards there simply not being any french wizards with an ability to properly use a... wand.

Leading, of course, to a magical variant of the age old classic:

French ships are like french witches; Well made, hopelessly manned.

With regards to the OP: If you want it written, your're your own best bet. Very few (read: nobody) people are going to spend significant time and effort writing a story that isn't theirs. Hell, most people have enough trouble writing their own works as is. Come up with a plot, let people here hash it out if you're not comfortable with it, and then give writing a go. Gotta start somewhere and all that.

 

A fair point Vlad. As I said over in my introduction thread, I don't think I really have the imagination or attention span to be a writer, and much prefer just reading.

Maybe I will make an attempt at writing in future, but if I do, I doubt it'll be any time soon (and probably not with what I 'challenged' above).