Hello everybody, my name is AWP and I'm attempting to write a werewolf-themed fic with Harry (natch) as the protagonist and Fenrir Greyback as the antagonist. While I've written some notes for the first chapter, I really would like some input on some of the biggest screw-ups one can make with this sort of story. It isn't a SLASH nor a ship, but it will be Mature-rated story with an emphasis on fleshing out the nitty gritty details of what it truly would be like to be a werewolf in Magical Britain.

I have some plans for Lupin (you can't really expect me to cut the only other cannon were out of the story) but they won't really come into fruition until the 3rd year in the plot. Yes, that means I'm also attempting to do the whole "7 year rewrite" trope.

Please help a new writer stear away from the numerous traps and create something worth reading...

 

Well, the important thing for you to consider is how did Harry become a werewolf? Presumably Greyback bit him at some point, but you have to ensure there is a realistic way for that to happen. Nothing about the Dursley's abandoning him in a forest because they 'forgot' about him.

After you decide that, how do the Dursley's react to him being a werewolf. Presumably, he's going to be infected before going to Hogwarts. How do the Dursley's cope? Do they send for Dumbledore somehow? Or do they manage to keep it a secret...somehow?

When he gets to Hogwarts, who knows? How do they find out? Is Harry any good at keeping secrets?

How does it change his relationships with the other characters?

As for re-writing the 7 years. Don't just copy the books and add in bits here and there. Thats boring and unoriginal. Don't spend too much time on the bits you aren't really changing, don't worry about making each year as long as the book it is based on. Just get through the first few years to establish Harry's character and the context of the fic, letting you get to a point where you have a protagonist we understand, but who's at an age we can sympathise better with than 11.

 

I think the most important thing here is to not make Harry a werewolf.

That's where I would start.

 

Make sure to base Harry's character off of Jacob from Twilight. This one simple detail will really improve your story on the whole.

 

Well, as there are like four or five readable fics that have Harry as a werewolf, there certainly is some kind of niche, but then again, there's not much to offer what I haven't used myself.

In any case, seven years is a huge undertaking to write, so you'll most probably won't finish it. Myself, I'm aiming for two(maybe three) years and I have a third already written, and that looks like a big bite already even if I'm somehow managing it so far.

Post it on WbA and people will poke and prod at it. I'll probably look into it too, because of the personal interest in the field (I do have a fic in the works.).

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Funnily enough, there are some interesting mechanics about werewolves in that heresy filled tome. Still, that's buried very deep in shit.
I still have nightmares and scars.

 

Well, in my notes I have two major ideas, one of which I've fleshed out entirely: Greyback nabs one year-old Harry in the aftermath of Voldemort's assassination of the Potter family.

It starts off like this... A month before the Godric's Hollow attack (in September of 1981), the Dark Lord is troubled by reports of animosity from Greyback and his clan of werwolves towards his Death Eaters; Greyback wants more recognition and respect from the pure-blood wizards. Seeing a potential disaster in the making, Voldemort architects the robbery of Dunsink Observatory in Dublin, which houses one of the "Goodwill moon rocks" from the Apollo 17 mission of 1972.
(To those across the pond who are aware of the story, I'm fudging the timeline from the original theft in '77 and the mysterious fire that occurred that very same night. To those that aren't familiar with it, moon-rocks and werewolves should give you enough info to see where this is going...)

Voldemort is successful in the theft and now has enormous leverage over Greyback, who desperately wants the power that he assumes will make his pack invincible; unlimited transformations regardless of the moon phases. The Dark Lord promises to give one of the rocks to Greyback (and Greyback only; his request) in return for his everlasting alliegence. Then he learn of the prophecy and so on goes the cannon.

However, Voldemort's assault on Godric's Hollow includes Greyback and a few members of his "kin." The hook is that the werewolves are contracted to be a massive diversion to draw away the Muggle (and Magical) law enforcement that would follow the attack. And they would get paid with as many children as Greyback and co. could infect.

Voldemort fails his attack (obviously) and Greyback kidnaps Harry along with the other children of the village, leaving bodies in his wake. Aurors and Obliviators arrive onscene along with a very perplexed Hagrid who doesn't know what to say to Dumbledore.

The rest of the chapter, I'm still working on. But how is that for a opening chapter plot?

 

... And the other one?

 

What does Remus have to do with large calibre weaponry?

You meant "steer" and "canon". If you want to create something worth reading, then basic spelling is one of the problem areas which you need to tackle.

As amusing as that response is, I've never read a fic with Harry as a werewolf. I've read two fics where Harry is almost a were-creature [has a spiritual connection to a were-pack] but does not actually transform. One was a lengthy crossover with Anita Blake, Inevitable by mhalachai. The other is Prince of the Dark Kingdom, a HP fic where Voldemort won the first war.

The Anita Blake crossover follows AB rules for werewolves, and I don't know how closely Prince follows HP werewolf canon, but if you're going to write this fic then those two are good places to start researching what works and what doesn't.

 

The aforementioned idea was the "fleshed out" plot. The other idea I had involved a Werewolf: The Forsaken sort of story in which Harry transforms at age 8. The Forsaken-style werewolves are not MADE, they are BORN, having inherited a bloodline that dates back to an Age when the spiritual (magical) world and the physical world existed in the same space. However, trying to delve into the mythology of that 'verse felt too huge to be explained with any respect to its creators and felt too much like a cross-over.

Also, I'm trying to be as faithful to the source material (HP cannon) as possible. In my stories, I try to limit what I call "goofy shit," plot elements that deviate just enough to threaten the willing sense of disbelief of the reader; HP already has magic and that is "goofy" enough on its own merits. Any more than one, perhaps two, but no more than three, elements of goofy shit and the story will fail... or become a Super!Harry fic.

And that's not what I want.

 

Damn you for giving me a small, false hope. Still you shattered most of it before even writing the first chapter, so maybe that's ok.


First off, how does the moon rock translate into the werewolf's transformation?
And Magic isn't an answer, if you are planning to say that.

If you think you have a good answer to the first question - why would it work for Harry Potter world?


By the way, do you know that one can easily make an argument that the full moon is more of a sign than a trigger?
How does a moon rock factor in to that?
Why the fuck do you even need something as ridiculous as moon rocks?

The only crazy artificial change induction mechanism that I have seen executed at least decently were Paul Anderson's "Operation Chaos" that has a "moonlight flashlight" but there's a whole bunch of magitech there and it fits to the setting.

How would a wizard, or a werewolf even see the difference between a moon rock and a normal rock?


Secondly, if your Greyback wants more recognition and respect from the pure-blood wizards.... Why the fuck would he ally with Voldemort who holds him as a pet dog and not an equal to the other branded cattle-purebloods?


Not mentioning the fact that Fenrir stealing a year old Harry not only makes his pedophile tendencies even more creepy (Wait, you are basing at least one werewolf on Jacob.), but reeks of the badly written "Voldemort mentors Harry stuff."

Also, Greyback usually left children for whatever they become now and probably was getting off imagining their transformations with zero knowledge about werewolves.

Do post the chapter in the WbA, though. I'm interested to see if it will be that bad.

 

My fault on the spelling, lol. But I'm not trying to make a crossover fic. I've read "Prince of the Dark Kingdom" up to its second book and so far, I like it! I'll check out the other story.

So any comments on the plot outlined above? The first one, not the latter?

 

If I was to write a werewolf!Harry, I would just make Remus Lupin the person who bites Harry during third year. From there, you would be able to skip the first three books (with exceptions, o'course) and Harry's grown up enough that he could easily hide it from the Dursleys and even the rest of the school, including his friends. Harry becoming a little darker as a result of it, and then having some other type of run in with A) a werewolf colony or camp; or B) the Death Eaters and Greyback, could send him over the edge.

In fact, I like the thought of Harry, unable to control himself, rushing away from Hogwarts just in time to turn into a mindless beast, cruelly destroying anything in his path. I also like him accepting his fate without a ton of fuss, though its certainly okay for, say, Hermione to fuss over it.

Things I'd like to see (and I'm just spit-balling here for your benefit, AWP):

1. Just barely gets bitten rather than completely mauled.
2. Scenes with more than one (or two, or three) werewolves congregating.
3. Harry hiding his affliction from more than one person in his life.
4. At length, the rest of the school finds out about his disease, and then a progressive deterioration of everyone's opinion on Harry, virtually across the board.
5. Harry actually making an attempt to change anti-Werewolf laws and propaganda and yet completely unable to sway anyone to his cause.
6. Some type of romantic relationship. I noticed you said there wouldn't be one, but it would be an interesting dynamic if the potential love interest was afraid of him as well.
7. Realistic character changes in Harry and crew as a result of being a werewolf.

...

And some kick ass fight scenes.

 

I remember one. It was a Harry raised by McGonagall fic, as well as having Harry as a werewolf. I remember it was quite boring.

 

Point 1: How does the moon rock translate into the werewolf's transformation?

Answer 1: J.K.R., in my opinion, butchered the concept of werewolves. True, she got the base elements down (full moon, transformation, infection by bite or claws) but she was going for a magical analogy for AIDS and the trials of those inflicted with it.

To the point, the moon rock is but a fragment of the planetoid that circles the Earth; its been there long before humanity evolved (or was created). Yes, it is no different than any other rock found on Earth... except that it wasn't FOUND on Earth. It is different because of the importance our species places upon it; it came from a world vastly different from our own, one very far away, and one that we spent a lot of time gazing up at with wonder. Time plus energy (or effort in trying to obtain it) plus human psychological (and in HP canon, mythological) importance... That gives it power.

Magic.

Point 2: Why would it work for Harry Potter world?

Answer: Because of the human need for ritual. In HP canon, we have numerous examples of this at work. Voldemort's horcruxes and subsequent resurrection; the symbolism of Voldemort's and Harry's wand cores and the Finite Incantatum they invoke when confronting one another; the blood magic of Lily Potter upon her death; the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Tournament; the Deathly Hallows, specifically the nature of the Elder Wand; etc. All of these are explanations for the various oddities in the HP universe, the strange happenings that baffle even the oldest of wizards. It stands to reason that a species (and at this point, yes, I'm counting the lycanthrope-infected as seperate from humans; the Ministry of Magic does so, too) that places even more importance upon the moon and its phases can have a special magic all on their own. One that can be tapped with the rarest of foci.

Point 3: Do you know that one can easily make an argument that the full moon is more of a sign than a trigger? How does a moon rock factor in to that? Why the fuck do you even need something as ridiculous as moon rocks?

Answer 3: See Answer 2 for those explanations. But answer me this, why do wizards need wands for their magic? It has already been established that they can produce supernatural effects wandlessly; true, it is raw and unfocused but still applicable. Why couldn't they learn to focus better and harness that advantage should they get disarmed? And why wands?

Point 4: If your Greyback wants more recognition and respect from the pure-blood wizards.... Why the fuck would he ally with Voldemort who holds him as a pet dog and not an equal to the other branded cattle-purebloods?

Answer 4: A comparison needs to be mentioned between the goals my Greyback wants accomplished and the relationship between the "made-men" of the Italian Mafia and their "outsourced muscle." Basically, Greyback wants insurance that he and his own will survive the aftermath of the insurrection Voldemort is waging on the Ministry. So far as canon is concerned, werewolves fall somewhere in between the Beast and Being divisions of the DRCMC (the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures). And Dolores Ubridge is in office and making werewolves' lives nearly unbearable. Though Greyback does not follow the precepts of the Ministry (obviously), he does recognise the fact that anti-werewolf sentiment has been present for nearly 400 years.

There is also a group out there (one of my creation) that actively hunts and draws bounty from the werewolves it culls. Greyback and his pack need magical support from the next ruling faction (Voldemort and his ilk) in order survive.

 

I was going to suggest what Averis said.

It was a really close call in the third book that no one got bitten by Remus.

Also, while Remus only lost his job after the events in canon, if he had bitten Harry he would either have to be on the run or be arrested and Kissed, if not killed.

You can also work Remus's shame and regret and Harry being alternatively scared of him and missing him for drama.

Also, the political ramifications that Averis mentioned! Dumbledore would find out right away, because, well, he is Dumbledore, so, would he still agree to host the Triwizard Tournament at the risk of Harry's secret getting out?

Ron and Hermione would presumably find out right away because they were there, and so would Sirius and maybe Snape.

Snape would be furious if/when he found out Harry got bitten, too. I doubt he would stop hating him, but that would sure affect his mixed feelings about him being Lily's son. He might also be ordered to brew the Wolfsbane potion for Harry. How will this affect their antagonistic relationship? Will it make it worse? If so, how much worse?

Harry would definitely -largely with Hermione's help, if she's in the know, which is most likely- start researching wizarding law regarding werewolves.

The brush with death and the completely upturned life might scare him into taking things more seriously, such as study and personal relations.

There would definitely be a change in his outlook in life.

How will the rest of his House, Hogwarts and the wizarding world react when his secret comes out? Rita Skeeter would have field-day with the story, that's for sure.

How will this affect Voldemort's plans for his resurrection? Will the "wolf's mind" affect Harry's mental connection with Voldemort?

How will it affect the prophecy?

How will the Dursleys react when Harry comes back one Summer as a dark creature that becomes a monster every month?

If they manage to go against Dumbledore and kick him out / run for their lives, the blood protection on Privet Drive will fail. Will this affect Lily's protection on Harry himself?

What place will Dumbledore arrange for Harry to spend the full moon?

edit: Also, how will this affect Harry's magic and energy? Will he be exhausted and age prematurely like Remus? He might have to quit Quidditch.

edit2: Goodness gracious, I forgot -- perhaps more importantly; how would this change the time-turner part? Would Harry be in condition to travel in time with Hermione? Would he turn into a werewolf right away under the full moon, or does that only kick in until the next full moon of being bitten? How will he save Sirius and Buckbeak? Will he be able to at all? How will Peter Pettigrew escape, if he does at all? And what about Snape?

Possibilities, man, possibilities!

 

I see where you're going with this and, canon-wise, it is the simplest solution. It also makes the most sense as it very well could have happened had Sirius been just a touch late with his Animagus transformation.

However, I really want to see a Proud Werewolf!Harry Potter, one that has grown up with Greyback's lycanthrope superiority ideas/rhetoric. He'd be like a foil for Remus Lupin and it would been amusing as hell to write an apoplectic Snape, who'll realize that he can't be quite as vicious with what amounts to a time bomb in his Potions classroom. :awesome

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All very good points!

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What if, and I stress the word if, I were to have a love interest for Harry? Who would be best suited for him?

 

Thank you!

It really, really depends on what you do with Harry's characterization, and how you make the characters around him react.

I can see Luna being a good choice, with her ability to look beyond the first impression of things.

Hermione might bond with his plight and get to know him more closely.

Ginny might switch from her hero worship to a fascination with the darkness of Harry's condition.

Tonks might like Harry for whatever it is that she saw in Remus. (I don't have a good handle on Tonks's character, sorry.)

Like I said, it depends on how your characters develop and what opportunities arise in the path your story paves.

 

Woah, slow down a second. First off, if you don't feel a romantic interest fits your story, don't write it. A romantic side-plot should be a direct evolution of the interaction between two characters in your story, not because you intend to ship X and Y when you first start writing (a la Rowling).

Second, you don't really have many to choose from if you don't want an OC romance. Your only real options, for characters we know much about, are Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Tonks for fleshed out characters, followed by the effective blank slates of Parvati/Lavender/Cho etc.

So think about the characters, how they would inteeract if Harry were to be a werewolf, and decide whether or not you can believably write a romance with one of them into the story.

Shipping is the bane of many a fanfic and has ruined a great many. Do not fall into that trap.

 

Actually, the chemical composition of moon rocks is staggeringly different from rocks on earth. Moon rocks have virtually no minerals and you certainly won't find one with water in it's crystallization structure.

Also, there are certain trace minerals in moon rocks that are rarer on earth than naturally occurring red diamonds.

So, if you're really set on the 'moon rock causes transformation' idea (which I personally think is bit stupid), then perhaps you could explain it away by saying that it's a reaction to the trace minerals.

 

I'm gonna play with this idea for a while. I really don't want to fall in the trap of using Luna as the "back up chick" for Harry when Hermoine and Ginny don't cut it. Tonks either, though she holds some interesting possibilities considering the prejudices she must have faced (and for the most part, conquered) in school, being a metamorphmagus all.

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True. Very true.

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I was curious at what may come of it. I really don't like shipping as I've got a bad habit of getting caught up trying to explain the nuances of teenage relationships (yes, that was meant to be ironic) while forgetting the original plotline. Then I have to go back and re-edit again and again because it just seems wrong; a few days of that and I'm ready to scrap the whole damn story.

And no one likes that, lol.