Subject: Harry goes to another Wizarding school

Challenge: The fanfiction world is polluted by fics that change so much about Harry's past, but never actually change the flow of the storyline. It is a hurdle that I have never successfully jumped over and I want to see other people do this successfully before I attempt it. I'm not big on taking risks.

Summary: Write a story where Harry starts his first year at a different school and doesn't go to Hogwarts. How would Harry grow without Dumbledore watching his every move and manipulating from the shadows. Who would he befriend without all the other people he knew from Hogwarts. In short, take this fantastic character that JK wrote and put him somewhare else.

Also, you can't change Harry without changing where he would have been. How will Hogwarts change with the abscence of Harry?

Would Voldemort successfully take the stone in Harry's first year?

Would Ginny Weasley die to the Diary in Harry's second year?

It seems to me that even some of the AU fics are looking like cookies squeezed out of a tube, each one only slightly different from the last. Change the story. Rebuild it and make it bigger, stronger and faster than ever before.

Rules:
* Harry doesn't attend Hogwarts.
* He doesn't have the same friends and know the same people as he does in Canon
* Harry learns magic someplace else.
* You can bring in old characters, but try and keep that number to a minimum.
* This new school must have a different "House Point" system than Hogwarts. Maybe there aren't any houses, and instead people earn merits and demerits based on individual work. Maybe students are divided up into squads of ten and there are hundreds of squads competing to be the best. Be creative. You don't want to create this brand new school and make it just another version of Hogwarts someplace else.
*Introduce at least one new class that wasn't covered in canon.

The closest example of this I have seen is "Wit of the Raven" by japanese-jew. While he didn't send Harry to a new school, he did make Hogwarts an entirely different place. If you haven't read it, I highly reccomend that you do. It is very well written so far.

Happy writing.

 

If you want to read a fic like that, read Anarkia by Naia. Good fic, although I dislike it for a reason unknown even to me.

(or at least that's the only fic that's good that fits this challenge)

Personally, I think that this challenge isn't so original. It's like saying Harry wasn't raised by the Dursleys or that he went to Slytherin. Everybody writes about that. Few succeed.

Also the main problem with this challenge is that it is very demanding. A writer would have to invent a completely new storyline, and this is beyond the ability of nearly everybody, which is why most stories featuring this type of challenge either are abandoned or fall apart by sticking too closely to canon.

I think that you should outline the storyline. That'd make the challenge interesting and much easier.

 

We would never want you to force yourself to take risks. Heaven forbid you write something original; no we would much rather have you steal other peoples ideas clump em together into one great plot and write it yourself!

Ummm, if we are taking stuff from the books, what actual manipulations are there that Dumbledore has done?

I fail to see why not? I mean, you said so yourself, Harry isn't going there. What does it really matter? If Harry is going to go to another school, country/whatever to live in, what is the point? Chances are he is not going to learn about his background without Dumbledore and the others, thus Voldemort isn't going to be a key part of his life even if he does come back.

I mean honestly, what is Dumbledore going to do? Show up one day out of the blue, kindly ask Harry's professor for a private moment and reveal to him the shock of his destiny. Then kindly ask for Harry Potter (A kid he knows nothing about) to come back and save Britain from a maniac Dark Lord who has done nothing to Harry apart from killing his parents. (This is of course only if you make Harry know it was Voldemort that killed his parents and such. Ignore this, and Harry really has no point.)

As my points above go, if he is not going to Hogwarts, who really cares?

Yes that is a good deal what they are, and your response about you being unwilling (Unable I assume) to come up with something makes it better. No you would much rather have someone else take a crack at it, then borrow ideas and what not from that and do your own.

Yes! Just like you would, only....you aren't now are you?

Rules:

Fair enough

Imagine that, he doesn't go to Hogwarts so he doesn't have the same friends. Simply amazing deduction.

Well I would certainly hope so, after all if he isn't going to Hogwarts, well he could use an education. This isn't just something you got to Wal-Mart and buy nowadays. (Or has that changed? Are you guys not telling me something!?)

You are sooooo generous. You allow us to bring in characters that Harry doesn't even know or care about! My dreams have been made real once more.

Oh...now your just being picky!

What like Sex Aid 101?
Teacher: Now insert the wand slowly and precise, we don't want any accidents here.


Thanks for the wonderful idea though. And a happy writing to you too!

-Void

 

Ouch. Feel the burn.

Probably not the best challenge I've ever seen... but that said, it would be interesting to see a story where Harry goes to an existing school (for example: Durmstrang) and his life is shaped by Karkaroff. If you think Manipulative!Dumbledore is bad, try a former Death Eater who's only concern is for himself and his own power and glory. Or Madame Maxime - although I'm sure a story about Harry going to Beauxbatons would look like this: "O fleeur, Im mail veelar, doo me 4playy, thn they had sexx..."

According to the rules of this challenge Harry'd have no contact with Hogwarts - though that was pretty much obvious once you decided to have him go to another school - which would make for a breath of fresh air. Seriously, if I have to read one more story about how much Harry has given Neville the ambition to be something I'm going to... do... uh, something. Yeah.

Most writers would make Durmstrang more of a Military school, teaching kids Avada Kedavra 101... but the kids are young when they start.

But, a simple reason for the kid to be at Durmstrang: Durmstrang student's start a year earlier. Why the fuck not. If Dumbledore doesn't know he's been accepted until AFTER he's been accepted, AND his acceptance is a "binding magical contract" the kid has to go.

And really, if you were abused and neglected all your life, somebody trying to take advantage of you saying that you HAVE to come to Hogwarts would really piss in your bowl of cornflakes.

I always thought the classes should be different--like maybe you have to take all of the base courses your first three years... but after that you can drop needless courses like Divination or Muggle Studies and if you are near the top of your classes you could pick up Advanced Transfiguration or Charms. Just a thought.

A quiet sarcastic loner Harry? A smooth eloquent powerful Harry? Who cares, as long as it isn't Canon Harry with his three pubic hairs and emotional issues.

Yeah.

EDIT: Another thing about classes at Hogwarts - What the fuck is the point of exams? No matter how shitty you do - unless you fail out I suppose - it doesn't reflect on you at all until OWLS and NEWTS. Going along with what I said about Advanced Transfiguration and Charms, maybe if you do well in classes you get an incentive to learn more powerful magic, and leave your mediocre classmates behind. By the time you grow into an of age wizard you've already mastered silent casting and you're working on wandless casting or spell-chains. I mean, if Harry was going to get the same classes as everyone else no matter what he did, Harry would be slacking off most of the year, only learning things important to him. If he knew I was going to be learning something that could protect him and aid him when those bastard Dursleys come around...

 

Void, you seriously need to take a mydol. Maybe a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a comfy couch. It's true I'm not the greatest of writers. In fact, my most recent fic is already on the "Awesomely bad" fanfic list here. I operate within my meager capabilities and I do the best that I can. I doubt I have the ability to create an original fic at this point. Perhaps I am doomed to eternal mediocrity.

What I was trying to do is find a fic I want to read. If you have a problem with that, then it just sucks to be you (though I suspect it does anyway). Go back to your miserable little hole where you can spend time with your winning personality.