He'll huff and he'll puff and he'll blow your house down! :awesome

 

This plot idea doesn't make much sense, as others have pointed out already. It comes down to the question why a psychopath like Voldemort would agree to anything but total victory.

But the thought of a divided wizarding Britain brought up something else in my mind, you could call it an exploitable canon plothole:

Why didn't Voldemort have an unplottable HQ in the first war?!

After all, there is a bunch of such canon locations, be it No. 10 Grimmauld Place or the Room of Requirement. If you try to overthrow a government and the social order it represents, you wouldn't normally do it from the kitchen of one of your followers. Voldemort has a rather vain personality, can you picture him hatching his plans in Lucius guest quarters or constantly on the run? Sounds like BS? Exactly.

Instead, imagine a young Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort, finessing himself into the will of some old pureblood witch or wizard, killing them of without the DMLE noticing anything untoward and taking over their estate. He could've hidden it with arcane black magic and used it as a secure base of operations. Even after his first "death", the HQ would've stayed hidden, awaiting his return. No creeping around in albanian forests for this AU Dark Lord, instead he would've returned to his lair immediately after pulling his soul together again. Using some Kreecher like house- elf and the resources of his haunt, he would've been able to regain a body much earlier and the war would've started up again pretty soon.

The butterflies would be enormous, throwing a 11 year old Harry Potter into a totaly different situation:

1) The pressure of Lord Voldemorts renewed terror campaign would be visible everywhere, it would be a dark and frightening world. Instead of sending a magical incompetent oaf like Hagrid to fetch Harry, Dumbledore would've done it himself, setting the tone henceforward.

2) The expectations of the whole wizarding society would bear down on Harry in a much more concrete way. No childhood for the boy who lived, but intense magical education/training from day one.

3) This scenario would also produce a situation where the lure of the dark arts could overwhelm Harry early on, simply because they offer the power to fight back.

What do you think?

 

IIRC, Voldemort stayed at Malfoy Manor to punish Lucius for his failure at the DoM; same reason he ordered Draco to off Dumbledore. I'm not sure where he was before the DoM fiasco, but he was more focused on his own goals than on attempting to find a house.

Actually...

 

Yeah, but that was after his death and resurrection. I was talking about the first war.

The DE are NOT comparable to muggle urban terrorists/revolutionaries, simply because they have magic. If you are unplottable, there is little need for conspirational apartments.

 

Unplottable just means you can't put it on a map - EVERYTHING is Unplottable. Doesn't mean it can't be raided by Aurors/the Ministry/Dumbledore.

Are you thinking Unplottable = Fidelius Charm?

 

Nah, Voldemort wouldn't use the Fidelius, he's not the trusting sort. I said this in my first post though:

You are incorrect when you state that "everything" is unplottable. If that would be the case, the term would be meaningless. What I had in mind is a combination of being unplottable and being secured by magic. Maybe dark arts blood wards depending on human sacrifice or something?

 

More a generic idea of magic = can't find the place.

Which exists, true - and I don't think there's anything to suggest that he didn't have one. I mean, the aurors and Order of the PHoenix and so on are al fighting back, but not making the first move, because they don't know where to attack - sometimes, not even who to.

That's why the war was so terrifying. The enemy could seem to be everyone and everywhere.

 

From the Harry Potter wiki, the following places are KNOWN to be Unplottable:

-Hogwarts
-Beauxbatons
-Durmstrang
-The Isle of Drear
-Forests in Burkina Faso (to preserve Runespoors)
-Queerditch Marsh
-Azkaban
-12 Grimmauld Place (BEFORE Fidelius and the Order of the Phoenix)

If the Black Family manor is Unplottable, it makes sense that it isn't an uncommon protection for ancient families. If it is also put on places of historical significance and used for environmental protection, it seems - to me, at least - that this is not at all an uncommon protection to encounter. According to JKR, the use of this spell is also how wizards protect themselves from being found (e.g. by owls); probably at least Voldemort and probably people like Slughorn while he was on the run used this.

So certainly, you can invent whatever dark and spooky rituals you want Voldemort to be protected under, and that's fine. I was just pointing out what being Unplottable, a canonical protection, means and how that particular protection is limited (but still valuable, imo).

But I would think it laughable that Voldemort wasn't, in canon, protected by all of these and more both pre-Harry and after he was resurrected. I would be surprised if any author didn't make Malfoy Manor (where Voldemort was hiding out for a time) at LEAST Unplottable.

 

As I said in my first posting, this is an

meaning that JKR never even mentioned it. Nonetheless, I have to disagree with your opinion- if Voldemort had such a secure HQ, the consequences for canon would be unavoidable. Why would he hide out in Riddle and later Malfoy Manor if he had a save place unknown to his enemies?

 

^ I agree with the above on that there isn't anything to suggest he didn't have those kind of protections in the first place.

@NoxedSalvation: Wouldn't your idea work better if the plot bunny was that the killing curse never rebounded on Voldemort and killed him in the first place? Maybe it just harmed him enough to drive him away until Harry could be relocated, etc.

Edit: damn, I got ninja'd by like a million people here

 

Or even, it failed to kill Harry, so Voldemort's followers lost faith in him, left him, etc.

He lost the fear of being this invulnerable badass when he was bested by a child, goes into hiding friendless until he can figure out what protected Harry? Maybe discovers the existence of the prophecy after the fact? His followers return to him at the end of the GoF year, when he succeeds in becoming immortal in a very witnessed ritual - including the capture of Potter (by his own hand, or maybe Wormtail's).

I'm not sure...it'd be a very weak Voldemort at best...but then, canon!Harry would probably be a decent match for him.

 

Point taken. Maybe my concept of a place being "unplottable" has been contaminated by fanon to a certain degree.

Hmm... isn't much of canon rather laughable if you look at the plotholes, contradictions and the general stupidity of most protagonists? Just think about how Voldemort "hid" his Horcruxes...

My point in the first posting was that it seems ooc for Voldemort to depend on his followers to offer him a save place. He claims the title of "Dark Lord" but hasn't even his own secure estate? *ROFL*

 

He did have a safe place. It was called 'Riddle Manor' and 'Malfoy Manor' - and did he get caught there? I think not.

It's not really a plothole if she didn't mention it at all.

Also I am goddamn slow at typing. I'm still trying to catch up.
Edit: Well, not typing. Just replying.

 

In his eyes, everywhere was secure, because nothing posed a genuine threat. And I think I remember seeing Rowling say in an interview somewhere that he wanted Hogwarts for that sort of purpose, after hed taken over; perhaps he'd put off finding a permanent place elsewhere because it would just have been a placeholder until Hogwarts.

And in any case, there's nothing at all to suggest that he doesn't have one.

 

On the surface, this idea has merrit. But it would wreck havoc with some canon elements I wouldn't want to abandon- the whole "Boy who lived" concept, including Harrys fame, wouldn't happen if Voldemort survived and was just driven away long enough for Hagrid to save Harry. The whole action at Godrics Hollow would be just a rather trivial attack in the ongoing war.

In addition to that, 10 more years of Voldemorts terror campaign seem a bit long- after all, wizarding Britain is a small community. I doubt it could withstand such a long war without social disintegration, the brake of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy or a win by the Dark Lord.

 

You talk as if he's stupid. If he was that stupid, I can't see him not being defeated by Dumbledore a whole lot sooner. Besides end of the Fifth book leads more credence to my point, he doesn't exactly lose the duel but he grabs bellatrix and runs.

Besides, the plot bunny was regarding an AU story, I can't see how it's lack of adherence to canon is such a big problem.

@NoxedSalvation: Exactly, at some point with no result, I see the wizarding world tiring of the war and agreeing to a settlement.

 

Why would this make much difference? In a traditional landgrab expansion war, yes, this would be valid, but Voldemort isn't after land. He doesn't give a damn about much beyone his own personal power and magic. No matter what settlements are offered, he'll say no, because he thinks he can take the whole thing.

If he can't take it all?

Well, he'll just destroy a hefty chunk of it until it's small enough that he can take it over, and force his ideals onto it.

 

I was talking about the first war. Would someone like Voldemort hang around his followers estates as a guest?

Sure it is. We know he had to stay somewhere, we know the methods wizards use to secure their houses- therfore Voldemort should have a secret and secure HQ.

Dumbledore?

How do you garner a following of mostly rich pureblood fanatics and get them to call you "Lord" if you haven't even your own manor? How do you live with a situation where you are supposed to be the big bad warleader, living in the guest quarters of your followers? Doesn't compute for me, although your argument is worth a thought.

Why use Riddle manor then? Doesn't compute.

 

Dumbledore could oppose Voldemort, but didn't exactly go out hunting him with night-vision goggles and a sniper scope strapped to the Elder Wand. He was powerful enough to pose a danger, but didn't have the conviction to be one, not like Voldemort was to the rest of the world. Dumbledore, despite the manipulative bastard that fandom often portrays him as, is still the cliche good guy.

Making rich and powerful people cater to his whims as he used their resources as if he owned them would be a pretty potent way of giving them an impression of his superiority.

 

Voldemort in canon isn't stupid as much as he's irrational, extremely arrogant, untrusting. He's also very talented as a wizard, and going by the followers he attracts, a good speaker or charismatic leader.

Though the horcruxes may have contributed to his insanity/emotional swings in canon, saying that he was normal before seems kinda out of place. He tortures little kids, kills animals, and kills a teen girl, all the while being a teen himself. While he might have been more logical and careful, he's definitely not mentally healthy before making horcruxes.



Also, why does Voldemort need an HQ? He's got a ton whenever he needs(his homes of his followers). In canon, none of the places that he stays at are ever discovered or broken into. Therefore they're secure. JKR doesn't need to tell us that the home were protected;By virtue of them not being attacked in their HQ, they're secure.

In canon, Voldemort is respected because some bigoted pure-bloods think he's got good ideas, he's an amazing wizard, and he's probably convincing.
He doesn't need a house or manor because as an extremely skilled wizard, he could just take one of theirs'.

Of course, if you make this fic AU, everything I said is useless, so ... yeah...