I for one welcome our old Polish Plot Bunny Overload.

Except when he gives me ideas that don't leave me alone for a few days.

And I'm guessing the idea is different from the usual HP/Avenger pattern? (Damn, I'll probably have to go and reread Wand and Shield.)

 

Aveyond, not Avenger

 

So throw down a plot bunny that's better than his and kick him in the proverbial nutsack.

He spawned a decent story out of me so I have nothing to complain about.

 

Just taking the time to think about and develop plots or the seeds of them is a form of practice, and it's not like he's forbidding their use. If anyone ever came in here looking for an idea, they'd find more than they needed (which is fucking awesome), and one of his might well be the inspiration for your next favorite.

And what's wrong with that? Think of our Australian Bunny problem as a community resource, lol.

 

I am not saying anything bad. I do like him.

 

While I'm still working on the Aveyond crossover, here's something else in the meantime.

It is also kind of a challenge for those reading. Try to guess correctly what is the POD for this AU.

It might not be as easy as you think.

--
From Harry's Point of View, everything is just like in canon until the trip to Diagon Alley.

One of the first changes caused by the POD is that Harry does not encounter Draco in Diagon Alley, the Malfoys simply choose a different day for shopping.

Harry and Hagrid buy the required stuff, nothing unusual happens (that didn't happen in canon anyway) and Harry goes back to the Dursleys, waiting for September 1st.

Finally, the day arrives and Harry goes to King's Cross. On the muggle side, he sees Neville Longbottom speaking with his grandmother. It appears that someone, or something, has killed Neville's toad, Trevor. When the two mention "Hogwarts", Harry goes to them and asks how to enter Platform 9&3/4. Augusta of course recognizes Potter and nudges Neville to sit with Harry. All of them enter the magical platform and the two boys get on the train, while Augusta apparates away.

Harry asks Neville how did she disappear like that and Neville explains Apparation as well as other modes of magical transportation, that is the Floo, Portkeys and the Brooms. Of course, bringing up brooms leads into a discussion about Quidditch. Neville is shy and quiet at first, but eventually opens up to Harry and the two spend the train ride quite nicely. When the lady with the sweets arrives, Harry doesn't get Dumbledore from the chocolate frog card. Instead, he gets Newt Scamander.

Neither Hermione nor Ron appear during the ride, but Draco Malfoy arrives eventually, with Theodore Nott. Crabbe or Goyle are nowhere to be seen.

Draco actually acts quite friendly and refrains from mentioning words like 'mudblood' or other things that would have driven Harry away. He even acts warmly towards Longbottom, mentioning that Neville is from a very old and known family and that his parents were known to be very good Aurors.

Nott remains silent through the whole thing, except when directly spoken to. Even then his replies are short, to the point and really generic.

Malfoy and Nott don't stay for long, as they have to go change into their Hogwarts robes when the train begins approaching the school. Harry thinks they're okay, but Neville warns him that Malfoy's father was suspected of being one of Voldemort's followers. Harry is surprised by this, but decides to judge Draco through his actions and not his parents.

When they finally arrive at Hogwarts, Harry and Neville enter one of the boats with Parvati Patil, who just had an argument with Padma. She introduces herself and is quite predictably awed by Harry's scar.

In the castle, Harry hears Hermione talking about something from 'Hogwarts: a History', but doesn't really pay attention to it. Eventually they enter the Great Hall and are sorted.

All sortings are like in canon, Harry goes to Gryffindor etc. However, the Hat takes a long time during Nott's turn. This is not considered out of the ordinary, but some students complain.

At the Gryffindor table, Ron asks to see Harry's scar and Harry, still being in a good mood thanks to all the magic and sorting, showcases it reluctantly.

There is no incident where Harry's scar hurts when Snape looks at him. Quirrell seems to be sitting as far away from Snape as possible.

Things go smoothly at school, though Harry is more friends with Neville and speaks to other boys rarely. Sometimes the two speak with Parvati, as they already know her from the boat.

The lessons are not that different from canon. However, a day before Harry's first Potions lesson, he is approached by Draco and Nott again. Draco tells Harry that he 'heard somewhere' that Snape is very strict and that Harry should probably prepare for the lesson. He also mentions that Harry's father and Snape did not like each other and that Harry should probably keep his head down. Harry thanks for the advice and goes to prepare more thoroughly for the lesson with Neville.

When Potions finally do arrive, Snape doesn't do his Humiliate Harry routine from canon. Nor does he mention that Harry is a celebrity. In fact, it seems he ignores the boy. Neville does not melt his cauldron as he is working with Harry who prevents the accident. When the lesson ends, Snape asks Harry to stay for a moment.

Snape tells Harry that he knew Lily and gives him a photo of her from her times at Hogwarts. He also tells Harry that he shouldn't tell anyone who gave him that photo. Harry is thankful and leaves. The picture shows Lily in her third year, making some kind of potion. Harry decides to pay more attention to potions from that moment.

Draco and Nott see Neville getting a Remembrall and Nott tells him that this thing is fragile and should not be carried around everywhere. Neville agrees and doesn't take it to the flying lesson. A the lesson itself, Neville's accident is prevented when Draco stands next to him and (with his trademark Malfoy Superiority) instructs Longbottom how to do things properly (he is of course embarrased when Hooch tells him he was holding his broom wrong for years).

As a result, Harry is not made the Gryffindor Seeker, though people still comment that his flying ability is quite good.

Obviously, the Midnight Duel never takes place, as Harry is on good terms with Draco. As such, Harry does not enter the forbidden corridor and does not see Fluffy.

One day, Harry hears Weasley complaining that his rat is missing. He looks for it everywhere, but is not able to find him.

During Halloween, Quirrell is not in the Great Hall. Neither is Snape. Nothing horrible happens, there is no Troll and the feast goes on uninterrupted. However, at one moment Flich arrives in the Hall and speaks with Dumbledore. The Headmaster seems unhappy at the news and quickly leaves. As Dumbledore leaves, Harry notices that Draco and Nott just arrived in the hall.

The next day, it is revealed that Quirrell was attacked by a troll near the forbidden forest and was forced to kill the creature to defend himself.

Harry remains at Hogwarts during the Christmas break and so does Neville to keep him company. Curiously, Nott remains as well, but doesn't speak with the boys.

Harry and Neville are both awed by the Invisibility Cloak and decide to try it out to explore Hogwarts at night. One day, Nott approaches them and tells that he has found a most interesting mirror.

When they go to see it, Nott explains that he has read about the mirror, which is apparently called the Mirror of Erised. He explains briefly what it does and how it shows things. Harry sees his parents alive, while Neville sees his parents healthy and sane. Nott refuses to say what he sees, but lets it slip that he saw 'a lot of things'.

Their visit is cut short when Snape arrives. He decides against deducting points, but forbids them from looking for the mirror again, citing it as dangerous. He then sends them to their dormitories and moves the mirror away.

After the winter break, Harry learns that some people from the Ministry of Magic have visited Hagrid and that he was raising a dragon illegally. He was not arrested, but the dragon egg was confiscated.

Everything else goes normally (as normal as a magical school can anyway) until the end of the year exams. Quirrell suddenly disappears without a trace.

The year ends and Harry returns to Privet Drive, promising to write to Neville.

Now, what is the POD? The person who guesses correctly first, will receive the Special Snowflake Award.

 

Sounds quite promising. I'd hazard Nott is not the Nott we're supposed to know as Nott at that point in the timeline, having managed to send himself back in time via memory or otherwise after the Battle of Hogwarts. Maybe sooner, maybe later. Unspeakable!Nott?

 

There are far too many possibilities, so nothing can be nailed down with concrete facts. Any random guess could be the winner, so here's mine:

Harry has gone back in time (somehow), polyjuiced as Nott.

Now, with that said. This sounds extremely boring unless this is all written in one chapter as a preface to the actual story where Harry is actually able to focus on his studies and become a better wizard than he was in canon.

All Harry's challenges have been taken away, the antagonists have been neutered, and which leads to this being a story about a boy who goes to a magical school where nothing happens other than he learns magic.

 

Zenzao wins, as his guess was closer.

Yep, Nott is from the future. He told Snape the truth (or at least a version of it), while at the same manipulating Draco.

I wrote this as a counter to all the stories where Harry is from the future and tells Dumbledore about it, while manipulating his friends and events in his favor.

Of course, Nott is not a good guy.

While initially Harry's first year seems much more lighthearted and improved, things are way worse if you think about it.

1. Harry is not friends with Ron or Hermione. This naturally will have consequences.
2. Wormtail has already escaped and is probably up to no good.
3. Harry and Neville are sort-of friends with Draco Malfoy. That's a bad sign right there.
4. Harry is not the Gryffindor seeker.
5. Harry is interested more in potions than in Defense. This is bad, as he won't gain enough skill.
6. Hagrid got in trouble for raising a dragon. This will be most likely on his record and will cause further problems in the future. Perhaps even cause him to not become a Hogwarts teacher.
7. Quirrell gets the Stone and escapes the school. Probably joined by Wormtail.
8. It is quite possible that due to Nott's manipulations, Snape is becoming loyal towards Voldemort again.

This was all part of Nott's master plan. We are seeing the beginnings of an AU where Voldemort wins and everything goes to hell.

And yes, Heather, it is designed to either be a one or two chapters at most.

Eventually someone like Dumbledore would figure out that there's time travel involved and would try to fix things. How? Well by sending another time traveler of course! They wouldn't know that it was Nott, so Dumbledore's Traveler (Harry, of course), would have to be cautious about everyone.

So we have:
1 - The original timeline, which went just like canon until Nott went back in time.
2 - The timeline altered by Nott, in which Voldemort wins.
3 - The final timeline in which Harry comes from the future to fix things.

 

What prevents future!Harry from taking over his younger selfs body, and deciding to say "screw it, about preserving the timeline" and going on rampage, where he kills anyone that suported Voldemort in his future?

Destroying Voldemorts Horcruxes with future knowledge would be easier and would be logical. Voldemorts follower has already broken the timeline, therfore Harry shouldn't have any qualms about his own alterations to it.

 

1. Harry is not friends with Ron or Hermione. This naturally will have consequences.

I fail to see how this changes anything between them, unless you purposefully insert many more items to keep them apart and/or antagonistic toward each other. Things may happen a little differently, but they're still the same people.

3. Harry and Neville are sort-of friends with Draco Malfoy. That's a bad sign right there.

As cliche as it is, blood will out. His personality will eventually reveal itself. Draco is only eleven.

4. Harry is not the Gryffindor seeker.

I can't see where this makes any difference either. The only time Harry ever flies is during Quidditch. It's not as if he needs it to survive. Lower his popularity, perhaps, but meh.

5. Harry is interested more in potions than in Defense. This is bad, as he won't gain enough skill.

I can't see this as a bad thing either. Just because he might like Potions doesn't mean that he won't be good at Defense.

6. Hagrid got in trouble for raising a dragon. This will be most likely on his record and will cause further problems in the future. Perhaps even cause him to not become a Hogwarts teacher.

This is a bad thing? He was fairly ineffectual throughout the series.

7. Quirrell gets the Stone and escapes the school. Probably joined by Wormtail.

How would he get the stone if it's locked in the mirror? Anyone that goes for it won't be able to get it.

8. It is quite possible that due to Nott's manipulations, Snape is becoming loyal towards Voldemort again.

Doubtful, if you stay with canon Snape. Then again we don't know what was said either, but still, doubtful. Voldemort killed Lily. If anything I could see him become indifferent toward Dumbledore, but that's about it.

 

Harry Potter, aged 54, is having a normal day as Head Auror when he's kidnapped.

He wakes to find himself in a luxurious room in mysterious compound. Stepping onto the balcony, he looks around to see a truly paradisal remote location, surrounded by mountains, rivers and forests. The stars are different.

Confused, Harry returns to his room and freezes. Severus Snape stands before him, not a ghost but alive, looking like he did at the Battle of Hogwarts. Snape, with characteristic impatience, explains: both Harry and himself have been summoned to this place for an event. What the event is, where they are, and who summoned them, Snape does not know. Snape has not met them: they communicate only through the House Elves who service the compound.

A House Elf comes. "They are ready."

Harry and Snape are led through winding corridors until they come to a large banqueting hall, tables laden with food of every type imaginable. Others, too, are being led to the room by elves, and Harry recognises some of them. Only they're not quite as he remembered.

When everyone is gathered, a robed man, face obscured, appears on a stage and welcomes them. "Welcome to The Games".

The mysterious host explains: each of them has been pulled from their home universe to compete in a glorious tournament: an arena deathmatch.

There will be only one winner, for whom eternal glory and the secrets of the universe await. All others will die. Each contestant has been supplied with a mentor from their home universe. They have one week to prepare: training, making alliances, etc. Then they will enter the arena, and only one shall emerge.




The fic would then depict the tournament but also the mystery of who the organisers are and how they might be overcome, with lots of wheeling and dealing between the competitors. Speaking of...

- Canon Harry, age 54, Head Auror.
- A Dumbledore from a universe where he sided with Grindelwald (before stabbing him in the back).
- A Rowena Ravenclaw who never lost her diadem and discovered the Philosopher's Stone.
- A sane, coolly rational and deadly Lord Voldemort who won the war.
- A Lily Evans who led a bloody anti-Pureblood revolution.
- Herpo the Foul from a universe where he has ruled the world as a god-king for thousands of years.
- Helen of Troy, the Veela who launched a thousand ships.
- A Goblin banker, Head of Gringotts Mergers and Acquisitions.
- A Neville Longbottom in his 30s with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
- Ariana Dumbledore from a universe where instead of crippling her magic, her accident gave her a powerful, and unique, brand of magic.
- A wand-wielding House Elf from a universe where he led the Elves in a rebellion against wizards.
- Daphne Greengrass, Queen of the Ice Kingdom of Svalbard.
- A Gellert Grindelwald, transformed by his terrible experiments.
- An Incan wizard-king who harnessed mass human sacrifice to gain immortality.
- Mia, an apparently average Hogwarts schoolgirl.


15 competitors there, with maybe 7-9 more to fill out more nationalities/historical time periods.

No special Master of Death powers for Harry.

 

I love it. Chuckled at Mia, I take it she's not that average?

 

Oh, she is. Every deathmatch game needs its token jailbait, is all.

 

She's either average or Voldebabe. One of the two.

 

So she's a real Ice Queen in this one?

 

My money's on Mia. Even if it turn out she is just an average person...

1. Everyone realizes Mia's not a threat.

2. Absolutely no one focuses on Mia, and focus on everyone else.

3. Everyone else gets weakened, until there's only one or two really weakened people left.

4. Mia beats the last weakened opponents, and wins.

 

Also, they don't get to take anything into the arena with them, including wands.

There will be wands that they can race/fight for at their starting position. Alternatively, the arena is full of trees suitable for wand wood and magical animals suitable for wand cores (if they can be overcome). Other magical artifacts, weapons and hazards are spread around the arena.

Apparition is barred.

 

Out of curiosity, are you trying to rip off Battle Royale, or the Hunger Games?

 

Hunger Games. I posted an HP/Hunger Games plot bunny several threads ago, but I think the inter-dimensional element really adds to it. Harry's interactions with all those characters would be awesome.