A weird idea I dreamt up a while back.

Basically, everything that happened in GoF after Harry's name came out of the Goblet was a lie. The First Task of the Triwizard was a virtual reality, different for each Champion, composed of their hopes, fears, and expectations surrounding them. Not too clear on what the point of the actual task would be, other than testing courage and faith or some shit. The audience would see the highlights of what's going on.

Story would start with Harry waking to reality after the Voldemort climax.

Not one of my best ideas, but I decided to throw it up here anyway.

 

The first problem that comes to mind is that there's no way that Dumbledore would fall for the simple evasion used by Regulus.

The second problem that comes to mind is that the entire basis of the idea - Voldemort having this plan regarding Regulus - is retarded.

Voldemort would never make a plan that involved telling his greatest enemy and rival, who he thought had no clue about his horcruxes, about them.

Also, there's no way for Regulus to know that Dumbledore has found out about the horcruxes and present himself to Dumbledore.

Finally, if Voldemort knew that someone was onto his horcruxes, his response would not be to enact some odd plan that involves getting all but one of his horcruxes destroyed, but rather re-hiding all of them behind new magical protections in new locations.

The whole set-up is unnecessary. If you want an older competent Harry fighting a resurrected-again Voldemort, just make it so that he had a secret horcrux that they didn't find out about or destroy (possibly created post-GoF when he finds out about the Diary being destroyed).

 

I'm a bit late, but never mind.

 

I probably wouldn't include that in the set up for the older Harry, just have it as a one-shot. No point really.

But I disagree with some of your points regarding Voldemort and his Horcruxes.

In this Regulus doesn't go to Dumbledore until after Dumbledore destroys the ring. The ring is something they can keep track off, stationary position and all Regulus has to do is be on a hide out waiting for someone to find the Horcrux. He then goes to the person who finds the Horocrux, destroy them if able (obviously it's Dumbledore so he can't) if not find out how much they know if possible, get their trust and mislead them.

That is why I stated after Dumbledore destroyed the ring. Regulus only goes to Dumbledore after he knows Dumbledore is on to the Horcruxes.

Voldemort doesn't know someone is on to his Horcruxes. It is not has plan to have his Horocruxes destroyed, but it is a safe-guard in case they are. Where they are now ARE the protections and locations he has for them, but having the safe-guard makes him more competent, realizing that someone might eventually get to his Horocruxes.

 

Maybe the essence of the test was to see if in the Champion's own mind he wins the tournament?

 

So they have the ability to track the status of his horcruxes?

Because, you know, the only reason why more than one of the Horcruxes was destroyed in DH was because Voldemort was unaware that someone was after them. The moment he was aware that they were, he went to retrieve them (but was too late).

If Voldemort has the ability to track the Horcruxes (thus making it so that Regulus is able to know when Dumbledore has destroyed the ring, and then present himself to him) then the whole plan with Regulus is unnecessary in the first place.

He doesn't? But I thought they were trackable? Or maybe Regulus is capable of something Voldemort is incapable of with regards to tracking Horcruxes? Even if this were the case, Voldemort would surely include as part of his master plan Regulus telling him if someone were after his most valued possessions which ensure his immortality.

This is simply not something Voldemort would do though. It's settling for an inferior outcome when a superior one would be easier to obtain. He would not settle for a back-up in case his horcruxes were destroyed. He would make it so that none would be destroyed in the first place.

Moreover, the locations at which the Horcruxes are located in DH are not the most secure they could be by a long shot - the locations are the result of some kind of idea of elegance in Voldemort's mind, placing them in significant locations. If they were under threat though, Voldemort would not hesitate to move them to more secure locations where they would never be found (which Dumbledore warned of, and Voldemort went to do in DH).

Not really. The "safe guard" plan is stupid. It is a second best plan that Voldemort would have no reason to follow.

If given the start-up elements in this story - Voldemort is aware that Dumbledore is aware of the Horcruxes at the start of HBP, and Regulus is alive and a secret follower - then he won't enact some convoluted and easily-foiled plan to save one of his horcruxes. He will simply save them all, end of story. Why settle for saving one horcrux when you can save 4, and saving the 4 is much easier?

 

I like the "Voldemort survives the final battle" not for the purpose of dragging out the Harry/Voldemort conflict, but for creating a post-DH Dark!Harry story.

Imagine Harry, who has just sacrificed his life and lost many friends to Voldemort and his followers, discovering that everything he worked for was in vain. Voldemort survives and Harry has no way of tracking him down and destroying him for good.

What's Harry to do?

How about killing off all of Voldemort's supporters? No way for him to come back if there's no one to perform the ritual. Harry could retain control of the Elder Wand and lead a crusade against all "dark wizards."

The pain, loss, and disappointment of failing to destroy Voldemort could be the impetus to divest Harry of his naivety. As a result you get hardass!Harry.

Voldemort doesn't even have to be a part of this story. Harry could take so many precautions that he can never come back, or he could return and Harry could simply mow him down.

 

I started something like this in WbA a while ago, it was called "Repression".

Unfortunately, hardly anyone understood what I was trying to do, the story was ridiculed, and I got so many calls to go back to writing my other stories that I did that instead of telling people they were idiots.

Nonjon liked it, though, if I recall.

Anyway, if anyone decides to do this, be prepared for people not to understand what's going on - I recommend NOT putting it in something like WbA, where people get only a very small amount of the story before being expected to voice their opinion.

Well then read it, foo'!

But seriously, this is what I intended to do with Escape to Darkness. If you're looking for an update, then progress has finally started on the next chapter of that story, btw, so you just might get one some time; I also just posted Draco's death scene in the Annuals thread. Also, to the person who mentioned that Dumbledore might have loved Grindelwald, but Grindelwald was maybe just using him? Well, let's just say that great minds think alike, hmm?

 

Suppose I shouldn't of said they had the ability to track them. I meant Regulus. And track isn't the right word, more like checking up on them. That was his sole task to go around regularly and see if the protections on Horocruxes were intact. Which wouldn't be on the ring after Dumbledore destroyed it.

True, thanks for that plot-hole.

Of course not, but I am leaning towards a competent voldemort. To me personally a competeny voldemort would mean even he knows he is not infallable. With powerful beings like Dumbledore out there, think of Regulus as just one more protection he already has on the Horocruxes. His not getting to them, his just checking to see if their ok. I myself don't see Regulus as some powerful wizard, just another Death Eater given a task. Of course he would have to be able to protect his mind, or maybe voldemort oblivates the crucial details.

If he wanted the best protection he should of made a horocrux of something completely random and stored it somewhere publicly accessible, yet it wouldn't be moved. He obliviously wants the horocuxs at their current locations, and it makes it easy on me and everyone else.

No reason? He would have every reason when his immortality is on the line. There would be no risk to it, all Regulus would do is check up on them and try to mislead them once they already found it. Regulus himself wouldn't know any cruical details how to bypass them or destroy them, so it's just a risk-free extra protection. Well I suppose he would know the locations of the others as well, that would be pretty risky. hmmm.

Maybe I'm writing it wrong? The plan is enacted when Voldemort is making the horocruxes, not as a reaction to Dumbledore knowing of them. The thing I want is for voldemort to include Regulus as a protection, and not one that is crucial, just a misleading one so he can then mislead whoever is onto his horocruxes into thinking that one horocrux is destroyed. The last horocrux that the Slytherin Locket dummies for, Regulus would have absolutely no knowledge of where it is or protections etc. He is there for the sole purpose to pretend that horocrux is already destroyed. And report to Voldemort like you said, because that is a pretty big plot-hole.

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The first thing I would do is destroy the elder-wand. I love the story behind the hallows etc, just don't like the idea of a super-weapon. Would have to get Harry a new wand though. I can't remember, what happened to voldemorts? Cliche giving that wand to Harry, but it would be most compatible considering his was destroyed.

 

It's a matter of opportunity cost. Voldemort only has a certain amount of time and resources. Does he spend that time A) Protecting the horcruxes as best he can or B) giving the horcruxes up as lost already and trying to minimise the damage?

To me option A is the sensible option that your competent and rational Voldemort would choose.

To speak simply, the whole Regulus plan seems to me to have absolutely no benefit, especially in contrast with other options available, and is the kind of plan that only a fictional character trying to create exciting plot would use. Sure, a rational Voldemort would come up with a back-up. But your plan is not a good back-up.

 

Here's my shitty newbie idea. Hell, it's not even Harry-centric, so that's an auto-Fail at DLP:

Hermione 'Oppenheimer' one-shot

Background: Diverges from canon at some point in or before DH. Harry has defeated Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Ron, Ginny, and numerous other friends / loved ones of Harry were killed in the war. The principal survivors were all altered by the experience.

The fic would take place decades after DH. Harry (who would only be mentioned in passing) became reclusive after his victory. His principal source of income is himself; he has become a living legend, and goes around making public appearances and the like. Beyond that, he lives a mostly aimless existence.

Meanwhile, the geopolitical situation in the wizarding world has changed. Wizarding nation-states have been at peace with each other for centuries, but this has degraded to the threshold of open hostility. The source of friction is the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy: some nation-states now support the idea of ending the Statute, and integrating with the Muggle world. Wizard nations have in the past taken a laissez-faire attitude to the policies of other nations, but the Statute of Secrecy has changed that, because if a wizard nation reveals itself to the local Muggles, it is inevitable that the rest of the nations would be revealed in turn.

Main plot: The fic focuses on Hermione, who has thrown herself into her work for the Ministry as an Unspeakable. She is the director of the British Ministry's most secret project, the development of a wizard weapon of mass destruction (allegorically referencing nuclear weapons, to be obvious about it). The Ministry has approved this line of research because it desires a weapon that can be used to threaten the pro-integration nations into recanting their position. The story begins right before what is to be the first test of the weapon, on a remote, unplottable island.

These devices can potentially affect huge swaths of land, but operate solely against the local magic. Wizards and magical creatures within the blast sphere are killed, and buildings that have been strongly touched by magic are destroyed (ministry buildings, magical schools, heavily warded houses, etc.), but Muggles (along with their infrastructure) are not affected at all.

The problem is that the bombs have a long-lasting effect. After one has been detonated, the magically-destroyed area cannot support magic of any kind for many years or decades. If too many of these were detonated at once, it could very well lead to the extinction of wizard-kind.

The fic would be mostly focused on Hermione's view of the proceedings. She is sure that the secret of the weapons' construction will eventually slip, which will in turn lead to a worldwide arms race. She would also reflect on the events that led to her joining the weapon development project, and how the old, idealistic Hermione would never be a part of such a horror.

The fic predictably ends with a successful first test of the weapon, and a wizarding world that has been changed forever.

 

The framework of the wizarding world integrating with the muggle world is hackneyed and done to death.

Your twist is that the wizarding world intentionally reveals itself. What the fuck? At least the other stories that attempt this plotline and fail have the common sense to have it exposed by accident.

Why abolish the Statute? It exists for a reason. It keeps muggles ignorant - there is literally no possible disadvantage. No politician campaigning for it can deliver a speech-length oration in its support. Wizards can mingle among muggles, have freedom of movement, supply all their own needs.

Then your magical super-weapons idea completely falls apart because there would be no pro-integration nations necessitating their use.

At least you can provide an accurate self-assessment of your own ideas. It’s shit, has nothing useable, and would be fail even without being Hermione-centric.

 

I would love to see a story about muggles finding out about the wizarding world, and like all the purebloods said they try to destroy it.

Only to end up of course being ass raped by the wizards. I don't know why people think muggles can own wizards. Sure they have guns, they have bombs etc. But wizards can learn that stuff to, can muggles learn magic? Some wizard can just pop over to a muggle prime minister, imperius, order them to bomb there muggle allies and so forth. No amount of force can stop mind control, and muggles have absolutely no protection against it.

I think it all comes down to the muggles having a nifty invention called a gun. Most fanfic writers think, oh yay lets have a battle. Spell verses gun? Gun gets shot first, they win because of speed therefore muggles must be more powerful. Please use some imagination

 

This is a joke, right?

There's a reason why wizards don't mingle with muggles, and it isn't because "muggles would ask them to solve all of their problems." Wizards are absolute shit at solving their own. Just look at the poor family full of wizards who can't even afford new clothes or build a structurally sound dwelling.

Wizards have magic, which is cool, but I refuse to believe that muggles wouldn't catch on to wizard tricks like mind control (there are failsafes and rationality preventing one random leader from doing stupid shit) and the rest of it.

Again, there's a reason why muggles must be absolutely kept in the dark about the existence of wizards. Knowing that they exist is enough to destroy them - not totally, but enough to ruin wizarding society.

A final thought: Wizards aren't omnipotent. A stray bullet to the head is just as effective against a wizard as it is against a muggle. Try putting some law enforcement on the trails of people who don't know how the hell they should dress in public. Then shoot first and ask questions later.

If you're going to go for the wizard vs. muggle war route, then these things need to be considered.

 

In before tired debate of magical vs. muggle worlds. (Hint: see the fifty other threads where this has been covered).

blazzano: I don't think the idea is automatically instafail, but there's not much here for a one shot beyond a character exploration of Hermione. These stories can be interesting if done right, but they require a bit of a deft touch and subject material that's a little less done-to-death than the WMD trope. (It was grist for the speculative fiction mill for, oh, forty years).

[Edit: Howdy ninja'd me, so my "In before..." is obsoleted.]

 

Hah! This is why DLP is the best HP fanfic discussion forum out there. Perceived mediocrity should never be humored.

That said, the bit I quoted above is not a plot hole or critical weakness - it's actually one of the major points of flexibility.
Consider: you could take that first quoted paragraph up there and insert it into the fic, verbatim, and put it into the mouths of one of the people developing the weapon. The more vehement and sure of themselves they sound, the easier it is to accept their willingness to destroy entire magical populations.

On the other side of things, the author would not be compelled to create an ironclad justification for Wizard/Muggle integration; in fact the fic works better if he does not. Any of the standard grab bag ideas would work in theory: capitalistic but short-sighted wizards, overly idealistic activists, populist madmen, etc. The author would flesh out the pro-integration side according to their own style and preferences.

Agreed strongly with this limitation; trying to mix character introspection, wizard politics, and non-canon magical technobabble would be tricky, and thus prone to Failsauce.

 

This is a plot bunny i came up with in some free time. Voldemort comes back as a ghost only Harry can see that slowly drives Harry to the dark side. It would him hate life with the Weasleys and him eventually creating his own faction and somehow finding a way to get training from Voldemort. The thing i think would be cool is him hating being married to Ginny.

Just thought it might be a cool story idea if a good author wrote the story and stayed away from cliches.

 

I would probably read that. I have no love for the OMFG-Muggle-World-meets-Wizard-Society!-type stories, and non-Harry-centric stories are, by and large, fail with a capital FAIL, but I happen to be partial to Hermione, so take that for what it's worth.

Well, there are those wizards who believe, like Grindelwald and Dumbledore before he saw the error of his ways, that wizards should rule over the Muggles "for their own good".

Yes, let's please please please not have yet another pointless Muggles-versus-Wizards "debate". Ye gods, no.

 

Well, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon here and say that I don't think it's a totally shit idea, BUT I think it would definitely benefit from a few things:
-Don't have Harry completely out of the picture. It might even be a good idea to make him a figurehead for the other side, which means more conflict for Hermione.
-Give the other side more fleshed out ideas and thoughts, so that Harry doesn't end up looking like an ass This story will be a lot more interesting if you have the reader trying to figure out what the right answer is too.
-You say a lot of their old friends are dead--is there any reason for how this affects the story? Does isolation play a part in Hermione's decisions, or can you tie it in some other way? Having a close supporting cast around might make the volatile situation in the civilian world more real to the reader, otherwise.

 

Crack!fic. A take off of the Voldemort horcrux being absorbed by Harry and Harry taking all of his memories cliche.


In the inferi/locket cave Dumbledore dies from drinking the Insane-o potion and for some messed up reason Dumbledore winds up kicking out the Harry!horcrux and taking its place.

Harry escapes with the Elder Wand using his newfound ability to produce and control Fiendfyre.

Use your imagination here as to what it would be like with Dumbledore's memories in your head. And feel free to take this one. I'll never write it.