I like the possibilities here. But if you go this route, think about altering Sirius running away from his home at 16. Him running away and moving in with the Potters implies no further contact with his family. If Walburga were to hit him with the whammy at 16 when he runs away, it would presumably make him distance himself from James et al. this leading to the issue you had raised of the backstory being far to different for Sirius to be the secret keeper.

Of course the easy solution here is just to have Sirius not get quite to the point where he would run away. A better relationship with Regulus (in addition to making your blackmailing idea more believable) could easily be the reason that Sirius didn't just leave. He cared too much about his kid brother to abandon him.

 

I like that idea more - it's a lot easier to see him having a better relationship with his brother, and sets up plot development later. Of course, you're right and I have to scrap Sirius as a double agent; I didn't really think that part through.

 

I have a couple of plots that I will never get around to writing.

While I was browsing the forum, I noticed a few people wanting a fic where Hogwarts started later or Harry starting later. I've read many fics where Harry ran away and was discovered later on. He was either emo, or shy and it always had to much angst.

The fic starts out with the Dursley's receiving Harry's letter and refusing to allow Harry to attend Hogwarts. As the Dursley's being his guardians, Dumbledore is trapped by the muggle protection laws he wrote and is unable to get him (the irony). The Dursley's want nothing to do with Harry, especially now that he had been accepted to Hogwarts and end up shipping him out to St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.

For four years, Dumbledore (and the ministry) has been trying to retrieve Harry, and somehow Dumbledore manages to find evidence of Harry being mistreated and can press charges against the Dursley's and remove them from guardianship. He goes around May/June to retrieve Harry from the Dursley's to find out that he is not there but at St. Brutus (and he only returns for the summer months)

The meeting with Harry is told in Dumbledore's point of view. He finds a Harry that has managed to survive and climb to the top, surrounded by a group of unsavory people. Harry is distrustful, cold and completely arrogant to Dumbledore until he is proven that magic exists.

In the absence of magic, and thrust into a world of violence, Harry changed from that innocent boy into the leader of the school. I am picturing Harry being almost like a gang leader, not caring if people get hurt or killed, running drugs, things like that. As Dumbledore and Harry leave, Harry stops to say something to a young boy around the age of 11. Dumbledore manages to hear the conversation which revolves around Harry not being able to protect him anymore and he needs to start his own quest of power to survive.

Unable to keep his curiosity to himself, Dumbledore asks why the boy cannot just keep to the shadows until he graduates. Harry responds that no one wants to hire someone who graduated from there, no colleges will accept them and that the little boy never deserved to be in here, just like him at the beginning. They are the outcasts London and most will either be in jail or in the ground within ten years of graduating. Dumbledore begins to realize that Harry has been the leader of children who have hurt and killed people in the past.

Simplified Version - You pretty much see a Harry that is behind in Hogwarts, but is cold and very eerily similar to Tom Riddle as a child. Harry never wanted power just for power sake but did so in order to survive but ended up liking it as time went on. The money, the respect, the power. Unlike Voldemort, Harry never had a desire to rule the world but is content to stay underground. I'm thinking this fic, other than taking out Voldemort, would deal with a underground/gang! Harry. Where he is selling illegal parts across the country, hiring hitmen, things like that.

But it can go where ever. I just would like to see a Harry that starts Hogwarts late that isn't emo, a wuss or super!harry.

I have another plot that I was gonna write, but it's even longer than this to explain and is extremely twisted (in a good way...). So I shall save it to another post.

 

Was playing Infamous the other day, and got this idea playing it. Has any story like that been written?
What if Harry himself faced his own "Kessler" of sorts. Putting obstacles in his way, forcing him to become stronger, putting him in moral dilemmas and generally being the main back guy behind all of Harry's troubles. Harry will grow to hate him for killing people he loves and such. Cue story, and then at the final confrontation between Harry and this guy, Harry kills him and finds out it was actually himself, who, having failed at his own time, came back to "groom" him into "the hero he failed to be", as quoted from Infamous.
Thoughts? I think it would be cool if written well.

 

This could either fail hard, or become completely epic. Also Grinning Lizard wrote a fic a lot like this one except without the whole 'goes to Hogwarts late' thing. It's pretty much gangster Harry with him growing up on the streets of London.

It's one of the better fics out there. It can be found here.

 

Hmm, most people have the traditional 'independent' Harry picking up from the end of either his fourth or fifth year, yeah? Either that, or they have him sorted into another house (eg, Slytherin).

This is probably a pretty weak plot bunny, but meh, if someone can find a use for it....

I don't think I've seen a divergence point primarily based around the troll incident: Ron refuses to go with Harry for some reason (I really do need to re-read the books!), leaving Harry to run off by himself.

By sheer dumb luck, he saves Hermione (by something mainly physical like jumping on its back and distracting it, causing it to slip on water or something and knock itself out, compared to spell work thus living up to the Gryffindor standards), but is horribly injured in the process (eg, the falling troll's club smashing his kneecaps).

His last conscious act is to get Hermione to safety.

Waking up in the hospital wing (and taking Skele-Grow), he finds that Hermione hadn't left his side since he was injured. After some discussions with Dumbledore/Hermione, he realises that he needs to focus more on his school/spellwork in order to stop something like this from happening once again: he's in a different world, now. This butterfly effects into Harry eventually becoming more studious and knowledgeable about spells and the wizarding world, but not with a Ravenclaw esque type attitude. He starts learning about offensive/defensive magic, and anything else that would be relevant/useful, such as healing.

This also sets a split with Ron: initially, Harry's angry that Ron didn't come with him, causing his knees to get smashed and what could of happened with Hermione being flattened by a troll's club, and his new studious and serious attitude rubs Ron the wrong way. Also, this sort of angle could be good for the Harry/Hermione shippers out there, as it eliminates Ron from the equation entirely since Harry and Hermione depend on one another.

Eventually, through the years, Harry's new attitude affects his decisions, and eventually he becomes more outgoing and extroverted, resulting him having friends all the houses but Slytherin: they merely respect him/are in slight awe of him, which incidently kicks down Malfoy's influence a tad.

 

A little idea inspired by Kick-Ass.

Sirius didn't leave Harry with Hagrid, but took him at went into hiding. Now ten years later two mysterious figures - man and a kid, starts killing every Death Eater that managed to avoid going to Azkaban. Their main target - Lucius Malfoy (and hiding Wormtail).

What I'd want to see in it is basically ten year old Harry killing dark wizards left and right, but instead of usual super!Harry fail, make it Hit Girl kind of win.

I think it the whole fic should take place before Harry even can go to Hogwart. It could end with Sirius dead and Albus taking care of Harry and trying to give him a little of normal childhood (no sending to Dursleys). At least till Voldemort is back, but that could be a sequel and in my mind it wouldn't be as much fun as this one.

 

Awesome idea. I too had a plot inspired by the same comic series. But it was different, drastically different. For one hit-girl was a girl.

 

I'd like it if, instead of just focusing his attention entirely on books, he takes a more practical approach to his learning. He could speak to the portraits and ghosts who would likely have many experiences from before they came to Hogwarts. He could explore the castle and decipher how some of the crazy stuff there works (walls pretending to be doors, sinking steps, moving staircases etc.) Joining/visiting clubs and befriending older students would work too.

Who was your hit-girl then?

 

Luna.

/10char

 

I :facepalm every time I see this plot idea. It's quite frankly unworkable and unbelievable unless you change how the Dursley's treat Harry. It would take a 5 minute conversation with Harry and a cursory inspection for the wizards to come up with reason to yank Harry out of the Dursleys.

More than that though, I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to believe that Dumbledore and the Ministry would actually follow there procedures regarding Muggles where Harry is involved. At this point, the Ministry loves Harry and wants him back. They have no problem mistreating and Obliviating Muggles all over the place, and I doubt that they would have a problem doing it here.

Also, Dumbledore, in canon has no problem with twisting and blackmailing people to his own ends (see Snape.) It's not a bad thing, and I'm not saying he's OMG Uber-evilz master manipulator, but he does twist things and people to what he needs if he believes it necessary. He knows Voldemort is alive and coming back, he knows Harry is prophesied to defeat him, etc. There is no way that he's letting two Muggles, especially two who may have mistreated Harry, to stop him from coming to Hogwarts.

For this to work, major characterizations or plot points would have to be drastically altered. I can only see it working in a true AU.

 

Twilight of the Wizards

Magic is dying and nobody knows how or why. It started with things and people that had almost no magic in the first place. Like Squibs, who could see things that were invisible to Muggles, but now can't.

Now, weaker wizards (the one who are less in tune with magic than others) can't made any spells work and stronger ones have much trouble with even the simplest magic.

Seeing that it can mean end of their kind, two most powerful wizards and enemies - Albus Dumbledore and Lord Volmodert decide that they need to work together to find cause of this event. And to do that, they need to make journey to the place from where all magic came - the axis mundi.

But before that they need to gather a few more wizards who have as strong connection with magic as them. Gellert Grindelwald whose body may be destroyed after so long in a prison, but his mind and magic are still strong. Perenelle Flames who is slowly dying without the Philosophers' Stone, but is ready for her last adventure on this world (her husband already passed on). And the last one - Harry Potter, who may not be experienced as the rest of them, but for a few reasons has probably the strongest connection to magic.

I will not lie, I basically wanted to have situation where all these individuals needed to work together and see how it will go.

 

THIS MUST BE WRITTEN.

 

Impossible, but what about James Potter being an actual mole for Voldemort who just happened to fall in love with Lily? A different approach for Harry to become Dark or Independent and from the Potter Family to be this bastion of Light.

 

*sees not a single comment for his plot bunny, is disappointed*
Can someone at least tell me if there is a decent story like that out there? I'm kindof afraid to browse for it.

 

Maybe. I probably will get to it after ASHH is done. The plot is already half-way done.

 

In my mind it is workable because Harry is so famous. Everything that happens to him is broadcast on the news. The Ministry would not be able to oblivate people because the public is watching too closely. This is also the reason why Dumbledore is finding it harder to break Harry away.

I would think the Dursley's would freak out if the Aurors (Wizard police men) investigated them. I figure it would finally dawn on them that what they did could get them arrested, and become a lot smarter with how they act around other people with Harry. You could make it that when parents refuse a request to Hogwarts and talk to the Ministry... They fall off the map to protect them and not give away locations of could-be Wizards. A safekeep after the fall of Voldemort. Dumbledore would only know where Harry is when he is at home or if the wards fall... It is possible if you can really think things through)

BUT, if people are not so big on this idea. I do have another plot. Bare with me because its long, but in my mind, worth it.

I doubt any of you have read Himitsu, meaning "The Secret." My plot follows the basics of this book. The book deals with a family man who one day gets a call that his daughter and wife have been in an accident. He rushes to the ER just in time to see his wife die and his daughter waking up from a coma. His daughter has no idea what is going on and why her body is sitting on the table. It is revealed that the wife soul is in the daughters body.

They begin to develop this twisted relationship between the daughter/wife and the husband. Over time they fall deeper with lies and acting with the public and what is going on inside the house. The wife begins to realize that she has knowledge (like being great at math) that her daughter once had. The wife begins to distance herself from her husband and acts more like the daughter. The wife says that the daughter's spirit is returning and over time, takes over. At the end the daughter gets married to someone else... But you never learn if it really is the daughter, or the wife knowing she had to pretend to be the daughter.

Yes, this is a Lily/Harry pairing in hopefully not in an extremely creepy way.

It starts off with the night Voldemort murdered Lily and the protections she placed around her son. It was soul magic, unpredictable magic. It was not just her blood protecting her son, but her very soul. She is trapped in a limbo (or you can say, hovering near her son) and is unable to die until he does so. This is the reason why he has the good luck, is able to defeat Voldemort in his first year...

Except soul magic is unpredictable and when mixed with other magic, can create chaotic results. Down the chamber , magic that has never been scene is being mixed. Soul bonds between Harry and Voldemort (aka two Horcruxes interacting), Lily's soul protecting Harry, Voldemort sucking out Ginny's soul. For a split second, after Harry stabs Voldemort with the fang, Ginny's body his no soul...

And Lily wakes up instead of Ginny.

Lily has none of Ginny's memories, no idea how to act, just knows that she can see and touch her son once again. She tells no one as she fears her time here is brief and does not want to upset her son. Over the summer the Weasley's realize a major change in Ginny but assume it's because of what happened the previous year.

They head back to Hogwarts to find that Sirius Black has escaped and Lily knows that Black is innocent. She finds it harder and harder to stay away from her son and they become fast friends as she tries to find out what has happened and how to free Sirius.

Time goes on and no one realizes what happened, except for Dumbledore who is curious (but assuming it was the diary as well) and Snape... Who is going insane, as he sees little pieces of Lily everywhere within Ginny.

As Lily becomes more comfortable with Ginny's body, she notices changes from original self. She is suddenly much better at defense, and even more shocking, is amazing at flying and actually likes it. This is when she notices that there are feelings for Harry that are not parental at all.

How canon is changed is irrelevant (as in i have no clue at this point in time), but eventually Harry and Lily do something regrettable and Lily ends up telling Harry that this cannot go on and that she is not just Ginny but Lily as well. Shocked, Harry forces Lily to go to Dumbledore and explain what happens. This leads to Snape finding out as well (which gets very interesting with the possibilities). Lily explains that she believes she will one day disappear and it is very possibly (likely in fact) that all her blood protections disappear as well when that happens.

As time passes, Lily and Harry begin this twisted affair based on guilt and lies and love. Lily sees James, the man she loves, a son she could not be more proud of and a part of her—Ginny—sees the boy she has always admired. Harry sees the mother he never had, the woman that matches his soul, a sister he can relate to and a best friend he can talk to.

Eventually this spiral begins to break them both and Lily backs off, "allowing" Ginny to take control until Ginny eventually consumes Lily. Harry continues the relationship with Ginny, as much of her personally is exactly like Lily's, as if the line between them has blurred. Something to do with Lily's personality overshadowing the young impressible Ginny.

In the end, Dumbledore has to tell Harry that he is the last horcrux and send him to his death, believing that his mother's protection has left him forever and he would truly die. Harry awakes in the afterlife, to talk with Dumbledore and he asks if Harry truly loves Ginny, which Harry responds yes. Dumbledore just sadly smiles and nods, saying that Lily's protections never failed because the love for him was too strong.

Yet when he returns, he cannot help to remember when his mother was sure that the wards and blood protections would fail when she left Ginny, and we never find in the end if Ginny ever returned or if it was Lily merely pretending.


"And for a brief glancing moment, Harry saw those brown eyes change to match his own, and that it was his mother— and not his Ginny— standing before him with her arm outstretched. When he reached his hand forward, the eternal moment was shattered as his mothers smile, her eyes, her features vanished and he was left with a mere reflection of the beautiful girl he loved."


There are two ways to write this. One where you know right off the bat what has happened or that you never know that Ginny is really Lily until she tells Harry. I prefer the second one. You can have the POV of different characters showing how she changes and that the reader would never trust Ginny. The ones who absolutely adore Harry/Ginny (the scary obsessed kind) would be blasted away when they find out it was Lily (Which would be SO FUNNY). No one would ever see this coming...

And Snape, finding out that he lost Lily to her own son, another Potter... Priceless.

Ah the possibilities.

 

I'll look at the other plot later Lindsey. I'm way too tired to do so now.

Bringing up the public scrutiny Harry is under is a fair point. However, I don't think it holds up in this instance. Harry was put with the Dursley's secretly and in large part hidden from the wizarding world. We see no indications that anyone in canon aside from Harry's friends (and the Ministry) know who he lives with or where. It wouldn't be that difficult to quietly remove him from the Dursleys.

Also the wizarding world in general, and the news (Prophet) in particular, are rather anti-muggle (in the case of the Prophet virulently so). Also it the Ministry seems to have at least some degree of control over what the Prophet prints. Given all of these conditions, plus the adulation the wizarding public has for Harry, no one would complain if he were removed from the Muggles and they were Obliviated. If it became public knowledge, this course of action would be celebrated. It's far more likely that the public and the press would become outraged if simple Muggles were able to keep there savior from Hogwarts.

That's why, I think, that this plot idea would only work in an AU. Either Harry would have to be less important to the wizarding world, or prejudice against muggles would have to be basically nonexistent, etc. You get what I'm saying.

 

I was looking over my plot bunny folder for some inspiration to write a one-shot or something, since I am bored of righting both my current stories right now and I came across this:

It was inspired by some thread in the Challenge section by someone (I think it was Taure, though am not sure). Basically, the idea was that after Harry became the Master of Death at the end of DH, he wants to live a normal life free of any adventures and excitement, spend sometime with Ginny, with whom he has recently mended his relationship. However, wannabe dark wizards have gotten wind of the fact that an unbeatable wand is held in Dumbledore's tomb. After the second attempted break-in, Harry liberates it from the tomb and keeps it with himself which makes the dark wizards attack him. He is constantly challenged to duels that he doesn't want to fight but has to. And at one time, Harry despite having the Elder wand with him, comes nearly to being killed by a swiftly planned assassination, and decides that the only way to stave of such incidents is to become the Master of Death and make an example of anyone who attacks him.

So, he takes up the Resurrection Stone, expecting some miracle that will coincide with mastering the three hallows but he is greatly surprised when nothing happens. So, realising that he cannot continuously evade dark wizards after his life, he takes a hiatus from the wizarding Britain making sure that no one knows where he is going.

However, something did result when he took up the final hollow. The veil between life and death grew non-exsistant and wizards and witches who had passed on from one to the other side slowly start re-appearing. First one to come back is Grindelwald. But this one is not the man who had shown repentence in his later life. He is still charged to change the world to his view. When Harry finally returns from his vacations, he notices that Central Europe is caught in the shadows of a terrible warfare. He immediately jumps into the fray trying to fight the dark wizard who has instigated a revolution against the ICW, and the magical ministries of Europe.

After hunting down the wizard for a while, Harry finally meets him and is astounded that Gellert is alive. Harry despite being the Master of Death barely survives the duel and is forced to retreat with Gellert now chasing him for the hallows.

It takes a while before other people start appearing. Second to come back is Dumbledore, who Harry meets soon enough. Even Albus is surprised how he is alive. For him, it is like waking up from a long sleep.

It takes them a while to figure out what is going on but Dumbledore guesses that it has something to do with the Hallows which has not been united since their creation.

Soon, other people start appearing, the time becoming less with each fracture of the veil. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Circe, Merlin. Harry and Albus soon figure out that not everyone can come back but only the most powerful and talented of wizards and witches can. And if they die again then they remain dead, so, they are not stuck in an immortal loop.

So, the only way to peace now is to kill the bad guys.

The world is as such caught in a giant wizarding war, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. Each side has fearsome wizards whose might cannot be matched by the average wizards. If Harry has someone like Andros the Invincible, then Gellert has Herpo the Foul. The only person not present would be Voldemort, his soul was too fractured for being able to come back again.

The ministries has long since fallen to the might of the two opposing armies and the world is a ravaged wasteland.

This would truly be a war, a real war (nothing like it was with Voldemort) on an epic scale, spread across the entire world, between wizards whose skills are legendary. I'm thinking epic monstrous battle given who the wizards are. It'd be something like a world war only wizardly and as such more destructive and more ghastly.

The story would also allow for a realistic angle for some Harry/Ravenclaw, who is a young woman. All the people who have come back are.