Alright, so this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while now and I'm tossing it up here because I myself am balls at writing for the HP fandom.

It starts off simple enough, Voldemort chooses Neville as the BWL and sets us up for a classic switcheroo. Its been done a thousand times and I've rarely seen anyone do it well.

But my idea was thus, Neville may be the BWL, but does that necessarily mean he is the Chosen One?

Trelwaney bursts into Dumbledore's office after the deed is done, wild-eyed and frantic, freaking out because Fate doesn't really appreciate being fucked with and people who can sense that sort of thing (even just a little) are getting the backlash. She rambles off some sort of nonsense like

"Prophecy cannot be denied Albus!!!"

and promptly passes out, never to remember what she said or meant.

The story could really go anywhere from there. However, the fact would remain that, despite having originally been ambiguous, the Prophecy was supposed to mean Harry. The Fate is meant for Harry, and the Prophecy has now changed to reflect that. Just... no-one would know it. Maybe until fifth year and all that jazz. Hell, it could be an exact canon mirror (you could even just start the fic here) right up until the moment when Harry, as part of Neville's ministry crew, gets ahold of the prophecy sphere.

And the shit hits the fan.

(Maybe Wormtail still betrays them, Bella tortures/just whacks the Potters, Sirius goes after Peter, Harry ends up with his only living relatives for mundane reasons instead of magical ones. Incompetency doesn't seem terribly uncommon in the wizarding world, if you know what I mean. Its workable, but might require some suspension of disbelief.)

It may have been done before, but I haven't personally seen it justified like this. If it has, and well... link? ^^

 

Apparently you're balls at coming up with ideas for HP fanfiction too. The premise is so bland any good scenes in the fic would belong in a more original story.

JamesBond!Molly sounds great.

 

Hence why its here, and not in my own notes. I told you, right up there, that the premise was the only different part from all the BWL!Neville cliches.

 

I've been toying with an idea for a couple of years now, but I don't really know how to flesh it or fit it into a story, and it always comes back to me reading this kind of threads.

Harry's Hogwarts letter never reached him, and the Dursleys successfully hid the Wizarding World from him. Vernon's words of "there's not such thing as magic" make a big impact on him, and although he grows out of accidental magic, a part of him still believes it childishly.

However, on Dudley's twelfth birthday, the Dursleys hire an old magician to amuse the guests. Harry is able to see the whole show, and talk to the elderly illusionist, whose enthusiasm makes a deep impression on him.

Part to spite Vernon, part out of that belief that magic has to be real, he starts to dwell in illusionism and sets to become a magician himself, contacting the old magician, starting to visit him at his store. The elderly man encourages him becoming a mentor and a father figure to Harry, who learns from him, spending less and less time at the Dursleys' or School, becoming more of a street urchin and 'wasting' time at the illusionist's shop.

Eventually, when Harry's grown up, the war in the Wizarding World has been going on for a couple of years and Voldemort has been resurrected. Both sides are looking for Harry, whom they might have considered to be dead. A group of Death-Eaters follows a tip found in a muggle newspaper in which there is a photo of Harry on-stage, making an appearance at the old illusionist's shop -when Harry is not present- torturing and killing Harry's father figure.

Harry arrives finding the old man dead as the order of the phoenix (and Dumbledore) apparate into the shop. After much shock, Harry expresses his anger at Dumbledore, and the Wizarding World for not taking care of him when he needed them most, and for taking from him the only person ho treated him as a son years later, but he vows to help them kill Voldemort and his death eaters in retaliation. With little to no knowledge of magic, he will have to use his abilities as an illusionist to overcome his handicap, setting traps, deceiving his antagonist's eyes and using multiple tricks to make his way to Voldemort and finally kill him.

That sets the story up for a "brains over brawn" Harry who'll plan things ahead and use every trick up his sleeve, as simple as they may be, rather than trusting on huge magical potential or prowess. Then, there's also the fact of the resentment he has towards magic and the Wizarding World in general, resulting in a reluctance to learn to use it to battle his enemies.

The problem is that I don't know how to continue this; I need justification for what happens in the Wizarding World while Harry is not there, or a plausible explanation of why Dumbledore didn't go after the Dursleys himself even if Hagrid failed finding them. As I said, it needs development.

 

You could have the stage magician be magical himself, but self-trained or master-apprentice trained under another illusionist (and with no ties to the Magical community), not classically trained in the Hogwarts sense. The stage magician could recognize Harry's magical gifts early and offer to apprentice Harry; the Dursleys, seeing a way to rid themselves of Harry, accept.

The magical system Harry learns is based on subterfuge, misdirection, and a weaving of Harry Potter magic into illusion. In the process of being apprenticed, Harry is obscured from the Magical world by a charm learned by the illusionist to avoid interference from that community (and associated Statute of Secrecy headaches). As a consequence, neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort can locate him by magical means.

You can nerf the "magic woven into illusion" magical system as much as you like for your purposes and ramp up Harry's other skills (insane dexterity, misdirection skills, etc.) This lets you push cleverness over power as much as you like, yet give you a chance to add something more so it's not just Voldemort vs. David Blaine.

 

TMN: That idea sounds really cool- except for the fact that Harry doesn't do magic. The whole appeal of the HP series is the magic, both the wondrous and the darkers aspects of it.

However, I'd definitely read it, if done well. It'll prolly be a bitch to write though.

Pers: hmm... that's an interesting spin on it. Basically a discovery of magic through a different medium. Reminds me of a fic I once read in which Harry tries to emulate magic from Comic Books.

 

Against my better judgement I've decided to emerge from lurking to post an idea that came to me while I was entertaining the thought of writing a fanfic.

It would be a slight HP/Dresden X-over. Harry, seeing Sirius fall through the Veil at the DoM, breaks free of Lupin's grip and rushes after his godfather. My idea is that the Veil turns out to be a portal to the Nevernever, specifically Arctis Tor and the reason that no one ever returns from it is because the fae usually slay anyone who cross over. Harry with his canon luck(TM) ends up landing right in front of Mab who was about to kill/enslave/capture Sirius.

So, Mab recognizing the BWL decides to spare Sirius as a gift to Harry in exchange for favor. Not knowing the ways of the fae, Harry foolishly agrees. So the DoM continues as in canon only with Sirius alive and Harry owing Mab a favor.

The story would then continue during the summer with Harry having a visit from Mab, and her offering him the mantle of Winter Knight. Now knowing the Prophecy, Harry who knows he doesn't stand a chance againt Voldemort accepts the offer. One problem, the power of winter is only meant for one soul to wield.

The Winter power reacts negatively with the horcrux in Harry and splits the power between the two souls, Harry and Voldemort. However, Voldemort who is an even more fractured soul gets only a fifth of his half(after all, He doesn't really need more power does he?), the rest being split across his horcruxes.

Anyway, the story would go on with Harry trying to defeat Voldemort while trying to overcome the darker parts of being Winter Knight(Lloyd Slate was a murderer/rapist/deprived human being after all). And Voldemort would seek out the rest of his horcruxes looking for more new power(thus eliminating the need for a horcrux hunt).

Thats all I got. Meh, thoughts?

 

It's an intriguing idea (and not just because I'm ideating my own Dresden/HP crossover), but I'd think that rather than seize power, Voldemort would seek to rid himself of it if accepting it were to entail subservience to the Unseelie. He bows to nobody, man or fae.

A thought may be for him to seek out someone from the Summer Court--Aurora, perhaps, or Lily, depending on when you want the story to be set in the Dresdenverse, and bargain away the power of the Winter Knight in return for favors. Each boon costs him control over a portion of his soul, yet it may be an acceptable price given Harry's plus-up in power and new allies. Mab wouldn't take the loss of power lightly and would probably both punish Harry and act counter to Voldemort, possibly drawing Harry Dresden into the mix through one of the favors he owes her.

Having Harry be Winter's Champion while Voldemort is an Emissary of Summer could be an interesting change from the way things normally break.

 

Hadn't thought about that, mind if I borrow some of thoses ideas?

 

Not at all; glad I could help. The world needs more good HP/Dresden crossovers.

 

Hmm... I have ideas of varying merit.

HP/DC universe crossover --- Darkseid is searching the universe for the anti-life equation. It just so happens that the wizards of Earth have had it all along: the killing curse. While on Earth, Darkseid's forces detect the curse and relay the information back to Darkseid. The plot would essentially be Darkseid trying to obtain the anti-life equation, and Harry trying to stop him. I'm thinking that this would definitely be an older Harry story, possibly with the Deathly Hallows for a power boost of some sort. Harry could also join forces with some superheros. The story could eventually lead to a full-fledged war on Earth, or a assassination of Darkseid on Apokalyps. (I don't think it matters that Harry has no superpowers, as Superman himself generally has trouble with magic, if I remember correctly.)

Animagus Harry --- This would probably be best suited for the humor genre. Essentially, in one of the later years, Harry has finally completed his Animagus training. However, it turns out that his form is Ron. (Humans essentially are animals, so it could happen.) Harry is pissed that all of his hard work was wasted to become a red-headed prat who is obsessed with food, chess, and quidditch. (These would be "instincts" that he feels while transformed.) The story would probably amount to a bunch of scenes with little connection. He could have trained under Minerva, and have her laugh at his form, finally pushing him over the edge. He could snog Ginny while himself, then in the middle of it transform into Ron and pretend like it was polyjuice wearing off. Ron could be given sub-standard "equipment," wherein Harry would streak through the castle while in Ron form. A different direction could be that Harry believes killing Ron will allow him to gain a new animagus form, as an animagus form is always of a living creature. With Ron dead, Harry would either get a new form or have no form. (Harry's perception of theory could be misguided or not.)


Paragraphs are a precious resource. I support conserving this resource whenever possible by instead using the abundant and renewable block of text.

 

Your second is definitely worth a one-shot. If I may, consider having Hermione learn the animagus transformation too; her form is also Ron. Things get weird when Ron learns the transformation to get back at Hermione and Harry, only to find that his form is himself.

 

I won't make any promises. :awesome

 

rofl (dates me, I know, not to use "lol").

Just do your best. Use WBA here and we'll make it good.

 

Just a thought I recently had...

...but has anybody ever done or seen a fic where Harry is the BWL, Lily and James survived that night, and Harry grows up in much the same manner as the BWL in most TWL fics. You know, absurdly arrogant and spoiled kid who thinks dark wizards will just give up at the first sight of him, etc. etc.

Anyway, eventually of course this spoiled Harry realizes what a douche he is and has to grow up. Perhaps he 'dies' at the graveyard in GoF or something?

Realizing just how inept he is at magic and how few actual friends he has, he tries to fix his life, so on and so forth.


Hmmm, I guess it'd be a mix of Twin-Who-Lived (without the twin) and Indy!Harry (with or without the Indy)...

...is mixing two so abused cliches wise?

 

Where are you going with this, though? He stops being a jerk, befriend some people, get stronger... and then what?

The idea isn't very original, but I don't think it has been done well before, so it could be a good, unique story - but you'll need to thicken the plot.

 

Dudley Dursley had been taught from an early age to be a bully, whether during recess at school, on the local playground during the afternoon, or at home picking on his smaller cousin Harry. By the age of ten he had become the size of someone five years his senior, and easily towered over his malnourished cousin.

But where he punished Harry for sport, his parents treated Harry harshly for another reason - their fear. Dudley wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, he knew that, but even he could see his mother and father's dark glances at their nephew, and more than once he caught the word under his father's breath - magic.

One evening just before his eleventh birthday, Dudley Dursley fell asleep rather early and woke late for school - forgetting to do homework that would ultimately lead to his second parent-teacher conference in a month and a potential suspension. He panicked, wondering what he should do - what he could do, when his eyes fell on his cousin making the final touches on his own work. Grinning cruelly, he waited until Harry went back upstairs to grab his satchel and then erased the name "Harry Potter" from the sheet of paper, replacing it with Dudley Dursley and marching out the front door, happily walking up the street towards his school.

Harry returned downstairs to find his homework gone, and immediately knew who had taken it. Berating himself for being as stupid as to leave his homework lying within reach of Dudley, he stood stock still in the kitchen contemplating his next move. Petunia, his aunt, fussed at him and told him to get a move on, literally kicking him out the door and sending him on his way.

As he walked he wished and prayed with all his heart that he could get his paper back, and as he reached the schoolhouse he was struggling to hold his tears in, knowing he was about to anger his favorite teacher - the very nice and quite pretty Miss Jenkins, a young woman who had once lent him her own snack just because he didn't have one.

When he reached the class he sat down behind from Dudley, preferring both to stay away from him and sit somewhere he couldn't see his much larger cousin's huge smile. The teacher came in a few minutes later, her eyes lingering on Harry's dirty clothes and teary eyes, before calling role and asking everyone to pass in their homework.

Hoping to post-pone the inevitable, Harry reached into his rucksack, digging around for a moment. His folders were tidy and the one beaten up binder he owned was organized, but he was surprised to find a sheet of paper unwrinkled just inside. He pulled it out and examined it, his mouth dropping wide open when he realized that it was his homework that Dudley had stolen! Giddy with surprise he passed it in quickly.

Dudley opened his bag, still smirking and carrying on a conversation with his best friend Piers, only to find that his - well, his cousin's - homework was no longer in the bag! He whipped his head around, catching Harry turning in the paper, and assumed that his cousin must have stolen it back from him somehow. Angry, he jumped out of his seat and stomped over to his cousin, ripping the homework from his outstretched hand and declaring "This is mine, you freak! How dare you steal it from my bag!"

The class quieted down immediately and the teacher, Miss Jenkins, calmly walked over to the two boys - the red-faced Dudley Dursley and his counterpart, the very pale looking Harry Potter. Asking to see the paper for herself, she took one glance at it and then turned her disapproving eyes back to the now-smirking Dudley.

"It's very bad to lie and steal, Mr. Dursley," she said, pointing out the name at the top of the page. "This is obviously Harry's homework."

Harry and Dudley were both confused at this information, but neither could deny the name on the page. Miss Jenkins continued, "I think it's time for another parent-teacher conference, Mr. Dursley. I'll be contacting them this evening. Now, go back to your seat."

(Harry learns he has abnormal abilities a bit early, and begins using them to do simple things like speed up his homework and protect himself from bullies. Before school lets out for the summer he has built up a loyal albeit small circle of friends from the Little Whinging area, and has both more self-confidence and a form of protection against the Dursleys - who are now more concerned with keeping Dudley from failing school than making sure Harry gets he fair share of abuse. Harry spends most of the summer experimenting with his magic before receiving his Hogwarts letter.)

 

Sounds like just another Young!Harry Learns Magic Early fics, although with an intriguing and well thought-out start.

Most of the other fics are kinda crappy however, many authors can't decide if they want Harry to be Super or not, and let their shipping preferences destroy characterisations. So I definitely wouldn't mind a well-executed fic of this kind.

 

Every magical child Harry fic I've read has had him with no friends. It'd be interesting to see one with them, but I can't quite see the muggle children who have hated/feared Harry for a few years suddenly liking him, especially once he starts exhibiting freakishness.

If it could be done well, though, I'd definitely read it.

 

This took way too long to write.


-AU derailing from canon at the beginning of the graveyard scene from GoF.-

Peter Pettigrew, while apparently a bit cunning and capable of becoming an Animagus, has rarely been portrayed as a powerful wizard or a competent dueler. In canon, he manages to kill Cedric and capture Harry once they enter the graveyard. However, what if Cedric was a bit more aware of his surroundings? In this AU Cedric dodges Peter's first AK, leading to a battle between the two of them while Harry attempts to fight off the headache caused by his scar. Eventually Harry manages to throw off the pain long enough to send a spell at Peter, distracting him long enough for Cedric to stun him. Harry quickly realizes who is inhabiting the nearby sack of blankets, and he sends Cedric back to fetch Dumbledore. The rest as they say, is history.

Dumbledore contains Voldemort within his homunculus and gives him over for study to the Department of Mysteries. Fudge awards Cedric and Harry several Orders of Merlin each, declaring how he always was the biggest fan of the BWL and that peace for all wizard kind had finally been reached. Cedric graduates and goes on to follow on with his father at the Ministry, seeming like a man who will finish near the top. Harry continues on with his years at Hogwarts, leading a happy life as a simple teenager who as already accomplished a heck of a lot.

The End

Except not.

During the First War, there was an up and coming muggleborn Ravenclaw by the name of Alexander Van Lith. He was a stereotypical genius Ravenclaw, studious and obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge. Up until 5th year. That was when his parents were killed by Death Eaters. As you might imagine, this changes poor Alexander, who up until this point had little ambition. Alexander begins to believe that his beloved magical world, which until recently was such a source of knowledge to him, was in fact a massive gun cocked and pointed at the head of all the poor innocent muggles in the world. He decides that the only way to protect everybody else is if he is the one in charge of the magical world; the supreme leader. However, he knows that as a muggleborn he'll never have a chance to gain power the nice or even the legal way due to pureblood bias, and he doesn't have the pure power or dueling talent that would allow him to become a true dark lord, so he begins to assemble a library of knowledge about all of the significant players and their various indiscretions and habits along with an arsenal of dark spells, the more ancient and complicated the better.

Some time before Voldemort's first fall, Alexander is attacked by a small death eater raiding party led by Malfoy. When they attempt to take him down (using spells that are usually hard to block, but not at the unforgivable level), he responds with first an obscure shield that manages to stop all of the spells heading his way, and then he responds in kind with an unknown spell that penetrates the shields that the death eaters put up, killing two of them and leaving a wounded Malfoy to flee. Once Voldemort learns of this, he is not angry but rather curious, as he has never heard of the spells Alexander used either. Voldemort arranges to meet with Alexander and, once Alexander expresses some interest in becoming a Death Eater in exchange for knowledge, brings him back to Riddle Manor. Alexander of course has no intention of becoming a Death Eater, but the prospect of possibly killing a man who is one of his biggest obstacle in his quest for power is too great to pass up. Voldemort decides to show Alexander his own private library within the mansion, as he recognizes that Alexander could easily create powerful spells for him if given the opportunity. While in the library Voldemort brags about some of the one of a kind titles he has situated in it. A report from another raid require's Voldemort's attention, and Alexander takes the opportunity to setup a series of onetime wards. As soon as Voldemort returns Alexander activates the wards, causing a bolt of lightning to go straight through Voldemort's chest. While this would be enough to kill an ordinary man, the various dark rituals Voldemort has gone through allow him to survive to blow. Alexander, knowing that even if Voldemort is wounded he doesn't stand a chance, activates a second set of wards that momentarily overcharges the wards of the manor, allowing him to apparate to safety. Knowing that he probably just got put pretty high on Voldemort's list of people to kill, he leaves the country, embarking on a journey to learn as much as he can about magic, especially runes and wards (his specialty). Voldemort goes on to get his ass kicked by a mother's love.

Fast forward thirteen years. Alexander has been all over the world, and along the way he has been developing a devastating series of wards. However, completion of his masterpiece requires knowledge that he has only found references to. Apparently it lies within a book whose sole remaining copy was last seen decades ago. Fortunately, he knows where it is; within the Riddle Manor library. Alexander decides to return to England to complete his arsenal and begin his conquest. He arrives in Little Hangleton three days after the 3rd task of the Triwizard Tournament.

In canon, Alexander walks right up to Riddle Manor and opens the front door, as he thinks it abandoned. However, this sets off a minor ward that alerts Voldemort, who allows Alexander to get further into the Manor before raising the full ward set, preventing apparation. He then quickly confronts Alexander, and although he puts up a fight, without time to but together his ward traps he quickly falls to the Dark Lord. Voldemort thinks nothing of it, as it is merely the first of his old foes to fall, and he proceeds with his usual plans, eventually falling to a seventeen year old wizard with little training because his wand didn't like him.

In this AU, Alexander walks right up to Riddle Manor and opens the front door, as he thinks it abandoned. Which it is. He proceeds to go to the library, ransack it, and then leave.

Fast forward three years. Harry is graduating from Hogwarts, and he intends to become an Auror. However, the BWL is a powerful political icon and while at Hogwarts he was essentially a non factor, now that he is entering the government there will be a number of forces looking to control, manipulate, or destroy him:

Fudge has used the capture of Voldemort to further his control of the government, and the BWL could either be a great boon or a great threat to him...

The unconvicted Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, and other pureblood hardliners aren't fans of Harry, and their influence within the Ministry has not waned due to their deep pocketbooks and Fudge's incompetence...

Alexander has been working around the edges of the power structure, gaining a minor following and plenty of ways with which he could control or at least influence powerful individuals. However, if he could manipulate the BWL...

And finally, Barty Crouch Jr., insane but powerful and intelligent, managed to slip away in the chaos of Voldemort's capture, using Moody's body to make it appear as if a spider within the maze had managed to kill him. A review of the facts has made Dumbledore suspicious, but he still doesn't know who the impostor was. Crouch is free to lurk in the shadows, forever searching for a way to free his master...

End Plot Setup Description.


Obviously most of the info given would not be stated explicitly, especially at the beginning of the story, but instead told through flashbacks and interludes. The complexity of the story probably would require it to use multiple viewpoints throughout the story. It obviously is a darker fic, and a lot of Harry's friends will probably die or betray him as the antagonists begin to make more open moves. Keeping the Horcruxes is a possibility, as it opens up the opportunity for Crouch to become possessed by one of them, but "Hunting for Horcuxes" wouldn't be necessary as the main piece of Voldemort's soul is locked up tight in the Department of Mysteries. The Deathly Hallows probably wouldn't make an appearance, but who knows.

This story could also be done without the invention of Alexander Van Lith (who I suppose might be written as an evil Mary Sue), just with keeping the other three antagonistic forces mentioned, but it would change how the story would progress. Right now I could see the initial interactions being very political and shadowy, while later on Alexander would gain enough influence and troops to begin a sort of guerrilla war within the magical world. Without him, I'm not sure where to take the plot, as the major interactions would all be backstabbing with the exception of whatever scheme Crouch is up to.


Anyways, that's one of the ideas I've got floating around in my head. Since I'm very lazy and have never actually written anything, any accomplished writer who wants to have a go at it is more than welcome to as long as they inform me first and say where they got the initial idea for the plot. Changes to the plot can of course be made, but if similarities remain then I'd like at least some credit for it.