Last night I was inspired, surprisingly I might add, by a thirty second trailer for the movie Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon. From what I could gather from the short clip, Kevin's son is murdered for no reason and, when the case goes to court, it is dismissed. Enraged by the apparent lack of justice and knowing full well that the man is guilty, Kevin tracks the murderer down and brings ten kinds of pain down on him.

And then the shit hits the fan.

I'm taking the liberty to change and expand this idea, applying it to Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is the most popular man in all of Wizarding Britain, on a fast track to Head of the Auror Office. In the six years since the fall of Voldemort, Harry has celebrated each year with the capture of one of Voldemort's inner circle (the author may decide which Death Eaters to include). The amount of good that he, alongside a number of new recruits he has trained himself, has done for the betterment of the Wizarding World is unmatched in modern times.

But great deeds in turn bring about even greater enemies, and as Harry calls his oldest son in for dinner on Christmas Eve, he catches a glimpse of a man approaching his smiling son from behind. Panicking he calls for his son, but before his son can do anything more than frown at him confusedly, the man (not a convicted Death Eater for reasons to be revealed) pulls a knife and slices it through his sons' pale throat. A deadly sneer and a wave of his wand later, the man is gone into the night as suddenly as he had appeared.

Cradling the body of his dying heir he watches in vain as the boy shudders and lies lifeless, his boyish good looks and white skin gleaming in the moonlight. Nearly blind with rage and pain and cringing against the screams of his wife (although I wrote this challenge with the Epilogue in mind, it is not necessary for his wife to be Ginny, as I know many of you do not degree with her), he swears revenge against the man, whoever he is.

As months pass, the unbridled fury and hatred for this man has grown, causing Harry to withdraw more and more into his work at the expense of his family. His misguided belief is that as soon as he brings justice upon this man he will be able to put the past to rest.

But before he can find this unnamed man, the very man is arrested for minimalistic charges (at the most a month in Azkaban) and, though Harry tries to prove the man is responsible for his son's death, none will head his frantic claims.

In the short time since his son's death, Harry has lost considerable prestige amongst members of both the Ministry and the Wizengamot. Many believe he has lost his mind, and when he tries to pin the death of his son on this man (son to a wealthy, if shady, businessman in Eastern Europe), the Wizengamot marks it up to the toll this tragedy has taken on Harry. With Harry sitting not twenty feet from him in court, the man is set free of all charges, and upon being escorted out the door by his expensively tailored father, targets Harry with the same sneer that is etched so deeply into Harry's psyche.

Almost immediately afterwards, Harry sets his plan into action: regardless of the consequences, this man killed his son, and for that, he must die. He plans a work trip to Eastern Europe, kisses his wife goodbye, and travels directly to mans house. When the man answers the knock at the door, immediately Harry:

1. Immobilizes him and tortures him extensively, leaving blood and body parts across the flat.

2. Fights and, eventually, overpowers the man and murders him in his own home.

Afterwards, upon searching the man's apartment for more clues about anyone else who may be linked to his son's murder, he discovers extensive connections between this man's father and the late Tom Riddle, as well as the six Death Eaters Harry has had sentenced to death (life in Azkaban? Dementor's kiss? Something creative?). Morbidly intrigued, but figuring his job to be finished, he spends another night in (whatever Eastern European city) and travels back to his home, greeting his wife with a kiss and a soft smile.

But one week later, while sitting at his desk contemplating his cup of coffee, he receives a distressing package in the mail, containing a solitary picture: one of he and his remaining family with X's across their faces in blood red ink. Even more terrifying is the Dark Mark located on the opposite side and two words: the name of the hotel room he spent the night in and, written again in red ink, the next day's date.


Challenge:

1. Write a thriller with this basic storyline: Harry must protect his wife and two remaining children while at the same time hunting down the same people who are now attempting to kill him and his family.

2. The only clues Harry has of who to kill are these: the name of his son's murderer's father and the name of the last remaining member of Voldemort's Inner Circle, the one he has not been able to track down and put away.

3. Romance is not a completely necessary part of this story, but it would be nice to dramatize the situation by giving a brief glimpse of the relationship between him and his wife, and his two remaining children.

4. Harry is one of the most powerful wizards (if not the most experienced or knowledgeable) and has also gone borderline insane. Thus, he is unafraid to kill, so expect him to be throwing around some pretty deadly shit. However, he is not infallible and if he's fighting people equal to him, or more than one wizard, he should take a beating. No katanas please.

5. The action scenes should read like action scenes. Movie style action scenes. Cars are falling from skyscrapers kind of action. Blow a lot of shit up.

6. Harry can use outside sources to get by, but I'd prefer if you didn't use Ron or Hermione at all. While I'm sure they are upset that their godson has been killed, they aren't going to travel across Europe to track down the killer. If Aurors are used, make sure it is done in a feasible way: A Senior Auror, for the most part, is not going to kill a man that has no blatant connection to a crime. Harry can, however, use the Aurors for information.

7. The story title, is of course, negotiable, but Death Sentence would make the most sense, considering the inspiration for the Challenge.

Other than that, make this a great story. Maybe you'll want to kill off his family; maybe, in the end, Harry kills the last bad guy at the his own peril.

Maybe both.

 

Ya, I saw the trailer for this movie the other day. It looks like an awesome plotline for a movie, and if used correctly, an awesome plotline for a HP fic.

This is a very good idea, and well thought out challenge. It has the ability to produce a really great fic.

Insane!Harry has always been a favorite of mine, and this give's a probable reason for his insanity. Lots of killing, with only revenge in mind. How can you go wrong.

Good challenge Averis.

 

Haters.

Everytime you see this and don't reply, baby Jesus pops a stiffy.

Don't. Just don't.

 

Sorry for not posting! The first time I looked at it I read it through but it was something like four in the morning and I needed my beauty sleep... I assure you, I need a lot of extra of that.

Now, I actually love this challenge! Most likely because it is actually a good, solid plot and I haven't read a story that seemed to be based on one of those in a long time... I see really good settings and characterization and even some really cool plot ideas like new forms of magic and stuff but it isn't often that I see a really solid plot.

The only problem is that this is a thriller type challenge. And there aren't many fanfiction authors that have the skills to do a thriller. Romance is easy. You just have to have a good sense of what is romantic and will make the reader go 'ahh'. But a thriller is supposed to get the heart pumping. I don't think I've ever read a fanfiction that got my heart pumping the way a good thriller novel can.

But I do think that you've put this challenge up in the right place. If any group of fanfiction authors has the ability to write this, it's the authors here at DLP.

 

This is a really good challenge, I would definitely read it if someone took it up. I also agree that this story should be sufficiently AU that the new Mrs. Potter isn't Gin-Gin, preferably someone that actually has a figure, say Daphne or Susan, for example.