I will attempt to get straight to the point, as I want to get this challenge down, but I don't have much time to do it.

Challenge 1:

As Harry Potter lies in a hospital bed deep within the heart of St. Mungo's, surrounded by armored guards, the Death Eaters (without the guidance of their newly deceased leader) fight on. Thousands of bodies lie across the fields from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, some bloodied and dying and most already deceased. When the last curse flies, killing Bellatrix Lestrange, it is from Ron Weasley's wand. He assists in the clean-up of the aftermath while Harry is fighting back death in the hospital.

Days later, Harry awakes and, after hearing about the loss of some of his closest friends and confidantes, is heart-broken. Believing that if he could have been stronger and faster he might have saved them all (this is a canon-like belief) he takes off from St. Mungo's.

Years pass, and, as one of the hardest struck families in the war against Voldemort, they have been torn apart. After the death of Charlie and Bill Weasley (alongside Fleur Delacour), and the subsequent suicide of Ginny Weasley (distraught from losing Harry), Molly Weasley slowly descends into depression and then death. Arthur has continued his job in the Muggle Artifacts department, even praised as a war-hero, but the stress of losing his family has caused him to snap, living each day as if it was a day in the past.

Fred and George Weasley, wanting to forget everything, have moved away, still owning WWW but having little to no contact with Ron. Percy Weasley is still deeply entrenched in the Ministry, and has even less contact with Ron.

Hermione, after the battle, lived for days in the hospital room next to Harry's, but eventually passed in the arms of her lover. Her last words were, "Take care of Harry...".

-----

Ron Weasley, riding on the wave of power given to him as a "Defender of the Light", takes over as DADA teacher at Hogwarts, and, as the years past and Minerva McGonagall longs to step down, he becomes the Headmaster. His power has grown substansially over the years, due to a longing for knowledge arising from Hermione's influence and subsequent death.

Years pass in relative safety in the Wizarding World, but as a new and darker villain lurks on the horizon, Harry comes back to London, and Ron is preparing to confront it.

Rules:

1. Harry has, for the most part, gotten over his emotional issues (but a relapse during situation that reminds him of the first war would be fine). He will be afraid to lose comrades or friends, but not so that he jumps in the way of curses for them.

2. Ron hates Harry for what happened to his family, and will forever hold a grudge over Hermione's last words. Harry doesn't understand this at first, but will come to know it and accept it.

3. There will be 3 sides in this war. Ron with Ministry and Hogwarts support, Harry with a select group of individuals (some DA members like Luna and Neville, some OOTP members like Tonks and Remus, and a strong contingent of OCs and rarely used characters from the series), and a third-party that is Voldemort-esque but runs more so on quick, stealthy strikes and terror.

4. The third-party will be less-concerned with Pureblooded wizardry and more concerned with money, power and respect. Allies with classified dark creatures and Goblins, thus creating a Wizarding/Goblin rebellion of sorts.

5. Relationships are fine; preferably OC, Luna or Tonks. Only someone who can play the background while Harry deals with real-world issues. Don't babble at me woman!

Challenge 2.

This is more of a thought than a real challenge, but if turned into some sort of story, it would be interesting and different. This thought came from the fanon assumption that, just because Lily was "especially good at charms" makes her some sort of Unspeakable who works from home.

Basically, my idea is that, when a witch is pregnant, her magical powers should not be used at all, or at least, not often. So when Lily is pregnant, James is constantly doing the magic around the house and she is often left wandless. When Voldemort finally comes, she fears for her and her sons life and, having no other choice, grabs her wand to fight. She duels with Voldemort, releasing a large amount of power. Then Voldemort, frustrated that a pregnant woman has actually gotten the jump on him, releases the most powerful stunning spell he has. It hits her, but as she lies ready to be killed, Dumbledore arrives, saving her.

Thus, when Harry is born, the strain from Lily losing so much power has left him nearly a Squib. Tested at a very young age, it is found that he has little to no magic left, and Lily is torn.

Now there are two paths this story can take.

1. Lily commits suicide at what she has done. When Voldemort comes to kill Harry due to the prophecy, the same sort of effect as canon happens, except Harry has a reaction that absorbs the power and makes him as strong as Voldemort, while Voldemort is expelled from his body.

2. My favorite is: James and Lily still raise the boy, angry at him and themselves, and treat him like shit. Etc. The day arrives when it's time to go to Hogwarts, and he doesn't get to go and doesn't understand why. He finds he's near squib level because of what his mom did, and the rage of being cheated like this, accompanied with the years of abuse, causes him to prepare a ritual sacrifice involving his parents that will give him their power. The power that he deserves...

Yeah. Cool shit.

 

The first challenge is rather implausible from several aspects - Ron Weasley becoming the headmaster, Harry (recently arrived from god knows where) managing to gather a group that's semi-opposed to the headmaster of Hogwarts, the evil agenda being something as vague as 'money, respect & power', etc... Also, the idea requires too much more effort and writing (at least 200K words) than it can pay off with what it offers.

The second one is much better IMO; shorter, more original and to the point.

 

I see what you're saying about the first challenge, ip, but is it really that implausible? I do believe it would have to be a long story--unless someone skips major plot points--but..

It's more like this... Harry has come back into a wizarding world that has experienced years of peace somewhat like the eleven years before Harry came to Hogwarts, thanks in part to a Ron Weasley who threw himself into revival and renewal projects to keep his mind off of Hermione's passing. But, in the last year or so, there has been a Goblin uprising of sorts--angry because Werewolves, Centaurs and the like have been given more freedoms recently due to pressure from Ron and a Wizengamot free of most Dark Pureblood influence, while they have been overlooked despite running the Wizarding World's only bank--and the Goblins have been backed by some of the Dark Purebloods that have lost power and want it again. With control of the Wizarding World's money, this "third-party" has a huge fist to swing at the Ministry. (I realize that is a lot of back-story, but... fuck it.)

Ron has allied himself with the Ministry and the Wizengamot, better than Dumbledore ever did, as the Minister is more or less in his pocket. It's not too implausible, in my opinion, to think that a Ron Weasley who has lost everything he's ever known would push himself in every way possible, if only to forget the bad memories. But with his power, and the hatred he now holds for Harry, he's out to get him as well as the Dark Wizards.

When Harry steps foot in England he has no idea about any of this. Eventually he comes to realize it all and goes to the only people he thinks he can trust--Luna, Neville, etc.-- and, being as worldly wise as he is and NOT AN IDIOT, calls in favors for help. Thus, if he is attacked or arrested, he's got allies to back him up.

Still, Harry doesn't want the "bad-guys" to take over, so he's fighting them in his own way. So, in a way, he makes his own Order of the Phoenix to protect him from the Ministry and at the same time combat the "third-party".

I'll explain more if necessary--I've got to go right now.

 

So basically you've got Ron in control of Hogwarts and the Ministry, fighting Dark Wizards in a Barty Crouch Sr-esque manner and Harry because he hates him. Then you've got a bunch of power hungry Dark Wizards who are leading an army of dark creatures/goblins to take over the Wizarding World. After all that you've got a clueless Harry, who steps into Britain for the first time in years and is immediately attacked by Aurors and other Ron-friendly people.

Sounds like a good challenge, though it would be a huge project for anyone who takes it on.

Second challenge is alright, but it just doesn't tickle my fancy too much.

Aekiel

 

The second challenge would really be no different then any other AU with Harry's parents still alive, just that the beginning would be a little different. Everyone makes a smarter, more powerful Harry if they make a 1st year story because canon Harry is a pissant, so it's just another original way to do the exact same thing as always.

IMO the first one has a lot of potential for the longer winded writers that I've seen. You know, the ones that like to Stephen King the hell out of their stories with over-bearing descriptive detail.

 

My original idea with the second challenge was to make it so that, since Lily was using a lot of magic during her pregnancy either to save her life or out of negligence, it warped Harry in some way. Of course, this could be a mental or physical retardation... but I think I speak for all of DLP when I say, I hate retards...



But really, a magical deformity of some kind would be cool. I won't go into detail because really, I don't have any... but if it was something that made him powerful and or added a sense of drama to the story...

Maybe he is trying to hide this side of him or it shows up at inopportune moments.

Also, a fic where Harry sacrificed his parents in order to grow magically would fit the mold of Dark!Harry quite well (This would work best with a Lily Potter who's negligence caused Harry's deformity). I can't say that I have seen that in any other fics.