What do you think?
Agramahad
Almost forgot to add this. Not that it would really matter as anyone
who reads this has probably read all the books anyway. For those of
you who haven't STOP READING because you've obviously gotten lost.
Plus I talk about the ending of the series for a bit too.
Well. Lets get the ball rolling then.
What made me want to try to write a story myself was my disappointment
in the canon Harry having no real skill or power. Something that the
prophecy said he should have had. He was a slightly above average
student at best. Certainly not someone who should have been able to
kill 'The most powerful Dark Lord for centuries'.
Plus the way that Harry won I found absolutely ridicules. If you think
about it you should know why. Well, maybe it isn't obvious to
everyone. We're all individuals after all so I guess I'll tell you
what I was thinking. Actually what I'll tell you is that for a Dark
Lord, Voldemort wasn't thinking very much at all. Neither was
Dumbledore.
Voldemort, for someone who for most of Book Seven controlled Wizarding
Britain, is an idiot. And Dumbledore seemed to trust luck more than
anything else that Harry would win.
I'll explain.
In the book Voldemort cast the killing curse at Harry while Harry cast
the disarming spell.
This was after Harry told him about Harry being the true master of the
Elder Wand Voldemort held.
This is also after he cast and hit Harry with the killing curse not
more than an hour ago with the very same wand.
There is also the fact that the very first time Voldemort cast the
killing curse at Harry it rebounded and kill him.
His actions at that time don't really make any sense to me. Yes
Voldemort was angry. More likely he was bloody furious. But in the end
he acted more like a Gryffindor than a Slytherin.
And don't tell me that Dumbledore knew for a fact how it would all
turn out. He couldn't. Not with what he knew about Voldemort and his
tendency to torture people. Not with how ambiguous the prophecy was.
It said 'The one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord' Not 'The one
who will defeat the Dark Lord.' Plus the whole 'Neither can live while
the other survives' seems to indicate that the chances of each wining
is about 50/50. Though of course you can try to influence that.
Personally, if I was Voldemort, I would have conjured a spike from the
ground and impaled Harry with it when he gave himself up in the
forest. Lets see him wake up and walk around with a hole the size of a
fist through his chest shall we?
Not that I wanted Voldemort to win, its just that it seems that Harry
Potter is the luckiest bastard who ever lived. In general a plan never
survives first contact with the enemy. Seeing as Harry never actually
had a plan it never seemed to matter. He just decides roughly what he
wants to do and then does the Gryffindor (Charges in and blunders
about wildly) How all three of them managed to survive book seven is
beyond me.
I'll stop now before I continue with my rant. I'm here to talk about
my story ideas so without further ado...
The first thing I wanted to do in my story is give Harry time to train
along with a method and the motivation. The problem with that is I
need a stimulus to give him that motivation. I need facilities and
equipment with which to train him. I also need time.
I've read a hell of a lot of time travel stories.
They all say the same thing. Harry won the war in the end but at
terrible cost blah blah blah blah. Most fan fiction authors can invent
rules for time travel because, nine times out of ten, time travel
doesn't play any part of the canon, so no one knows the rules.
This isn't so in the Harry Potter world. They have time travellers
courtesy of the time turners. They have rules. Rules that lead to
sever consequences should they be broken.
What I finally need is a way to introduce all three of the above
(Time, Method and Motivation) at a single point in the Harry potter
stories so that it slips almost seamlessly from canon to fan fiction.
Fortunately there is one occasion, and I think it's the only one. It
happens in book five almost at the very end.
Before I continue I will say this. I'm currently re reading book five
to refresh my memory of things, I may do a little of book four too,
and I probably wont be writing much of this story until I finish doing
that. I need my characters in character after all.
Just after Bellatrix kills Sirius she takes a slightly different route
back through the department of mysteries. She tries escaping through
the time room. A simple curse thrown over her shoulder at Harry could
send him diving for cover. Unfortunately she's sending loads of them
back over her shoulder and one happens to strike the device Harry just
dived towards. Whether that's the time turner cabinet on its backwards
trip through its destruction or some other device that contains time
magic doesn't really matter.
Voila. Instant temporal anomaly.
I liked the idea of sending him back in time three years. Why three
years? Well when I first thought of it for some reason I thought that
time turners can take you back a maximum of three days. I have no idea
where that came from but I took it as fact. Well I initially thought
about having a curse react badly with the cabinet that was full of
time turners and the event drained all the turners magic sending him
back three years. I think it mentioned that there looked to be
hundreds of them in the cabinet.
But using this method only supplied me with Motivation and Time not
Method. Time turners don't transport you anywhere so Harry would have
appeared in the time room three years in the past, would probably be
detected, then captured, questioned and finally detained until they
could decide what to do about it.
Not acceptable.
Then I thought of a way to time travel that could provide Method plus
throw in a few other bonuses.
If Bella's spell hit a device containing time magic and the hit caused
it to detonate...
What if, three years in the past, in a magical research department in
the tropics, an experiment was being conducted that, completely
coincidentally of course, had the exact same temporal signature as the
blast that just consumed Harry Potter.
What if alarms started going off in that department and the staff were
terrified of what was happening when, suddenly, Harry Potter suddenly
appeared (Not sure if I should go with the terminator thing and have
him naked).
He appears three years in the past (Harry rescued Ginny from the
chamber maybe a week or so before he arrived) in a magical laboratory
somewhere tropical. I say somewhere because I haven't really decided
where yet. I just know two things, It has to be somewhere tropical and
somewhere voodoo is practiced, or at least known.
Why voodoo magic? Simple really. It deals with the dead and souls and
therefore a practitioner of voodoo magic may sense or somehow detect
the soul fragment inside Harry. Eventually I'm toying with the idea
that the fragment he possesses may be used to locate the other pieces
of Voldemort's soul. But if anyone can come up with a different idea
then I'm all ears.
As for the tropical part. In book four, when Sirius was on the run,
I'm pretty sure that a few of the letters Harry received from Sirius
were delivered by a tropical bird and I like the idea of Harry running
onto Sirius after he already witnessed his death. I think that meeting
would sufficiently galvanise Harry to push himself as hard as he could
in his training.
And NO. I'm not going to have Harry save his life. As I've said Time
Travel in Harry Potter has rules. That's not to say he isn't going to
think about saving Sirius. Its just that on one hand he lets him die
and the world continues on as normal. Or he saves Sirius and would
most likely create the paradox that would either kill him, destroy the
world or maybe everything.
I'm actually coming to the end of all the things that I know I'm going
to stick in the story. I've still got loads of ideas and such for
things to do, powers to be wielded and so forth but nothing concrete
that's going in.
As for the rest of my ideas. Its certainly going to be a Harry Ginny
story. My Harry is going to be sufficiently darker than in canon, I
cant say exactly how he's going to turn out as I have yet to finish re
reading book five. But from what I can remember of Harry's meeting
with Dumbledore after the ministry incident, he certainly isn't happy
the way things turned out. Add to that the fact that its going to be,
for Harry, three years before he sees anyone he knows in the UK again.
He will also have to live with the fact that, given his trip back in
time, he cannot save Sirius without risking a paradox that could,
worse case scenario, wipe out the universe.
That still doesn't include anything else he goes through in those
three years.
As for the numerous Horcrux that Voldemort has made I've got partial
plans for them in the pipeline. The diary has been destroyed. Harry
will discover that he is one in his first year after the accident.
Whether I remove it then or do something similar to the books I have
no idea yet. I figure he can take care of the ring any time during his
repeat of the fifth year of Hogwarts. I think Mundingus also took the
locket halfway through the fifth year so maybe Harry could disguise
himself and obtain it from him somehow. Or maybe he took it when he
took the silver after the death of Sirius in which case visiting 12
Grimmuld Place
If I have Harry kidnap Bellatrix in the ministry after the death of
Sirius then he could very well discover that the cup is in her vault.
The reason for the kidnap would probably be to see what information he
can find out about Voldemort's plans and forces so he could stumble on
the Horcrux accidentally.
That just leaves the diadem in Hogwarts and Nagini with Voldemort.
Hogwarts is too busy during the school year for an infiltration.
Outside the school year Dumbledore would most likely be there. And if
not, then as headmaster of the school I'm sure he would become almost
instantly aware of any trespass.
So that covers all the Horcrux Voldemort created. I still have to work
out what the hell is going to happen when Harry catches back up to
when he left though. Should I have him rejoin everyone back in
Hogwarts as a student and try to keep everything a secret? Or should
he come clean with a few people or should some find out regardless?
I suppose a lot of those answers would automatically resolve
themselves while writing the story.
Seeing as Slughorn would be superfluous to finding out about the
existence of numerous Horcrux. Plus the fact that Dumbledore wouldn't
be able to find the ring between the fifth and sixth book because
Harry already took care of it, means Dumbledore wouldn't get cursed
and Snape could stay as potions professor. I was toying with the idea
of having Tonks as the DADA professor but I'm currently not sure about
it.
My reasoning for this move? Damn it, I just cant help it. Maybe it's
the way my mind works but I cant help but picture Tonks and Ginny tag
teaming the new Harry to find out what he's hiding. Amongst other
things. And NO, I don't plan on turning it into Harry does Hogwarts.
Besides when Harry has caught back up to when the accident took place
he's four years older than Ginny and four years younger than Tonks and
as far as I'm aware Tonks and Ginny get along together.
To bring up something completely different does it actually say
anywhere in the books that Gabrielle is defiantly eight years old?
Because as far as I can remember it isn't mentioned at all. It says
that she looks to be about eight years old. But since there is no
primary school for wizards wouldn't Gabrielle have stayed at home with
her family. Would her family have let her disappear for almost a year
visiting another country with her sister? And more importantly wasn't
Gabrielle wearing the Beauxbatons uniform when she arrived? Yes these
could all have explanations. But seeing as I could get served in the
pub near my high school when I was in my third year without being
asked for ID, (At least until my PE teacher busted me one lunch hour)
and on my eighteenth birthday a mate, who was two years older than me,
couldn't get into the club the rest of us went into, even with ID.
Couldn't it also mean that Gabrielle is older than she looks? I at
least picture her being in her first year of Beauxbatons.
Sorry about that but its always bugged me.
Anyway. I cant think of anything else that I want to add to this at
the moment but I'm sure I've given all of you who read this enough to
think about. Please feel free to discuss, reply or shout at me for
talking (typing???) too much.
Before I forget. A few minor points I feel the need to mention
regarding some of the characters. Please note I'm only going to
mention those who are going to be showing something of a change.
Actually I don't think I have to. My view of most of the characters is
pretty much that of those in the story 'Taking Control'. I'm sure that
most of you who read this have already read that story. Though I'm not
going down the almost standard 'Snape is an evil git' route. Plus
Harry is most certainly going to be different from the Harry in Taking
Control.
I'm also open for suggestions as to what Harry can do to Umbridge
before Dumbledore manages to enter the forest to rescue her.
I suppose I should recheck this post for errors and such but its half
one in the morning and I need to be up early tomorrow so I'm not going
to bother this time. It also doesn't help that I've had a bit to
drink. Hey, it's the weekend.
Any comments welcome.
And to those of you who think I may have said too much. Don't worry
about it. If someone wants to try their own version of what I've
written it doesn't matter to me. All I want to read are decent
stories. So if someone manages to write a better version of this story
then I won't hold it against them. I would like credit for the idea
though. That is if this is original. I certainly haven't come across a
story quite like what I've described yet anyway. Also, writing all
this down has helped me make up my mind regarding a few matters and
also gave me several new ideas. Not that I wrote all my ideas down
here anyway. Gotta hold something back to surprise people.
I really am finishing this post now because I feel I have gone on long
enough.
Hmmm, I wonder if this post is big enough to warrant its own page on
the forum?
I also wonder how long the responses to this new topic will be.
Bye for now and please tell me what you think about all of this.
And holy crap it's now half past three! Where the hell does all the
time go? It's a conspiracy I tell you!
eblac...@yahoo.com
everything,but this idea, wow. i was thinking the same thing about
deathly hallows. i seemed like she just wanted to get it over with.
but i love your idea, have you written any of it, when are you
planning to write any of it. o my god, it is a great idea and have
all these thoughts runing through my head. i am so excited.
wotsfreek
thought into it. The main problem I see with this is; if Harry
continued to age normally after he was sent back three years, he would
be 3 years older in appearance to all of his friends. I'm not sure if
you are planning to have him maybe go back to the DOM and rejoin
everyone without them really knowing he went back in time or what,
so...
Agramahad
First of all Eblack. That you for your enthusiastic response. Its nice
to know that people like my ideas. And as for when I'm going to start
writing it?
Well, I've written a small introduction so far. Nothing beyond that
I'm afraid at this time. I'm going to flesh out the story and my ideas
a little more before I really get into it. I'm hoping that talking
about it on this site will get the creative juices flowing a bit more.
And as for your concerns Wotsfreek, I don't think it would play too
big a part. Granted three years would have passed for Harry but I
think it would change his personality more than his physical
appearance. I'm not saying it's the same for everybody but I reached
six foot one inch when I was fifteen and I haven't grown any more
since then. Well, except for a beer belly. So I think the same could
be said for Harry who would be 16 in a month or so. The only real
physical changes he would have gone through is having to shave a
little more regularly, which wasn't mentioned in any of the books
anyway, and he might have put on a bit of muscle mass. I still haven't
finished reading book five so I'm currently unsure what they were
wearing when they went to the ministry. From what I remember though
Harry pretty much left Hogwarts as soon as he could after he collapsed
in his history exam, so wouldn't he be wearing his , somewhat bulky,
school robes?
Harry is also going to have time to prepare himself before he meets
everyone again. Not sure how long he could have to prepare but seeing
as the only things he can accomplish during his repeat of the fifth
year is finding the ring and taking the locket back off Mundingus, I'm
sure he would have months to work out what he plans to do.
I have already worked out (at least in my head) what Harry is going to
do the night Sirius dies and believe me Harry should be able to carry
out his plans without giving himself away. Whether anyone is
suspicious of what goes on is another matter entirely.
I hope this answers your questions, if not then let me know and I'll
tell you a little more about what Harry's going to do.
Or you could wait until I've written it and read it then.
Hmm, Potential readers asking for spoilers? And me giving it to them?
Why not? They did ask for the information after all.
Yes I am evil. And here's my evil laugh to prove it.
Bwahahahaha Bwahahahahahahahahahaha
Sorry, I don't have a moustache to twist between my fingers to
complete the image. But I'm working on it.
Agramahad
events that take place be written?
To clarify. Should I write the story chronologically? The accident.
Arriving in the past. Then go through the events in the past in order
until Harry ends up back in the ministry, then continue from there?
Or should I mix up the scenes? Have the accident take place. Harry
arriving in the past and then go back to the present and only reveal
what happened in the past when it becomes relevant to the plot?
Or should I bounce back and forth like some kind of demented rabbit?
Please bare in mind that I'm still going to have to work out what
happens to Harry during his little trip before I can really start
putting it together. Like I said, I have the big things worked out (At
least what happened during Harry's little trip anyway). It's just the
little things that make a story a story that I haven't got down yet.
wotsfreek
WARNING THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE MOST LIKELY CONTAINS STUPIDITY! IF I SAY
SOMETHING WITH AN OBVIOUS ANSWER TRY TO KEEP THE FLAMES TO A MINIMUM!
How does Harry know of the existence of the Horcruxes? He doesn't find
out about them until 6th year, so when he goes back in time, wouldn't
he be clueless about them?
Also, If you send Harry back three years it would be the end of his
second year, AKA before Sirius even broke out of Azkaban.
One more thing, wouldn't the experimenters tell the world about what
happened? How would this be prevented?
About your point on maturing, it is true that Harry had matured almost
to his full extent at the end of his fifth year, BUT I still believe
the difference would be quite noticeable, ESPECIALLY to his friends,
who see him almost every day. My brother didn't mature much after 15
but when I see a picture of him at that age I can see distinct
differences between then and now.
To answer your question, I personally would probably write it
chronologically starting with the accident, then following Harry
through the past etc. Writing it so that the past is revealed only
when important COULD work beautifully, but the danger in doing that is
confusing the reader too much, if you go in that direction you must
make sure the story is as clear as possible.
Agramahad
12th Oct. Nothing really special about that, apart from the fact that
I haven't gone to bed yet. So please bare with me if the replies seem
a bit off.
And please, don't worry about sounding stupid. You didn't. They are
all valid points and I didn't give explanations to them in my little
review.
First point. And I cant tell you how much I hate numbering things. I
promise on all that I hold most holy (My PC, various consoles and my
DVD collection) that I will do my very best from ever uttering the
horrible words in my story, 'Right well there are four reasons why it
wont work, One...' AARRRGGGGHHHHHH I HATE THAT!!!!
Anyway.
First (Shudder) You said...
'How does Harry know of the existence of the Horcruxes? He doesn't
find
out about them until 6th year, so when he goes back in time, wouldn't
he be clueless about them?'
I thought about this a lot and couldn't come up with anything. Then
inspiration hit me (OK I was watching a Bond film). Want to know what
it is??? Now I know it sounds corny but I think it could work if it
isn't taken to extremes. Well, you know how I wanted him to meet
Sirius while he was in the tropics (Sirius did send a letter to Harry
by tropical bird once) well I thought about using a different form of
magic that wouldn't necessarily be practiced in the UK. Voodoo. And
the way I see it voodoo magic, F***ing Voodoo Magic Mon, hehe. Sorry,
Predator Flashback, damn good film too. Voodoo magic deals with death
and the death, therefore by extension, souls. Bet you can see where
I'm going now cant ya. The fact that its practiced in a tropical
location sealed the deal for me.
Regarding your second point
'Also, If you send Harry back three years it would be the end of his
second year, AKA before Sirius even broke out of Azkaban.'
Oh believe me, I worked out all the dates before hand. Harry goes back
to the end of his second year, near enough. But he's going to be kind
of busy for a while what with discordant memories and the tremendous
stress his body just went through. Then theres all the questioning and
such. It'll take a while. But Harry should be free and clear (nearly)
by the time Sirius escapes at the end of his repeated third year.
Besides, I want Harry to make a few friends on his little journey,
they might come in handy later.
And finally.
'One more thing, wouldn't the experimenters tell the world about what
happened? How would this be prevented?'
First of all where Harry appears would be only one of the departments
in, well, I think the Americans would spread around all their research
and development facilities (Or whatever you would call the magical
equivalents) and Harry would end up in one dealing with time magic,
along with a few other things. As such I'm pretty sure that they would
therefore know the rules regarding time travel. Seeing as the place
would be warded up to the eyeballs, having someone appear during an
experiment utilising time magic wouldn't happen very often. They would
question him because they obviously need to know when he's from and
what his intentions might be. Tempting as it is to know what is going
to happen in their future I really don't think they would risk blowing
everything up to find out.
Well, maybe. Anyway.
First of all they would isolate him, make sure he would be healthy
enough to be questioned. Then they would question him. After they find
out a few details about his past they would learn that Harry was never
told at any time in his past about another version of him appearing
elsewhere in the world. The fact that Harry would probably not be told
if they knew anyway, given how Dumbledore and the rest of the adults
on his side act, wouldn't surprise me at all. I suppose you could get
into the old debate of...
'Well if we did contact his guardians they might have tries to
subconsciously help him with the accident in some way.'
'Well, what if we didn't tell them and now if we do we could create
the paradox that would kill us all.'
'Yeah I'm well aware of that but if we don't tell them when in fact we
did....'
And so on and so on.
Debating temporal mechanics and probabilities could make anyone's
brain melt so I think they would have eventually adopted precautionary
policies that covered this sort of contingency. Something simple like...
'Tell no one.'
'Monitor the 'visitor' so she/he/it doesn't tell anyone.'
'Hope the world doesn't blow up.'
'If by some freak of nature it does blow up and people survive to ask
you about it. Tell them of this contingency so that no blame lies with
you.'
Simple, easy and saves on aspirin.
As for your final comment about his appearance. I also have a few
things planned for that too. I didn't say Harry didn't change, only
that he wouldn't have changed much (I think that's what I said
anyway). Anyway, (I use that word a lot don't I) Harry has plans to
avoid contact with his friends when he gets back. Though I have yet to
work out the details of his reintroduction I'm hoping for Harry to
avoid suspicion until the start of what should have been his sixth
year. Well, it still is I suppose, its just been delayed for a while.
I also want an opinion on a character I'm very tempted to stick in my
story. I mentioned previously about other departments in the research
facility where Harry appeared. Well someone I want to have as an OC
would be the magical equivalent of Q and would be accompanied by his
own workshop. Yes that's right Q. Not the one from Star Trek, although
that Q is still very cool. I'm talking about the Bond Q. There's
something for all of you to have a go at. Inventing magical gadgets.
One thing I also wanted to do is sort of mix Q up with another of my
favourite fantasy characters. And I don't even have to make up a
ridicules excuse as to why he's an orang-utan. Animagis, plain and
simple. No I'm not talking about Clyde from those Clint Eastwood
movies either. I'm talking about the Librarian from the Discworld
books. Turned into an Orang-utan in a magical accident and refused to
turn back because he said its easier sticking the books back on the
shelves when you have, in essence, four hands.
I think he didn't want to change back because he liked to walk around
naked.
Anyway. Questions answered to your satisfaction, I hope.
Anyone out there with any other questions? Ideas? Free money?
Ok, maybe not the last one.
Time for me to go to bed now. Knackered.
Agramahad signing off. Chow for now everybody.