Wizarding Games: What if

[theaeblackthorn.livejournal.com]

What if...


Details: What if one slight decision at any point in the Harry Potter books had been different? What if Dean Thomas' father had told Dean's mother why he left the family to protect them? What if Ariana was standing one foot to the right had never been killed? What if Ariana had decided to stay indoors instead of going outside and meeting those Muggles in the first place? What if Kreacher had gone crazy and killed the baby Regulus meaning Sirius was the only child of the Blacks?

Have a think and a debate/disscussion about how small/big a change could have changed something ridic big/not at all. Uh. Be creative! try to find something different or interesting to change, you can use the ones above if you must.

Steps:
1. Pick a thing from HP to change
2. Explain how you think this would have changed the way the story unfolded, and if it'd change the outcome at all. Maybe the differences in the world once the story was over? (min 100 words)
3. Discuss/debate with other people about yours and theirs. Do you think it wouldn't have made the changes they think it would? Explain why. Do you agree and see some other changes that would have occurred, let them know :) (min 30 words and you can't just wholeheartedlyagree and gush at them)


Rules:

1. Don't pick the same one as someone else. If someone has already picked something then reply to their comment discussing/debating
2. Don't cause drama. Prove you can all civilly debate and discuss stuff.
3. Take heed of the word limits (100 words for first comment, 30 words for additional replies with a point that add to the discussion/debate)
4. Try not to make it a silly thing e.g. Harry ate some toast one morning instead of cereal and therefore the world ended.

Points: 10pts for your 100 word comment, 2pts per 30 word comment with a point. 30pts cap. 10pts for any crystal ball if you earn over 15pts. Dont' forget to register your bonus items in this post.
Deadline: 26th November 5pm UTC Converter
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First comment
<b>Thing you're changing:</b> <b>How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books?</b> min 100words for this section



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Comments

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, the big diffraction point would have, in my opinion, happened even earlier than these. At Halloween in their first year, the thing that bought H,R and Hermione together was them saving her from the TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS. I doubt she would have even been in the girls' bathroom had they not driven her there. Even if they'd shared that charms class, odds are the Claws would have drawn ranks around her, supporting her against those bullish Gryffindor assholes. And they'd be right. I suspect it's because Hermione was their housemate was what got to her so much: she had nobody to turn to.

Also, Harry would never have learned the Summoning Charm ahead of the dragon task in the Triwizard cup. Cue crispy won-tons.... from the Chosen Won.

rob/gryff/1

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, this would have changed a LOT. Fundamentally it changes a lot of things, I can't even begin to wrap my head around what would have stayed the same. He might even have been Sorted into Slytherin or something. I can see this becoming Neville's story, but I can also see it becoming Hermione's. And what role would Sirius/Remus/Peter/James have had?

Evy//Ravenclaw//4

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

I think it might have given the books a touch more realism (though I'm not saying whether that's a good or bad thing ;)) and shown that Harry can't just drop his life behind. I think it would have made for an interesting sort of irony with Hagrid popping up and being all, 'Harry yer a famous wizard, you can leave this bland muggle world behind. Oh don't forget to bring your bullying cousin. Can't escape that. Sorry.'

Yasona//Slytherin//2

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

I think Petunia would easily blame Harry for the accidental magic as they do blame a lot on him regardless. In fact, I could see her blaming Harry for Dudley being a wizard as well and then spoiling Dudley even more for what he has to go through because of Harry.

Yasona//Slytherin//2

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

I don't think Dudley would be a Slytherin. But then again, I also don't think Crabbe and Goyle should be slytherins either unless they're hiding their cunning extraordinarily well. Perhaps they're signs that the sorting hat does make mistakes...If Harry had been sorted into Slytherin, chances are Gryffindor would be looked at more like Slytherins due to the rivalry. Because Harry's a Gryffindor we only really see the bad parts of Slytherin. If Harry had been a Slytherin, it's highly likely that all the in-fighting of Gryffindor would have been displayed.

Yasona//Slytherin//2

[slumber.livejournal.com]

I agree with this--had Hermione been in Ravenclaw, I don't think Harry or Ron would have gone out of their way to befriend her... not that they did, but they wouldn't have had enough classes with her to get annoyed by her, and so they wouldn't have made her cry. They wouldn't have had that bonding experience with the troll and none of their adventures would have really gotten much traction because then Harry would have died the first time he tried to do anything without Hermione's help. :| especially since it took Harry all of four years before he got even remotely interested in any sort of house unity.

Evy//Ravenclaw//5

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

I thought the Slytherins (or at least some of them) did come back with Slughorn...perhaps I made it head!canon...If it's not already in the books then I completely agree, and if it is, then I think it should have been more explicitly described, like which Slytherins? Who are the Slytherin students we're supposed to love? It felt like there was a lot of wasted potential with the Slytherins and while I'm glad that there was such a unique focus on the Draco and his family, the rest of the students got rather dumped on.

Yasona//Slytherin//2

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

trololol, the Fat Friar stole the cookies from the cookie jar; his cause of death was complications from diabetes.

Anyway, yeah. There was a debate a few months back re: Epilogue, and the part where Harry was all "if yer're a slytherin, albus we won't mind, fer yer' always gun be our wee bairn LOLJK the Hat cannae put ye there if you dont want it te". I'm not sure why Harry became Scottish there, but he managed to undermine his whole argument in that one sentence. JK had set up the epilogue to say don't fall on your prejudices and don't be afraid to stand up for your choices, but the two were left sadly at odds.

Rob/Gryff/2

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness the changes this brings! Snape would definitely be A LOT less bitter, I'm sure he'd be brilliantly snarky but perhaps not to the point of verbally abusing his students. I do disagree that by getting together with Lily would completely change his looks. Yes, he might take better care of himself, but perhaps he just as greasy hair and a large crooked nose. It's not always necessary for nicer characters to be pretty. (This is just a pet peeve of mine.)

Yasona//Slytherin//2

[slumber.livejournal.com]

I think enough's been implied in the books to hint that magic may be recessive, so yeah, I agree that having Dudley would not have been a stretch by any means. I can't see it impacting Harry's popularity in school all that much, but I do have a tough handle on Dudley and that makes it harder to decide what might happen, because it also partly depends on where he ends up. Which I'm not inclined to speculate right now because he was painted with such an unflattering brush that it would be insulting to any house that gets him. :P

Evy//Ravenclaw//6

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

JK mentioned it in an interview that they did, but didn't actually put it in the books. Here's the paragraph in question:

And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and Harry saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn, who was still wearing his emerald pajamas. They seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight, along with the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade. The centaurs Bane, Ronan and Magorian burst into the hall with a great clatter of hooves, as behind Harry the door that led to the kitchens was blasted off its hinges.

So even though there was reference to the *centaurs* unifying with the humans (and then the elves), what was overlooked was the bit that ran rampant for the whole seven books up to that point. So yeah.

Rob/Gryffindor/3

[slumber.livejournal.com]

URGH, yes, that too! I mean yes, the idea behind saying that is to reinforce the whole notion that your choices are what define who you are as a person, but at the same time, why is the way it is demonstrated in the books have to be by rejecting House Slytherin while you're getting Sorted?

Evy//Ravenclaw//7

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

Oh I meant Harry not having greasy hair ("father's hair/mother's eyes")! I wouldn't change Snape, because I love him as is. This is one of my ships come to life. haha. Plus, I like his nose. I want to kiss it, poor dear.

I do agree that it would have made him a less abusive teacher. I think more showers would be the only physical change, but some people just have greasy hair. (I know I have to wash my hair every other day or my hair gets outta control.)

Morgan//Slytherin//8?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

The intent certainly had been there, but not everyone that reads Harry Potter is going to be as crazy as us to listen to every single interview JKR gives out. :P I want to know who I should love in Slytherin too! But really, the whole prejudice angle would have been such a solid theme for the entire series had it not been for that one thing.

Evy//Ravenclaw//8

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

Choked on a choco chip. ;)

I found your comment extra funny, because I am reading a book with a couple characters who speak this way and I just didn't even really notice that you 'made Harry Scottish' until you mentioned it. lol. JKR spends a good deal of the books outside of the epilogue contradicting herself. That's one thing I hope does come of Pottermore--more emphasis on the positives of ALL the houses and not just Gryffindor and to a lesser amount Ravenclaw.

Morgan//Slytherin//9

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

Thing you're changing: Harry never freed Dobby
How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books? During Chamber of Secrets, Hermione never actually met Dobby. So she only found out about him through Harry. If Harry never freed him, would she have had any particular measure to which she could hold other elves against captivity? Probably not; her only experience of a freed elf by that point was Winky, who became an alcoholic wreck. She would have really loathed Crouch's way of dismissing her but her attitude would not be wrought with the same convictions.

What's equally curious is that even though Dobby was under the ownership of the Malfoys, he was clearly loyal to Harry! Meanwhile, Sirius Black-- Harry's godfather and owner of Grimmauld Place wherein the Order set up camp-- was the master of a different elf, Kreacher, who was obviously loyal to the remaining free members of the legitimate black line: the Malfoys! Imagine how THAT would have screwed with everyone's heads! Go on, I dare you.


rob/gryffindor/4

Re: Register bonus items here!

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

A crystal ball: I has one advantage divination club ;)

http://hih.leaky-sponge.com/owned_items.php?username=anbyrobanby

Rob/Gryffindor

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

In this realm (that exists in a separate head!canon for me) he is either a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw, but definitely a combo of those two houses. Hermione is also a Ravenclaw as she should have been. (Or JKR should have written her differently.) I see it ending up being Neville's journey of coming into his own--which we get in the books, but no where near the extent of being the focus of the books.

Remus has the potential for being a mentor and I think he matches up well with Neville where Sirius matches up well with actual!Harry. Sirius never would have been arrested, but he also wouldn't have been Harry's godfather. It's possible that James would be. It works in my head!canon.

Morgan//Slytherin//10

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

That's one thing that always puzzled me about the houses: people always say there was never much attention paid to Hufflepuff, or how Puff house is kinda wishy-washy because it doesn't have specific traits to itself. I can name more badgers than eagles, and really don't recall Ravenclaw having.... any role in the story as a large whatsoever, beyond the chapter with the diadem.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. I agree with the hope that Pottermore does fill in the gaps that were missing from canon- and that enough people read it and accept it that it becomes a firm admission into canon.

Rob/Gryff/5

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

I don't think Hufflepuff is wishy-washy or anything. I actually think they are almost as misunderstood as Slytherins though. I feel like Ravenclaw had more large characters. While Hufflepuff does have the 'numbers' you list, the majority of their actions seem to be in book 4 where they united against Harry.

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

Agreed on every single count here. But at least it's them doing something. It's always the puffs like Ernie who speak up and side with Harry outside of Gryffindor, or the types of Zacharias who speak up and do the opposite. Ravenclaw? Call me biased but Cho was a product of her emotions most of the time, and I reckon if we could listen into Luna's brain it would sound like a pinball machine.

tbh, i never quite understood why Puffs are considered wishy-washy by people. There's a bunch of substance there, and they're often the better objective litmus test on what the wizarding community as a whole thinks of Harry/current affairs (synonymous for much of the series) than a Slytherin or Gryffindor would ever be.

rob/gryff/6?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Somehow I don't know that Hermione would have been stopped by the notion that elves don't like being free. I don't remember much of CoS' details, but I feel like Hermione was spurred on by just finding out that the elves were basically enslaved by wizarding society.

Evy//Ravenclaw//9

[anbyrobanby.livejournal.com]

I think what happened with Hermione in GoF was that she realised she'd be eating slave labour food for 4 years and nobody had bothered telling her. I guess that's where her ethics came from. However, whether or not she was affected by Dobby's tale is something worth considering. As for CoS she spent most of the book brewing potions or in the Hospital Wing, so shrug.

I always think Hermione is more motivated by her heart than people give her credit for, and without a personal story like the one Dobby received, I don't know if she would have gone as far as she did. I think she would have been angry, made a fuss, but the drive and catalyst would have come from Dobby's original thing.... and besides, even if she did, she would have likely gotten the hint when the elves refused to clean Gryffindor tower when she kntted stuff for them. Only Dobby was taking anything, after all.

Rob/Gryff/7?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

LOL I don't even remember when SPEW happened. :\

While I agree that Hermione is a bit more emotional than people may think (ie, letting panic overcome senses with Devil's Snare), I feel like she is still one of the most rationale, objective people in the series. JKR uses her a lot to point out when the good guys do questionable things (even though Luna Lovegood is probably her blind spot) and I don't think it's influenced as much by personal stories. If it was, then why did she not try to leave Winky alone? Her cause was for all house elves, not just her friend.

Evy//Ravenclaw//10

[defined.livejournal.com]

Thing you're changing: Arthur Weasley dies after the snake attack
How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books? This was something JKR had in mind but she ended up not doing it. I think that was a good idea because if Arthur had died, it would have been really depressing. The Weasley family would have been devastated. I think Ron would have had a hard time going on for awhile and be too upset to help Harry and Hermione. I think the twins, though, would have been even more inspired to create their joke shop to cheer people up. I also think Percy may have come back to the family sooner. Molly would also be very upset for a long time. I can see her being really hesitant to let her children get involved with the War, not wanting anyone else to die, which would make it hard for Ron and Ginny to help Harry. After awhile, I can see her being fired up for her vengeance, but I think for the first while she'd take it very hard.

Chelsea/Ravenclaw/161