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

[defined.livejournal.com]

If Petunia wasn't scared of what Lily could do, she probably wouldn't have married Vernon either, since part of the reason she married him was because she wanted someone "normal" and who wanted no "funny business." So Harry would have grown up with a different uncle and cousin as well, making his life a bit different.

Chelsea//Ravenclaw

[defined.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this would definitely be an interesting change. I agree that Draco and Harry wouldn't be friends, but I wonder if he'd be able to get along with some of the other snakes instead. I'm sure many of them would be proud to have the famous Harry Potter in their house and try to be nice to him and help him settle into Hogwarts. Given his background of abuse, though, I do think Harry would not tolerate it when they picked on others and that would possibly lead to him befriending Neville and perhaps Hermione. But yeah, I don't think he would be friends with Ron, even after their exchange on the train, just because of the Weasleys' anti-Slytherin sentiment.

Chelsea//Ravenclaw

[defined.livejournal.com]

I agree with naushika that Voldemort probably would have gotten another object important to Hogwarts instead. What, exactly, I'm not so sure, but I'm sure there's many things in the castle we don't know about. It would have been harder for Harry to find it, probably, but maybe Dumbledore would have been able to figure it out or checked up on things in the castle that Voldemort might want to take.

Chelsea//Ravenclaw

[defined.livejournal.com]

Hmm that would be an interesting change. I really wonder how Lucius would react if he met Harry then. I'm sure he'd know it was Harry, considering how he looks like his father, and he would try to butter him up. But like Harry saw through Draco, he might also be able to see through Lucius too, or at least not completely trust him, especially if he did say something like "filthy muggle". Harry would less likely to be so against Slytherin in that case, but probably not to the point of pushing for it.

Chelsea//Ravenclaw

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

Remember that during PS and even throughout CoS (possibly the entire time before reincarnation) the Malfoys were officially neutral: while publicly disdaining Dumbledore, Lucius would even tell Draco off in CoS for being to mean to the Boy-Who-Lived in public. Presumably, aligning with the Malfoys would be more anti-Dumbledore (Harry can DEFINITELY fit that bill) than pro-Voldemort!

William//Slytherin

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

The reason the Malfoys wanted Harry didn't necessarily have anything to do with the Potters' fame but more in light of Harry being potentially a very powerful ally (and, of course, making them LOOK less like Voldemort supporters). And how much would it cost Lucius to spend thirty seconds introducing himself to Harry? ;-)

William//Slytherin

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

You do have a point there - Harry would probably not be pro-Voldemort at any stage! On the other hand, aligning with the Malfoys instead of with Dumbledore in his early Hogwarts years does NOT require supporting Voldemort... especially with the Malfoys trying to present themselves as NOT being Death Eaters!

William//Slytherin

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

The only thing I'm wondering, though, is why Draco did such a bad job at introducing himself to Harry (both times). When one sees what Slytherin really stands for, it would be very hard to imagine Draco acting as he did unless he was trying NOT to make friends!

William//Slytherin

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

Here's where I disagree with you: I don't think Harry "saw through" Draco at all (his judgement on Draco throughout his entire Hogwarts career seemed to be VERY surface level - based more on the way Draco carried himself than on anything deeper)! As Lucius would be able to present a better veneer (and it was the veneer, not the conflicted core, of Draco that Harry noticed) I think that Harry would trust Lucius more than Dumbledore...

William//Slytherin

[defined.livejournal.com]

Yeah, perhaps. But I don't see how a brief meeting with him would sway Harry to trust Lucius more than Dumbledore. Especially since the first person he meets from the Wizarding World is Hagrid, who goes on about what a great wizard Dumbledore is. If in their talk Lucius said some things about Dumbledore, Harry might be more skeptical of him, but I dunno if such a brief meeting would make him trust Lucius more over Dumbledore, especially since he wouldn't see Lucius again until a year later.

Chelsea//Ravenclaw

[shellzconlon.livejournal.com]

Thing you're changing:Hermione doesn't figure out that Rita is a beetle
How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books?
If Hermione hadn't figured out that Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus, then Rita would have gone crazy with her stories like she always did, but what's really important here is the information she could have released from what she gathered in the hospital wing the night of Cedric's death. The confrontation between Dumbledore and Fudge, hearing of Voldemort's return, seeing Sirius Black, all of these were seen by Rita. This could go a number of ways. Harry could be seen even further as an attention seeking lunatic with his claims that Voldemort has returned which would build up the case against him in OotP, the hunt for Sirius would be aided since the Ministry would know about his animagus form, etc. Not to mention that Rita wouldn't have written up her interview with Harry for The Quibbler

Michelle/Gryffindor/138

[pinksonia.livejournal.com]

I think this could have had interesting development through choices for Rita. She would have overheard the truth, and therefore be able to print it, but she would also be under pressure from the ministry to tow the line and make Harry look crazy. It would be interesting to see which direction she chose to go in since both choices would result in well read stories.

I could have been interesting to have Rita print what she heard (or even just attempt to and be blocked by an editor), fall a foul of the establishment, and be forced to write full time for the Quibbler. She might have even become the leading voice against Voldemort.

Allison/Ravenclaw

[signe-chan.livejournal.com]

He could have. I think, though, Dumbledore's main motivation in putting Harry with the Dursleys was to keep the magical protection his mother gave him active. For Neville, even if he got the same sacrifice from his mother his closest relative was his Grandma.

Emma//Hufflepuff//4

Getting points on the train like a boss.

[signe-chan.livejournal.com]

I could see Neville's gran getting the informaton about the prophecy out of Dumbledor, I think she's work out something was going on and press him for it. I'd hope Dumbledor would mentor Neville like he did Harry but I wonder if Neville wouldn't be less open to that mentoring since Harry desperatley wanted/needed an adult to be a mentor to him but Neville probably got quite enough of that from his Gran.

Emma/Hufflepuff/5