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

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

Thing you're changing: Dudley's a Wizard
How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books? I think Dudley being a wizard would have made a really interesting difference in the books. While I can't see it changing the way Petunia and Vernon treat Harry, they would most likely still treat their son better which would mean that once both Harry and Dudley are in Hogwarts I think more people would notice that there's something screwed up at the Dursleys. Given Dudley's actions at the end of the series, I think Dudley would also warm up to Harry earlier (not too early though) and Harry would have a slightly better connection to blood family. Also, as Dudley would end up being sorted before Harry, depending on the house, Harry might be more likely to fight against 'not where Dudley is' rather than 'not Slytherin'.

Yasona//Slytherin//141 words

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

Petunia's problem with magic always seemed to stem from jealousy that she wasn't 'special' like her sister, so I'd say Dudley being a wizard might put him and Harry on much more even ground, actually. As their son or not, Petunia and Vernon wanted 'normal'. I'd imagine they'd be just as keen to try squashing the magic out of Dudley as they were with Harry, and treat them very much the same.

[yasonablack.livejournal.com]

I could see it going that route as well, but I do think that there is the possibility that Petunia would try to live vicariously through Dudley like she couldn't with her sister. Having her son show up Harry in the wizarding world could be a form of revenge against her sister. I do believe that Petunia would have a lot harder time treating Dudley the same as Harry because she's had eleven years of doting and seeing him as her darling child. Harry was unwanted from the beginning.

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

True, but wouldn't the accidental magic tip her off? Since she grew up with Lily doing things like with the flower, I'd think she'd recognize Dudley doing accidental magic as he was growing up. Although, once Harry was in the house, she could always deny it could be Dudley doing it and put all strange happenings on Harry.

[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

[slumber.livejournal.com]

This is a very interesting idea, but I don't know if it would have had a positive impact on the book. One of the biggest things that made Harry so happy upon receiving the news was knowing that he would be far away from the family that loathed him, and I feel like the whole magic of Diagon Alley and knowing he was special would have dulled a bit if he had to go through all of those with Dudley again. His attitude might have changed, and even though I think his Boy-Who-Lived-ness might have overpowered Dudley's bullying, the fact that Harry's home life is so starkly different from his Hogwarts life is an interesting contrast in the books.

Evy//Ravenclaw//2

[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

[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

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

My first thought to this is "Oh dear Merlin, don't let Dudley be a Slytherin." I personally don't think he would be, and I'm not going to take time at the moment to look up reasonings to back up either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor as a sorting for him. This also leads to the thought of how wonderfully different the books would have been if Harry had been sorted Slytherin. We certainly wouldn't be looked at in the same way.

Morgan//Slytherin//4

[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

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

In my mind, Dudley would probably be a Hufflepuff... he's not ambitious or cunning - nor does he value knowledge or bravery. He DOES grow into badger fur to work hard though (see his going from pudgy mama's boy to champion wrestler) and is loyal to family (the "waste of space" comment means A LOT more than one would think!)

William//Slytherin

[naushika.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I bet Dudley would have been a Hufflepuff. I can see him getting along with like, Zacharias and that sort. Crabbe and Goyle being in Slytherin always sort of puzzled me, but I think it might have more to do with blood lines than anything. So I just can't imagine Dudley in Slytherin. So if Harry was just thinking "not where Dudley is," perhaps he would have ended up in Slytherin? After all, Harry only knew Slytherin as "the bad house" because of Hagrid. But if the Dursleys took Harry to get his Hogwarts things, that exchange would never have happened.

Noelle // Slytherin // 4

[ivory88s.livejournal.com]

That's a good point about the Dursley's probably taking Harry to get his things instead of Hagrid. I can't even imagine all the ways the books would have been different if Harry hadn't been so set against Slytherin that the Hat put him into Gryffindor.


Malory//Ravenclaw//3

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

I really do think this would be fascinating. Personally, I think this would cause a rift between Vernon and Petunia. Petunia was jealous of Lily and afraid of her, but she definitely doted on her son. I think if he'd been a wizard, she would have fought it at first but ultimately accepted it, whereas Vernon would still be very much against anything weird or abnormal to his mind. I think they'd split up, and Petunia would also warm up to Harry a lot more. There are hints of her being a better person than her bitterness and jealousy allowed her to be in the books; I think Dudley being a wizard would have opened her up to her better nature.

As for Dudley, I also think he'd be a Hufflepuff, and he'd probably have been a hell of a lot nicer a hell of a lot earlier - particularly if removed from the presence of Vernon.

Green Queen//Gryffindor//1

[ivory88s.livejournal.com]

I can see this happening between Vernon and Petunia. It might make her feel a little bit better about herself if her offspring that she produced had magic since it was a jealously thing that she didn't like Lily. I can see her being much more accepting of Harry if Dudley also had magic.

Malory//Ravenclaw//4

[capeofstorm.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I do think that if Dudley showed any accidental magic, Petunia would have blamed that on Harry. I don't think she would have treated them any differently than she did in the books. And when she learned that Dudley was magical, I think her first reaction would be fear. She loved her son very much and all she knows about the Wizarding world is that it cost her sister her life. So I think she'd try to make Dudley stay home. She might even refuse to let Dudley go to Hogwarts (since she is his mother and legal guardian and all). If that happened, she'd probably try to make Harry stay too, because she wouldn't want Dudley to crave magic the way she did; and she would be afraid that every time Harry came back from school, he'd try to convince Dudley to attend Hogwarts.

And my, oh my, how different Harry's life would be during the first holidays if Dudley was in school with him. Can you imagine Dudley actually telling what happened then to his parents and their reactions?!

Lena/Gryffindor/10

[pixiestyxs.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting idea. I think Petunia and Vernon were so obsessed with being normal that they might have treated Dudley the same way they treated Harry, which might have let the two boys bond though.

Laura//Hufflepuff

[lotrangel17.livejournal.com]

If Dudley was a wizard that would have definitely changed Harry's upbringing. There would have been other forces at work early on helping Harry prepare for what would eventually happen and something like that could impact everything of the books even to the extent of James and Lily surviving. Had Dudley been a wizard then Lily and Petunia would have been closer and she could possibly have been the secret keeper. If James and Lily had survived the events and outcome of the first wizarding war would have been far different.

Steph//Puff