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

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Thing you're changing: The Slytherins came back
How do you think this would have affected the outcome of the books? This is a minor change in the final chapters of Deathly Hallows, but the one thing I really wish had been different. In interviews JKR had mentioned that Slughorn came back with students from Slytherin house, but the book never explicitly mentioned as much. I think this would have better driven JKR's point home, that there is no black and white and even Harry's schoolboy biases are just that: biases. I feel like if in the books this fact had been explicitly mentioned, it could have been one more thing that Harry told Albus as proof that being a Slytherin was okay.

More than what happens within Harry's world, however, I think doing so would have been thematically in line with all the lessons that JKR had been trying to give about prejudice. She does such a great job challenging everyone's preconceived notions within the world, even one that nobody would have thought to think twice about like house-elves, but I think she could have done more in pointing out the biases that protagonists and readers may have formed against Slytherin house.

Evy//Ravenclaw//182 words

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

Now I want to drag my books out, because in my head I remember Slughorn coming back with the Slytherins being an actual thing that happened. Quite possible my wishful thinking took on a life of its own. I don't recall it being fleshed out with them in action or anything, so it might be a dream.

I think JKR needs to get rid of her own preconceived notions against Slytherins (and Hufflepuffs, but that's another story alltogether).

Morgan//Slytherin//5

[slumber.livejournal.com]

That the Slytherins came back is canon in my head but I feel like I definitely got pissy when I read DH because the Slytherins never played much of a part in the final battle.

I agree! I was really pleasantly surprised when she gave Draco a better role than just keeping him a two-dimensional character, but I wish the rest of his house got more than getting sent to the dungeons because Pansy tried to give Harry away.

You know, I never noticed her bias against the Hufflepuffs, but I do think I never really got as good a handle on them as the other houses.

Evy//Ravenclaw//3

[faeriesfolly.livejournal.com]

I'm not the only one to say it, but JKR is a Gryffindor pusher who is really a Hufflepuff. My biggest pet peeve related to her Hufflepuff bias? That we never got to learn about the Fat Friar like we did about the other ghosts. That really stood out to me. How difficult would it have been to say, "He really liked cookies."? Not that difficult.

Morgan//Slytherin//7

[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

[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]

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]

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?

[naushika.livejournal.com]

Well I clearly remember reading somewhere that JKR wrote the epilogue early on, while she was writing the first book, I believe. Which in my mind, explains why it's so weirdly contradictory in places. I think in the beginning of the series, to her Slytherin really was just a one-dimensional house of baddies. JKR's writing as a whole improved throughout the series, and I think along the way she did realize that everything has layers, even Slytherin. But the epilogue had already be written, so.

Noelle // Slytherin // 9

[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]

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]

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

[ivory88s.livejournal.com]

I agree! There was so much bias! Basically all we know about every other House is from the point of Harry's bias. We don't get to really know any other characters in-depth enough to really understand and appreciate the intricacies of the other Houses as much as Gryffindor.

Malory//Ravenclaw//7