If my writing output was not slow enough - A Harry Potter question · 4:58am Feb 12th, 2021
Dilemma - Having a good idea for producing Harry Potter crossover story shorts while already bogged down with too many stories to keep a reasonable schedule for updates. See below for details.
If you were watching my October 2020 One-Shot text dump, you may have noticed a Harry Potter story opening snippet where Lily Potter sends young Harry to safety instead just dying tragically for the sake of literature. Well, it has potential for future snippets, but *NOT* rewriting each year of JK Rowlings’ books (I have a life, after all). I’m afraid they won’t make much sense to people who have not read the HP series, but that’s a fair risk.
So if you might be interested in pushing me to crank out a few of these (at a cost to my normal erratic writing schedule), go to my 2020 October One-Shot text dump, Control-F for Avada Kedavra (about half-way down), read the intro, then take a look at this.
Yeah, it’s chumming the waters. But how else do you know if there is interest in some sharks?
“Please sit down, Hairy.” Twilight Sparkle settled down opposite the young boy while Spike hesitated on just exactly which chair at the crystal table to take, eventually deciding on the chair next to Hairy. The gesture was appreciated, because Hairy had been a close friend of the little dragon since they both could walk. There was certainly something up in Equestria due to Twilight’s frazzled mane and twitching wings. Hopefully, she was just upset about the constant stream of letters that kept appearing in the castle, which was probably a prank of some sort from Pinkie Pie.
Hairy was just curious about the odd burst of mail. If they had been really important letters, they would have arrived by Spike’s fire. Still, Twilight had spent so much time and effort intercepting every one of them, and there had become such a lot of them, making him far too curious for his own good. He had even considered enlisting the Crusaders in an attempt to grab one of the letters before Twilight, but experience (and a number of tiny scars that ached when it rained) had taught him a small measure of restraint.
“You know how important you are to me,” continued Twilight, “and I hope what I have to say doesn’t affect our relationship.”
“Just say it, Mom.” Hairy let out his breath and tried to look cool. “I know you’ve been really busy lately what with all the disasters and Cadence’s new baby. If you’re upset that you haven’t been able to pay me much attention, that’s not a problem. After all, I’m almost eleven years old. I can take care of myself for a few hours now and then, particularly with Spike around.” He gave the little dragon a quick fin-rubbing and exchanged fist-bumps.
“It’s none of that. Well, some of that. Since you are almost eleven.” Princess Twilight Sparkle was looking so much like the awkward unicorn student Hairy had grown up with, right down to the nervous twitch over one eye.
Although it felt good to see Spike with wings, Hairy wished he could get a pair of his own, no matter how odd that would appear to the rest of Ponyville. It had been the best day in his life when Twilight got wings. Now, he missed flying something fierce. Crawling up into her lap and cuddling was probably not an option either despite her growth as an alicorn, because his own growth spurt left him too tall to ride on her back anymore.
“Just come out and say it, Mom,” said Hairy with as much encouragement as he was able.
“You’re adopted,” blurted out Twilight.
“Wow,” said Spike. “I’m shocked.”
Hairy gave his draconic sibling a sharp rap on top of the head, which probably hurt his knuckles more than the dragon’s thick skull.
“I know you’re adopted,” continued Twilight much faster. “When Princess Celestia put me in charge of you and Spike after my entrance exam, I was resentful. I mean a dragon and a mysterious human baby from some other dimension. Two orphans to take care of when I was barely your age.”
It was difficult to remain silent, but Twilight was actually talking about what was bothering her, so Hairy kept his bare feet against the cool crystal of the castle floor and reminded himself of all the times he had calmed down his rather erratic mother over the years. Without his and Spike’s help, Twilight would have most likely vanished into one of the Canterlot palace libraries and never came back out except for meals. Her voice was dry as library dust as she continued, fighting her way through each word.
“I didn’t say anything at the time to Princess Celestia, but she knew. You know how you’ve been displaying signs of a substantial magical talent but you don’t have a horn, so there’s… I didn’t expect to find a way for you to actually use your magic, since it is so different than the rest of Equestrian magic. And now that I found a way, or more accurately the way has found you, I… don’t want to let you go.”
Twilight lit her horn up and floated a tattered square of paper out onto the table. “This is the reason you’ve been getting letters. She gave me this after I moved to Ponyville. It’s about your parents. Your real parents.”
Hairy picked up the folded paper, but he was unable to open it at first. His parents. His human parents. Spike had gone so off the rails when he met the scammer who pretended to be his dragon father. It made Hairy promise himself never to never trust anypony pretending to be a relative.
“Princess Celestia gave this to you several years ago, and you never told me?” Hairy fought to keep from wadding up the old page, restraining himself only out of the respect he had for Equestria’s most respected leaders. And his mother, of course.
“I couldn’t.” Twilight sniffed, and Spike passed her a tissue just a moment before Hairy managed to. After blowing her nose, Twilight continued, “You and Spike are part of my family. I was hoping that would never change. I mean the letter could be wrong, or your people could decide to keep you safe here, where I can protect you. It’s dangerous in that world. Just… read the letter, and try not to hate me for keeping it from you.”
It was far more important to give his adoptive mother a hug.
“I could never hate you,” he mumbled into her mane, shared with Spike since the little dragon had not wanted to be left out. “You’ve always been there for me. Well, except when you’re off on missions to save Equestria, or being a ruling princess in Canterlot. Still, you’ve been my mother as long as I can remember…”
There was a sharp twinge of pain from the scar on Hairy’s forehead, and a rushing noise like wind filled his ears. The world started spining around him as he slid off Twilight’s fairly minimal lap and crashed to the cold crystal floor of the castle with the screams of a woman echoing in his mind like thunder.
“You can’t have my son!”
(fixed the page break) Yeah, I was just going to cut it off at the "You're adopted" line but I thought it best to get to the bottom.
Well I for one certainly liked it.
Sure, I'd read it, but then I'll read most anything you write.
The only problem I have with this is that I'm greedy. I'd give most anything to see what you could do with a serious treatment of the setting.
Right off the top of my head I can't see Twilight not vetting the school, and the people who will be responsible for Harry, which would include parent/maybe teacher meetings. Being what she is and how badly they want Harry she has a lot of pull.
Long Story short. "Do something about Snape." The man has some very good qualities, do something about his stupid missdirected grudge, and his idiotic pretending to be what he is pretending to be, behavior.
5452744
You said a mouthful
5452744
Yeah, pretty much... Although I'm still hoping for the coffee sequel.
I would read more of this.
As for this snippet, you lost me in that last paragraph -- not at all clear what is happening, and I'm struggling to find useful clues above. Cliffhanger may be your intent, which is assuredly is, but more out of me is a puzzled 'huh?'
I would read it.
Of course, I can come up with other scenarios I'd find more interesting. What if instead of dying, James and Lily came through with him? What if Voldemort didn't die, he took over the Wizarding world, and he's getting close to being able to break through across to Equestria?
To be honest, I feel more interested in Owl House than Harry Potter these days, and I've read a million "Harry gets raised by different guardians and then goes to Hogwarts" stories, so that might be influencing things.
(Also, if it took Lily and James's deaths to send Hairy to Equestria, who has to die for him to cross back to attend Hogwarts?)
--Sweetie Belle
"It's in the queue" is always an answer. Understanding and/or torch mobs follow.
I've got at least one mob. Your results may vary.
I wonder why if Harry was sent to Equestria by choice why would Lily want him to go where he would be in danger? Or if it was a fluke why would she be lashing out at someone who clearly loves him?
5452752
Yeah, HP is one of the more rigidly static plotlines really, unless you change something fundamental you're either starting out with a mildly/moderately/severely abused ten year old on his way to a boarding school, or you're starting somewhere along a fairly railroad plotline.
Therefore, the really fun ones are the ones that almost immediately break something, without descending into lulzy drama and chaos. I personally recommend..
Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay, wherein Harry is a dragon, and everything is rather lovely.
Inquisitor Carrow and the GodEmperorless Heathens, wherein the magical world loses Harry to a random instance of accidental magic, only to get back a centuries-old Imperial Inquisitor in exchange.
Harry's First Detention, wherein Snape discovers that young Mr. Potter has not, in fact, had a perfectly blessed childhood.
I'd read it.
5452766
Yeah, and I've read <x> is Harry's guardian instead of the Dursleys a few too many times with anyone from the Weasleys to Minerva McGonagall to Snape to the Lovegoods. Twilight's the most obvious person for Harry to end up with, too. At least growing up raised by Dragon Lord Torch as Ember's brother would be different.
One reason I liked Voldemort having won in the meantime is that Harry wouldn't be attending Hogwarts. It'd more be blocking Death Eaters from crossing dimensions, taking trips over to investigate and find the resistance, discovering Harry's past and what became of everyone...
That first one really sounds interesting. I'll have to check some of those out.
--Sweetie Belle
More please.
Intriguing, but I'm also in a similar boat to SweetAi Bot. I've seen so many Harry raised by another person stories - even at least to Twilight ones, two that I can name off the top of my head, though those happened later down the line of Harry's life. Seeing as he came through a baby, points for this one being different though! I love your writing and your other Sweetie Belle crossover as well, so I'd be intrigued for sure.
Hey... I'll go for it! Twilight as a mother... God the Anxiety attacks would be earth shattering.
So... a while back, somebody did a really neat crossover with Luna basically acting like Harry's imaginary friend. Sadly the series seems to have been canceled. This scratches that itch wonderfully. :)
Intriguing setup, certainly. Harry going from blank slate to filled with information about a completely different magical system could lead in some interesting directions, though I do agree that it's hard to shift the Potter Express off of the rails, even with such drastically different starting conditions. Though his adoptive mother escorting him through Diagon Alley might help... provided they can ever get her out of Flourish and Blotts.
Also, now I wonder what Twilight thought during the trips to Canterlot High. Excitement at offering her son a chance to be among his people, or fear that she'd lose him? It's almost Tarzan-esque.
Also also, I wonder if Spellotaping a wand to your forehead removes the need for verbal spell components...
5452749
I think there's at least part of Lily's soul in the scar along with Tom's, but if that's the case, she sure took her sweet time in claiming custody.
Go where the muse takes you.
5452837
Agreed, we'll follow.
Would be a great anything, but it's always up to you.
5452766
Let's not forget Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, wherein Tom Riddle was/is a hyper-competent and genre-savvy monster -- a magical Moriarity if you will.
5452972
Eh, I honestly didn't like that one. Read through 16 chapters and it seemed to me that I was reading a story written by a very clever man who had no idea how to write a convincing child. So, he solved the problem by writing an alarmingly precocious Machiavelli expy with a love for multi-paragraph lectures and absolutely no compunctions against cold-blooded manipulation. I don't enjoy being talked down to, either by an author or his mouthpiece, and a personal psychological quirk blesses me with a visceral antipathy towards casual manipulators.
Lots of people enjoyed the story, apparently, regrettably I was not one of them.
5452986
Fair criticism. It is revealed that Harry is in large part Tom Riddle, so Harry not being a convincing child may or may not be intentional.
I drew significant enjoyment from its identifying (and ramming a plot-sized wedge into) glaring gaps in the world lore-logic.
5452766
Just thought I'd mention that I am enjoying "Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay".
--Sweetie Belle
5453268
Ah, I'm very glad to hear it! Mr. Saphroneth has a rare way with words, no?
5452756
That's alright. There's plenty of people (myself included) who mob both you and Georg.
Makes it easy on our quality of life - if there's a scheduling conflict when we're supposed to be besieging you, there's generally an opening to pick up a pitchfork and stand around Georg's moat and castle when things quieten down, and vice versa.
Gotta say though, it's much easier when it's Georg's turn - we've setup barbeques and the county put in a graded path to get to his moat. Your place - there are *things* that move in your wilderness that scare me, and people have gone missing, never to be seen again.
5453273
Definitely, and the base idea that Harry is now a dragon and not very bothered about it is a lot of fun. I like him hording books, and eating everything and such, too...
--Sweetie Belle
My *only* complaint is the name change to “Hairy.” If they had a letter from his coming to Equestria explaining who this human was and what his name was, why would they change it? Just because?
5453527 Because Celestia would have needed to *tell* Twilight why, and that would have revealed the letter. (which I'm writing on now. It's basically Dumbledore saying "He's safer there than he is here, and if nothing changes, he will be fine. However, if his magic starts to go haywire, I'm working on a way to bring him back." Give a letter like that to Twilight and she'd tie herself up in knots.
5453307 Now I need to go read that. Heck, I had a blast reading HPMOR so...
5453292 Look, I love the mob. Inside every Fimfiction author is a screaming egomaniac narcissist just waiting to get out. Tickled me pink whenever anybody at a con would look at me and say "Georg!! (pause) Is that how you pronounce it?" Besides, the things that move in the shadows is Estee's specialty.