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[hpraremod]

Discussion Question #4
Here is a tough one for you. If you could change one thing in the Harry Potter books, what would it be and why?

Comments

[inkpenchantery.livejournal.com]

I would change Snape's fate in DH. In my headcannon, Snape used the opportunity during OotP to develop an antivenin because of Arthur Weasley's wound, and so kept himself secretly pumped full of capsules to release automatically if he was ever attacked. So, during the shrieking shack scene, he gave Harry his memories of Lily, and thus unburdened, whisks himself away to some locale to convalesce and get some fresh air and to finally bury the past.

[sara-holmes.livejournal.com]

Aside from a swift epilogue removal, I would say a small tweak to Snape's memories at the end - I always thought it would have been good to see a memory of his featuring James and Lily getting on/being together and exploring how Snape reacts and feels.

Most of the James/Lily stuff that Harry encounters along the way is pretty negative (and then jumps to them being married) so I think it would have been nice for Harry to see a bit of the transition from disliking each other to love :)

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

^this. So very much this.

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

If I could only pick one, it's a tough call between Snape's 'death' and something from the first movie that has always made me wonder "what if". So I think I'm gonna go that route and say Harry's sort into Gryffindor.

I want to know what would have been different if Harry had been sorted into Slytherin. I imagine he'd have become Draco's friend, had he given it the chance. Severus would have had an easier time keeping an eye on him and actually would have been able to help him more, I think, as his head of house. And during Voldemort's return, well... things could have gotten much more interesting with how that could have effected things. Would the Death Eater children still rally behind the Dark Lord and their parents? Or would they have stood up for a fellow Slytherin? There is so much that could have been different and changed everything for the story, and I want to see the results of that.

[dragonhideboot.livejournal.com]

This is something I've wanted to see for a long time. I've seen one interesting fic where Harry gets sorted (along with Hermione) into Ravenclaw, but Harry's character in that fic is substantially different.

Harry in Slytherin brings up a lot of interesting possibilities.

[gamma-x-orionis.livejournal.com]

I would change the way in which Bellatrix Lestrange died.
Being killed by Molly bloody Weasley was neither a fitting nor a logical end for her - I mean, really, such a powerful witch was not going to be overpowered by a housewife.
If I had my way, either Neville or Andromeda would have been the ones to kill her - they had actual reasons for revenge, and actually knew how to fight.
It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine ;)
(Her death in the books wasn't half as bad as her death in the movies, but if I start ranting on that, I'll be here all day...)

[dragonhideboot.livejournal.com]

I would replace the epilogue with an 8th book, possibly from Hermione's PoV so that the plot could return to the familiar Hogwarts grounds. I want to know too much more information. What kind of upheaval did the Ministry go through? What did Hogwarts do about the following school year? HP and RW didn't return to school but HG did, who did she socialize with and how did they stay in contact? How did everyone get set on their career paths? If we're going to stick with the ships that eventually sail in the epilogue then I want to see significant development in them (this is my main gripe with HP/GW and HG/RW, I don't feel like we've seen them enough together *as a couple*).

There's a lot more than this, but this gets it started. I keep deluding myself we'll get some answers along these lines whenever Pottermore gets running again **pokes pink site with a stick**

[cleodoxa.livejournal.com]

HBP always felt like marking time for me, and then the main problem I had with DH was that it felt crowded what with the Horcruxes, the Hallows and the wandlore. I'd have liked to move some of the Horcruxes and foreshadowing of the wand stuff into HBP to allow DH to concentrate on what I think JKR was most interested in doing with that book, showing the other shoe dropping emotionally. I'd have liked the war to be longer.

[dragonhideboot.livejournal.com]

I definitely get what you're saying. Part of me wants Neville to have gotten it, but the other part me worries that Neville would have questioned himself a lot afterward. I like the idea of Andromeda being the one to do the deed. We get introduced to her and then she just kinda disappears again. :/

[scarletladyy.livejournal.com]

I would change Draco to marry Pansy. JK Rowling only brought in Astoria because she was being spiteful and didn't want Pansy to have Draco, she's even admitted that, so I would definitely change it. She said she didn't want Pansy to have her happy ending with Draco because she was a bully, yet several other bullies in the series are shown to be good guys and to be remembered happily. I am not happy that she's singled Pansy out just to be spiteful.

Harry married Ginny, Ron married Hermione, so it only makes sense that Draco would marry Pansy.

[masteroftrouble.livejournal.com]

I third this. there is no way Severus Snape remained dead at the end of Deathly Hallows.

[masteroftrouble.livejournal.com]

I agree -- I always thought Nev should be the one to do it, but Andromeda is a good one, too. I'm wondering if JKR didn't do Nev because she didn't want (except for Harry, who really didn't do it anyway) people reading about 17-year-olds killing people. If my memory serves me right (please correct me someone if I'm wrong), none of the "students" ever actually killed anyone (throughout the movies). Harry came close a few times, but the final deed was either done by someone else or shown off-page.

[masteroftrouble.livejournal.com]

There are so many things here I already agree with!

1- Remove the Epilogue. I'd be okay if JKR came out after and said, "Okay, so this is what I was thinking for everyone..." (like she did for various other characters). Then Fandom could take that as they wanted and not have to worry about "epilogue compliant" or "ewe" as warnings.

2- Rearrange the deaths OR change how each and every one of them happened. My roommates and I have a silly song we sing called "The 12 Days of Reading" where we remade an obvious Christmas song into DH style. One of the lines is "Five pointless deaths" because seriously, really? I know there are deaths in a war, but when you're an author and kill well-known characters, you need to show on the page that they weren't pointless. And if they WERE pointless, have your main character react accordingly. Hedwig, Snape, Fred, Colin, and Remus OR Tonks -- five pointless deaths. Actually, that list changed variably between them, haha. Anyway, the first three are always on that list because Hedwig's death was pretty much getting her out of the way (I've heard "loss of innocence" a lot, but Harry lost that when his Godfather died), Snape was a friggin potion's master, and I'm sorry, but if Fred actually died, George wouldn't have made it to the epilogue. I live with twins that are as close as Fred and George (oh boy, it's an adventure) and when they read the book, they both shut down and it took me weeks to get them normal again. Just reading about a twinship getting separated like that made them upset beyond anything; they told me later that JKR had no clue what she was writing because George wouldn't have been able to move on. It's like losing your second half. :/ Anyway, the other three are interchangeable because Colin could easily been seen as "this is what happens when you get in deeper than you can handle." Remus/Tonks, well, I always went for Tonks because she's my least favorite (she went from Bad Ass in OotP to love-sick annoyance in HBP), but at the same point she shouldn't have even been at the battle (like Colin), so it would have been Remus. In my mind, Teddy should have only lost one parent. The only point to him as an orphan was to remind Harry of himself. Boy this was a long thing.

3- Take out 90% of HBP. To me, that book was pretty much a "we're going to shove these characters together as a couple." I agree with the comment of moving more of the Horecruxes there (Harry could have found the ones in the castle) and making the war longer. I think it would have been more jarring and closer to real life if he didn't get to finish out the school year. Voldemort wouldn't have waited the whole summer to move, so it's ridiculous that it took so long for them to even START the hunt. :/

4- Have something happen to the Dursley (except for Dudley) to reflect that they had it coming. Harry lived in an abusive home until he was eleven -- that has effects on people. In the end, Dudley comes back to say "I'm sorry" in a way, but Vernon doesn't at all (Petunia is a between-the-lines gal). I don't mean kill them, but just have SOMETHING happen.

5- Ginny gets over her crush on Harry. Seriously, Neville/Ginny all the way (for a Gryffindor pairing).

I think that's it for now, lol.

[nutmeg-44.livejournal.com]

Ginny to have a stronger presence besides being 'Harry's Fan Club President'. She had personality and skill but she was always sidelined.

[wwmrsweasleydo.livejournal.com]

Fred's death. It was completely unnecessary and so near to the end of the last book that there wasn't even time to process it. JKR is a wonderful woman who built an amazing world full of great characters and she got nearly everything right. But not that.

[wwmrsweasleydo.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry but speaking as a housewife I have to disagree with you. So much of the books is about parenting and maternal love in particular. Molly's daughter was threatened and -- no matter how frumpy and cuddly we may appear the rest of the time -- when a mother sees a child threatened she becomes a tiger. Her successful attack is the bookend to Lily's sacrifice. They both risked their life to try to save their child but with different results. It also mirrors Narcissa's actions to protect Draco which also put her at risk. Bellatrix is the evil female and it is fitting that she is defeated by the good female. For JKR in HP mother love is the greatest good. (She wrote while mourning the death of her own mother after all).

[lovegingers.livejournal.com]

I completely agree! And I love your icon :)

[lovegingers.livejournal.com]

I agree, DH was too crammed. I think that it would have been interesting to see more of the war, too, especially because DH focused more on searching for the horcruxes with only snippets of what was happening with the fighting. Great idea :)

[kyriaofdelphi.livejournal.com]

Ron dies instead of Lupin and Tonks. Hermione marries Viktor.

[theshadowpanther]

So many things to agree with in here, but here's one that no one has thought up yet.

1. Remove the Deathly Hallows. They are a) totally irrelevant to the story as a whole, and only serve as a bit of "distraction" for Harry when he's on the Horcrux quest (that bit with Ollivander where he has to decide between getting the Deathly Hallows and hunt the Horcruxes) and b) dei ex machina, since they allow Harry a way out of killing Voldemort with no real effort put into it. These are my main complaints about it.

Now, since I am an academic masochist, I can say that if the Deathly Hallows had been introduced in HBP instead of in DH, as someone above suggested, then I probably could have been able to stomach them. The Resurrection Stone scene at the end of DH is one of my favorites, and not having it would be a loss, in my opinion. I just don't see any point to making the Invisibility Cloak and the Elder Wand Deathly Hallows, especially when Harry only won because of his circuitous mastery of the Elder Wand..... (plus it seems to me to send a message about not taking responsibility for ending a life, no matter how it happens. I'm sure JKR did not mean it that way, but, yeah.) The Invisibility Cloak was awesome on its own, why did JKR have to glorify it up? I don't understand.

2) Godric Gryffindor's sword. I wish JKR had not put so much emphasis on Godric Gryffindor's sword. The conflict she set up by having it be goblin-made was, again, a distraction (and a cliche!) and not even a plot that was resolved at the end. In addition, Harry was an absolute jerk to Griphook (are there any other goblins besides Griphook????), which considering the lesson he learned with Kreacher seems really weird and a bit uncharacteristic. I think JKR could have introduced another method of elimination besides the already-familiar Gryffindor sword that would be as complex but not in such a weird way.

2.b) Sort of related, it seems that JKR intended for different people to eliminate each Horcrux, based on love. Why couldn't Neville and co. have defeated the Ravenclaw Horcrux? They were at Hogwarts....... JKR could have made use of the Order a lot more, instead of having them disappear behind the curtain. They could have retrieved a Horcrux, say the Slytherin locket, from the Ministry much easier than Harry and co. could have. Bill and Charlie could have handled the dragon for the Hufflepuff Cup. By limiting all the legwork and elimination to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, JKR made it at once difficult and too easy for the Trio to get rid of the Horcruxes, and implausible on top of it.

ETA: I, er, got permission from the mods to post the original rant to my journal, and I, er, expanded it a bit. If anyone is interested, it's here. ::shifty look::

[theshadowpanther]

I agree with everything. Especially for 3). It makes me think that JKR got stuck in a formula for writing the HP books and thus wasn't flexible enough to consider alternatives, such as cutting the year off and casting The Trio into the world early. Not that anybody else pointed it out, either, but still.

Just thinking about the possibilities that open up if the Trio had fled before sixth year was up makes me want to write it....

5) all the way. Poor Neville, shunted aside before he got a chance to begin...

[nevrafire.livejournal.com]

krum didnt seemed to mind much setting his eyes on getting a new girlfriend, the way he was oggling ginny at the weasley wedding. ;p

i actually thought krum was going to get killed to punish karakroff for deserting the Death eaters.

[nevrafire.livejournal.com]

The Deaths. I would have Hedwig survive (that was so mean and stupid. Harry "lost his innocence" when he saw cedric get murdered because he was the spare, and then used to bring voldemort back to life.), Sirius (i dont care that the father figures had to go, it was So cruel to have sirius imprisoned for 12 years and then when he gets out he gets stuck in his childhood home that he ran away from, and then gets killed. So Unfair.

Tonks and Lupin. Equally So totally unfair. Lupin had such a crappy deal. lost his best friend, his other best friend he thought was a murderer. he was a werewolf and shunned by society. couldnt keep a job. Finally has someone who loves him no matter what, gets a family and Stupid rowling kills them both for a stupid parallel thing.

and Fred. percy should have been the one.

also kill more Bad guys. it{s so unfair that a lot of good guys died, but not that many bad guys. I would have killed lucius or Draco too.

also ron and hermione would have gotten together earlier. none of that stupid Lav lav thing. (even when i dont hate lavender i hated her as clingy girlfriend).

[slytherinjunkie.livejournal.com]

I love Ginny Weasley and therefore hated how JKR put her with Harry at the end.

Just ... no ... Ginny/Snape forever! (Alright, I'm biased)

I also would have loved to see more about how Ginny was impacted by being possessed by Tom Riddle. I mean, if it fucked up Harry when he dreamed about him, it surly would have fucked up Ginny to have been possessed by him for a whole year as an 11 year old!

I would have also found it interesting to see how the things in the story would have progressed with Ginny being sorted into Slytherin ... possible betrayal maybe?

Also, I would have either killed both Fred and George together or have both of them live. Its just not right otherwise.

I wouldn't have paired Remus with Tonks without having a more suitable exploration on how their relationship evolved. To me, it seemed like one moment they were together, the next moment they weren't and then the next moment they were married and had a baby. Way too quick for someone like me who loves to read about relationships.

Snape would have never died because he would have had to be with Ginny eventually (well, that and I love Snape :D)

And yeah, that's what I would change!

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

One thing I would change would be Ginny and Harry's happily ever after. I like Ginny, don't get me wrong, but I find her too much a 'fan' of Harry more than anything else. I don't think Harry related to her very well and I found that he had more of a connection with Luna. Luna didn't judge him and she understood him in ways I didn't think anyone else did. I felt as though JK put Harry with Ginny in an attempt to relate them to James and Lily. And I love James and Lily, I do, but I just don't see Ginny as being the one for Harry.