Chapter Text
Disclaimers
All original characters (Miss Owen, Master Tyler, Miss Doyle, Miss Bonnie and her father Clyde and all the new staff who come to Hogwarts) belong to me, as does the story. Feel free to post it to other sites, but if you are going to I must ask that you copy it exactly, including the first and last disclaimers.
(Note - if you wish to post it in a less X-Rated format, that can be arranged, but I would like final say over any edits/cuts that are made, as it is, after all, my work).
Harry Potter and associated characters belong to JK Rowling.
Lord Sidious and associated characters belong to George Lucas.
On a technicality, I suppose some of the characters belong to Joss Whedon (Willow Maclay, Tara Weasley, Joan and Alex)
The various Shakespeare quotes are from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "MacBeth"
Lord Of The Rings and associated things belong to JRR Tolkien.
As mentioned, "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" belongs to whoever currently owns the copyright.
The "comfy chair" discussion comes from Monty Python, obviously.
The Hermen Melville quote is from "Moby Dick" (by way of "Wrath Of Kahn").
In addition, I do tend to quote and paraphrase a lot, sometimes without noticing I am doing it. As Sam Seabourne said "good authors quote, great authors steal" and who am I to argue?
So if you do recognise anything as being from a quote (or paraphrase) then it probably belongs to the original author/creator and I am not claiming creative rights :)
Finally - this is not being done for money or other reward (except, I suppose, knowing I have written something people are reading and liking), and if you do wish to repost it, you can NOT do it on a site that requires payment to access.
Notes
I really didn't like Order Of The Phoenix a great deal. It was too long, and there seemed to be far too much "movie" crap in it (stuff that would have looked good on film, but seemed a bit pointless on paper). And, if I am being completely honest, if Books 6 and 7 had been as poor as Book 5 was, it would have been a betrayal of a series that had a lot of potential.
On the flip-side, I loved Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. It seems JKR found the funny again, which is what I always thought was key to the series. Not the Hallows, not the horcruxes, not the dragons and the magic, but the people. The interaction between them and so forth.
And while I haven't written any horcrux based stories (I think I made a passing mention of them in "The Silent Trio" series, and ignored them in the rest), that is only because JK Rowling did it so well already I don't want to try to improve on it.
So when I keep running across "whiny Harry stories" - where he is sad and mopey over Sirius' death and doesn't think anyone else could ever understand what it's like to lose someone you love - I get annoyed, and wonder why people can't do something different.
Which is where the Prologue (Sirius Was Dead!) comes from. Just the idea that Sirius' death wasn't a gut-wrenching tragedy (as everyone seems to want to make out it was), but (in this case) something he was looking forward to - something he had engineered.
(And, if I am being honest, I am lightly mocking all those people who start their stories with Sirius' death being a gut-wrenching tragedy, just because there are so many of them, and it's kind of fun to do!).
Finally - there are a lot of do-over stories floating around. "Nightmares Of Future's Past" by Viridian is one of the better ones, but they are mostly much the same (war ends badly, everyone's dead, Harry goes back and fixes things).
My previous attempt at a time-travel/do-over story was entirely a parody - Hermione changing the past in various comedy ways, none of which should be taken seriously.
In another story, there is a tiny time-travel/do-over element, but since it is entirely key to the plot, telling you any more would be a bad idea.
(There are also two more time travel stories - "Harry and Jane" and the not yet written "Nineteen Years Later" - but they aren't do over. They just involve people travelling in time).
But when I got to my first full attempt at a time-travel/do-over story, I didn't want to write another in the long line of "Everyone dies, Harry fixes it, everyone lives" because - as I said - there are so many of them. And what is more different to that than "Everyone lives, Harry fixes it, everyone dies"?
So - mass murder, torture, killing, maiming and generally doing nasty things to people ensues after Harry comes back to change the past.
Plus I rarely write 18+ stories, because I am more of a young-adult writer (that is I write for young adults, as opposed to being a young-adult who writes), so when I do, I tend to make them pretty special (such as "Holiday From Hell").
The Potter Conspiracy
The idea that Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard is not new - I am well aware of that. And that idea that Snape is a twat is also not new (mostly because he is a twat).
However the idea that others, including his very best friends, could have conspired against him, in collusion with Dumbledore, is one I haven't seen in many other places. ("Sunset Over Britain" is the one that springs to mind, but even that had limited conspiracies in).
The list of those who were part of The Conspiracy was pretty easy - anyone who Harry showed an affinity with, whether friendship, trust or love, turned out to be evil, using their specific relationship to screw him over.
In addition, I don't believe that McGonagall would rebel against Dumbledore in his plans. So many stories seem to have her doing just that, and yet if you read all the books, there is only one part of one chapter where she tells Dumbledore he might be wrong (when he leaves Harry with The Dursleys). Everywhere else, she is entirely loyal, no matter how stupid or dumb Dumbledore acts. (For example when Harry tells her he is on a mission from Dumbledore at the end of Deathly Hallows, she doesn't question it. She just accepts Dumbledore would have done this and supports his choice).
And at the same time, The Dursleys (who seem to be a target for much wrath and torture in "Dark Harry" stories) were just Dumbledore's innocent puppets, so that when Harry learned the truth, he made peace with them and they became some of his big supporters.
Lord Sidious
If Harry doesn't return until 2002/2003, he would have seen both "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack Of The Clones", and thus learned the lessons of Palpatine very well.
And so by using the name of a fictional, muggle Dark Lord - one that almost none of the pureblood wizards would have heard of, a) because he is a fictional, muggle Dark Lord and b) Sidious is a name that isn't in the Original Trilogy of films, and only turns up in 1999 when TPM is released - he ensures that no one who can act will link him to the new Dark Lord that is rising. And those that do make the link won't act on it, because they'd be ignored anyway.
In addition, he acted pretty much like Lord Sidious did - creating an enemy to distract both The Ministry and Voldemort while (as Harry) he carried out his other plan (dealing with The Conspiracy).
Is Harry Evil?
As boring as it is, I am going to let you make up your own mind.
Luna
I have always regarded Luna as the single most interesting and special character in the HP Universe. Her outlook on the world - that just because no one else believes in anything doesn't mean it doesn't exist - is truly wonderful, and one I have explained in a number of ways.
So when Harry tells her who he is, what he is doing and why, she can see the truth of it at once, even before the letter from her future self.
And as to whether she is evil for not standing up to Harry will depend on your view as to whether Harry is evil or not. Which, again, I am not going to say.
Finally, the interaction between her and Harry (completely flirty and barely taking things seriously) was vast acres of fun to write, and ensured that the story didn't just contain death, death and more death. (Which was also the reason that there is so much other fun stuff. I have been told in the past that my stories are way too serious, that they only have plot related stuff in. So I decided to add a lot of fluffy bits in to this one, just to keep it on the funny side. Because, like JKR, I think finding the funny is a good thing!).
Other questions
How quickly did Ginny die?
Pretty quickly. She was dead before Harry lead Aragog in to The Chamber to eat her. However her skeleton will not lie in The Chamber forever, because she was eaten by Aragog's family (bones and all).
Could Harry have let the basilisk live?
Honestly, no. It was too much of a danger to all the students. And while setting it loose on other members of The Conspiracy might have given Harry a happy, it wasn't worth the risk.
Was Remus in on Harry's plan?
No. Harry manipulated the wolfsbane potion to make sure Remus wouldn't be in control of himself. However the single death (Pansy) was a huge disappointment, as he had hoped Remus might take down one or two of the staff (Snape, McGonagall and even Dumbledore) as well.
There is a slight 'Sweeny Todd' lilt to your fic. Is it also going to end with everyone loosing in the end? (from "Harriverse")
Obviously not, since Harry and Luna now occupy the main posts in The Ministry, and have an army of loyal friends and followers.
In addition - the quote ("The good end well, and the bad end badly; that's why they call it fiction.") I used in the response is from "The Importance Of Being Ernest", not "Anne Of Green Gables" (sorry about that) and possibly does give an idea about my views of the various characters :).
Will we see all 23 deaths?
My original plan was yes, but only 19 (plus Dumbledore, Crabbe, Neville and Goyle, who were not part of the original 23) actually happen "on screen" (so to speak).
Mad-Eye Moody is killed as part of Harry's revenge, but we only learn about it when we here Barty's thoughts of letting him go.
Percy, Fudge and Amelia Bones are also not killed "on screen", as they die in The Ministry Raid that Harry doesn't go to.
(Technically, we don't see Sirius die either, but since we see the events leading up to that, I class it as an "on screen" death).
Talking of deaths, you handed Voldemort pretty quickly. What's up with that?
The rational (story based) explanation is Harry is incredibly good at what he does (which seems to be killing people for the most part), and that as he had already fought and killed Voldemort once (back in the previous timeline) he knew exactly what to do this time.
The less rational (plot based) explanation is that killing Voldemort has been done to death (if you will pardon the pun). JKR did it in Deathly Hallows, and a fair number of other fiction stories have done it in numerous and exciting ways. So I have given up trying to write dramatic battles and exciting death scenes, because I am pretty sure whatever I do will not be as good as some others.
Plus this story is entitled "HARRY POTTER AND", not "LORD VOLDEMORT AND". It's a story about Harry and his return from the future to kill people, and have lots of sex with Luna. Voldemort doesn't really enter in to it (if you will, again, excuse the phrasing), because it's not about him or his Army of Doom. It's Harry, Luna and the others that are the focus.
The only reason I kill Voldemort at all is because that's how the story moves on - you kill the big bad (and part of me wanted to put in a phrase saying "But Harry - you are really the BIG bad", but I couldn't find a place for it) then move on.
So that's why the final battle (between Harry and Voldemort anyway) was over so quickly - it wasn't important to the main story. And it's why some of Harry's murders were described in more detail than others (Ginny, Tonks, Hermione, Ron, Molly as opposed to Hagrid, Colin, Pomfrey, Sprout, Fudge for example) - because they were more important. And why the confrontation in Dumbledore was so detailed - because that was the true final battle - the one the story had been leading up to.
What was "Phase 2"? Is it the plan to take over the world?
Pretty much. Uniting the magical races under one flag, ensuring muggles, muggle-born, half-bloods and pure-bloods can live in peace and harmony and, of course, having Luna and him in charge was his ultimate plan. But one that he could never have carried out with Dumbledore still in a position of power, or if Ron/Ginny had been involved. (Due to all three of them being pretty racist little twats).
Racist? Really?
Well - yeah.
The vast majority of wizards think muggles are backwards, useless creatures. Despite the fact they are humans (and thus the same species as wizards), most of the wizards in Harry's world (including Ron, Ginny, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Arthur and Molly to name but a few) consider them to be a lesser-race, and not worthy of being considered in the same breath as wizards.
Even if they don't think all muggles should be hunted down and killed, they still don't rate them as "worthwhile" or (I suspect) "real people"
Consequently, if Harry had tried to unite the races with Ron and Ginny still in his life, they would have tried to talk him out of it, telling him that he shouldn't go out of his way to protect muggles because they are inferior.
Luna, of course, sees all sorts of things that no one else does, so she doesn't see any problem in Harry's plans.
Was Dumbledore always going to die?
Yes and no. Originally, my plan was that they would leave him alive, then he would come after them, and they would kill him. But it did occur to me that he wouldn't take the death of Voldemort well, and that they would have to decide to kill him in advance.
"The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" - Why did you pick that?
My reasons for picking "The Battle Hymn" were because a) it is a REALLY good song when performed properly (march tempo, appx 120 beats per minute, with a full choir), b) it fitted the way I wanted Molly to die, c) it does sort of fit Harry's over all plan and d) it's a really good song!
(I originally wanted to use a more Christmassy one, but the only one that really fit was "Silent Night" and I have already used that as a backdrop to another story, and didn't want to repeat myself too much!)
I considered editing it - removing all the references to god - but then I decided that that would just be silly.
I did swap the last verse for another one - originally it was
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me,
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
Our God is marching on.
but while I liked the reference to "Beauty Of The Lily" as a reference to Harry's birth, the other verse spoke more to Harry's purpose, his plans for the future and the simple fact he is a force that will not be denied.
Do you have a complete list of deaths?
I do, and it is provided at the end of this chapter. The reason for this was two-fold.
Firstly - I needed to make sure that everyone who died had a reason for it, and I wasn't randomly killing people for fun. (Because that's bad!)
Secondly - Because I was writing in two time periods (possibly three, if you include Harry's original past), I also had to remember exactly when everyone died. So that if I was writing about his third year, I didn't include Hermione or Ginny in the chapters.
This became apparent when - during Harry's sixth year, Draco was making out with Pansy. Who I had killed three years before via the ingenious method of a rogue werewolf.
It took me two more chapters to realise what I'd done, at which point Pansy magically transformed in to Blaise (who became female, because I needed a girl) and my problem was fixed.
Plus at one point I had both Colin and Dennis dying in the same acromantula attack, until I realised Dennis wouldn't be in school until the year after. Which necessitated his death by Death (ala Final Destination).
Why did you pick that story format?
I picked the flashback format for the story (as opposed to a linear tale) because I thought it would be more interesting, and I can put the flashbacks in the context of the current story ("In The Company Of Wolves" for example).
In addition, the first few flashbacks are pretty sparse. Year 1 only has The Sorting Hat being destroyed, and Hermione being eaten (because they were the only important ones). The same for Year 2, and especially Year 5.
Consequently the balance would have been a little off, with the first few years going by very quickly, then slowing down in the later half of Harry's campaign.
(I do plan to try writing a linear version, by the magic of cut and paste, but only after I have finished posting the entire story on site).
Do you plan to continue the story?
No (well - sort of no). For two reasons.
Firstly - I have some other stories I really should finish first ("A New Dawn" and "The Western Sky" are first on the list!) and I think I have figured out how to rewrite "Nineteen Years Later" (another "different" time-travel story that I started, then had to abandon due to it not working at all).
Secondly - I like where it ended. I don't want to write a story where Harry and Luna are brought down and punished/killed - that would just be a downer.
I am tempted to write a wholly different type of story - a political drama (for want of a better phrase). With Harry and Luna now in the two most powerful offices in the land, and Susan and Hannah being their bodyguards, and Fleur as French (or possibly Veela) Ambassador to the Court Of Merlin (the UK), there is the potential.
Plus it would be nice to write a story without any fighting or large wars in. It is the one thing that Harry Potter fanfiction lacks - "typical day" stories, as opposed to war, horcrux, time-travel and so forth stories. But I guess we'll see - if I can work out enough of a plot for the first few "episodes" (either chapters or stories), I might give it a go. Otherwise, not so much.
Political Drama aside, if anyone else would like to use this as a starting point, and write their own sequel (where Harry and Luna are brought down, or the ghost of Hermione Granger comes back to haunt them like Jacob Marley), please feel free to do so as long as a) you let me know (so I can read it!) and b) you give me appropriate credit (because I am a HUGE ego-maniac, and because anyone reading the sequel would probably do well to read this first!)
Random Stuff
The original planning and drafting started on May 17th 2009, and the writing started on 7th of August, and was finished on September 28th 2009 when "Snape's Letter" was completed.
"Third Life" took the most time to write, because it was just an absolute bugger to get the final confrontation right (between Dumbledore, Luna and Harry).
"Unforgivable" took the least time (excepting the Prologue and "Three Years Later", obviously) because I had the entire scene in my head before it started.
The idea of killing Voldemort with a rocket and a spear comes from a young girl at Collectormania in Glasgow (it came up during a talk given by Warrick Davies and Natalia Tena, and was just too amusing not to include).
I think the parts I am proudest off are the end of "Crush The Serpent" (because it came out just as I wanted), "Unforgivable" (for the same reason) and the majority of the Harry/Luna relationship and dialog (because it is just so sweet!)
Finally - thank you to everyone who left a review, and to those who left multiple reviews. Hopefully I have either answered your questions in review, or in this chapter. If not...... there's not a great deal I can do. Sorry :)
Bonus Cut Scene
This was something I really wanted to put in, but since it happens pretty much at the climax of the story, I thought it might detract from the tension I had been building up.
So I decided to put it here instead.
(from "Third Life" - during Dumbledore's confrontation with Harry and Luna).
"You haven't worked it out?" Harry asked sarcastically "Six years from now, someone sent me a letter detailing every little part of The Conspiracy"
"Who?"
"Someone you treated almost as badly as me" Harry smiled "And someone who hated you far more than I thought was possible" He paused "You can't figure it out?" Dumbledore still looked confused "Snape"
"Snape?" Dumbledore asked in confusion.
"Severus Snape" Harry nodded,
"Snape?" Dumbledore still couldn't get his mind round the idea,
"Snape!" Harry insisted.
"Severus Snape?" Dumbledore shook his head
"Dumbledore!" Luna yelled gleefully, then - when the other two turned to stare at her, she blushed "Sorry - I was in the moment"
"Whether you believe it or not, he sent me the letter that detailed who did what, when they did it, and how stupid I was to fall for it. I didn't believe it at first - the idea that my beloved Ginny could be an evil, manipulating, scheming bitch was just ridiculous"
xoxox
A Complete List of Deaths
Note: A bold title indicates someone who died in The Conspiracy, while an italic title indicates someone who died for another reason.
"Young Harry"
"Killed" by mind-wipe in "The Potter Conspiracy" (August 1991) because Harry had to occupy his younger self, rather than using glamours or polyjuice.
The Sorting Hat
Killed by explosive shredding in "Crime And Retribution" (September 1st, 1991).
Hermione Granger
Killed by troll (eaten alive) in "Crime And Retribution" (Halloween 1991).
Hagrid, Poppy Pomfrey, Colin Creevy
Killed by acromantula swarm in "Sith Lords And Spiders" (November 1992)
Ginny Weasley
Killed by starvation/torture in "Snakes, Of Various Types" (June 1993)
Pomona Sprout
Killed by Purple-People-Eater in "Letters To America" (Halloween 1993)
Dennis Creevy
Killed by decapitation in "Letters To America" (Christmas Day 1993)
Pansy Parkinson
Killed by werewolf (Remus Lupin) in "Letters To America" (April 14th, 1994)
Remus Lupin
Executed by Hogwarts' Staff and Students (rogue werewolf) in "Letters To America (April 14th, 1994)
Nymphadora Tonks
Tortured to insanity by Harry in "Unforgivable" (July 1994) (it's assumed she died thereafter)
William Weasley
Killed by rogue dragon rampage in "A Busy Year" (November 1994)
Ronald Weasley
Killed by mer-people (drowning) in "Hearts' Desire" (February 1995)
Alastor Moody
Killed by starvation in his magical trunk (July 1995)
Fenrir Greyback, William Devine, Krayson Chenson, Scott Flynn
Executed by fellow werewolves in "Are you Demented?" (July 1995)
Parvati Patil
Kissed by Dementors in "Are You Demented?" (August 1995) (it's assumed she died thereafter)
Molly Weasley
Killed by Death Eaters in "Crush The Serpent With His Heel" (Christmas Eve, 1995)
Sirius Black
Tortured to death by Voldemort in "Dumbledore's Army" (June 1996)
Percy Weasley, Cornelius Fudge, Ameila Bones
Killed by Death Eaters during Ministry Raid (June 1996)
Minerva McGonagall
Killed by Aragog in "Dumbledore's Army" (June 1996)
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy
Killed by Sidious in "Crime And Retribution" (August 1996) in response to the attack on Hamleys toy-store.
Severus Snape
Killed by Voldemort for being a spy in "Sidious Rising" (Autumn Term, 1996)
Neville Longbottom
Killed by Luna in "Summer Lovin'" (Christmas Day, 1996) after he overheard Luna and Harry talking.
Draco Malfoy
Killed by Bellatrix in "Ever After" (November 1996)
Bellatrix, Avery, Dolohov, Goyle, Crabbe
Killed in a fight in Hogsmeade in "Ever After" (November 1996) after they attempted to kidnap Harry.
Lord Voldemort
Killed by Harry and Luna in "Third Life" (June 1997), assisted by Fleur, Viktor and Lucinda.
The Army Of Doom
Killed by The Study Group in "Third Life" (June 1997)
Albus Dumbledore
Killed by Heliopaths, Acromantulas, werewolves and centaurs at the behest of Harry and Luna in "Third Life" (June 1997)