I had an idea aged ago for an AU where Sirius scooped baby Harry up out of the wrecked house and just booked it across Eurasia, the Arctic Circle, and then traveled around North America for a decade before Remus finds them and gives Harry the Hogwarts letter.
but I also…well, I want that AU where Remus never shows up (or he ran with them) and the plot of the main series has to happen without Harry. The Marauders didn’t know about the Prophecy! They just knew Voldie was weirdly interested in the Potters. They don’t know there’s a soul-bit stuck in Harry’s head! Sirius knows Peter betrayed them, but doesn’t know who else might be a traitor. There’s every reason to run and no reason to come back. Harry gets homeschooled or attends a wizarding school in North or South America or Australia under an assumed name. When he starts getting headaches and visions, they consult an expert on cursed scars and deal with the whole “sort of but not really a horcrux” issue, because we don’t have anything in canon saying we can’t deal with it outside of unresisted-death-spell-to-the-face, even if canon doesn’t say we can deal with it nicely either.
But that’s a side thing. That’s not the plot. The plot is, what the hell is happening back at Hogwarts with no Harry Potter? Does anyone stop Quirrell? What goes down with the Chamber of Secrets? With no Sirius escaping from Azkaban, does Scabbers even bother leaving Hogwarts? Whose blood is used in the resurrection ritual, if anyone’s? How’s the Tri-Wizard Tournament? Does Draco have a different classmate for a nemesis? Was Hermione still crying in the loo the night Quirrell let a troll into the school? What happens with Norbert? Is Dumbledore using the invisibility cloak himself or storing it guiltily in case the Potter child ever shows up again? Does he give it to someone else to use? Who helps Hagrid with Norbert and Grawp? If Remus went with Sirius and Harry, who’s the DAtDA teacher in 3rd year instead of him? Which of these poor children does Dumbledore decide to groom as horcrux-hunters? Is he going after the horcruxes himself? Desperately looking for Harry? He canonically told Harry to not “put too much store in the Prophecy” and not feel trapped by destiny, insisted that Harry would try to stop Voldemort without ever hearing it, but Dumbledore’s own actions didn’t really seem to support that. Voldie cared about the Prophecy, but if he doesn’t face down Harry over the Philosopher’s Stone, does he care as much about killing the kid? Would he even bother looking for Harry, when Dumbledore is right there and has such a longer history of thwarting him?
There are so many ways this could go!
That sounds amazing. There are SO many ways this could go.
This could be fun, yeah.
First year, assuming Dumbledore still brought the Philosopher’s Stone to Hogwarts, I think you’d wind up with Neville, Ron, and Hermoine solving things… but differently. Neville figures out the plant, Ron catches the key (because, absent Harry, he’s going to be a wannabe seeker, and he’s also likely to have more broom skill than either Hermoine or Neville). Ron gets smashed in chess, Hermoine figures out the potions… and she goes through, because she’s a fearless badass, and Neville knows she can do the charmwork better, if it comes down to it. Since Hermoine doesn’t have a deus ex machina to save her, I figure she comes up with something different… though I like the idea that she figures out how to get the stone, then just frickin’ runs, because she’s not crazy and Ghost!Voldemort can’t read her mind as easily.
Second year, I’d give the crowning moment of awesome to Ron. His wand still disables Lockhart, but he retrieves the Sword of Griffindor from the Sorting Hat and slays the Basilisk (since it’s up to him to save his sister).
Third year gets tricky, because it’s driven by Sirius escaping, which doesn’t happen in this one, but I think the crowning moment of awesome should be Ginny’s this year. Buckbeak, though, would still happen, and Hagrid getting confined. Conquering fear and darkness, after the horror of her first year, Ginny’s the one to save Buckbeak AND master the Patronus charm. Peter Pettigrew gets unmasked because of the Marauder’s Map (when RON notes that he’s always being followed by someone named “Peter”, and he and Hermoine and Ginny look it up)
Fourth year, we’re going to drop Neville in the Triwizard cup. Why? Because the forces behind Voldemort are looking at what they know of the prophecy, and the Potter kid OBVIOUSLY died, so it’s got to be Neville who will bring about the rise of the Dark Lord. Neville fails the first trial (Hagrid gives him some hints, but he’s not the flyer Harry is and doesn’t manage to get his egg), owns at the second (especially since he’ll accept some advice from Hermoine), and then goes into the maze (with relative ease… Really, a Hedge Maze to thwart Neville Longbottom?)
By Order of the Phoenix, we’re going to come back to Hermoine leading the pack. She fought hard against Umbridge, and without a lightning-scarred lightning rod, she’s going to take the brunt of the damage… she’s livid about what that woman is doing to their education. When they go to the ministry of magic, you get the head fake that tells us Neville is the Chosen One, because he’s the only living person who meets the prophecy, because no one knows about Harry.
Half-blood Prince? Fykin’ EVERYONE. Instead of Dumbledore taking one special person on a bunch of trips, he takes them on different trips for different strengths. Luna, Neville, Hermoine, Ron, and Ginny all help destroy or find different Horcruxes… and we’re going to wrap up all but one of the Horcruxes during this book.
Deathly Hallows? Oh, shit, we don’t know where most of this stuff is. There’s a missing Horcrux, there’s a missing Hallow, and THAT’s where we bring in Harry. Instead of hiding out in the British backcountry, they wind up having to deal with Harry Potter, who none of them know, and is a different person than the abused hero they’d run with. Raised by his Dads (whether or not they’re together is an exercise left to the reader), he’s got magical skill (they taught him Occulmency, which is easier when you don’t hate them), but no chemistry with any of them. He butts heads with Hermoine, especially, and with Ginny, while quietly dismissing Luna and Neville. Harry wields the Invisibility cloak, but the Ressurection stone falls to Luna (she has the strongest story link to a dead person), and Ginny winds up with the Elder Wand (because we’ve established that she’s a DADT badass as early as book 3).
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