Tackling the bandwagon

[persephone_kore]

I have been pestering myself with the idea of writing a 7th-year Harry Potter fic.

I suspect this is a bad idea. I never had any particular desire to write a 5th-year or 6th-year fic; I never had any idea where to go with it, and I figured they'd just get lost in the crowd. Now I have a "next-book" fic idea, but since that stems from having more information than usual on What Happens Next, there'll probably be even more of them than before. Not to mention I'll be torn between wanting to be different and wanting to be right.

Then there's the problem of trying not to steal other people's theories (though I'll probably end up with some of the less complicated ones anyway). And of the fact that I have one probably-unique plot development that requires the rest of the story for context but is the part I really want to write most -- and it's not the climax.

I still might do it anyway. So I am compiling a list of questions that I feel remain to be addressed. Some are likely to be trivial; others are obviously plot-relevant; others still seem important to the plot but it is not clear how; some are probably more connected to defeat-of-Voldemort than Harry-growing-up and vice versa, though these are intertwined; and some may be questions that need addressing so the story will feel complete more than because they connect to the main plots.

Here is my current list of questions. I have probably forgotten some of the ones I thought of, and will probably think of some more.

What happens at the Dursleys'?
Edit! Thanks, a_t_rain: What did Dudley see when attacked by Dementors?
What's up with Lily's eyes?
If the shape of the scar is not the most important thing about it, what is?
What happens at the wedding?
Will Hogwarts open?
Will Harry go; will people argue if he doesn't?
What are the mirrors for?
Where does Ginny end up/what does she end up doing?
Where are Ollivander and Fortescue, and does it matter?
What is this role Fawkes is supposed to play that she won't tell us? (Brother wands or something more?)
What was that potion anyway?
What will Dumbledore's painting say? (As a side note, I have the sneaking feeling that Dumbledore's and Phineas Nigellus's paintings could be a source of vast entertainment. Obviously, judging from Phineas, flattened doesn't necessarily mean flat, if you see what I mean.)
If there wasn't really a Horcrux in that cave, why did Dumbledore zero in on it first?
And who was R.A.B, and what did s/he do with the locket?
What "most precious" did Voldemort entrust to Bellatrix?
Where was Fawkes, anyhow?
Why did Dumbledore spontaneously combust at his own funeral?
Who does magic late in life under desperate circumstances (instead of manifesting by 11)?
Who is the member of the Order we haven't really met yet?
What are Dumbledore's Boggart and Erised really, and why is this important?
How is Grindelwald significant? (I guess since JKR says he's dead, I probably shouldn't include in a serious fic the idea that he has somehow been caused to work at a ski resort.)
What happens with the house-elves? (Especially Kreacher and Dobby.)
What happens with the goblins, centaurs, etc.?
What happens with Snape?
What happened with Lily, Snape, and Slughorn?
What happens with Pettigrew and the life-debt?
What happened with "the Prank"? (Why would Snape go somewhere Sirius told him to/how would Sirius prompt this otherwise?)
What about Marietta?
What about Percy?
What are all the Horcruxes? How are they to be destroyed?
How does Ravenclaw "have their day"?
What's the unexpected about the Horcruxes? (I figure there's something unexpected, even if Dumbledore's guesses are "never too far off.")
How does Harry defeat Voldemort in the end?
-What kind of scenario is it? What roles do others play? Where does it take place?
-What is the actual defeat? (I don't think AK would be satisfactory; at any rate, I don't think I could make it that way.)
-Does the fact that JKR said both she and Trelawney worded the prophecy "very carefully" come into play, despite Dumbledore's going on about how it only is being fulfilled because Voldemort took it seriously?
How does it end? (After Voldemort.)


Please feel free to comment, especially with additional questions, although I can't guarantee that I'll actually address them. (Actually, at this point I can't guarantee starting the fic, much less finishing it and/or doing a good job.) I would like to clarify that I am not looking for people to answer the questions for me, since the point of the list was not only "What will happen in HP7?" but "What should I address in my fic?" and I figure I should come up with at least some of the answers myself.

Encouragement is also welcome.

Discouragement is not so welcome, but whatever floats your boat. ;)

Discussion is interesting.

Comments

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Hmm, some thoughts:

What happens at the Dursleys'?

Harry finds out what Dudley saw when the dementors attacked him. This has been left hanging for two books, and JKR has promised an answer.

Will Hogwarts open?

Yes, though no doubt with reduced enrollment and a state-of-emergency mentality. I think once McGonagall gets over the initial shock, she'll have a very stiff-upper-lip, must-go-on attitude, and Sprout and Hagrid seem to feel that way already.

Will Harry go; will people argue if he doesn't?

I think he will, but I wouldn't argue with somebody who has him not going.

Where does Ginny end up/what does she end up doing?

Are you allowed to leave Hogwarts after your O.W.L.s, or do you have to be seventeen? If it's the former, I think Ginny might demand to join Harry (and having an underage witch around could be very useful if the other Horcruxes are hidden in the same way as the locket); if the latter, she could end up being his contact person at Hogwarts.

Where are Ollivander and Fortescue, and does it matter?

Ollivander: under Imperius and forced to make wands for the DEs. Fortescue: probably murdered or, at best, kept incapacitated, a la Moody in his trunk. Fortescue's interest in medieval history is significant. He knows something about the location of one of the Horcruxes.

And who was R.A.B, and what did s/he do with the locket?
What "most precious" did Voldemort entrust to Bellatrix?

The "most precious" he entrusted to her was the locket. Regulus found out about this, pickpocketed his cousin, and swapped the real Horcrux for a fake one before she placed it in the cave. I think the real Horcrux is the heavy locket the Order found while cleaning Grimmauld Place in OotP. If so, Mundungus has probably fenced it by now.

Who is the member of the Order we haven't really met yet?

Aberforth?

No deep thoughts on most of the others, sorry.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Harry finds out what Dudley saw when the dementors attacked him. This has been left hanging for two books, and JKR has promised an answer.

Ah, thanks! My mental process of collecting questions had something of the feeling of trying to pick up one too many things at a time, so that periodically some of them escaped. This was one of the runaways, I think.

I think he will, but I wouldn't argue with somebody who has him not going.

*laughing* I actually was thinking of that as "Will other characters argue with Harry (and which ones, and on what occasions)?" rather than "Will people argue with me?" but that's also a good point.

This is one that I'm a little up in the air about; I think he's going to spend a certain amount of plot-and-page-space (in both fic and canon) away from Hogwarts trying to figure things out, but there's room for quite a bit to happen during the summer.

Also, I'm planning time-travel. Although not so much to gain him time as because I am a Founder-crazed goofball.

And I need to name Salazar's youngest daughter, I do.


Aberforth?

That's where I was leaning.

No worries about not having thoughts on the other questions. I'm currently trying to figure out to what extent I need to come up with alternatives to answers I actually find convincing, but feel bad about putting into a fic because I didn't think of them. (Actually, if you have any thoughts on that dilemma...)