Silly Question Time: If You Were Hired to Write a Harry Potter Story How Would You Go About It?

[hammerofglass]

Does this new Harry Potter series have to take place in the modern world? Why not during the Victorian age or earlier? Or the formation of it all?

[...]Hell one idea for a fan fic I had was a crossover between The Wizarding World and the Chronicles of Narnia (none canon to either series) where a Wizard and a Muggle girl find themselves in Narnia with the Wizard hunting Death Eaters who found Narnia and hide there and are now ruling it.

Other than it being specifically a Harry Potter connection isn't that the basic plot of The Magician's Nephew?

[phantom000]

If I wrote a Harry Potter story it would involve Harry, or similar character, on a flying broomstick in a dogfight with a Nazgul.

[Durandal_1707]

I can't believe no one has put forward the obvious idea of "have one of the main characters transition just to piss off JKR" yet.

[hammerofglass]

I can't believe no one has put forward the obvious idea of "have one of the main characters transition just to piss off JKR" yet.

If the objective is purely to piss JKR off it's gotta be Ginny or Hermione and they have to transition before the kids are born.

[McAvoy]

Well that is easy. I would definitely have Harry transition into Harriot Potter. The whole book would be about that. The back history, the decision and the aftermath.

The make it as everyone is happy for her. Then have a Rowling stand in get clapped down.

Too obvious but that is what I would do just to piss her off. That and all the anti-trans community.

Obviously the better way is to just create a new character and do that exact thing but have some original story connected to that character somehow.

[Winter]

Well that is easy. I would definitely have Harry transition into Harriot Potter. The whole book would be about that. The back history, the decision and the aftermath.

The make it as everyone is happy for her. Then have a Rowling stand in get clapped down.

Too obvious but that is what I would do just to piss her off. That and all the anti-trans community.

Obviously the better way is to just create a new character and do that exact thing but have some original story connected to that character somehow.

No, the best way to piss off Rowling would be to, take the series away from her so she can make no money off it and cannot dictate how the story is developed and then have a transwoman come in to be the show runner and make an overall loyal adaptation but one that improves the series in a thousand small ways (like Harry and Ginny's relationship, fixing some plot holes and changing many of the "What was she thinking" moments like insisting that Elves are happy as slaves).

I would have Harry be played by a girl (trans or otherwise) just to make my point clear and watch as what little sanity she has left leave her for good.

Now this would depend that the series being great on it's own which means getting good child actors, good directors and good writers who are all on the same page. That page being "This is an overall faithful adaptation and not just a FU JK Rowling."

[Nealithi]

I can't believe no one has put forward the obvious idea of "have one of the main characters transition just to piss off JKR" yet.

See I look at this with a 'Why bother' mentality.
If the only point is to piss off JKR or throw in a trans character, then the idea has no merit to stand on by itself. If all anyone wants is to hurt someone else then it is just sad.

Now if one decided to do a sequel to the Harry Potter story. With the children of the first students. Let there be a young Hufflepuff girl. Let her be a friend to the others. Help in the adventures. What is her private problem? She was born a boy, and perhaps one or both of her parents does not understand. And does not understand she is happier now.
Don't make it the focus of her character. Nor the focus of the show. Make it a piece of the character, that helps define her.

After all, hold up a mirror. Are you defined exclusively by your gender or what gender you are attracted to? Or is it just part of the mix that makes you, you.

[phantom000]

I can't believe no one has put forward the obvious idea of "have one of the main characters transition just to piss off JKR" yet.

Personally I would be more inclined to create a character who is transition instead of trying to retcon one of the original characters.

I have nothing against trans or non-binary characters but something about changing a character's identity retroactively that just feels wrong.

I mean if an author took a character who was trans right from the beginning and just waved their hand and made them CIS-gender would be the same thing, wouldn't it?

[Winter]

I can't believe no one has put forward the obvious idea of "have one of the main characters transition just to piss off JKR" yet.

Personally I would be more inclined to create a character who is transition instead of trying to retcon one of the original characters.

I have nothing against trans or non-binary characters but something about changing a character's identity retroactively that just feels wrong.

I mean if an author took a character who was trans right from the beginning and just waved their hand and made them CIS-gender would be the same thing, wouldn't it?

Depends on the situation. Characters getting a gender swap, race swapped and have a different sexuality is actually very common in a lot of adaptations and or remakes. In Jessica Jones, for example, Jeryn Hogarth is now Jeri Hogarth. Jeryn is a straight guy in the comics and Jeri is a woman in a lesbian relationship. Team JNPR from RWBY are all gender flipped versions of classical heroes and so on.

Before Rowling lost her shit I was actually putting together an adaptation of HP to work it into a TV series (something similar to Sherlock where we get 3 episodes per season with each one being about an hour and 15 minutes) and in that adaptation I wanted to make Harry a girl. The reason for this was because I wanted this series to stand out more from the movies and books so if/when another adaptation came out you knew which one was mine.

I know how this looks with one idea I have for a sequel having a transgirl as one of the main characters ending up in a romantic relationship with Harry's daughter and Harry in my idea for an adaptation being a girl but I swear it's just a coincidence. I was writing this all up (among WAAAY to many other projects) back in 2010 well before all this happened.

Now I'll likely never be able to do this because A) I refuse to work for a bigot and B) There's noway I can convince anyone that the ideas I had aren't intentional.

[hammerofglass]

Since we're talking trans folks in HP I think there's an obligitory scene where someone who hasn't told anyone they're trans (or possibly even hasn't worked it out yet depending on how you decide the mechanics work) gets outed by one of those magic "no boys allowed" fields they have in the dorms.

Actually come to think of it those have to suck if you're genderfluid.