DOTW: If the Potters had not died.... (Page 2)

JanakiRaghunath

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Posted: 23 December 2008 at 8:42pm | IP Logged

Interesting Shellytt....

Well, if it was the first scenario, then Neville would have been the boy who lived. Judging from the bubble gum wrapper scene in OoP, Alice Longbottom loved her son very much, and would probably have shed her blood for him just like Lily did for Harry. Neville might not have grown up with his grandmother, because she was related to him from his father's side, and from Dumbledore we found out that Harry had to stay with the Dursleys because they were related to him through his mother's blood. So Neville would have had to live with someone blood related to his mother. Judging from the way they bring up Neville, his whole personality might have been different, depending on whether he was exposed to the Wizarding World during his childhood, the strictness with which he was treated, etc. He also might have been in a different house.

Yea, Harry would have had a much better childhood, growing up with the love he had always wanted in the original books. He might have had more siblings, and his personality too might have been different. He and Ron might have been friends earlier on, because I think Molly and Arthur were in the Order during the first war along with Lily and James. I'm not sure though...

I don't know about Snape. So many things could have happened. Like you said, he could have remained a death eater. But after Voldemort's fall, he also could have felt remorse that he chose the Dark Arts over his chidlhood friend, and attempted to patch up his and Lily's old friendship. He and James had too much enmity to become friends, but an air of civility might have been created. Who knows? Though maybe I'm just typing down something that is too impossible....

Also, Snape might have been put in Azkaban if you think about it. Because in one of the books, it said the Death Eaters from the first war were rounded up after Voldemort's "death", and most of them were put in Azkaban, except the few (like the Malfoys) who claimed they were under the Imperius. It seems like Snape would have too much pride to say he was under the Imperius curse. Don't know though.........

As for the second scenario, I'll give it more thought before writing a long reply like this....

-Mystery-

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Posted: 24 December 2008 at 12:42pm | IP Logged

Very interesting topic!

I think the story would be a whole lot different if the Potters hadn't died because their death is a very important part of Harry's characterization. He's the boy who lived because the Potter's died. Harry's Mother died and that's why he got the shield due to which Voldemort couldn't kill him... but if she hadn't laid her life for her then Voldemort would've succeeded in killing him, right? So basically there wouldn't be any story to read about.

But if Voldemort had chosen Neville, then that's a whole different story.

-Mahi

Adwaita

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Posted: 01 January 2009 at 5:36am | IP Logged

i completely agree with godisone for the 1st scenario...
n if the orphaned neville grew to be brave n confident, he might hv had a chance with voldemort. if he was the same neville we see in hp books, he'd hv needed some time to prepare for it...
again, he can't either be this or that... he'd hv had many shades like harry n some similar qualities being orphan. (harry as we read in the books- an orphan- not with parents...) so, everything depends on neville's character!
here, snape definitely would remain a death eater till the end... he'd be sent to azkaban... or even if he faked being imperiused, he'd remain evil...

in the 2nd scenario,
i believe voldemort would hv chosen harry and snape would hv been a death eater till the end...OR if voldemort went behind harry later, harry's parents would still be there shielding him... voldemort would hv to finish the whole family and may be, snape'd be confused abt his role n MAY choose the good side again, having seen lily's death... here, everything depends on voldemort's choice... (which would be harry, according to me!)

shellytt

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Posted: 10 January 2009 at 11:45am | IP Logged

About Neville, I believe that he would have been brought up in the Wizarding World, even if he lived with his mother's family. (They were pure-bred I think).

So being the orphan, growing up in the wizarding World, with all the attention and adoration that he would have gotten as the Boy who lived could have both negative and positive effects on how Neville's character eventually is perceived.

Harry's character in large part was more humble because he was never really exposed to the "celebrity" of the Boy who lived. When he did become aware of it, he was still more or less secluded in Hogwarts, so I still don't think he got the full extent of the adoration that Neville would be exposed to growing up. This celebrity would have a definite impact on teh way that the orphan Neville viewed the world and his place in it. He might have even been more open to the possibilty of the ultimate duel with Voldermort than Harry would have been. More confident in his abilities to fight the Dark Arts and to my thinking he may have been a little more arrogant and felt more entitled. Remember we can't let what we know about Neville now to influence how we think he could have been.

Now another question that arises- Would Harry have still been friends with Hermoine - the studious, serious girl? This is assuming that Harry and Ron have already been friends.

Edited by shellytt - 10 January 2009 at 11:49am

JanakiRaghunath

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Posted: 13 January 2009 at 10:43am | IP Logged

Originally posted by shellytt

About Neville, I believe that he would have been brought up in the Wizarding World, even if he lived with his mother's family. (They were pure-bred I think).

So being the orphan, growing up in the wizarding World, with all the attention and adoration that he would have gotten as the Boy who lived could have both negative and positive effects on how Neville's character eventually is perceived.

Harry's character in large part was more humble because he was never really exposed to the "celebrity" of the Boy who lived. When he did become aware of it, he was still more or less secluded in Hogwarts, so I still don't think he got the full extent of the adoration that Neville would be exposed to growing up. This celebrity would have a definite impact on teh way that the orphan Neville viewed the world and his place in it. He might have even been more open to the possibilty of the ultimate duel with Voldermort than Harry would have been. More confident in his abilities to fight the Dark Arts and to my thinking he may have been a little more arrogant and felt more entitled. Remember we can't let what we know about Neville now to influence how we think he could have been.

Now another question that arises- Would Harry have still been friends with Hermoine - the studious, serious girl? This is assuming that Harry and Ron have already been friends.

Good question; I don't know, but I think there's a chance, because to me Hermione always sounded like a second Lily, though Hermione was definitely more strict with the rule breaking thing. Growing up with his parents, I think Harry would have been like a bit of both of his parents: a little cocky, mischevious, and "stuck-up" like his father, but not as much as his father, because he might have the humble and accepting nature of his mother. But then again, James changed before he married Lily, so the "stuck up" attitude might not be there.

Harry and Ron would have had a closer friendship if they were friends from childhood, and they might have been more accepting towards Hermione's strict "no nonsense" attitude.

One thing we're all forgetting: Voldemort found and killed the Potters, because Peter Pettigrew gave away their hiding place. If Neville had been marked as the Chose One, and if the Longbottoms had gone into hiding, who says the person they would have trusted with the Fidelius Charm would give away their hiding place? they might have remained in hiding for many years, and Neville would have grown up in the seculsion of the Fidelius charm with only his parents as companions.

Voldemort might never have been "defeated", there would be no Boy Who Lived, and the Wizarding World as we knew it in the first book would not have existed.

Possibility? Wink

shellytt

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Posted: 13 January 2009 at 1:05pm | IP Logged

Originally posted by godisone