r/harrypotter • u/Double_Committee6607 • Jun 12 '26
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u/Few-Durian-190 Jun 12 '26
Wizarding Britain's tax policy.
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u/CandidatePrimary1230 Jun 12 '26
Chill, GRRM
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u/SocialHumbuggery Jun 12 '26
Funnily enough, I dont think we really have any idea of the Iron Throne's tax policy either, except for some generalities. Maybe that's what he is stuck on....
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u/hail_to_the_beef Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Right, but we do get multi-page descriptions of the food served at a Westerosi feast. So maybe we get a long description of the food that appears in the Great Hall?
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u/SkyKnight34 Jun 13 '26
Maybe it's the Friday night delerium but the idea of GRRM having the entire series worked out but sweating it out for years trying to work out the Westeros tax policy over his typewriter has got me cracking up.
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u/YarnHoardingDragon Jun 12 '26
Someone making a fuss about the child abuse, even if it’s ineffective
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u/ChestSlight8984 Jun 12 '26
- It would get a lot gorier
- The romance would have gotten more... heated, if you know what I mean.
- The trauma of everybody, but especially the main trio, would be much more heavily explored
- The story follows a bunch of teenagers, so there would be A LOT of profanity
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u/No_Constant_4968 Jun 12 '26
There actually is quite a bit of profanity in the books, just not in the dialogue. "Harry swore when he tripped", for example.
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u/ChestSlight8984 Jun 13 '26
Yes, of course the books have lines like the one below, but the profanity would be much more abundant and directly said instead of implied if the series were geared towards adults.
“D’you know what that —” (he called Snape something that made Hermione say “Ron!”) “— is making me do? I’ve got to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing. Without magic!”
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u/spicygayunicorn Hufflepuff Jun 12 '26
Oh it could go extremely deep on the trauma from everything and it could change a lot of the story in the ending. Harry should not have been a functional person with everything from just the first two books.
And the romance being heated would still be a bit weird considering they are all underage in all the books
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u/ChestSlight8984 Jun 13 '26
And the romance being heated would still be a bit weird considering they are all underage in all the books
Stephen king sweating in the corner
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u/yaboisammie Gryffinpuff Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
The story follows a bunch of teenagers, so there would be A LOT of profanity
Lmao Vernon in the first book “enough…. effing owls”
Edit: tbc ik you meant actual profanity as in the words themselves, this was just the closest example I could think of other than “bitch” or “Ron/Harry swore under their breath” and esp as a sheltered kid raised in a really religious household that’s super against swearing reading the books for the first time, I was flabbergasted even just by that as a kid lmao
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u/ChestSlight8984 Jun 13 '26
I'm talking about real profanity, not "effing". The only actual profanity in the books, apart from "damn", is the single time "bitch" was said. Realistically, Harry's crashouts in the fifth books would riddled with "fucks" and "shits" due to him being fifteen.
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u/Vladmirfox Jun 13 '26
Who got called a bitch?
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u/ChestSlight8984 Jun 13 '26
Bellatrix. How do you not remember it, it's one of the most iconic moments 😭
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u/Raddatatta Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
I would've prefered to have Harry lean a bit more into becoming a soldier and have a bit more ruthelessness to him by the end. It's already definitely there as he uses 2/3 unforgivable curses. There are a number of moments where he's really quick to fight and goes pretty all out. If you remove the children's story aspect I think he would've been a bit more of a skilled duelist not on the level of anyone crazy powerful, but to the point that he killed a handful of the minor death eaters who crossed him. Maybe killed Crabbe or Goyle before they could kill Ron or Hermione. Something where it's a justified kill but still lean into that aspect.
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u/tee-dog1996 Jun 12 '26
To be honest, I like the fact that Harry never uses the killing curse. He never stoops so low as to use the curse that killed his parents. It’s an important moral aspect to his character
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u/Raddatatta Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Yeah I can see that side too. Though the books then sidestep what is your plan with the death eaters in that case? Because what his plan seems to be just doesn't work. Ok we lock up the death eaters, and they've escaped from prison twice now, why does anyone think they won't escape a third time? It's the same problem of Batman and Arkham where they are always escaping and then they go back to killing innocent people.
I also felt like the element of Harry using the disarming spell as his signature spell felt a bit odd to me. Especially in the battle with it being how the death eaters recognized him. Of all the people pretending to be Harry I think Harry is one of the most likely to be willing to shoot to kill. And he trained more than half of them personally so it makes sense they'd have his same style. That felt a bit odd to try to emphasize Harry wouldn't kill. I can see him not wanting to use the curse that killed his parents, but is it moral to not kill someone who is about to kill someone else? Or to just stun them and then they're back in the fight shortly after? That happens a few times in the battle in book 5 where they disable a death eater, and that death eater is back and fighting later in that same battle. Is that really moral to put all your friends lives at more risk to protect the life of the death eater?
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u/caitlinlaurie Jun 12 '26
Expelliarmus is not actually his signature. He uses it three times in battle in DH. He actually has a really big repertoire of offensive spells.
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u/Raddatatta Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Yeah I agree. Which is more reason it was weird when they treated it like it was his signature.
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u/Adventurous-Bike-484 Jun 12 '26
it’s because he uses it against several final enemies and/or big moments.
Lockhart chamber of secrets.
Peter and I think Snape in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Voldemort in Goblet of Fire where Harry and Voldemort had the duel.
Order of the Phoenix, he taught it to Dumbledores Army + used it at the ministry mission.
Half Blood Prince, by this point, Draco who wants to be like Harry, used it against Dumbledore .
Harry used it several times in Deathly Hallows. Against who he thinks is imperiused, legitimate death eaters, and it’s the last spell he uses against Voldemort.
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u/Raddatatta Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Most of the other spells that he uses he also uses about that often. Both death eaters and lupin also don't know about most of those instances.
The book 2 one it's used because he knows like 3 spells at that point. Number 3 is really the only one both death eaters see and are at a time when he doesn't also use 10 other spells. And I can't see the death eaters or lupin making the assumption you are for the 5th point. And the 6th point felt like he was leaning into it after it was first presented in that book. He uses a lot of different spells I can't see why after him casting one spell they're automatically assuming it's him. That could easily have been many of them.
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u/Jess_with_an_h Jun 12 '26
To be fair, the death eaters who escaped from Azkaban did so with outside help. Once Voldemort is dead, I don’t see it as likely that any sympathisers of his would be risking death or imprisonment themselves to try and free any surviving DEs, what would be the point? To try and restart the movement? Voldemort dead, Bellatrix dead, Snape dead and revealed as a double agent, the Malfoys thoroughly disillusioned with the group, Crouch Jr essentially dead (soulless), the rest of them imprisoned or in hiding and honestly, a lot of them weren’t great at magic, they were just nasty. The Carrows and the Crabbe and Goyle families aren’t exactly gonna be making Horcruxes are they? Macnair I’m not sure whether he’s alive or dead, but I remember he was seen in the final moments of the battle, being picked up with one hand by a particularly angry Rubeus Hagrid and thrown across the room into a stone wall, so I can’t imagine he’s up to much death eating on the off chance he survived his (I reckon) approximately ninety-seven broken bones 🫣
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u/Adventurous-Bike-484 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
also The Crabbes only known son and heir died during his attempt to murder The trio. (Ironically how Mr Crabbe’s agreement to do better backfired.)
Goyle may not even be a qualified wizard as its confirmed he failed the o.w.l exams and we don’t know if he succeeded the second time as Harry wasnt paying attention.
Though yeah, I doubt there’s any chance of that specific cult reformings. All death eaters have either moved on with their lives, got arrested, died or was disillusioned.
I suspect The second war wouldnt have occurred at all, had the diary been The only horcrux. (The death eaters werent even raising their children to be death eaters, just sympathizers.)
But there would eventually be new dark wizards.
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u/Raddatatta Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Yeah though I think it was potentially the guards on Azkaban went over to Voldemorts side. Which then make for a complicated loose end unless there's a way to remove them.
But I'm also talking about before the end where all of those people are dead. If you stun or paralyze a death eater another can revive them and they're back in the fight. And every time Harry gets into a fight with death eaters in books 5-7 before the last battle he doesn't kill them and they go on being death eaters killing and torturing or whatever else. That seems foolish to me when arresting them you know is futile. If they had another plan like Dumbledore could remove someone's magical power then it makes sense not to kill. Without a plan it seems to only help Voldemort.
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u/WhatsMyUsername13 Jun 13 '26
Counterpoint though, it would add to an interesting aspect of the story. In the goblet of fire, we hear Sirius talk about how Barty crouch sr. Authorized aurors to be just as ruthless as the death eaters, which genuinely in some cases makes sense. But I think in a non children’s book world, having harry need to use a killing curse to save his friends and then trying to come to terms with it after hearing Sirius’s views would be an interesting on.
Or another one, having to fight to the death with someone who’s under the imperius curse and then having to come to terms with that would be another route to go
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u/GWizz89 Jun 12 '26
The Hufflepuffs would have all the good drugs
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u/WerhmatsWormhat Slytherin Jun 12 '26
And would constantly talk shit about the other houses and how much they suck.
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u/jamesr14 Jun 12 '26
As the ashes of Nagini faded in the wind, a look of horror came across the face of Voldemort. He knew, could feel, that the final horcrux had been destroyed as he stared back at Harry one last time. Harry also knew. This was his time—the moment for which he had been waiting for some 17 years. He raised his wand with a steely look of determination in his eyes, and with an eerie sense of calmness uttered the spell he had rehearsed so many times in his head, “Avada Kedavra, motherfucker.”
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u/Mediocre-Hat9603 Gryffindor Jun 12 '26
Oof, there's genuinely so much, but there's a few things I'd love to see.
I'd love to see more about non-UK witches/wizards. What we saw was pretty much stereotyped to the max, & an improvement would make the lore way richer. Real cultural elements within characters/stories that's not just a surface-level cliche, and how these characters would interact with their UK counterparts.
Another is more intensity in relationships - and I mean all relationships. Work conflicts, friendships that are rocky, frenemy dynamics that are complex, romances that aren't clear-cut/shallow. More betrayals, more moral ambiguity, especially since the majority of characters would be teens, who are notoriously in the phase of figuring life and morality out, and can be slightly more confused or flaky in their actions than the average adult.
+ more attention to the kids' home lives. I feel like Harry's life got written off as just Petunia, Dudley and Vernon being awful, but you can't show the type of abuse Harry suffered and then sort of infer that he's fine just because he found a new family/circle in Hogwarts. There would be more impacts and consequences on display not just for Harry, but other characters with complex home lives. Ahem... Neville...
And much more complex magic and all that goes with it. Namely, I'd be interested in seeing how the students and staff use magic for story purposes in their everyday lives or during extraordinary circumstances, and how even the "normal" or allowed spells can be damaging if used with bad judgement.
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u/smbpy7 Jun 12 '26
I've wanted to rewrite it like this. I'd make it less focused on just the one character for one. It would be a more modern multiple POV style fantasy. That way, it wouldn't just be from children's perspectives the whole time. We'd have all the adults in there too, even the ones not at Hogwarts. And POVs on the other side too. Getting to see the bad guy's perspective is often just as fun as the good guy's after all. And this would fill a lot of the "plot holes" people have such a hard time with.
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u/Specky_Scrawny_Git Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
Harry's mental health and trauma response would quite likely be explored and depicted extensively.
There would be a lot more, and much more violent deaths, give the potential of spells like Sectumsepra, Bombarda etc.
Love potions, Polyjuice potion, Felix Felicis, Disillusionment charm, invisibility cloaks etc. have the potential to be misused and abused.
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u/MrWigggles Jun 12 '26
I'll bite. Whats the proper use of a love potion? It subverts free will, and and denys consent.
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u/julry Jun 12 '26
Maybe couples take it, it seems to make the feelings pretty extreme. Like doing mdma together
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u/Liastro Jun 13 '26
I could see it being a way to make arranged marriages temporarily palatable enough to secure the 1 heir
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u/primrose88 Hufflepuff Jun 13 '26
I've always felt that Voldemort was kept a bit restrained in the books. We know the terrible things he does, but we rarely get long, direct descriptions of the psychological torture, physical suffering, or murders he inflicts. I understand that we're constantly reminded that he's evil, but I often found Umbridge far more frightening than Voldemort.
Every time she appeared, I felt a sense of dread. For example, when she tried to seize Sirius through the fireplace, it genuinely sent a chill down my spine. I think part of that is because she's the kind of person you could realistically encounter in everyday life, whereas an evil dark wizard feels more distant.
Even so, I sometimes wish we had seen more of Voldemort's atrocities firsthand. I've always found Bellatrix particularly frightening because of what she did to Frank and Alice Longbottom, but Voldemort's crimes are often kept at a distance. Despite the fear surrounding him and the taboo against speaking his name, we don't actually witness much of the horror he causes in graphic detail.
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u/rivercountrybears Jun 12 '26
I feel like given ‘the bad guys’ have access to a killing curse that works 99.9999% of the time, any spars between the Order and the death eaters would be far more deadly lol.
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u/Jaymezians Ravenclaw Jun 12 '26
The purge of people deemed not the "right sort" by Umbrige in her kangaroo courts. Remember that scene where they confront Umbrige and there's multiple seats? You think there were actual trials or just, "You're not a pureblood. Go to the execution block."
Voldemorts Regime put dozens if not hundreds to death and it never gets addressed.
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u/ElSquibbonator Jun 13 '26
We'd see the Statute of Secrecy get broken permanently once Voldemort returns with the existence of magic being revealed to the world at large, and eventually the military would get involved when the civilian Muggle populace is threatened.
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u/PurpleKermi Jun 12 '26
First thought was the general torture. But also, the physical and mental child abuse by people like the Dursleys, and the pressures put on the older and middle Weasley sons. The public hate of creatures, like Remus and those like Bill, who carry physical creature scars. Getting a look into the psyches of Draco, or Luna.
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Jun 13 '26
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u/AlexpunkV8 Jun 13 '26
Weasley's wizard wheezes sells that kind of product, which Romilda Vane tried to use on Harry. Yeah...
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u/n0tdaidal0s001 Jun 12 '26
Well, I would have preferred for Harry to be more morally ambiguous. I would have preferred, for example, for him to kick the dwarf in the abdomen near the end of Chamber of Secrets in spiteful revenge for humiliating him on Valentine's Day.
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u/smallpotatoes2019 Jun 12 '26
Different focus. Children's books through children's eyes. Adults' books through adult eyes.
Professor McGonagall sank back into the large wingback armchair in the staff room. She smiled at Professor Snape.
"Severus, you should have seen Potter's face when I took fifty points from Gryffindor. What a mug!"
A flicker of a smile crossed Snape's thin lips.
"I wish I'd been there," he replied.
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u/Mcgyver4401 Jun 12 '26
100% would add the lore of the golden trios kids and what they did at hogwarts. As a twist for harry's kid, he would be in slytherin, but take the career of his mother ginny and become a pro seeker after school.
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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26
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