Arthur&Eames raising Harry Potter

[tigriswolf]

So, I've resumed writing in the 'verse where Arthur&Eames (of Inception fame) raise Harry Potter as their son, Eddie Colmes (because Arthur's identity when he rescued Harry was a Colmes). Eames is Merlin reincarnated; Arthur is purely muggle (mayhap, he's King Arthur reincarnated; mayhap he's not. Eames doesn't care one way or another). For Inception, in fact, everything is perfectly canon. HP, of course, shall be turned on its head.

But I need an actualfax plot, I think. Should I do the plot from Sorcerer's Stone? Because Eddie doesn't care one whit about Voldemort. He'll probably investigate the forbidden corridor, charm the dog (without magic), and steal the stone within two weeks of being at Hogwarts. He has no idea he's Harry Potter, but his fathers are master thieves, and one of them is the most powerful mage in the world.

*hands* I've been fleshing out the backstory the past few days, and I already know where the story starts, if/when I post it. But I don't know what plot it should have. Anybody wanna offer suggestions?

Comments

[caffienekitty]

Hm. Well... , The wizarding world and whoever placed Harry with Arthur and Eames would still know who Eddie was and will tell him when he gets to Hogwarts, unless Eames as Merlin has done something to hide that, and giving they've changed Harry's name, that would seem likely. Would Eames know about Hogwarts and want Eddie to go, or would he rather home-school him in woizardry? What does Eames as Merlin think about Voldemort and that whole wizard war business and what part if any did he have in it? Is Merlin still a part of the wizarding world, is he considered only a possibly-existing legend, is he never spoken of except as a curse, and why?

If the owls with Eddie's Hogwarts letter find him when he turns eleven (assuming Eames hasn't blocked them for whatever reason) and is living in a happy loving home, how different will his own reaction be to being called away from that? Will his dads want him to go, will one want him to go and the other not, will they both tell him not to go? Does Arthur as a muggle know Eames is Merlin, or just a wizard, or is he in the dark about it all? If Eddie getting a letter delivered by an owl is Arthur's first discovery that magic exists, what will that do to their family? If he does know, does Eddie being a wizard too frighten him for how much danger his son might be in, given what he's heard about from Eames?

As for using Philosopher's Stone, assuming that the wizarding world trucked along as it did in the backstory of the books and Voldemort's return is still a growing threat, the events in that book will be happening somehow whether Harry/Eddie is there or not. If he's not there, or isn't interested, Voldemort could get the Philosopher's Stone unchallenged and everything would come to a head sooner than it did in the books. Or maybe Eames has found and put some additional binding on Voldemort to keep him from rising because he knows his son is a Horcrux and he never wants Eddie to have to face what that means. Or, when Voldemort starts nosing around, Eames will go after him directly and try to kill him without having to break the Horcruxes.

Can Eames still do Inception stuff? Because Merlin Eames running an Inception on Voldemort to render him harmless/get him to release Eddie's Horcrux link/just drop dead and leave everyone alone would be kind of cool. Or Arthur trying to do that because he might be a Muggle but he'll be damned if some snake-eyed freak hurts his family. Or Eddie trying to do that on his own and getting in SO FAR over his head until fate or his dads or whatever steps up.

[tigriswolf]

Nobody placed Harry with Arthur&Eames. Arthur found Harry during routine fact-checking for their current job (that they, then, never finish), grabbed him, and ran. (Harry was 7.) Only the fact that Eames is actually Merlin and Arthur is a BAMF kept anyone from finding out.

Eames knows about The Boy Who Lived due to a few different things, but he doesn't believe in prophecies anymore. But Harry has amnesia and doesn't remember the Dursleys; hence, he's Eddie now.

Eddie goes to Hogwarts because he's curious, and Arthur&Eames have something they have to do, so it's easier for everyone (for at least a term, and after that, it's up to him if he wants to stay).

I think Dumbledore would still set the Stone thing up as a lure for Voldemort. And optimism that Harry will return. And Eddie would be curious, but he also has adults he trusts with everything in him, and he has grown up with his magic, so he'd call them up immediately after finding Fluffy/stealing the stone.

Nobody knows that Eames is actually Merlin. I haven't yet decided about his particular story - is this the first reincarnation? Does he remember everything, or just his first life? Either way, he doesn't much care for the UK magical community, and it takes a swift dive when he realizes how they revere his son for something he couldn't have possibly done.

And the horcrux in Harry is dealt with by way of a magical adoption conducted by the most powerful mage in the history of anything ever.

But Voldemort's ultimate fate is still up in the air. Because I just can't imagine a loving parent with the strength/will to deal with the psychopath after their child not doing it... you know?

[caffienekitty]

So does Dumbledore know Eddie is Harry? Or is Eddie attending and Dumbledore getting twitchy about Harry not turning up yet and side-eyeing all the first years? The Stone thing would definitely be set up whether Harry was known to be in attendance or not.

Eddie not being one of Voldemort's Horcruxes... Voldemort would feel that happening, wouldn't he? If not the actual event, location, details etc since it would no doubt be scry-warded all to hell, then the loss of one of his horcruxes even if he couldn't tell which, and be inclined toward investigating what the heck happened? Was the dissolution of the horcrux part of Harry/Eddie a conscious part of the ceremony, or an unintended bonus? Also, since the Horcrux affected Harry's development, what effect will the lack of a horcrux have on Eddie? He wouldn't have Parselmouth for one. Would Eames compensate for that lost effect in some way, or would he let Eddie grow however he would have grown had Voldemort not got involved?

Eames (and Arthur and Eddie because badass family teams are awesome) vs Voldemort is a thing that seems very likely to happen. Also Eames vs the Wizarding world (during which he's outed as real actual holy crap Merlin?) if they try to take Eddie and stuff him into Harry Potter's fate-box.

[tigriswolf]

Dumbledore has no idea that Eddie is Harry Potter. He knows that Harry is alive, but that's it.

Did Voldemort feel the death of the diary? I can't remember. But while the horcrux is destroyed, all of the magical 'gifts' that it lent Harry are incorporated into his core, courtesy the adoption ritual Eames uses.

I'm not sure if Eames knew about the horcrux; I'll have to think about that.

About the Colmes' vs magical Britain... yeah, that would be awesome. I'm not sure Eames would reveal himself as Merlin, and I really should decide what his background is.

[caffienekitty]

From the HP wiki there's a quote where Dumbledore is saying Voldemort specifically wouldn't feel a Horcrux being lost because his soul was too damaged, so generally yes, Voldemort no. Darn, because that would have been something fun to play with, Voldemort feeling his first Horcrux go when Harry was 7 and going active sooner.

Personally, I think Merlin would have heard of them but not even thought of it as a possibility for the unexpectedly complex hiccup in Harry/Eddie's adoption, and started doing a bit of research once he'd dealt with it through sheer overpowering and craft, then be horrified years later when he found out what it had been and go on the warpath. Also, he might think Voldemort actually had felt it being destroyed... If he figured all this out after Eddie went away to Hogwarts for his first year, there might be some intense panic over him being out of Merlin's direct protection and possibly vulnerable to a dark wizard Eames now thinks might have had 4 years advance planning time to get his revenge or whatever.

I think if Eames did go up against magical Britain and made a significant stir, him being Merlin or Merlin's blood would be a theory that started up as rumour, then was written up in the Quibbler, then was looked at more seriously and picked up by the Daily Prophet. Whether Eames revealed it himself or not or whether the rumor is ever confirmed is a different matter.

[tigriswolf]

I have sketched out a scene where Eames confronts Dumbledore about his in/action(s). And they know about the prophecy because of Sirius Black.

Urgh, it's so frustrating because of how epic it is in my head, and then so hard to write. Why is that?

[caffienekitty]

If I knew that, there'd be about 500K in stalled WIPs of my own completed by now.

[tigriswolf]

*sigh* So would I.