Not to be like, poking holes in Rowling's A+ worldbuilding, but why the heck didn't Voldemort realize there was a piece of his soul in Harry?
People will argue that Voldemort never intended his soul to split that night, but then what could possibly be the explanation for his connection to Harry? What was Voldemort telling himself to explain why they were sharing emotions and glimpses into each other's heads, or why it hurt Harry when he touched him? Or why Harry spoke Parseltongue? Like, what could possibly have been an alternate explanation for that?
So i reread that scene in Harry's fifth year where he sees through Nagini's eyes when she attacks Mr Weasley recently and realized something. Here's how that scene goes:
Dumbledore confirms that Harry saw the attack through the pov of the perpetrator
He sends two of the portraits off to get help for Arthur, and to make sure that he's found by the right people (given that Dumbledore knows that he's currently in a restricted part of the ministry on Order business)
He sends Fawkes off to monitor Umbridge
All of this happens very quickly. Then Dumbledore uses one of his magical contraptions. It forms an image of a snake out of smoke. Dumbledore says "Naturally, naturally. But in essence divided?" And the snake splits into two, confirming it.
We don't know what this means upon first reading. But like. Dumbledore got a late night visit from Harry Potter, who he already knows is a Horcrux, where Harry's like "hey I just inhabited the body of a different Horcrux and attacked Arthur Weasley" to which Dumbledore takes steps to save Arthur's life and then immediately checks, in front of Harry, "Hey this is Harry Potter and not Voldemort, right? Like, he's a horcrux, and dark magic shenanigans are going on, but there is still an innocent fifteen year old somewhere in all this, right?"
Like. If Dumbledore had gotten a different answer. Can you IMAGINE.
The worst thing about the tedious pacing of the Horcrux-hunting camping trip in Deathly Hallows is that it didn’t need to be so tedious. The pacing could’ve remained compelling if the trio actually thought of a few possible places besides Hogwarts where Horcruxes may be hidden and actively staked out those places, only to hit dead ends - rather than just stay passive in the tent month after month with only the Godric’s Hollow trip to stir things up. Harry is well aware of other important places in Tom Riddle’s life. What about the orphanage where Tom used to live? What about Borgin and Burkes, a place full of dark artifacts where Tom used to work and where a Horcrux would potentially fit right in? The logical plot development would be for the trio to use Glamour and the Cloak, if not more Polyjuice, to test and search as many potential hiding places for Horcruxes as possible, however unlikely they may be, and then hit more and more setbacks as these places proved useless. It would still amplify the tension and despair of “how are we gonna succeed” and keep the characters active rather than passive, while avoiding page after page of nothing happening. Moreover, the whole “lack of food” issue in the book is nonsense because they could easily get food from Muggle grocery stores while in disguise or invisible. Hermione could use her Muggle money to buy food and perhaps the boys could transfigure their wizarding money into Muggle money to pay for some of it - and then when they inevitably run out of money, their desperation could lead them to start stealing to survive. All of these moments also could translate well to film and keep the onscreen suspense going. There are seriously SO many ways that JKR could’ve avoided such slow and boring pacing.
Do you think harry could've done the horcrux hunt by himself?
As a Harry fan, I want to say yes. See, if Harry went alone, it would've gone very very different from canon with a completely different timeline. And you know what, I found this concept interesting, so let's explore this:
For starters, if Harry wanted to go alone, he would've packed his bags and left before Bill and Fleur's wedding (which is what he wanted to do anyway). So Harry still arrives at the Burrow as usual and then the night before the wedding, he packs his bag and leaves with the hope the others won't look for him immediately due to the wedding (very possible Ron and Hermione are stopped from chasing after him immediately the next morning by Mrs. Weasley, though they likely would go after Harry once they can slip away).
So, we have a lone Harry that apparated away somewhere. I think he could still find himself at Grimmauld Place, but he'd probably intend to not stay there long so Hermione & Ron won't follow him. Now Harry has no one to talk to, so he doesn't say 'Voldemort' and the snatchers don't appear. If he gets to Grimmauld, he likely still figures out R.A.B (as he does in the book) and gets Kreacher to tell him the story. If he hears about the ministry takeover, it's only by parsing it out from Daily Prophet articles (which I think is highly possible).
If he's indeed in Grimmauld, Kreacher will try to convince Harry to stay and say he can get Mandungus (for the locket). If Harry can ensure no one will find him at Grimmauld, he'd try to do that, if not, there is a chance Remus or Ron & Hermione, or both are going to find him there and try to join forces then. But we want Harry on the quest alone, so, we'll say he finds a way to hide from them or block them from entering the house. In canon, Harry says Voldemort's name inside Grimmauld and it doesn't activate the taboo, so we don't need to worry about that.
So, he figures out Umbridge has the locket, I think it's fair he can get that out of Mandungus. But now Harry would have to figure out how to get into the ministry on his own. He might have the Tales of Beedle the Bard and Hermione's stolen Horcrux books if he stole them from her before leaving (which is a maybe since he knew about them). Let's say he didn't take the boatloads of polyjuice potion Hermione stole either.
So, he'd spend a few days, watching the ministry under the invisibility cloak like in canon, but his plan would be different and he'd enact it way faster since he doesn't have Hermione's patience.
So, this ministry break-in would likely look very different. He'd go under the invisibility cloak, and maybe Imperio someone (so more similar to Gringotts) so he could follow and use them to open doors. I think he could still get the locket (since he practically does that on his own in the book). Since he'd go into he ministry earlier (without Hermione there will be less planning time), it's possible he doesn't encounter the muggleborn trials, but it's possible he reveals himself to free them before making a break for it. Again, without Hermione, if a DE holds onto him, Harry won't immediately apparate to the woods but will try and obliviate the DE/stupefy and then interrogate him. (how successful that is or if the DE has brain damage, doesn't really matter since the DE isn't a secret keeper to Grimmauld). But Harry would have the locket, no way of destroying it, and he isn't camping in the woods, and maybe also Moody's eye if he sees it. Yay.
Now, Harry's first instinct in the quest for Horcruxes, even before the wedding, was toward two places — Godric's Hallow and Hogwarts.
So, he'd still go to Godric's Hallow which is the less risky of the two (maybe he'd take Kreacher with him? it's also possible this happens before the ministry) since it's so much earlier (Hermione and Ron aren't there to tell him 'no' for a few weeks), Nagini is likely not there yet and Bathilda is still alive. Harry in this scenario wasn't at the wedding, so he wouldn't hear all of Aunt Muriel's stories, nor know to associate Ignotus' grave and the Deathly Hallows, nor would he have his talk on the subject with Xenophilius — but Bathilda would know all of it. Basically, Harry could get the story of the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore & Grindlewald, and some of his own family history from Bathilda (plus her copy of the Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore).
Harry, would, as in canon, become obsessed with the Deathly Hallows and become convinced Voldemort is after the wand (he is right, of course), and do so months earlier. Once he has the vision of the thief from Voldemort and/or from Bathilda's stories, he'd put two and two together and realise Dumbledore had the Elder wand, this time though, Voldemort won't learn this information at the same time.
But this is a depressed Harry walking around with a locket he can't destroy who reads of Dumbledore's betrayal (Rita's book) alone with only the locket's whispers. He might consider breaking Dumbledore's grave to get the Elder Wand, believing it could destroy a Horcrux. "he clearly wanted Harry to have it. If he didn't, why did he gift the book with this tale to Hermione..." would be Harry's rationalisation, and the locket canonically influences Harry to be more reckless in his depression, so I can see Harry getting to the wand first. (Though, he'd be way nicer than Voldemort about getting it from Dumbledore's tomb, he'd try not to desecrate it too much).
(He can get to the school grounds under the invisibility cloak through the whomping willow passage, so that isn't an issue either. Plus, it's before the curfew is enacted in Hogsmead in May because we're just in November or December)
He'd also figure the ring is the stone and that Dumbledore put it in the snitch like in canon, but he wouldn't really be able to do much about it yet.
Now, the first thing he'd try to do with the Elder Wand is destroy the locket. Now, if he determines to cast a killing curse, and actually means it (which is possible, I don't think he'd know or think of Fiendfyre, but AK is fair game since he's familiar with the spell), I think it would kill the horcrux. I mean, it killed the Horcrux in Harry, I see no reason it won't work with the locket (it doesn't have to be with the Elder Wand, I think, but Harry would think it helped, even if it didn't).
So, Harry has a dead locket around his neck, the three Hallows, and two wands. The locket, the ring, and the diary destroyed, the snake, the cup, and the diadem to go (and Harry, but he doesn't know this yet).
Now, Dumbledore's grave is near Hogwarts, and he already thinks Voldemort hid a horcrux there, he just doesn't know if it's Hufflepuff's cup or the final unknown Horcrux ("something of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor"). Harry has the Marauders Map and the invisibility cloak so he could sneak into the castle undetected (which could be fun to see how the school runs under Voldemort’s reign. Harry might chose to go to Hogwarts and Dumbledore’s grave during Christmas break, though, when the castle is practically empty, but that's not as interesting, so we're still before the break). He could try and get Peeves to bother the Carrows, or maybe harm them himself if he thinks he won't be found out and no one else would get blamed.
Now the question is if he could figure out how Ravenclaw's diadem looks like, because once he sees it, he'd know where it is because he'd recognize it from 6th year.
He could locate Luna, Neville, and Ginny, but he'd probably want the least people as possible to know he's there, so he's the most likely to approach Luna out of these three. (When Harry wants to not attract attention to himself, he steers towards Luna. Plus, he'd feel bad about breaking up with Ginny and probably not want to see her out of guilt).
So, if Harry asks Luna if Ravenclaw had some hairloom, she'd mention the diadem and could easily describe it, making Harry suspect the tiara he saw in the RoR. As they're not in a rush like in canon, I think he and Luna would have the time to just check there, where Luna will indeed say it's the diadem. There might be a little fight with the horcrux, Harry AKs the Diadem with the Elder Wand and Luna gets to keep the diadem and Voldemort is still nonethewiser Harry is destroying his Horcruxes.
Now, we get to the tough part — the cup.
Becouse I don't know how Harry could learn about the cup without ending up at Malfoy Manor. Luna could tell him about the taboo, because besides her, he wouldn't really have a situation where he'd say the name to someone outside of Grimmauld Place.
Harry: "That was Vol —"
Luna: "No! Don't say it,"
H: "Why?"
Luna would then explain the taboo
So, how can he learn about the cup's location?
We have a few options, but we're getting a little more contrived here on out, I fear.
Option number 1, back a few points ago, if a Death Eater does follow him from the ministry, Harry could try and interrogate him. Said Death Eater might know Bellatrix is keeping something important to their lord in her vault, though he won't know what.
Option number 2, while at Hogwarts, he overhears a conversation between one of the Carrows and/or Snape that mentions Bellatrix keeping the sword in her vault and that she keeps something else for their lord there. (Harry spends so much of these books overhearing conversations under the invisibility cloak, why change that?)
Or anything else that gives him a vague idea there is something important at the Lestrange Vault. because he'd immediately jump to the conclusion it's a Horcrux.
Now Harry would either camp out in the RoR or go back to Grimmauld to prepare a Gringotts break in. The preparation would be one day of scouting, see Death Eaters in the bank, and decide he can't trust the goblins.
This break in would be similar to the ministry one in this what if. If he has this DE with him, he'd imperio him, and go under the invisibility cloak to Gringotts, or he's just under the cloak and imperios 4 people once at the bank like in canon. All he really needs is to get a Goblin with them and then he can imperio the goblin to take them wherever. If Kreacher tells him about the Thief's Downfall and Harry uses a shield charm to keep everyone under the Imperius, great, if not, the alarm is raised and they fall down and Harry imperios them again. He would still get into the vault, where there'd be the cup and the fake Gryffindor's sword which he doesn't know is a fake, so he'd take them both.
If the alarm is indeed activated, his exit won't be as much of a mess as he's just going to stay under the invisibility cloak and attempt to slip away. If he has his broom with him (shrunken down in his pocket or pouch), he might as well fly up to the surface on it and then slip out the bank. With maybe a few more imperios for good measure.
So, Harry kills the cup once he's out and he basically destroyed all the Horcruxes except Nagini and himself and Voldemort just now heard of it. And it's only Christmas, so the year isn't close to being over and we're ahead of schedule. Voldemort knows the cup and the sword were taken, the goblins didn't see anyone, but he's sure it's Potter.
Harry tries to destroy the cup with the sword, realises it's a fake and AKs the cup too with the Elder Wand.
Now, he has no choice but to lead Voldemort out to fight him because he needs to get to Nagini. And Snape is still trying to figure out how to get the sword to Harry, but he doesn't know where he is.
Ron and Hermione are also on the run (maybe they joined Dean and Ted?) and they're more in touch with Neville, Ginny, and Luna who belatedly tells them she helped Harry get something from the RoR but she doesn't know where he is now.
Ron: "but we don't know where Harry is —"
Luna: "Oh, I saw him two months ago,"
Ginny & Neville: "What?"
Luna: "Harry Potter.... I saw him two months ago, where you talking about another Harry?"
Ginny: "No, why didn't you mention it until now?"
Luna: "Oh, you didn't ask," :)
So, everyone and their mum is searching for one Harry Potter who's trying to figure out the best way to lure out Voldemort and his snake with the least casualties. Harry wants to only endanger himself in this.
Now, again, we have multiple options for this.
Voldemort just realized his Horcruxes are in danger, so, like in the book, he'd go check on all of them, and Harry will see it through their connection, which he got better at controlling in the past few months. If he can use it to determine where Nagini is (she'd be hidden as Bathilda now waiting for Harry or at Malfoy Manor), which he probably could since Voldemort would think about her too. So while Voldemort is running around to check the cave, and Hogwarts, and the Gaunt shack, Harry could go after Nagini.
But even if we say he kills Nagini and waits for Voldemort to return to Godric's Hallow (informed by Nagini), Harry doesn't know he too is a Horcrux. I like to place their final confrontation in Godric's Hallow in this AU. It's where everything started and where everything will end.
Just, imagine Harry waiting for Voldemort, Elder Wand in his lap, sitting in the destroyed nursery where Voldemort tried and failed to kill him the first time. Where Voldemort died the first time.
Voldemort might call his Death Eaters as an audience to him killing Harry (since he loves doing that). This would finally tell Snape where Harry is and he would, in turn, make sure the Order knows to get there too. He wouldn't really know how to ensure Harry dies, but he'll be there.
Harry would still gloat, tell Voldemort he found his Horcruxes, and the wand of destiny Voldemort searched for, and that it's over for him. They would duel.
Harry would be fighting with the Elder Wand and Voldemort would likely be using his own yew wand. It's possible the priori incantatum happens again, just like in the graveyard, it's also possible it doesn't happen because Harry is using a different wand.
Regardless, I'm not sure what happens in detail. Becouse it's possible Harry would cast a Killing Curse. He has a mission and just in the last post I mentioned how it is in character for him to do so. It's also possible the Elder Wand takes some initiative and kills Voldemort for Harry.
Regardless of how it happens, I believe Voldemort is dead.
After Voldemort dies, the DEs run away, except for Snape. Snape, who still has his last mission from Dumbledore. Voldemort is a wraith, but as long as Harry lives, he can return, and he has loyal Death Eaters, still around, willing to return him. He'll show Harry the memories, all the same, and the two would probably go to Dumbledore's portrait and explain the change of situation.
Dumbledore would iterate that as long as Harry is alive, Voldemort cannot be truly killed. I think Snape would offer to kill Harry (he didn't make an unbreakable vow for Harry's safety and Snape loves punishing himself) and Harry, noble as he is, just might take it.
So Harry is hit with the killing curse, the snitch in his pocket/pouch opens just at that moment. And he dies.
And then he sits back up again blinking becouse, sike, he's the Master of Death and has all three Deathly Hallows and Snape almost had a heart attack.
Wraith Voldemort might just die at that moment too (since he is just a soul that isn't tied to anything if he isn't possessing something, and the moment he won't possess something, he might just die) so it's possible Wraithmort isn't a worry. If he is, Harry would use the connection to track him down, but I think the wraith form won't survive without Horcruxes tying it to life.
Most characters are alive to help Wraithmort if needed and to hunt down rogue Death Eaters (such as Bellatrix and the Lestranges).
So, that's, like, a quick overview on how Harry could've accomplished the horcrux hunt on his own with just a few plot contrivances (that being said, canon has quite a few of those too, so I feel pretty okay about it).
“That is correct, Mr Black. Might I ask where you read that?” Dumbledore was being overly polite to him. Sirius had a feeling why.
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly, pretending to think. “It was years ago, and I can’t remember the name of the volume or whose library I was in. We spent a lot of time in her people's libraries when my parents visited their friends.” Annoyance flashed behind Dumbledore’s eyes.
“A pity,” he said, turning away from Sirius. “I would very much have liked to read the passage for myself.” Sirius didn’t bother responding.
“Whose Horcruxes are these?” Remus asked, peering at them beside Sirius.
“A man by the name of Tom Riddle,” Dumbledore told them, being very forthcoming. Sirius clenched his jaw; he knew who that name belonged to. He decided not to let on that he knew and carefully pieced his mask over his face, blocking out his further reactions. “I believe he may have created more, and they must be found,”
“Why?” Asked Remus. “Who is he?” Dumbledore turned his back on them as he began to pace his office.
“I believe there to be at the least three more made, but there may be more. I understand you were able to sense the darkness in the locket, Mr Lupin?” Dumbledore carried on as if Remus hadn’t spoken.
“I could. I can. I can smell it in the ring as well, the same scent,” Remus nodded.
“I hoped you would, and now I must ask you to search for the others. I will do my best to help. I have some research on the matter, but it is patchy at best and non-existent at worst.” He waved his hand, and a slim folder zipped across the room from his desk. “I leave this in your capable hands,” he said, offering it to Remus. Remus took it and tucked it under his arm. They left soon after getting no more from the headmaster.
“I need a drink,” Sirius complained as they walked down the marble staircase and out into the school grounds.
“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Remus sighed, tucking the folder beneath his cloak. “The Broomsticks?” He asked.
“No, too many ears,”
“The Hogs Head?” Remus offered. Sirius shook his head.
“The ears in there are even worse. No, let's go to a Muggle pub. I quite fancy a cider,”
The second they reached the wrought iron gates with the winged boars atop the posts, Sirius grabbed Remus’s hand and apparated them to a little village pub in the middle of Cornwall, where they had the best selection of local ciders Sirius had ever seen.
Remus, Regulus & Severus as a trio. Post 1981. They hunt for horcruxes because they want to get revenge from Voldemort for their own reasons. Except that does not mean they get along, no, it's just disaster.
Oh also, Remus and Regulus know that Sirius is innocent. They just have to find a way to prove it, somehow.
If the idea intrigues you even a little, this is a fic I have been writing.
It's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge by cainigo on ao3.
