So in the past two posts I mentioned some fanfiction that I found myself reading in their entirety and the “What If” scenarios that caught my attention despite my love of fanfictions that stick with canon. However, since the “What If” scenario that posits what would happen should Cassius Warrington of Slytherin were to be the Hogwarts champion as opposed to Cedric Diggory is so darn appealing how to adjust the rest of the series so that the Hufflepuffs would come into their own…?
The key here is that Hufflepuffs by nature don’t strive for glory like the other three houses, they aren’t necessarily the underdogs either, instead they tend to stick to the background working diligently and consistently to earn their wares. They tend to be the background players who provide the security, knowledge, forethought, etc for any problem and situation while others present said information to the masses.
BETWEEN BOOK 4 (Goblet of Fire) and BOOK 5 (Order of the Phoenix)
Keeping the above in mind it would not have been far from the realm of possibility if towards the end of the events of Book 4 (keeping in track with the “What If” from the previous post that Cassius Warrington was the Hogwarts Champion) Harry Potter glances around the school and sees small groups of Slytherins interacting with students from other houses, or a lone Slytherin being comforted by other houses.
This is the time where the Slytherin students are divided internally, be it within themselves or within the house itself. There are Slytherins that are still steadfast in the ways of the regime as promised by The Dark Lord and there are others whose belief was shaken to the core and they are questioning the world and beliefs that were instilled in them from birth.
BOOK 5 (Order of the Phoenix)
As mentioned in one of the “What If” scenarios, Harry has been receiving random articles of Dark Arts / Death Eater paraphernalia that he believes are coming from the Slytherin students, all unsigned and ultimately this is brought up to Snape who then gives these to Dumbledore. Snape (Head of Slytherin House) recognizes some of the handwritings and notes and between him and Dumbledore discreetly reaches out to the students to aid in their distress and to ultimately shield them from their parents (be it pro-pure blood or Death Eater).
Note: Cedric Diggory is now part of the Order, albeit on the peripheral being that he just came of age and just graduated from Hogwarts not a couple months ago. Cedric is interning in the Ministry and is providing valuable insight (inadvertently from his father) of the Ministry’s atmosphere (for the hell of it he could be interning at the Department of Mysteries).
The students return to Hogwarts where they meet the new DADA teacher: Professor Umbridge. All continues as is from the books with the change that more students are becoming more rebellious with the Ministry’s stance that Voldemort has not returned. So when DA is created and the usual recruits have come, there are a few Slytherins that have joined the pack including (but not limited to) Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass (with younger sister Astoria in tow) and Tracey Davis.
The Slytherins that have attended DA meetings learn various defense spells and techniques as well as mastered the Patronus so that they could communicate with the other DA members discretely. These Slytherins start teaching others within their own house the defense spells as well as the Patronus when the DA was found out and soon become targets within Slytherin house. The Inquisitorial Squad (headed by Draco Malfoy) has a new purpose in weeding out the blood traitors and they use their Patronus to find a safe haven in other houses and / or the Room of Requirement. (Of course Harry does not know most of the turmoil going on in Slytherin house as the occupants are too proud to reach out for help until at a breaking point and even then…)
When Harry makes the decision to go into the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius, members of the DA join him including a couple of Slytherins (let’s include Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass in this case). The Battle at the Ministry continues and although everything goes as it did within the novels, Daphne is mortally injured by Bellatrix’s hand.
All continues similarly to Book 5, but now there is even more turmoil within Slytherin house as the younger sister is now a target amongst the pro-Dark Lord Slytherins and others are trying to shelter her with the death of her beloved sister. Theodore Nott and Harry Potter have a conversation wherein Theodore promises to aid the Order in keeping track of the movements of potential Death Eater parents and Theodore spreads the word amongst other Slytherins who are looking for an escape.
BOOK 6 (Half Blood Prince)
This novel continues as is for the most part, but now more and more Slytherin students are spending time away from their homes, particularly when the parents are away. Theodore Nott’s home has become more of a safe haven for such students now that his father was incarcerated in Azkaban after being outed at the Department of Mysteries battle.
Most of the novel continues as is (considering this is the novel where most characters are matching up anyway) and Draco is acting more and more suspicious. Astoria accidentally walks in on Draco talking to Moaning Myrtle about his fears and stress about his mission and offers an olive branch and a living person to talk to instead. Draco reacts negatively to this and curses Astoria where she lands in the hospital wing at the brink of life / death. During this time Theodore visits Astoria and figures out what was going on and seeks out Draco. Harry sees this move as a betrayal to the DA and shuns Theodore completely. However, behind Harry’s back Hermione reaches out to Theodore and together they work out what Draco was doing and what he was expected to do for the Dark Lord. Before Theodore and Hermione could convince Draco that his mission is not the answer, Draco finishes repairing the Vanishing Cabinet and all hell breaks loose thereafter.
Towards the end of the novel, Theodore and Draco are talking again and a silent agreement occurs between them. Theodore attempts to talk to Harry who rebuffs him, but Hermione nods as a sign that Theodore could still converse with her and she will in turn attempt to convince Harry of his allegiance.
BETWEEN BOOK 6 (Half Blood Prince) and BOOK 7 (Deathly Hallows)
The previous safe haven for Slytherins is disrupted with the death of Theodore’s father while incarcerated in Azkaban. Theodore is now man of the household and there is a looming storm that the Dark Lord would soon be expecting him to take up the mantle of his father. He and Draco continue their conversations and Draco gets Theodore up to speed with his Occlumency. Snape catches wind of what Theodore and Draco are up to and implies to Theodore to convince Draco to become a better man than his father and become a spy for the Order. Theodore implies as such to Draco who (after the guilt of seeing Dumbledore’s death) hesitantly agrees to work as a double agent and they both approach Professor Snape with their allegiance.
The worst comes to past and Theodore takes on the Dark Mark with the internal knowledge that he is doing so as a spy for the Order (as he always has been). Theodore continues to interact with Hermione (whom by now is getting ready to obliviate her parents and getting ready to reach the Burrow) and the three meet before she heads to the Burrow to discuss what to do thereafter. Particularly with the Muggleborn students who are not allowed at Hogwarts at this time.
Note: What this sets up is allowing Theodore to work with Neville Longbottom in re-establishing the DA as an underground network / safe haven for students within the walls of Hogwarts. Also with Draco’s help, they would be able to smuggle other students into Hogwarts who were not allowed within the halls due to their Muggleborn status.
In the mean time, the Hufflepuffs and the Hufflepuffs’ parents (as well as others), who saw the writing on the walls two books ago have already started (with the aid of the Order) sheltering Muggleborn wizards and their families. With their affinity of understanding the earth and some even having underground safe havens, they are able to hide more and more Muggleborn students / wizards and families than any other house.
BOOK 7 (Deathly Hallows)
A lot of what happens with Harry stays relatively the same with all of the above adjustments. Hermione’s correspondence with Theodore and Draco abruptly comes to an end due to her situation. So Theodore and Draco end up working with Neville, Ginny and other DA members at Hogwarts for their underground resistance.
Halfway through the term Theodore is found out by Death Eaters and he disappears from Hogwarts leaving Draco with the rest of DA. It is found out later that Theodore was captured by Snatchers and his grisly death is a warning sign for all wizard-kind of what happens to those who actively chose to work against the Dark Lord.
With Draco’s only friend gone, and his will buckling under pressure whilst at Hogwarts, Neville and the rest of DA take him and others from Slytherin into the Room of Requirement to hide and to shelter him from the other Death Eaters in Hogwarts.
When Harry and company make it to the Room of Requirement, Harry and Draco have a one-off whereby the rest of the student body break them up and eventually they put their differences aside for the sake of the larger whole. Draco and Hermione meet and he gives her a hug and thanks her for helping him see the light through Theodore (insert very entertaining scene of Ron blowing up at the sight of Draco and Hermione hugging).
When the Order of the Phoenix are called into the Room of Requirement, Harry and company see Cedric Diggory coming in with a lot of Hufflepuffs and Slytherin families / students have come in as well, and it comes to light that various wizarding families have been sheltering the Muggleborns and their families as well as Slytherin students / ex-students who have felt threatened in their homes.
The Battle of Hogwarts continues as is with even more ex-students and elder students from Slytherin house participating, casualties are still high. When the Dark Lord brings Harry’s “dead” body to Hogwarts and asks for any students that would be willing to come to the Dark side, Neville says his speech and the Sorting Hat flames up Draco automatically responds and puts out the flames. The Dark Lord sees Draco and beckons him to come back to his family, Draco holds his head up high and denounces the Dark Lord. When his parents are brought out to be slaughtered in front of the student body, Harry chooses that moment to come alive and all hell breaks loose.
All students are helping other students while trying to fight the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, Slytherin students are forced to fight off against their Death Eater parents and more and more Death Eater parents would rather surrender than to fight their children (with a few exceptions).
Then the novel continues as is with the additions as provided by others in their ultimate fan “What If”.
So by the end of the series, Draco Malfoy has changed significantly as a character and although never really becomes friends with Harry, they have a newfound understanding of one another. Ron and Hermione could or could not be a couple by the end of this… though this would also give some leeway of having Draco / Hermione match up as well. Then again, this also opens the door for a Draco / Ginny romance after the series… but I think Harry / Ginny makes sense.
The Hufflepuffs, although not really mentioned all that much do what they do best, aid as much as they can from behind the scenes. They do not need acclaim or glory, but they will do what they can to make sure that aid is provided to those that need it.
Is this better than what is already out there? Maybe, maybe not… but I was just taking some of the most prominent fan “What Ifs” that I rather enjoyed and creating actual summaries of them via Book form… so maybe one day someone could write something similar to the above… although I doubt that is going to happen since technically the books are almost entirely in Harry’s Point of View and what happened with the above as one would notice is that not much changes from Harry’s POV, but a lot of side scenes have changed when Harry is garnering information about the world around him.