This was a challenge set over in Portkey. The link is in my profile but here's the text from the challenge"
As comic book fans know Marvel has had several revamps of their classic stories, which are entitled 'Ultimate' Spider-Man, X-men, Iron Man etcetera. Basically it's a new take on the original series, with a few notable changes. I'm suggesting the same thing with HP. However I don't want the entire seven years in twenty chapter fics for each. A good way to do it would be set each story within a few days and cut out the fluff, each being five to ten chapters.
The two biggest changes I want to see is one: the romance, obviously. And two: the way magic is done.
Lets face it we are at Portkey so the main pairing should be H/Hr with a helping of R/L.
And as a few of you might know I am not a fan of the magic in cannon, it feels… overpowered. What I would suggest is one of two scenarios: more grounded types of magic, which work more with natural laws.
So that means no flying cars/brooms or re-growing bones after making them completely making them disappear, or even transfiguration, no turning a tree branch into a sword. If instantaneous travel is a must, make it that they have to cross into a slightly different dimension where distance/time is relative.
In this type have the characters specialize in one branch of magic. If Harry specializes in battle magic that makes thing explode make him more impudent in the more delicate things like charming items.
The other type of magic I'd suggest is powers. Give each character a power, mind control, Pyrokinese, electrokinese… notice I said A power, not a myriad of powers.
As for the actual school part, I'd suggest making it on a island and the characters being from all around the world. Maybe Hogwarts is actually Atlantis, or Avalon, and is hidden away from the world.
I ether cases make it so that there are only a couple hundred magic users in the world so it's not like there's a entire world hidden from the muggles.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
On with the story!
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"What is the meaning of this?!" Vernon yelled at his nephew. When he went outside to get the paper this morning the lush green grass he had worked so hard on had disappeared. All that was left was dirt.
"I don't know!" the boy had yelled at him but that made Vernon even more furious.
"Of course you know! You caused it!" he yelled back. Confusion crossed the boy's face so Vernon grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the front lawn, "You worked on the yard yesterday and today there's no grass! You did this!"
"I didn't do it! I put the fertilizer on like you asked me to! I don't know how this happened!" the boy tried to reason with his uncle but it did no good.
"Go to your cupboard!" Vernon choked out as heat flooded his face. He saw his nephew run back into the house before he took his anger out on the dirt lawn.
"What are you doing?" his wife's shrill voice rang out and he stopped his tirade long enough to see the dust storm he had produced from kicking the lawn.
"He did this and he's denying it," Vernon hissed after the dust had settled, "I sent him to his cupboard."
"He did this?" Petunia whispered in fright. She took in the lawn and saw that everything was dirt; he had killed everything growing in their lawn.
"Of course he did. Who else would? I'm going to take a shower," Vernon told her as he walked in the house. Petunia stood outside for a few more minutes, debating whether to tell her husband about the letter Harry had received earlier that day. Entering the house she decided to tell him after dinner.
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"Vernon, can we talk?" Petunia asked as they retired to the living room as Harry cleaned up after dinner.
"Of course," he replied as he sat in his chair and looked at her.
"This arrived today," she said tentatively as she pulled Harry's letter out of her pocket, "It's from them," Vernon went white, "What should we do?"
"We'll ignore them. If they see we won't let him go to that blasted place they'll leave us alone," Vernon whispered gruffly.
"They won't leave him alone. Trust me," Petunia said forcefully and Vernon was taken aback.
"When we agreed to take the boy in we said we would put a stop to all this foolishness," Vernon began but Petunia held her hand up to stop him.
"We tried to take the magic out of him but can't. This proves it," she said holding the letter up, "We need to tell him."
"We can't. We said we wouldn't," Vernon argued.
"We have to or else they will show up and take him. Think of the neighbors Vernon, think of what they would see if they arrived," Petunia reasoned and Vernon glared at the fireplace for a few minutes, thinking of anything else he could do to prevent Harry from going to that place.
"You're right," Vernon conceded as he shook his head, "But once he finds out he can't live here anymore. He's not welcome," he said as he picked up his paper and flourished it open ending the discussion but he was so distracted he didn't realize it was upside down.
"Harry, can you come here for a minute?" he heard his wife call and soon Harry came scurrying into the room, the dish towel draped over his shoulder. Once again Vernon folded the paper and looked at the mousy boy in front of him.
"What's this about?" Harry asked, fear written on his face. Silently Petunia gave Harry the letter but instead of opening it he twirled it in his hands and confusion took over, "What's this?"
"This arrived for you today," Petunia said but Harry looked even more confused.
"Just open it boy," Vernon said, he took both by surprise. Harry opened the letter and as he read his eyes got wider and wider.
"Is this for real?" Harry said and Petunia nodded, "I'm being picked up at 11:00 tonight?" Vernon jerked at that.
"What?" he said as he ripped the letter from Harry's hand and read it for himself.
Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the S.O.A.R program!
We will pick you up at 11:00 o'clock on the night of August 25th. Please be prepared and waiting at the end of your driveway. We are looking forward to seeing you!
Sincerely,
Headmaster Dumbledore
"So I'm going?" Harry questioned and Vernon nodded, "What is it?"
"Your parents put in your application before they died and you've been accepted. It's a school," Petunia told her nephew, "They're picking you up tonight."
"Is this a joke?" Harry said and Vernon shook his head.
"You'll be living there from now on so pack your stuff," Vernon told Harry and Harry raced out of the room and within 10 minutes all of his stuff was packed and he was waiting at the end of the driveway.
For the 4th time in ten minutes Vernon peeked though the curtains at his nephew who was sitting on the driveway with his backpack in his lap.
"Are you sure he won't be coming back?" he asked again and Petunia sighed.
"Lily was gone for 4 years, I'm sure it's still the same," Petunia said as she flipped a page in her book.
"As long as he's gone. I don't want one of them living with us," Vernon said as he settled in his chair for the last time that night.
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Harry Potter waited outside his aunt and uncle's house and looked at his watch again; he only had ten more minutes! He started shaking he was so excited, it wasn't that the Dursley's treated him horribly; they had just never treated him like family. So lost in his thoughts he didn't realize the van that pulled up in front of the house and the giant that emerged from the vehicle.
"Are you going to sit there all night or do you want to go?" the giant asked, snapping Harry out of his trance. Silently, Harry loaded his bags in the trunk and joined a red-headed boy and a bushy-haired girl.
"You all are from Surrey so that's it on my list," the giant seemed to say to himself as he put the van in gear and headed down the road, "We'll arrive at the crossing by morning so if you all would like to get some sleep there are pillows and blankets under your seats."
"I can't believe I was accepted! What about you? I'm Ron Weasley," the red-head said, offering Harry his hand. Harry took it.
"I didn't know about it until my aunt and uncle gave me my letter. I'm Harry Potter," at the mention of his name both children stopped and stared.
"You're Harry Potter?" Ron said reverently and Harry cautiously nodded, "I always heard you were my age but I didn't think you would have to go to Avalon!"
"Avalon?" Harry asked, "We're going to S.O.A.R, it's an educational program," but Ron shook his head.
"To avoid detection from humans they call the school S.O.A.R," the girl said, "My name is Hermione Granger," she said as she shook Harry's hand.
"What are you two talking about?" Harry asked confused.
"You don't know about Avalon? Your parents went there," Hermione said and Harry's head spun.
"Okay, I'm really confused. Is this some joke?" he hadn't known his family to go this far for a joke but there was always a first for something.
"You don't know anything?" Ron said slowly. Harry turned to the giant driving but he seemed preoccupied with maps so he turned back to Ron and Hermione before shaking his head.
"You're Harry Potter!" Ron said, "You're parents are James and Lily Potter! They helped defeat Voldemort! Does any of this sound familiar?" Ron asked but Harry continued to shake his head.
"Before you kill the poor boy out of frustration, Harry read this," Hermione said to Ron as she handed Harry a stack of books, "These tell your story and have information the world you're about to enter.
"Avalon is the school where the Powers go. Powers are people who aren't human, like I have the power of telekinesis and Ron can heal. You're parents were two of the most powerful elementals so you're probably an elemental but once we arrive in Avalon Dumbledore will test each student to find out what power they have.
"You're so famous because of your parents. They died in the final war between Voldemort and Dumbledore, killed by Voldemort himself. No one knew where you went to, the school tried to keep it as quiet as possible until your return. James and Lily had these children but only you disappeared. For years…" Hermione said but Harry held up his hand.
"Wait. Children? I have siblings?" Harry whispered.
"Yeah, you don't know about Matthew and Kelsey?" Ron asked and for the hundredth time that night Harry shook his head.
"They're at Avalon. We don't know why Dumbledore decided to hide you and keep Matthew and Kelsey with him but you'll meet them when we arrive," Hermione told him.
"You keep saying Avalon, do mean Avalon like the lost paradise or is it a town?" Harry asked.
"The lost paradise, only those with Power running through their veins can enter…at least that's what it says over the entrance. Are you okay? You look pale," Hermione asked as Harry leaned his head against the headrest.
"I just need a moment to process. I just thought I was going away to a special educational program and I find out that I have powers," Harry said weakly.
"Actually you have one power. Only a handful of people have two powers," Ron said but Hermione hit him with a pillow.
"So who are you?" Harry asked the driver.
"Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the grounds keeper and one of the drivers for Avalon. You can call me Hagrid," he said, "You lot might want to go to sleep. We're about 5 hours away from the crossing and the journey is a bit tiring."
Harry nodded but for several more hours the three continued to talk. Harry learned that Hermione and Ron had been best friends since they were 4 and their parents helped fight in the war along with his parents. He learned more about his family and about Avalon, from the creatures there to the housing itself, they were both experts. Before dawn Harry laid his head against the window and was asleep before Ron could ask any more questions.
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Okay, I really hate this chapter. I couldn't figure out how to bring a new idea about. I've been working on this for a few weeks so hopefully you all don't judge the rest of this story solely on this chapter. I know it's weird but it will get better. I promise. I'll have my other stories updated ASAP.
Review please!