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DISCLAIMER
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They say to never discuss religion or politics. If I were JK Rowling, I would feel dutybound to give myself a good talking to about both.
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FOREWORD
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This is here because I figure, should I ever write and post enough for this to be considered a complete fic (and I can only cross my fingers for that one), it will need a serious foreword. Perhaps not right now, perhaps not for a good while, but my OCD won't abide shunting chapters along to make room for one later on. Might as well put this placeholder in now, hoping nobody gets too annoyed by it. Feel free to skip it if you wish, I do tend to witter.
This fic's comprised of two primary perspectives, each self-contained, crossing between the day to day lives of both Harry and Tom. Harry's chapters are more regular than Tom's – it's about a sixty/forty split. I mention this now as I know many will be put off when Tom's voice first comes through in chapter three. Many people dislike alternating perspectives.
The chapters span anything from six to ten thousand words, averaging somewhere around eight. This fic is slow paced, for the most part, so don't be surprised when it continues on for a good forty+ chapters (or if I die halfway through writing it, going on my procrastination habits). I did consider splitting it – and its planned sequel – down into smaller chunks; it made the first book feel incomplete… So, sorry about that.
Besides those things, this fic was written for my pleasure rather than that of others. It definitely ignores any extra-canon that may have been revealed on things like Pottermore (and a ton of normal canon, too, for that matter). I don't have a Pottermore account, nor have I ever bothered to go deeper into the supposed canon of the series; I'm sure this can be considered lazy, but all I know about the HP universe comes from my memory of the books and, on occasion, wiki fact-checking of things like the birth dates of various canon characters. Perhaps I will have accidentally gleaned extra-canon by flicking through the wiki, as snippets of it are interspersed with the original book-canon – for the most part, I've ignored it… Probably because learning extra-canon would have destroyed my drive to create my own altered-world for this to be set in.
On that note, I have to mention this was originally written as an exercise. I now plan for it to serve as a lesson to me on finishing things, rather than dropping them halfway through, as I am wont to do. Having only successfully completed a few chapters, I really ought not to be posting at all; I have a loose theory that the pressure of needing to post might give me a kick up the backside. Of course, I ask none to actually read… If you choose to do so, it is at your own peril – my English is questionable and plotting surely rubbish.
My beta, The Misprint, has been invaluable in correcting some of more oddly-worded sentences. He also helpfully directs me towards comic relief – in the form of true-story podcasts – since coming on board with the project. If you haven't heard of The Moth site before, I advise you to check it out… particularly the tale of the Bathtub Sailer. It's relatively short, very funny, and entirely fails to set the tone intended for this fic…
Uh, anyway, as I was trying to say before I became sidetracked: My beta is a hero of gargantuan proportions for putting up with me and my project for as long as he has. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to undertake such a task… certainly not for no pay, as he has done.
If you've got this far into the foreword, you will be forewarned that, in this case, AU really does mean alternate universe. The world map is not the same as the one we are familiar with. Europe's borders are not the same as they were during our universes 1940s.
Where this is most important in the case of the fic, though, is with regards to Britain… As you may be aware, depending on your level of interest in Britain, in our universe the United Kingdom is made up of four main parts: England, (Northern) Ireland, Scotland and Wales. (In the forties, of course, the situation with Ireland wasn't the same as presently...but I don't want to get into that here.)
In the AU I work with, the United Kingdom...well, it doesn't exist, really. Instead, we have Alba (made up of the areas Scotland and Ireland), which, together with Iceland, makes up Albion. Britain, in this AU, is actually a nation made up of Angland and a small part of what we know as France, both of which are in personal union with the Netherlands (the same monarchy having control of both).
As an acceptance that Alba and Angland occupy the same small island, wizards regularly refer to it as the Isles (because they're weird and ignore the border...and in this, actually oddly more realistic than the muggles of the story). As for the magical government...well, it also ignores the muggle border between Alba and Angland, with the Ministry being located in London for convenience and Hogwarts remaining in the north.
This'll all be, rightfully so, confusing to you, so I have prepared a rough map of Europe, which I can send anyone so interested. The border differences may seem pointless to anyone looking in, however, when I started writing this, it was as part of an exercise on world-building. I have a lot of backstory with regards to events preceding the fic (which I may or may not someday publish).
Basically, I really did write this for my own purposes originally. It's involved, set its own alternate-earth in many ways, and I doubt it'll be an easy read when it gets going a bit. I'm probably starting to regret the world-building aspect of this...but what's done is done and no amount of time-turnering (yeah, so not a word) will fix the idiocy I had when I set out. Next time I start something, I'll have to remember making a severely AU world is a serious undertaking; one which'll probably go very much unappreciated by anyone else, for it will only serve to confuse them. :3
*shrugs tiredly* I can only beg forgiveness for this and any future works. I sincerely hope to finish this and at least make it somewhat worthwhile.
On a side note, the first chapter starts with a short excerpt from a transcript. The fic is not formatted like this throughout. The excerpt is important, though, pretty much setting the tone for the entire work (unlike the Bathtub Sailer story).
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WARNINGS
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Well, it's a gentle, whisky-soaked start to the day, allowing for a nicely mild T rating... or it would, if it weren't for all the foul language. A more justified M will appear as lunchtime approaches, when we're likely to get bogged down in gratuitous violence, non-graphic heterosexual sex, swearing, use of extremely dangerous animancy, garden parties, lots of Russia, flashbacks, clinical sociopathy, governmental oppression, journalism, deadly magical artefacts, dubiousness of Dumbledore and bromance.
As we go on to evening, that M might actually feel earned: There will be politics, soapboxing, extremely harsh language, murder, attempted-murder and marriages of convenience.
Entering the night: There will be terrorism, anti-governmental societies, continued alcoholism, torture, ritualistic sacrifice, one-sided homosexual ships, open battles, the routine murder of officials and gueri– Actually, that might've been the sequel I was plotting out. As if I've even finished writing the first instalment…
Either way, think that covers it. Basically, it's gonna be breezy up the Channel.
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