A/N: I ask that you read this author's note in full, as it isn't really what it seems to be at first glance. There is good news here, but I want to get the unpleasantness out of the way first.
I also ask that if you are reading this, you spread the word that I have updated my story. The email alerts are currently down, and I've received no indication that anyone is doing anything about that, despite submitting a report to the mods. Since you're here, I presume you've worked around this issue, or you're one of the two people who knew this chapter was coming. I'd appreciate it if you'd help those not as on-top-of-things as you. Thank you.
I'm afraid, my faithful readers, that this story has hit the point in hiatus where it will no longer receive regular updates. And this story has been on hiatus for several months. I apologize for failing to post a notice of this. This story will live on, though it may never reach completion as it currently exists. When I started writing this story, I had one idea for one character, and was fortunate enough to have a full universe to set that idea wild in. Unfortunately, that flame of inspiration soon sputtered and burned out as I realized with increasing certainty that my one idea would need far more work than I'd realized at first, for so any reasons. One character difference, even if it is the main character, just isn't enough to drive an interesting plot on its own. To compound the issue, I've never been a planner, and my plans often fall flat on their face. Not that I had great plans for this story in the first place. I needed plans to continue in the direction I'd chosen, and so I began the grind of plotting them out.
For a time, this worked, but unfortunately, life interfered, laziness reared its ugly but all too familiar head, and progress halted, aside from brief and pointless sputtering among the fading coals that had once been my blazing inspiration. And so, for months, I put off writing and planning, told myself I would come back to Significance of Subtleties, and went about my own business. I considered declaring a hiatus several times, but told myself that, due to this website's admittedly poorly enforced rules and a stubborn sense of procrastination, I would post a full chapter with any notice of hiatus. As you may have guessed, I've gotten past feeding myself that particular excuse, and this won't be a full chapter. Instead, this is a notice of a hiatus that will in all likelihood be permanent, complete with outlines of what I have planned at the moment for this story.
I have multiple reasons for posting these outlines. First, they are an apology for my lack of progress, and an offer of some closure to all of you, my readers, who deserve at least that much. I haven't fleshed out as much as I should have, but I can at least tell you, in short, where the story was going, what I was trying to do, and how, at present, I foresee it could end. Second, this story will live on, as I previously alluded to. The real problem with Significance of Subtleties is that a Slytherin Harry needs a different plot, and I stuck fast to canon, out of both a love for the original books and a desire to prove that good fanfiction kept close to canon. While I still believe that Slytherin Harry can be done within my standards of canon compliance, I was going about writing that story wrong, and I'd reached the point where fixing the issue was nearly impossible without serious reworking. This is where the good news begins; I've already begun the process of creating a different story, one which takes some cues from Significance of Subtleties. This new story allows me much more freedom and introduces some major departures from canon, all while splitting off from canon in what I have deemed a suitable fashion.
My latest idea, or at least the latest one I'm telling you all about (*grin*) changes only one or two established facts from canon, and minor points at that. Significance of Subtleties was the same, initially. However, the new story, which I will (with great drama, suspension, and a few fun musical cues) call Undercover for now, differs from Significance of Subtleties by creating a massive universe, original characters who don't give a damn, departing from cannon in a more consistent fashion, and eventually breaking out of several moulds that should surprise you. I hope. In short, Undercover (that is just a working title, by the way) is designed to differ from canon and not to shy away from its differences, but instead to define itself by them. It's also designed to take influence from kathryn518's style, so if you enjoy her, you should (hopefully) enjoy Undercover, too.
Undercover is still in the early planning stages, and I intend to handle the story differently than I handled Significance of Subtleties, so this is but a notice to those who are interested to keep an eye out for my next big story. A story which will take cues from both what has and hasn't been written of Significance of Subtleties. Enjoy the outlines. Especially the part where they're formatted by me, understood by me, and probably not too easy to understand for normal people in some places.
And so, in no particular order, here's what went on inside my head as I conceived Harry Potter and the Significance of Subtleties!
Harry Potter and the Significance of Subtleties
(anything of significant importance is probably on page four or beyond…)
Harry Potter is later to King's Cross than he'd expected to be, and despite a moment of panic, meets a nice girl his age who helps him find the train. What changes when Harry rides the train with Hermione, instead of Ron? You might be surprised…
Of course, I have to account for Neville's presence in Hermione's train ride, but that shouldn't be terribly difficult. He may not express a strong opinion, or may just be looking for his toad and not for talk of houses. Harry and Hermione should talk about houses, however, unless she goes into Gryffindor like cannon, and her first brave act is befriending a Slytherin…hmm. Interesting idea, actually. Otherwise, she would definitely go into Ravenclaw, and the two will only slowly realize how well they may have done in Gryffindor. After all, Hermione, for all her prodigy, is still quite bold when pushed, and Harry is practically a quintessential Gryffindor in the books, though how much of that is peer pressure is never really touched upon. He's certainly not stupid, and while he doesn't scheme as he would definitely have learned in Slytherin, he does grasp complex ideas with minimal help from a young age.
Another question is how much the horcrux affected the sorting. It will certainly be a jarring shock to everybody when uncovered, and raise a massive question of where Harry truly belongs, and who he may really be. The idea of the story, of course, is that 'just Harry' makes just as fine a Slytherin as he makes a Gryffindor, it was mere circumstance that pushed him toward the house of the brave over the house of the cunning. After all, a bold plotter (hmm, plotter, Potter. I might use that…) makes for a very dangerous person.
Now, a less serious plot point: this ridiculous notion that the Wizengamot is a hereditary office, not an elected one. For love of Merlin, Lucius Malfoy isn't a member of the Wizengamot in cannon, shouldn't that say something! Draco (who Harry will be in the same dorm room with and get on a first name basis as quickly as Draco can manage the feat [a feat that will be very difficult, Draco's a right prick to Harry in Madame Malkin's and won't like Granger any more than he likes Ron once he finds out she's muggleborn]) will mention something of the absurdity of the notion that his father could hold so much influence in a government where the officials are determined by who their parents were. Such a system would actually guarantee political literacy from the majority of the politicians at a higher level than normal, and also (as most fics portray) give an unfair advantage to entrenched policies that are already difficult enough to do away with. Every sane and intelligent person in government realizes that a hereditary system with such a drawback is only ever in your favor when the wind blows in your favor anyway, and would be to their benefit to do away with. The old systems only stood because the common man was a soldier at his most educated, and so far easier to order around while the bureaucrats only dealt with one major power, simplifying their lives. In modern society, such a system doesn't stand, because there are more people in power, and at some point enough of them will realize that their system is not advantageous except under the best of circumstances!
Right…rant over…I needed to get that out of my system. Now I need to shout it at the top of my lungs in a public forum, I think…yes, this fic will hopefully provide that public of that desire bit at least.
Will Hagrid still ask to meet him on his first Friday? Will it be at Dumbledore's behest this time? Will it be because Hagrid is simply worried about Harry being in Slytherin for Harry's sake? You'd think I'd just pick a solution that answers these questions and write that instead after some pondering, I am the author who's going to write this story after all, but I suppose years of not having control over my favorite stories has formed habits…also these are important questions that need answering and it helps to write them down. At any rate, Hagrid being legitimately worried that Harry's in danger in Slytherin sounds the most likely, though the question then is how apparent he'll make it, and how easily Harry will pick up on it. I'm doing it again, damn it. I suppose this is just how I brainstorm, by talking to myself as my fingers let my thoughts free in digital format. It also leaves hard decisions for later…yeah that's probably actually the root of the issue. I always hesitate with difficult decisions. Regardless, Hagrid is hardly subtle, so the real question is how exactly he'll word his letter, and whether I can work in a simple enough hint, or suspicion from Draco perhaps, that leads Harry to believe that there are parties worried about his sorting.
Hell, he's going to have to be worried about his sorting himself, Hagrid says (incorrectly) that there wasn't a wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin. His sorting will have to be longer than cannon, and a major moment, almost a decision that changes his whole life, despite the fact that it's not entirely his choice. It still changes his whole life, whether he's aware of it or not, however, and the Hat will know this, taking his lingering doubts that Hagrid placed in his head about Slytherin into account before putting Harry, coached against bias by Hermione, into Slytherin. You know, I didn't write it yet, but Hermione will definitely tell him it's silly to think that Slytherin isn't a good house to match him just because of its reputation, and to further ease Harry's mind, this will be the exact moment that Draco walk in, and he will embellish this point. Harry may have to interfere with him when Hermione's parentage becomes known, but agreeing with her on such a major point should at least ease his disgust towards her, especially if the point doesn't come up until after the conversation on the train, when Hermione isn't present.
Harry subjugating the poorly formed horcrux instead of destroying it? And he will definitely be capable of circumventing the Statute of Secrecy somehow, but his method will depend on many things.
YEAR ONE:
Train Ride
Covered in text
Sorting Ceremony
Harry goes to Slytherin
Whole school shocked, Harry suddenly unsure
Hermione, ever the brave Gryffindor, begins heartfelt applause
Very hesitant applause follows
Harry sits alone
Next to him sits Blaise Zabini, only person at the table composed and inviting
Feast
Harry talks with Blaise, gets the feeling Blaise isn't completely sincere
Harry catches Quirrell looking, but not Snape, scar hurts as in cannon
Malfoy introduces himself and arrogantly offers 'guidance'
Harry responds politely, but neutrally as even Blaise seems wary of Malfoy
Dumbledore gives speech, unchanged from cannon
Harry led to common room by prefect
Prefect is Max Barrett
muggleborn, ally, got short end of stick leading students, subtly disrespected by all
Common Room
Password is corvus oculum corvi non eruit
Snape gives speech on house unity and expected behavior
Harry notices the man seems to avoid looking at him
Harry asks Max how to remember the password
Harry follows Max to dorms
Other boys introduce themselves, Harry notices they all act…odd
Harry goes to sleep
Boys discuss him after Harry goes to sleep under privacy charms (not in text)
The only hint Harry ever gets of this is the feeling of being discussed behind his back
Lessons
Complicated castle; staircases and doors and Peeves and paintings and armor and Filch
Classes themselves
Hermione doesn't have trouble, which encourages Harry
Harry studies with Hermione after a small gush session
They use books he sees Slytherins using
Other Slytherins notice and begin to shun him, Blaise secretly doesn't (teaches)
Harry gets note from Hagrid, which asks for a chat instead of how school's going
Snape and the flowers, Blaise notices the code, can't decipher it, so Hermione does
Harry gets the bezoar and monkshood/wolfsbane right
When he figures out what Snape said, responds positively, with understanding
Snape mocks Harry, as his dual role requires
In flying lesson, Harry catches Neville because he's right next to him when taking off
Gets noticed by Hooch, summoned by Snape, secretly assigned to team as substitute
Hears a rumor that Weasley twins discovered a Cerberus behind third floor corridor door
Halloween:
Yeah, I changed a lot when I actually got to writing. Check the text against everything here.
Harry and Hermione, along with Neville sometimes, study and begin to do quite well in class
Chess
Harry very subtly bullied by other Slytherins, primarily dorm tricks
Also spells in crowds
They only ever use magic
Harry considers going to Snape, or retaliating, but decides neither would work
Blaise quietly teaches Harry a few defensive spells
Hermione has been targeted as well for a while
She hasn't told Harry
The Slytherins were very careful to avoid tipping Harry off
Culmination is Hermione denounced as a mudblood whore and vanishing
Meanwhile, with troll, Slytherin prefects realize the very real danger of going to dungeons
Someone points out that staying anywhere else without teachers is worse
Hufflepuff common room suggested
It's too late to call back any of the teachers, so they proceed with EXTREME caution
Max knows from gossip where Hermione is, can't stop Harry following him
They arrive at the bathroom seconds after the troll, Max knows Hermione's inside
Max carefully distracts the troll and gets Hermione out
This is no longer what happened, but I do believe I dealt with the rumors. Time for…
Quidditch:
During a visit to Hagrid, someone casually mentions the Cerberus (Harry not-so-casually?)
Before/after match?
Hagrid lets slip that Fluffy's guarding something, and that Flamel's involved
Neville almost remembers who Flamel is, but can't quite
When Neville mentions asking Hermione's parents, he almost gets it
Does think of searching history (alone, as they figure Flamel's alive)
Discovers Flamel shortly after Christmas (and Mirror stuff)
Harry checked out Quidditch Through the Ages from the library on Flint's orders
Thought about borrowing Hermione's copy, couldn't think of a good reason
Harry doesn't know Hermione's was a library copy anyway
Doesn't even necessarily know it was the book Hermione used earlier (check)
Snape's limp is present
Harry notices, and even mentions it to H&N, but they don't think much of it
The game
Gryffindor plays a chaser's game, and Harry is forced to help his team
Gryffindor seeker isn't good enough that Harry can't do so, but he's stretched
Harry's broom is also acting up, starting about five minutes into the match
Refuses to brake or turn at bad times
Broom trouble stops after a time out, play continues as normal
Braking charm fails once more on Harry's final dive for snitch
An already distracted Harry crashes pretty hard
He only survives due to some quick (and unnoticed) charm work from Snape
He does maintain a death grip on the snitch, wins game
Hospital wing for two days
Fallout of match
Rumors only get more intense after Harry reveals his quidditch talent
Most of school treats him like 'star Slytherin,' whether that means good or bad
Slytherins make attempts to reconcile with him
Harry not impressed, but on Blaise's advice doesn't completely snub them
H&N tell him (unnecessarily) that he's very unpopular in their common room
Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws don't really change attitudes, perhaps resigned
Attitudes were basically neutral, some slight mistrust
Ron confronts Harry about…secrets, brothers, H&N? All of the above?
He does this earlier than I initially planned…
Twins congratulate Harry (reluctantly) on a good game
They also pull a friendly prank on him
Blaise impressed at Harry's secret keeping
Only hints at it, but is now certain that Harry really fought the troll
Blaise isn't the only one with this opinion
***Harry might eventually use this to bluff, especially post-basilisk
Snape is slightly chillier toward Harry, stricter
Not rude, actually a bit constructive
Stops ignoring Harry's friends quite so much
Harry gives Sprout some message flowers for staff room
Snape leaves a response under Harry's pillow (heavily protectively charmed)
McGonagall noticeably chillier toward Harry
Like a toned-down reverse Snape, though still fair. Just…chilly
Hermione saw Snape and Quirrell muttering during the match
After discussing this with H&N, they suspect Quirrell
Instead, Snape tells Harry suspicions of Voldemort
Harry clams for two weeks before Neville and Hermione get him to open up
Christmas:
Friends
Hermione and Neville will both go home
Neville might convince his Gran that staying with a friend is better
The Weasleys will still be in the castle, so prank war rages on
Cloak…How will Dumbledore handle the cloak? Probably the same as in cannon
He'll make sure Snape knows to prevent any theft though
Harry's presents will be enchanted against theft, as will all presents (avoid favoritism)
Blaise will also have approached Harry, taught him some ward-like enchantments
This was actually due to pranking, but helps now
Blaise also testing Harry's ingenuity a bit (not the best test, but he knows that)
Harry exploring
Probably won't go out after curfew
Instead, he'll sneak around the castle by day, following people who know it
He'll learn that the twins can track him, even when he's invisible
He may even see the map in use, but probably won't understand it
He'll also learn quite a lot about the castle
H&N will notice that he's off exploring a lot
Hermione will frown upon the act, but eagerly accept the knowledge gathered
Neville will ask to accompany him, Harry will gladly accept
Hermione will use the downtime to research ways to defeat invisibility cloaks
She will perfect the supersensory charm, after 5 months of very hard work (May completion)
Dumbledore will use Harry's explorations to guide him to the Mirror
He'll notice Harry tailing people, and either personally guide Harry to the mirror or arrange circumstances to guide Harry's path to the Mirror from the path of someone he's following
He does this so that Harry will know how to subvert Voldemort, should it come to that (prophesied child may be the only one who can even fight him, let alone defeat him.) This is NOT a scheme to get Harry to face Voldemort, just a backup plan.
Neville will find Flamel in the history books long before the mirror stuff
Harry's being far more subtle about his exploration this time
Dumbledore won't have as easy a time manipulating events
Neville will discover Flamel in mid-January, Mirror will be late February
Quidditch danger and Snape
Snape can't referee a Slytherin match, so he'll occupy Quirrell during matches
He'll have Dumbedore's full support
SvR, he'll be getting Quirrell's help gathering troll parts for ingredients
They're doing this during the match
SvH, he'll
Snape will get all of the staff on high alert, get Minerva to referee
He'll also personally place a few protective enchantments on Harry's broom
The second game will last longer than it did in cannon, different snitch, different day
Voldemort will have time to try something
He'll enchant the bludgers to move far faster toward Harry
The first one will clip Harry's foot, put him on guard
After this, Snape will be attempting to disenchant the bludgers
H&N will notice (as in first cannon match) but not interfere
Eventually, Harry will give up on helping the chasers as was planned
He'll catch the snitch at 60S-110R, winning the game
He'll also have his shoulder and several ribs fractured
A/N: Eh…le ciel est bleu. Je ne suis pas mort. =)
To Harry's great surprise, nothing happened in Charms, or Herbology, or even at lunch. The twins were at lunch though, eating and making merry like they always did. Harry wasn't sure what to make of that, but since he'd left something of a calling card, he knew the twins were planning their revenge on him. They had to be. Didn't they? Harry finished found his appetite was rather ruined by this line of though, and picked at his meal without eating very much.
Harry interrupted from thoughts by housemate?
:ungod others :unff all :damage others 983749375983 :music 228797800 :fogend 50 :fogcolo :time 24:00 :god :inv :fly :gear me 130113146
Creepy music box 143382469
Creepier music box 209322206
Freddy 226672555
Ambient 416923620, 155791979, 149119648, 238510574
Creepy kid 358634338
Electro creepy 186658648
Creepy whispers 228797800
Mommy, Daddy (don't repeat, ends in bedroom) 400282579
SoS Occlumency
At some point Harry will learn of Occlumency and Legilimency. [Insert occasion when you think of one, because this should be something fairly pre-planned.] He will almost definitely learn from Professor Snape, and be learning before Voldemort's return, so that Dumbledore won't even need to worry that Voldemort might be able to connect to Harry. The connection will eventually become its own problem, but when Voldemort is a spirit, he won't have the capacity to do much beyond maintaining his existence and possessing the minds of beasts or weak willed humans who linger in his presence. This is due to the guidelines of the art of Occlumency which are as follows: (subject to editing)
The simplest form of the art involves primarily clearing one's mind of idle thoughts so that an intruder can't simply hide among the subconscious noise and 'listen' to idle thoughts without detection. When properly achieved, this state allows an Occlumens to detect an intruder, though breaking contact with them is another matter.
Once mental clarity has been achieved, any intruder will be drawn to the only things remaining, which are the conscious thoughts of their victim. Hiding these takes more skill, but it is still possible to reach the point where even when not focusing internally, an Occlumens' conscious thoughts are nigh undetectable.
There are varying degrees of skill with which one can hide their thoughts and memories, and one is always vulnerable to someone who is better at seeking out their thoughts than they are at hiding them. A person's Occlumency, or Legilimency for that matter, will always be stronger when they have the mental capacity to focus of their attack or defense, and weaker when they don't. This means that getting past someone's defenses doesn't have to be as straightforward as forcing them to divulge their secrets, and defending against a mental attack can be as simple as physically knocking the attacker off their feet.
The personal implications of practicing either or both of the mental arts depend just as much on the person as they do on the arts. As a general rule, however, an Occlumens will become more intuitive and quick-thinking, and learn faster as a result of their focus within their own mind. Some will also become more focused and private as well, but plenty remain scatterbrained and suffer no deficiencies in their technique for it, as their thought process is harder to follow, and so any work an intruder might be saved by a scatterbrain's natural lack of technique will instead be done trying to figure out just what the scatterbrain's thoughts mean.
A Legilimens, on the other hand, almost always goes one of three distinct directions after learning Legilimency. Many will distance their own self-perceptions from the thoughts that they read to a startling degree, becoming judgmental of others to a fault at times and finding it difficult to relate on an empathetic level with others, even if they can understand their thoughts. Some others become even more empathetic than they were, finding commonalities between the thoughts themselves and others. A few, however, will learn Legilimency only to regret their ability to experience the thoughts of others. These witches and wizards focus their attention back within themselves, only rarely, if ever actually practicing Legilimency. This last group is the most disparate, and often has unique and personal reasons.
A/N: Thank you so very much for reading my work.
Best of wishes,
feauxen