Hello Readers! I will hopefully provided you here with a little insight in this extra chapter (none of which is needed to enjoy the story). These notes were once at the end of each chapter on AO3, but as the story is now complete, I decided to streamline them into a single chapter for ease of reading both the main story and these notes. For ease, the character of this story is called Harry in these notes, while the character of the games he replaces is referred to as Gwydion.
This story is a cross over of the fantastic works of Roberta Williams, published by Sierra Entertainment (at the time known as Sierra Online) in the 1980s and early 1990s. This is mainly the King's Quest series and The Quest for Glory series, but throughout this stories there are references to Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Black Cauldron (made in 1986 by Sierra), mythology, the Redux game and a few others. The events of KQ1 and KQ2 have already happened, without the influence of our Hero (which will be explain when it is important). Harry (who here has only minor thoughts that that is his name) takes the place of the Hero. Where possible I have tried to stay true to the timeline of publish dates of the games and Harry Potter, meaning that here in 1987 (a year later then KQ3 was published, but the earliest I could really expect to see a Harry with the independence needed) Harry is 7 years old. If you have played the games, the plot should not be too much of a shock, but hopefully some of my plans have at least entertained you. Likewise much of the dialog may be recognizable to those who have played the game, as I have borrowed heavily.
Places mentioned and nods made
In this world, both games and everything else exists on a single land mass as shown in this map link on the very popular image site called starting with im and ending with gur, a . and a com with the address ending in slash sxVyTB0 (stupid fanfiction blocking the link, or anything like it)!
Kyöpelinvuori is a mythical place in Finnish for ghosts' mountain, appropriate I thought consider its location as the above ground section next to Ooga Booga land (KQ7 is a long way off, but was in fact the 1st game I played as a young girl, and therefor holds a special place in my heart). Elves of course live in Alfheim. Dinas Affaraon is a mythical home of druids who were known as metallurgists and alchemists. Nendos is a Celtic region meaning 'sacred place, sanctuary'. The Port Karlavaegen cove looks something like Lulworth Cove, if you were wondering. I figure a kingdom like Daventry would have a port as well. It is named after after the mapmaker for many of the KQ games. Yes, Harry is transported directly to the spot that Graham starts KQ1 in. I thought it was a good nod to those earlier games. Yes, Jambalaya island is from Escape from Monkey Island. I didn't plan on mixing the two worlds, especially considering the epic rivalry between Lucas and Sierra, but I needed a name for my created island and couldn't help myself. The geography of Daventry really didn't make a lot of sense in KQ3, especially considering KQ1 and 2. So I moved the dragon to a mountain on an island near Daventry. The island is about 150 kms (a little under 100 miles) off shore, quiet close all things considered. While the trip to the island only took about 12 hours, the trip back takes a longer, at about 25 hours, due trade winds and tides. The pirate ship was also twice the size, which affects how fast they can travel, but still they managed about 6 knots, which is very fast. In a world of magic, where I can see ships, especially pirate ships, using magic to boost their speed, that wouldn't be too unbelievable. On the way back, they are averaging 3 knots, a much more likely speed for sail. For course flying (such as by dragon) would take much less time, which is why the dragon is a threat to Daventry, but is not easy to kill, as it lives over the sea.
Characterisation of Harry
Readers may claim Harry accepts his new situation and magic too easily here. Its hard to judge Harry's mental state, and therefore what is reasonable to expect for a child in this kind of situation. For starters, he is 7 years old, which on average is the start of kids having more adult thought process, such as being able to see another's point of view, using conflict resolution (ie manipulation via words), becoming vaguely independent, starting to seek out knowledge, starting to read fairly well. Around this age is also when children start to question long held beliefs, no longer is Santa and the Tooth fairy taken as granted.
So Harry should be able to act 'adult' enough to be our lovable hero, but he is still a child enough to accept magic and not fight Manannan as his Master. But it can come across as to easy... The other problem to gauge how well Harry can handle this is I have deliberately made his childhood more isolated then canon (for good reasons, mostly to do with what Harry calls himself, and to make his attachment to Manannan more likely, as well as bring him more in line with the Gwydion of King's Quest), which itself is much more isolated then is even vaguely health and acceptable. There are no controlled, expected, 'normal' reactions to long term social isolation is children, for damn good reasons. The closest we get is historical studies in child abuse and neglect cases, for example the children who came out of the Romanian Orphanages in the 90s. Although the abuse is worse then what our Harry sees, it would be reasonable to expect certain patterns of behaviour, such as lower academic intelligence, inability to form social connections, apathy, disrespect for authority figures, tendency to wander away from 'parents' (lowered stranger danger reflexes) and sometimes brutal violence or rage to affirm their place in social hierarchies... (actually JK may have been close with canon Harry in some ways.)
Simply, my Harry is not going to be totally realistic, he just isn't. The simple fact is such a child would not be the hero which fits in this kind of story. In the later section of the story we see more of Harry's Gryffindor nature really shining through, especially after going to Daventry. For the most part, however, I stuck with a more Slytherin Harry.
It never seemed very realistic to me that in the games Gwydion doesn't even hesitate to deal with a man who has raised him his entire life, especially in the original where there is no evidence that Manannan means him any harm at all. The letter discovered by Gwydion/Harry is slightly modified from the Redux version, where it is slightly more evident something bad is going to happen. I know that some of the expanded universe deal with the effect of his enslavement... but not really the fact he was perfectly willing to turn against who was basically his father. Harry, of course, thinks he has it better now, and I can't see him easily turning away from that, and therefore is more the happy to justify even heavy handed hints, until it really was too late.
I have a reason for not marking parseltongue as different from regular text. Simply, Harry isn't aware he is talking in a different language, and as it is his POV, I'm not going to note it either. Later, if he actually realises the difference then maybe, but for now, the text will appear as if also in English.
Harry are his potion skills are a matter of debate. Here I've taken the fact that in Half Blood Prince Harry, with clear instructions and away from Snape, can actually brew, and is in fact the best in class. So I think that means Harry can brew in canon, and have taken that to here as well, with him brewing everything correctly first go.
Harry's eyesight. I haven't really dealt with it, but have left a few hints. Harry doesn't have glasses, but probably does need them. In a classroom environment it would have been picked up, but for the most part he hasn't been asked in Sierra to read things in the distance. He can probably only see large blobs of colour and shape beyond about 30 meters, but for close up, he doesn't really notice. And as he thinks it is normal, it isn't like he is going to complain or tell anyone
So why are Harry's dreams prophetic? There is some vague evidence that Harry's dreams in canon have a vision component, mainly due to that fact no 15 month old would remember all the details seen in his drawing we see hanging in his cupboard. And well I figure in a place like Sierra, which is made of magic, everyones dreams are a little prophetic, which is why oracles are even a possibility.
Medusa, Letholdus and Manannan
I have noted I have a lot of weird names going on. But most are from the games and Letholdus fits the setting so…
I debated a long time about what to do about Medusa. In the original game you of course need to destroy her by making her look in the mirror. You can't talk to her, and you have to go prepared to kill her. Harry would never be able to do that. He doesn't have to knowledge, no matter how many books he might have read, and he is still too soft hearted to deliberate kill a creature which has done nothing to him (yet). As Harry can't save and reload, I've gone the redux storyline, where you can win Medusa over and she turns from a dark skinned half snake into a white women (somehow that sound more racist the more I think about it). I decided I didn't want to her become human, but stay somewhat snake like, and be more in touch with magic, in order to mentor Harry, and it will also strongly influence later stories with a much more non-human slant. I've always wondered if Medusa had to feed her hair, or if it gets its food from Medusa. Also, do the continue to grow? Its not like you can get a hair cut... At one stage I almost had Medusa read Harry a bedtime story, but figured she wouldn't know how to treat a child, as she has never had one.
As for Manannan, I had a reviewer (over on Fanfiction) bring up that Manannan is less mean here. This is deliberate in a way, and like I said to them, I know that Manannan isn't as evil here as in the games, but the fact is that Harry can't save and reload (so making him as harsh would end the story very quickly). If Manannan was as evil, I'm not sure that any of his servants would last that long at all. I also like that Manannan doesn't seem (that) evil to Harry, especially considering the treatment he had at the hands of his relatives. In the chapter in which Manannan catches Harry returning the books Manannan appeared to be his old evil self, but Manannan doesn't permanently hurt Harry, and acts more like a parent who had caught wrong doing in a child. I doubt Manannan believed the lie Harry had told, but all little children lie to avoid punishment. Imagine, some of the books Manannan has might very well be harmful. This is after all, a world of magic. Harry realises this while talking to Medusa. Sadly, although Manannan not being evil would be an awesome story, to keep close to the games I have to continue with his evil plans. Later after he becomes a cat Manannan seems even nicer. But the thing is Manannan is no longer himself. In KQ5 we get the impression that (at least by then) most of Manannan personality is cat like, he can be tricked into a sack with some fish, basically having lost his human mind. Here is the added layer that we have no idea what Letholdus has or hasn't done to Manannan. And Letholdus is fond of Harry, so it would not be beyond belief that Letholdus has ordered Manannan to be nice. Of course if you are optimistic, maybe Manannan was fond of Harry himself before Harry turned him into a cat, and now, with his emotions also simplified due to his form, that is more evident.
Random book, history, and magic information
The description of the Seps here was taken in part from the excellent blog, .com. You should go check it out.
Also, before anyone asks, Harry might be too young to question the books, but I'm going to say straight up front that they might not be as accurate as one would hope. I was reading up on Potter spells in order to try and fit the two canons somewhat together. I was kinda shocked to find that the 'tempus' spell seen all the time in fanon is in fact not canon. Sure the 'notice-me-not' spell is the same, but I knew that was fanon. But Tempus, really? The other one was wards, which are never mentioned by name, despite their ubiquitous nature in fan fiction. Well ok then.
Some notes on the staples in the kitchen: Everything listed would be available in a 16th century England. But in the amounts here, probably not. Sugar was indeed considered a spice.
For those heavily into HP cannon, some of the books mentioned here are found in the extended verse. For the foreign language ones:
'Hélas, Je me suis Transfiguré Les Pieds': Translation, Alas, I have Transfigured My Feet, is a French play seen in Quidditch Through the Ages
'Магичен Теория': Translation, Magical Theory, is a textbook for the Durmstrang students seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
'Skrifter af Knos': Translation Writings of Knos, a book prop in the Harry Potter films in both Remus and Albus' Offices.
'Þrymskviða': is one of the best known poems from the Poetic Edda, in which a giant steals Thor hammer, and Thor and Loki end up dressed as the bride and bridesmaid during a scheme to get the hammer back.
'Ars moriendi': Translation The Art of Dying, a 15th century text about how to die well.
'القانون في الطب' : Translation The Canon of Medicine, an 11th century medical encyclopedia
'Trk'hsk': Translation Bloodshed in battle, in world of warcraft orcish.
A few books which didn't make it in this story: 'One was boringly called, 'Belief, personification and understanding; guarding childhood' but was really about these warrior spirits who were thought to protect childhood. Gwydion had picked it because when he was flicking through it he had seen a picture of Santa just like Before. The figure however was called Nicholas St. North and a huge sword in each hand, fighting off a black cloaked figure.' Or ''The History of Jiggery Pokery' which was all about people fixing and improving magical instruments'. Kurt Niederloh, who lent his name to the diary about magical talking plants, was the Vice President of Sierra On-Line, and has a cooler sounding name then most who are noted to work for Sierra. I sadly know nothing else about him.
The M used in the sleep potion is the rune Ahwaz, which means horse, but also journeys. The calculation mentioned is sort of, kinda, based on the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, which I don't pretend to have more then a slight understanding of.
Oaths and Swearing
Magical swearing and promises in Potter canon always kinda freaked me out. Ask any lawyer and you'll know words can be twisted, meanings can be changed or defined differently. If such things could just kill you, and strip you of magic? Seems highly dangerous, and yet Harry being put in the tournament against his will isn't a big deal for that reason. There are a number of fics out there dealing with this better then this note probably explains. Here we have no idea what the consequence of breaking the promise is, but if a cunning wizard such as Letholdus allows it? I can't image it to be too bad. For those with a more Slytherin mind, the promise made by Letholdus has of course a giant loop hole in it. Harry is not the first one called Gwydion, and the others have meant some horrible fates. Harry sadly doesn't quite think of that, he is after all still a somewhat naive 7 year old. As I said at the start of the chapter, depending on how pessimistic you are, whatever happens in the room after Harry leaves could be anything from a few harsh words to full on torture. I'll let you decide, but remember that Harry is optimistic, and more to the point, somewhat naive, and thinks Letholdus' vow will stop any major harm from coming to Manannan.
The whole time I was writing Harry becoming King I kept think of Monty Python, "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." Of course in Sierra, that probably is a normal form of government. Or in this case whoever has the best magic. But who is going to argue with the boy who managed to take out the old and evil Manannan? Oaths are hard man. I just kinda wrote this in one go, but no doubt it could be much better. I'm not a lawyer. Just believe that magic reads intent as well as the words said. As for Harry's magic, its not really changed at all, just it took a lot out of him, because the land hasn't had a ritually tied to a ruler for decades, as Manannan didn't do it for reasons, mostly because he doesn't believe in that sort of thing, and as a somewhat illegitimate ruler there would have been major backlash. So why is Harry's victory acceptable? Well for one, he is counted as Manannan's apprentice, as he lives with the wizard and has learned magic while there. He has also is Medusa's heir, as she has taught him magic that only her family knows. And as Medusa is tied to the land, that is enough for Harry to be seen as a legitimate option to rule. Defeating the previous ruler sealed the deal as it were.
Events included and not included (…pirates, bandits and dogs)
As the spell to fly doesn't turn Harry into an actual eagle, as I've vaguely established such magics are permanent in this world, and I think between a giant spider and Harry the spider would win, we instead have a new companion. I have plans for that spider (see The Gamble of Gwydion!).
Unlike the games, Harry wasn't stuck on the boat for weeks like in the games (which kinda never made sense; was the Princess with the dragon the whole time?) On another notes, not all pirates have to talk like pirates. One of them here is quiet well spoken.
So I wanted to deal with the bandits, despite them not being a totally necessary part of KQ3. I always thought it was kinda weird that these scary thugs had a tree house as a headquarters. Especially a bright yellow one. In my head there are two possibilities as to why the bandits disappear. The first is that they (the other two) came back to the head quarters to find the money missing. The sleeping one claimed a great wizard came and stole the money, and he had no chance. The other two in their anger killed the sleeping one (maybe by accidentally pushing him out of the tree). Realising what they did, they made it look like he had left, rather then died. Only a few days later they hear the great evil wizard has been defeated and a new ruler, a powerful wizard is around. Fearing that the sleeping bandit had told the truth, they flee.
The second is that Medusa found the bandits, and took revenge for their actions against Gwydion. She is after all, part giant snake, and even if she is nice to Gwydion, she is feared for a reason.
Why does Daventry have guard dogs, which weren't seen until KQ6? Well I figure why wouldn't a big castle have loyal, hardworking dogs as guards? And it isn't like we see the guards in KQ1-5. Also I went back and looked at the structure of the body of the guards and they have super creepy man hands. I know they need them to hold a sword and all, but it just looks wrong. Alligators vs vicious serpents in the moat. AGI version has serpents and SCI has alligators. As Harry might be able to talk to serpents, I went with alligators.
I also got rid of the yeti, because like Medusa, you had be ready to face the yeti without, story-wise, knowing it was coming. And the solution to that puzzle didn't exit here, as the potion doesn't actually turn you into the animal, and fly isn't even a option anymore.
Language and writing things
Snuck vs sneaked. I had snuck here originally, unaware of the fierce debate of over it. I changed in to sneaked to fit more with English-British born Harry's POV. However it sounds weird to me. And kinda funny. I had 'rooves' here for a long time before I went to the more acceptable 'roofs.' Why? It's the old sneaked vs snuck. I'm not old, but as I was raised in Australia in the 1980s I consider rooves the acceptable term, but I know roofs is used more widely, especially in the UK, where it replaced rooves in the 19th century (according to the internet).
I have a theory that there are two types of (good) fiction out there. The first extends what canon has given us, expands characters and worlds, creating details. Post storyline, minor character POV are the two biggest categories here. In these stories it is important the characters stay true, that the work stays consistent, a natural progression of canon. The second twists characters we know and love, putting them so far away from canon that the reflection is what highlights canon. Dark fics, gender bends, even most (non-canon) slash fall into this category. The characterisation in these fics can be anywhere from totally canon (expect that one important thing) or due to that one important twist completely different. Done poorly they are co-opts of character which are totally unbelievable, were previously strong characters now are weak or mary-sues, desk ex machine abounds, and often, spelling and grammar fall by the wayside. The problem is that fan fiction should not be an excuse to be lazy, to fail to build a story or a character, and that is what bad fan fiction does. So perhaps I may, sometimes, in my efforts to not fail into the trap of the lazy fic, give a bit to much detail.
The next installment is called (drum roll): Harry's Quest 2: The Gamble of Gywdion, I hope you read it too! I have also made a collection of one-shots set in the same universe you can subscribe/follow to, starting with Cauchy gift fic, called (creatively): Harry's Quest One Shots.