I was just thinking about HP fanfic, and the way that so many authors break the power balances so severely and believably. I think I've realized the problem. The problem is that Rowling, though she is many things, and many of them admirable, is not a particularly good tactician, let alone a particularly good strategist. She doesn't think like that, so her characters don't think like that. It's rather unfortunate because you can be certain that otherwise there would be characters who thought strategically. Mad-eye, for one, would be breaking down Dumbledore's door and haranguing him until he got a better grasp of the art, let alone the fact that Dumbledore himself would be more ept - as would Voldemort, a fair smattering of Aurors, most of the Death Eaters, and so on.
Many of her readers, however, *are* tacticians, so when we transplant our own grasp of tactics on to one or more characters, that alone (even without the all-too-frequent author bias that enSues) renders the characters far more effective - to an overbalancing degree, given the amount that the current parities are held together by wishes and fairy dust.
I'm not sure what my reaction would be, except perhaps to propose an AU where the Initial Big Change was that the appropriate people *were* decent tacticians/strategists/etc. Keep it balanced - if you upgrade Dumbledore to where he ought to be, you should do the same for Voldemort. Give Lucious the intellect that he ought to have to balance out Mad-eye, and so on.
The problem is, really, that you'ld have to take it all the way back, and there are so *many* differences that spring from this one thing.
- Assume that the Potters die bravely as normal. There weren't any major errors in judgement there - just terrible surprises
- Black demands truth serum and gets it. He doesn't get Azkaban, but he does have to dea with that whole "unregistered animagus" thing. A manhunt ensues for Scabbers, who *does* get the Azkaban treatment if/when he is caught.
- We will assume that Putting The Dementors In Charge Of Azkaban was done by one of those people who come by their stupidity naturally. Fudge, say.
- Even if you chalk up the Dursleys initially to a horrifying attack of senility, Harry gets checked in on from time to time. Pretty quickly, they realize he's being horribly mistreated, Dumbledore decides that he doesn't *want* another Riddle, and they either Fix The Dursleys or put him Somewhere Else. Meanwhile, someone starts training Harry in magical duelling.
further dominoes fall later.
Many of her readers, however, *are* tacticians, so when we transplant our own grasp of tactics on to one or more characters, that alone (even without the all-too-frequent author bias that enSues) renders the characters far more effective - to an overbalancing degree, given the amount that the current parities are held together by wishes and fairy dust.
I'm not sure what my reaction would be, except perhaps to propose an AU where the Initial Big Change was that the appropriate people *were* decent tacticians/strategists/etc. Keep it balanced - if you upgrade Dumbledore to where he ought to be, you should do the same for Voldemort. Give Lucious the intellect that he ought to have to balance out Mad-eye, and so on.
The problem is, really, that you'ld have to take it all the way back, and there are so *many* differences that spring from this one thing.
- Assume that the Potters die bravely as normal. There weren't any major errors in judgement there - just terrible surprises
- Black demands truth serum and gets it. He doesn't get Azkaban, but he does have to dea with that whole "unregistered animagus" thing. A manhunt ensues for Scabbers, who *does* get the Azkaban treatment if/when he is caught.
- We will assume that Putting The Dementors In Charge Of Azkaban was done by one of those people who come by their stupidity naturally. Fudge, say.
- Even if you chalk up the Dursleys initially to a horrifying attack of senility, Harry gets checked in on from time to time. Pretty quickly, they realize he's being horribly mistreated, Dumbledore decides that he doesn't *want* another Riddle, and they either Fix The Dursleys or put him Somewhere Else. Meanwhile, someone starts training Harry in magical duelling.
further dominoes fall later.