This is one of two ideas I've had from a discussion about whether Wizards are Victorian or not (mostly not, BTW), also inspired by the fact that HP was inspired somewhat by Tom Brown's School Days, and the lack of Children's Services noticing Harry.
So, in 1881, Harry's parents are killed, and Harry is left on the Dursley's doorstep. The Dursley's keep him, mostly out of fear of what Dumbledore will do if they don't, and treat him more-or-less like canon - though they might have a manservant and/or maidservant who treats him better; either way, he won't be *quite* the Harry of canon, because he'll have Victorian manners. Dudley and his gang will probably do their bullying rather differently, being Victorian middle class children, and if Dudley doesn't keep his grades up, Harry may not be the only one who needs to worry about a beating from Vernon. In 1891, Harry gets a letter from Hogwarts, meets Hagrid, and so forth. The Wizarding World he enters is not that different from canon, apart from little things like the Wizarding Wireless not having 'Wizarding' in front of it, because there's no Muggle wireless to distinguish it from... or maybe it has a different name, entirely. This will lead to a lot of culture shock.
On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a rude young man of the Wizarding lower middle class, at best, and Hermione Granger, a well read young lady of at least the upper middle class. Being children of the late-Victorian middle class, the guardians of morality in that era, both Harry and Hermione are quite horribly shocked by many things about the Wizarding World:
Both Ron and Draco are dreadfully rude by Victorian standards, and Draco is supposed to be in the Wizarding upper class! (They're going to see a lot of that, from the purebloods, and some of the half-bloods. Polite behavior was one way the Victorians 'proved' they were more civilized than everybody else, and only the muggleborns and some of the half-bloods have proper manners.)
The robes are so short, you can see the girls' ankles!
Not only is the school co-educational (a fairly new idea in that era), but the dorms have a shared common room, and no chaperones! Sure, the boys can't get up the girls' stairs, but they can meet in the common room, and sneak off together - and they do! For that matter, the girls can go up the boys' stairs, and visit their beds!
The bit in Dumbledore's opening remarks about dying a most ghastly death isn't likely to inspire confidence in them, either.
Another thing they're likely to have a problem with later on is how openly corrupt the Wizarding government is - the Victorians were about as corrupt as any other era, but they hid it fairly well. Appearing to be enlightened was a very important thing to the Victorians, and corruption is not enlightened. Not so sure how they'll feel about Snape and Binns, as I haven't read Tom Brown's School Days.
I would say that the muggleborns, and the more muggle-raised half-bloods, like Harry, are likely to group together, being surrounded by savages as they are, even ignoring House lines. The muggleborn and half-blood group for Harry's year may be lead by Justin Finch-Fletchley, as he appears to have the right breeding - he was down for Eton, before he got his Hogwarts letter. The group as a whole will probably be lead by someone in the upper years, of course, but I figure each year will have a leader, as well. Harry might still be friends with Ron, as he was really desperate for a friend at the time, but if so, Hermione won't be the only one correcting Ron's manners.
So, thoughts?
So, in 1881, Harry's parents are killed, and Harry is left on the Dursley's doorstep. The Dursley's keep him, mostly out of fear of what Dumbledore will do if they don't, and treat him more-or-less like canon - though they might have a manservant and/or maidservant who treats him better; either way, he won't be *quite* the Harry of canon, because he'll have Victorian manners. Dudley and his gang will probably do their bullying rather differently, being Victorian middle class children, and if Dudley doesn't keep his grades up, Harry may not be the only one who needs to worry about a beating from Vernon. In 1891, Harry gets a letter from Hogwarts, meets Hagrid, and so forth. The Wizarding World he enters is not that different from canon, apart from little things like the Wizarding Wireless not having 'Wizarding' in front of it, because there's no Muggle wireless to distinguish it from... or maybe it has a different name, entirely. This will lead to a lot of culture shock.
On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a rude young man of the Wizarding lower middle class, at best, and Hermione Granger, a well read young lady of at least the upper middle class. Being children of the late-Victorian middle class, the guardians of morality in that era, both Harry and Hermione are quite horribly shocked by many things about the Wizarding World:
Both Ron and Draco are dreadfully rude by Victorian standards, and Draco is supposed to be in the Wizarding upper class! (They're going to see a lot of that, from the purebloods, and some of the half-bloods. Polite behavior was one way the Victorians 'proved' they were more civilized than everybody else, and only the muggleborns and some of the half-bloods have proper manners.)
The robes are so short, you can see the girls' ankles!
Not only is the school co-educational (a fairly new idea in that era), but the dorms have a shared common room, and no chaperones! Sure, the boys can't get up the girls' stairs, but they can meet in the common room, and sneak off together - and they do! For that matter, the girls can go up the boys' stairs, and visit their beds!
The bit in Dumbledore's opening remarks about dying a most ghastly death isn't likely to inspire confidence in them, either.
Another thing they're likely to have a problem with later on is how openly corrupt the Wizarding government is - the Victorians were about as corrupt as any other era, but they hid it fairly well. Appearing to be enlightened was a very important thing to the Victorians, and corruption is not enlightened. Not so sure how they'll feel about Snape and Binns, as I haven't read Tom Brown's School Days.
I would say that the muggleborns, and the more muggle-raised half-bloods, like Harry, are likely to group together, being surrounded by savages as they are, even ignoring House lines. The muggleborn and half-blood group for Harry's year may be lead by Justin Finch-Fletchley, as he appears to have the right breeding - he was down for Eton, before he got his Hogwarts letter. The group as a whole will probably be lead by someone in the upper years, of course, but I figure each year will have a leader, as well. Harry might still be friends with Ron, as he was really desperate for a friend at the time, but if so, Hermione won't be the only one correcting Ron's manners.
So, thoughts?
