Early in his life, Harry comes to the realisation that there is nobody either willing or able to take his side in anything, from protecting him from Dudley and his gang to curbing his relatives treatment of him. Rather than taking up the practice of keeping his head down, backing down, and running away as cannon Harry did, this Harry decides to stand up for himself, never take a step back, and always give at least as good as he is given in a fight, whether verbal or physical.
Someone insults him? He insults them right back.
Dudley and his thugs try their 'Harry Hunting' crap? Rather than apparating onto a rooftop after a run, Harry finds himself the last man standing, looking like shit and standing over a half-dozen equally badly beaten brats, with nobody quite willing to accept Dudley and co's story that the skinny Potter kid beat them ALL up.
Vernon locks him up in the cupboard under the stairs? Harry smashes his way out.
Vernon cuffs Harry across the back of the head? Harry kicks him in the shin.
Aunt Marge sics Ripper on him? He kicks the fucking mutt in the face.
By the time Harry gets his Hogwarts letter, he's already sleeping in the smallest bedroom; it was that, or the Dursleys would keep having to repair the door of the cupboard under the stairs, and the numerous upgrades of the locks and door to said cupboard were starting to garner them odd looks from repairmen. Vernon has probably had a mild stress-induced heart attack caused by his own weight problem and Harry consistently getting him angry beyond all belief.
Dudley and co avoid Harry wherever possible, but so do all the other kids. Even though Harry has never touched anyone who hasn't attacked him first, he's still branded as being little more than a smart-mouthed little thug by the uptight adults of Privet Drive (with good reason this time around), who warn their kids away from 'that Potter boy'.
As for the events at Hogwarts, both despite and because he never had anybody stand up for him, Harry mildly reluctantly finds himself standing up for everyone else who gets picked on; Hermione, Neville, Luna later on...and even though he never really goes poking his nose into things as cannon Harry did, he still finds himself stumbling or being dragged into dangerous situations despite his every intention of staying the fuck away.
Also, there are the Die Hard staples to add to the Harry Potter style; much more explosions, for instance. Almost every misadventure ends with an explosion or explosions. The bigger the misadventure, the bigger the boom. The fight with the basilisk should end with Harry and friends flying up the tunnel on Fawkes' tail as the Chamber of Secrets collapses in on itself in a fiery inferno. The rescue of Sirius ends with the tower he was imprisoned in collapsing, possibly with a 'why is there always an explosion with you!?' shriek from Hermione.
Harry should look more beaten up and bloody, too. Not that he hasn't looked bad after a scrap before, but he should look way worse, and take it much better; bloody head wounds, shredded clothing, cuts and bruises all over, but he just takes it all in stride as everyone else fusses over him.
And even though it only really happened in the dirst Die Hard movie, Harry should still frequently lose his shoes, often for odd reasons, but also quickly discover that Draco has nice comfortable shoes in his size. Hell, it's not like the little turd couldn't afford to lose a few.
Bit of a bonus to toy around with, and the inspiration behind this idea; John McClane and Harry Potter both have a nemesis played by Alan Rickman.
Obliviation Edit: also, I took a peek at the Wikipedia entry for John McClane...damn he's an awesome character...the relentless underdog hero...
Someone insults him? He insults them right back.
Dudley and his thugs try their 'Harry Hunting' crap? Rather than apparating onto a rooftop after a run, Harry finds himself the last man standing, looking like shit and standing over a half-dozen equally badly beaten brats, with nobody quite willing to accept Dudley and co's story that the skinny Potter kid beat them ALL up.
Vernon locks him up in the cupboard under the stairs? Harry smashes his way out.
Vernon cuffs Harry across the back of the head? Harry kicks him in the shin.
Aunt Marge sics Ripper on him? He kicks the fucking mutt in the face.
By the time Harry gets his Hogwarts letter, he's already sleeping in the smallest bedroom; it was that, or the Dursleys would keep having to repair the door of the cupboard under the stairs, and the numerous upgrades of the locks and door to said cupboard were starting to garner them odd looks from repairmen. Vernon has probably had a mild stress-induced heart attack caused by his own weight problem and Harry consistently getting him angry beyond all belief.
Dudley and co avoid Harry wherever possible, but so do all the other kids. Even though Harry has never touched anyone who hasn't attacked him first, he's still branded as being little more than a smart-mouthed little thug by the uptight adults of Privet Drive (with good reason this time around), who warn their kids away from 'that Potter boy'.
As for the events at Hogwarts, both despite and because he never had anybody stand up for him, Harry mildly reluctantly finds himself standing up for everyone else who gets picked on; Hermione, Neville, Luna later on...and even though he never really goes poking his nose into things as cannon Harry did, he still finds himself stumbling or being dragged into dangerous situations despite his every intention of staying the fuck away.
Also, there are the Die Hard staples to add to the Harry Potter style; much more explosions, for instance. Almost every misadventure ends with an explosion or explosions. The bigger the misadventure, the bigger the boom. The fight with the basilisk should end with Harry and friends flying up the tunnel on Fawkes' tail as the Chamber of Secrets collapses in on itself in a fiery inferno. The rescue of Sirius ends with the tower he was imprisoned in collapsing, possibly with a 'why is there always an explosion with you!?' shriek from Hermione.
Harry should look more beaten up and bloody, too. Not that he hasn't looked bad after a scrap before, but he should look way worse, and take it much better; bloody head wounds, shredded clothing, cuts and bruises all over, but he just takes it all in stride as everyone else fusses over him.
And even though it only really happened in the dirst Die Hard movie, Harry should still frequently lose his shoes, often for odd reasons, but also quickly discover that Draco has nice comfortable shoes in his size. Hell, it's not like the little turd couldn't afford to lose a few.
Bit of a bonus to toy around with, and the inspiration behind this idea; John McClane and Harry Potter both have a nemesis played by Alan Rickman.
Obliviation Edit: also, I took a peek at the Wikipedia entry for John McClane...damn he's an awesome character...the relentless underdog hero...
