To each their own. I never saw anything to suggest it.
Also, this thread is now about plausible ways to construct a harem that don't involve clichÚs.
- Voldemort is defeated, but not before executing a plan of genocide in the name of magical purity. With hundreds of thousands of magicals dead in England and continental Europe, the ratio of witches to wizards has been radically skewed in favor of the female magical population.
Outline: Women outnumber men by an enormous margin. This must not just be part of the plot, but shown in-story. It is not an informed trait. Witches are everywhere. Wizards are scarce. If you require perspective, assume a 100:1 ratio exists.
Harry obviously survives. Pick a small number of male students from Hogwarts who also survived. All others died. Preferably make them not individuals who are particularly close to Harry, because this plot obviously is focused on him. That means Ron is dead, and likely Neville as well. Full marks for making them students we know in name only, because it means we'll never have to see them or deal with them except in passing.
Draco Malfoy must be one of the surviving students, to provide a counterpoint counterpart to Harry. Draco is abusive and takes advantage of the situation, Harry is kind and doesn't really want this. Draco lords his new status as a highly desired individual to gain favors and free rides. Harry tries to keep on living like he always did, and is humble about his position. In all ways, they would behave oppositely in this sort of scenario. Them both surviving is a must, as it provides drama and conflict that would otherwise be nonexistent, given the defeated nature of the main villain and the 'the war is over' tone of the setting.
Harry publically defeated Voldemort in a massive display of magical power, and almost single-handedly destroyed his army. He is considered by essentially everyone to be the next Dumbledore, and the only reason he hasn't been handed the reins of the British magical community is because he's twenty two.
Harry is currently unattached to anyone. Hermione had platonic feelings for him and slightly tsundere feelings for Ron, but after Ron's death and the culmination of the war, they became much closer. Hermione secretly likes Harry, but Harry is oblivious, viewing her only as a friend (for now). Ginny genuinely likes Harry, and Harry is somewhat fond of Ginny, but whatever romance they had was interrupted by the intense escalation of the war, and nothing has come of it since. Ginny is worried that Harry has moved on, and wants to get back and repair whatever it is that they had between them. Harry is still somewhat distant from the events, and doesn't know what to think or feel. Their interactions are awkward and stilted, particularly in person, but their feelings are genuine. All other female characters are mallable as the plot demands. Crushes that were mere fancies or outright nonexistent in canon might manifest, while realistic Original Characters, primarily Hogwarts students, begin to take center stage in this world where most of the original main and secondary characters are now dead.
Wizarding culture in Britain and Europe has been radically affected by both the war and the genocide. Ancient byzantine rules may be voted into place to protect and secure the future of prominent magical legacies. Houses without male heirs might be combined with those who do, giving rise to such things as Malfoy-Longbottom and Potter-Black. Outdated and defunct laws such as marriage contracts, which have not been used in over five hundred years, may be reinstated to help secure and stabilize power in family factions that were upset by the war and genocide. Do note that these are for flavor to the setting. Regardless of which houses are fused and which families combine, Harry remains the only male person of his own line. That means that him being forced into a marriage is effectively impossible, because as the only male, any marriage contract involving him would have to have half of it signed off on by him. Again, this is for flavor only, to show how the wizarding world has changed in the face of this tragedy. Harry is male, the most powerful wizard on the planet, heir to at least two old and respectable pureblood lines, the protÚgÚe of Dumbledore and defeater of Voldemort, and (in this setting) a pureblood by technicality. No further incentive is necessary to place him in a position where society might consider it obligatory for him to take as many wives as possible. Harry does not need marriage contracts to make this harem work. Just because it is there, doesn't mean it has to directly affect Harry. Granted he might receive many offers to enter them. In fact, he definitely would. But he is under zero obligation towards them.
The story begins with Hogwarts reopening after being closed for a year due to repairs and a recruitment drive for new faculty. Harry has spent the year in the Swiss Alps with the Flamels, learning under Nicolas, who wished to pass on his knowledge and techniques to a worthy successor before their supply of elixir was exhausted, and is only just now returning to England. Due to the isolated nature of the Flamels' retreat, this is the first time Harry has debuted in public since Voldemort's defeat.
Due to the closure of the school during the war and the continued closure of it after the war to reorganize and rebuild, Harry has yet to complete his Hogwarts education, as have all the surviving student body. Lacking anything else to do with himself that he finds appealing, Harry feels compelled to finish his education at Hogwarts, not only so that he can formally graduate, but also because he feels he owes it to his parents, Dumbledore, Sirius, and himself to finish his education with head held high.
Due to the systematic sacking and destruction of numerous magical institutions of learning by Voldemort in his conquest, Hogwarts is currently one of the last magical schools in Europe, and certainly the largest and most able to educate. As a result, the surviving student bodies of Durmstrang, Beaubaxtons, and several other European schools are being absorbed into Hogwarts, though whether this will be permanent or a temporary measure of a few years remains to be seen. As a result, other familiar faces will be seen in Hogwarts, such as Fleur, Gabrielle, and Krum. Likewise, the cast of prominent OCs will contain foreign students, almost all witches, which will be a severe departure from the standard HP fanfiction formula. This is also important because this influx of foreign students replaces the now-deceased male population, meaning that Hogwarts has actually scored a net gain of students from the war, as opposed to a loss. Rather than being depressingly empty due to the genocide killing roughly half of the prior student body, Hogwarts is actually more heavily populated than ever before, with an obviously massive distort in the gender ratio (hence my prior statement of an assumed rough estimation of a 100:1 gender ratio).
The primary driving points behind this plot are:
Internal: Harry feels lost and adrift, and does not know what to do with his life anymore. The idea of being what amounts to a policeman after becoming what amounts to a superhero just seems silly, but beyond a newfound attraction to alchemy, Harry does not feel particularly drawn to anything else. However, by the same token, Harry does not want to continue waging wars and fighting on battlefields either, as he has seen far too much death, destruction, and wanton butchery to want anything more to do with it. Effectively all of the guilt and angst of the war has been dealt with by this point, off-screen during his alchemy apprenticeship, but the big question of "what now" still remains wholly unanswered for Harry.
Harry is now the most powerful wizard in the world, but still feels like nothing more than a student. He feels that he has much still left to learn, and wants to use his remaining time at Hogwarts to learn as much as possible and become the sort of man that the people he respects and loves (his parents, Dumbledore, his godfather, his deceased friends) would be proud of. He doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, but he's determined that whatever it is, he wants to be the best at it.
Personal: Hermione likes Harry, but Harry is currently oblivious to her gear-shift in affection for him. Harry and Ginny liked each other years ago, but haven't talked since Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, and have become somewhat awkward and ambivalent. Ginny wants to rebuild the relationship they had. Harry doesn't know what he wants. As one of less than twenty male students left in Hogwarts, Harry is by definition a target for other female students. Some desire him physically, or are attracted to his power and charisma (such as Romilda Vane and Cho Chang). Others are interested in the political advantage of getting in with him, and seek political alliances through marriage (such as Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, or possibly a female Blaise Zabini). Still others are friends and acquaintances who have now started to see him in a different, more mature light, or old flames and crushes who have now had those feelings reignited by recent events and HarryÆs rise to prominence (numerous, including Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Luna Lovegood, either or both of the Patils, and many others). Also, due to the genocide and the destruction of many institutions of magical learning, including the failed attempt to sack Hogwarts, foreign students of various nationalities from across Europe are now attending Hogwarts and make up over half the student body, and will have attitudes and feelings ranging the full gamut of envy, desire, hatred, respect, fear, admiration, and lust. Reluctant suitors, aggressive pursuers, deceptive manipulators, friends, and enemies will not just originate from the original Hogwarts crowd, but from the new additions as well.
Draco Malfoy survives, and serves as a contrast to HarryÆs situation, being a mirror reflection in both attitude and disposition. While Harry is reluctant to take even a single girlfriend, let alone multiple wives, Malfoy wrings his new social advantage to the fullest, acquiring casual sex, political favors, and wives at an alarming rate. And while Harry is uncertain of what he wants to do with his life, Malfoy has the ambition of becoming ætheÆ guiding hand of the future, molding the new emerging society to reflect his own spin on the old ideal of pureblood elitism. Malfoy sees Harry as the most obvious threat to his own rise to power, and will take steps to cripple, undermine, or even destroy Harry. Harry, however, will not make this connection at first, and does not initially see Malfoy as a threat, perceiving him as the same schoolyard bully he was before the war. Furthermore, any pity or forgiveness Harry might have felt for Malfoy over the death of his father is undone by DracoÆs use of inherited political clout to claim the Longbottom name and holdings for his own, a final deliberate spite to one of HarryÆs best friends. While Harry may not (at first) see Malfoy as an actual threat to be taken seriously, his dislike of Draco has become full-blown hatred, and he takes the calculated plundering of NevilleÆs family very seriously indeed. Draco has willingly chosen to cross a line that did not need to be crossed out of nothing more than spite, and this will create a core of drama and conflict in the day-to-day life at Hogwarts.
Local: The discovery of Peter PettigrewÆs corpse at the end of the war resulted in Sirius being posthumously cleared of all charges. In the wake of this, the MalfoyÆs attempted to claim the Black family title and holdings, but the revelation that Harry was both SiriusÆ godson and in frequent familial contact with him prior to his death lead to the ruling that the House of Potter has significant priority over the House of Malfoy in this regard, and due to the only Potter house member being absent, the claim was suspended and left pending. Upon his return to England, Harry is offered the Black Family name by Minister Bones. He accepts.
During VoldemortÆs purge of magical Europe, he attempted to claim Hogwarts as his own, but the assault failed. However, the castle was heavily damaged, and forced to close. It has only just recently been stated by the reformed School Board that it will reopen this school year, with expansions and modifications to the castle to accommodate the new influx of students, along with full faculty rosters and the addition of teacher assistants to help accommodate the new size of the student body. Hogwarts is now as much an experiment as it is a school. An attempt at organized magical instruction of this scale has never taken place before, and success or failure here will have far-reaching consequences, not just for the rebuilding society of magical Europe, but also whether or not continental Europe will decide to expend the resources and political power necessary to recreate their own magical schools.
Harry PotterÆs importance would be difficult to overstate. Already incredibly famous in Britain and holding some public appeal abroad for his defeat of Voldemort as an infant, he is now not only a globally recognized magical celebrity, but also a war hero, and is currently recognized as the strongest wizard alive. He is considered the heir apparent to DumbledoreÆs legacy, and organizations ranging from political parties, the British Ministry of Magic, and the International Confederation of Wizards itself are heavily interested in gaining HarryÆs membership and support. This status as a literal superstar was only exasperated by HarryÆs complete disappearance from the public eye for a year, with the only known facts being that he was under the apprenticeship of the internationally-famous Nicolas Flamel, and that it was somewhere remote and abroad. Rumors in the British magical media have run completely rampant, and Harry returns to England to find that he is, somehow, even more famous than when he left.
Due to his immense fame and popularity, Harry is considered by third parties to be an effective shoe-in for any political job he might choose to pursue, a fact which various organizations and governmental agencies are very much aware of. Becoming a member of the ICW would restore to them all the power and political clout they lost with the deaths of many of their members, and any run for Minister would be a loss for all other candidates the minute he gets put in the running. This fact, which is something does not initially understand but will eventually realize, will win him many friends, but a far greater number of enemies. Draco Malfoy is far from the only wizard with eyes towards control over magical Europe. HeÆs just the most local.
Current working title: The Broken Dawn
Thoughts?
[EDIT]
And just for the record, I pulled this completely out of my ass. I literally just made this up as I went along. So don't pretend that this is hard to do.
Also, I can totally keep on going if you guys want.
