Here's a Harry Potter story idea that's been hanging around in my mind for some time:
It begins in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry doesn't get banned from Quidditch for trying to punch out Draco Malfoy. This is because an older Slytherin boy told Draco to shut up with that scurrilous song about the Weasleys -- it was one thing to sing it as psychological warfare during the game, but continuing after they'd lost is bad form. And Draco does shut up ... not right away, but after a warning to "Remember my Potions marks," he turns pale and closes his mouth quickly.
Harry and friends are curious, naturally. Who is this fellow, was he really threatening to feed Draco a harmful potion, and why doesn't he go along with typical Slytherin behavior? After a few weeks, the guy -- identified as 6th-year Jeremy Penardis -- agrees to meet Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the library for explanations.
Well, he agreed to meet Hermione, and didn't mind if she brought her friends. Young Mr. Penadis finds Hermione very attractive, enough so to override his normal caution. He's at Hogwarts under a false name, you see; Dumbledore would never have allowed him to enroll if he'd known who the boy's family really is. They're wizard assassins, and have been since before "assassin" was the word for it. Penardis says to Hermione, "I'm sure you've wondered, among all the conflicting stories, what really happened to Merlin. One of my ancestors happened to him." Dumbledore considers this family to actually be worse than Voldemort, because they murder without malice, simply for money, whereas Voldemort is compelled by his nature. Or something like that. Voldemort, meanwhile, regards them as a threat to his power, and they feel he's just another sick monster with pretensions, who's too insane (and/or cheap) to hire professionals to kill for him.
As for the Potions threat, no, he wasn't threatening to dose Draco with something humorous. He was threatening to fatally poison Draco's mother with something no detection magic would spot. It was a bluff, though. His family would literally kill him if he murdered someone without getting paid for it.
Which brings a thought to his mind. Since he's now blown his cover just because of a pretty girl, maybe he could at least drum up some business out of the matter. Harry has a lot of gold, and some very nasty enemies. If Harry offered some of that gold to the "Penardis" family, some of those enemies could suffer tragic fatal accidents.
Jeremy's attentiveness to Hermione naturally rubs Ron the wrong way. Hermione, though, is thoroughly creeped out; although Penardis is moderately good-looking in a nondescript way, the fact that he comes from a long line of murderers and is proud of it squicks her. And Harry ... Harry is torn. On the one hand, hiring an assassin against Voldemort and the Death Eaters would get at least some of them off his back. On the other, if Dumbledore disapproves of these people so much ... he really doesn't want to go against Dumbledore's wishes.
After a while soul-searching, Harry turns down the offer, but agrees to keep Penardis' true identity secret. The rest of Order of the Phoenix and most of Half-Blood Prince goes more-or-less just as canon. Until Harry's kneeling beside Dumbledore's corpse. Jeremy comes up and kneels beside him, saying he's just heard about the horcruxes, so it seems hiring his family wouldn't have done a lot of good. But Harry looks up with a not-quite sane expression in his eyes and says that Voldemort couldn't have done as much damage if several Death Eaters had been killed earlier....
And that is where the story as I envision it ENDS. It's not about the results of Harry hiring assassins; it's more a character study about what brings him to that point. Probably not a very good story idea, but....
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
It begins in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry doesn't get banned from Quidditch for trying to punch out Draco Malfoy. This is because an older Slytherin boy told Draco to shut up with that scurrilous song about the Weasleys -- it was one thing to sing it as psychological warfare during the game, but continuing after they'd lost is bad form. And Draco does shut up ... not right away, but after a warning to "Remember my Potions marks," he turns pale and closes his mouth quickly.
Harry and friends are curious, naturally. Who is this fellow, was he really threatening to feed Draco a harmful potion, and why doesn't he go along with typical Slytherin behavior? After a few weeks, the guy -- identified as 6th-year Jeremy Penardis -- agrees to meet Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the library for explanations.
Well, he agreed to meet Hermione, and didn't mind if she brought her friends. Young Mr. Penadis finds Hermione very attractive, enough so to override his normal caution. He's at Hogwarts under a false name, you see; Dumbledore would never have allowed him to enroll if he'd known who the boy's family really is. They're wizard assassins, and have been since before "assassin" was the word for it. Penardis says to Hermione, "I'm sure you've wondered, among all the conflicting stories, what really happened to Merlin. One of my ancestors happened to him." Dumbledore considers this family to actually be worse than Voldemort, because they murder without malice, simply for money, whereas Voldemort is compelled by his nature. Or something like that. Voldemort, meanwhile, regards them as a threat to his power, and they feel he's just another sick monster with pretensions, who's too insane (and/or cheap) to hire professionals to kill for him.
As for the Potions threat, no, he wasn't threatening to dose Draco with something humorous. He was threatening to fatally poison Draco's mother with something no detection magic would spot. It was a bluff, though. His family would literally kill him if he murdered someone without getting paid for it.
Which brings a thought to his mind. Since he's now blown his cover just because of a pretty girl, maybe he could at least drum up some business out of the matter. Harry has a lot of gold, and some very nasty enemies. If Harry offered some of that gold to the "Penardis" family, some of those enemies could suffer tragic fatal accidents.
Jeremy's attentiveness to Hermione naturally rubs Ron the wrong way. Hermione, though, is thoroughly creeped out; although Penardis is moderately good-looking in a nondescript way, the fact that he comes from a long line of murderers and is proud of it squicks her. And Harry ... Harry is torn. On the one hand, hiring an assassin against Voldemort and the Death Eaters would get at least some of them off his back. On the other, if Dumbledore disapproves of these people so much ... he really doesn't want to go against Dumbledore's wishes.
After a while soul-searching, Harry turns down the offer, but agrees to keep Penardis' true identity secret. The rest of Order of the Phoenix and most of Half-Blood Prince goes more-or-less just as canon. Until Harry's kneeling beside Dumbledore's corpse. Jeremy comes up and kneels beside him, saying he's just heard about the horcruxes, so it seems hiring his family wouldn't have done a lot of good. But Harry looks up with a not-quite sane expression in his eyes and says that Voldemort couldn't have done as much damage if several Death Eaters had been killed earlier....
And that is where the story as I envision it ENDS. It's not about the results of Harry hiring assassins; it's more a character study about what brings him to that point. Probably not a very good story idea, but....
-----
Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.