Shortly after I read the sixth book, I was tempted to write a fanfic that I would post on the Internet. Not just ANY fanfic, but a full-length novel that could easily be mistaken for the seventh book. My idea was NOT to pass it off as the genuine article, since every page would have a header saying this was an unauthorized fanfic. However, I would have written in J.K. Rowling's style, or as close to it as possible. I also would have used as many clues from the previous six books, so that MY seventh novel would seem astonishingly plausible to any Potter fan.
I chose not to do it, instead concentrating on my OWN series of novels. None of these are published yet, but I may yet find a publisher for my five "Ferriman" novels (with a sixth on the way.) More on that some other time; my chance for fame won't be for a few years yet.
But my idea for the seventh book really did tempt me. I figured it would take me a year and a half to write — just in time for the real-seventh-book frenzy to kick in, make me an Internet celebrity overnight, and then get everyone clamoring to read ORIGINAL, non-Harry Potter material also by me.
My work — had I chosen to write it — would have been called "Harry Potter and the Horcrux Battle." Here are a few key points of what I WOULD HAVE written, and in a two weeks' time we'll all have a chance to compare it against Rowling's work.
THE DEFENSE OF THE DARK ARTS TEACHER FOR THE SEVENTH YEAR IS HARRY POTTER HIMSELF. Surprised? I would have written that in MY Harry Potter novel, and I suspect that this is what will be in the REAL Harry Potter novel. I say this because in the sixth novel, it's mentioned that the school might close down, now that parents are afraid to send their children to school with Dumbledore's gone. Who better to replace him — who better to reasssure the parents — than the wizard already being called The Chosen One?
So the teachers will make an extra effort to recruit him, despite his vow he'll never going back to Hogwarts again. (Also mentioned in the sixth book.) The school has every reason to recruit him, and as for Harry, McGonagall points out that the school has resources he can use in his upcoming battle — for example, as a teacher, he now has completely free access to the restricted section of the library. (Which will be important in tracking down the remaining Horcruxes.)
For those of you who find this hard to believe, I must point out a few things. Yes, the Dark Arts position is cursed, but the end of Voldemort will also end the curse. So Harry Potter's fate remains the same whether or not he signs on as Defense of the Dark Arts teacher — one will end the other. Also, his new teaching job would not interfere with his mission in tracking down the Horcruxes, because Harry is now old enough to Apparate. Which means that he could be a teacher four days out of the week, and take Hermione and Ron on weekends and holidays to find the Horcruxes. And don't forget — Harry has teaching experience!
The bulk of MY Harry Potter novel, had I written it, would have concentrated on two major themes. The first, of course, is the search for the Horcruxes. The second is Harry Potter's growing sense of isolation. Because of the position he's now in, he is no longer a Hogwarts student, and is isolated from all of his former classmates, except Ron and Hermione. Instead of playing Quidditch, he can only root the Gryffindors on from the sidelines — assuming he has time for the matches at all. Filch and Peeves don't treat him with the respect other teachers get, because they refuse to believe he's a "real" teacher. The Slytherin students are openly contemptuous of him, and sabotage his attempts to teach the class.
At the same time, although he's now a teacher, he doesn't really fit in with them, either, since most of them are considerably older than him. Every time he sits among his fellow teachers, he wishes he could be with the people his age.
That's the bulk of what would have been MY Harry Potter book. Other elements that I would have worked in aren't as surprising — Snape is innocent. (You've all heard that one before) Dumbledore is not dead. (You've all heard that one before, too. The best one I've seen is the "Dumbledore is not dead!" section of beyondhogwarts.com.) Plus, the real locket Horcrux is already in Sirius Black's house, having been stolen by Regulus Black — the fifth book specifically mentions a locket nobody could open. (Many of you have heard that one before, too. It's not an original.)
As for how Potter kills Voldemort, my version would have been something like this. Harry lets Voldemort discover that all the Horcruxes have been destroyed, and that Dumbledore is still alive. That destroys all his confidence, because he realizes that he now can be killed. Just as he's at the height of his panic, Dumbledore appears — more powerful and more terrible than he's ever been before. They fight, and as the battle continues, the mighty Voldemort becomes more and more terrified, and keeps getting weaker and weaker. It's only by sheer luck that Voldemort succeeds in killing Dumbledore.
That's when Harry takes off his Invisibility Cloak and announces that the joke's on Voldemort — that wasn't Dumbledore at all, but a boggart. Harry carried a boggart in a suitcase, just as Lupin had done, knowing full well that when it was unleashed on Voldemort, it would turn into the only person Lord Voldemort ever feared.
And now that Voldemort has so weakened himself in the battle with the boggart-Dumbledore, he can easily be killed. Harry Potter uses the Avada Kedavra on the prostrate Voldemort, and the Dark Lord is finished once and for all.
At least, that's what I would have written, had I actually written it. I do like the idea CmonMiracle came up with, about Harry Potter finding a way to kill Voldemort without killing Tom Riddle, but considering how little human is left in Voldemort (splitting his soul in seven parts, having no body for 10 years, drinking unicorn blood, and so forth) that might not be possible.
