Fanfic / Beneath the Surface

When Harry Potter was seven, he learned a major lesson in life: None of the adults in life can be trusted to care for him. When he re-enters the Wizarding World as the ward of Cornelius and Aldora Fudge, he learns how to subtly manipulate people to get information as well as to advance in life.

Knowing how to play the game makes sure you advance in life well.

Beneath The Surface is a fanfic written by LilyannaSpiritOfTheCheetah, and is currently at 52 chapters. It details a What If? scenario where Harry Potter was taken in from his relatives as the ward of Cornelius Fudge.

The fanfic can be found here.

Tropes related to Beneath The Surface.

• Abusive Parents: The Dursleys, like in canon. When Kingsley demands they stay to talk, Petunia leaves with Dudley, leaving Harry behind.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Ginny is affected by the diary horcrux even worse than canon, due to the Ministry and Dumbledore investigating the Chamber more thoroughly than canon. While she does heal up over time, she still remembers the nightmares she has about it.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Cornelius, Amelia and Kingsley show up in the first chapter when they show up in Harry's second year, during his trial and before his trial, respectively.
  • Draco and Narcissa show up slightly earlier, though Harry has remembered meeting them and Lucius well before Hogwarts.
  • Umbridge also shows up in Chapter 7 instead of during his trial. Harry decides to stay out of her way as much as possible.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Canon Harry was not an idiot, but this Harry is a lot better. When Hermione suggests going to Fudge about Voldemort, Harry shoots it down because he knows Fudge will never believe it. When Dumbledore suggests Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, Fudge refuses to accept it, but does accept Harry's claims that Quirrell came across something Voldemort left behind and got possessed by it.
  • When Dobby shows up to warn Harry, he has Misty follow Dobby to see which family he belonged to, finding out he was part of the Malfoy family.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Harry in canon was a meek and shy child who eventually became hotheaded and unable to think straight after Cedric's death before mellowing out after Voldemort's death. Here, he's more understanding of how to play the game.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In canon, Fudge was viewed as a neutral person who becomes hated over his belief Dumbledore was after the Minister's seat, only resigning or being impeached after spending a year accusing Harry and Dumbledore of being attention seekers. Here, as the ward of Fudge, Harry and Cornelius have a significantly better relationship than in canon.
  • Likewise, his relationship with Snape improves when he asks Snape to train him, Hermione, Ron and later Ginny, even helping Snape break out of the chains of his misery as best as he could, with Lupin and Sirius later helping out after 3rd year.
  • In contrast, his relationship with Dumbledore becomes more and more strained over time, ranging from him finding out about Sirius not having a trial because Dumbledore didn't tell them about it, to knowing he had a soul fragment of Voldemort in his head for thirteen years. This becomes a Broken Pedestal as time goes on.
• Berserk Button: The Goblins do not like it when horcruxes are left out without their knowledge. They are even more pissed when they find a horcrux inside the Lestrange vault, that Dumbledore knew about the horcruxes and did nothing about it.
  • In contrast, the Dementors were offered Sirius Black's soul, so upon finding out he was acquitted and allowed to go free, the Dementors attacked the Wizengamot. This will likely have Fudge accept removing the Dementors from Azkaban - if not because of Voldemort, because of the attempted mass murder of the Wizengamot.
• Both Sides Have a Point: When it comes to entering the Chamber, Fudge refuses to let Harry go deeper due to the fact a Basilisk is roaming about. Many adult wizards have died fighting just one Basilisk. In contrast, Harry points out that if there are other areas that need entry via Parseltongue and he's not down there, then the trip to the Chamber is irrelevant. Fudge agrees under the condition he heads down there with him.
  • When it came down to the Horcrux issue, Dumbledore was right in that he honestly didn't know of a way to remove the soul fragment without killing Harry. However, Ragnok and Griphook both counter it by pointing out he could've gone to them in the first place, as they specialize in removing Horcruxes.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The Goblins are outright furious that Dumbledore left a soul fragment in Harry for thirteen years. Ragnok outright tells Dumbledore that if he had notified them in advance, then Harry wouldn't have spent 13 years with Voldemort's soul fragment in him and that Voldemort would've been defeated and banished to the hereafter.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite entering the wizarding world four years earlier than canon, there are some things that don't change.
  • Harry, Ron and Hermione are forced to confront the Troll in first year, though Ron admits he accidently insulted Hermione and neither one of the three knew about the Troll compared to Hermione taking the blame.
  • Harry and Draco end up in the Forbidden Forest for detention and see a man attacking the unicorn, causing Harry to collapse in pain and Firenze to come to his aid.
  • Harry confronts Quirrellmort, but with Snape's help.
  • Ginny is still possessed by the diary horcrux, though Harry is able to tell which wizarding family Dobby belongs to earlier than canon.
  • Harry still fights the Basilisk and destroys the diary, though that is because all the adults are restrained by stone snakes.
  • Sirius Black escapes Azkaban, but it also leads to Pettigrew's capture, Sirius' exoneration and Harry making a full powered Patronus to drive off the Dementors.
  • Pettigrew still escapes, though at the DMLE and highly implied to be by Lucius Malfoy through the Imperius.
  • Harry is still entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will.
• Living Emotional Crutch: For months after the Chamber, Harry becomes this for Ginny, due to him being the only person she knows with absolute certainty who'll protect her. While it tapers off after visiting the Chamber, she still has nightmares about it.
• Not Quite Dead: When Harry is taken in by Cornelius and Aldora, he is told with adamant belief that Voldemort is dead and never coming back. This becomes broken when he finds out that not only is Voldemort still alive, but that he had a soul fragment of the bastard in him for 13 years, that Dumbledore knew about it and did nothing, and that the Goblins are very pissed over this.
• Oh, Crap!: Diary Riddle panics when he realizes Harry is about to destroy his diary with the Basilisk fang.
  • Everyone in Director Ragnok's office becomes alarmed or infuriated when Bill's spell reveals a Horcrux is inside Gringotts.
• Persona Non Grata: Threatened to be invoked. After finding out about the Horcrux in Gringotts and confronting Dumbledore about what he knows, Ragnok gives him an ultimatum: Give up all he knows about the Horcruxes, or be barred from Gringotts and the entire Goblin Nation.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Petunia was forced to bring Harry to the park because a few roofers spotted him, and it would lead to plenty of awkward questions if she shoves him into the cupboard. The display of accidental magic causes Petunia to leave with Dudley, abandoning Harry.
  • Fudge takes Harry in as his ward.
  • While most events of second and third year occur like in canon, it is done far faster than normal. The Author notes that it sounds absurd that Basilisk attacks were occurring and it took a whole year without the school or the proper authorities knowing.
  • When Harry is entered into the Triwizard tournament, the Goblins take over and take Harry in as a Friend of the Goblin Nation.
  • The first task for Harry ends with the Dragon and him speaking in broken Parseltongue, resulting in the Hungarian Horntail melting the golden egg.
  • The Goblins along with Bill and Snape successfully remove the soul fragment of Voldemort from Harry's scar and find the cup of Hufflepuff far earlier than canon.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Discussed. When finding Hufflepuff's cup, Hermione asked if it was possible for Voldemort to use a duplicate. Snape says it's possible, though highly unlikely, as Voldemort considers the real thing worthy of housing his soul. Snape also notes that Voldemort has such a high opinion of himself, so he would never use a substitute.
• The Only One: Fudge was the only one to respond to Harry's accidental magic due to the rest of his office dealing with an airborne potion screw up that saw 63 muggles growing extra limbs.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ragnok, Griphook and Harry call out Dumbledore about the horcrux in Harry's scar, as well as the fact Voldemort made multiple. As Ragnok notes, had Dumbledore came to them for help, a lot of this would've been avoided.