Petrification Proliferation by White Squirrel is a Harry Potter What If? fic beginning near the end of Chamber of Secrets that examines a potential response from the school and the Ministry of Magic to the discovery of the Basilisk. There are several changes to the canon, small and large, from there.
The fic can be found on FanFiction.Net here
and on Archive of Our Own here.
Petrification Proliferation includes the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: The Durlseys get exposed as this to the Ministry as a result of questioning of Harry by Veritaserum accidentally addressing the topic while getting the full story on the Basilisk. The Dursleys are eventually arrested for this by Muggle authorities, though as it turns out Vernon and Petunia were careful to limit what they did to Harry to skirt the line on the legal definition of abuse, with only the times they stepped over the line qualifying legally. The amount they did step over the line led to the both of them serving jail time and losing custody of Dudley, with much greater damage done to their reputations. Harry's guardianship is then passed on to the freed Sirius Black.
- Adaptational Badass:
- The Ministry of Magic as a whole is hit with this. In canon, they're usually ineffective at best, an outright threat at worst. Here, Ministry members working with Dumbledore are shown to be highly competent and efficient. It should be noted that most of the Ministry's action is directed by Amelia Bones, who was already a pretty competent Reasonable Authority Figure in canon, while Fudge, who is responsible for much of the ineffectiveness in the series from the Ministry, is only mentioned but never seen.
- Downplayed with John Dawlish, the Butt-Monkey Auror in canon. Here, he's only mentioned once, but manages to escape the story without any serious injuries.
- Adaptational Karma: Several characters receive comeuppance.
- Lucius Malfoy is sent to Azkaban for life as a result of his actions in Chamber of Secrets rather than in Order of the Phoenix.
- Peter Pettigrew is also sent to Azkaban, in his case for 75 years.
- The Dursleys get away with a short jail sentence for their abuse, but lose custody of Dudley and have their reputations permanently tarnished.
- Draco Malfoy is a narrowly subverted example, as while Sirius Black isn't happy with him, he still gives Draco the chance to redeem himself.
- Crabbe and Goyle are forced to pay fines (at the very minimum) for their large collection of dark artifacts.
- In a more lighthearted example, Fred and George are forced to pay for their violations of school rules with Professor McGonagall telling their mother about what they've been up to.
- Adaptational Name Change: Saul Croaker becomes Algernon Croaker.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Small one with Dumbledore, who is immediately made aware of the Dursleys' abuse of Harry and agrees to his removal from the situation immediately regardless of the blood wards.
- Adaptational Ugliness: A possible example. Lockhart's great hair is apparently a wig.
- An Arm and a Leg:
- Kingsley Shacklebolt loses his arm while dealing with the Gaunts' Ring, which affected him much like it did Dumbledore in canon.
- The Auror Proudfoot loses a leg when retrieving the fake locket.
- Arranged Marriage: Apparently a common Pureblood practice. Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were this, while Draco apparently has been promised to Pansy Parkinson. Sirius puts an end to this when Narcissa and Draco rejoin the Black family, and tells Draco that if he wants to get together with Pansy, to do it "the old fashioned way".
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Amelia Bones keeps the piles of paperwork generated by the investigation sorted into stacks by category: division of resources, searching the school, claims for missing possessions, illegal contraband, and... complaints from Fudge. Naturally, Amelia considers the last category as by far the least important.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When Croaker bursts into Amelia's office after searching the Room of Requirement, Amelia begs him to say there isn't a basilisk hidden in that mess. Croaker grimly informs her that no, they found a horcrux.
- Big "WHAT?!": A very common reaction by various characters to the many revelations during the investigation. The most prominent case is people hearing that Harry was bitten by a basilisk and is somehow alive and well.
- Bittersweet Ending: More leaning towards sweet than bitter: On one hand, Peter Pettigrew is arrested while Sirius is set free, Harry won't have to live with the Dursleys anymore, the Aurors lift the DADA teacher curse Voldemort had placed years prior, people find about the Horcruxes much earlier than in canon (and the fact that Harry is one) and they managed to get their hands on many of them, Voldemort is in a much weaker position than in canon, and many of the deaths and tragedies that happened in the books will be averted. On the other hand, Voldemort is still out there, his connection to Harry still intact, the Unspeakables still don't know how to destroy Voldemort's soul shard inside Harry without killing him (meaning that Harry can only hope that they will find a way in the future), the Hufflepuff Cup's whereabouts are unknown, and Dobby is still forced to serve the Malfoys (though it's implied Narcissa intends to treat him better now that Lucius is out of the picture).
- Bratty Half-Pint: Molly Weasley's testimony after Peter Pettigrew is discovered implies that Percy of all people was one of these. Apparently, he desperately wanted a pet when Bill got one even though the family was poor, explaining why they adopted a common garden rat.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment:
- When McGonagall confronts the Weasley twins about their large stack of contraband, they smugly declare that she can't put them in detention because the school is closed. McGonagall informs them that she intends to tell their mother, at which point they ask if they can have detention instead.
- When Amelia approaches Slughorn to ask about Tom Riddle's fascination with horcruxes, he refuses to talk unless she subpoenas him, counting on the fact that she won't risk annoying Fudge by doing it. He's right, she won't, but she has plenty of dirt on him and no qualms about giving it all to Rita Skeeter if he doesn't cooperate. Slughorn cooperates.
- Deconstruction Fic: The story shows just how dangerous a basilisk running amok could potentially be by showing the adults have a Mass "Oh, Crap!" upon learning about it. Madam Bones puts this in stark relief when she points out to Harry that if the basilisk had gotten into the Great Hall at dinnertime, the resulting catastrophe would be relatively worse than a hydrogen bomb detonating in London.
- Don't Tell Mama: McGonagall terrifies the twins by threatening to tell their mother about all of their hidden contraband.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: As well as catching Percy kissing Penelope Clearwater as in canon, Ginny caught Percy kissing her while she was petrified. His mother is not amused.
- Exact Words: When the Board of Governors considers expelling Ginny for her role in unleashing the basilisk, Dumbledore warns them that if they try, Harry Potter is likely to hire a lawyer and sue them to reinstate her. He doesn't add that if Harry doesn't think of it himself, Dumbledore is more than happy to give him the idea.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
- Played with when Harry starts his Ministry interview by mentioning Dobby's attempts to warn him against coming to school. As soon as he mentions that Dobby is a house elf, Amelia Bones realizes she forgot to evacuate the house-elves who work at Hogwarts and runs off to take care of it.
- Inverted when Harry testifies that he thinks Lucius Malfoy planted Riddle's diary in Ginny's cauldron. Amelia initially despairs about being able to actually nail him for it, but the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes she may actually have enough evidence to build a solid case against him.
- Amelia takes a few minutes to gently break the news about Pettigrew's betrayal and Sirius's existence to Harry, then pauses as she realizes just how insane it is that she's actually releasing someone from Azkaban. And then Harry realizes that Hagrid also needs to be released.Amelia: Dammit, I knew there was something else.
- Fantastic Nuke: A Basilisk is outright compared to a weapon of mass destruction, up to a nuke, at several points. This is specifically noted because if it did emerge in the great hall, the low numbers of wizardkind in Britain would make the resulting casualties unfathomably catastrophic, particularly as they are still recovering from the previous war.
- Former Teen Rebel: Tonks makes reference to being in Filch's office often while still a student.
- The Ghost:
- Fudge, who is mentioned several times but never appears in person. Amelia is specifically noted to be ignoring his memos for expediency.
- Luna Lovegood is referenced during the scene in which Amelia and Dumbledore discuss the lists of missing items reported by students following the evacuation of Hogwarts, noting that her list is the longest, and containing mostly low value items, correctly deducing that students have been stealing from her, but she has no further role in the plot.
- Have a Gay Old Time: At some point, Ron is described as making "a queer face".
- Heel–Face Turn: Downplayed with Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, who make moves to distance themselves from Voldemort's old camp after Lucius' actions come to light (even if they aren't going to stop being pureblood supremacists).
- I Need a Freaking Drink: A variation with the Healer attending to Hermione, who decides he needs to leave for a cup of coffee.
- In Spite of a Nail: Lupin still becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. The position is no longer cursed, too, so it seems he'll be staying a while.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Narcissa Malfoy realizes that there's no way to stop her husband from going to Azkaban once she sees how much evidence the Ministry has against him, and she's furious that he endangered Draco in any case, so she doesn't bother trying to defend him and instead prioritizes salvaging her own image and her son's future.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Hermione missed a very eventful three weeks while she was petrified. After Harry and Ron fill her in, she vows to never get petrified again, because she'll never be able to keep up.
- Sirius has been out of the loop for over ten years due to being in Azkaban. He's understandably overwhelmed when he's suddenly released and walks right into the chaos happening at St. Mungo's.
- Loophole Abuse: Mild case with Dumbledore. Hogwarts' Board of Governors is insistent that Ginny be punished... so Dumbledore suggests suspension for the remainder of term. Hogwarts is closed for the rest of the year as a result of the investigations by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Punishment also can't carry over to the next term.
- Mama Bear: Narcissa Malfoy, as in canon. This time, she willingly testifies against her husband out of rage that he was willing to endanger her son to enact the Heir of Slytherin's plan.
- Mind Probe: Though Harry doesn't realize it, it's obvious to the reader that Dumbledore is using Legilimency on Harry to confirm his story after he first mentions the basilisk. Harry describes it as feeling like the Headmaster is "riffling through his memories with his eyes."
- Nice Guy: Harry's kindness is brought into focus in this fic several times.
- He pays for Ginny's Mind Healer sessions even though the Weasleys protest.
- He accepts Lupin upon learning he's a werewolf immediately, something which touches Lupin greatly.
- Noodle Incident: The Aurors have to deal with trained attack cats in the Slytherin Common Room off-screen.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Everyone, when they learn about the basilisk.
- Pettigrew had one of these moments as soon as the school was locked down, but by that point it was already too late for him to escape. The Aurors have a similar moment when they stumble across him while searching the Gryffindor Tower and he sets off their detection spells, and then a massive one when they realize just who he is.
- Hermione had a moment of this upon spotting the basilisk's eyes in a mirror and realizing she was about to be petrified. This carries over to when she's revived, and she's out of bed and trying to warn Madam Pomfrey before she even realizes she's not in Hogwarts.
- Hermione's parents are understandably freaked out when a wizard shows up on their doorstep and tells them their daughter was attacked by a dangerous creature.
- This is the reaction every time a Healer learns that Harry was bitten by the basilisk. Harry starts to get tired of it very quickly.
- Only Sane Man: It takes two days of investigation for Amelia Bones to decide that she'd like to transfer to Australia where things still make sense. Or hex Dumbledore. Or both. Professor McGonagall, who is heading up the school's internal investigation into the basilisk, finds herself acting as this when dealing with the Weasley's family conflicts.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Dumbledore is visibly frightened by the discovery of the basilisk within Hogwarts. He also adheres strictly to protocol, something he doesn't often do in the books.
- Parental Substitute: Harry and Sirius bond very quickly in-story, and by the end of the fic, Sirius has become something of a father figure to Harry.
- Perp Sweating: Upon Flooing to the Ministry of Magic, Harry is immediately stunned and wakes up chained to a chair in an interrogation room. Subverted when the interrogator, Amelia Bones, admits that she doesn't really think he's guilty of anything, but that all of this is procedure — and with how serious a basilisk is, no one is letting procedure slide at the moment. She then calmly asnwers his questions, explains to him how Veritaserum works before giving it to him, and conducts the actual interrogation almost like a polite interview. It's played a bit straighter later on, when the Weasleys are questioned about Peter Pettigrew.
- Police Brutality: Downplayed when Lupin is pulled in for questioning about Pettigrew. The Aurors who bring him in don't blatantly mistreat him, but are noticeably rougher with him and far less polite than they were with Harry and his friends, and Lupin notes that this isn't the first time he's been unceremoniously dragged off to the Ministry, though it usually happens right after a full moon. After learning why he's being questioned, Lupin acknowledges that they're understandably stressed and short on patience, but notes that it still doesn't justify manhandling him.
- Running Gag: The author's disclaimer at the beginning of each chapter always runs along the lines of "Would [unethical, deeply concerning, absurd, or all of the above thing] happen in a realistic scenario? No? Then I'm not J. K. Rowling and do not own Harry Potter."
- Skewed Priorities: Hermione's reaction upon finding out that a horrible monster almost killed her? Eh, no big deal. Her reaction upon realizing that exams will be in a few days, and that since she's been petrified for several weeks, she's been unable to keep up with her studies? Sheer, unbridled horror. She's just as horrified when the exams are cancelled, which at least lets her parents know she's feeling fine.
- Spared by the Adaptation: It is heavily implied by Sirius' closing speech to Harry that most if not all of the people killed in the Second Wizarding War will be okay thanks to the ripple effect of the above nail, most specifically:
- Dumbledore will not be slowly killed by a spreading curse from the Gaunts' Ring, as it's destroyed in-story. The curse does manage to claim Kingsley Shacklebolt's arm before then, though.
- Vincent Crabbe won't be killed by Fiendfyre while destroying Ravenclaw's Diadem, as it's confiscated by the Ministry in-story.
- With the Department of Mysteries implied to be under even greater security as a result of this story (and with Lucius Malfoy, one of the major combatants being sent to jail), the Battle of the Department of Mysteries which closed out Harry's Fifth Year likely won't happen, meaning Sirius will probably be okay.
- Broderick Bode will likely also escape his fate, as the above-mentioned plot will not come to pass.
- Since Peter Pettigrew won't be available to take Voldemort to the graveyard for his resurrection, Cedric Diggory will probably be okay too. And both Frank Bryce and Bertha Jorkins might avoid their canon fates as well.
- Stating the Obvious: When Dumbledore tries to explain the general panic over the basilisk to Harry, he says that it's extremely dangerous. Harry, who was nearly killed by said basilisk only a few hours before, responds, "Yeah, I know." He gets a more useful explanation later on when Amelia Bones compares a basilisk to a nuclear bomb.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. Mind Healers are mentioned throughout the fic, with Ginny and Harry making use of one throughout the summer.
- Thicker Than Water: After her husband's arrest, Narcissa Malfoy immediately begins publicly toning down her prejudiced views, in part because she hopes she might be able to reconnect with the Blacks. While she makes it clear she's not going to align herself with their political views to please them, she also would like to have a real relationship with the only members of her family who aren't dead or in Azkaban now that her husband is gone.Narcissa: Truth be told, I would like to get one of my sisters back.
- Too Dumb to Live: Crabbe and Goyle are the only students thick enough to request their illegal dark artifacts back.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: No mention is made of the other petrified students or what happens to them. Given that Hermione wakes up without any problems, it's implied they were all revived and safely sent home off-screen.
- What If?: The Basilisk's presence at Hogwarts is treated much more seriously, with Dumbledore enacting certain protocols and cooperating with the Ministry of Magic to bring a very different end of Harry's second year. As a result of these:
- Due to Harry being interrogated by the Ministry under Veritaserum, they find about the horrible conditions his Muggle Foster Parents put him through. Thus, the Dursleys are arrested for child abuse. Dumbledore also cancels the Blood Wards over No. 4 Privet Drive since they are useless now Harry won't be living there anymore.
- Peter Pettigrew is discovered both to still alive and an unregistered Animagus during Aurors' sweep of the castle to rescue students' pets. His presence proves Sirius Black is innocent of the Potters' betrayal and for murdering those twelve Muggles. He becomes Harry's guardian once he's physically and mentally recovered from his eleven-year lockup in Azkaban at St. Mungo's. Harry meets him a year early as a result. He also meets Remus Lupin early when Lupin visits him and Sirius there.
- Lupin is outed as a werewolf much earlier, with the Weasleys and Harry learning as soon as he enters the room to see them.
- Pettigrew gets a 75-year prison sentence and is locked up in Azkaban, meaning that he can't resurrect Voldemort as he did in canon.
- Amelia Bones becomes aware of Horcruxes, so she and Dumbledore work together on finding and destroying Horcruxes much earlier than in canon.
- Lucius Malfoy is proved to be ultimately responsible for the Chamber of Secrets being opened and he winds up in Azkaban for it. Narcissa testifies against him during his trial in exchange for a swift and clean divorce because she's not happy that her husband indirectly put her son in danger just to settle a petty grudge. With Lucius out of the way, the prejudiced-but-significantly-less-evil Narcissa reaches out to her sister and cousin who will from that point forward be playing larger roles in Draco's life. Draco will probably turn out quite different as a result.
- Harry is found to be a pseudo-Horcrux immediately. Croaker and his team then reassure Harry and Sirius that they will study the other remaining Horcruxes to find ways to remove the soul piece without destroying the object it hosts.
- On a much smaller note, Percy's chances of being Head Boy the following year are impacted by his controlling behavior of his siblings, which is examined much more closely. It's not revealed whether he still manages to become Head Boy.
- Also on a smaller (and sadder) note, it appears that Dobby isn't freed in this continuity. However, his main abuser is sent to Azkaban and it's implied Narcissa intends to treat him better going forward, so his situation does improve.
