Hello, WattPotters!

By popular demand, I am submitting something for the @Fanfic profile's Monthly Anthology competition. I mean, it's Magic Month. How can I not?

What's the basic premise?

Harry Potter was sorted into Slytherin. He is now preparing for the return of The Dark Lord. It is up to you, the Boy Who Lived, Neville Longbottom, to stop him.

What are my thoughts?

This is one intriguing prompt, and you guys know I love a challenge (Cursed Child fan edit anyone?) This idea pushes Harry Potter fans out of our comfort zones to see what kind of story we can create if Harry's prophecy had always been about Neville, which was hinted at heavily in the books. Noice.

I've never written "alternate universe" fanfiction. As most of you might know, I like to think of myself as a canon junky, and I prefer stories that align with OS-Canon (JKR's Original Source books). That said, I'm into this. And you guys want me to come up with something, so I shall!

What rules do I need to follow?

1. It's due on the 28th. So...I have like three days to get this done, because I forgot about it. 🙇

2. The word count has to be between 1500 and 2000 words. 😳

3. I can write in any POV - no hard and fast rule (according to the comments). 👌

4. Neville stopping "him" can mean Harry or Voldemort. Good good. 👍

Here's the cover:

My basic idea:

Since word count is a factor and I like telling big stories, I'm formatting this fic to be a series of letters between Neville and other familiar names from the books. Neville Longbottom is a very different character than Harry, but I'm hoping to show a bit of why he was Sorted into Gryffindor. As well, there have to be easily understandable reasons for why Harry was Sorted into Slytherin imo.

(They're the bad guys, right? 😆🐍)

I want to keep the foundations of the world intact, including much of the history and character motivations. Obviously, things have changed, but I'm hoping to make the story easy for everyone to digest by not straying too far from many of the known events detailed in the books.

Sound good?

Let's get to it!! Expect updates soon!