KrypticCrawler

Also, would you be working on that story you mentioned a while ago instead? If so, where will you post it?

Absolutely!

Someone would suggest going out to get food as he did with Cho in canon except Draco has the attitude of a jumpy cat about food where he'd rather make everything himself and then eat in a shadowy corner (one part Narcissa's fault, one part reasons I can't say yet but is sorta like Mad-Eye Moody's CONSTANT VIGILANCE thing) and although he will eat whatever Harry makes, especially the Muggle food, he'll be inexplicably depressed about it (because he knows Harry can only cook so well because the Dursleys forced him to cook for them as a kid). Harry ends up somehow being the one test-tasting whatever Draco makes instead. To everyone else it looks like Draco is trying to torture him though, because he's a perfectionist and makes so, so many trial dishes.

(Though to Harry who's been kinda starved nearly all his life, it's basically a date anyway...or would be if Draco wasn't focusing so much on the food rather than him, anyway.

Of course, he doesn't realize Draco's using only his tastes for reference because he wants to bring Harry meals over the summer in his ferret form)

Sirius, Ginny, and Ron would say obviously just impress him with his Quidditch skills, but Harry already does do that and it usually devolves into a competition between the two of them. It becomes more of a training situation for any future battles on Draco's side, and he's just a little bit critical about the practicality of doing that many twirls while escaping Voldemort. He jokingly cheers for the opposite team in Harry's next match, because he wants him to have a challenge for once.

Some Slytherins who found out about Harry's crush (because it's so painfully obvious to everyone in their house except for Draco) maliciously tell him that thing that's like "boys bully people because they like them!" with the intent of breaking them apart, but Draco only wittily replies back to anything Harry says and smiles because there's the sassy kid he knows. Nobody can bully Draco more than he does himself so everything else comes off as actual banter/teasing which is a win (?) for Harry somehow.

Literally poor Harry. He’s so bad with flirting because he has such crap timing and understanding of social situations that the only reason why he probably hasn’t accidentally offended Draco is because Draco himself is also bad at reading social cues. It’s like blind leading blind situation, there’s no winning. Oh god, I just remembered the Yule Ball! I can only imagine the absolute shit show that will turn out to be. Imagine that like in the og universe, Harry has to go with Parvati because his crush ended up going with someone else. My sympathies for everyone else that is Harry’s wingman, they’re all doomed to watch this train wreck of a show. At least it somehow works out in the end for them.

Also, I’ve never heard of the suspension bridge effect before this so I had to google it lol. It begs to question why Hermione led herself to that conclusion, hm?

Knowing that Draco cooks for Harry definitely healed something in me that I didn’t know was there. At least Harry is now being the one served instead of having to serve. Honestly though, the idea of having to taste test so many dishes sounds like heaven to me. I can only cook rice and some meat dishes, so if anyone was willing to cook for me and ask me to taste test in return, I’d be happy to.(unless it’s Narcissa ofc) Now I have a picture reminiscent of Disney princesses montage with Harry doing chores and Draco helping him in his ferret form.

I’m not sure if you watch stuff on Tik Tok, but the image of Harry spinning on his broom reminds me of the U I A cat meme. I need to stop watching brain rot to cope.

“realized the reason this guy dies is like. the literal opposite of the stereotype that authors kill characters for character development/to drive the MC forward”

WTF IS THAG SUPPOSED TO MEAN AUTHOR SAN?!?!!!

honestly relatable, these past few months have been crazy for everyone I think

(I'm so sorry if what I wrote was right Harry)

I'm going to interpret this as this thought: unlike the authors killing off their beloved character's loved ones for the sake of their plot development, Draco obeys gravity(Wicked fan, mb) so that he doesn't ruin Harry's plot development.

Ironically it does the opposite of what he intended since Draco underestimates how important of a role he plays in Harry's life

Dude I'm both excited and dreading this particular moment AND WE'RE ONLY IN THE SECOND NOVEL THE TORTURE IS SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR-

You know, I just realized something. If we read this whole series solely from Harry's POV(like if your story was the OG source material) the Tower Scene would be absolutely tragic for readers and Harry. Both Draco and Dumbledore represent safety and served as a sort of last minute protection the characters could rely on whenever Harry was in a tricky situation. To have not just one, BUT BOTH OF THEM DIE, symbolizes just how utterly doomed the rest of the characters are in that setting. There's a reason why in stories, responsible side characters are usually among the first to go.

Come to think of it, I don’t think J.K Rowling ever wrote any sort of effects Harry’s upbringing impacted his behavior in Hogwarts besides the fact he thinks of Hogwarts as his home and that he’s much less willing to stand up for himself than other people. Draco dying and coming back(somehow) would definitely showcase just how deeply Harry’s upbringing impacted him. I wouldn’t even be mad if Harry killed someone after Draco’s death.(pretty unlikely but still) I’d crash out badly if my first ever friend killed themselves in front of me and I couldn’t save them.

Yeah, from Harry's pov Draco definitely does seem like that, and now that I think about it, that probably makes it hurt way more considering the fact he is trying to die to make Harry into a proper hero, or at least into something closer to his canon self. ("He hates me now, right? The bastard Draco Malfoy. Just like how it should be" as he thought in that first chapter)

I was thinking a memory AU might go the reverse of how canon Harry felt sympathy for Draco finding out he was being threatened to do what he did in 6th/7th. Obviously as readers you guys don't know all the details of the tower scene but I mean...Draco smiling a little while standing over Dumbledore's corpse? Probably could fuel some ideas in a very traumatized Harry's subconscious. Other events in 6th and maybe 5th specifically could affect that too. And I guess it'd just be ironic/funny in a not so funny way if Draco's wish for Harry to hate him came true and he realizes it was a Very Bad Wish.

Author-san you’re very sadistic. You’re so lucky I’m a masochist for angst-

Ughhhhh I’m so excited to read that part, but I just know I’ll be sobbing like a baby when I read that. It’s ok Harry you’ll get your turn with the whole dying charade.

I just realized this little detail and you don’t need to answer it since it’s technically spoilers, but if Harry knows about Draco also being the ferret before Draco’s death it’s just gonna hurt more. Harry would be constantly questioning just how much Draco did and how much he truly knows about his friend. There’s also the fact the trio thinks that Draco was the Heir of Slytherin, but we all know that while technically true, it wasn’t willingly. Even though Harry will obviously know this by the end, I bet he definitely feels guilty for mistrusting Draco and it’ll definitely be worse after Draco dies. This is giving me war flashbacks to the Snape backstory scenes….

OH SHIT I JUST REALIZED THAT THESE TWO WILL HAVE PARALLELS!!!! Both Harry and Snape grew up in an unloving household, which causes them to fall for their first ever friend, Draco and Lily respectively. Unfortunately for them, both of the loves of their lives will die young and despite having the power to save them, they ultimately fail. I mean, Lily’s death was partially Snape’s fault while as far as I’m aware of, but from Harry’s POV, Draco’s death was his fault, especially considering it was by suicide.

“realized the reason this guy dies is like. the literal opposite of the stereotype that authors kill characters for character development/to drive the MC forward”

WTF IS THAG SUPPOSED TO MEAN AUTHOR SAN?!?!!!

honestly relatable, these past few months have been crazy for everyone I think

(I'm so sorry if what I wrote was right Harry)

I'm going to interpret this as this thought: unlike the authors killing off their beloved character's loved ones for the sake of their plot development, Draco obeys gravity(Wicked fan, mb) so that he doesn't ruin Harry's plot development.

Ironically it does the opposite of what he intended since Draco underestimates how important of a role he plays in Harry's life

Dude I'm both excited and dreading this particular moment AND WE'RE ONLY IN THE SECOND NOVEL THE TORTURE IS SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR-

You know, I just realized something. If we read this whole series solely from Harry's POV(like if your story was the OG source material) the Tower Scene would be absolutely tragic for readers and Harry. Both Draco and Dumbledore represent safety and served as a sort of last minute protection the characters could rely on whenever Harry was in a tricky situation. To have not just one, BUT BOTH OF THEM DIE, symbolizes just how utterly doomed the rest of the characters are in that setting. There's a reason why in stories, responsible side characters are usually among the first to go.

Come to think of it, I don’t think J.K Rowling ever wrote any sort of effects Harry’s upbringing impacted his behavior in Hogwarts besides the fact he thinks of Hogwarts as his home and that he’s much less willing to stand up for himself than other people. Draco dying and coming back(somehow) would definitely showcase just how deeply Harry’s upbringing impacted him. I wouldn’t even be mad if Harry killed someone after Draco’s death.(pretty unlikely but still) I’d crash out badly if my first ever friend killed themselves in front of me and I couldn’t save them.

“realized the reason this guy dies is like. the literal opposite of the stereotype that authors kill characters for character development/to drive the MC forward”

WTF IS THAG SUPPOSED TO MEAN AUTHOR SAN?!?!!!

honestly relatable, these past few months have been crazy for everyone I think

(I'm so sorry if what I wrote was right Harry)

I'm going to interpret this as this thought: unlike the authors killing off their beloved character's loved ones for the sake of their plot development, Draco obeys gravity(Wicked fan, mb) so that he doesn't ruin Harry's plot development.

Ironically it does the opposite of what he intended since Draco underestimates how important of a role he plays in Harry's life

Dude I'm both excited and dreading this particular moment AND WE'RE ONLY IN THE SECOND NOVEL THE TORTURE IS SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR-

You know, I just realized something. If we read this whole series solely from Harry's POV(like if your story was the OG source material) the Tower Scene would be absolutely tragic for readers and Harry. Both Draco and Dumbledore represent safety and served as a sort of last minute protection the characters could rely on whenever Harry was in a tricky situation. To have not just one, BUT BOTH OF THEM DIE, symbolizes just how utterly doomed the rest of the characters are in that setting. There's a reason why in stories, responsible side characters are usually among the first to go.

(Also funny thing I’d like to add is that Dumbledore’s past relationship with Grindlewald is like the Harry Potter universe equivalent of “YOU DATED THE BRUTAL DICTATOR OF NICARAGUA?!?!” and “He wasn’t the brutal dictator of Nicaragua when I was dating him,”)

uhh I guess he probably was aware of it but might not specifically remember it after a while?

I was just wondering because I thought maybe DSMSG Draco might call out Dumbledore(only to readers lol not actually out loud because I’m not sure how that would happen no matter how hilarious Dumbledore’s reaction to Draco knowing would be) on his hypocrisy of mistrusting Tom and Draco for reminding Dumbledore of Grindlewald and it was this bitter treatment that played a factor as to why the relationship between those two are sour. I’m not excusing Tom btw; it’s just an interesting thought that Dumbledore’s indifference and mistrust towards Tom could’ve played some sort of role as to how Tom descended morality wise.

Shit I just realized this but consider:

Which character do you think had the most potential in the Harry Potter series and do you plan on implementing any of your ideas into them?

If DSMSG Draco was locked in a room with Umbridge, Lockhart, and Voldemort and had a gun with two bullets, who would he choose to shoot?(totally not stolen from The Office)

I think you may or may have not mentioned this earlier and feel free to ignore this question if it’s a spoiler, but when does Harry begin having feelings for Draco/act on them?

no worries, i wanted a distraction from my work anyway lol

In terms of potential, I'm not quite sure. My first thought was Draco (Duh) mostly because I wish so badly that they kept the scene in the final movie where he threw his wand to Harry. That alone would probably do so much for his character, and I am very likely going to do something with it in the fic. Plus the whole really weird hug with Voldy thing, kinda seems like Voldy is trying to have a relationship with him that parallels Harry and Dumbledore's. Anyway, Draco's SO uncomfortable all the time in 7th, it makes me very excited to get to it :) I also think Narcissa is pretty interesting since she kinda parallels Lily, and the fact she lied to the Dark Lord TO HIS FACE and protected Harry...I know I make Narcissa out to be just a very overbearing mother (and bad cook) but I hope to make Draco see the other sides to her later on, when he gets his head out of his ass. For now, she's sort of just comic relief, but there are some things set up in the very first years that will come back in the later years.

(also i REALLY need to add neville in some more--thematically he's super important, but he just doesn't get that much screen time yet. I'll have to think more about how to integrate him, but definitely he will appear more in 3rd w/ other characters. Other characters I plan to include are Cedric, Luna, maybe Cho? Marietta, probably, for the whole traitor thing in the 5th book, and ofc Pansy and Zabini, though those two are the flattest in the books so I'm gonna have to make up a lot of stuff lol. gotta add in sirius obvs [he's actually my favorite, which was why he was not-malfoy's fave in the old version], and remus [also we gotta discuss the werewolf in the room, with the whole snape prank thing...])

Draco would probably blackmail Lockhart into taking the gun and shooting Umbridge twice. He isn't stupid enough to try to kill Voldemort with a gun (are the horcruxes around in this hypothetical?also Voldy lived in like. WWII? Although he's ignorant of love magic stuff, he is probably deeply aware of the dangers of Muggle weapons, which maybe relates to his desire to conquer them) but Draco would love Umbridge dead, and he'd want more blackmail on Lockhart lol. The man's main fear is losing his reputation so that's probably a better punishment than death. If it's sixth year Draco he might just shoot himself though

On the topic of Draco’s wasted potential, your portrayal of Draco in your fic feels like a refresher. Right now I just rewatched Avatar the Last Airbender and I think one of the things I love the most about this series is that the writers were completely fair about each nation. They showed all their best and worst qualities, which I think J.K Rowling failed horribly in that regard. She so clearly favored the Gryffindors, neglected the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and mostly vilified the Slytherins. Sure we have lots of morally grey Slytherins, but come on. Can’t we have an actually decent hero that just so happen to be Slytherin? Ambition and cunningness aren’t always bad traits. There’s this one character from a manhua I read a while back called Trash of the Count’s family. He’s ambitious in the way that he works extremely hard to protect his homeland in order to live a true slacker life, but he’s also super cunning. To name a few things he’s done without context, he steals a dragon from a cult by disguising himself and his mini crew as members of a cult, scams multiple nobles for shits and giggles, breaks and enters the bases of the main antagonist of the story, and blows up several islands, just to name a few. He’s super Slytherin-coded.

I’m honestly so excited for Neville, Luna, Cho, Sirius, Remus, and Cedic. Neville and Luna are two of my favorite characters because I just love introverted outcast characters, Cedric because he’s best boy and could potentially add drama to the story, and Cho because I’m very curious what her role will be in Harry’s love life. With Sirius having his name cleared and a very handy ally for Draco and Harry, I’m very curious as to how things will turn out, especially since I do ship Wolfstar.(as a potential ship not canon)

Now that you’ve pointed it out, both Draco and Voldemort are really powerful wizards who have extensive knowledge of both the magical and muggle world. Maybe Draco could trigger any WWII flashbacks or something lmao and be like “Hey Tom! Riddle me this!” [insert some magical nuke] I honestly kind of feel bad for Lockhart, but hey at least he wouldn’t be lying if he bragged about slaying a magical beast this time.

Wait just a freaking second was DRACO’S DEATH ACTUALLY SUICIDE AND NOT SOME PART OF A BIGGER PLAN?!?! DRACO NO-[cue sobbing]

I've been thinking about Voldemort's thoughts on Draco a lot actually. The whole bit in 1st year where Voldy obviously knows Draco helped to defeat him is gonna give me a headache later, plus the diadem and diary's relationship to him and whether they will leave any indication Draco might be on Harry's side for resurrected Voldy. Oh, and Draco doesn't make Peter swear not to tell anyone about him for no reason (of course, Draco's plans don't go as well as he'd like so who knows how good that Unbreakable Vow will be lol). We'll have to wait and see

I'm glad you see it that way. I try to make Draco "good" without making him Ginny 2.0 or something like that--that does result in some questionable morals and all, but he's got to start somewhere (and he does know some of the stuff he does isn't totally ethical, but he's gotta compromise with his goals--eugh, sounds like the "greater good" thing). I love emphasizing his ambitious nature for that whole "Slytherins can be good" idea. I'd like to show the other Houses as not just their stereotypes too--Luna (and Lockhart) for one will be great for that on the Ravenclaw front, and Peter kinda serves that purpose for Gryffindors though I still can't see what's so brave about him except maybe having the audacity to betray his friends like that. (Also I love Trash of the Count's Family and Cale [the ace in me can't help but gravitate to dragons], but the novel version is so stupidly long that I haven't gotten to the good parts yet lol. Villainess Isekai type stories are what got this whole ball rolling, so I probably got inspired by some of those characters haha)

I really want to do justice to the side characters--include their povs, wrap up their character arcs, etc. I have an issue with romance stories focusing on the main couple and making everyone else a stepping stone to their love. Especially how some "BL" stories reduce female characters to love rivals or otherwise they HAVE to be the "lesbian bestfriend" (because I guess they're a threat to the couple otherwise?) I haven't seen enough "GL" to come to a conclusion on if the same applies there, and harems/love triangles are desirable/the norm for cishet romances from what I know. Rest assured, I don't subscribe to the "jealousy is love" idea that JKR absolutely ADORES (it's like. the only way she shows characters like each other, seriously). I can barely handle one couple, I don't need more romantic interests to deal with lol (that said, I've considered that it'd be kinda funny if Draco was aroace and oblivious to literally everyone crushing on him for one reason or another and trying to play matchmaker for them)

Sirius and Remus are probably gonna be there, but like as a background thing (so I'm not quite certain I should keep the ship tag there)

I was considering the idea that maybe Voldemort wants to slowly break Draco, kinda like how he messes with Harry’s mind a lot.(or at least tries to. Harry’s too stubborn) Voldemort’s a very patient man, considering it took him literally 14 years to get his ass resurrected and if he had Bellatrix and Lucius under my command, I’d reckon that he had to have a lot of patience for dealing with the two.(or perhaps force but hush they’re annoying bastards, Bellatrix even more so)

I should’ve realized that you knew TOCF. You’re aroace and love transmigration manhuas. That manhua attracts those types of people. In all honesty, I didn’t finish TOCF because it’s too long for my tastes but I do follow fandom to fill in the gaps for me.

I mean, I’d argue that it’s freaking Voldemort so triggering any PTSD he MIGHT have of his youth during WWII would be acceptable, but like, WWII was an awful time to be alive, so I guess I could see why Draco would be hesitant in doing so. Actually, wouldn’t it be interesting to see Draco use a strong Boggart against Voldemort? I wonder what Voldemort’s biggest fear would be, or if he actually does have any sort of trauma from WWII.

I thought that in theory, the reason why Peter was a Gryffindor was because he wanted to be in Gryffindor,(kinda like Neville?) and that the Sorting Hat, recognizing Peter’s potential, ends up placing him there. Additionally, Peter isn’t too much of a coward if you think about it. Like sure, he did hide from the Wizarding world for a long while, but he’s also a windless wizard and if someone found out that he was actually alive this entire time, they’d emotionally, physically, and mentally torture you with the Dementors in Azkaban. Besides, he was also one of the Marauders who visited a freaking werewolf and also had the audacity and bravery to spy on the Order for the Death Eaters where the most brilliant of wizards and witches could be capable of other things like Legilimency. Also, when he was confronted by Sirius and Remus about his betrayal, he used cowardice as an excuse, but why should we take his word for it? What if he was lying so he could at least paint a slightly better picture for Harry? What if he joined the Death Eaters because he genuinely believed in their cause and hated muggles/muggle-borns in general? His mother was at least a witch and there was no way he would’ve been able to join if he were muggle-born. Maybe he did believe in their ideas, but chose to go undercover in order to benefit Voldemort. If he is a coward for doing so, then Snape is also a coward.