#hdegh

HDEGH in its final form is essentially an amalgamation of tropes i really like and always find myself looking for in harry potter fics. when i went into the initial planning stage for this fic, i was basically setting out to write a very, very self indulgent fic where the target audience was me.

there were a few proto-HDEGH fics that i half-heartedly planned before i landed on the ideas and premise you see in the final product. i ended up writing first chapters for two of them as pilots for myself to see how i felt about them - but HDEGH was the one that really struck all of those chords i loved, and that was when i really dove into planning! 

in general, i really enjoy fics where the premise is essentially “character goes undercover/is not entirely honest about their identity and, in trying to connect the dots, other characters come to the conclusion that they are evil and/or specifically a death eater.” it’s very specific, but this was veryyyy common in the HP crossover fics i was reading on fanfic dot net as a kid - for years, i wouldn’t read any other kind of fanfiction!

nowadays i really like tropes such as identity porn, time travel, and reincarnation. many of the situations and dynamics you’ll find in fics with those tags are pretty similar to many of the things you can find in HDEGH. if i like it, it’s in there! the “character assumed to be voldemort’s child and treated accordingly” thing is something i loveeeee but is a little more obscure, and that obscurity is part of the reason i wanted to write this fic.

jack’s character in particular was inspired by a certain genre of vapid male reality TV personality. i knew i wanted a “voldemort’s child” misunderstanding, and while planning HDEGH i naturally settled on a bitchy protagonist because it felt like the best way to ensure someone who, to children assuming the worst of him, could consistently behave antagonistic in a way that fits their preconceptions and reinforces the misunderstanding. i think a meeker protagonist just anxiously fumbling themselves into situations where they seem like the bad guy could be an interesting and funny premise, but it just wasn’t what i wanted to go for in terms of the humor for this fic. plus, it’s just a lot of fun to write a character like jack!

i can’t exactlyyyy answer your question about what’s happening after jack’s seventh year as to avoid Spoilers with a capital S. however, i can assure you that jack will remain directly involved with our canon cast in the story moving forward!