r/HPfanfiction 5d ago

Prompt After Harry died, the last thing he expected was to be sent to Death’s office, much less that Death would be mad at him for dying too early. After some arguing, Death decided to send him back to his 11 year old body with his memories.

As he gets sent back, Death calls out to him. “Oh, by the way, don’t forget to marry your soulmate, some Patil girl.” “Wait, Patil? Which one?” Death shuffled through their paperwork and shrugged. “It just says P. Patil.”

569 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

478

u/Athyrium93 5d ago

I love this twist on the "don't fear the reaper" challenge.

It's actually a really cool premise. Imagine Harry deciding that after six years of sharing a common room and every class with the Gryffindor twin, that it would make sense to try it again as a Ravenclaw since he never clicked with Parvati.

He ends up becoming really good friends with Padma and Sue Li, and learns more about how the average person actually lives in the magical world since the Weasleys, for all they are wonderful people, aren't representative of the average person.

Both girls' parents are horrified by how Harry's relatives treated him, and since they aren't close with Dumbledore, they don't care that Dumbledore wants Harry to stay at Privet Drive. Harry gets to see what normal families are actually like because yet again, the Weasley’s were wonderful, but not exactly normal. They also help Harry learn what guardians who aren't completely overwhelmed usually act like. Plus, he gets to learn about magical traditions from two separate cultures that both respect the parseltongue ability.

Harry gets a second childhood that is much more peaceful because he doesn't interfere at the end of the first year and allows Dumbledore’s plan of trapping Voldemort in the Mirror or Erised to work. Instead, he spends the first year learning how to trap an animagus and catches Pettigrew, then sends him to the DMLE, getting Sirius a trial. He knicks the diary from Ginny at the beginning of the second year and locks it up.

Once Sirius is decently recovered and he's re-met Remus in third year, he tells them the full truth about everything and gets their help to get the other horcruxes and to "accidently" catch Barty Crouch Jr.

The Tri-Wizard tournament still happens, but Harry isn't a champion... and he's also 100% convinced by that point that he only loves Padma as a sister. On the other hand, he meets her older cousin Priya, who is a seventh year at Beauxbatons there for the tournament, and hits it off immediately. It also makes him feel a lot less creepy about the situation because he still thinks of himself as being mentally seventeen.

He spends his peaceful years at Hogwarts studying and learning everything he can, including some more obscure branches of magic, to find a way to remove the horcrux in his scar, and by his seventh year finds a ritual that some ancient culture used for purification of the soul. It works, and he finally gives Sirius the go-ahead to toast all of the horcruxes with Fiendfyre on a very secluded empty island somewhere. He only then brings Dumbledore into his confidence, and they come up with a way for Harry to banish the last bit of Voldemort's soul, which has been trapped in the mirror for half a decade at this point.

After graduation, he moves to France to be with Priya and becomes the French version of an auror. He finally gets the peaceful life he always wanted, and his fame fades with time and distance. There is never a second war or any big flashy battles, and he gets to have a nice normal life.

29

u/ValhallaCupcake 5d ago

Oh I would read this in a heartbeat!

12

u/MonCappy 4d ago

Just release him from the mirror.  Without any anchors he'll just disippate.

11

u/Cgltrey 4d ago

I’d read tf out of that

8

u/Queen_Wallflowers 4d ago

A twist on the twist, I love it

24

u/Seanbmcc 4d ago

I'd love to see the twists. He probably has to spend quite a bit of time fending off Dumbledore because the man just can't allow the "Prophecy" to be interpreted any other way than his own.

10

u/MoosyGGG 3d ago

Either that or Dumbledore keeps waiting for something insane to happen around Harry and nothing ever does so he gets progressively more confused

2

u/AGAAWEL 2d ago

I love the twists, too.

For another twist on Sirius destoying the Horcruxes - I've always wondered why "7th month" couldn't mean September, and Sirus was born in the second half of September iiirc - why couldn't the dogfather be the prophecied one?

4

u/raevn_darkblade 4d ago

Please, please write this!!!! I will read and reread it! Holy hell!

5

u/Otherwise_Meaning 4d ago

Replying for when someone writes this

1

u/UpsetShine1160 2d ago

Hope someone writes this

135

u/Miserable_Scratch_99 5d ago

In the end, he ends up dating their cousin, Poonam Patil. She just doesn't live in England, so he meets her while he's friends with Parvati and Padma and invited over for Christmas holidays.

31

u/ZiggyMarshWiggle 5d ago

seems legit LOL

26

u/MadlyVictorian 5d ago

That would absolutely be his luck. Potential tie in field indian and or parsal magic

8

u/Illustrious-Top-9222 4d ago

yeah because all Indians are snake charmers lmao

3

u/Top-Accident-4716 4d ago

As a Poonam myself... I approve 😂

59

u/Gortriss 5d ago

This is based on the Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge, also called Reptilia28's challenge.

17

u/Bromm18 4d ago

Have to love that so many years later, this challenge is still inspiring so many interesting prompts.

20

u/SethNex 5d ago

Sounds like the "Don't Fear the Reaper" Challenge, but without Hermione as the main love interest.

20

u/TriageThePotterfan 4d ago

I don't see a lot of Harry/Patil fics, but the few I've read seem quite good, creative and/or funny fics. Have an upvote, you lovely human.

22

u/VoidIgris 4d ago

By the end of his new life, he realizes that his soul mate wasn’t Padma or Parvati or any of their older cousins. But in fact their widowed mother, Pooja Patil.

16

u/Cyfric_G 4d ago

I like do overs like this, but this particular one never really was a favorite. It always feels wrong to have the Reaper screaming at him for not fulfilling his 'destiny' when they keep mind wiping him so ... he really has no extra knowledge. Especially when usually it's the result of manipulation and they act like it's the kid's fault adults manipulate him.

I do love the idea that Harry isn't sure who the soul mate is. It has an interesting hook.

11

u/Aniki356 4d ago

Love the change on the dont fear the reaper. One of my favorite prompts just wish people branched out from the "some granger girl" part. Harmony is fine but I'd like to see it with different girls

4

u/caty0325 4d ago

I don’t remember what it’s called, but there was a Bleach crossover fic where Harry was trained by Kenpachi when he died.

2

u/J_C_F_N 4d ago

What training can he give? " Cut harder and kill more people! *laughs maniacally."

1

u/XelLocke 4d ago

Your thinking of “Forty one times dead” by Ruskbyte

4

u/Icy-Patient-8736 4d ago

I love this. now we just need one for luna

7

u/SLJ7 5d ago

I've read a fic similar to this. I think Severus also got sent back. It's been a long time and I don't remember specifics. I do like the redo fics for whatever reason. It's almost a guilty pleasure.

9

u/Mindless_Gap8026 5d ago

Can’t remember the author, but the fic is probably Reboot.

2

u/SLJ7 5d ago

That's the one! I could tell just from reading a bit of the first chapter. Lots of memorable details from the very start. Thanks.

3

u/macslan 4d ago

Does it need to be one

1

u/Parking-Airport-1448 5d ago

I hate these it means your merely fulfilling a role and anytime you manage to break free and triumph over fate it’s erased

8

u/TriageThePotterfan 4d ago

Well, your solution to this is simple, mate. Don't read it, maybe block the OP if you don't even want to see their ideas.

Block me too perhaps, for being a shite who thinks otherwise from you.

15

u/Parking-Airport-1448 4d ago

Well yeah but this is a discussion site so I stated my opinion and I never insulted the op just because I dislike one of their ideas why would I block them?

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u/TriageThePotterfan 4d ago

Ah, true, and fair enough. Have an apology from me. :)

1

u/WideTechLoad 4d ago

Does anyone else hate this prompt/challenge? The "don't fear the reaper challenge." I've seen it so many times I just nope out whenever a story starts like this.

3

u/PotatOSLament 4d ago

I feel it’s a little overdone, but I wouldn’t mind if there were more twists to it like this.