I feel like the majority of readers wouldn't want the author to be bothered by all the inane questions
Please don't feel like you have to correct people's thoughts for them, it's your world and your story to write
I think this is just a thing to beware of the internet, give them an inch and they will take a mile.
And I mean that literally, give a group of people on a forum any sort of hard information such as a rule set or a measurement, and they will try to extrapolate the workings of that entire universe from that single piece of info. Do not give SVers that luxury, we do not deserve it
So to change the subject entirely, I have an idea. I don't know that it's a good idea. It's honestly probably a bad idea. But it's a fun idea.
It is also SUCH a big change canon that I'm a little hesitant to include it. I've included plenty of stuff that was outside canon, but this is changing a fundamental aspect of canon. I'm putting it in a spoiler both because what I've already said might be enough for people to hate it, and also so that people who want to be surprised can be.
Back in the early days of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw wanted to ensure that Hogwarts would never risk missing out on the newest and shiniest information, and that said knowledge would never be lost no matter what else happened in the world. She therefore crafted a ritual that would ensure that a copy of any book published would appear in the library and be automatically sorted. Where she screwed up was that she didn't consider or specify in her ritual that it should only pick up books published by wizards in Britain.
Instead the library literally has a copy of every single book that has been distributed throughout the world for nearly a thousand years.
The library we see in canon is just one room of the library, specifically one that was converted into a library to hold the books that were rescued and resorted in a system that made sense to someone else besides Ravenclaw herself. Most students are kept out of the original library because it is dangerous. After so long, the magic of the ritual has mutated and twisted (kind of how we see Arthur's Ford Anglia actually gain sentience and turn feral in the Forbidden Forest), and the books have come to life in a way and don't want to leave their spaces.
To reclaim this 'lost knowledge', Irma Pince is the head of the Librarian Club, where students in third year and higher can volunteer essentially to fight their way through the original library and try to bring books back to the new/canon library for them to be made available to the rest of the school. It is dangerous work, but students get extra credit to their classes for joining, and certain students have honed their combat abilities by fighting against these animated books and the increasingly malevolent library itself.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
It is an amusing idea, and fits Hogwarts extremely well.
But the problem I see with it is that Hazel is a little girl, I expect that if it is dangerous to Fourth years and up, why would people let Hazel near it, the poor girl can't even use a wand! Said the horrified teacher when the idea was suggested to them.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
In a vacuum, it's a brilliant idea and the sort of thing that could support an entire story on its own. I'm not sure if it'd work within the context of this story, though; it might be pushing the line of Too Much.
It sounds very discworld, but I'm not sure what it brings to this story in particular? I guess it would be a motive for Hazel to stay but… she's a hufflepuff, not a ravenclaw. It doesn't really seem like any more motivation for her to stay than the regular library would be?
So to change the subject entirely, I have an idea. I don't know that it's a good idea. It's honestly probably a bad idea. But it's a fun idea.
It is also SUCH a big change canon that I'm a little hesitant to include it. I've included plenty of stuff that was outside canon, but this is changing a fundamental aspect of canon. I'm putting it in a spoiler both because what I've already said might be enough for people to hate it, and also so that people who want to be surprised can be.
Back in the early days of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw wanted to ensure that Hogwarts would never risk missing out on the newest and shiniest information, and that said knowledge would never be lost no matter what else happened in the world. She therefore crafted a ritual that would ensure that a copy of any book published would appear in the library and be automatically sorted. Where she screwed up was that she didn't consider or specify in her ritual that it should only pick up books published by wizards in Britain.
Instead the library literally has a copy of every single book that has been distributed throughout the world for nearly a thousand years.
The library we see in canon is just one room of the library, specifically one that was converted into a library to hold the books that were rescued and resorted in a system that made sense to someone else besides Ravenclaw herself. Most students are kept out of the original library because it is dangerous. After so long, the magic of the ritual has mutated and twisted (kind of how we see Arthur's Ford Anglia actually gain sentience and turn feral in the Forbidden Forest), and the books have come to life in a way and don't want to leave their spaces.
To reclaim this 'lost knowledge', Irma Pince is the head of the Librarian Club, where students in third year and higher can volunteer essentially to fight their way through the original library and try to bring books back to the new/canon library for them to be made available to the rest of the school. It is dangerous work, but students get extra credit to their classes for joining, and certain students have honed their combat abilities by fighting against these animated books and the increasingly malevolent library itself.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
Ooooh! That's a cool idea!
Gives Negima vibes.
Three possibilities come to mind:
1. Fun background element. In this case, it doesn't affect the main story, but you get to include your idea
2. One off. Hazel wants books about druids, and does an adventure to get a few copies.
3. All in. Clubs of any kind are a great base for building the kind of friend group Hazel needs, and I don't see Hazel joining the Qudditch team. Plus, this gives and entry point and character growth opportunity for Hermione if you want it to.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
I love it. It keeps our budding druid interested, though Ravenclaw came afterward so maybe not? It'd certainly be worth a look or seven. Either way it's exactly the kind of weird and whacky nonsense I like to see in the stories I read.
In a vacuum, it's a brilliant idea and the sort of thing that could support an entire story on its own. I'm not sure if it'd work within the context of this story, though; it might be pushing the line of Too Much.
I actually kind of disagree on all points. This story already implies a lot of things that canon left out or just didn't include at all, so this (while undoubtedly out there) fits better here than in a generic fic. (It occurs you may have meant 'in a vacuum' as outside of the context of Harry Potter entirely, in which case I apologize because that's definitely correct, no two ways about it. Harry Potter was weird, but not really this kind of weird.)
So to change the subject entirely, I have an idea. I don't know that it's a good idea. It's honestly probably a bad idea. But it's a fun idea.
It is also SUCH a big change canon that I'm a little hesitant to include it. I've included plenty of stuff that was outside canon, but this is changing a fundamental aspect of canon. I'm putting it in a spoiler both because what I've already said might be enough for people to hate it, and also so that people who want to be surprised can be.
Back in the early days of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw wanted to ensure that Hogwarts would never risk missing out on the newest and shiniest information, and that said knowledge would never be lost no matter what else happened in the world. She therefore crafted a ritual that would ensure that a copy of any book published would appear in the library and be automatically sorted. Where she screwed up was that she didn't consider or specify in her ritual that it should only pick up books published by wizards in Britain.
Instead the library literally has a copy of every single book that has been distributed throughout the world for nearly a thousand years.
The library we see in canon is just one room of the library, specifically one that was converted into a library to hold the books that were rescued and resorted in a system that made sense to someone else besides Ravenclaw herself. Most students are kept out of the original library because it is dangerous. After so long, the magic of the ritual has mutated and twisted (kind of how we see Arthur's Ford Anglia actually gain sentience and turn feral in the Forbidden Forest), and the books have come to life in a way and don't want to leave their spaces.
To reclaim this 'lost knowledge', Irma Pince is the head of the Librarian Club, where students in third year and higher can volunteer essentially to fight their way through the original library and try to bring books back to the new/canon library for them to be made available to the rest of the school. It is dangerous work, but students get extra credit to their classes for joining, and certain students have honed their combat abilities by fighting against these animated books and the increasingly malevolent library itself.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
It sounds good but I'm going to echo Mal-3 in that it might be pushing the line a bit too much with everything else you've got going on, if you think you can work it in organically I'd say absolutely go for it but otherwise probably not.
(It occurs you may have meant 'in a vacuum' as outside of the context of Harry Potter entirely, in which case I apologize because that's definitely correct, no two ways about it. Harry Potter was weird, but not really this kind of weird.)
I meant as in "a standalone concept for a Harry Potter story" it's brilliant. Harry Potter (or Hermione Granger or Luna Lovegood) and the Infinite Library would make for one hell of a fic. In this story, where we already have our young protagonist actively fucking around with the established rules of magic and the deep history of the Wizarding World, it may be gilding the lily, adding an element that is really cool but either is not developed properly or takes over the plot.
I don't know. On one hand, it sounds cool as all hell, ut on the other, You¿ve got a lot of knives spinning in the air, and this machete might either make for a fantastic act, or a lost hand. If you think you can actaully pull ot off successfully then I'm all for it. Thing is, if it contains literally every single book ever, then there probably would be regular raids by literally everyone. Curse reakers, Aurors, Death Eaters, Goblins, [REDACTED], fairies, ICW countries, non-ICW countires... Hogwarts, as the home of the greatest treasure trove of knowledge in the world would be constantly under siege. But... hmmm...
I've got it. Once everyone realized how much knowledge the library contained, everyone that I've listed started pulling incredibly valuable lost tomes at their leasure, which is when the Library, the physical manifestation of Rowena Ravenclaw's lust for knowledge taken to its furthermost extreme lashed out... And now all those people know better than to take something too valuable. Now, everyone just puts bounties for this book or that book, and lets the students do it because in the grand scheme of things, there won't too many issues if they get added to the Library's body count.
..damn it actually sound really cool. Almost enough to merit its own fic.
As long as it doesn't consume the story, it seems like a nice hobby for Hazel to have. It would also be interesting to see Hazel tackle the job. I bet she would do it in an unconventional way.
It seems more interesting than quidditch at least, and finding a book in the "True Library" can help move the plot along. Like if there is knowledge if druids in the library, it's probably in the Restricted Section and the larger library
The problem that the library poses is that if it really is that great, then why is English wizard society so stagnant and calcified? Is it just that malevolent and dangerous? If it is, then why send students into it? Cause it's Harry Potter?
It could definitely be its own fic yeah. Putting it here is gonna be so much harder, and the more I think about it and try to flesh it out, the harder it gets.
It sounds really cool, i have seen the concept in fiction before and it always seems cool, but its normally some massive thing that impacts a large chunk of the plot. *Any* book is really really broad. Will it pick up classified secrets like code books? Internal accounting documents that happened to be bound together that it considers a book? Memeatic hazards? Dark ritual instructions? Personal diaries?
Its a cool idea but i would reccomend examining all the many many ways it could derail the story first because a library with all books is kinda a huge deal and has a lot of impact and implications.
Tbh, I think Hazel would be better suited to discovering the secret books/knowledge through RoR. I've always felt the library has likely been cleansed of 'dangerous' books and Bumbledore/Ministry wouldn't allow the students access to such dangerous information such as the Truth.
It could be interesting as a standalone story but it doesn't feel right for this one
Thinking about it more, it really does seem like it could very easily consume the story and having pretty much every book at hogwarts is a bit much imo. It should have a great library, but every book might be a bit too much.
The restricted section being part wild by now though and Madame Pince recruiting a club to take back portions of it seems much more manageable and less strong implications. More Canonish too.
Great concept for a lot of different fandoms.
Nightvale jumped to mind as well as The Librarians.
As for this story, she needs a book on druids and a librarian says she needs to request it be searched for the next time they do a research safari. A multi year backlog of requested books though. So she figures out how to search on her own.
The Magic Ministry would have severe problems with the every book library since they restrict what is available for good British wizards and witches to read. Hogwarts being a thing unto itself and some magic not letting books be destroyed would truly piss them off.
BUT you can bet your patronus that Hermionie would be a member of that club and also get lost in the wild library and need to be rescued.
Personal opinion is to use it in this story in a small way and then write 'Hermionie and the search for the card catalog.' at a later time.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
Being as I wrote 700 odd words on what I think this fic is about, I don't see this idea really fitting into that schema.
I'm with Mal and the others. Make a new fic that explores the Hogwarts infinite library, or a side-story, but I don't feel like it would be a space that makes sense for Hazel.
So to change the subject entirely, I have an idea. I don't know that it's a good idea. It's honestly probably a bad idea. But it's a fun idea.
It is also SUCH a big change canon that I'm a little hesitant to include it. I've included plenty of stuff that was outside canon, but this is changing a fundamental aspect of canon. I'm putting it in a spoiler both because what I've already said might be enough for people to hate it, and also so that people who want to be surprised can be.
Back in the early days of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw wanted to ensure that Hogwarts would never risk missing out on the newest and shiniest information, and that said knowledge would never be lost no matter what else happened in the world. She therefore crafted a ritual that would ensure that a copy of any book published would appear in the library and be automatically sorted. Where she screwed up was that she didn't consider or specify in her ritual that it should only pick up books published by wizards in Britain.
Instead the library literally has a copy of every single book that has been distributed throughout the world for nearly a thousand years.
The library we see in canon is just one room of the library, specifically one that was converted into a library to hold the books that were rescued and resorted in a system that made sense to someone else besides Ravenclaw herself. Most students are kept out of the original library because it is dangerous. After so long, the magic of the ritual has mutated and twisted (kind of how we see Arthur's Ford Anglia actually gain sentience and turn feral in the Forbidden Forest), and the books have come to life in a way and don't want to leave their spaces.
To reclaim this 'lost knowledge', Irma Pince is the head of the Librarian Club, where students in third year and higher can volunteer essentially to fight their way through the original library and try to bring books back to the new/canon library for them to be made available to the rest of the school. It is dangerous work, but students get extra credit to their classes for joining, and certain students have honed their combat abilities by fighting against these animated books and the increasingly malevolent library itself.
With this little taster, is this an idea you guys would want to see explored in this story and even having Hazel join the Librarian Club, or is it a random idea I should consign to the compost pile?
It seems like a bit much imo. Like, that sounds like a huge thing. An aspiring dark-lord-in-training could probably find forbidden knowledge in there, assuming they learned enough foreign languages on the side. It's definitely doesn't seem like a minor change from canon, since you could plumb it for all sorts of obscure information. It also seems perhaps a bit too convenient for Hazel, since it would give her (relatively) open access to unorthodox knowledge. I'd rather see her go strange places and meet strange people, you know?
Eh. I don't think I would like this plot point personally, but write what you find fun to write I guess.
