Word Of God / Harry Potter and the Boiling Isles

TimAllPowerful_xX has answered reviews on information on the Harry Potter and the Boiling Isles universe.

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Season 1

Chapter 2

• Someone asked what Owlbert and Hedwig would think of each other, and the author answered that owls are territorial, but in this case, they think that they'll be able to put their differences aside when faced with the sheer unstoppable force that is Hooty.
• The timeline of the Harry Potter story was moved thirty years forward; in this universe, Harry was born in 2010, and, as far as the story goes, it's currently the Summer of 2022, and Harry is about to turn twelve.

Chapter 3

• Luz will not be a fan of Quidditch.

Chapter 4

• The author has stated some characters' heights, making Harry 4 foot 6, Luz 5 foot 5, Ron 5 foot 3, and Eda 6 foot 5.

Chapter 8

• The author has a plan for Harry and Ron to have Palismans.
• When a reviewer asked how the author plans to handle the more problematic aspects of HP's World, like the entire House Elf slavery situation and debatably the Goblins in general, he answered that he plans to write them better.
  • As for the House Elves, they won't like being enslaved like in the books. The author imagines it more like they enjoy working, being productive and helpful by nature, but they hate that they have no choice. They're bound by the House Elf's Creed. They like to work, but they want to be able to choose who they work for; they want to get paid, and they want respect, all rights that Wizards deny them by keeping them under the Creed.
  • As for Goblins ,the main problem with Rowling's Goblins is that they're all shown to be greedy and obsessed with gold, with none of the more noble traits and complexity that writers like Tolkien or Pratchett gave to their Dwarves. The best way to handle it is to show some nuance that quite a few Goblins live outside of the money-driven world of Gringotts and that there is flexibility and change in Goblin Society. And we see that the bigoted Wizards dismiss them all as nasty little greedy creatures.
• Umbridge has a part to play in this story.

Chapter 9

• The reason Harry Spell's Circles are green is because they match his eyes.
• When a reviewer asks what's with the ruins of the Wittebane cottage being in Britain. The author answers that before they arrived in Gravesfield, they used to live in Britain.
• Ron's heavy involvement and important role in this was actually partially done in protest of Ron Bashing. It's the author's most hated trope in Harry Potter Fan Fiction, and wanted to counteract it in any way they can.

Chapter 10

• When a reviewer asks why not just buy some Splatterpillars from the Dwarves? The author answers Splatterpillars, since they used to eat the remains of Dwarves that went splat in mining accidents, are considered important in Dwarf Culture, and are used in certain Dwarfish Ceremonies. Dwarves are not keen on selling them to outsiders, also because stealing is fun.

Chapter 11

• Ron will have an interesting relationship with Amity (not romantic).
• Eda lied. Head Witch Skinner is the most powerful on the Boiling Isles. Belos, fearing his might, had to restrict his magic to Steamed Hams and sent Coven Inspector Chalmers on regular unforgettable luncheons to keep Skinner in line.
• When a reviewer asks if Lilith is still an Aromantic Asexual in this story? The author answers confirms that Lilith is still Aro/Ace. She felt no attraction to James and vice versa, nor anything close to romance. She was impressed by his character, but he was only little more than an acquaintance. The thought of him being dead doesn't affect Lilith much; rather, it's the fact that Harry didn't get to know his father that grieves her. Harry's conception wasn't conventional.
• When a reviewer writes about his thoughts on Emperor Belos' (Phillip's) reaction to Witchcraft still being a thing in the Human World, and that his actions were supposedly for nothing, the author confirmed that he still knows about it.
• Harry's interest in Bard Magic was inspired by another Harry Potter / The Owl House Crossover, Someone Worth Protecting, by Crossovers_R_Us. The author struggled for a bit thinking of what instrument he should use, until he remembered that Harry had gotten one as his very first Christmas gift from Hagrid.
• Except for the Titan Trapper's Teleportation Key (which wouldn't be known to the Boiling Isles and seems limited in its uses), and the Glyphs (again, not common knowledge, and it took Philip years to master them enough to do something like he did in "Elsewhere And Elsewhen"), there really isn't any other wider spread Teleportation Magic at the Boiling Isles. Whatever small teleportation is there is either just for really short distances, or, requires some heavy set up to work. Compare it to Wizards, who after mastering the Three D's can teleport almost anywhere.
• Harry and Ron will dabble in other kinds of Magic. Harry didn't stop by the Beast Keeping booth for nothing.

Chapter 12

• Gus, Willow, and Amity will learn about Harry's Past before the end of the events of Season One; Harry is just not in a hurry to reveal his history with Voldemort to anyone else just yet.
• The Dursleys will eventually be confronted for their abusive treatment of Harry, which will not end well for them.
• A reviewer asked when Snape eventually shows up, will you be taking inspiration more from Book Snape or his slightly more reasonable / less dickish Film Counterpart? The author's answer that the Snape that appears in this story will probably be a bit of both, but leaning more towards the Book Version. The author loves the presence and silent gravitas of Alan Rickman's Snape, but the author also thinks that it's important not to get too caught up in it and forget that Snape is still a petty, unstable, and sad man who bullies children. He will have his silent and domineering moments like Rickman's Snape and the loud, explosive bursts of rage like Snape in the Books, especially when he learns about the truth of Harry's Parentage. Snape will still be a very nasty and vindictive person in many ways, but he's also a hero who risks it all to ultimately gain nothing in return. A Grey Character through and through. The author thinks it makes for a pretty fun dynamic when an asshole joins the good guys, but his personality doesn't really change. He's still an asshole, but he's their asshole.
• A reviewer asked about Lily Potter, worried that her role would diminish with her not being Harry's Biological Mother in the story. The author answers that the last thing they want is to undermine Lily Potter and the role she played in Harry's Life. She loved that boy; she loved a boy that wasn't even hers by blood enough to die in order to protect him. Her love for that child was strong enough to bring down Voldemort. Lily is very much Harry's Mother, and he will never stop seeing her as that.
  • The author says that it takes more than siring a child to be a mother. Even Eda is, at the moment, the closest thing Harry has ever known to a parent and is well on her way to becoming a solid mother figure in his eyes. Lilith, on the other hand, while she gave birth to him, is far from being seen as such by Harry. That is something Lilith will have to struggle for and work hard to earn. Once the secret is out, the author hopes to delve deeper into the dilemma this causes for Harry, how he feels about both Lily, Eda, and Lilith, and how a fear of insulting Lily's Memory and her sacrifice will make him all the more fearful and reluctant to accept another person as a mother in his life.
  • Unfortunately, none of the characters that are at the moment active in the story have known Lily, so they won't learn more about her just yet. However, more Harry Potter characters will trickle into focus by the time of The Owl House's Season 2 Events. When they do, Harry will want to learn more about his parents, James and Lily, and so he will. Not just about how good they were or how much he looked like them, but actually learning who they were and what they were like as people. From who he'll learn that, the author hasn't confirmed that, yet.
  • What can the Author tell about Lily Potter née Evans now? Nothing groundbreaking, Though James said it best: "The most brilliant, most beautiful, kindest woman you'll ever meet…". Lily's compassion, selflessness, and love are what allowed Harry to survive and have love in his heart even during his difficult years with the Dursleys, and they don't plan on Harry forgetting that any time soon.
• The Mystical Pregnancy spell that Lilith demonstrated to James allows for Homosexual Reproduction, and both Willow and Boscha were born using it. If neither of the participants has a womb, there's a special kind of dirt on the Isles that can be used to create a pseudo-womb.
• The ritual that creates Grimwalkers uses a bastardized version of the ritual, that has no requirement for consent like the original.
• Belos has done his best to make sure that everyone believes that Grimwalkers never existed to begin with.
• If Belos and Voldemort were to fight, they'd be roughly evenly matched, Voldemort's raw talent balancing out Belos's centuries of experience and tutelage under the Collector.
• While Harry will develop a crush or two into the story, he won't be paired with anyone.

Chapter 13

• A reviewer asks, how exactly Hooty learned about Shakespeare anyway? The author's answer is that Hooty tends to snag literature Eda finds in the Human Realm. Shakespeare's works are second his favorite, first place being a tie between the Classics and Garfield Comics. He's a cultured Owl Tube.
• A reviewer asks, So, how exactly did the Grey Dirge give Luz, King, and Ron future knowledge like that? And was that a reference to that Amphibia scene in "Adventures in Catsitting"? The author answers that either the aftermath of the Grey Dirge left their minds so open they got vague glimpses of the future, or they were really tripping, and the mother of all coincidences got them to guess right.
• The author revealed that Mephisto and his wife Hellena don't plan to have children and live on the Toes.
• A reviewer ask has Hooty gone on an hour-long rant about the existential greatness of the Garfield Pipe Strip yet? The author answers that Hooty runs a very extensive Podcast on the subject. All the kids have been reluctant guests, out of which Ron's Episode was the most controversial.
• A reviewer asked two questions:
  • Have Eda or King gotten interested in any Human Realm stuff besides what Luz has shown them directly?
    • Not really.
  • Can the author say anything else about Faust’s family?
    • Well, Faust was the second child of his mother Gretchen, coming after the eldest Margaret and before the youngest Mephistopheles. Gretchen, a hardened academic who had become wealthy due to her research and investments in the Blight Industries of the time, ran a strict household in which Faust was the favourite, sharing his mother's love of discipline. Even as a child Faust hated children, his siblings most of all. Throughout his childhood, Faust's favourite toys were puppets, and he eventually joined the Abomination Coven, as he loved little more than to control other things and people, making things "just right". People have always been things to him.
    • Gretchen passed away after choking on a piece of fairy pie, leaving the family fortune to Margaret, but she died mysteriously a month after the will reading, coincidentally leaving it all to Faust. While Faust went on to pursue a career in academia, all for the thrill of having power over people, Mephistopheles became an artist. He runs an art gallery and is quite successful in those circles, and is the one who brought abstract expressionism to the Boiling Isles. It was during his first exhibit he met his wife Hellena, who was a journalist and art critic. They've been happily married for 60 years and have a nice house on the Toes.
    • The most contact Mephistopheles had with his brother after Faust's miserable toast at Mephisto's and Hellena's wedding was sending cards with a few formalities every Hogswatch.
• When a reviewer asks how many episodes the author plans to skip. The author answered that they skipped the first three episodes of The Owl House, but other than that, they probably won't be cutting any episodes, plus adding some, but the context and plots of them will likely be very different in most cases, especially as they get further and further into the plot of both 'Harry Potter' and the Seasons of The Owl House, and as more characters start to trickle in and meet each other.
• A reviewer asks if Faust and Mephisto have a sister named "Margaret" or "Gretchen" to go along with the family naming. The author answers that they did, but Margaret died under "mysterious circumstances" when they were teens, leaving Faust to inherit.
• A reviewer stated that they love the brother-sister bond Harry and Luz developed in the story; the author stated not only did they love the bond, but also they'll have a pretty significant moment together in Chapter 15.
• A reviewer asks, will the Wizarding World eventually be aware of the Demon Realm? The author answers that the Wizarding World as a whole will not find out about the Demon Realm, but the two worlds will more or less collide a lot further down the line.
• A reviewer asked what made you choose to put Harry at 11-12ish instead of older, like how Someone Worth Protecting has Harry near the end of his 4th Year. Was there a specific reason? The author answers it's mostly because they thought having Harry as the effective little brother / younger child of the Owl Family and Hexsquad was just really cute. Also, because one of the saddest things about canon is how Harry basically had no comfort or care for so long, no one to turn to, even at Hogwarts sometimes, and Ithey really wanted the kid to have some family while he still has time to enjoy being a kid, also before Belos and Voldemort sets their sights on him. They also thought teenage Harry was a bit overused in these kinds of Crossovers, but they also didn't want to have others raise Harry because when that happens, he usually ends up being a completely different character. They want to give the used and abused kid from canon a chance to heal so he maybe can have a better chance at enjoying the rest of his life.
• A review asked about Eda's curse. In "Eda's Requiem", her curse causes the magic to become corrupted and corrosive. So why didn't that happen here? The reviewer almost expected to see the Slumbering Sonata Society start dissolving (along with all the other funeral attendees) when Eda and Raine started playing. The author answers that what we read is that it’s only after Eda’s curse has completely taken hold of her that her Bard magic becomes corrupted. In the Flashback from ”Eda’s Requiem” we see her playing no problem. Though the curse is worsening, it’s not at that level, just yet.
• A reviewer asked if they're going out of their way to avoid the Fandom's endemic Character Bashing, so any hints on how are they going to portray Dumbledore (eventually) given he's probably the character subject to the most hilariously misaimed bashing, and Flanderization outside of maybe Ron? The author answers that one of their all time favourite portrayals of Dumbledore is in Saphroneth's 'Harry Is a Dragon, and That's Okay', and that they will try to emulate it.

  • The author is actually really looking forward to once they can get Dumbledore in on the story. They have a lot of fun stuff planned for him later on. Most of all, they're looking forward to show Dumbledore how they think he is at his best: Dumbledore should be whimsical, a bit silly, but also an intelligent and powerful Wizard who has seen, and fought terrible things, and whose wisdom has come at the prize of many tragedies, and mistakes. However, out of all these traits, above the silliness and the power, the author feels that his kindness and compassion should always be the most prevalent. Dumbledore is someone who should always be there to extend a hand to those no one else believes in.
  • One part the author thinks is very important, and they're looking forward to exploring is Dumbledore's self-loathing. How much he despises himself for the mistakes he has made, how much every life that has been lost to things that he perceives as his faults weighs down on him, but how he refuses to let this pain make him into the monster that the folly of his youth almost made him.
  • He's not some all-knowing and all-powerful politician like in most bashing Fics. His titles and positions are mostly ceremonial.
  • He will have flaws, of course. Dumbledore, like in canon, will have a tendency to project onto others, afraid that others will fall into the same traps and temptations he did. He will have a small tendency to think he knows best, and, though one could argue that it was the best decision from a purely practical perspective, he still left Harry in a home where he got nothing but years of cruelty.
  • But, and this is very important, Dumbledore doesn't know about the Dursleys' abuse. One could argue that that's worse, how he hasn't kept a proper eye on Harry all these years, but the author thinks it's better than having him know about it and go "Oh, well", like in canon. Does Dumbledore have his worries, especially after seeing how skinny and downtrodden Harry looked in his first year? Absolutely, but he, much like the Owl Housians, ultimately doesn't know just how bad things really are, at least not yet.
  • He won't be some chess master, manipulating every bit of Harry's life from afar. He won't be some conceited lunatic who can't imagine that there is ever any other way other than his own, who refuses to apologize. Dumbledore will be a good man, a wise man, a kind man, but still a man. A man who has made mistakes, and who, when he realizes his mistakes, tries his best to make them right.

• A reviewer asked on would how will the author deal with the timeline differences between the two series because The Owl House is set over the course of six or seven months while the Harry Potter Books are set over seven years. Minus the time skip in the Epilogue. The author answered that the events of the Owl House's first Two Seasons will all take place during the Summer of 2022, before the start of the next Hogwarts term. They'll have to suspend their disbelief a little regarding the length of the Summer, and so on. Not counting any possible Epilogue, this story will not go any further than Harry's Second Year.
• A reviewer asked two questions:
  • What Dobby's relationship with Principal Bump and the other Hexside teachers and students will be like? Principal Bump, Despite his questionable morals, was shown to be a good man that cares about the students. The reviewer believes that he values hard work, so they think he would love Dobby, and also believe that Dobby would become friends with the Illusion Teacher that's her actual name) because of how kind-hearted the Illusion Teacher was in the show. They imagine that when Dobby reveals his past to them, they would be horrified to discover that he was essentially an abused slave and would be disgusted with his treatment by the Malfoy Family.
    • Dobby will, as a whole, be generally well liked by students and faculty alike at Hexside. He's hardworking and kind, if a bit odd at times, so many don't have a hard time liking him. Bump in particular will be very fond of Dobby, which is understandable given his previous experiences with Waldreg's incompetence. Bump is particularly mindful of Dobby's mental state, and does his best to encourage him to take more liberties and to wear off the horrific mindset his life as the Malfoy's slave has given him. The moment Dobby feels secure enough to ask for a raise, Bump will give him one. Dobby, in turn, will be very devoted to Principal Bump, much like how he was to Dumbledore in canon, and all of Hexside for that matter. Dobby will always be there for Hexside's students.
  • Will Harry Potter learn more about his biological family on his father's side in this story? In the story canon Harry Potter story, there were hints of his family history, and the author revealed bits during and after the series. It was revealed that James Potter's parents were older when they had him, and they treated him like a treasure, which spoiled James. There are two scenes from the book that the author remembers mention Harry's extended family directly, first when Harry looks at The Mirror of Erised and sees his whole family, not only his parents for his grandparents, great-grandparents, possible aunts and uncles. Second, when Sirius was talking about his past, he said that Mr. and Mrs. Potter welcomed him into the house, after he got away when he inherited money from his uncle, he moved into his own house, but he was always welcome at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's house for Sunday dinner. The author imagines that Luz, hearing that information, would want to know more details about Harry's possible family. Fun fact: A branch of the Potter Family lives in America.
    • And yes, Harry will learn more about his father's family. He will insist on it, in fact. Once he does find out about his Clawthorne-side and learns more about his Witch heritage, he will of course want to learn more about his Wizard family as well. It will be a while before the story gets there, though.

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