We all remember the very first Hogwarts scene. Harry Potter standing among his awkward, jittery classmates for the very first time, awaiting their entrance into the great hall, where the sorting hat will determine the house that will label them for the rest of their lives. Pre-pubescent Neville Longbottom diving for his once-missing frog Trevor at the feet of a very un-amused McGonagall. And of course, the little white haired boy who grins slyly at the very mention of Slytherin house. As we all know, this is Draco Malfoy; and in this scene, he presents Harry with a choice that will determine his entire Hogwarts experience, and also the course of his life.
Now we all know that Harry stuck by and defended a certain new red-headed friend, but it wasn’t until recently that I began to wonder: what would have happened if Harry had shaken Draco’s hand? Here is how I think things would have went down if Harry had slithered to the dark side:
1. Harry would have been a Slytherin. (Duh).
All of Hagrid's advice and warning goes out the window when Harry meets Draco. For he is the Boy Who Lived of course, and he certainly does not want to go messing with the "wrong sort."
2. Snape would become his mentor.
Because of Harry’s physical resemblance and allegiance to the same house as his father, Severus Snape regards Harry with utter resentment throughout most of the series. However, if Harry were to be sorted into Snape’s house, Snape might assume that Harry was not so similar to his father after all, and end up reconsidering his feelings towards Harry and becoming his mentor and protector.
Dramatic twist: Harry still goes through the series without a hint of knowledge of Snape’s deep-rooted love for Lily until the very end.
3. Harry’s clique would be a lot less interesting.
…and probably not so helpful in the quest for the sorcerer’s stone. Crabb or Goyle (if not both) would probably have either been eaten by Fluffy, or would not have been able to mentally make it through the giant game of wizard’s chess.
4. Harry would have been very late to Hogwarts his second year.
Ron and Harry are still not on good terms after Harry ditched him for Draco, so there was no way Ron was going to sneak the flying car out to rescue him. And Draco being Draco, you can bet that he wasn’t going to put in any effort to rescue his comrade. Their friendship has proven to be nothing but a competition, and Draco is still bitter over Harry becoming seeker on the quidditch team, regardless of Malfoy’s bribes with Nimbus 2000’s for the whole team. He hopes that if Harry doesn’t find a way out of Privet drive, the team would have no choice but to replace him with Draco.
Who instead comes to Harry’s rescue? Snape, of course.
5. Lucius Malfoy was behind the idea for Harry and Draco’s friendship. (Plot twist)
At this point, we can all tell that Draco and Harry’s friendship isn't genuine. It’s built upon a (mostly one way) platform of jealousy, competition, and sarcastic remarks. And Lucius was the one behind it all. It’s a perfect plan: rather than going through all the trouble to keep tabs on Harry and to find subtle ways to carry out Voldemort’s requests (slipping Harry the journal in Diagon Alley, etc.), what better way to infiltrate the enemy than to get him on your side?
6. Buckbeak is decapitated.
Because Hermione never becomes close with Harry, her relationship with Hagrid is also close to non-existent. While she encounters Buckbeak during Hagrid’s first Care of Magical Creatures class, she doesn't know about his situation much further. The time turner is used solely for Hermione being able to attend more than one class at once. (Because why would Dumbledore ever want to travel back to the day he met Tom Riddle and invited him to attend Hogwarts?) Sorry, Buckbeak. :(
7. Hermione still punches Draco in the face.
There is just no way this could be cut out.
8. Because of the stint with the dementor on the train ride at the beginning, Harry still befriends Lupin.
The scene in the room under the whomping willow is almost completely unchanged. Ron and Hermione are chasing Scabbers, while Harry is chasing Peter Pettigrew’s footsteps on the Maurader’s map. Ron catches his rat, and a few seconds later is attacked by the black dog. Harry and Hermione, almost strangers to each other, chase after them. Snape still saves Harry and Sirius later on with the patronus. Snape never tells Harry it was really him who saved the day, and Harry brags for weeks.
9. Harry realizes he had been betrayed by the Malfoys.
At the end of the Goblet of Fire, when Harry is in the cemetery, Lucius Malfoy explains to him that he had set up the alliance between Harry and Draco, and they had been assisting Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Moody) in Harry’s progression in the tournament. When Harry returns to Hogwarts via portkey, him and Draco have it out on the tournament field, completely disregarding Cedric's mourning family.
10. Harry still forms Dumbledore’s Army.
Still hurt from the fresh wounds of betrayal from his ex-BFF Draco, and growing tired of the oppression from Delores Umbridge, Harry decides to form Dumbledore’s Army, and doesn’t let any other Slytherins join out of his newfound wariness of the legitimacy of the friendships he has with members of his own house. He condescendingly teaches his inferiors the ins-and-outs of defense against the dark arts, and routinely sends Neville Longbottom out to fetch him pumpkin juice. Draco is spiteful and rats out Harry for not allowing him to join his club.
11. Harry and Hermione fall madly in love.
Attracted to each other’s sharp wit and competence, Harry and Hermione begin a passionate whirlwind romance that sends Ron into a spiral of Snape-like depression and bitterness. Harry begins to taunt Ron James Potter-style. Like father, like son.
12. Harry uses Veritaserum to get Slughorn to confess everything.
Instead of using the vile of liquid luck he acquired after using one of the potions in the raggedy old spell book Snape passed down to him, Harry took the easy way out and spiked Slughorn’s drink with the same potion that Umbridge used on Cho Chang the year before to get her to confess to Draco’s claims of Harry’s club.
13. Snape hides Harry.
Upon Dumbledore’s death, Snape, as newly appointed headmaster, barricades Harry in Hogwarts. Having not been a Gryffindor all these years, Harry feels he is entitled to be protected, since he is the “chosen one”. He sends Dumbledore’s Army to fetch him horcruxes, and remains in the dungeons with the rest of Slytherin house throughout the duration of the battle of Hogwarts.
14. Voldemort kills Snape for a different reason.
In this version of the story, Voldemort doesn’t make the rookie mistake of thinking that the elder wand is in Snape’s possession. He knows it resides with Harry. However, the battle of Hogwarts is spurred not only by Voldemort’s desire to be avenged and kill Harry, but also by his anger that Snape’s allegiance to Harry was pure, and not staged, as he had promised. Snape’s death scene is the same, including Harry’s discovery of Snape’s connection to his mother. Devastated, Harry seeks out Voldemort in the forbidden forest for killing not one, but two father figures in his life. The last horcrux is destroyed within Harry, and he wakes up alone in the forbidden forest. Narcissa Malfoy, still holding a weak spot for her son’s childhood friend, insists that Harry is dead and to leave him there with her to dispose of him. Voldemort had decided in favor of this, and leaves to begin forming his empire.
15. Harry marries Hermione and has a child named Severus.
Hiding from Voldemort at 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry and Hermione quietly raise their son Severus. Upon realizing that Harry is still alive, Voldemort promptly breaks into Grimmauld place and kills both Harry and Hermione. Unable to kill Severus, Voldemort takes his own life, for he is not able to repeat the events of the past 25 years again. Ron finds Hermione in a Snape-esque fashion. The time turner glistens on the shelf above Severus' bed. Ron maneuvers the time turner and is able to save Harry and Hermione’s life and kill Voldemort. He leaves quickly and quietly, letting Harry take the credit for slaying Voldemort. He goes on to become the potions professor at Hogwarts, with personal vendettas against young boys named Severus.
All of that being said, we should all be thankful for Harry’s humble and noble attitude. The series would not have been as brilliant or interesting if Harry had shaken Draco’s hand and allowed himself to be brought over to the dark side.
