Self-Insert in a character
Supposedly you get hit by the infamous Truck-kun and get inserted by ROB in one of the characters in Harry Potter.
Which character would you choose and which era? What would be your goals and how you would go around achieving them? What could be possible impact of your actions?
Character: Rowan Khanna
Era: Hogwarts Mystery i.e between end of first war and start of Philosopher's Stone
House: Slytherin alongwith the Jacob's sibling
Reason: I consider butterfly effects too dangerous to mess with the main timelines, this period is a safe bet for sandbox and I can keep canon predictable. I liked his character in the game and would save him from his fate.
Goals:
- Become strong wizard, S tier by the time of graduation and try for S+ level in upcoming years
- Form Circle of Khanna with my friends Jacob's sibling, Merula Snyde, Penny Haywood, Ben Cooper, Tulip Karasu, Barnaby Lee and others. This group would work independently from Order of the Phoenix.
- Achieve Rowan's goal to become youngest Professor at Hogwarts in History of Magic. Replace Cuthbert Binns by the time of Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Befriend Severus Snape and aid him in the goal of protecting Harry. Save him from dieing from Nagini and secretly aid him in Deathly Hallows.
- Try to reform Slytherin's reputation, encourage inter-house interactions.
Impact: Certainly try to achieve goals. Saving Rowan from his fate will throw serious butterfly effects and gradual changes to the timeline won't be without consequences, both good and bad.
So, assuming that I can retain the skillset of the character I replace, and bear with me on this... James Potter.
Character: James Potter
Era: Pre-Hogwarts
House: Gryffindor
If I hijack James prior to meeting Snape, I can prevent Snape from being bullied relentlessly, possibly befriending him in the same way James befriended Sirius. I could even help Snape open up more to Lily and get them to be a couple down the line. Also, I'd work on making Peter feeling like an actual friend as opposed to treating him like a follower, and I'd respect Remus's condition enough to not endanger Hogsmeade once a month after I became an Animagus (which I would attempt legally).
@thegestaltprince, I can see where you are going with this.
An SI into the James is appealing, he was rich, adored and one of the few characters without complicated families. Take away his arrogance, entitlement and maliciousness and you get one heck of a guy.
Your James can help Snape run away from his abusive home like he did with Sirius, give his support to prevent him from falling in clutches of DEs and become ultimate friend by setting him up with Lily. Him being supportive of Peter would certainly prevent him from falling into the dark side.
Occasionally when bored with nothing else to do, I sometimes image myself as a Ravenclaw OC during the Marauder-era. I'd be decent at (fanon-style) Ancient Runes but utterly hopeless at Charms. I'd be friends with the Ravenclaw boys of my year, but not really interact with the Marauders, Severus or Lily beyond maybe the occasional course project. But if I have to insert as an existing person? Either James, for reasons similar to The Gestalt Prince, or Severus. Not because I like his canon life... sounds very unpleasant, but because of habit more than anything else. Basically, I have a habit of self-inserting as the main character, this tends to be what happens when I read literature in general, including fanfics. And since I read a lot of Snape-centric fanfics, it means plenty of unconscious self-insertions as him.
I had a SI fic idea a while back. Basically, someone (adult) wishes they'd be part of the HP universe, either because of having dreamed of getting a letter or similar as a child, having read a bunch of SI fics or whatever. So the Powers that Be decide to monkeypaw the entire thing and throw them into the universe... as Tobias Snape, at a time where he had thoroughly beaten Eileen and Severus down to utter submission (when he was, say, 7-8 years old?).
So they'll never get to see Hogwarts, and their life is... quite a mess. Also, inheriting an alcoholic-dependant body. Fun times! So they'll have to try to make the best out of the situation: detox, promptly stopping their abusive behaviour, and also be wary about a likely vindicative Eileen that, once she regains some of her own agency after the abuse stopping, probably would want to see you pay for "your" previous behaviour.
@fredriq, that seems a really interesting concept, SI into Tobias, SI has his work cut out for him. Not only he has to change with respect to his previous habits but also he has to atone for previous Tobias. I do think situation can be salvaged, forgiveness from Eileen would be harder than from Severus. This can become a whole interesting story different from the usual SI power tropes.
