Anansii posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 6:26pm

I'm reminded of something J Michael Straczynski said whilst making Babylon 5.

"Year four is the point in the novel when you're just past the halfway mark; you know the reader thinks he or she has got the story sussed out. The reader knows all your tricks by now, or thinks he/she does. You've been pulling doves out of your hat for 243 pages.

Now you'd damned well better be able to pull out an alligator. "

Big one. And I don't see any way out of this that doesn't have either Aletha (most likely) or Mare not merely dead (recall this is in a universe where we KNOW souls go on) but actually destroyed. Watching intently for the next unexpected hat contents... :)

Dangams posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 12:26pm

Awesome chapter! :) Hope to see more soon. Also, sneaky Albus is sneaky. :D

JeRKisawesome posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 12:07pm

Hi, i'm new but i've read you're fanfic over and over and I love it!
I like the part where u qouted The Monty Python :D that was awesome.
I'm so excited for Theordore to find a place where he's happy, I like him better as a neutral person. He doesn't really fit in as the evil and same for the good.
I hope Mare will choose to stay there with them and i hope she'll return back to her original self...but oh well.
I'm glad that you're updating reguarly, so keep up the good work!
From a concerned student,
JeRKisawesome
p.s. lol that's from 5th year :D

ilovewhydouneedtoknow posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 11:58am

hahaha I thought you had dissapered on us again :) oh well one day isn't going to kill anyone... i hope.
I wonder who Theo is going to go live with.... I hope Mare decides on staying with them. That was great with Percy :) now everyone is happy mostly...

Bialystoker posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 9:59am

oh... so Nott is going to be in place of canon Draco? that's my guess.
thanks for writing... finding an update always makes my Monday.

carolebear posted a comment on Monday 16th May 2011 8:10am

Ha, so Dumbledore HAS been working on the Horcruxes, and he just found one at Ollivander's. Was it Ravenclaw's wand as well? I have to say that Dumbledore has definitely come up with a very good way to hide the information that he knows. Stroke of genius, that was. And I see that he is still holding that information close to his chest.

I LOVE what Crystal and Percy have planned; I just hope it doesn't get someone killed for real this time, but rather saves lots of lives. The invisible bridge is a stroke of genius, as is the bridgekeeper. They could all do with some levity. And the double meanings with the symbol is pretty cool, too. Got to agree with Maya on how much the Death Eaters underestimate Muggles. Hopefully to their detriment.

Glad to see that Theo isn't just thinking of himself. He is weak, but maybe salvageable. What he did for Brilly gives me hope.

And Meghan, poor Meghan. In many ways, working with Mare is going to be hardest for her, but she is doing her best. I was shocked to hear of Rowena's warning, but it does make sense. Glad Meghan passed that bit of info along earliest.

So glad to see you writing again, and I plan on "liking" your Facebook page just as soon as I get set up over the summer. (I have to survive the last 2 weeks of the semester first.) I do check over there often, though, just to keep up with the news. May your Muse be kind to you, and Work not interfere more than it has to.

callie posted a comment on Sunday 15th May 2011 11:59pm

hmmm interesting....
you better not let mare leave that would just ruin everything!
liked the theo bit that was good
as always can't wait for more!!!!!

carolebear posted a comment on Saturday 14th May 2011 5:45pm

Aargh, I wrote my review and thought the site had accepted it, but it’s gone!! It’s gone, I tell you. *sniff* And I was freaking eloquent. Rats. Well, I’ll try to reconstruct the high points. And now it's acting up again, so if this posts twice, I do apologize.

I guess the most important is about Letha. No, Mare is not the exact same person she was before Voldemort got hold of her, but they have all changed as a result of that. The way she preserved her memories was stroke of genius, but painful nonetheless, as Harry can vouch. The memories may never feel entirely hers, but with time and the acceptance of the Pack and Pride, maybe she will see, as Meghan said, "She doesn't have to be either all Mare or all my Mama Letha—she can be both." The child is wise beyond her years, and I pray that everyone can be as accepting. I think I would like to see Sirius’ courtship of Mare. He already began that while they were in captivity. And the things she now knows, and can do make her more than she was before. (I wonder if she and Meghan together could do something about Ron’s eyesight? We shall see when you are ready to reveal.) As you have said many times, this is a war, and sometimes people get hurt, and sometimes they die. At least it wasn’t any of the Pack parents time this go-round. But poor Neville and Alice. I wonder who Dumbledore will find for the defense post?

Looks like Moldyshorts made a Horcrux out of Ravenclaw’s brooch when he killed Letha’s father, and now Letha is dreaming of Rowena herself? As I reread the whole DV for the umpteenth time, I’ll be looking for other references to the Horcruxes. I think Dumbledore is working on eliminating them, but I can’t remember how many they have found. Didn’t Meghan have to heal Dumbledore’s hand after he destroyed Salazar’s ring? Coaxed the curse out onto a weed?

So anyway, just keep doing the wonderful job you are doing. I don’t remember thinking about the canon books nearly as much as you are making me think about your DV. Brava!

carolebear posted a comment on Saturday 14th May 2011 5:42pm

Aargh, I wrote my review and thought the site had accepted it, but it’s gone!! It’s gone, I tell you. *sniff* And I was freaking eloquent. Rats. Well, I’ll try to reconstruct the high points.

I guess the most important is about Letha. No, Mare is not the exact same person she was before Voldemort got hold of her, but they have all changed as a result of that. The way she preserved her memories was stroke of genius, but painful nonetheless, as Harry can vouch. The memories may never feel entirely hers, but with time and the acceptance of the Pack and Pride, maybe she will see, as Meghan said, "She doesn't have to be either all Mare or all my Mama Letha—she can be both." The child is wise beyond her years, and I pray that everyone can be as accepting. I think I would like to see Sirius’ courtship of Mare. He already began that while they were in captivity. And the things she now knows, and can do make her more than she was before. (I wonder if she and Meghan together could do something about Ron’s eyesight? We shall see when you are ready to reveal.) As you have said many times, this is a war, and sometimes people get hurt, and sometimes they die. At least it wasn’t any of the Pack parents time this go-round. But poor Neville and Alice. I wonder who Dumbledore will find for the defense post?

Looks like Moldyshorts made a Horcrux out of Ravenclaw’s brooch when he killed Letha’s father, and now Letha is dreaming of Rowena herself? As I reread the whole DV for the umpteenth time, I’ll be looking for other references to the Horcruxes. I think Dumbledore is working on eliminating them, but I can’t remember how many they have found. Didn’t Meghan have to heal Dumbledore’s hand after he destroyed Salazar’s ring? Coaxed the curse out onto a weed?

So anyway, just keep doing the wonderful job you are doing. I don’t remember thinking about the canon books nearly as much as you are making me think about your DV. Brava!

Mistress of Potions posted a comment on Friday 13th May 2011 12:00pm

I'm glad things are getting back to (or closer to) normal. Thank you for the updates. Nice bit with Petunia, even she shouldn't die alone.

Erika Shulkusky posted a comment on Friday 13th May 2011 8:42am

Glad to see you back in action, Anne! This chapter was very satisfying, but I do hope that Aletha/Mare does finally get her actual memory back vs. knowing from "the outside looking in." How frustrating is that! The long-awaited reunion of the Pack and Pride was great reading. I am also hoping that there is some kind of magical/healing resolve to Ron's eyesight- either that or Hermione will be spending much of her time as a cat. Not that I would mind that myself, being a major cat lover, but Hermione has a bigger role to play!

oddlyalli posted a comment on Tuesday 10th May 2011 3:07pm

May I just say: wow. Yes, you are definitely a master of story telling. And yet again, just like after every chapter, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for more. Thank you for coming back and writing more before I had to make my first review a threat of rallying with pitchforks and Google maps.

I'm emotional enough that I cried at Petunia Dursley's death; you did it well, without making her two-dimensional or the good guys into jerks. It's good to have the Pack and Pride under one roof again. And of course, there are so many as yet unsatisfied storylines, but I have great faith that you'll wrap them up beautifully. So long as you remember to give Peter and Evanie some sort of happy ending. And find an artful way to not kill Draco, since I've had a few in mind ever since Luna saw that graveyard. And...I'll stop telling you what to do now, since you've been managing fine without my tip thus far.

Have a good day! (Back to work with me.)

Bialystoker posted a comment on Monday 9th May 2011 10:38am

I quite enjoyed the Harry/Ginny interaction at the beginning. Very cute. And I'm on tenterhooks wondering how Sirius is going to woo Aletha back! I'm glad you didn't just employ an 'instant fix' and everything would be all right again - that's far too easy and, I'm sure, not nearly as satisfying as this will be once they've got it all sorted again. I love the tortuousness of your plot twists. :)

callie posted a comment on Monday 9th May 2011 7:40am

i first read this last night but i was too tire to reply then, so that brings us to now....
firstly i absolutely love the mare/aletha dynamic! the way they're the same person but different people at the same time is very facinating!
feel sorry for the dursley's even if they weren't ever nice to harry they didn't deserve being killed, but it fits with the story perfectly...
i also noticed you mentioned the eagle brooch that was briefly in "true colors" if i remember correctly


can't wait for more as always!

Carolyn Jinn posted a comment on Monday 9th May 2011 6:37am

I'm glad that everyone is back where they should be. Hopefully Aletha will return soon. Thankyou for your story sharing.

Anansii posted a comment on Monday 9th May 2011 1:53am

To quote Lois Bujold "In the end all wealth is biological". Sooo good to see the family back together.

TMorrow posted a comment on Sunday 8th May 2011 6:48pm

Evil Panther Never Runs Out of Evil, indeed.

That said, I needed this chapter--it came out at just the right time.

I'd buy a book written by you, definitely.

Katie posted a comment on Sunday 8th May 2011 4:49pm

I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that I would definitely buy original works of yours(in fact, I love this idea)! Also, great chapter.

AnnaTigg posted a comment on Sunday 8th May 2011 3:34pm

So lovely to have you back. I meant to review the previous chapter but sor of never got round to it, so I will review both here. Loved both chapters, so relieved that Moony is okay and Sirius has his magic back (phew). And Harry and Draco are home, yay. Sort of sorry about the Dursleys - they were nasty people but no-one deserves that fate. And Petunia was thinking about Harry, so maybe there were some nice feelings deep down. Obviously I still want Aletha to recover properly and hope you plan for that to happen at some point. I have lost track of the timeline slightly and will have to go back and re-read some chapters to get my bearings, but this is obviously no hardship! The only other thing I want to say is thanks so much for updating and I'm so glad you are back to weekly updates!
Anna

ilovewhydouneedtoknow posted a comment on Sunday 8th May 2011 1:27pm

thanks that was great!