By Anne B. Walsh
Reviews
carolebear posted a comment on Sunday 6th October 2013 11:20pm
I didn't need any tissues for this chapter, but I'll make sure there are some on hand for the next. I just reread my last review, and I can't believe how pathetic it sounded. You really got my stream of consciousness there; perhaps I will be more coherent now. (probably not) It sounds like the 5th of June will be a bad day for many people. I, too, love the quote that Dangams favorited. It really does encompass the way the Pride thinks. And I totally see the possibilities in a new leadership team. Unlike others, they actually CAN be in two places at the same time (just don't do it for too long...).
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Hey, I'm not always coherent, so I don't mind that sometimes other people aren't.
kendiara posted a comment on Sunday 6th October 2013 10:04pm
Something one of the other reviewers said reminded me of the scene when the Pride is going to heal the Longbottoms and the comment was made that Harry sounded like he was setting up for a tea date rather than a huge magical thing. That's the same vibe I got when Harry and Albus are talking about making Voldemort indispensable.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
A little bit, yes. Because when you do crazy things like that all the time, that's how it gets to be...
triciaelbl posted a comment on Sunday 6th October 2013 9:45pm
My favorite part: Draco vs Draco. I loved the subtlety of that scene. I Also really loved the scene with Kreacher. Very poetic!
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Oh, and there's more to come (or already here by now)...
kendiara posted a comment on Sunday 6th October 2013 9:43pm
I just don't know if I'm excited to get to the day or terrified. Probably both. I wonder if Snape will be the one again who kills Dumbledore and if Sirius will ever let him live it down if so :) Also nice Kreacher is very scary.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
*looks inscrutable and evil*
Dangams posted a comment on Sunday 6th October 2013 5:06pm
I loved this exchange:
Harry drew his dagger and turned its blade back and forth, letting the light reflect off it. "What time should we start making Voldemort a little closer to being indispensable, sir?"
"I would imagine his Death Eaters already consider him so," Dumbledore remarked. "Would just after lunch work well for all of you?"
Absolutely brilliant. :D
Also, yay swordsmanship. This is something highly relevent to my interests. :D (Indeed, I spent several hours earlier doing that exact thing.)
Things are afoot! Awesome as always. :) More soon, please!
Anne B. Walsh replied:
I did have fun with that one. And yes, Harry being able to handle a sword will play a role in the ending...
Face Toward the Dawn posted a comment on Friday 27th September 2013 10:59pm
Oh good, Natalie and Zach got home safe.
"She was carrying Zach, and she's such a little thing, a Killing Curse would have blasted right through her and got him too."
Hunh, do Killing Curses work like that? I thought they were "Remove one (1) soul".
Juliet was 14 when she died, just like Graham. That doesn't make it any less sad. Actually, it makes Romeo and Juliet creepy, now that I think about it.
"Everyone who was willing to fight against [Umbridge] would have assumed that once we got her out, we didn't have to go on fighting."
Up to and including Canon!Harry, more's the pity.
I really liked Snape in this chapter. He found just the right words to put those girls in their place with.
"Hello," said the older witch, her teeth bared in a wide, mad smile. "My name is Maya Pritchard Jordan. You killed my cousin."
Prepare to watch The Princess Bride.
Oh, Romilda. That was a really emotional scene. I can almost see it on stage, with the actor playing Romilda tearing out the hearts of the whole audience with disgust and pity and rage at the stupid, stupid things people do. I mean, there are enough people *trying* to hurt others, we don't need it happening when you "didn't mean to".
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Oh, R&J is TOTALLY creepy. And I'm not positive how Killing Curses work but it seems at least reasonable that a powerful one could take out two people. Had fun writing Snape's bit, glad you like!
carolebear posted a comment on Friday 27th September 2013 7:59pm
What a lovely surprise in my inbox this evening. I decided that this would be much better than the pile of ungraded papers that are staring at me accusingly.
I didn't actually find the end scene creepy, but I thought it was very effective. Romilda won't ever forget what her desires cost her. She won't ever forget having to touch that poor cold dead child. (dammit, I managed to make it all the way thourhg the chapter, and NOW I start crying?) And since she wanted so much for people to remember her name, they should make sure that no one knows, so that she won't have her moment of fame after all. And of course, now I start thinking of Dumbledore and how we might have to let him go anyway? I thought maybe not, since you are straying from canon in so many things, but I guess not. That won't go over well at all.
The fifth of June? The date on the tombstone? I don't remember if I have remembered to say in a review how I think I have figured out how things will play out. Of course, even though I think I did, of course, now I don't remember what I figured out. I think that's one reason why I can read a story so many times and enjoy it just as much every time; I manage to forget enough for it to be new every time. Hopeless, I know.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Yes, 5 June is the date Luna saw on the grave. I think you've mentioned how you think things will go, but of course I'm not giving things away... yet...
kendiara posted a comment on Friday 27th September 2013 7:57pm
Poor Fox. I love the dynamic between Harry and Ginny, how they prop each other up until there's time to actually deal with whats going on. Also I love that you used Romilda's youth and stupidity in a completely true manner. I was reading earlier about a kid who had his girlfriends send naked shots to him. The problem is they are all 17. His life is ruined by something he completely didn't mean (jail and a registered sex offender forever). Obviously no one died in the other story, but it illustrates how most kids have the common sense of turnips. Romilda wanted fame, and to be important and be noticed. She got it, in that completely unintended way. Losing Albus (again) is going to suck donkey intestines.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Yeah, people need to learn to THINK. Which has always been one of my big themes.
triciaelbl posted a comment on Friday 27th September 2013 5:57pm
I really liked the conversation between fox and draco, and the scene with Romilda was masterfully done. Thank you for continuing this story!
Anne B. Walsh replied:
You're welcome... I'm certainly not giving up on it, not after getting this far!
Elenna123 posted a comment on Sunday 22nd September 2013 5:34pm
Just so you know, I have officially decided that you are indeed being more evil than JKR.
AnnaTigg posted a comment on Monday 16th September 2013 9:30am
Argh again. Some amazingly brilliant stuff, as usual, but defintely a BYOT chapter. Liked the Hermione/Hannah conversation and the stuff in Dumbledore's office. More soon please - very intrigued by the anti-DA and how that might be dealt with. And indeed, more Draco would be appreciated...
Anne B. Walsh replied:
More Draco on the way, I promise!
Nenya posted a comment on Monday 9th September 2013 10:15am
Oh, no!!! :( But...what else could he have done?
I should have seen it coming, though - who else would Maya more than anybody else be weeping for?
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Precisely, on both counts.
Dangams posted a comment on Monday 9th September 2013 9:26am
GRAHAM! :( Great sadnesss.
But... does this mean that Natalie and Zach are now protected from Alecto?
Anne B. Walsh replied:
It might. And it also means that Alecto has a great, great many people exceedingly angry with her.
Phil Boswell posted a comment on Monday 9th September 2013 12:52am
So kind of like what you did to them in "Be Careful" but the other way around. So out of three versions of this pairing so far, you've let them live once. Do you get the feeling they'd like you to look at someone else for a change? ;-)
Anne B. Walsh replied:
I'm sure. But it was going to happen.
kendiara posted a comment on Sunday 8th September 2013 7:48pm
Well that sucked, I love Graham. I honestly felt like Hannah was going to be the one killed, mostly because Hermione wants her to remind her about letting people know about each other before sorting them apart.
Nice Who homage to sneak in there...wouldn't that be a fun crossover :) Just a silly one shot about the Dr giving Albus a gift to keep people from barging into his office without him knowing...
Also I'd totally love to be a fly on the wall to hear Snape, Flitwick, and Sprouts reaction to the loyalty test...
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Probably along the lines of "You want us to ask our students WHAT?!"
Face Toward the Dawn posted a comment on Sunday 8th September 2013 6:42pm
"Whoever forms the next Pride, I hope it includes some Hufflepuffs." Hufflepuffs should take to Prides like ducks to water. It's exactly the kind of thing they'd love. "Two of one, four of the other." Natalie's smile beamed even brighter. "Just like everybody else." Except the Packcubs, who have four of one, and I'm not sure how many of the other. Sirius's parents don't really count, and I'm not sure how to count the Grangers ... Spell-breaking year wrapped up just in time, didn't it? I love it when prisoners escape on their own before the rescue team gets there :) Huh. I wasn't expecting Graham to go. I was worried it would be Zach. (Is it bad that I'm more invested in Zach than Graham? Maybe it's because I'm also reading Defying Gravity.) I didn't think you'd forgotten about Draco - how could I, I'd almost forgotten about him myself ... Now I'm trying to remember what my prediction about his story was, so I can see if I was right.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Yeah, Hufflepuffs'll do well in Prides. Or Cetes. And biologically, that's how many parents and grandparents everybody has. Zach is an adorable little baby (or written that way) so I don't think you're too bad...
bgoldnyxnet posted a comment on Friday 23rd August 2013 3:46pm
I was thinking recently about the structure of the DV stories, rather than about individual chapters. The HP canon follows a classical paradigm: the young hero gradually loses or is cut off from his adult mentors, and has to learn to make his way in the world. That is why Rowling kills off first Sirius, then Dumbledore, then Mad-eye, Remus & Tonks, and even Harry's sometime nemesis, "Grumpy". The attack on The Burrow and various incidents at Grimmauld Place also contribute to this: No fixed address is safe for the trio, so they have to move around. This of course cuts them off from everybody who might help them -- their fellow Griffindors and some sympathetic Ravenclaws like Luna.
Literary critics discuss this in terms of social order. The hero is cast out (think the opening of OotP) or separated (DH) from the old social order. In order to accomplish his goals, he must forge a new social order that he can live with.
But the DV stories, so far, are the exact opposite. Instead of being cast out or separated from the old social order, Harry is part of a new social order that is gradually growing up under the nose of the old one. First the Pack, then the Pride, then a second, parallel Pride, and then the whole spell-breaking year with Sanctuary and the Red Shepherds. Sometimes this paradigm ends with a cataclysm -- a sudden violent change in the social or political order. Sometimes the author can sustain an ending in which everybody just looks around and discovers that things have changed without their even noticing.
Since Anne is pushing her e-books, I'm going to mention my wife's trilogy: Bloodslut, Wild Blood, and Aristo Blood. They are available on Amazon (Kindle or Trade Paperback version) and Barnes and Noble (Nook version). Use the "look inside" to read the start of the story and decide if you want to read more.
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Fun to think about, and a nod to what I want to do: give fictional nods to the reality of most people's lives. We have to live within our own social orders, and most of us won't lose our authority figures so early or so systematically...
Paxy posted a comment on Tuesday 20th August 2013 11:07pm
Hey, I just caught up to here after reading the whole thing. I love it! I'm really bad at writing reviews, but yeah... you rock!
-Paxy
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Thanks!
Dangams posted a comment on Saturday 10th August 2013 9:33am
Yes, awesome Pride are being awesome. (And very clever.) More soon please!
Also, I might have cheered somewhat at: "Find her," he said harshly. "Ask questions, work spells, do what you have to do, but find me Romilda Vane."
(Sorry for recent absences. Dissertation has been rather intense.)
Anne B. Walsh replied:
Completely understood! Get dissertation done first.
Face Toward the Dawn posted a comment on Monday 7th October 2013 1:34pm
Anne B. Walsh replied: