Oh. OH. Review #100, woop woop!

Magic Thor hammer sounds like a good way of breaking in somewhere! Am I allowed to express my disappointment that Thor ISN'T going to be rocking up any time soon? Just think of the chapter images...

AHEM. Story. Yes. I like Albus' thoughts here - that he knows something BIG is up with Scorpius and wants to help, but at the same time resents that he doesn't KNOW what's up. It's definitely the kind of reaction most close friends would have about something like that. Poor Al!

I absolutely LOVE the Marauders' dialogue in the map! Even though it was just words on the parchment, you nailed the personalities of all four of them. And I love James so much. TOO much. Cracking idea, to go through the floor. I like!

Oh, poor Rose and her confused mind. She really doesn't know where she stands with Scorpius, does she? Kudos for the guitar making an appearance, I do love musical Scorp.

Really love how the relationship between Al and Rose is developing. I hadn't really considered how they would have become more distant since being at Hogwarts, but it makes a lot of sense; they're in different houses, with different friends. That must be difficult for people so used to spending time together. In that sense it's nice that they have this opportunity to bridge that gap a bit.

Stuck in the office. Uh oh!

AHA. I was loving this Selena/Methy moment, and was going to comment at the end, but as Methy mentioned Selena's left breast pocket I thought "Oho, been looking there, have we?" And then Selena thought the same. But he's only looking there because the letter's there in the first place. And this annoys her! Oh, they're so adorable. And to think I was shipping Al/Selena at the start. Blasphemy, I say, blasphemy! And yet, it all seems one sided. Methuselah remains utterly Methuselah-ish.

The goings-on in Cairo and Paris certainly sound as though they and this could be connected, and Selena's mum is right to let her know. At the same time, I get Methy's point of view - it doesn't necessarily help them to DO anything about their situation. Find a motive, yes. Cure the illness? Not necessarily. So yeah, Methy is possibly right to put that idea on the backburner FOR NOW. But it's still worth thinking about when they DO ask why this is all happening.

OH Selena, assuming the situation is Scorpius. So unfair, but so true. It always is! Except for now.

And Selena's last sentence? Got it in one, girl! FANTASTIC stuff.

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I love the way Rose finds out that Scorpius is doing the post. Not just that she doesn't find out from him, but the fact that Hugo nonchalantly mentions him, assuming she already knew. And thus her guilt at not already knowing. Bless her. But it's about time she gave him more credit.

Although the way he's talking to her right now, he doesn't really deserve that credit. Come on, Scorp; it's one step forward, two steps back right now!

Love the door's question. Reminds me in a sense of something I have planned for Derailed. It's not entirely related, but it's a similar thing.

It's about time Al and Rose had a nice chat. Interesting that he DID know about Scorp and the letters, and chose to keep away. It seems a very Albus thing to do. And you know what? Funnily enough, I absolutely adore Al as well. He's such a lovely, gentle soul, he really does compliment the utterly mad, boisterous Scorpius. And while Scorp needs Al to keep him in check, I think Al needs Scorp to keep his spirits up, and that's partly why he seems SO weary right now. The poor guy.

A lot of love for overshadowed-Al, as well. It must be incredibly hard, being a Potter; far more so than being any other Weasley. Because Harry really and truly is one-of-a-kind, and so it's bad enough being expected to be HIM, but when you've got an older bro as well to try to dodge ... yeah, that sucks a bit. But Al shouldn't let himself worry about that, he should just let himself be his own person! And if that's a similar person to Harry or James, then so be it. To the people who care about him, he won't be in anyone's shadow; he'll just be Al.

I also very much like the "James is Dad-without-the-war" comparison, as well as the "James-is-Granddad-James". The latter because I evidently have a lot of love for all James Potters, but the first comparison is one I hadn't given much thought to before. And I like it very much, because it's so clear to see how that leaves Al thinking as though he doesn't fit in somehow. Bless him.

God, I just love him. So much. I want an Albus, please.

Ho hum, disturbance in the greenhouses is mysterious. WHAT HAPPEN? Ah, wards are failing. Yeahhh, that's not ideal! Need to get into Stubbs' office somehow. And I love the way Rose invites Al into her next plan, haha.

"It's where he died." This sentence gives me weird goosebumps. This is serious stuff now. And ... the whole tapping into death thing with the Stone, this is AWESOME. I knew it was a bad idea of Harry's to just leave it lying around in the Forest for anyone to find!

On a serious note, I really do love this little twist, if we can call it a twist. Juicy stuff!

Listening. Scorp. The wireless. Oh, SCORPIUS MALFOY YOU GORGEOUS GORGEOUS BOY. I think my heart just melted. Honestly no words. And Methy knew but didn't think to tell anyone, and Hermione knew but assumed the others would, and Scorp didn't tell anyone else because that's a totally Scorp thing to do... Oh, this is just the best. WARM FLUFFY FEELINGS AND INCOHERENTNESS RIGHT NOW.

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I'm here! Where had we gotten to again? Ah, yes, Scorpius was screwing his life up, wasn't he? MARVELLOUS.

*DIES* Oh my word, you would not BELIEVE the thought process that's been going through my head the last few days! I had to introduce a new character to Rails, and I looked online for a nice, wizarding sounding one, and came across Thaddeus. I thought "Hmm, that sounds familiar, where have I read it before?" But I couldn't put my finger on it! Lo and behold, by the second sentence of this chapter I've discovered the source. STUBBS. Hope you don't mind, I'm using the same name!

Anyway. It is indeed frustrating that Stubbs is one of those who's NOT regained consciousness, and I assume that's partly for literary effect! It would be so much easier for them all if he awoke and was able to let them into his office, wouldn't it? It's intriguing that he's one of the ones who has it most severely, and I'm wondering whether there's a reason for that (other than the aforementioned one). Is it because he's older, or maybe because he's somehow been in closer contact with the Phlegethon? Not sure. Hmm.

It's so cute, that Scorpius has fallen straight back into his original routine, especially with Rose. Al is one thing - Scorp probably realises he WAS entirely to blame in that confrontation and so can't be angry with Al - but the argument with Rose was much more two-sided. Granted, Rose is in an awkward situation, but she chose to put herself in it. So I think Scorp has the right to be angry with her, and so it's cute that he's still taking breakfast to her. I guess that's why she's both easier and harder to face.

Oh, wait. Now he's avoiding her. Haha. Oh, Scorp.

Scorp thinking he's not needed, SIGH. This really makes me sad because there's so much that he could do for people! They need him to lift their morale and keep them going! Although I suppose he'd be better at that if said people weren't mad at him...

I really do like Selena. There's just something about her. Yes, she's vain, yes, she puts herself first, but she's still clever, and has good ideas, and... yeah. And even though she's making the letter suggestion to Scorpius in a mocking way, it's a good idea and it's something HE would be good at. She seems to GET people, even if she's not good at handling them right.

And it's also very like Scorpius to decide to do something even if he feels it's below him, just so as to make himself useful. Bless him.

Love the Mona Lisa remark. Also love "That is so last week."

I'm intrigued as to Scorpius' relationship with Astoria. Because the clear inference is that she would care about him if she knew something was going on. But then, that also begs the question; why hasn't she just written to her son either way? Does she not like to stay in touch with him?

I think my favourite relationship here is fast becoming Scorpius/Door. He's hilarious, the way he talks to it. And that reminds me of the Door to the Head's office. You know, after all of the hypothetical Dimitri situations I'd love to see, I think Scorp talking to Stubbs' door would be next on my list.

I knew to take Hermione's story about Nat with a pinch of salt; it wasn't going to be as bad as it sounded, we just needed Nat's side. I didn't necessarily expect to find she'd even have good motives for brewing the Elixir in the first place, and for some reason that took me by surprise - in a good way, of course. It really does seem like Nat was just trying to do the right thing, and got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and was made to look as though she was acting dishonourably. And that's so, so sad, and makes me a bit angry once more with Hermione. And, of course, the 'selling out' aspect also isn't what it seemed. Poor Nat, if only more people would give her a chance instead of judging her on what they perceived to have happened. She really has come out of this badly.

I guess this breakdown ten years post-BTP, followed by the three-year lay-off, was the catalyst that seems to have changed Nat from the person she was in BTP. I may be wrong, because of course ten years in itself is a long enough period of time for someone to change gradually... but I wouldn't be surprised if this was partly the reason for it. And... the fact that she changed the focus of her research to the more 'money-spinning' elixirs because of this breakdown... crikey, EVERYTHING Hermione assumed and told Scorpius about her was wrong. Oh, poor Nat. I really do hope Scorpius makes sure Hermione knows the truth, because there's being wronged and then there's THIS. I don't think I can put into words how much I love how this has all turned out in the end, but it's such a relief that Nat is nothing like the person Hermione made her out to be.

And it's about time Nat came up with some good advice for someone - although thinking about it, she's had a few good things to say to Scorpius throughout. But she's right in that he shouldn't let others judge him. I think his problem is that he needs to stop judging HIMSELF. He paints himself in such a bad light, and that makes things so much worse.

Oh, I was hoping little Timmy would crop up again. It breaks my heart that Scorpius doesn't think he's a good guy. I think he's an absolutely wonderful character, and the archetypal Slytherin; he doesn't do things to make other people happy, but because he's bored, or thinks he may as well do them. Whether it's delivering the letters, or feeding Rose, he doesn't seem to do it primarily for their gratification, and I like that. Albus is the one exception; Scorpius DEFINITELY tries to please Al where possible, but that's down to Al being basically his only friend. But when he's doing these nice things, it does seem as though it makes him happy to be making other people happy! I don't know if any of this makes sense, or is RIGHT, but that's the feeling I get. And either way, I absolutely adore him. And am out of characters. CRACKING CHAPTER.

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"I'm not angry, I'm disappointed." Is there ANYTHING worse in the world than to be told that by a parent? But Rose handles the situation marvellously here. Of COURSE it's unfair that Hermione can have all of her misdemeanours turned back on her as Rose's excuse for doing something stupid ... but it IS rather like the pot calling the kettle black for Hermione to expect her daughter to sit safely in the castle instead of DOING something. It's just like Hermione, and indeed ANY mother, to ask that. Likewise, it's entirely in Ron and Harry's nature to congratulate Rose for being successful!

Aww, the trio thanking and congratulating Scorpius as well. That's cute. I love that Ron commends Scorpius for being scared of the big nasty spiders.

HAHA Lockett's going to try curing Hector. Well THAT'S not going to be awkward.

"I think those were my nightmares, actually, Malfoy kept scoring and it was awful..." Oh Hector. You have no idea.

BUT. Symptoms have been alleviated by this concoction, which can only be a good thing. Just a shame that Hector was one of the bunnies. Of COURSE Rose can't tell him RIGHT NOW that she wants to end things with him and hook up with his worst enemy. But that's not the answer that Scorpius wants to hear.

Oh, Scorp. The poor kid breaks my heart, he really does. He doesn't know how to help himself! I feel for him here ... but at the same time, he's being a total moron. He's just so used to people thinking badly of him that he's dependent upon never upsetting or disappointing Albus who's the only person who sees him for who he really is, and NOT just for being a Malfoy - and so poor old Albus thinks that he's being neglected or forgotten or even taken for granted when Scorp is just trying not to disappoint him. Aand of course, Scorpius fights fire with fire (appropriate metaphor methinks - is it a metaphor? Yikes, I feel as though my knowledge of the English language always falls apart around you!) and turns a bad situation into a TERRIBLE one. Not to MENTION his jibes at Methuselah and Selena. Way to alienate almost everyone still conscious in one fell swoop, Scorp. He's going to have a rough time of it next chapter, that's for sure. :(

BUT. I like how tensions are escalating within the group. Bad for Scorpius but certainly juicy for us readers - and besides, it's inevitable that things won't run smoothly with five teenagers all holed up in the same place with so little other company, especially with the rampant sexual tension and friendship insecurities thrown in to boot. Love it. LOVE IT.

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This chapter title seems slightly promising because it suggests we might be getting some answers, but having seen your rough plan for the rest of the fic I suspect this isn't the case!

I love how Rose's criteria really don't narrow it down all that much! *giggles* Have fun with your investigation, Albus, rather you than me. :P

I like that this kind of research is what Rose is good at, whereas Albus doesn't know where to start. Just because they're both in Ravenclaw doesn't mean they share the same kind of discipline when it comes to researching and studying. I APPROVE.

I love how James acts as though Albus talking to him is killing his street cred - but he still threatens to deal with anyone who might be hassling him. This may just be because James will take any excuse to go for Flint, but I like the thought that he does care about his ickle brother, so long as nobody knows about it :)

BAH, Lockhart's daughter's(?) name totally threw me there when it came up! I know that Eleanor isn't an uncommon name, but it IS less common than it used to be and I don't often come across it in fiction, whether fanfic or original fic. And here it just leaps off the page at me *giggles* I've decided that she's innocent; she can't be guilty if she's called Eleanor! Sound reasoning, yes?

Author's Response: Thanks again for all the reviews. It's great to hear what you think. And you've hit on a few significant points. *grins* I think you've come closest so far to the truth on a couple of points.

And yeah, James is fond of Albus really. He'd just never admit it.

I don't actually even know why I called her Eleanor. It just came to me immediately for her. I think I had Eleanor of Aquitaine in my mind for some reason. Or maybe the name came to me first and made me think of her name. I'm not sure.

Her relationship to him will be revealed in the next chapter.

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I do feel a bit sorry for Scorpius here. Firstly - it's a silly broomstick rule. Secondly - it must be a very valid worry of his, that people judge him for being a Malfoy and assume he will be anti-Muggle. He's got it far worse than the likes of Albus and Rose have; at least they're being compared to parents who've done good things! *wonders what Dora thinks Scorpius should be ashamed of* Being in a Death Eater family or being in a family that turned away from Voldemort and avoided Azkaban?

And I definitely don't think James broke the broom as a prank. He nearly dropped the doll out of the window after days of Lily irritating him with it. And he may have been annoyed that Scorpius had a Golden Arrow, but it didn't affect HIM in any way, especially now he has one of his own. Besides, dropping the doll out of the window wouldn't have broken it - at least not beyond magical repair - whereas sending a broom into the Whomping Willow? No, that's not James' thing.

BLACKBURN ABSENT WHAT.

Oh, ALBUS! Only he would read into that comment in the sense that Harry's less proud of him for not being a Gryffindor! *facepalm* You silly billy you! He loves you just as much as he does James and Lily, regardless of what school house a talking hat put you in! He's so adorable.

Poor Scorpius seems like a very lonely person. Has he made any friends in his house, I wonder? He'd be a good friend for Albus I think; he'd help to bring him out of his shell a bit. She may not mean to but Rose overpowers Albus rather a lot!

Author's Response: Hmm, those are interesting thoughts about what Dora may be thinking. Again, can't say much here.

And *laughs at your comment in capitals* Can't say much about that either.

Albus hasn't the most self-confidence. As you pointed out, Rose rather overpowers him, as does James. I am REALLY looking forward to the boggart chapter in year 2. I think it'll give a bit of insight into Albus's character. And also help distinguish between Hermione and Rose, but I think Year 2 will do that anyway.

Yeah, Scorpius is something of a lonely figure, isn't he?

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I LOVE the way James scoffs at Scorpius' parents getting him a Golden Arrow when he's only in First Year! Yeah, as though you wouldn't have jumped at the chance to own one two years ago, James *snickers*

To be fair, it's quite nice of Scorpius to offer people a go on the broom. Whatever his motives, it's a new broom and it's hardly cheap, and he's letting people have a go on it when they could easily crash or otherwise break it! He seems like a reasonably good egg, so far.

I love the Ravenclaw Seeker's dilemma on when to catch the Snitch *cheers for Quidditch tactics*

Oh. OH. Scorpius' broom! Well, I suppose it was only going to be a matter of time until something happened to it. If this is related to the previous incidents then it surely suggests that the culprit is someone who's out to get both Albus and Scorpius, because there have been direct attacks on them both now. And I think it MUST be related; this surely has to be malicious, not just an accident. So what's going on? Are they going for Draco? Because he pretty much turned his back on the Death Eaters. HMM so much to think about!

I like the door's question. And agree with Derek - what about a poor old Muggleborn firstie who doesn't know anything? It's such an unfair way to get into a common room! At least with the other common rooms they're on an even footing! Then again I suppose Rowena Ravenclaw's argument would be that a proper Muggleborn Ravenclaw would have read the entire library by now *giggles*

Author's Response: Yeah, I think James is just a little jealous here.

I put some thought into the personality Scorpius should have in this. He probably differs more than most next generation characters. In some, he's a bully like his father. In others, he's Rose's boyfriend or Albus's best friend. I wanted to avoid anything that's been overdone, because I didn't want him turning into a carbon copy of anybody else's version, which was pretty difficult (and now the version in that story I mentioned to you a few days back is starting to sound a BIT like this one).

And I love your idea as to what Rowena Ravenclaw would have thought. I guess that does make sense. After all, Hermione knew stuff Ron didn't when they started Hogwarts. It isn't really fair though.

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Oh Scorpius, what a silly thing to do. As though the teachers won't realise you've brought a broom back to school! To be fair, I don't think the rule about First Years makes sense (I suppose its purpose is for dramatic effect when Harry makes it onto the team SURPRISE) but it's not exactly something you can a) hide or b) use, and you REALLY don't go showing it to everyone you moron.

I never really considered Slughorn as a suspect. And even now, I don't think he is. He doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. He has a lot of faults, but he's not the kind of person to get involved in this sort of affair.

I kind of feel sorry for Hagrid, in that Slughorn went to Aragog's funeral but under totally false pretences! And Hagrid still thinks it was because Slughorn genuinely cared. Poor guy. :(

HO HUM, Blackburn was a Ravenclaw! Which means she's more than likely to be able to get through the door. Hagrid seems very defensive of her ... this intrigues me.

Good job with the accent! It's a tough one to crack, that's why I avoid writing him into a fic where possible! But you did it well here. :)

Author's Response: I was actually kind of worried whether I'd be able to get Hagrid's accent since I've avoided writing him in most of my stories so far. So I'm glad you think I got it down OK.

If you think about what Hagrid would likely be concerned about, you might get a hint as to what he knows about Blackburn.

Yeah, Hagrid isn't the most suspicious, is he? He tends to take people at face value. And look at how he seems the best in those monsters he loves.

Can't say much in response to your speculations about Slughorn.

And yeah, Scorpius bringing a broom to school was pretty stupid but his broom means a lot to him.

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I can see why torturing the dolls would amuse Lily so much. But JEEZ, I'd have thrown them out of the window by now if I were Albus or James! I'm impressed that James hasn't broken one of them already.

...and then he threatens to drop one out of the window *giggles*

In a way it's odd that Ginny gets a baby-sitter who's only 14 to look after the kids. But thinking about it, it's not necessarily that James - or even Albus - need looking after, but that leaving the three of them in the house on their own is a recipe for disaster *giggles*

Just one thing - you're spelling Victoire's name wrong. The i comes before the r.

Aww, Albus not wanting to leave home but not wanting James to know that is so cute. I love little Al! Bless him :)

Good idea to visit Hagrid! And I am now more suspicious of Angie and her reluctance to talk...

Author's Response: *laughs at James threatening to do that just after you've said you're surprised he hasn't done something like that*

And Dominique is about 16. She's in 6th year.

Can you imagine trusting JAMES to be in charge and to keep an eye on a 9 year old? Like you said, recipe for disaster.

And thanks for the correction. I'll fix that once I get a chance. Tonight if I can.

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Yay Teddy! I like that he has a Potter Christmas on Christmas Eve, and a Tonks Christmas with Andromeda on Christmas Day. That way he doesn't have to miss out on anything. :) Oh, Lily, with her demanding "give me my presents" attitude! Such a typical nine year old. They're pretty good presents though!

I'm reading the bit where Teddy talks about his job VERY closely indeed! I have a feeling it will become relevant in the next fic. I'm trying to remember what you've told me about what's to come! *ponders* I really like that idea of house elf rights, and the masters having to sign to say they'll follow them, but the issue with so few elves reporting misdeeds. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Albus' Quidditch game sounds awesome! As does Lily's Healer doll set. Nice!

Oh, James is SUCH an adolescent! Did he honestly just want to sit at home by himself all day? He'll learn, in time.

I was a toy dragon! You're really good at coming up with gifts; I completely fail at this kind of thing!

I love the way that Albus doesn't like seeing Lily's doll in 'pain'. He really does have such a good, pure heart :)

Go George! Teaching the next generation how best to cause trouble, like a good Weasley. :)

Author's Response: Yeah, Teddy's job will be relevant in the next story. All that's really important here though is that he's working with Hermione and that they've been trying to deal with some of the prejudices in the wizarding world, such as the treatment of house elves.

I'm glad you like the presents. They took a while to come up with. I'm now wondering what they'll get for Christmas in 2nd year, because I'm just about out of ideas. *laughs*

And yeah, Albus is completely soft-hearted.

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Angie's staying at Hogwarts SHE'S THE CULPRIT.

It's so adorable that Albus is excited about going home! I know that it's partly because he's had a bit of a rough first term, but all the same I remember my first Christmas at uni (which is comparable because this is Albus' first time living away from home) and I was SO excited to be going home! It wasn't that I didn't enjoy uni, just that I missed my home. :)

I do find it odd that James is in Third Year when Albus is in First! The way I've planned the ages out in Rails, there's 21 months between the two but they're only a school year apart. And big thumbs up for Lily getting a pygmy puff!

I love the sound of that paperweight that Albus gets Harry for Christmas. It's the perfect thing!

I love the way all three Potter kids are portrayed slightly differently. I guess that mostly I love the fact that James is at that age where he thinks it's not 'cool' to do things with his family, whereas Albus doesn't really care what people think in that sense; he loves them and missed them and wants to make biscuits so he'll make biscuits! Don't let James bring you down, Al my boy!

Author's Response: *grins at the accusation and says nothing*

Yeah, I remember going home for Christmas my first year at college too. There was this little kid sitting opposite me on the train with his mum. They were going to my town and he kept asking him mum how far it was. AS IF THE JOURNEY DIDN'T SEEM LONG ENOUGH AS IT WAS. Of course I was home every weekend anyway, but still Christmas is different. My first semester at college, I used look out the window of the train for our roof, which can be seen from the train, as it comes into the town. *laughs* So yeah, I imagine it would be even more so for a just turned 12 year old. I once taught in a boarding school and the first years were HYPER on the Friday. And Albus hasn't been home for MONTHS.

The main reason I made James two years older was just that I thought it'd make his parents writing to him three times a week and telling Albus most people only get letters about once a month even more of a point. If he was in 2nd year at the time and still wanted them to write to him that often, I mean.

There's actually probably only about 21 months between them here too. I'll check. I know I have Albus's birthday early December, but I've forgotten EXACTLY when James's is. 17th February. So just under 22 months.

And I've no idea what those biscuits were all about. Lily and Albus just decided to start making them so I decided to go with it. It MIGHT possibly have been inspired by a Sweet Valley Twins book, The Christmas Ghost, where they were baking cookies for a bazaar at the beginning of the book.

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I LOVE the bickering between James and Rose. James needs to be more sensible, but at the same time Rose could do with lightening up a bit! I really do love your James, even if he does seem like a bit of a berk. His heart's in the right place. And besides, I have a soft spot for that kind of character I think *giggles*

I love the comparisons between the Muggle and wizarding Christmases :) And I'm suspicious that Dora and Angie didn't join in the conversation. They're joining my list of suspects. I'm more paranoid than Moody!

Haha, I love Slughorn and his total inability at being discreet! "Just between you, me and the wall..." He's the kind of character who, when he's captured right, is utterly hilarious. You have him absolutely spot-on here.

"I think there was only one type of potion she was interested in, if you get my drift." DEAD. Absolutely dead. And I can't believe Slughorn said that about a teacher to two first years! Mind you, I guess he's hardly the most professional of people *giggles* And I also love the thought of Trelawney already being a raging alcoholic at 15...

Such a pity? SUCH A PITY?! Ooh, Blackburn backstory! Intriguing. Very intriguing. Ho hum.

The inkwell. In Albus' trunk. WELL, this is an interesting turn of events. If it IS a student then it must be either a Ravenclaw or a bright non-Ravenclaw. And it's certainly more than possible that it's a teacher (i.e. Blackburn). But why frame ALBUS? Hmm. Onwards!

Author's Response: Oh my God, this review had me screaming in a mixture of laughter and delight. And I know the latter makes no sense. I'd love to comment on one or two things you said here, but I can't without giving too much away.

Slughorn is a fantastic character. He goes on so much that he's bound to give something significant away at some point. And because he goes on so long, I can have it slip beneath the radar if I have to.

Oh, I have a load of backstory on Blackburn, right down to the grades she got in her N.E.W.T.S. *laughs* It's not going to be revealed quite yet though. A lot of it will eventually be.

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That's an interesting point - we're just assuming that the swelling solution and the graffiti are linked. There's nothing to say they actually ARE. Certainly it would be odd if these two things were unrelated because they do seem too similar and too dramatic to be separate ... but perhaps that's all part of your master plan. I am not convinced either way. HMM.

Albus is very lucky he's got Rose to help him investigate. For a start, she's got a lot more ideas than he does, like reading about the Chamber. And secondly, he seems far too inclined to rule out these ideas. He certainly shouldn't be ruling anything out until he's looked into it!

The Burke character's portrait DEFINITELY saw something. As did most of the other portraits. HMM. Knowing that someone was floating around in a cloak with a hood doesn't really help things, except that it at least suggests that it was someone whose presence there wouldn't be normal or expected by the portraits or any passers-by. I doubt that really rules out many people if anyone though! And 'shortish' only really rules out adult men and tall women, and even THEN not all men - like Rose says, Flitwick is short! But I think it's fair to say he's not even SUPPOSED to be a suspect. Unless he IS the culprit and this is you throwing in a clue that we're meant to read as an off-the-cuff remark *giggles*

Someone in Blackburn's office. The morning she wasn't around. HO HUM. Questions questions. Was it her? Was it someone she knows, using her fireplace to get into school? A family member, or a friend, old enough to have been a Death Eater themselves? Is she in fact someone else in disguise? SO MANY QUESTIONS. I feel almost certain that the answer lies with her in some sense...

Author's Response: Yeah, Rose is way more organised and better at planning than Albus. I think he'd be inclined to give it up if he wasn't personally affected.

*laughs at your comment about Flitwick* I'm reading a fanfiction at the moment where he's under the Imperius Curse and is doing dodgy stuff he doesn't even know he's done, because the villain is also using memory charms on him. So...it's possible.

And I think you are right in your first paragraph here not to assume anything. There are a few things in this story that aren't as they seem.

*grins at your questions about Blackburn* All I'll say is she's one of the characters in this I most enjoy writing and my character file on her is longer than my one on Albus. Make of that what you will.

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Haha! Albus suspects exactly what I said - Binns is useless at teaching anything, so it's always good to get another teacher involved!

"We'll hear things teachers wouldn't. They still don't know your brother nicked those fanged Frisbees from Filch's office, after all, but I think every student in the school knows it." I loved this line. Oh James, you scoundrel *giggles*

"He was a talented wizard, but he cannot return from the dead. Nobody can do that." Except Harry. *nods* Except that's now got me thinking - it may be improbable but it's still possible! HMM.

Oh, Rose. Way to be sneaky, just strolling up to Scorpius and accusing him *facepalm* I'm pretty convinced of his innocence though. There seems to be a lot more to him than just a nasty Slytherin who takes after his father and grandfather. And I also love that Albus' desire to be like Harry manifests itself in a sense of relief when his mistakes are compared to Harry's! Bless him. But he really should be happy to be his own person.

And I like Albus' reluctance to write to Ginny as well. It's sweet, that he doesn't want to upset her. And I also approve of the thought that her role in things still bothers her in some sense. WARS LEAVE SCARS and all that jazz. :)

Author's Response: *laughs at Albus saying pretty much what you did*

Voldemort returning from the dead would be pretty scary, don't you think? *laughs*

And yeah, Rose can be pretty tactless. She's Ron's daughter as well as Hermione's after all.

We'll see a bit more of Scorpius later in this story and learn more about him in Year 2.

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I can only apologise profusely for not catching up on this earlier! Nevertheless, I'm here now. :) I love the chapter title as well!

I absolutely LOVE Albus' determination to get everything in the letter, to the point that when Rose tries to reassure him that all the main points are in there, he even manages to take THAT to mean he's forgotten something *giggles* Bless him! Also, I am suspicious of Nathan remaining behind when they go to post the letter. It may be nothing, but I'm going to notice EVERYONE'S behaviour now, to see if anything is remotely suspicious! Everyone's a suspect until proven otherwise. *nods*

Good to see that they'll all be taught about the war - or at least that Professor Jones will be teaching them about it, because let's face it, Binns is a useless teacher. Ignorance about the first war seemed to be a massive issue in Harry's time at Hogwarts. You can't prevent history from happening again unless people know what they have to prevent! Which is why I find it incredible that some people my age still don't know all that much about 20th century history, like my friend on my course who I had to teach about the World Wars and the Cold War so that she understood the context of the EU's birth, BUT I DIGRESS.

Blackburn's not there. SUSPICIOUS. Nathan's speaking about her not being there and the graffiti in a nervous tone of voice. SUSPICIOUS. It does surprise me that Albus isn't fussed about her no-show though. He ought to know better than to dismiss something like that!

HAHA, Harry being slightly sceptical of the vetting process because of some of the teachers he had. Quirrell. Lockhart. 'Nuff said. Although having said that, Lockhart was the ONLY option and Quirrell was seemingly already at the school at the time he started hosting Voldemort so it's a bit difficult to criticise Dumbledore. Umbridge was a totally different story of course because Dumbledore didn't have a say at all! Either way. Back to his letter.

Interesting that Rose knew about Ginny's involvement with the Chamber, whereas Albus didn't. Perfectly understandable of course, and it's a difficult situation for Harry, especially if it's a delicate point for Ginny - at what age should he tell his children that their mother set a basilisk on muggleborns while being possessed by Voldemort? But at the same time they're all lucky that it's Rose who told Albus this in the end, and that he didn't have to find out from a more unpleasant character.

I think their suspicion of Scorpius is based on weak footing though, and I doubt it's him! Nevertheless they have to explore all avenues, and his is a very likely one I suppose. Onwards!

Author's Response: *cheers* I got some surprise when I clicked on unanswered reviews and saw 14 instead of the usual 10. I got a couple over the years where the person reviewed a load of chapters in one go and had one or two reviews that were just "another good chapter" or something, so I skipped answering them and I'd one recently I COULDN'T respond to.

*grins* Nathan and Blackburn have also been suspected by other people.

Yikes, that's scary, people not knowing about the World Wars. The Cold War doesn't surprise me so much. We didn't start learning about that until we were 15, though of course, I lived through the end of it, so learning about it had me thinking "so THAT'S what they were doing there."

Yeah, Harry's only SLIGHTLY suspicious, because most of those got caught out within a year and most of the teachers at Hogwarts now have either been there YEARS or have a history before being employed, like Professor Jones was involved with the Order of the Phoenix and protected the Dursleys, so he knows of her past.

And yeah, Hermione feels strongly that her children NEED to know about the past for the exact reason you mentioned, whereas Harry doesn't want to bring up something so painful for his wife and maybe cause awkwardness between her and her children.

Plus Albus didn't exactly ask as many questions as Rose, partly because he's not as interested and partly because he's more sensitive than she is.

Thanks so much for this review. Level of detail is awesome.

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HAHA yeah, no chance of me not reading this one. Here goes, for the last time...

I have SO much feels on the whole Jacob thing. Because it genuinely didn't cross my mind before Tom brought it up - that Jacob did nothing. NOTHING. And I guess that part of the reason why I never considered that, is that Tanith never considered it. And the narrative leads us along. But because I, along with Tanith, didn't think about what Jacob was doing during the war, and instead sat back and took him for granted until you killed him and then realised how much I adored him - and when he was around, he was just "there", Tanith's partner, not out of the picture but not in it enough for me to notice what he was or wasn't doing - his complete lack of action has me torn in about three different directions in the same way that it has Tanith, because I still don't know what to make of him any more! But this is a good thing, especially for a plot which aims to blur the line between bad and good. And so I think that all there is to say about Tanith's "chat" with him ... is that I understand and agree with it all. A touching little passage, especially the moment when she finally allows herself to cry about it all.

SO MUCH LOVE for the Tanith/Katie conversation. I knew they'd end up partners, because you told me that they would, but it's nice to see it happen. "Imagine me naked." DEAD.

Said it before, but I'll say it again ... I like the whole kill-count with the Lions. Not the list itself, per se, but the theory behind it. Crude, but hey, they were in a war. I guess part of the reason why I like it is because I like the contrast between what you did in Shadow and what I did in Frozen. Back then, they wanted answers and leverage so aimed not to kill. This time round, they just wanted the bad guys out of the way. Both methods have their pros and cons, and throw up the most WONDERFUL moral debate which I absolutely love.

And Tom's corruption proved convincing throughout. Okay, I only guessed at him because of a remark which wasn't meant to be a clue, but had I not, his reveal would have been surprising but not altogether unexpected. The war left its mark on everyone, and his own struggles were hinted at numerous times. It was just that none of the others thought he had the capacity to be the vigilante, or realised just how serious things had gotten. But it really is realistic, and I don't think you should have any worries on the identity of the killer because I think the plot you have here produced a fantastic fic.

Shacklebolt's cat. You're projecting again...

War memorial. Cute touch. I like it. And I like that Toby still thinks of Annie; that he's not forgotten her. Because that would be unrealistic. They were what they were, and she may not have been Tanith, but that doesn't make her any less important or significant in her own right. :)

Haha, Toby's plans to surprise Tanith are thwarted by her own plans to surprise him! Marvellous. It's his birthday! That explains why Kingsley was SO adamant to make him leave.

Ahem. I would like to profusely object to Cal a) assuming that the Falcons will be smashed and b) getting immense joy from it. This is not on.

Such a cute ending. All of them together, with no fear for their lives, and indeed with their whole lives ahead of them. I love this very much. And now I've gotten to the end, I'm sad to the point of a little bit teary! Which is crazy, because it's just a fanfic! But it's not, it's far more than that. And I find it hard to believe that I only started reading Anguisverse less than a year ago! But it had me hooked from the start, to the point where I found myself reading all of Shadow as was posted at the time on the eve of a law exam, instead of revising. Good thing I passed, eh? But this whole series truly is one of, if not THE, best works of fanfic that I've come across. The characterisation has been superb throughout - each character is so distinct, and so well developed, and I love them all. And just the entire focus on the war, and the questions of morality, and all the politicsy stuff, I have enjoyed every moment of. I love the HUMOUR. Two of my all-time favourite moments of Anguis have to be the Cal!duck scene and the Yule Ball scene with drunk Cal and Gabe. Love them. But I think my ultimate favourite moments are those beautiful moments of dialogue which make the characters all seem so REAL and make me squee like a fangirl. "I know you're Tanith" (Even though Toby then failed to recognise when she WASN'T Tanith). "Fiendfyre". "There's one thing I can't do". I REMEMBER THEM. And I've found myself so engrossed in it all that it's began to become my head canon! Like the time when I saw the suggestion that nobody did History of Magic as a N.E.W.T subject and I thought "But Toby did!". I think that's down to how convincing and realistic and believable it is, right down to those nitty gritty bits of detail. And I can't say enough how much I love that kind of thing. If you do decide to write Into the Sunrise, or any other side-project, then I'm 100% here for that. If not ... well, I'm more than happy with where things have been wrapped up here. Nothing more is NEEDED, it's just I can't bear the thought of having to say goodbye to these guys. BUT IT'S OKAY because they live on in Ignite, with Nat and Matthias. Yay, another series to get completely wrapped up in! Still as keen on Original Novel as ever, too. :) Basically, GOOD SERIES BRO.

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There's a part of me that doesn't want to read this. Because reading this means that Anguisverse actually comes to an end for real, and that thought is an utterly heartbreaking one. I suppose I could always read this chapter, and then leave the last one unread? FOREVER. Then IT WILL NEVER END.

Intriguing chapter image. Means that Cal goes back to Thanatos again. HO HUM.

Wonderful Gannifer moment. Jen says her piece - and I hadn't actually consciously realised before now that it HAS been all Gabe before. But then perhaps that's partly because more of their conversations have been from his point of view, not hers. Either way, so far things have been more about HIM, and how he's open with her in a way he's not with everyone else, and as he becomes more relaxed with her he tells her more. The focus has never really been on her, because it's never HAD to be. And now she feels bad about that. And I LOVE her little slip about children, especially because the thought clearly doesn't freak Gabe out at all. Whether that's because right now he already knows that he wants to be with her forever and have lots of babies including Matthias, or whether it's just that he's so relaxed and at ease and HAPPY with her that talk of the hypothetical doesn't freak him out, I don't know. Either way, they're adorable and I love them.

HAHA, Toby's comment to Cal about "you know what seven o'clock looks like?", my EXACT REACTION was "SEVEN? Normal people finish at five!" And then Cal said it for me. Bless Toby ... he'll never stop worrying or overworking, will he? That's just the kind of guy he is.

I think I've just hit on why I have a special place in my heart for Cal, even if in some ways he's the "lesser" of the four - he can be cocky and irresponsible at times, and he has a totally carefree attitude to life, and just wants to have fun, and makes mistakes - but he's got a big heart, and he truly loves and cares about the people who are closest to him, and he's loyal to a fault. That sounds pretty familiar to me. :) His and Nat's story is sad, particularly because I was holding out for marriage and a Quidditch team, but it's realistic, and it's actually nice to not have everyone settling down and being all lovey-dovey. It's all a bit bittersweet really, isn't it? I don't know whether you know what happens to Cal - I do like the idea of his and Nat's paths crossing again because judging by Ignite, they haven't done yet and I like the idea of him sweeping in and saving her from herself - but I also like the thought that he'll meet someone else who is just as good if not better for him than Nat, and that he'll be happy with his life. Not that he necessarily NEEDS a woman in order to be happy, but he's got a lot of love to give and besides, it would bring definite closure on his relationship with Nat. Which he deserves.

Anyway, enough exposition. THANATOS VISIT.

It's as though Cal has decided NOT to make a decision. And at the end of the day, now that I think about it - does he really need to? Visit as and when you want, Cal, it's as simple as that. Thanatos interests me as always, in the sense that he recognises his jail sentence as a fair price for what he has done, but still doesn't see what he's done as the WRONG thing. It's almost as though he's not completely lost his humanity - he sees that killing and torturing is wrong, but it's just that he views his victims as lesser beings and therefore in that sense it's okay. I may be wrong on this point, and he may just be a murdering tyrant, but I still feel like there's more to him than that. I guess there MUST be, given that he's always sworn that he's acted in Cal's best interests ... if he has the capacity to care about Cal that much then there must be some humanity in there, even if it IS twisted.

And Cal asks about his mother. YES. It's actually something I've always wondered - what was SHE like? Although I imagine that she was very similar to Thanatos but still, one never knows. The fact that he's now asking about her - and admitting to the fact that he DID have a mother once - definitely emphasises that he's finally come to terms with his parentage - yes, he was born to a couple of murdering tyrants, but he was raised by someone at the opposite end of the spectrum, who has had far more influence on the person Cal's grown up to become. But he shouldn't feel ashamed about where he's come from, because it's not HIS fault. It feels like this is closure for him, on this issue. Which is, I assume, the objective. ;) Big love for this one!

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I'm here! Finally...

I love the dialogue between Rose and Scorpius. She's so concerned about Thane's motives, and all he cares about is his broom. Amazing. "The sweepiest broom!" Rose's question is indeed a puzzling one, and one which I was wondering myself in the last chapter - why has Thane just let them go? But that all comes back to the key question of "What is he doing all of this for?" and I doubt that will be answered for a while, so I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the Rose/Scorpius chemistry here, which I utterly love. Along with their differing reactions to what just happened - namely, Scorpius just being happy they got out of there ALIVE.

WHOA KISSY! Yeah boys, get in there Scorpius my son! I like this, I like that it took the "we nearly died" episode for him to go ahead and make his move in the end, SO MUCH YES. The right amount of holding back to ramp up the UST, and the perfect moment for them to finally get going. I must say I'm relieved that you're not going for the "I'm going to tease you right until they kiss in the last chapter" approach which I utterly hate. This is PERFECTO. And I realise I'm getting slightly ahead of myself because they've had One Moment, it's hardly as though they've declared their undying love for each other. But Things have Happened, and this is exciting. Love the reference to Rose's Weasley jumper, a true magical institution. And the fact that she initiated a kiss of her own. Basically I love it all.

"And I lost my broom." SCORPIUS! Oh my god I love this kid. SO MUCH.

It seems very much RIGHT that Nat isn't angry with Rose and Scorpius. She clearly doesn't take to a position of authority all that fondly, and I guess because she doesn't have a family of her own she's not quite so concerned when other people's kids are risking their lives, so long as they're successful in their aim. Rose and Scorpius did something silly, yes, but they survived and they got the goods, so what does it matter to her? Very right for this Nat. Whether the Nat of old would have had the same attitude, I don't know, but from the Nat who "sold out" her colleagues... to be expected.

But she's making Rose tell Hermione. Sneaky. Underhand. Almost cruel. I APPROVE. Aaaand more evidence of her apparent lack of compassion, that she's more excited about proving Hermione wrong than she is about actually curing this affliction.

Albus' reaction to this is adorable. Of COURSE he thinks they were idiots and would have wanted to tell Nat, but he wanted to go with them as well... And I like seeing more of an insight into Rose's thoughts on the Scorbus bromance. It almost seems as though part of her bad feeling towards Scorpius was because of resentment, that her cousin has a close friend who's NOT her. I may be reading too much into this, but that's my impression at any rate.

"I'm glad you two are getting on better." Oh Albus, you don't know the half of it.

More kissy time! HUGE approval for Rose's little pang of jealousy at the thought of Scorpius' previous activity with girls. Such a small thing to throw in, and yet such a real, genuine feeling. It's little things like that which make your characterisation so accurate, and I love that kind of attention to detail.

And so we leave them in a very interesting situation. Because they've both admitted to themselves and each other that there's SOMETHING there, but neither of them have a clue exactly what they want right now and that's not a question that can be answered on the spot. Excited to see how they DO deal with things! And I absolutely love that last line, beautiful. Cracking chapter, it's just a shame it's taken me a month to get round to catching up with it!

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Boy, do I feel stupid.

All the talk, all the exposition, I EVEN COMMENTED ON IT IN MY LAST REVIEW and I still managed to totally forget that Tanith and Katie had Shield Cloaks on! Serious head-desk moment right now. I'll be with you once I've killed all of my brain cells.

SO. Katie lives, happy days! And Tanith utterly loses it. Hard to say that Tom doesn't deserve being beaten to a pulp, though it's probably not the most diplomatic solution here. I like the comparison to Brynmor; the whole hostage thing DOES reek of Death Eater tactics. And Harry and Ron to the rescue, the beginnings of the Dream Team!

Tanith BANNING Tobias from having anything happen to him again, as though he a) chooses to get into these scrapes and b) has any ability to STOP them, so cute.

Oh, poor Jen. I LOVE her reaction to Tom being the murderer. They were friends, colleagues, HEAD BOY AND GIRL, it's only natural that this would be a huge shock to her. Poor thing. And Gabe is right; punishing EVERYONE for EVERYTHING isn't the right solution.

Naw, Toby's putting his life in front of politics now. I love him. He deserves to go to the party/morgue [delete as appropriate] though! Bless him.

Party. It's a party. Would it have been anything else? Yay for Kingsley! And yay for more Dimitri. I LOVE HIM. :) Oh. OH. Ariane and Melanie as well, happy days!

"So the least he could do was try to make an effort, and try to not think about how much Ariane Drake, purveyor of negligees, knew about his sex life." DEAD.

Dimitri, Ariane and Melanie in the same space, this is pretty much my ultimate Anguisverse set-up (after Tanith and Jacob's euphamism-riddled sex conversation at any rate, that was a thing of utter beauty). SO MUCH LOVE. Please, PLEASE, can we have a Dimitri spin-off?

I've said this before - but I love the Cal/Toby friendship. Cal cares so much about Toby's achievements that he doesn't want to cloud them with his problems, and yet Toby cares so much about Cal that he's willing to listen to his problems absolutely whenever. NAW.

"On some level he was a little disturbed that Cal noticed Tanith's legs, but then he'd noticed her legs too and had to concede that they were rather diverting". Again. DEAD. And oh, OH, Tanith's guilt at not voting is so adorable!

So much love for T/T right now. They've both realised that the sacrifices need to come from BOTH ends, and more importantly they're both willing and happy to make those sacrifices for one another. Ultimately that was what was needed; they BOTH had to budge. And they have. And so they'll be okay. :)

...running out of chapters now. THIS MAKES ME SAD. How many left? Two, three? :(

Author's Response: Yeah, the Shield Cloaks were a Chekhov's gun up on the wall. As was the spell deflection from earlier. But! Readers are supposed to forget about those until they happen!

And of course Tanith didn't kill Katie. She's not that nuts. She's a LITTLE nuts, of course, losing it as she does on Tom; her invoking of Brynmor does indeed mean that, well, she's letting out on him the anger she never got to let out on Thanatos.

The Jen/Tom friendship has always been a background part (considering they were both once very background characters) of things, but still there. She did trust him and believe in him and work with him, more closely than anyone. Worst isn't that she didn't see it coming, worst is that she can believe it now it's in front of her. And sometimes Gabe can talk sense in broader politics... though he probably did get the idea from Jen once. ;)

I would be super cruel to deny Tobias his political victory once all of this was over. Because once the adrenaline calmed down he WOULD care (again, Jen being right), but now he can go forward in much more sane and stable way in his career. With Dimitri to get him very drunk, of course; I couldn't give up a chance for one last hurrah with Dimitri, just as much as I couldn't give up a chance for one last hurrah for Ariane/Melanie. The last ever Hurrah, in fact, yipes.

A Dimitri spin-off would just be international travel, women, and a lot of vodka. Hmm, tempting!

T/T have earned their happy ending. It might be bittersweet in places but, as you say, they both learned to compromise. Right through they were that story of two people who could maybe grow up to be perfect for one another, or they'd grow in different ways, or they'd just refuse to grow. Lucky them, they knew when to give things up and how to prioritise and that the other person was the most important thing. Good for those two crazy kids.

Almost at the end, now. 2 more chapters. Though, of course, by now they're up!

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I knew that the idea of joining Lyndon's campaign would become a tempting one to Astoria! (Mind, that's hardly rocket science given that's evidently the basis of the plot...) She's still hesitant though. It'll be intriguing to see whether she comes round gradually, or whether any one thing in particular convinces her to do it.

Oh Draco, drinking brandy in the morning. And I LOVE that description of him, with the symbolism of the dark and the light, marvellously done.

Nice to see more Draco/Astoria interaction, and it seems that we'll get a little bit more next chapter! I like Daphne too; I like that she's looking out for Astoria, and the couldn't-care-less attitude she has towards politics is actually quite refreshing in a way! Not, of course, that I don't like the politics - as I've said, I love this kind of fic - but it's nice to have a character around who DOESN'T care for it.

Cortewalle's condition is bewildering! Why remove EIGHT MONTHS of his memory? I suppose, if the motive here was to disable Lyndon's campaign, then removing that much ensures that even once he's found he can't go back to the campaign because he won't have a clue what's going on. Seems vicious, though. And his mutterings are bemusing as well, to say the least!

I like the way you've introduced all of the candidates. For a start it's nice to know a bit about them all, and it's doubly effective that we learn about them from themselves (or their campaign managers) rather than from someone like Tristan filling Astoria in on them all. It's also good that they each have their own, separate agenda to the others', and actually Miremont's campaign is a really intriguing one! And worrying. And SO GOOD because it could be a clear-cut thing but instead she has her own motives for it and I LOVE that. Complexities galore, every character as well developed as the next. A short chapter, but still a good 'un!

Author's Response: Another review! Yay!

I won't go into Astoria's hesitance with joining the campaign as it's coming in the next chap :-)

Thank you! This Draco does still have some dark in him. He may no longer be running around doing the will of the Dark Lord, but he hasn't completely shaken off his old self - take away Voldemort, add a few years, and he is still an ambitious, manipulative, power-mongering Malfoy. I don't mind all the stories where Draco is completely redeemed, but that's not a Draco I see in my headcanon. I think it's reasonable that while the War would have forced Draco to change, it would have been more of a process. I can't see him turning into a great humanitarian just like that!

Absolutely MOAR Draco/Astoria to come! Poor Daphne is in a bit of a pickle - both of her siblings have made politics their lifeblood, where she hasn't been taken in by it. She'd love nothing more than for Tristan and Astoria to put a sock in it!

The motivation for Cotewalle's outing is a plot spoiler, but he has effectively been run out of the campaign. With his short-term memory affected and a complete loss of eight months, Lyndon definitely won't consider reinstating him. It is a bit vicious, isn't it?

I'm glad you don't mind all the introductions - I've worried that all the perspective jumping might be a bit off-putting. I have tried to give real world issues a wizarding world makeover. I see the inter-species marriage issue similar to gay marriage - inter-species marriage here is a hugely controversial issue that tends to polarise people, and Miremont's decided to cash in. The anti-half-breed stance would mirror racism. We know that Lupin suffered a lot of discrimination because he was a werewolf, and I don't think there would have been much of an improvement post-War, especially after Fenrir Greyback's role in the War. Giants had supported Voldemort during both Wars, and would find themselves equally reviled. With Rhodes having cornered the anti-pureblood vote, Miremont is using all this hate to build support for herself.

Thank you for reviewing again:-)

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Aha, Savage getting in the way, standard.

Oh. OH. A Memory Charm. Yeah, that would explain everything. Oh, thank GOD Jen's not involved at all because that would have killed me.

"'You know how all the protections at Stacey Whitman's office were ones you knew exactly how to break through, because they were done exactly the way you'd do them? And how the Scindo curse might have been popular amongst Death Eaters, but then the Lions picked up using it?'" I SAID ALL THIS AND YOU POO-POOED ME. But I forgive you because I know why you did it. And to think, I only leapt onto the idea of it being Tom because Tanith found being punched in the face familiar, haha. There were clues, but they were subtle. Enough to nudge someone in the right direction if they were noticed, but not in-your-face signs. Good work!

Anyway. Toby is in a bit of a pickle. Good on Tanith for having Wheezes at the ready, like a good student of Altair's. Ack, poor Annie. OH GOD if one of these kids dies then I will hate you forever, I hope you know that.

Everything Tom says has at least an element of truth in it. I mean, we excuse Tanith for killing Wilson because we know exactly what happened ... but at the same time he has a point, why should SHE get off for following orders? Why should anyone? And all of his points, all of them, even the points about Jacob doing nothing to stop the regime, are RIGHT, and have MERIT ... and then he starts playing around with Toby and Katie's lives and completely discredits himself because good god he's gone nuts. But seriously, kudos for creating a bad guy who's still believable and not demonised beyond belief, because it makes it all so much more REAL. And it's a genuine point - people got off last time when they shouldn't have, and if things are going to be different this time then surely people should be punished for their actions? But then, "only following orders" is always a minefield, especially when you add in the fact that Tanith wasn't just following orders, she was being threatened. DURESS YO (guess who's just learned about defences of criminal law!). So, yeah. Sticky situation.

And so much feels for the fact that Tanith still can't bring herself to hate the guy who killed her partner and nearly killed her. And on that note ... yeah, it was like a little punch to my gut when Tom pointed out that Jacob did naff all to help things and didn't come across too well in the June Enquiries. Because I adored him, and I don't think I realised how much I adored him until you killed him off. But he really didn't paint a very good picture of himself, did he? At least not in comparison to someone like Tanith, who like Tom points out, at least TRIED to resist as much as possible. And so, it's easy to see why someone like Tom would feel like Jacob was on the wrong side ... ugh SO MANY FEELS.

Oh god only Toby would try to correct his captor on an academic point. I love him.

And then Tom suggests killing Toby or Katie and that's the part where he loses one hell of a lot of credibility. He's nuts! Poor kid, the war's driven him crazy. He's so used to enacting justice and punishing the people who did bad things, that even now the war's over and things are done differently, he still thinks he has to do something more, to truly make sure these people pay. I have to say though, Katie's reaction to that part of Tom's plan was hilarious, and pure Katie.

Whoa Tanith WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Author's Response: Savage is just a pain, isn't he? He originally had a bigger part in the entire story but... that got cut and trimmed down and his jobs got given to other characters and now he's just there to be annoying. Poor guy. Except that he is a berk.

YEP memory charm. Don't worry. Jen is not evil. Glad I had you going there for a second, though! And yeees, I poo-pooed your idea! Of course I did, because you were right! Actually, the hint about Tanith being punched in the face being familiar was meant to be a MISLEADING clue because she'd been punched in the face by Jen earlier on that very day. It was, of course, also an allusion to Tom but I'd expected readers to remember Jen attacking her outside the courtroom before remembering Tom punching her at Gullsmere. OH WELL.

If I killed someone right now it would likely be a very mean thing to do, killing them off in the final moments of the entire series. I assure you I wouldn't do that without good dramatic reason.

I can't promise I don't have good dramatic reason.

Tom has points - people got away, people weren't punished for the horrible things they did, and some people just didn't fight, which was in its way letting them go. He IS right about Jacob, and it's not because Jacob was a bad man, it was just that going against the government, even one he hated, wasn't in his nature. He didn't think it was possible and so he didn't dare. But Jacob wasn't a bad man and was still murdered by someone's arbitrary judgment. And at the same time - so was Mulready, so was Lackardy, and when it's been proven that Tom's judgment IS flawed, can we accept "all's well that ends well" in that they died? But he still took action. And Tanith still can't hate him for it. Because Tom WAS broken by the war, in his way - and we will get to that, we'll get to more on how this happened and why.

Toby is a pedant. And will get himself killed if he carries on, bless him. XD

Tanith is... well, Tanith is the master of the third choice. But we must always wonder what Tanith would do when the third choice wasn't necessarily presented to her...

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Here for the doozy. It better be REALLY good, but no pressure.

Oh no. I have a REALLY bad idea about what Scorpius is up to here. The word "expendable" NEVER refers to anything good. And sure enough, it's not good. The FOREST? Man, Scorp, I love you but you're an idiot. Oh, but it's fine because Rose is going with him, that will make EVERYTHING okay. I have so much feels for the fact that she's refusing to let him go by himself... But it's still a really stupid idea. And Scorp feeling overprotective of little Tim is just adorable. He's like the Jeremy of Ignite - and if he gets in the way of Scorose there will be hell to pay.

And, naturally, I love the bit about James and Albus struggling to cope with being Harry's kids. SO MUCH YES for this. Although I'd disagree with Rose - her uncle may be the big cheese, but she has TWO parents who did all that stuff, James and Albus (and Lily) only have one. So she has at least as much right to feel pressured by it all. :)

OH GOD Acromantula hunt was always going to end badly, wasn't it? And then, and THEN, they're saved by THANE? Wow. He's a curious character. All of the potential motives that Scorpius reels off seem plausible, and very interesting. And this raises so many questions! Aside from the obvious one of why all this is going on. Why let them GO? Why save them in the FIRST place? Thane is far from clear cut, and I LOVE this. And will the Acromantula skins do anything? Thane's let them go with them ... but what if he doesn't mind if this is cured? What if that's what he WANTS? Argh, questions questions questions and no darn answers! Spiffing chap bro.

Author's Response: Do I promise goodness and not deliver? And yes, they're both being VERY stupid. But stupid is a hop across the line from daring? No, no, still stupid. One of those acts of many virtues, but sense isn't one of them. Tim's an important character, yes - Jeremy was never seen again after his diabolical interference, but we'll see more of Tim and what he means to Scorpius.

While Rose might have both parents as heroes to contend with, there's only one Harry Potter. But we will see how those pressures begin to weigh down on and affect her - and further nuances of how they affect poor, poor Albus.

It wasn't sensible to go on an Acromantula hunt, no. They almost got away with it - but they had no flying car to save them. They DO have an evil arch-nemesis, of course. And yes, I'm happy with this scene, and how it goes down. Thane's a 'villain' I am keen to develop more and we'll see him further in future installments.

I can't promise answers SOON I do admit. ;) Cheers for reviewing!

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COULD Cal and Gabe be antagonising each other ANY MORE right now? Ugh, I totally get where Gabe's coming from here, but I also agree with Cal and what he's trying to do ... and at the same time it's easy to see why Gabe thinks Cal is being rather blase about the whole thing. MEN.

Ho hum, a visit to Daedalus. I like the game he plays here - "You rejected my offer, what do I have to gain in helping you?" It's sneaky. Very sneaky. But I like sneaky. And Gabe agreeing to go back to him is an interesting move indeed, though I guess he feels he doesn't have a choice. And oh god evidence isn't good. Jen, what have you DONE?

"Tobias looked as if he'd been told he'd failed the Minister and needed to commit honourable suicide at that exact moment." I love Toby, bless him. And I love Kingsley as well, if he doesn't win this election I'll be gutted! Love Tanith's unwavering support for Toby throughout the day, too. The election campaign may have proved a bit of a thorn in her side, but now they've both come to understand compromise she's okay with it and I LOVE HER for this.

That, and she knows it's going to be over soon.

Oh man, Toby visiting Tom? DON'T DO IT HE'LL KILL YOU! Seriously worried here. Because TOM IS GUILTY YO.

Jen denying alibi. Whut. OH. OH. Man is Tom. Oh lordy faeces hits fan. Well Tom MUST be guilty. He must be. Because otherwise, why would Jen try to deny the alibi even though she then faces charges? She could easily explain the visit off as Tom being a good friend or something ... but she denied it so she must have known that it wouldn't help her to say where she was so HE'S GUILTY. But ... that would mean she knows what's going on. Really? REALLY? Oh god mind is a mess right now. JEN CAN'T BE GUILTY. Ugh.

YES! I knew it! Guilty Tom! Oh no Tobias, of all the situations to get yourself into... I knew that visiting him was a bad move! But the truth comes out, Tom IS the guilty party!

And how ironic that Gabe, instead of procuring Jen an alibi, has just ended up finding incriminating evidence instead. OH GABE.

Why must every other chapter end with a cliffhanger - and more to the point, why must it be the second chapter EVERY TIME? You make me not want Ignite, and then you make me feel bad for not wanting Ignite when I then enjoy the chapter! Bleurgh, you've made me an excited mess right now. I hope you're happy.

Author's Response: This is a BAD Cal and Gabe talk. :( Cal is trying to help but, as he says, Gabe's NEVER been like this before. He doesn't know HOW to help. Note that in the past, Cal giving Gabe a clip around the ear has usually worked. This time Cal tries it and Gabe is just angered by it. The stakes are too high. It's JEN. And I am fond of Daedalus in this scene, too. As far as he's concerned, the case isn't over, and him giving illegally obtained evidence isn't exactly helpful to Tanith in a high-profile case where a lot of transparency will be needed. So him helping Gabe would just be a favour (if you're not Gabe, it's easier to believe that Jen's innocence will be found just over the course of the investigation), and he owes Gabe nothing. But he's still manipulative enough to reel him back in over it.

T/T are rather sweet in this scene. They're able to be one another's rocks in the Career Crunch Time. Which is huge growth for them and is kind of adorable if I say so myself. But yes, Tanith has an easier time because she knows it will be OVER soon; she'd be much worse off if she didn't think it would be!

*cough* Visiting Tom, going badly? Whatever would make you think - oh, well, YES, evidence, if you want to be picky. If Jen does know all about Tom and is covering for him, then yes, Gabe's managed to make this situation much, much worse. But we'll see come the next chapter. Which, heh, yes, comes after the next Ignite, still in the queue.

I promise the next Ignite is a DOOZY if that helps. And yes, I'm very happy. ;) Thanks for reviewing!

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HERE. Finally. BTP yes.

It's so frustrating that Jen is imploring Tanith to believe her alibi because it's Gabe, when that's exactly what Tanith did before and it resulted in her cutting corners when she shouldn't have done. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, really. But I still can't find her guilty. And there is NO way I'm believing Tom's alibi. That's not even an alibi! Come on, guys, the neighbour could have heard anything, there's no guarantee that he was even in his flat! My theory remains open and valid, and I'm still sticking to it.

And Gabe, like Jen, wants Tanith to let Jen off based on gut feeling rather than evidence. Ugh, it's so hard, and I really do feel for both Jen AND Gabe because surely she didn't do it? But Tanith HAS to do it! She has to. Or she's not doing her job properly. And what Gabe says about Jen's character ... yes. YES. This is exactly why I can't believe her guilt, only Gabe (or rather, you) says it far better than I could. He has some truly beautiful passages of speech.

I love that conversation between Tanith and Jen about Nick. They seriously needed to talk about it, and I love that Jen understands why Tanith had to do it. But she's clearly not spent enough time round Tanith if she thinks she's only "occasionally" hypocritical and "sometimes" narrow-minded! No, I'm being cruel. I love Tanith, and I really don't think her flaws are as bad as Jen makes them out to be. But kudos to Jen, for ... not necessarily being the BIGGER person, but for not holding a grudge, which would have been the easy thing to do.

And then Jen tells Tanith to do her job as she should, and asks to be released in nearly the same breath. When Tanith CAN'T do that. Frustrating - but oh Tanith, CHARGING her? Eh, the alibi's dodgy and she has to follow it up but does the alibi prove enough to CHARGE Jen? But I guess she doesn't have any other choice (except for following up Tom's non-alibi but hey). It's a sorry state of affairs, it really is.

Tobias suggesting Legilimency, BAD MOVE GREY. If there's one thing Tanith will object to, that will be it, given her torture by Legilimency last year. But other than that, he does a good job. He can always make her feel better, when he's not the one causing the problem. Happy T/T times!

Author's Response: At the beginning, Jen isn't so much trying to wrangle with personal feelings so much as is telling Tanith that she already HAS an alibi, so why are they going over this again? As is by now clear, Jen thought the alibi was fine. So she's dubious about being questioned about it. But yes, Tanith is backed into a corner here, and it's a little bit a corner of her own making because she CHOSE to believe Gabriel even when she suspected he was lying.

Tom's alibi is not very strong, nope. But it's enough for him to slip through the cracks for now when they have a far BIGGER incongruity in front of them (and, as will become apparent, limited resources while everyone's focused on the election). And alas, that's all Tom will provde to need.

I forget sometimes that Gabe really does get some of the more eloquent soliloquys of these stories. You'd always expect it to be Tobias, but I think it's 'cos Gabe keeps stuff pent-up, sometimes it just comes tumbling out.

Yeah, I had to go back and write in this conversation of Jen and Tanith. Originally this was a much worse scene where Jen wound up being difficult for the SAKE of being difficult, which on reflection was out of character for her. So that got ditched and I realised I'd NEVER written a confrontation on the Nick issue. So that scene was actually the very last I wrote in the entire story! Which is good, I do enjoy the Jen/Tanith conflict; two people on the same side with similar principles who just don't/can't get on. Jen respects her, and in normal circumstances DOES trust her, and maybe CAN grow to like her. But she's not blind to her flaws, or as indulgent as the men who've been around her since she was a petulant eleven year-old are ('cos let's face it, Tanith gets away with MURDER in how she behaves towards Toby, Cal, and Gabe sometimes).

Jen's logic is that Tanith needs to play this by the book. She's not so much asking her to cut corners as to either do it right, or don't do it at all. It's over the top of Tanith to charge her, but it's what Jen's pushing for because she reckons that she'll be safest if everything is done in the Bright Light of Day; deals in back alleyways are what she doesn't trust after it almost screwed over Lackardy for a crime he didn't commit. The system is not perfect yet, even if it's Jen's own system.

Yeahhh, I couldn't quite make as much of a point on the Legilimency issue as I'd have liked, so Tanith's knee-jerk reaction will have to stand. Either way, he's making her feel better, and for ONCE T/T are the thing standing strong and mature and sensible in a time of strife! Instead of exploding when they have no reason to. Thanks for reviewing!

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Lyndon holds a campaign in a restaurant, and Corvus holds a full on gala in his ballroom. How very pureblood of him!

The tension between Tristan and the Corvus campaigners is wonderful here. There's a lot of humour and pleasantries on the surface but nobody shies away from making little digs wherever possible. Also, the difference between society in Britain and the US has been mentioned before, but here it highlights really well how Astoria's time in the US has influenced her views on British society, and why it means she'd be both pleased and saddened to see the end of the hierarchy at the same time.

Corvus' speech just emphasises how Rhodes' anti-pureblood propaganda undermines his own campaign. And indeed, it's very easy to see how Corvus could gather such support from purebloods, even those who aren't murderous ex-Death Eaters. Rhodes' persecution of them is just going to push them in Corvus' direction. But then I suppose Rhodes wouldn't consider that a bad thing per se, as he's hardly appealing to purebloods for votes. It may help Lyndon though, because he's in the position where he could garner the support of purebloods who feel victimised by Rhodes but don't see eye to eye with Corvus either.

I've been looking forward to the first Draco/Astoria interaction! His motives in inviting her intrigue me as much as her; I doubt he's scouting for a wife just yet! They are utterly engaging as a pair; there's a lot of chemistry there and if they weren't on opposing sides in this election campaign (because I get the feeling that Astoria is near-enough on Lyndon's team, and besides, she clearly doesn't agree with Corvus' own campaign) then they'd get on very well. It's a promising start and it will be interesting to see how things develop as the election campaign goes on.

Astoria's father's influence on her actions is intriguing. It seemed as though the Greengrasses weren't full supporters of Voldemort - after all, given that Tristan doesn't seem to group himself with the purebloods any more, and Astoria's views are fairly liberal (though admittedly influenced by her time in the US) it seemed unlikely that Greengrass Sr would be a fully fledged Death Eater. And that turns out to be the case. But he still supported Voldemort to some extent. Interesting.

I love the Corvus tactic here - that they WANT Astoria to be involved with Lyndon's campaign in order to derail Rhodes. I have a feeling that that may backfire, as if Lyndon receives too much support he may well snatch the rug from under Corvus' feet. It will make things interesting if it means that they're trying to encourage Astoria's involvement, though. Draco's take on her is amusing, because he ALMOST finds himself impressed by Astoria's strengths within politics - until he adds on the condition that she's impressive for an American. Malfoys can't give anyone credit easily!

Aha, trying to get the media on side. Yet more political manoeuvring. I'm not so sure if the Wizarding Wireless Network will side with Corvus ... or whether Lyndon's lot will get there first? If so, I suspect Astoria involvement.

Also, I love all of the different varieties of brandy and wine and whatnot. Expensive liquor is important in pureblood circles!

I'm really enjoying this fic so far, I absolutely love all the political goings-on! I hope you update soon. :)

Author's Response: Hi again!

The little digs between Tristan and Corvus' side were fun to write in. Tristan definitely isn't the sort to let that opportunity go.

Astoria's time in the US has changed her. She has had such a privileged upbringing and then been sent over to America for a culture shock (I've assumed that America would not have such strict blood views). Corvus' gala is a blast from the past - it's all childhood and bittersweet memories. I love the idea of pureblood balls and the romanticism of them so I did like setting Corvus' gala at one.

Rhodes' anti-pureblood propaganda is certainly helping Corvus. It presents Corvus with the opportunity of something to mobilise and fight against, and the Corvus v. Rhodes match-up will be playing a larger role later on.

Lyndon is sitting in a very fortunate niche!

The Draco/Astoria has been a long time coming! I debated on bringing it in earlier but just couldn't do it - there was a lot of scene-setting that had to happen first. This is the second review of this chap that has mentioned chemistry, which makes me chuffed to no end - that's exactly what I was going for! I don’t want to plot spoil on this bit so I'll stop typing :-)

The Greengrass family is just another pureblood family that Voldemort has managed to take the wrecking ball to. Astoria's father will impact little sections of plot and his involvement in Voldemort's ranks become clearer as it goes on.

I'm so glad you liked Corvus' strategy - I thought it may come across as 'well, you've just added that strategy in there because it gives the opportunity for gratuitous Draco/Astoria action'. While I never say no to gratuitous Draco/Astoria, it benefits Corvus immensely to keep all three of his opponents in play. Removing any one of them only weakens his position. Far better that Astoria evens the field!

Of course Lucius would go straight for the WWN, there's no end to the Malfoy cunning :-)

Ha - very important for the purebloods to have extravagant drinks like dragon brandy and such for a tipple.

Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! I was so stoked to log on and see one on each chap. It's good to see that the important points are being picked up on and that the ship seems to be working so far! :-)

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