By Aaran St Vines
Reviews
Raven Laehnart posted a comment on Thursday 28th February 2008 6:00pm
Clarinda Jordan's: For the How and Now of Wizarding Fashion.
kyoshi posted a comment on Wednesday 27th February 2008 3:34pm
I'm sorry you go into mundane facts about bit players in the scheme of things that don't really matter. I have to skip 5 to 10 paragraphs at a time to find something interesting. If you could cut down the length of a story to about half it would be about right.
kyoshi posted a comment on Wednesday 27th February 2008 10:00am
All hand guns are illegal in Britain.
I really think you over did it with mrs. Granger being a martial artist extrodinare. I teach martial arts and it takes years to acquire the skill. regards kyoshi
Megan posted a comment on Monday 18th February 2008 10:48pm
Wow! The more I read the more I am impressed. Just the way that you explain all the ideas and concepts. I really have felt immersed in the story as if the HP universe was real and that I am a part of it. I believe I may have read some of your work previously but this one especially has blown me away. I could go on in this vein for ages before I even began to discuss the verious plots and sub plots. I can't wait to reread this one and pick up all the little clues I may have missed the first time round.
Megan posted a comment on Monday 18th February 2008 6:03pm
I'm sorry that you & your work have suffered at the hands of small minded individuals. I emphatically disagree with them. Having religion in the story adds a great deal to the potterverse and in particular to your work. I look forward to finishing this brilliant story.
Paul10 posted a comment on Tuesday 12th February 2008 12:44am
jordan's robes for all occasions nice and simple quite to the point lol and great story so far i plannin on readin gsptiw (can u guess waht that meens it not a typo lol) but its like six storys down my list as it is very simalar to this one
ne ways great story hope to c more chapters soon
jakjakattk posted a comment on Monday 7th January 2008 5:03pm
You have a really great story going here, keep up the writing.
waiting for more,
jakjakattk
lr_williams posted a comment on Monday 7th January 2008 9:41am
As always, I'm enjoying your writing, very much. Very, very much. Everyday I check the website for an update, even though I have the email notice set. I enjoy the way you are portraying Harry as a relationship builder, even though he clearly doesn't appreciate how charming he is. Obviously, he'll have his detractors, but this collaborative effort is, at least for me, very rewarding to read. I know life is hard, but please don't make us wait too long.
David305 posted a comment on Thursday 3rd January 2008 1:55pm
Sorry to post twice on the same subject, but this hadn't occurred to me before, and it seems even more conclusive.
In a school of 1000 students, 1/7th would be 143 students. (Actually, that's being conservative, because with dropouts after OWLs, there would be many fewer 6th and 7th years, and therefore a lot more first years.)
But let's say, being overly cautious, that there are only 143/1000 first years. And let's say, now being overly generous, that they could all be sorted in a minute each. That's nearly TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF SORTING!
You'll recall that the Express always arrives at Hogwarts after dusk. The World Clock gives sunset for Edinburgh on Sept. 1 at 8:06 pm BST. (That was how we guessed in Book 1 that Hogwarts had to be in Scotland. A nine-hour trip from London could not have ended south of Scotland, even with a very slow train.)
So if they arrive no earlier than 8:06, and then they still have to cross the lake, and if lucky and nimble they get to the sorting at 8:30, and -- at top possible speed -- take two and a half more hours to be sorted, the kids won't even start to eat till 11 pm! After nothing more than a few bits of candy off the trolley to hold them all day since breakfast? They'd be fainting right and left.
But with just 40 kids, they'd be done with the sorting by 9:30. That's still late for 11-year-olds to be eating dinner, but not as impossible.
Indeed, if there were really 1000 kids, and thus at least 143 first years to sort, they'd actually have to send the Express from London at 9 am instead of 11, just to let the kids have some kind of reasonable bedtime -- or else not do the sorting at the opening feast.
The simple logistics therefore make JK("Hopeless at Maths")R WRONG about the possible number of students.
Ipso Fatso. (grin) Wizards aren't the only ones who don't think things through logically!
Peace and love,
David
David305 posted a comment on Monday 31st December 2007 10:57am
Still very much enjoying your original and intelligent story. Sorry to be answering this so late, but I only discovered the story lately.
I am a definite fan of the HP stories and JKR's clever story-telling. That said, I also often find myself irritated and frustrated by her flaws and failings (though I forgive her for them, much as Harry learns to forgive Dumbledore for his).
Though her areas of interest are broad, JKR clearly makes no effort to research things she isn't interested in. Her blanket excuse is that she is "Hopeless at maths." This is reflected in her disinterest at co-ordinating the calendar, her giving Flint two 7th years (and brushing it off by saying he failed his first one and had to repeat it -- as though someone that academically hopeless would have still been enrolled after doubtless pitiful showings on his OWLs!) and others. (Indeed, some compulsively fact-checking fans have given the title "Flints" to obvious gaffes and inconsistencies in canon.)
JKR's comment of a thousand students was, if I recall correctly, just made in an interview -- not part of canon. The listing of students, however, IS part of canon, and that would seem to hold more sway.
Starting from the other end, the only evidence we can actually draw from of students per sex per year per house shows 3-5. (In Harry's year, there are 5 boys and 3 girls in Gryffindor.) To be generous and say 5 average, that means
10 per year X
7 years
______
70 per house; X
4 houses
______
280 students.
While the films are not canon, they did need JKR's approval; and the population per house table seems much more like 70 than 250 each.
And the head table is populated by Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, etc. -- and not by a legion of supporting or "associate" professors, as would be needed in a 1000-student school.
More telling, and in canon itself, McGonagall is always THE Transfiguration teacher, and Snape is THE potions teacher -- not merely one of them.
I have no objection to any fanfic author's decision to use this or other dubious JKR interview excerpts as bases for their story, even though I believe that JKR is demonstrably wrong. But -- you asked! Nevertheless, you succeed in making it fit and seem rational, which is all we can ask. Keep it up! Cheers,
David
Melferd posted a comment on Friday 28th December 2007 11:06am
Clarinda's Closet? Too trite?
I just finished all the Jane Austin. I'm an official addict. Harry Potter's great, and you are a brilliant, gifted writer, but THIS IS JANE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. Please do the dishes, vaccum and shop to enable more Jane soon!!!!!
Regal Robes? too snotty? Radical Rags? Radical Robes? Robe Revloution? bah, no wonder I'm a stay at home mommy....
John Wilburn posted a comment on Wednesday 26th December 2007 1:51pm
When I was a teenager, one term for kissing was smooching. A kiss was also called a smooch.
Of course, it's been a very long time since I was a teenager.
John
Prince Charon posted a comment on Wednesday 12th December 2007 3:46pm
You're very good at this. Sheets is going to wish Harry'd never been born, methinks.
Thank you for updating.
More soon, please.
morriganscrow posted a comment on Wednesday 12th December 2007 6:34am
Brilliant chapter!
So many threads, all fascinating, weaving and twisting together into a story of remarkable color, depth and style.
As a pro-Harry/Hermione reader, I much prefer this version to the Harry/Ginny one. Still, the format works with either, and I am reading both.
I look forward to the next update.
John Wilburn posted a comment on Tuesday 11th December 2007 2:28am
Very well written. I like the idea that Mr. Granger is well able to take care of himself and his family.
UdderPD posted a comment on Monday 10th December 2007 3:36am
Excellent, however where was the HP/HG
TTFN UdderPD
Hemotem posted a comment on Monday 10th December 2007 3:01am
A good chapter thank you.
Cheers
Hemotem
Infin1x posted a comment on Sunday 9th December 2007 8:38pm
What you lose for very occasional long windedness you make up with originality, attention to detail and the scope of your writing.
Crys posted a comment on Sunday 9th December 2007 12:53pm
Harry has the papers, so he can negate any good PR Fudge tries, WRT the Thunderfire and the vampire negotiations. Too bad he didn't this time around, though good idea (politically) to have him hold off.
Interesting little note: The Chief Warlock is clearly NOT on Sheet's side. He smacked Sheets and Umbridge down multiple times.
The political maneuvering continues. More secondaries that are intrigued by Benedict's grandson that then stay because of who Harry is.
Tiller had a good point. Dawlish kept showing up just after raids. For damage control, probably. There has to be a proveable connection on that . . .
Glad to see Harry getting a legal connection. So long as he keeps making good choices in who to trust, that'll all go well. When he makes a bad call, it'll explode very messily.
Highly entertaining story you have going here. Looking forward to more.
Asad posted a comment on Tuesday 4th March 2008 8:51pm