Musings of Apathy posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:19pm for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Well, Matt, that was an excellent chapter. One of the best compliments in my opinion would be that a chapter was logical. And your chapter was logical. The plot points from previous chapters and this one flowed logically, cause and effect. Too many authors choose to wield the surprise plot twist without setting it up in the least. Surprises and plot twists can be set up without it being obvious that they are coming. All of the plot points that you made were justified and earned. Thank you for being a careful writer and thoroughly covering your plot curve.

Thank you for writing and sharing.

Mike.

LoggingInSucksAss posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:09pm for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

I'm going to hazard a guess that the Naruto fic gets more reviews because there's less competition. Most Narufic is CRAP, most Narufic is SLASH (and what's not is SasuSaku primarily) and your story is oh so deliciously none of that. :-)

It's actually because of that story that I'm reading this one. This is only the second or so H/G fic I've ever seen fit to read, and I've written a couple HP fics in the last four or five years (all H/Hr though). If I don't know ahead of time that an H/G author is what I consider a truly entertaining (and sufficiently literate) storyteller, I won't touch their fics for love nor money.

It sounds condescending, but you should be proud just of the fact that I'm reading this story at all. If I didn't absolutely think it's the best thing since white pizza with extra garlic, you wouldn't see me with an H/G fic -ever-. This is a DAMN good read.

vl100butch posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 1:12pm for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Good stuff, I still can't stand Percy---what I haven't heard Sirius talking about in this chapter is doing some grave robbing, if he really wants to protect Harry, to my mind that is the way.

Yonexcannon posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 8:11am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

After reading your author notes I am going to leave this review out of shame since I have been reaping the benefits of your writing for months without giving you any feedback.

I think that this chapter is absolutely brilliant and I wonder what is going to happen with several ongoing storylines. First, I am curious about how Harry's feelings are changing towards Ginny and whether anything will happen to recenter his affection.

I am also very curious about Sirius and wonder how much he could reveal about Harry if he ever were caught by the Ministry (or worse by a Death Eater) and put under a truth serum.

Finally, I wonder whether Harry's new [large] friend in Slytherin might play a role in helping him avoid whatever foul plot is afoot.

Thanks for the great work. keep it up.

Meteoricshipyards posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 7:06am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Good chapter. Wonder what Snape will do when all the students can keep him out. Interesting little foreshadowing with the "agent-in-place" ("Foreshadowing- your clue to good literature"-Milo Bloom, Bloom County :-) Looking forward to finding what that's all about.

I really liked that bit with Melissa. There's possibilities there for changes to the time line that most people don't consider.

Harry talking in his sleep - a bit dangerous for him.

Drunken Style Kung Fu! Love Luna!

Thanks for writing. Looking forward to more.

Tom A.

Sssith posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 6:46am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

As enjoyable as always. Personally I think you should forget about that Naruto fic and concentrate on this one. ;-)

Harry 4Eyes posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 6:36am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Did you just imply Cedric is Gay? a 5th year Prefect from Hufflepuff that would be Cedric right? unless he wasn't a prefect, I always thought he was made out to be mr Perfect so would naturally be a prefect.

Anyway can I just say I love your fic, it is very well thought out and deployed, most time travel fics are very inconsistent and don't take into consideration how changing one thing could affect something else completely unrelated.

And Bloody hell it's nice and long, yet not filled with mindless, plotless and boring information that you end up skimming and missing something important.

Well very good fic.
Update soon..or not I know how real life can get in the ways of writing.
Harry

Quizer posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 6:03am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Hey Matthew, thanks for another update!! The chapter was great, there's only one little thing that I disagree with. The following passage deals with Ginny's apparent lack of mental defenses against Harry:

> Harry was glad this wouldn’t set them back,
> but he was also curious as to why this would
> be the case. He didn’t know if they shared
> some unusual mental affinity, or if it was
> just due to their close friendship. For
> purposes of his timetable, it didn’t really
> matter.

I don't think Harry is that dense. He should realize that Ginny subconsciously lowers her barriers because she likes Harry and actually wants him in her mind. Is Harry so oblivious or caught up in his doubts that he doesn't even consider the possibility of Ginny actively liking him?

Other than that, I can find no fault with this chapter. I especially liked the prank on Fred and George. I did have a distinct sense of déja vu when reading it, though. I think I remember a similar scene from a different author that unleashed Millicent on Ron much the same way. Funny, eh? :)

I hope Harry's friends master their Occlumency soon. The strain of all those secrets is getting to Harry big time.
The conversation with Percy was very well done, and extremely unique. Congratulations on that scene.

I'm looking forward to the next update, be it for this story, or Team 8 !!!


Quizer

luisalexandre posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 5:44am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

there's not much to say about the chapter except that it lives to the very high standards of the story. It wasn ´t the most eventfull of chapters, in the sense that there where no big plot points developed, but it's still very enjoyable to read, cause it's so very well written

Queberjeque posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 4:34am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

The 'unknown agent' idea is a good one, I'm eagerly awaiting finding out who it is. I am quite enjoying this story, keep up the good work.

Nissa posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 3:35am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Yummi! This was great. I absolutely love your story. The whole valentine episode was really funny and I like Melissa very much. It could be interesting to get some interaction with Millicent. There are not enough Slytherins in this story so far. *hehe* Yeah, as you probably guessed I ´m one of the people who believe that not everybody in Slytherin could be evil. There are more guys in Harrys year than just Draco Malfoy and his cronies.

I must say, I also like Percy, and I hope to see more of him soon. He's a very interesing character, in the books as well as in your story. I believe I understand him in a way. I don't think it's easy to live in such a huge family like the Weasleys and be so different from his brothers the same time. I don't think he gets much attention from anybody at home. He does well in school, but his older brothers did well, too, so I could imagine his parents half expected it from him. It's hard do meet the expectations, but if you did, it's nothing special.
And then there are Fred and George. I think Molly and Arthur have all hands full to control the two. They get the whole attention and popularity without caring for school marks. I bet Percy is jealous of them. He could be head boy thrice and would never be that popular. And I couldn't imagine he's oblivious to that.
We know Ron has similar problems in the books, though his friendship to Harry smooth it out a little bit. But he's still jealous sometimes. It don't seems that Percy has any friends beside Penelope.

In book four it catch's my eye that nobody in his family takes Percy really serious. Nobody really understands his thirst to stand out of the crowd. To be noticed as a unique being and not to be "just another Weasley". To gain something on his own. Fred and George are making constantly fun of him. I think he's too bright not to realise it. That must hurt.
I think his seperation from his family was a process that one could have expected after all.

But enough of Rowlings Percy. I'm very curious how he would develop in YOUR story. You made some changes allready and I like them. I hope Harry helps him a little bit to get out of his shell without breaking completely with his family.

By the way, you mentioned that the hat had considered to make him a Ravenclaw. I believe that he would had considered to sort him into Slytherin as well. If there is any Gryffindor who's ambitious, than it's him. And no, I don't believe ambitions are bad per se. Without ambitions that drive people forward, nothing would ever change in the world. (May it bad or good. Stagnation is worse.)

Sorry about this long babbling about Percy, but you asked about reviews and I didn't want to leave just a plain "Awesome story, please keep on". Though it is, without a doubt.

Ok, I hope I haven't made to much spelling/grammar mistakes and you could still understand what I wanted to express. *g*
English is not my first language and I read it quite better than write it.

Ghostdraconi posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:47am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Nice Fic and I like the turnaround with Melissa.

Mickey posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:30am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Very nice chapter. As usual I really liked your charactarization, praticularly Luna - The scene with her signing her valentine note was priceless.

Your handeling of Percy was intresting, although I note that while his oath prevents him from acting as he had in canon he can still end up doing stuff that might do great harm believing he's acting in his family's best intrest.

I like how the Harry-Ginny relationship is developing, I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen only to have you pull another plot twist out of your hat. Keep up the good work, and update as soon as you can.

The Unicorn

ichtys posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:21am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

I like the beginning of this chapter. Most of all because of the time that has passed since the end of last chapter. (That is story time; NOT update time ;-) ). I hate reading stories where the author feel the need of telling every thing hat happened every day in the story. It works much better just telling the important things that happened, and the small flashbacks you use in this chapter to tell the important things that happened in the last (idle) week works wonderfully.
Reading the little exchange between Harry and George in the kitchen made me wonder if Harry wasn't being very careless. The Twins are portrayed as very intelligent, so isn't it a liability for Harry to let slip that he knows about the Joke Shop. If the twins took the time to sit down and sorting out all the "wierd" things that Harry has let slip, I'm sure they could reach the conclusion that he has superior knowledge with no obvious sources of said knowledge (knowing their names on the train is VERY suspicious considering he vas raised by Muggles). He could also have been mistacken. In canon the jokeshop isn't mentioned untill GOF (IIRC), so it could be that the Twins didn't get the idea untill sometime during POA.
About Ginny's reaction to Harry's action during the "New Year tradition", I have the feeling that Harry (and the reader) is missing some information. Harry is definately reacting to Ginny's proximity, and out of fear of what he would do if they actually kissed, he takes the safe option and kisses the crown of her head (which is less intimate than Hermione ´s and Ron ´s). First time I read this chapter I wondered why Ginny reacted in the way she did. Now I assume it is because she fears that Harry is trying to get some distance between them. In NoFP Harry ´s and Ginny ´s relationship is closer than Hermione ´s and Ron ´s, so obviously she is dissapointed that Harry wouldn't give her a more intimate kiss than he did. As I said I thought it was a little strange the first time I read it, but now it makes sence. Ginny is -no matter how close she is to Harry- still only 11 years old, so it would be natural if she sometimes was doubtfull about their relationship. That said, I would still like an explanation about this tradition.
Isn't it a bit cold to walk the wards in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, only clad in trousers and a jumper pulled over a pyjamas. I would at least take some shoes and a jacket on.
I'm a little concerned about Harry being to obvious around Percy. Telling him he knows about Penelope was, IMO, very risky since Percy obviously is very intelligent. This could of course be a part of the Author ´s unwailing of this new Harry: the Harry that has difficulties keeping his secrets, because his subconsious is yearning to come clean with his frinds and foster family.
I thought the mysterious boy was Malfoy, but now I'm in doubt. I look forward to see the finished puzzle.
Of course, Fred and George opted for the most mature and level-headed way to handle the situation. When practice was over, they hid in the changing rooms and locked the door. ROFLMAO
I like the way Harry is trying to start the uniting of the houses, not some elaborate scheme; just using the opportunity that comes along.

I look forward to the next chapter, and I might choose to back-track a little, and giving each chapter a review.
Regards Ichtys


SNOT (Smal, Non-essential Omission and/or Typo ´s)
He taken steps to help them as much as he could, to become all that they could be, but a less charitable interpretation was that he’d manipulated them from the start.
-->(should be/could be) He _had_ taken steps... (_missing word_)
Keeping them all alive was more important than hurting his feelings.
--> ...hurting _their_ feelings. (I think Harry is more worried about their feelings than he is about his own)
Professor McGonagall’s left eyebrow raised a half an inch.
-->Professor McGonagall’s left eyebrow raised half an inch. (I'm not sure if this is a mistake, but the "a" seems superfluous. English is my second language, so maybe my first language has a influence on what I see as a mistake. I'm sorry if I'm wrong)
"I’d like to thank the forty-five people who have so far sent me cards!
/*Is Hermione the only one who has changed from the original timline? I thought there would be more than one of Lockhart ´s valentines missing.

Please don't be offended or annoyed by this nitpicking. It is meant as a compliment, not as a way of bothering you. Sometimes nitpicking can be a sport of the reader: Look, all the mistakes I found in this story. This is not my aim/goal. I just want to tell you what I "stumbled on" when I read the story. Then I hope you can use it to get a glimpse of what I thought when I read the story (and maybe change it so it is easier to understand).

Ken Warner posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 2:21am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Sorry Viridian for not reviewing every chapter - this is a quite enjoyable story, just moving a little slowly. I do not know enough background to enjoy Naruto, not being into the anime scene - but my sons are enjoying it also.

I thought you did a marvelous job with pranking the twins and Harry having the guts to go and apologize to Bulstrode.

Sorry that the RL situation takes away from your writing time - a management change just took my job from fabulously enjoyable to barely bearable - so I do understand

yerocfponk posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 1:57am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

I love the story keep up the good work.I like how Harry is tortured by the future, more "realistic" than many stories of this type

Kim Patterson posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 1:27am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Hey Matthew,
Just wanted to say that I absolutely love this story! Of all the travel-back-in-time fics, this is my favorite. I like how all of Harry's friends don't automatically know everything; it draws out the suspense of when that will happen. He did tell Sirius so he has one person to confide in at least. Again, my husband and I greatly enjoy this story and anxiously await the next chapter. By the by, I have some free time and would be happy to beta if you should find you want or need another one. Keep up the great writing!
KJP

jackattack posted a comment on Tuesday 28th March 2006 12:01am for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

I really like how you inserted and developed the Melissa Bulstrode character. You (unlike some authors) didn't settle for the unfair and unfounded cliche that the attention of a girl who is simply overweight and plain is a bad thing in and of itself -- instead, you took the time and effort to explain that she was considered to be bad-tempered and a little violent, PERSONALITY traits that justified the twins' anxiety over her attentions. Then, you gave her additional backstory and fleshed her character out more fully, adding a wicked sense of humor, a keen mind, the requisite Slytherin cunning, family loyalty, and insight that penetrates school politics. Well done, sir!

I'd also like to compliment you on the best approach I've seen to the "future-enhanced-Harry" plot device. You raised the issues of divergence vs inevitability early, you have made Harry anxious without making him maudlin, and you have refrained from making Harry so powerful that victory is a foregone conclusion. Too many authors want to make Harry the most powerful wizard in the history of the world, or load him up with ancient artifacts of incredible power, or weigh him down with contemporary weapons that prove the superiority of technology over magic. Your version of Harry has more advanced KNOWLEDGE of magic, but does not have enhanced power; he knows his friends and associates much better than he would have at his age, but they are not reduced to puppets he can infallibly direct; he is training the group in martial arts, but they are not becoming wu-shu masters. (Do remember, though, that a person who trains against other martial artists is often at a loss fighting those who have no training, as they cannot be reliably predicted and often use improvised moves that cannot be countered effectively -- the best way to deal with a black belt is often to tackle him and not let him get up.) Your version of Harry has balance, and the reader can see that the outcome of his struggle against Voldemort is NOT a dead lock either way. Again, well done.

DDragon posted a comment on Monday 27th March 2006 11:17pm for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Another excellent chapther.

I really like the OC Bulstrode, it gave the story a nice twist. Hope to see her again.

I can't wait to see what happens when Harry decides to tell everyone his little secret.

I really love your story

brad posted a comment on Monday 27th March 2006 10:01pm for Mistletoe and Misshapen Musical Messengers

Excellent chapter. Chock full of content - plot and intrigue - that kept me solidly immersed from start to finish. With a real sense of overall tension building steadily throughout. I'm worried about the agent-in-place - Harry really hasn't had a major setback to his plans yet, has he? - but also about how his friends will react when he can finally tell them his secrets (so soon as the end of this second year?!). You've done a marvellous job on building up the suspense on that score. Luna turned out to be of great utility for that purpose in this chapter, didn't she?

I know people on your Yahoo group have been starting to ruminate over what the responses will be from Harry's comrades when he can tell them the truth; I've already left my own opinion over in your ffa forum. I just can't wait to see how you handle it.

Some silly little spelling/grammar mistakes and such sprinkled throughout the chapter; is it only the ps.net version which is beta'ed? No super big deal, I only really noticed them on my second read through ... :-)

I thought the segment with Percy and also Harry's dream-talking in the car were both brilliant. And really raised the stakes in Harry's eventual unveiling of his secrets a notch or two, as I've said. Honestly, I quite like the Percy you have here. In the last couple of the canon books I've wanted to take him aside, shake him and remind him that he's a WEASLEY, dammit. Your Percy here still is, as well as being perceptive and keeping Harry on his toes; and Harry's been 'shaking' him on my behalf, making him think (in earlier chapters also). Great stuff.

I guess this chapter saw the first real crystallisation of the Ministry sextet into couples, what with the mistletoe kisses? Luna/Neville, Ron/Hermione, and Harry/Ginny, with the girls only kissing one boy and not everyone in the group.

As to why the kiss with Ginny felt 'wrong' to Harry, I can only suspect it's due to the age difference? Until his thought that he found it 'wrong' I held the scene to be quite powerful, with old memories threatening to overcome him; I didn't think there was any more to it other than memories and his feelings for Ginny until that later paragraph. If it *is* a case of Harry feeling too old then I wonder how you're going to handle that as the story progresses? Just how many years is this story going to encompass?

Loved the Harry/Sirius snippets, giving Harry a chance to have some discourse as his true adult(-ish) self.

Hermione's swan song was very moving. Sniff.

Nice ending ... I forget if Millicent was one of Draco's "sycophants" in canon - was she in the Inquisition Squad? - but it would be nice to see Harry redeem her - free her from Draco's poisonous influence - in addition to his efforts closer to home. Dunno if your story will be big enough to include such peripheral little side-plots, though.

Great chapter, wonderful read. Now we have to endure the wait for its successor! Thanks for continuing your story.