Cassandra30 posted a comment on Tuesday 16th August 2011 2:26am for The Duelling Club

Excellent! I like the presents given to Hagrid! Very nice!

mantis posted a comment on Tuesday 14th April 2009 7:06pm for The Duelling Club

I don't think butterbeer is supposed to be an intoxicant to anyone but house-elves; my impression was always that it's the wizarding equivalent of root beer or ginger ale.

"'But even if you did tell her,' George agreed, 'we’ll just mention that you slipped and called her ‘Mum’ and she’ll forget why she was mad.'" Yeah, Molly's sentimental that way.

I assume it was the "agent in place" from the previous chapter that sniped Cho? I wonder what he's up to...

The discussion of different styles of Occlumency was interesting. I did something similar in my own fic, but my interpretation was that the difference was skill level rather than method, with simple blocking the most elementary form of Occlumency, while a much greater level of ability is required to successfully deceive a Legilimens while appearing to be completely open and honest, as Snape does with Lord Voldemort.

Harry and friends giving Snape a standing ovation was hilarious -- not only did Snape deserve it for putting Lockhart in his place, it would just have to confuse the hell out of him and the Slytherins.

Deflecting Draco's curses onto his cronies was a nice touch -- sometime the best offense is a good defense. Throwing Snape's cruel comment to Hermione back at him was awesome, too.

You do McGonagall's acerbic voice very, very well.

I liked Dumbledore shutting the door with a wave of his hand. In general, I don't buy wandless magic in fanon -- all canon evidence points to it being impossible, with a few very special exceptions like Apparition, flight, and potions, I think that little detail wasn't so much "wandless magic" me as the [i]castle's[/i] magic obeying the will of its Headmaster.

Having Dumbledore reveal the prophecy to his friends while one or two of them might still be vulnerable to Legilimency doesn't seem like such a good idea -- surely it would be better, especially in this AU where Snape is noticeably worse than in canon, if the Potions Master never learned more of the prophecy than the fragment he originally overheard. However, it is good to see him taking steps toward building an alliance with the Headmaster instead of being at odds with him, and strengthening his relationship with McGonagall as well. The latter, I think, could be considered part of Harry's "family of choice" (c.f. [url=http://www.vachss.com]Andrew Vachss[/url]) in canon; recall that the thing that drove him into the kind of white-hot rage it took to cast a really effective Cruciatus was Amycus Carrow spitting in McGonagall's face.

Good thought, getting Hermione started on researching methods of cheating death this early in the timeline. Now he just needs to find some plausible way to expose the diary. It was that, after all, that revealed the truth to Dumbledore before -- he recognized it for what it was, and surmised, based on the way Voldemort used it as a weapon, that it was one of several Horcruxes.

I like the early start to the DA. Wonder if any Slytherins will want to join?

Perceptive!Luna is a little bit scary... I don't think Neville has a chance. Not that he seems to mind.

I don't think Harry really needed to be so alarmed about waking up to find Ginny snuggled up to him; given that they're fully dressed, it's really not all that compromising a position. Luna sitting on Neville's lap is probably more suggestive, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if Ginny "forgot" her cloak on purpose to have an excuse to snuggle with Harry, though.

Something going on there at the end... on to the next chapter to see what it is. Maybe the Dementors will be searching the train this trip instead of on the way to Hogwarts next year; Sirius has, at least supposedly, escaped already, after all.

Jizzle posted a comment on Tuesday 4th March 2008 10:35am for The Duelling Club

"Ron and the others protested when they were asked to wait outside the treatment area. It would be curfew soon and they didn’t want to be shooed back to the Gryffindor tower without Harry. But as he sat there on a bed with his robes and shirt removed, Harry began to regret interceding with Madam Pomfrey. Ginny applied a great deal of concentration to casting Scourgify on Harry’s blood-stained robes."

Huh? What the hell is going on here? Why is Ginny cleaning Harry's robes when she's out in the hall? What interceding is Harry pulling? And where do McGonnagal and Dumbledore come from immediately following this passage. Truly, it is an awful transition.

Viridian replied:

They were asked to leave, but Harry interceded on their behalf. He later regretted that when Madam Pomfrey had him take of his robes and his shirt and he began to feel a bit self-conscious. I thought it was clear that they hadn't left.

And it's implied from their dialogue that Albus and Minerva had just come from a meeting with Snape.

TxA_GunFighter posted a comment on Saturday 24th November 2007 4:39pm for The Duelling Club

Very good chapter.

gunny

Aaran St Vines posted a comment on Wednesday 1st November 2006 1:47am for The Duelling Club

The whole Dueling Club episode was brilliant.

Dumbledore telling Harry and his friends the prophecy at this point is really appropriate.

Telling that Snape did nothing to Draco but wanted Harry censured after the duel was a very good point.

I'm going through writing Harry discussing with Dumbledore the moral questions of right and wrong as they apply to Draco and Snape. This chapter did a very good job of making the point from a second-year's perspective.

Cheers!

frat posted a comment on Tuesday 10th October 2006 11:14am for The Duelling Club

in the dueling club chapter you menchined harry,ron,hermione,and neville not working with the others in the practical lessons with others because they practiced extra but you say "Whenever Lockhart told them to pair off, the two boys and two girls made sure they hooked up." who is the second girl and where is the third guy?

Viridian replied:

The two boys are Seamus and Dean, and the two girls are Lavender and Parvati... they really didn't  want to practice against Harry and his friends, not with all the extra training they are going through!

Zarz posted a comment on Wednesday 28th June 2006 12:01pm for The Duelling Club

This is really, really cool, and even better now that I'm rereading it for the fourth or fifth time! I love how the group is improving from their original time! My one regret is that by fifth year things will likely change enough that Umbridge will not be sent to Hogwarts. After hearing what they've been doing to Lockhart, I'd absolutely love to see them get one over on Umbridge! No doubt she'd be out of the castle in weeks! Please put a scene in somewhere about Umbridge coming into the school and getting completely confounded by the group! And I can't wait to see more of the DA. Really, really great work! Good job, congratulations, and I'm desperately waiting for the next update!

Patches posted a comment on Saturday 25th March 2006 6:19am for The Duelling Club

I am really enjoying this story. I can't imagine trying to keep all the knowledge of being a 30 year old man straight with being a 12 year old boy. I think it is great the way the "children" have all paired off at such an early age. Very good writing. Thank you for a very enjoyable story. I look forward to more.
pms