Not at all the way I expected this story to end, but then I don't really know how it could have ended well. Anyway, excellent writing and a unique story that was difficult to put down.

Author's Response: I do like to think the story was a bit different, and while I know the ending has split opinion, it seems logical to me. Thanks for being brave and seeing it through to the end.

Have clearly enjoyed my latest re-read of this one.

With a million+ HP fanfics, can say this for sure...but I certainly never encountered on with a similar ending!

Utterly logical. Thanks for the creative gift.





Author's Response: It's definitely a Marmite ending - you either love it or hate it. It certainly seems logical to me, but then again, maybe I'm not the best person to judge.

Wonderful! I was about to conclude that there was no happy ending available to Harry and Ginevra! It hadn't dawned on me that he might catch a clue and walk away! Excellent! I only wish I could have seen the gruesome demise of Percy and, perhaps, tht terrible shrew of a mother named Molly! Oh, well ... very enjoyable reading!

Author's Response: I have to leave some things to your imagination! Actually, I purposely left out the details of what happened to the Weasleys as I imagined that Harry and Ginny wouldn't have made any effort to find out. They walked away without a backward glance and severed their ties with England. Funny, this ending has really divided opinion, with some people hating it and others thinking it made sense. Personally, I always thought there should be a story where Harry sticks two fingers up at everyone and legs it.

I'm sorry that you were offended by my first review after the last chapter. I certainly did not intend to suggest that you are a "lazy writer"...I thought that would be clear by my describing you as "an excellent writer...one of the best in the HP fandom".

The speed with which events drew to a close in the last few chapters surprised me and it did occur to me that you had perhaps lost interest in this story, possibly due to having something else exciting on which you wanted to place your time and energy. That would be perfectly understandable to me, and would not at all indicate laziness as a writer. As a knitter, I believe that life is too short to knit with ugly yarn. I can imagine a writer might feel that life is too short to continue a story one might (MIGHT!!!) feel less enthusiastic about than originally, especially if some new plot was niggling at me....er, you.....whatever.

Because I consider to you be an excellent writer, and because I have read everything else you have written on this site, I felt that your treatment of the end of this story was a departure from your usual style.....which is fine if that is what you wanted to do as a writer. But, as a reader, I found the conclusion to be less satisfying than I usually do when reading your work, and not as complex as the first half of the story led me to expect.

And I thought that you would want --and could handle-- my honest opinion of the ending of this unusual and intriguing story. I was not making comments about you as a writer....except for the "excellent" and "best" parts. Surely you can accept that?

Author's Response: I can certainly accept you didn't intend to insult me personally, but that's pretty much how I read it. 'Hail Odysseus' was a difficult story to write and I ended up scrapping the first four chapters I wrote because I wasn't satisfied with it. The idea that someone would think that I just became disinterested by the story and hurried to finish it did annoy me, I must admit. As I noted in my reply, and have commented on in numerous reviews, I never start posting a story until it's completely finished, so the ending was entirely by choice. I knew some people wouldn't like it, although in the end it's turned out to be far fewer than I expected. I don't like playing things safe, so I will throw in well-loved character deaths and unexpected endings as I fell it will keep my readers guessing. Please believe me, I completely respect your opinion of the ending and I understand your reasons for doing so. My reaction was based entirely on the belief that I was being criticised personally. If that was not your intention then I accept that and apologise for my sharp comments.

This was a fabulous story and I loved every chapter. Very well written. Very well plotted. The ending was awesome. Harry should have said screw you and left!! What choice did he have with the ministry of magic coming after he and Ginny? Snape in Dallas...how can you not love that? And Harry reuniting with Sirius? Wonderful! I love your stories. You write the best AU hands down. Hope you are well on your way through your next story.....bright spot of any day when one of your stories pop up

Author's Response: It's nice to see a lot of readers see things the same way as me. Harry really had no choice, did he? Maybe I should write a related story of Snape's time in America and how he ended up in Dallas. I like to imagine it was purely by mistake. :-) Thanks for reading.

Well, that was a little bit of a let down and a cop out.

The ending seemed to me a little to fast for me. No Bellatrix torture, no final battle with the Ministry or Voldie.

Overall, the story was great and can't wait to read more from you. As always.

Thanks for sharing.

Author's Response: Skip to the next one...

I can't believe u allowed voldy to live and Harry and Ginny where smart to do what they are doing.... Kutgw

Author's Response: Ah ha! I'm the master of surprises! Thanks for all your reviews throughout the story, btw. Cheers!

The end is here to another excellent story! I had imagined a somewhat different outcome (with Harry+Ginny killing Voldemort, then leaving Britain) but your ending makes good sense and it is your story after all. Harry, like throughout the rest of this story, makes a snap decision, only this time he actually makes sure (or at least as sure as he can be) that it will go his way before setting things in motion. All in all very much in character with a Slytherin!Harry while also showing that he has gone through some further personal development.

Before leaving this review, I read those posted by others and see that you received mixed comments. I, for one, am on the side that does love this story, just because it veers off the beaten paths of HP fanfiction, and can't wait to read your next masterpiece.

Author's Response: The trouble with writing Harry Potter fan fiction is that after a while all your stories can end up seeming a bit same-ish. I'd already done a story where there's a big battle and Harry kills Voldemort in a duel (Butterfly Effect) and even one where all the Horcruxes were destroyed while he doesn't have a body (Thorny Rose) so I wanted to come up with something different this time. Harry just walking away while Voldemort is alive and well just felt like a fresh twist, but him destroying the last Horcrux before he went gave it credibility, in my mind. Perhaps next time I'll have Harry make a few Horcruxes of his own - now that would be different!

I remember saying back in August when you started uploading this story that this would be one of the best Harry/Ginny stories that I've read? Well, you've done it! And you surprised me with that ending. It did end kinda abruptly for my taste, but as I thought about it it made more and more sense. It would totally be like Slytherin! Harry to cut a truce with Voldie. And anyway, why would Harry risk his neck for a society that has treated him badly? No, Harry's better off with Ginny in America.
A few words about the controversy of this story. Yes, I think it was to be expected that this would be a controversial story, specifically with the ending. But in my view, Butterfly Effect beats it. Keeping Harry and Ginny apart for more than 20 chapters on a Harry/Ginny site would probably put you down on some lists of murder :P
I'd just like to know, what became of the Weasleys?
Thank you for this story and hope for more to come!

Author's Response: Yeah, I don't think I'd go down the 'Butterfly Effect' route again, but, again, I think it made sense to do it that way rather then come up with some artificial and forced reason to put a young Harry and Ginny together. I'm sensing a trend here, with lot's of reviews admitting they didn't like the ending until they sat and thought about it a while. I wanted it to be a bit of a shock and 'in your face', but I did lay a logical path leading up to that point. Oh, and as for the Weasleys, no one knows. Harry and Ginny never did find out what happened to them... ;-)

Well done and an appropriate ending to your story. This is one of the few Slytherin Harry stories I have enjoyed and the end was fitting. Some of the other stories I have read over the years in this genre end with the happy ending of everyone coming to their senses and wrapping it up in a big happy fluffy bow tie. This one was different and ended logically and showed how things would play out in the real world. Not every ending is a happy ending but just and ending. I congratulate you on taking that risk and being successful.

Well done and I look forward to the next road you take us down.

Author's Response: I know what you mean, and I really didn't want this story to have a fluffy ending, with Dumbledore admitting he'd got it all wrong and the Weasleys welcoming Harry into the family with open arms. No Hollywood endings on my watch! Thanks for reading.