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Reviewer: MisterBlack Signed Date: 2016.03.11 - 10:50PM Title: Second Chance
LOL
Oh, goodness. That last bit had me laughing for a good 5 minutes. I can actually picture that perfectly in my head. Poor Hermione going through an adventure on her own to try and protect Harry and Ginny. They are really not making things easy for her.
I am really interested in the Publican's wife (err ex wife?)... who is she and how is it possible she could just brainwash her children to such an extent that they could not ever consider the possibility that they are wrong and their mother was lying?
I guess it does not matter any more. After that heroic rescue there is very little Harry (Publican) can do to ever convince his son's that there is no other woman.
I think I will need to go back and re read the part where Lucius Malfoy and Ginny are "dueling." I was a little bit confused. One minute she is hurling all sorts of spells and the next she realizes she has failed? I admit I was a bit confused by that. Not your fault, GHL. I am just a dummy sometimes. It seems like she got another chance? Hmm carry on.
PS: I am glad to be back (for now). My laptop was finally fixed. It has been difficult to catch up on the stories posted. I am happy to see you did finish this one. I imagine you are either taking a break or perhaps working on Trix?
Author's Response:
First of all, great to hear that your laptop is happy again, and thus great to hear from you!
Ah yes, I do toy with poor Miss Granger quite a bit through this story. In any story where Ginny rises to the fore in the primary plot action, Hermione's canonical role becomes tenuous and awkward and, I fear, it is easiest to just turn it into humour.
Interestingly, you are the first person to ask about the Publican's wife (let's say ex-wife). There is a story there -- a long and complex one that would fit right in with the sort of Roman imperial intrigues that so often involved ambitious women operating on the sidelines. Among Roman historians of the era, there is a common thematic stereotype that Celtic women fought with swords, bows and fists, while the preferred weapons of Roman women were sex, lies and arsenic. In this case, lets throw magic into the mix, along with a secret Xenophobic agenda. One can assume that the marriage was arranged, quite possibly for reasons that involved both politics and a desirable blend of magical bloodlines. The Publican's wife may have been a zealot, but it's just as likely that she was under the influence of them. The children may have been deemed useful from a very young age, and may have been groomed for roles that the Publican himself (an urbane humanist) would find utterly appalling. Of course, that is all just speculation, since the story has yet to be told.
Yes, the cat is indeed out of the bag as far as the Publican's sons becoming aware of a certain Brythonic princess. Yet, a plan that they had been nursing for quite some time has just imploded in most spectacular fashion, and it is possible that Tio and Mus may feel it prudent to withdraw somewhere to lick their wounds, as it were.
Finally, regarding Ginny's second chance, that is indeed intended to be confusing, but important. It shows how the highly nonlinear plot is malleable, especially given people with the power and force of will required to break bounds and prevail. In other words, Ginny.
I would feel guilty about throwing such a relativistic plot twist in there, although the chapter title is there to help readers understand that, no, they did not miss a turn -- things really are that disjointed.
Thank you very much for the detailed thoughts MisterBlack! I am about to embark on a busy rest-of-day, but shall ponder your words and get back to you soon!
Reviewer: Aragorn Signed Date: 2015.10.01 - 05:31PM Title: Second Chance
This is truly one of the most remarkable stories I've encountered in Fanfiction...
Thank you
Author's Response:
Wow! Well I sincerely appreciate that!
It's been my intention to try to make this story fairly unique. That's not always a good thing for all people, but I'm immensely gratified that you're enjoying it!
Thank you Aragorn!
Reviewer: RighT3rantZ Signed Date: 2015.09.15 - 01:01PM Title: Second Chance
No, thank you GHL....mostly
If you find yourself on the same wavelength as I frequently, you know it is a natural phenomenon. I tend to put a lot of thought into what I read and therefore a lot of meaning goes in to so few words when they are typed, for your review of my review for you.
All of the back to Hogwarts stems from 1998, when canon ended. This is why we all love the fanfriction, since it sees the story continuing on past when the original story stopped. That means that all the characters never stopped talking, and polyjuice potion was flowing heavily. Sirius escaped Azkaban, he never died, he just had a slight problem and a lot of stresses in his life. His childhood friends had been killed, Mrs Black died, even though she was pretty much a sicko for a long time.
I am related to the Sphinx, he is from Jamaica. This is known in Trix, Obeah magic is key. It can also be used to get rid of Legates when they lay fingers on the horse head staff. Legates end up going mad in Azkaban where they spek of time share selling to the Dementors guarding them. We do not worry about Legates because our riddles locked them up in the first place.
The trio will be back to form 6, because they are 2. This is correct. Sink your teeth in hard to this review, as I will do for you the same.
Butt seriously, you are my 404 ;)
Author's Response:
Seriously? To me you are diverted when you are lost? That is either frightening or flattering...
I remain a step behind on most fronts, but I'm not falling behind completely. Granger of course can make it six -- how foolish of me to not have seen it before. Patience is a virtue; blessed are the meek; two twos needing for two new to seek.
In your final paragraph, my hazy head still sees far more Trix than Legate, although I was impressed to find that you have taken a step past Ryan and Hermione in unraveling that case. Why Obeah and not O Bo? The answer, as I suspect you know, is language my friend. Just as Rowling is occasionally telling us what names we habitually mispronounce...
I have not yet booked my travel to Sphinx Publications in Jamaica, NY, because I still need to contemplate some anthropofeline riddles.
Reviewer: RighT3rantZ Signed Date: 2015.09.13 - 08:40PM Title: Second Chance
Sweet two horse heads in Camboricum. You know I know, you know. 2 rights and a left is one right angle. Because Legate is not meant to handle that staff and Ginny is only supposed to use it under the Publicans explicit supervision, Hermione seems like she will fall into book form the staff. Hogwarts receives students when old McGonagall visits in person. Owls lack the power of spoken spells with wands.
Author's Response:
You wouldn't be related to the Sphinx, would you? If I'm usually slow in responding to your commentaries, it's because it takes the neurons a while to get on the right wavelength.
The number two, which you use twice in your review, is indeed key. And yes, two right turns and one left turn do amount to having made a single right turn; there is a period of time in which conditions are different, but the end result is indeed a single right angle.The Legate is indeed *not* meant to handle the staff -- I can vouch for that. So who actually is meant to? I know that you know that I know that this is the key focus of your immediate speculation. It took me a while to process your comment about Ginny, but indeed you're right -- although Ginny is an equal participant in the dreams, it is true that the dreams would not exist if not for Harry, and the long-term implications of the dreams impinge primarily on Harry, so yes, his supervision is effectively required for something so fundamental. Good observation.
I am still stewing thoughtfully over your bold prediction about Hermione... Technically there is one path into the first century AD for her. I don't think she would dare take it, would she? Have I set her up so much that I'm now obligated to give her that opportunity? Yikes -- these are perilous grounds. Must consult the Oracle for insight into the climactic confrontation...
And finally, yes, the Hogwarts letters aren't too far in the offing. I had been planning to be quite canonical on mechanism of delivery, but I have yet to sculpt a certain discussion that takes place with the headmaster prior to the drafting of those letters. Sometimes even I can't quite foresee what will happen in the dialogues I write. Your wrinkle-weaving has put me ever-so-slightly off balance (a fact few of my readers would ever question).
Dare I say, thank you, RighT3rantZ!
Author's Response: This is an additional comment intended only to add a italics-closing tag that I must have missed when I responded earlier. Strangely, if I miss one of those, it affects everything ever written previously in the review section. Anyway, from the perspective of content, please disregard. Thanks!
Reviewer: Wolfs_Scream Signed Date: 2015.09.11 - 10:08PM Title: Second Chance
Thank you for including the bits with Sirius -- despite Molly's general disapproval (certainly in canon), he has a great deal of potential.
That Druid is ... remarkably ... perceptive. And seems to have helped steer things in a generally "positive" direction. Or so things seem for now.
Yeah, I can well imagine the Legate/Malfoy sniling.
There's a fair bit of emphasis (throughout both HP canon & fan fiction) on the wondrous ability to be unseen... but even humans have senses that work at some distance other than sight. So one who would be undetected would do well to also address those other senses. And plan on being a bit "unlucky."
The/a Thestral (re-)appeared after (the first) had been dismissed...? Hmmm...
Well! It seems that our Publican is no defeatist! :-)
Hmmm.. So the Publican has a wand that was being used against him. That may well prove "handy."
Heh -- in the last scene, I'm mildly surprised that one of Harry or Ginny didn't point out to Hermione that they couldn't be "impossible," given their evident existence. Maybe Hermione just needs to have a long conversation with Luna.... :-} (To gain some perspective, you see. :-})
Author's Response:
A wonderful review -- thank you David!
I'm glad you like Sirius! This is my first attempt at writing him into any story, mostly because in all my other stories he's either been dead or still in Azkaban. Needless to say, it's been a hoot to craft someone who is both supportive, understanding and deliberately unsettling. And I do agree that he had potential in canon -- especially trying to mentor Harry in GoF. As far as his interactions with Molly are concerned, according to canon dates, those two are due for a blowup soon...
Yes, the Druid. We shall not see him again for some time, but he has more to accomplish in the story, and your interpretation of his ambiguity is exactly as intended :)
Disillusionment indeed. The spell has, as you correctly insinuate, been on a losing streak in this story, with Harry forgetting to renew his disillusionment on the tree branch above the stockade, Ginny not being quiet enough (i.e., speaking to the thestral on the ramparts, then running for the tower), and Tio somehow sensing Harry in the Camboricum night. The last of these was a deliberate construct with implications for down the road, but courtesy of your insightful observation, I'm now wondering if this trend warrants further plot spinning.
So did the thestral reappear... or did it never actually leave? Did Ginny truly set foot on the ramparts, or fight the Legate? Is the authour pulling a fast one?
Oh and yes -- the Legate is a bastard -- no two ways about it!
Very true -- the Publican, like Harry, does not succumb to despair. And that wand, although clearly not the ultimate weapon in this story, will indeed be useful.
Hah! Yes, if only canon had given us Luna by this point, she would certainly be an intriguing spice to throw into the Grimmauld Place powder keg. Character clashes were fun in the wide spaces of Hogwarts, but I tend to think that everything gets amplified within the Grimmauld incarceration.
Reviewer: lunagranger Signed Date: 2015.09.11 - 09:02PM Title: Second Chance
I love your kind of humour, that is shown in things like the idea that the Publican was in desperate need of a princess, or the things Sirius says to the gang.
Author's Response:
Well, that was impeccable timing! I was just about to log off when I saw your review pop up here. I shall once again leave happy :)
Yes, I have to chuckle over the irony -- Trix was originally intended as a fair bit more 'noire' than 'comedie', but I think it will likely get more recognition for its humour in the long run. This one was to be my serious foray into the romance genre, but when my fingers hit the keyboard, the inner-rogue still sneaks through. Fortunately, it's great fun!
Thank you for being such a loyal motivator, LunaGranger!
Reviewer: MollyandArthur Signed Date: 2015.09.11 - 07:48PM Title: Second Chance
Really enjoying this story. It is very different from anything else that I have read on this site. Hermione and Sirius in particular are so funny in the way they are handling everything. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Author's Response:
It's interesting that your review juxtaposes Hermione and Sirius like that because it was just occurring to me just how much fun it's going to be be over the next few chapters to be writing those two interacting with each other. They are antithetical in many personality characteristics, but are both very dedicated to Harry. I can see bit more irreverence in their dialogue...
Very gratified for your readership, MollyandArthur! Thanks for the review!
Reviewer: LysCsuri Signed Date: 2015.09.11 - 08:36AM Title: Second Chance
Wow! That really lightens and brightens the dream world a lot! But I get the feeling that problems are still in the offing, though. After all, no baddies have been bumped off yet. I wonder if Mus will play an interesting ambiguous role? He didn't quite see like the villain type.
Anyway, I loved your action scenes -- they had me as white knuckled as Ginny was when riding the thestral! More soon, please!
Author's Response:
Yes indeed -- from momentary levity, veering toward despair, but all the way back again. I promise you won't need quite the seatbelt grade in all chapters that I imposed on this one.
Mus is obviously a secondary character and, I have to admit, I haven't quite thought through the extent to which he might prove 'interesting'. In fact, I hadn't really characterized him until he took shape in the drafting of this chapter. So there is only a pencil sketch there, and still many options for colouration.
My gratitude once again for your cheery thoughts, Lys!
Reviewer: ginnyweasley777 Signed Date: 2015.09.11 - 02:41AM Title: Second Chance
Oh what a marvelous chapter this was! From Ron falling asleep after being stunned, to Hermione's burning curiosity, it was simply brilliant.
I can't wait for the next instalment and the increasingly tangled web of dreams and reality. :)
Author's Response:
Wonderful to hear that you enjoyed it! Chapters 5 and 6 were both challenging to write, but very intrinsically satisfying for me as an authour. When my own satisfaction converges with happy readers, it's tremendously rewarding.
I get a kick out of how your review bookended the chapter, by the way :)
Anyway, please tell the world to stop throwing contracts and deadlines and stuff at me, so that I can get on with Ginny's birthday breakfast and some more crazy revelations (maybe another dream or two).
Thank you for reading, reviewing, and putting in your own vital efforts to keep things moving along!
Reviewer: Arnel Signed Date: 2015.09.10 - 11:36AM Title: Second Chance
I find it quite humorous that Harry and Ginny's shared dreams are trying to land them in heaps of trouble in the modern world just because they seem to gravitate to each other's rooms during the night. I love Sirius' line in the last chapter about wandering about while keeping your alibis straight. He seems to be the night watchman in this story so that Molly and Arthur can get some rest while not having to deal with the nocturnal comings and goings of the teenaged population of the house. Oh, by the way, Sirius Stunning Ron and Ron going back to sleep on the floor was hilarious. But alas, the plot of the dreams seems to be thickening, so I'm hoping the next chapter will be on its way soon. Well done.
Author's Response:
You know, that is one thing that makes playing in Rowling's sandbox so addictive -- the spread of characters she created makes some degree of humour inevitable, even in the most stolid of dramas. Even in a story that's too early to borrow Luna, there are still Sirius, Fred and George as the rogues gallery, Ron as the bungler, and Ginny... well, one overlooks her playful mischief only at one's own peril. And of course Hermione and Harry and the ideal 'straight men' (sorry -- not a PC phrase). So, a bit of comedy is pretty well guaranteed, and I'm delighted that you're enjoying those segments! There will be a decent number of those as the book enters its middle phase, wherein a lot more of the plot revolves around 1995.
That of course does say that, having pushed the dreams to a feverish crescendo, they will quieten down for a while, only to come back with a vengeance as things ramp up for the finale.
I, too, hope to be able to push through with Chapter 7 soon, although I've been hit with a bit of time-consuming real world that has intruded on the last few of my evening writing sessions. Can't let it sit idle much longer though!
My sincere appreciation for your valued thoughts and opinions, Arnel!
Reviewer: Dad Signed Date: 2015.09.09 - 05:44PM Title: Second Chance
Load cheers and stamping of feet. Good for the dream pair.
Author's Response:
Glad you enjoyed the little upswing! To belabour the analogy from my chapter 5 authour notes, this would be when Chris White would retire the sobbing saxophone, leaving Mark & David to kick it into gear with a rousing guitar riff... But I digress!
Anyway, I write a bit of angst here and there, but I just can't mope for long. The roller coaster has a few swoops left, but things are looking up :)
Thank you for reading and reviewing Dad!
Reviewer: mdauben Signed Date: 2015.09.09 - 02:46PM Title: Second Chance
Wow, that was quite a tense chapter. You really had me worried there that something terrible had happened. Now, you have me wondering what will happen next, and how this is all going to impace Harry and Ginny.
Author's Response:
Yes, it occurs to me now that the comforting assurances that I offered in the AN for chapter 5 might have been better applied to this one, since things do get quite close to the brink. Hopefully I don't catch too many readers off the hop with that!
As far as your current curiosity, I can afford to tip my hand a wee bit and say that H&G came away from this chapter with... a scare yes, but also a lot of puzzle pieces. Perhaps they will get a partial break from wild dreams driving them hither and yon, and find a chance to do some sleuthing...
Thank you most kindly for the review, mdauben!
Reviewer: KateP Signed Date: 2015.09.09 - 09:23AM Title: Second Chance
Another top class chapter was so happy to find a new chapter this morning.
You really seem to want to drive hermione crazy with curiosity lol she is going to drive herself nuts trying to work out what is going on around her all the time I can see Sirius asking questions after the little night time get together he found
Author's Response:
Too true -- Miss Granger is at the point where she would either be driven insane, or else drive others that way! Fortunately, the point has likely arrived when she's likely to be quite useful. The time also draws near when Lupin may enter the privileged circle...
Great to hear from you, KateP -- thank you for another 'top class' review :)
Reviewer: Dreaming Haven Signed Date: 2015.09.09 - 07:42AM Title: Second Chance
Good chapter. Hermione must be super curious and annoyed at them right now.
Author's Response:
Curious and annoyed, indeed! I believe this time she can be held at bay no longer.
My gratitude, as always, for chiming in -- thanks Dreaming Haven!
Reviewer: Gin110881 Signed Date: 2015.09.09 - 05:43AM Title: Second Chance
Oh, well, I would say ... that was bloody brilliant.
Starting with an ever so incredibly pragmatic Sirius (I think that's why we love him so much) we got enlightening news about the publicand and his history. We even learned why Harry can draw so well, talent is often inherited.
I'm curious to see how Ginny and Harry evaluate their shared dream experiences and what conclusions they draw in particular for the present time line. But that will probably have to wait until early October, at least for me. I fear that I have to re-read from the beginning before I can read on, lol.
Many thanks for another brilliant chapter!
cu/Martin
Author's Response:
So you're on the road for a while? Hope you go somewhere fun! Great that we were able to get this chapter before you left -- a lucky convergence of me getting on a roll with my writing and ginnyweasley777 stepping in to validate the chapter incredibly quickly (you readers be sure to send her a happygram!)
Anyway, as you could probably tell, this marks the end of the first major segment of the story, as H&G must now shift their attention to the present in order to better understand the past and the future. Indeed the latest dreams must be discussed, aggravated bystanders must be appeased, and an enlightening visit to the Ministry awaits. And there is always the question of friendship or... something more...
Have a great trip! Thanks for following along to this point, and look forward to your return!
