Name: psijupiter (Signed) · Date: 10/25/13 13:51 · For: Chapter 1

This is a really lovely fic. I really like the style of writing here, which completely drew me into the story and then at times was unexpectedly lyrical. The language you've used, particularly in the early scenes, is perfect for the time and place and really helps to set the mood.

Although this fic spanned a long period of time the scenes all flowed into each other. I really liked seeing the growth and change of Minevera's relationships. Her relationship with her father obviously had a big effect on her and you make that clear, but you don't overwhelm the reader. Simillarly her relationship with Albus - the contrast between their relationship earlier in the fic and the last scene says so much about how they have grown closer as friends.

I did get a little confused when they broke up, and I wasn't sure what had happened until I reread. Possibly I did skip a sentence, but I found the paragraph begining 'What happened next was inevitable, she reflected' a little too hard to follow. It's hard to strike a balance between showing the reader what has happened and outright telling them, and while most of this fic works really well and doesn't need to come out and state what exactly has happened - especially in the last scene, which is incredibly well done - in that part it could perhaps have used a little more clarity?

Although I've encountered this pairing before, you have really sold it to me. I really like how you don't delve into exactly what Minevra's sexuality is, she just loves who she loves at the point in her life she is at. This is definitely one of my favourite McGonagall fics. :)

Author's Response: Thank you for the kind words. Sorry for the confusing bit; as you say, it can be difficult to balance how much to show the reader, so it's good to hear from readers where things work and where they don't. Cheers!

Name: WeasleyMom (Signed) · Date: 10/20/13 22:05 · For: Chapter 1

Congratulations on a well-deserved QSQ award. This fic was truly staggering. The language with which you wrote Minerva's story was absolutely perfect for the time, for her, for the relationship. I loved everything about it.

A fic spanning so many years in a person's life could be very boring or tedious, but you included all the right moments, all the right pitches, and it was compelling throughout.

I'm glad you included the relationships with her parents, particularly her father. It's important, it shapes who she is, and yet you didn't keep hammering us with her "father issues" either. It was all so well-balanced.

The characterization is just perfect, especially regarding her love for her students and for teaching, and how diffilcult it was for her to balance that with her personal life. That really rang true to who she was in the books--that devotion.

Lovely, lovely work. One of the best fanfics I've ever read about a character's life and loves. Congrats again! ~Lori

Author's Response: Thank you. This was my first story dealing with the Pottermore background for Minerva, and it was fun to think about her family and how they might have shaped her; I'm glad you thought it worked.

Name: the opaleye (Signed) · Date: 10/07/13 6:25 · For: Chapter 1

I was, and still am, completely blown away by this fic. The first time I read it, I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I didn’t have any expectations at all. I hadn’t read anything by you before, and I hadn’t really paid attention to the summary. It immediately swept me off my feet and has quickly become one of my favourite stories on the archives, let alone about Minerva.

I love the way you structure the fic in Acts and Interludes. You draw from Minerva’s homelife, using the Pottermore canon we’ve learnt to great effect. Everything flows so seamlessly, and I find Minerva’s characterisation to be wonderfully done. Young Minerva is clearly not the woman we see in the books, and yet she is recognisable, she just clearly hasn’t yet matured into the amazing professor we know and love.

I believed in her attraction to Amelia, and I believed in their relationship - all of it - from the beginning to the break down to their rediscovery of one another in later life. You choose which details of Minerva’s life to focus on with great restraint and skill, and it all comes together so well.

For a one-shot, we are swept along Minerva’s life from childhood to late adulthood. And even though it is a long one-shot, it is still a one-shot and yet the pacing works so well! I just wanted to keep reading and reading and never stop. When I'm reading a book I particularly love, I always feel sad when it comes to an end, even if the ending is as satisfying as it can be, because I miss being immersed in that particular world and in the heads of those characters. Reading your fic was like that. I felt sad at the end because I wanted to relive the experience of reading it for the first time.

This fic is beautiful. Congratulations on the QSQ award.

Julia.

Author's Response: Thank you so much for your lovely comments. This was the first fic I wrote that tried to incorporate the Pottermore bio on Minerva, so I'm especially happy if you thought that worked in the context of an Amelia/Minerva story. I've always liked that pairing, so it was a pleasure to try to imagine it here. Thanks again for reading and commenting. Cheers, Squibstress

Name: hestiajones (Signed) · Date: 08/07/13 10:21 · For: Chapter 1

This is a very strong fanfic armed with thoughtful characterisation and wonderful writing. I have entertained thoughts of Minerva/Amelia in the past, but I couldn't have written it into canon, with Minerva's other love(s). Great work!

Author's Response: Thanks. I've always like the idea of Minerva/Amelia, and it was a fun challenge to shoehorn it into Pottermore canon. I'm glad it worked for you. Cheers!

Name: ProfPosky (Signed) · Date: 01/06/13 0:35 · For: Chapter 1

Nicely done. And an unusually nice prose quality.

Author's Response: Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Name: dawndragon2 (Signed) · Date: 12/21/12 12:47 · For: Chapter 1

WOW loved it!

Author's Response: Thanks. It was fun to write.

Name: Ruchira_M (Signed) · Date: 12/21/12 9:49 · For: Chapter 1

Unusual pairing but beautifully done. I loved how you brought out Minerva's conflicted childhood and adult loneliness.

Author's Response: Many thanks for the kind words. I figured there had to be more to this Pottermore business than an 18-year-old broken heart.

Name: dreamsnape (Signed) · Date: 09/09/12 5:19 · For: Chapter 1

Thoughtful, sensitive story about Mcgonall, a character that I've always wondered about. She seemed so alone. Don't know that I agree about her sexual orientation, but I still thought it was a good story, and one that was quite plausible.

Author's Response: Sorry to be so late in responding; I don't seem to get alerts for reviews. Thanks for your kind words. I've written Minerva as straight, lesbian, and bisexual, and I still don't have a fixed idea about which I find most convincing, LOL!