01/15/12
My name is Geoff, and I'm too old-fashioned to have a Facebook page, so what you see here is what you get.
I came late enough to Harry Potter that I never had to wait for the next book to come out. Still, Harry isn't Bertie Wooster: he has but one real story to tell, and the day came when it had been told in full. It turns out, though, that hijacking the characters and settings, trying to recapture the elusive feel that made the originals so successful, is a lot more challenging and fun than I expected it to be.
I'm a complete amateur at this: my real job doesn't involve literature, publishing, or popular entertainment of any kind.
If you make it to the end of any of my stories, please consider leaving a review.
[Report This]
Trapped With the Truth by Hypatia
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: A young boy named Argus struggles with his identity upon realizing that unlike the rest of his family, he isn’t magical. A chance meeting causes Argus to discover that there is more than one kind of magic.
Originally submitted to the Autumn Challenge, Telling the Truth prompt.
Date: 07/16/12 Title: Chapter 2: Anger
Poor kid!
Author's Response: Yeah... What can I say? I am a cruel and heartless author. I'm even meaner in the next chapter. For what it's worth, I'm actually pretty nice to real people, just not fictional characters... or their pets.
Thanks for the review,
Hypatia
Deal Or No Deal by the opaleye
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: Hermione is struggling to keep S.P.E.W afloat after a nasty and public incident involving a house-elf, rolling pin and Muggle now recovering in St. Mungo's. George is slowly drowning in a sea of financial strain and grief over Fred's death. When the two of them join forces one Christmas, will they overcome their troubles and perhaps find solace in the unexpected? But can these two very different personalities reside in one place at one time?
Date: 02/14/12 Title: Chapter 2: 2 - The Deal
Hermione heart-lost and out of ideas: an unusual aspect for her, but still completely in character. Very nicely done.
I especially like the way the "brilliant idea" comes from George. The obvious thing (at least to me) would be to have Hermione blurt out this so-logical suggestion, but I think I like your way better.
~Geoff.
Author's Response: Thanks!
The Darkness and the Light by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 6th-7th Years •
Summary:
Harry Potter had seen death - a lot of death. Friends had passed in his lifetime, more so than any one person should ever experience, but how much is too much, even for the Chosen One?
Ron Weasley is dead, leaving behind his wife and his best mate. How can these two cope with their Trio being cut down to two? And when danger lurks in the shadows, can they find the strength to fight for one another?
Â
Date: 02/03/12 Title: Chapter 5: Chapter 4 - Spaces
So, I'm browsing some Harry/Hermione stories, thinking they might help with the happy, fluffy, one-shot I'm working on, when I come across *this*. Not quite what I had in mind (but my own fault for not making you a favourite author before now).
Still, a great piece of fiction so far. You have another reader who will be sticking with this one to the end.
I love how you can tell a story by leaving things out. In this chapter Hermione really ought to have begged Ginny not to give up on Harry - but she doesn't. Perhaps that hints at something she's not even aware of herself yet.
~Geoff.
Author's Response:
Well, hello there!
I really wanted to write that elusive non-canon ship...the one that feels like it could've actually happened. There is a lot to be said about what one cannot see but can infer. They're like subliminal clues that lead the reader along to where the author wants to go, and when the Big Moment happens (whatever it might be), it is accepted but still surprising because the reader isn't always sure how they got there. :D
Anyway, thank you for hanging on to the story. There is one last installment to go, but it will have to wait until the archives stop being broken and begin to accept submissions again. If you're looking for drool-worthy Harry/Hermione work, please check out the opaleye. She is so fabulous, and she also believes in realistic Harmony.
~Jess
Date: 02/06/12 Title: Chapter 10: Chapter 9 - Arrivals
Don't witches do home births? I'd been assuming they generally did, for some reason. Maybe because of the slightly old-fashioned feel the wizarding world often seems to have? Or perhaps it's just down to Molly I-can-wrangle-seven-kids-without-breaking-a-sweat,-what-could-one-possibly-do-to-me? Weasley.
Author's Response:
I suppose some of them do, but it doesn't seem like it would be best for this situation. First off, they are in hiding with aliases, so it makes sense that they divulge their place of residence to as few people as possible, plus Harry would be the s***tiest midwife on the planet, hehe.
Anyway, glad you're reading, and enjoy the rest of the fic!
~Jess
But I'm a Weasley! by Anisky
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: Rose Weasley didn't mean to be different. She didn't intend to stand out in her family. She didn't expect to be Sorted... into Slytherin.
Date: 07/26/12 Title: Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Sorting
Well done with the Sorting Hat's song - you actually had me checking that JKR didn't write that.
The Phoenix Or The Flame by GinnyRULES
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: Several years after the final battle, Dudley Dursley is struggling to come to terms with his past and the things he has done wrong. His life is turned upside down when he meets a charming young witch and is drawn into a path that leads him back into his cousin's world.
Date: 08/12/12 Title: Chapter 8: CHAPTER EIGHT
Go Dudley - he's racing downhill, still on his feet - though not for much longer, I fear. Looking forward to reading through the wreckage next time. Still a great story.
A Dementor-centric story: first-person or third? To get the full effect, you may have to go for first. Also, how long can you keep it up for? The novelty might wear off after a few thousand words. But go for it anyway - there's bound to be a way to make it work.
Date: 06/20/12 Title: Chapter 6: CHAPTER SIX
Who knew Dudley had it in him to be such an engaging character? This is lovely fresh writing. There are a few glitches (Godric's Hollow isn't near London), but it seems ungrateful to mention them, really.
Do you have any non-fanfiction work you can post a link to? Or a title for that might-be-published novel?
Author's Response: Gosh I feel really silly now, I definitely knew that about Godric's Hollow and didn't bother to get someone to beta me. Thanks for the review, and I will try to practice more constant vigilance! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, I didn't think many other readers would be interested in Dudley but it turns out he's quite fun...
I don't post any of my original work online, but hopefully someday if I'm lucky you may see some of it on a library bookshelf. My novel in the works is titled The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter. I do have an agent and an editor but we haven't found a publisher yet so we're working on that currently. Thanks for the support, it is very much appreciated! Cheers :)
Much More Than A Game by Hypatia
Rated: 6th-7th Years •Summary:
“Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one.â€
-Dumbledore, HBP, ch 13
Dumbledore was rarely wrong, only once did Lord Voldemort desire a friend. It started out as only a game, but became so much more…
This is the story of how the teenaged Tom Riddle met a unique individual and slipped from cold indifference, to affection, to friendship, to romance. Discover how even Voldemort’s cold and callow heart was once broken beyond repair. This is for anyone curious about how an imperfect love warped and twisted a corrupt young man into the Dark Lord.
Date: 05/29/12 Title: Chapter 2: Winning At All Costs
This is looking very promising so far. I've thought for a while that a story trying to give Tom Riddle a girlfriend would be hard to pull off, and perhaps not worth the candle -- but that a character who could play Hermione to Tom's Harry, so to speak, could be another matter. It looks like Lydia is going to be both at once.
Author's Response: The original for this (More Than A Game) was a one-shot without the romantic component. I think the only way that Tom ever could have even had a friend would be if it were started under unusual circumstances and the potential friend had some unusual qualities. I was thinking almost the Irene Adler to Sherlock Holmes (though, that wasn't of a romantic nature either). I guess the goal was to create a character who had enough qulaities that Tom admires without the same thirst for power so as not to be viewed as competition. Hopefully, I've pulled it off, and if not, it was still interesting to write.
Thanks for reviewing,
Hypatia
Date: 06/01/12 Title: Chapter 10: Reflections
Nice Ravenclawish chapter here. Is this intended as a pleasant interlude before the Darker material to come, I wonder?
I think Burke wasn't the only one trying to cheat Tom on his commission - surely it should have been 4 Galleons, 14 Sickles, 5 Knuts? (And Tom didn't even notice - authors can be so cruel sometimes :)
Author's Response: Partially. There are a few elements in this chapter that will reappear in later chapters. Also, I think I may have dragged out the early stages of the relationship between Tom and Lydia to justify him having feelings for her wihtout him seeming wildly out of character.
As for cheating Tom... that really wasn't my intent, but you are entirely correct that it should be 4 Galleons, 14 Sickles, and 5 Knuts. What's worse is that I can't even figure out how I ended up at the sum that made it into the chapter. Kudos for noticing and I will properly reimburse Tom at my ealiest convenience. Clearly, the Dark Lord is now indebted to you. ;)
Thanks,
Hypatia
Hunters and Prey by Northumbrian
Rated: 6th-7th Years •Summary:
February 2000 Newly Qualified (in record time) Auror Harry Potter remains obsessed with “The List.†The ten people still wanted for their part in the Battle of Hogwarts. Their capture is essential. It will bring closure to the events of the past few years. Harry has set himself a target. He wants to see “The Last Death Eater†and the other nine captured before the second Anniversary of the battle. His attempts to meet his target will bring heartbreak, danger, pain, and a lifechanging injury for one former DA member.
Nominated for: Best Post-Hogwarts (Chaptered) story - Quicksilver Quills 2012
Date: 05/15/12 Title: Chapter 7: The Hunt: Den of Wolves
I'm really enjoying the landscape descriptions - the high country, the forest. A good story needs good scenery, and this one has plenty of it.
Author's Response:
Thank you.
Most of these places are real (Shivering Stone certainly is, though so far as I’m aware there’s no magical gateway to a werewolf village in that part of the Cheviots). The glen and woods are in Scotland (Scotland isn’t far away) and the bastle isn’t far away, either.
-N-
Date: 05/15/12 Title: Chapter 4: The Snare: Tidings of Magpies
Ginny the Quidditch hooligan!
Some good ideas are, shall we say, less obvious than others.
Author's Response:
Thanks for the review.
This seemed obvious to me, though all is not as it seems.
-N-
Love Potion Lessons by goldensnidget92
Rated: 1st-2nd Years •Summary: Hermione and Ginny want revenge for a prank that Harry and Ron pulled on them, and Hermione thinks she has the perfect idea...
This story includes a dollop of love potion, a sprinkling of cheesy romantic cliches, and a generous splash of incredibly embarassing memories for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
Date: 04/18/12 Title: Chapter 1: Chapter 1
The first scene is great. I think it's clear enough from canon that Hermione is capable of something like this, but to see it from her own viewpoint is kind of odd. In a good way.
In Pursuit of Greatness by PoeticallyIrritating
Rated: 6th-7th Years •Summary: This is Bellatrix Black as a student, a wife, and a faithful servant. A child and a prisoner. She is exactly who you think she is, and much more.
Date: 07/09/13 Title: Chapter 5: Holidays
What a horrible girl! A very believable Bellatrix, and smoothly written, too. I don't know why there aren't more people reading this story, unless it's just that its main character is too obnoxious to stand.
Author's Response: Hahaha. Thank you! I think?
Fighting for the Cause by PeppermintToads
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: Voldemort has taken over the Wizarding World and Death Eaters are crawling all over the majority of Britain. At Hogwarts, a war is being fought amongst the students and staff. Through an organization called Dumbledore's Army, many believe that there is still hope.
Date: 08/07/12 Title: Chapter 2: Chapter Two: The Child of a Death Eater
Oliver is a character with promise - you're doing a great job with him so far.
Also, I have to ask: Frog Choir?
Author's Response: I don't believe that it's mentioned in the books, but I have found them in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Harry Potter wiki. They are featured in the third movie as well. Thanks for reviewing! :)
Hindsight by BrokenPromise
Rated: 1st-2nd Years •Summary: Draco Malfoy looks back at his childhood now that it is over.
Date: 03/02/12 Title: Chapter 1: Hindsight - One Shot
I do like this. Nasty characters are harder to write than they look; this story gets the reader to identify with Draco without making him admirable in any way.
There is one major slip-up: Draco refers to speaking to Dumbledore during the Battle. Dumbledore was, of course, dead by then.
Author's Response: Draco was talking to Dumbledore's portrait in the Headmaster's office, much like Harry did at the end of the Battle.
Thank you very much for your review!
Fragments by BrokenPromise
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary:
She was the first to accept me for who I was, Muggle father and all. The teachers didn’t count. Dumbledore accepted me out of duty; Slughorn accepted me for his own personal gain. She accepted me out of love.
Would you have been any different if you had had your world ripped apart and your heart shattered until there was nothing left to love with?
This is a story about a boy and a decision that he regretted. A decision he had made a few times before. Tom Riddle made the decision to say so many times those words that would eventually be his downfall.
Date: 03/19/12 Title: Chapter 1: She haunts me in my dreams
Hmm ... Tom Riddle, in love, in first-person. Not one to shrink from challenges, are you? But your final scene really makes the whole idea work - it clinches the story, gives Tom a bit of a human side, and (crucially) leaves Tom's overall character looking like it should. A very well-conceived story.
Author's Response: No, I'm definitely not one to shrink from challenges! I'm really glad that this worked, as I found it quite hard to write and was I so worried that it was going to be rejected like my other story was first time. I find it easier to write in first person for some reason, but balancing Tom's character was difficult. It was very helpful to read how others, yourself included, had portrayed him as there is little in the books of his teenage years.
Thanks for the review!
'i' before 'e' by Equinox Chick
Rated: 1st-2nd Years •
Summary: Ms A Cadwallader wishes to improve herself and apply for a better job. Unfortunately, despite her impeccable qualifications, she is thwarted by a certain Junior Under Secretary for the Minister of Magic, who has let it be known that basic spelling errors can never be over looked.
This story, written in the style of a series of letters, first appeared in The Battle of the Genres over at the SBBC forum.
I am not JK Rowling. She would probably have been more amusing.
This story is for Minna because it was her birthday and she likes this pairing.
Thank you Natalie for liking the drabble and encouraging me to expand.
Winner of the Best Humour QSQ in 2012 - GOBSMACKED!!!
Date: 05/07/12 Title: Chapter 1: Letters
Nice story. People who don't give up easily always seem to make good characters.
Author's Response: Thank you. Yes, I think both were pretty persistent in the end. ~Carole~
They Brought the Great Alastor Moody To His Knees by The Last Marauder
Rated: 3rd-5th Years •Summary: Alastor Moody’s house was impenetrable. The door had ten locks on it, each requiring a complex spell to open. All his windows had been reinforced with all the security spells in existence. At least two Sneakoscopes were perched in each room. He had taken every precaution. He had added every security measure under the sun. He had thought of every possible entry point and fortified all weak areas. No one could get inside, no one, but they did. They did.
Date: 05/22/12 Title: Chapter 1: Brought to His Knees
Moody is one of my favourite HP characters. This story gets inside his head nicely.
Author's Response: Thanks so much - that was what I was trying to do, just get inside his head and tell a story, so I am glad you think I did that well. Moody is one of my favourite characters too. Thanks for the review, really appreciate it :)
Another Horcrux Down by WeasleyMom
Rated: 3rd-5th Years • Summary: This story is a missing moment from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We know Ron and Hermione descend into the Chamber of Secrets in search of basilisk fangs, and we know they succeed. But what exactly happened down there? This story provides a possible answer to that question. This is WeasleyMom of Hufflepuff writing for the Illustration for Inspiration Challenge in the Great Hall. My inspiration was a drawing done by Carole/EquinoxChick, featuring Hermione's hand stabbing the cup with a basilisk fang. Thanks, Carole! You unknowingly pushed me to write something I've had in my head since DH came out. Thrilled to announce this story tied for third place in the challenge! Holy Hufflepuff! This won a 2012 QSQ Award for Best Canon Romance, one-shot! I am thrilled and so, so grateful!
Date: 07/01/12 Title: Chapter 1: one-shot
This is great stuff. But I'm curious as to why the Horcrux only shows Hermione images of Harry and Ron talking about her - she doesn't hear the actual words they're saying. Is that because, for her, the narrative voice in a book is more convincing? Or maybe, her own imagination is more powerful and hurtful than any possible reality? Or does the Horcrux just feel unable to show too much detail without the falsity of the scene becoming apparent?
Author's Response: Hmmm. I think the Horcrux in this case (Voldemort, for all practical purposes) wants to lie to her by twisting that which really did happen. It shows her pictures of things that are easy to believe were real occurances, and yet, by not letting her hear the dialogue, he can control what she takes from the viewing. So even though Ron and Harry were mad at her about the incident with the broomstick, for example, I don't think hearing those words now would really make her feel that insecure. SHe knew they were mad, and she's said stuff over hte years too. But Voldemort tells her lies along with the images to plant (and play off of) different insecurities inside her... that the boys don't really want her as much as they NEED her. If she had only seen the real scenes, it wouldn't have been a lie. And Voldemort lies. Again, I based much of this off what we saw with Ron, and how he tried to wreck him and immobilize him so he couldn't destroy it. And I went from there. Good question. :)
For the Love of Books by Theloonyhermione
Rated: 1st-2nd Years •Summary: What was Hermione's life like before Hogwarts? Why does she love books so much? Why doesn't she have any friends? What are her parents like and what impact have they had on her life?
A story of Hermione's life before Hogwarts.
I'm not J.K. Rowling. I suppose more than a few of you know that.
Edit: Thank you guys so much!! Over 1000 reads on my first story... whoever has read this is amazing.Date: 07/17/12 Title: Chapter 1: There's Always a First Time
Keep going, I'm enjoying this. Let's see how young Hermione turns out. Nice touch making her Dad a secret chocoholic. Criticism (well, you asked for some): you are using American school terminology instead of British ("fifth grade", "recess", "public elementary school", etc.) And in the same vein, "soccer" should probably be "football".
Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing!! Yeah, I thought that part with her father was funny, I just added it for a laugh. Okay, so I'm not British......I guess it's kind of obvious, I'll try and change those as soon as I can. This is my first story that's actually gotten onto MNFF, so you're my first reviewer!! Thanks!!