I think the stunner is Draco's, I'll definitely be reading ahead to find out if I'm right! Another excellent chapter! BD

I’m very pleased that McGonagall took her own chastisement well and responded by making new effort to assist Harry with the DA. She sees only a mature 12 year old boy and has no idea, truly, the ramifications of inaction or complacency. Yes, Harry is being manipulative. Call that Slytherin if you’d like, but the fact that he came back at all, that he’s trying so hard to set things right and is willing to face the ultimate evil and potentially the pain of losing some or all of his friends all over again exemplifies his Gryffindor spirit. Wonderfully played scene. I’m glad Harry signed up for CoMC, as I‘ve been missing Hagrid in this timeline. Snape’s oddly mild behavior towards Harry during detention is curious. Did he know about the impending attack? I feel bad for Ginny as Harry can’t say anything to console her. Is this all about Cho, or is there something more going on? Something Chamber related? I can’t see that the Chamber won’t come up at all since many of the big events reoccur one way or another, from something as innocuous to the Valentine to more serious injuries as illustrated in this chapter by Harry breaking his leg, not his arm. Of course, I guess that wasn’t more serious as Lockhart didn’t remove his bones (and I know they didn’t even play Hufflepuff originally as the match was cancelled, but I’ll compare seasonal injury to injury). I don’t know why I’m asking all these questions since there are 2 more chapters up, and if I stop reviewing and keep reading I’ll find out my answers, I hope, to at least some of them. Great job!

I've just picked up this story for the first time (hence my first review), but I must say it's really enjoyable. I love how you found a way to write Post-HBP, AU, and Super!Harry all at the same time in a plausible way. Especially since you kept Super!Harry from becoming some sort of talisman for everything going right in the world. I find myself vested in the outcome (some things must work out or There Will Be Fire), which is a rare and wonderful feeling.

There are a very few tiny technical errors, but in fandom that's practically the holy grail, so I'm not picking.

My only concern is that sometimes the characters, other than Harry, seem to think and act more like 15+ year olds than 11-12 year olds. At the same time, I can come up with a list of plausible excuses for this, so I guess I'm mostly interested in seeing how it continues and if it's explained any more.

Finally, I am THRILLED that you've got a really great 200k+ word story and you've not even finished with second year. That's a wonderful sign.

Author's Response: Here's a little mini-essay I wrote once regarding the maturity issues... Here's a couple of things to keep in mind: First, Wizarding culture seems to hold a fairly medieval attitude toward the aging process. Children are given access to deadly weapons at age 11 (wands). It also seems that they mature a bit faster than usual. James and Lily were fairly well off (James' parents were wealthy, and the Evans' seemed to be at least Middle class), which usually mitigates against marrying at a young age. Yet, they married immediately after graduating, at age 17, and no one seems to think this is unusual. (And no, they didn't 'have to'. Harry was born more than 9 months later.) These facts suggest that children in the English Wizarding World seem to be expected to mature a bit sooner than in western Muggle culture. They also deal with some heavy social issues for a bunch of young teenagers (by our standards). Secondly, Harry is having a more profound effect on his peers than he realizes. (He's a little surprised when Ron doesn't act like a prat.) When you integrate a group of mixed-age children, one of two things typically happens. The older children regress to the behavioral standards of the younger cohort, or they hold firm and, in effect, raise the bar of acceptable behavior for their peers. This really works (I went to grad school in developmental psychology) and is the theoretical basis for Mainstreaming special education classes. Notice that Ron and company didn't change much at first, but the more they hung around Harry, the more it began to affect them. One of the aims of Arthur's retrospective was to underline the changes in Ron. He acts differently than in canon because "he doesn't want to let Harry down". Harry needs him more as a friend, confidant, and protector this time around, not someone to skive off doing homework with. Add to that Harry being a lot more open about the less than stellar aspects of his life, and you get a Weasley acting very mature. Neville was raised by his aunt, with no children his own age around. Once he gets over his hesitancy and confidence issues, he's going to act like how Augusta raised him to be. Harry's demeanor just reinforces that. Hermione is less bossy because no one is challenging her regarding the importance of their school work. (Harry regards it as just one more means of preparation, after all.) She also has a wider circle of friends, which is probably helping her confidence issues. Her issues, plus Ron's immaturity, were the barriers that set them to bickering instead of getting along. Not that Harry isn't above a little subtle influencing (like with the thank you gift), paying a debt to their future counterparts who regretted all the time they waster fighting. You've watched Ginny being built up by Harry's letters and emotional support and overall confidence-boosting. In canon, she feared never being taken seriously by anyone (that's according to Riddle in CoS)... in NFP, the boy she idolized just a little bit from the stories respects her, is friendly towards her, and treats her almost like an adult. What's not to like about that? And so she embraces that role and runs with it. Once she started, she also began getting positive feedback from her family as well, which will only reinforce it. As for Luna... who knows why the hell she does anything anyway! =)

Evil Cliffie! I love this story. I'm actually checking in more often than usual just to see if you've updated. So now I'm a big fan and I'm happy you've got a real job and all, but, this is a great story and I hope you find tons of free time in the next few months! I'm very much looking forward to Harry telling all and Ginny asking all the right questions *grins*
Best wishes!
SueP

Hyvä paljon!

Brilliant as always. Keep it coming!

It's good to see a new chapter for this story and on SIYE at that. :-) (this is one of the few stories I was still following on ff.net)

You really know how to keep up the suspense... here's hoping this story continues to flow well. :-)

Another excellent installment, good job. Your handling of the relationship btwn HP&GW is very good. S.

"Please Sir, I'd like some more." But, given your busy life, "Whenever".

Good to know the story is continuing. Remarkably compelling writing.