Story Status as of July 16, 2020

If you ask me when I'm updating next, I'll delay posting by one day. Stop asking for me to update faster, this is my hobby. When you start paying me, I'll start working to your schedule. Thanks!

El Mayarah - Stronger Together: Now that I'm writing again, this story has CONSUMED me. 30,000 words and growing. Arrowverse Supergirl/Flash Crossover

All Because Of: Chapter 6 is 1000 words and growing

Harry and Gabi: Chapter 6 is 12,000 words and holding.

The Last Casualties: Chapter 32 is published. Chapter 33 is 1,000 words and holding.

Vision of the Jedi Chapter 2 is 4,400 words and holding.

All Because of a Hippogriff: Chapter 12 is paused.

To Stand Against the Darkness is in the editing and rewriting stage. Currently working on Chapter 6.

The End and the Beginning: The End and the Beginning is Complete.

Partners: Partners is Complete

I Did It: I Did It is Complete

You Belong With Me: You Belong With Me is complete

Happily Ever After?: Happily Ever After? is complete

The Boy in the Forest: The Boy in the Forest is complete-

Me

Yes, I am a muggle, and I am a dad: three beautiful kids, a 10-year-old boy and twin 8-year-old girls. I don’t have much spare time (obviously), but I love to read HP FF. After the nightmare that was HBP & DH, I was very disillusioned with the whole HP universe. Then I started reading some FF stories where the plot made sense, characters had continuity over time and random events didn't intrude with earth shattering events (unlike HBP & DH).

My Stories

I've been asked where I get inspiration for my little essays into the world of Harry Potter. Usually, my stories begin with an image and a feeling. For Partners, I had this powerful image of Harry stumbling down the street after being soundly beaten by Vernon. Coupled with that image was the later vision of Daphne and her mother feverishly working over Harry's bleeding body. For The End and the Beginning, I had the reunion scene betwen Harry and Hermione at the Hippogriff paddock. Last Casualties was the reunion with James, Lily and Harry, with Hermione standing to the side. From these images, I try to get inside the characters' pesonalities and then let them take me where they go.

That's it. It's also why I can't plan out a story as it's almost an organism for me. Trying to script it out kills the organic nature and the creative process for me.

However, I've been asked multiple times for advice on writing, so I'll re-publish here what I usually send out as my lessons learned:

The best advice I can give you is to make the story your own. Yes, we FF writers start in someone else's universe, but make the story - and most importantly, the characters - your own. Don't get so wrapped around the plot that you forget your characters. In real life, people make descions which make 'the plot' advance. I try to do the same with my stories.

My rules of writing that I've learned over the years through repeated failures:

1. Always use good grammar. If you use MS Word, the green squiggly line is telling you to fix it.

2. Always use good spelling. Same, but with the red squiggly line.

3. If you don't own a dictionary, buy one.

4. If you don't own a thesaurus, buy one.

5. Don't start sentences or paragraphs with the same word. "Harry did x. Harry walked y. Harry..."

6. Avoid the use of the word 'said'. Use the word most accurate for the situation. Did he reply to a question? Use 'reply' or 'replied'. Did she ask a question? Use 'asked'. This gives the reader a better image of the scene.

7. There is a fine line between description of a scene and overload crap. "She was wearing an expensive linen dress" is fine where "The white linen dress was embroidered about the bodice with twenty weight..." is crap.

8. I write stories about people. I try to tell the story from that starting point.

9. I prefer to 'show' in the story, as opposed to 'telling'. Telling is the huge block of text you sometimes see where it's a big ramble and jamble of words telling us what's happening. I read a story a few months ago that had a very interesting premise, but I read three chapters where there was ZERO dialogue. I wanted to tear the little remaining hair I have out by the roots.

10. I can't emphasize the use of good grammar and a wide vocabulary. I read voraciously - not just fanfic- and that helps like nothing else can. Read as much as possible if you want to become a better reader. Reading the classics and the modern classics is best. There's a reason they're considered the classics.

11. Lastly, use contractions in speech. Britons and Americans use contractions in speech. When I'm trying to make a point about a character, I intentionally don't use contractions to make a difference in their speech patterns from the other characters. Yoda is a perfect example. "Away put your weapon, I mean you no harm." You instantly know who said that.

12. Ok, this is really the last. Edit, edit, edit. I spend maybe 10% of my writing time writing. The other 90% is editing and researching. Can't emphasize it enough.

Remember, politicians get elected with 51% of the vote. I still get flames. At first, they were pretty crushing, but I came to realize that everyone has opinions and tastes. Don't argue, as the old saying says: You wrestle with the pig, you're gonna get muddy.

Good luck!!

There are bunches of ideas that occur to me, but I have to either parking lot them or ignore the idea in order to continue the story I'm currently writing.

I like to flavor my stories with the real world. How did Magna Carta affect England in 1215 and what could the impact be on today's Wizarding Society? What is the Welsh translation for Eagle Claw? (Thanks to Dai Llewellen) What is the layout of Nice and the navigable waters off the Cote d'Azur? Who are the prominent Irish Gods? How does Parliamentary procedure work? And so on... I like reading stories that have the real world textual 'feel' to them so I write mine in the same manner.

I've recieved quite a few requests via review for Harry and his spouse to bring another person into their marriage bed. Not gonna happen in a muggledad story. Ever. Just thought I'd put that out in public.

I absolutely loath the idea of Horcuxes. They will never be in any of my stories except as objects of ridicule.

I have no problem whatsoever with constructive reviews. If you find a continuity error, or don't agree with what I'm saying or the direction I'm taking my characters, let me know. I will answer all polite reviews. I figure if you take the time to write one, I owe it to you to answer. However, if you are rude or stupid, you shall be ignored. I take a lot of input from reviews, so don't be shy. Thanks to all who take the time to leave a review, I'm honored by your attention and courtesy.

To Stand Against the Darkness: My 'Arthurian tale' of Harry Potter. Swords, dragons, knighthoods and peerages. Fun stuff where family is good and black and white are clearly delineated. My first fic and it's an ugly baby. Working on it, slowly but surely. Be patient.

All Because of a Hippogriff: Harry Potter in the realm of Faery. Demons and gods, fairies and vampires. Look for ancient monsters and whatnot doing the bidding of the rising dark lord.

Partners: My Harry and Slytherin girl working the government so it does its job story. Peerages are for delineation of rank more than anything.

Harry and Gabi: Harry/Veela story. Also where Harry tells the world to bugger off & he's going to do what he wants - have some fun. He embraces his celebrity status and uses it to accomplish his goals.

The End and the Beginning: Harry goes back in time. I love this sub-genre as it let's the writer completely re-boot the storyline. One thing that's kind of icky, though, is the time traveling Harry lusting after his 11 year old wife. Whoa! That's why I brought Hermione back with him.

I Did It: Little one shot where Harry reads Hermione's behaviour more than JKRs words.

Shipping

So on to the ship wars. Overall, I am an Harry and Hermione shipper, although as you can tell by my stories, Harry and Other Character is Ok with me too. Harry and Ginny as written in canon just doesn't make much sense to me, sorry to the H/G shippers out there (including JKR). To be fair though, JKR did herself no favors by giving Ginny approximately 3.5 sentences through the first 5 books and then made her Harry's "true love?” Come on! If there is a good HG, I read it like Viridian's Nightmares of Future Past or Saving Harry by The Seeker. In both cases, the Ginny character was completely deconstructed and rebuilt into a believable character that is a good match for Harry. The Ginny of canon is a redheaded face with a temper. Bad on JKR for poor character development.

The Weasleys

If you can't tell from my stories, I think the canon youngest Weasleys and their mother are not very likable characters. The twins, Bill, Charlie and Arthur are good people & Percy has a lot of redemption possibilities, but ickle ronniekins and ickle gin-gin? No thank you.

Ron

As portrayed by canon, he is a jealous, immature jerk, whose only emotional reaction is to lash out and try to hurt those around him. He only thinks of himself and what he will or won't get out of a given situation. Let's face it folks, he is a jerk. Has been since book 1. What would you call a boy you go to school with who is always making a girl cry who he calls his friend? I'd call him a jerk, wouldn't you? There are far too many circumstances to note, but trust me; he's a redheaded waste of flesh, magic and an overall oxygen thief.

One other thing. Ron's greatest desire is to be combined Quidditch Captain and Head Boy so that he can outshine his brothers, right? So why didn't he study hard to make good grades? Why did he snark at Hermione about studying? What an ass.

Ginny

She's a scary fan-girl who has carried on the fantasy dreams of childhood into her teen years unchecked. (Reference her parting words to Harry at the end of book 6. What is that?)

Molly

Something that was pointed out in a FF that I read sometime back really disturbed me. At the beginning of Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry overhears Molly Weasley telling Ginny and Hermione that she 'got Arthur's attention' through the use of a love potion. The response from all three is giggling and laughter. How incredibly disturbing that JKR thought the situation amusing. It's amazing that she thought that a mother ought to tell her 12 year old daughter and a 13 year old girl that it is an appropriate course of action to use a mind controlling substance on a boy you fancy. Incredible. Look for it (POA Ch 5 pg 69-70).

Molly's protestations that 'he's as good as my son' in the beginning of book 5 were also jarring for me. He'd stayed with the Weasley's for a few weeks prior to second year, one day prior to third year and another few weeks prior to fourth year. So to be generous, he's spent a month with the family. How can Harry be 'as good as' a son in that period of time over three years? Again, very odd. I find it hard to warm up to a fear driven controlling character with the above mention 'flaws'.

Dumbledore

Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupididty may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Wow. What an incredibly conflicting and confusing character. Either he's the product of a literary genius or of a person who didn't think through all the ramifications of decisions about her character. Unfortunately, I think it's the latter.

On the one hand, he's the leader of the light. He defeated a terrible dark lord (Grindlewald) and led the charge against another (Voldemort). He has a phoenix companion (major plus in the 'light' column) and seems to really care about people (could be an act, though).

On the other hand, he knowingly sent a baby into an abusive environment, completely abnegated his responsiblities as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump (that's a five day discussion unto itself), intentionally set up a young man for a suicidal self-sacrifice without warning or preparing him (Harry with that ridiculous horcrux inside him), allowed a sadist to abuse his student population (Snape), allowed for substandard teaching in his school (History, Muggle Studies, Divination and Potions), and routinely failed to protect his students from harm.

"...Dumbledore will happily betray the innocent in the hopes of saving the guilty." (Sprinter 1988)

Is it self indulgent guilt that drives Albus to go to any lengths in his attempts to save those who've chosen badly (Snape, Draco Malfoy et al)? Is he still swamped with shame for his behavior with Grindlewald and the subsequent death of his beloved sister? Is it a case of transference wherein the aged mage is attempting to save himself through these others and is therefore blinded to their dedication to their choices? He himself wouldn't persist in true evil, that much is a given. Albus Dumbledore is many things in canon, but he is definitively not evil. Therefore, the options are simple: he's a simpleton with an overly optimistic outlook on life (not likely), he's filled with guilt shame and remorse over his past bad behavior and by extension that of his father (very likely) or he's an idiot (not possible). I'm sure that there are many other reasons, but regardless of his motivation, AD's persistent attempts to salvage all those who could be saved continuously puts the innocent into danger. He sacrifices the students of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff on the altar of not alienating Slytherin house.

I'm very confused regarding the inconsistencies regarding Dumbledore and child abuse. When the elder Dumbledore brother's beloved sister was assaulted and traumiitzed at the age of six, it effectively destroyed the family. Their father's rage fueled response sent him to Azkaban for the balance of his life. Their mother was eventually killed in a magical accident caused by her damaged daughter and the young brothers were required to fill a role they were far too immature to perform. All this (I would think) would have filled Albus and most likely Aberforth with a deep abhorrence of child abuse. Yet, during the infamous exit interview with Harry at the end of Order of the Phoenix, Albus tells Harry that he knew he was leaving the then baby Harry in a potentially abusive environment ("...ten dark and difficult years..."). The two don't mix.

ARedHair has an excellent dissection of Dumbledore and the books in general. Take a look. The fundamental problem is that the first 2 books were children's books, no way around it. After that, she tried to get 'serious' about the stories, but she was locked into the exagerrated characters and situations she'd developed for the first two books. Hence the incredibly horrific situations that are sprinkled throughout canon (Dursley's abuse of Harry, Snape's reign of terror, lack of rebuking Malfoy and Malfoy-like behavaiour, sending Harry back to an abusive environment, utter incompentence in securing the school against danger...).

Based on the behavioural evidence, the man is a dark lord. Yet, there's that pesky phoenix...

Hermione

As you can tell from my stories, I like the Hermione Granger character. There's a few...issues...with the JKR original, though. The most glaring issue is her parents. No, it's not the lack of names for them (Dan and Emma anyone?) but rather their complete lack of involvment in their daughter's life. She's an only child, who's had little to no peer relationships prior to starting Hogwarts, so 'Dan and Emma' should not only be her parents, but also her friends and playmates.

Yet, the Hermione character shows up during the hols to spend weeks before fourth year, most of the hols before fifth year, the Christmas hols during fifth year, time during the summer hols before sixth year...all that time was away from her parents. Parents who never see her during the school year. I think that this lack of presence by 'Dan and Emma' is not reflective upon the characters of Hermione's off screen parents, but more a function of JKR treating her characters as means to an end as opposed to imaginative persons who she brings to life. To wit; 'I need Hermione to collaboratively isolate Harry at the Headmaster's request all the while inciting his rage when Harry finally shows up at Headquarters, so I'll have her stay at Grimmauld Place for the summer'. This is in complete contravention of much of the Hermione character's stated beliefs about her parents, especially when discussing her muggle parents with Ron. For there to be consistency in the Hermione characer (gasp!), then Hermione wouldn't have spent so much of her free time with her friends, she would've wanted to be with her parents.

Bad JKR for piss poor writing.

Musings...

-Does anyone else notice the similarity between 'Harry Hunting' and 'Muggle Hunting'?

-Whenever I get down from an especially vicious review, my wife reminds me that: "Those who can, do; those who can't, critique."

Marvel, DC and Manga/Anime

I admit upfront that I've read zero Manga, but have read quite a bit of Anime inspired FF and seen more than a few Anime TV shows. That being said, I grew up (well) before Manga was exported to the US and maybe even before it was first published.

I grew up with two options for comic books: DC and Marvel.

I've always been a Marvel guy with a few exceptions. X-Men (I had a subscription before they became the New X-Men. Dark Phoenix? Own it. The original.) Avengers, Fantastic Four and, of course, Spider-Man (note the hyphen?). In the DC Works, my favourites were The Batman and Sgt Rock. Go figure.

I think what all these storylines have in common is that they focus on the people in the story and their interactions as opposed to the muscles/speed/omigod-super-cool-powers of the heroes, which the DC super heroes seemed to do when I was a kid.

I could relate to Scott Summers, Steve Rogers, Ben Grimm and Peter Parker. Lest we not forget that Jean Grey, Jan Pym, Sue Richards and MJ Watson were also smokin' hot (hey! I was a teenaged boy, give me a break!). Seriously, that's what attracted me to those storylines, I really liked the characters.

From what I've read/seen of Manga/Anime, it's very 'science driven'. The magic/martial arts is part of a very imaginative system which, in turn, is extrapolated in a thorough and complex manner that could really work, if, you know, magic were real. And all.

Sorry, while interesting, I really don't care too much about the 'science' of magic, just that it be consistent. My OCD brain will pick up on inconsistencies and just plain stupidity and ruin a story for me should any inanity show up.

So what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing, just that I'm Marvel kind of guy and I think it shows up in the stories that I write and those I favourite. Also, If you're a fanatical fanboy of either Anime, DC or Marvel, DON'T PM ME. This is just my thing and I'm not hating on any of the different types of comix. It's a preference: some like vanilla, others chocolate and still others strawberry. I'm a vanilla kind of guy.

UPDATE: I say all the above then write a HP/DC crossover. Go figure...

JKR Plot Holes / Stupid Stuff

There's a zillion, but some of the ones that really bug me are:

1. How can Harry have a horcrux in him when the blood protection protected him from Voldemort's killing curse? The blood protection was in place before the soul fragment would have become attached to Harry, ergo, he would be protected (e.g. confrontation with Quirrel in book 1).

2. Dumbledore. 'nuff said (see above).

3. Harry's turnabout between the end of book 5 and beginning of book 6. The book time difference was only a few weeks and yet Harry was 'fine' with Dumbledore? No anger, no recriminations, no usual teenage 'stuff'? Bollocks.

4. The complete lack of character growth by Harry throughout the series. The boy never changes despite living through some extraordinary events, his entire life turning upside down and so on. For that matter, none of the characters really change. Thinking of my own teenage years, I was a wholly different person at 17 than I was at 11.

5. Horcruxes in general. Good grief, Tolkien sort of did it in Lord of the Rings, but Sauron was a god. He didn't split his soul, he put part of himself in it. JKR, you goober.

6. If Snape is a good guy, why did he sell Emmeline Vance to Voldemort? (See Snape's discussion with Bellatrix and Narcissa in the Spinner's End chapter of HBP)

7. If Basilisk venom destroys horcruxes, why didn't it destroy the (stupid) Horcrux in Harry when he was bitten in the Chamber of Secrets? (I've had a lot of people chastise me about this one. Most have asserted that one must destroy the vessel in order to destroy the horcrux. Not true. The diary was damaged, as were all the other horcruxes. Basilsk poison had damaged Harry to the point of near death. Ergo, his body was severely damaged. That should have released/destroyed the horcrux. His subsequent healing by Fawkes is irrelevant).

8. If Voldemort had his horcruxes binding his soul to this plane of existance, why did Quirrel drink Unicorn blood in first year? Okay, DrgnMstr answered this one for me. Quirrelmort was drinking the Unicorn blood not to sustain the shade of Voldemort, but rather to sustain Quirrell's body while being possessed by the shade of Voldemort. Thanks DrgnMstr!

9. Lily's love for Harry provided protection from the Killing curse? So Lily was the only parent, or even mother, who died for their child? Bollocks.

10. Harry used a Protego shield spell to protect Molly Weasley from a Killing Curse? What is that all about? Don't say it was because of the Deathstick or I shall slap you vigorously. If it was the Deathstick's power, wouldn't Dumbledore have used it to protect hundreds?

11. Timelines. The timeline from Voldemort's attack at Godric's Hollow to Harry's being left at Privet Drive is completely botched. So too is the timeline from Harry's decision to 'rescue' Sirius in the Department of Mysteries to the unfortunate denouement. Snape's role is extremely suspect.

12. Why was the wizard who defeated Grindlewald unable to stop Severus Snape from absconding from the Hog's Head the fateful night of the Prophecy's telling?

13. Am I the only person out there that thinks that Horace Slughorn should be punished for witholding his knowledge of Tom Riddle's pursuit of Horcruxes?

14. Then entire timeline post-Godric's Hollow encounter October 31, 1981

A. Why did it take Hagrid over a full day to bring Harry from his home to Privet Drive, especially on Sirius' motorbike?

B. Why was McGonagall watching over the Dursley's home if she was unsure if the Potters had been killed?

C. How did the entire wizarding populace find out about the downfall of Voldemort? The Potters had been living in a villiage under the Fidelius Charm, not in central London.

D. When did Dumbledore cast the infamous Blood Wards? He showed up, used the put-outer, convinced McGonagall leaving Harry with the Dursley's was the correct course of action, left a fifteen month old wounded child on a doorstep in November then left.

15. Harry has a 'connection' to Voldemort because of the moronic Horcrux in his head, right? So why did his vision in the summer prior to fourth year begin in Frank Bryce's cottage when Voldemort was in the big house and unaware of the man?

16. If 'either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives' then:

-How could the basilisk kill Harry? Granted, Harry didn't die (obviously), but he nearly did and it is generally accepted in canon that Harry was saved by Fawkes.

-By that means(dying by the hand of the other), Harry either fulfilled the prophecy in Godric's Hollow or the whole prophecy falls apart. If a person is defined by their soul and not their body, then Harry fulfilled the prophecy in the Chamber of Secrets when he destroyed a peiceof Tom Riddle's soul. However, how could Ron (locket), Hermione (cup), Dumbledore (ring), Voldemort (Harry's scar), Crabbe (Diadem) and Neville (Nagini) destroy the horcuxes? It doesn't work. The prophecy is nonsensical.

-How did Harry kill Voldemort at the end of DH? The curse that killed the Dark Lord was cast by the Dark Lord and was merely reflected back at him (like Harry and Malfoy during GOF) so Voldemort didn't 'die at the hand of the other'.

17. Ron imitated Parseltongue in DH? Really? Stop it. I can see the crazy all over that.

18. At the end of OOTP when Dumbledore showed Harry the memory of Trelawney telling the prophecy, it was played uninterrupted. But the origninal scene was NOT uninterrupted. Remember? During the telling of the propchecy, the door was opened by Aberforth with Snape in hand midway through the prophecy. That should have been included in the memory shown to Harry.

19. Follow me here. JKRs recurring trumpet is that the purebloods are wrong, blood is irrelevenat to magical capability, power or prospect. She shows this repeatedly with Hermione as her primary champion of the muggleborn and Lily Potter in the background providing the same. Yet, when Voldemort is resurrected, what does he take from Harry? His Blood. Then he says something to the effect that now that the Dark Lord has Harry's blood in him, then the magical protections imbued by Lily are now overcome. Because Tom Riddle has been reincarnated using Harry Potter's blood, he's transferrred/overcome/bypassed the magical protection afforded by Lily Potter. So the purebloods are right, magic is in your blood. Geez, does she think through any of these decisions? She could have easily had Wormtail conduct a ritual to siphon off Harry's magic or some such. Voldemort already had human flesh from his servant, but he needed/wanted to overcome the protection from Lily so he took Harry's blood.

20. Why on God's green earth would Minister Fudge have two Dementors with him during the final task of the TriWizard Tournament? The most dangerous obstacles were a Sphinx, Hippogriff and an Acromantula. The Hogwarts staff could easily subdue those foes. Unless Dementors can teleport/apparate, there's no way they get there in the roughly 30 minutes between Harry's return from the graveyard and the time Barty Jr is given the Kiss.

21. Why didn't Harry thow out Hedwig's cage after the summer between first and second year? Vernon had locked her in the cage and it tortured Harry to see her in such a state, so why didn't he obviate the problem by discarding the cage? My kids are far younger and their response to something they don't like is to throw away the offending item.

22. So the locket Horcrux played wonky-wonk with the Trio's emotions, logic centres and general being, right? Why? Harry had been running around for the bulk of his life with a Horcrux in his head and it didn't affect him one iota. Ginny was affected so much because she poured so much of herself into the diary (which is actually ingenius, despite the ridiculousness of the Horcrux implementation). So why did the locket affect Harry and, by extension, Hermione and Ron? It shouldn't have, or the Horcrux in Harry's head should have twisted him over the years. Again - JKR used her characters to further the plot rather than her characers driving the plot for her.

23. This idea was shot to me from sprinter1988...When does a spell end? Obviously, when the spell is dispelled either via a ending spell (a la Finite Incantatem) or by curse breaking. What about when the caster dies? The Body Bind curse that Dumbledore cast on Harry whilst on the top of the Astronomy Tower ended on Dumbledore's death. It even is discussed in those terms. However...

What about all the ancient ruins that Bill plunders for Gringotts? Granted, one could make the arguement that these were protected via runes or other non-spell originating sources, but it begs the cry of 'inconsistency!' The Fidelius on Grimmauld? Wizarding portraits? Are they rune enchanted or is the paint a potion? It's a very, very vague and, again, not very well thought out.

24. One other idea from sprinter1988. There's a *minor* loophole in the Fidelius Charm. Follow an Order member as they travel. They're walking down the street, past number Six Grimmauld Place. Number Eight. Number Ten. Whoops, he just disappeared, but where to? Lessee...over there is number Ten Grimmauld place and over there is number Fourteen Grimmauld place. Hmmm, the mind boggles.

25. So Harry's the Master of Death, right? How? Welllll, one would have to be in possession of each of the three Hallows (literally or magically). But Harry cast away the Resurrection Stone with no intent to retrieve it before he encountered Voldemort in the forest. He no longer had it in his possession, ergo, he no longer was the master of that Hallow. The Wand is an interesting case that JKR actually provided a good case for why Harry didn't need to physically possess the item (amazingly she did a good job). The cloak had been Harry's for years, but the stone, he'd relinquished. All that build up thrown away in a vain attempt at a dramatic scene. He could have just put the stone in his pocket to the same affect (having his parents, Sirius and Remus vanish) while still maintaining mastery over that Hallow.

26. The staff of Hogwarts did nothing when Draco Malfoy distributed his 'Potter Stinks' badges? Really? They allowed students to wear a degrading button? Really? At my kids' school, they can't wear anything that even hints at degrading another student or they get suspended.

27. The staff of Hogwarts and the organizers of the TriWizard tournament allowed a reporter (especially one with a muckraking reputation) to interview a fourteen year old boy without an adult present. Sure. Yeah. I believe that.

28. Why was the Trio hungry on the horcrux hunt? Can anyone incant, "Accio Fish,"?

29. Why didn't Remus and/or Snape see two sets of Harry and Hermione's running around on the Marauder's Map?

30. It takes a dozen trained handlers to control a dragon, yet the TriWizard Tournament organizers expect one school age witch or wizard to survive the first task? Really? That's the equivalent of turning a Junior in high school loose in a cage with a tiger. Ludicrous.

31. How did Filch survive the purges during Harry's seventh year so that he remained at Hogwarts?

32. The magical appliance called 'Pensieve' was introduced in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Why then, didn't Dumbledore offer up Harry's memory of the Voldemort resurrection as evidence at the end? It seemed (upon first reading) to be an obvious plot device. Kind of like Amortentia in Half Blood Prince...

33. So the enchantment on the Mirror of Erised would only release the Philosopher's Stone to a person who wanted to find the stone, but not use it. A person like Quirinus Quirrell.

There's more, but I'm becoming P.O.'d, so I'll stop now.

Pet Peeves Which Cause Me To Close A Story

Horrific grammar and spelling (e.g. defiantly vs. definitely, loose vs. lose, deatheater vs. Death Eater, conversions vs. conversations, Lilly, Harrison/Hadrian/something else to make Harry's name sound 'cool')

Super short chapters (less than 3000 words)

It's "Stupefy" people. Not "Stupify." That's another thing that bugs me, when authors use the incantation to describe the spell being cast versus the spell's name. Repeatedly throughout canon, the professors and others use the spell's name to describe the bit of magic being invoked. It's the Killing Curse, not the Avada Kedavra.

In-narrative Author Notes.

Ron as a caring human being (far too OOC for me). Unless it's Jeconais, 'cause his stuff rocks with a capital R.

Stupidly overpowered Harry.

A story where there is no conflict/tension.

The use of 'Patroni' for multiple instantiations of a Patronus. On JKR's website, she defined Patronuses is the multiple of Patronus.

Miscellaneous

Anonymous reviews disabled, if you're not brave enough to leave your name don't review.

A little interesting note (Official word count from Scholastic Inc except DH)

June 1997 Philosopher's Stone: 76,944 words

July 1998 Chamber of Secrets: 85,141 words

July 1999 Prisoner of Azkaban: 107,253 words

July 2000 Goblet of Fire: 190,637 words

June 2003 Order of the Phoenix: 257,054 words

July 2005 Half-Blood Prince: 168,923 words

July 2007 Deathly Hallows: 204,796 words

Have fun and God bless!