rate_review Reviews

That was really interesting to read! I very much liked that chapter. Funny how Neville has so much respect for the sword, he tries not to 'befoul' it with his blood.

Neville and Ginny should be pretty safe with Hagrid, though.

I like the explanation being offered for Snape knowing about the plot to steal the sword of Gryffindor. It's nice to have loose ends tied up in fanfiction!

I privately think that probably the DA without Harry and Hermione were a bit of a shambles (as they are here), always arguing the toss and not always particularly bright, brave as they might be. They really needed a few Slytherins in there!

So Ginny was a little suspicious...but she seemed to be appeased by Valerie's explanation.

Funny how Valerie is a double-spy, just like Snape. She spies on the D.A., but her main purpose is to protect them, putting her in almost as much danger as Snape.

I can't wait to see them try to steal the sword! I would love to read that bit of canon...

And about the previous chapter, I think your writing is strong most of the time. You're a great writer! I don't like to read about extreme violence, but that doesn't mean you're not doing a great job of describing it. If it makes me uncomfortable, then that means you did very well! And there's no doubt extreme violence must have happened. There is even some of it in canon with Umbridge, and the last book did mention that the Carrows were much worse than her!

I have even written a bit of extreme violence myself, since when writing about Voldemort, you cannot get away from it. But I found it extremely difficult to do. You do a much better job at it!

Very inventive; the idea of the minor electric shock as a leftover from the reed is so creative! I thought you were going to go much further, from what your email said, but I didn't think this was too outrageous. And Snape was actually quite nice about it - or as nice as you can be. I kind of sympathise with his situation as Head of Hogwarts, never knowing what rebellion each new day will bring.

And she really shouldn't have told him his Headship sucked! Even if it does...

Wow, Snape is harsh on her! But I agree with sheherazade, she shouldn't have told him the things she did. And at least he healed her burns in the end.

I still think she should be at least a little upset with him for treating her this way, though... But I guess with such a submissive personality, she probably wouldn't be.

Great job on writing this, it's very strong. You can almost feel her pain...

Damion is a charmer, isn't he? You know, I found it quite funny that, despite all the serious danger they're in, the Hogwarts crew are still obsessed with Quidditch and House Points.

Wow, that reed thing is new to me! I thought I'd heard it all, but thanks for giving me a new angle here. It was pretty hot as well (not just for Valerie, lol).

One small thing - 'vile verbatim' doesn't really make sense. Maybe 'vile verbiage' or 'verbal abuse' instead?

Wow! Very creative! I loved it, can't wait to read the next chapter! <3

Ohh, I loved the confrontation between Valerie and Damion with the two other Slytherin prefects! It was good to see that the other two were on her side and left Damion, especially when the Greengrass boy nodded affably to her.

Damion's threat was chilling. Bathe in her blood! Brrrrr.....he has ideas worthy of Voldemort himself! In fact, I think Voldemort might actually like him.

I liked seeing Draco again...but then, I just like Draco, even if he doesn't have too much of a role. I am glad you didn't make him one of the really evil guys! He seemed pretty fair. Valerie did deserve punishment, after all. I loved that he wished her good luck, almost like being expelled would be a good thing. I wonder if he remembered seeing her punished in the dungeons and wished for her to be removed from all of that? Could he be feeling sorry for her?

I think Snape went a little too far with Valerie. She didn't deserve that much punishment! I hope she'll stay mad at him for a while.

Glad to see that the prefects got what they deserved! And no, I didn't think it was too harsh.

Snape is soooooo partial! Clearly his relationship with Valerie hasn't changed that.

Great, I've never read a story with a Quidditch riot in before. Snape must have known that giving the extra points to Slytherin would have started one off though! So now they think he's lost his authority? Won't Voldemort be angry?

Interesting to see what the consequences of this will be.