Title: The Last Straw
Author: AlbusPHolmes
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Status: Complete
Library Category: General Fics
Pairings: None
Summary: A chance encounter leads Dumbledore to finally make the decision to confront his demons. Or more specifically the one demon who started it all - Gellert Grindelwald.
Link: FFnet; WBA

An excellent oneshot by AlbusPHolmes, where the author explores Albus Dumbledore's character and offers the reader a possible reason for his involvement in the war against Grindelwald. Well written and paced, I find it has earned its place in the Library.

5/5

 

Not bad. I don't think it's great, though. 3/5.

 

A quick, fairly enjoyable read. Nothing overly special, mainly because very little happens. But nothing actually wrong with it either.

3/5

 

I really enjoyed this story, it was brilliant. It made me want to read more work by the author.

Potential spoilers below:

This one-shot establishes a key moment in wizarding history (and Muggle) when Albus finally decides to take a clear stand against his former friend and now foremost nemesis.

My favorite details include:

The use of German in a way that adds to the character\history of the story without putting off non-speakers.

The way Albus recognized her purpose from her wand: ""Aspen wood. It's what alerted me to your true purpose in the first place." I don't know much about wand mythology but "asp" is a clear warning sign.

The very creepy moment where he caresses her cheek and then later recalls Ariana.

I really hope the author writes more stories set in this grand, historical era where the battlefield is spread across continents.

5/5

 

An interesting story, the ending was. I've always loved reading a well written Dumbledore and you got his character down very nicely. However, there was nothing truly fascinating in there that grabbed my attention. As said above, I would really like to read a longer story written by AlbusPHolmes, one that has more depth to it.

3.5/5

 

I loved Dumbledore's personality. It is short but it manages to clearly establish everything it needs to be a 4/5 story in that time. If expanded it would be higher.

 

Author here. Just wanted to say, thanks for the reviews and critique, and to Henry Persico, thanks for the Rec.

The major issue raised here was that very little happened, or that it was not exciting enough. In sense, there wasn't much in it to make a reader invested into the story.

Valid criticism I agree with in part, yes, but hear me for a few seconds.

The issue here is that it's not meant to be part of a bigger piece, it's not meant to have an exciting uberplot or anything of that sort. It was written for one reason only - To show why Dumbledore decided enough was enough, and decided to confront Grindelwald - and I think on this front, and the front as to which the oneshot should be judged, it does its job quite neatly. Of course I could have written a neat buildup to this, but I felt that it wasn't necessary. I could have inserted more intrigue, action, plot, etc, but I felt it would take me on a tangent into areas I didn't want to explore. The story itself is self-sustaining and not to be taken as part of a larger piece. As CheddarTrek said, not a lot has to happen in a oneshot.

If anyone has any ideas on how to improve it though, I'll listen gladly.

Again, thanks a bunch for the constructive reviews everyone, I'll definitely keep it in mind.

 

Whether or not this story works as a short story, it definitely shows AblusPHolmes has a good writing style. I'd suggest anyone whose interest was piqued by the short story take a long at his WIP, Shatterpoint. (See his siggy above for the link.)

 

I really liked this story, Dumbledore was very well written, I would like to see more of his character in your writing style, because it fits him well. The story also managed to capture my interest despite nothing much happening (even though it was something important history wise), but it's a Oneshot so nothing much to complain.

4.5/5 rounded to 4 because something I can't put my finger on was missing, what that is, I'm not sure off.

 

This story is a great example of what can be done with Dumbledore's character. He's literally everything DLP longs for, and the only complaint to be had with this fic is the short length. As a One Shot it is memorable and poignant, but I'd like to say I'd love to see more added to this story.

4.5/5... AlbusPHolmes is a very talented writer.

 

Bumped because I really, really like this story and think it should get more attention.

I found this a refreshing and very enjoyable read. It’s a short oneshot that, in my opinion, accomplishes exactly what a oneshot should do: bring up an interesting idea with top notch execution.

The technical writing is strong. Other than a small punctuation error that is easily ignorable, I’ve found no grammatical mistakes. Also, the author’s writing style has a flow that immerses the readers to the story. At least for me, there wasn’t a single moment that broke the flow of reading.

The characterization of Dumbledore is just excellent, one of the best I’ve seen without a doubt. The story’s Dumbledore has a mix of ruthlessness and kindness, which I consider is spot on Dumbledore’s character. It really demonstrates how Dumbledore truly is the one who many (Grindelwald, Voldemort, etc) feared. However, Dumbledore also displays the grandfatherly (although he isn’t that old yet) kindness that we all love.

I also like how small details show Dumbledore’s various traits. Dumbledore’s observance in detecting the asper wand and dragonhide boots, his humor as he greets the woman, his politeness, even in front of an enemy, and his prodigious skill in transfiguration. All of these things make it feel like this is actually canon Dumbledore.

Finally, I love how the regret of his past is what motivates Dumbledore to

Spoiler

turn the witch into a canary instead of killing her

and ultimately face Grindelwald. It fits so well thematically with Dumbledore’s character and the canon circumstances that led to Dumbledore and Grindelwald duel.

And it has badass Dumbledore. One cannot simply have enough badass Dumbledore.

Rating: An easy 5/5 for me. I would highly recommend to everyone.

 

Interestingly enough, I stumbled across this one a few days back when I was procrastinating on my math homework.

Fully agree with what was said above, the Dumbledore characterization was spot on. Really love the way the fight is described from the assassin's point of view, as it shows just how scary an opponent is for... well, really anyone that's not on Voldemort/Grindelwald's level.

Easy 4.5/5 rounded up for me.

 

I often look for good Dumbledore stories and this one is rather good. I dealt like all the transfiguring he does like turning the knives into potatoes really felt in character. 4/5

 

I loved Dumbledore's characterization, which hinted at his motivations, but didn't state them outright. There are too few fics that examine his past with Grindelwald, especially during the war (yes they exist, but there aren't enough). In addition, as far as I can tell, the same goes for the magical world in that era.

Though I'd like learn more about this world (because of how much I enjoyed this story), this one shot can stand alone. You can imagine what led up to this and what comes after without more information from the author. I like the use of realistic assassins as well.

5/5

 

Thank you for the bump. It is difficult to find old fics, especially oneshot, and this work was especially good.

I don't have more to say than what Nazgul/Cheese (both molten and ST flavored) have already stated, but I've come across far more excellent oneshots than multichapter fics.

I personally find it easier to write a single bite of awesome than a novel of amazing - do other authors feel the same?