I'm guessing from scene 11.5 that the Abbots' life expectancies just dropped dramatically.

 

Sorry for Pansy? HELL NO

This is what I love in stories. I can't see how 99% of Wizards don't go dark. You have unlimited power over muggles at your finger tips. Imperio and obliviate and you have your self a slave. Find a couple of pretty muggles and you have sex slaves.

Honestly when you said Neville and Pansy in a closet I automatically thought she would be giving here head. I wonder if Ginny will nark on Neville or get him to help get get revenge on the Abbots.

I liked Voldemort museing over the loss of his chair. Sure he lost his base a bunch of followers and equipment but he wants his chair god damn it!!!

The idea of the iron is interesting but also one of my major pet peeves.

The idea of Harry coming up with a whole new idea that no one has ever come up with pisses me off. Sure you said the goblins used the idea but still I find it hard to believe that no one in the history of the wizarding world has thought of this idea, If it is a well known fact to those who know history and wards that iron disrupts them it stands to reason people would think to do this.

Look at world war one. Flying had only been around bearly a decade and yet one of the first things they did was biff hand held bombs and grenades out the plane onto the enemy. Common sense.

I'm not sure how I feel about the revants they are a cool original idea but seem to bring us to angst!Harry which is very not cool.

PS Kudos on the very quick updates.

PPS Do you notice a difference in attitude towards certain actions the characters take between here and FFA and other places you post your stories? Like I personally liking Pansy being enslaved and the random murder. Do other find this distasteful. Or others not liking you having the bodies of Lily and James defiled or you making Hermione a alcaholic?

 

Eh? You sure that this is a completely 'new idea'? All Harry did differently was follow up the iron trick with a couple bombs. Basically he just added a finisher to the technique.

And like Jbern said in the fic, it used to be Besiegers vs. Besieged. Semi-large groups assaulting each other trying to outlast each other. Which means there was no need to think of a way to immediately eliminate the wards.

Harry, however, doesn't have that kind of luxury. He needed to get in, blow it to Hell and back, and get the hell out. Thus the anvil/bomb combo. After all, necessity is the mother of invention.

And in terms of angst!Harry, while I agree with you in general principle I have to disagree here. Voldemort needs a way for Harry to be completely occupied (and, best case scenario, broken) until a point in time when Tom can kill him with certainty.

@Jbern: I gotta say, I'm loving the fic. It's definitely different than most HP fics out there, and significantly better as well. Judging by the sheer amount of set-up you're putting into the most recent chapters makes me itch for the endgame.

 

Even though I understand the estimable S's qualms about Harry coming up with something new... I gotta side with Jim here.

Honestly... It's the late 90s in the story and the most advanced technology in real use by the wizards in the story that we've seen is the wizarding wireless. (The flying car is an exception given the original owner's fascination with muggles)

Throughout the series we've been shown that wizards are approximately 100 years or more behind the muggles in every way shape and form (I mean holy hell, England outlawed slavery long before the US did, but the Wizarding world seems AOK with it. Purebloods wanting to enslave everyone that isn't one of them in fact), and let's be honest, if their society is THAT insular and unwilling to embrace change... then it's likely that it's endemic in all layers of their society, including warfare. As such, I don't think it's fair to say that just because muggles figured out that planes are a great platform to drop bombs from (and honestly they were NOT good to drop bombs from until WWII) doesn't mean that the wizards would likewise make the leap to that sort of air to ground warfare.

And aerial warfare only really came into its own during WWII (prior to that aerial warfare against ground targets consisted of the pilot or gunner dropping grenade-like bombs over the side of the plane.)

Case in point, they're using a freaking steam engine to run the kids to the school. And yes, I know... it's all picturesque and sweet and all... but it still a freaking steam engine... hello... diesel engines... been around about 100 years already, give em a try. As such, given all the evidence of lack of innovation in their society, the corrupt and patriarchal Elizabethian era government (with the upper class wizards pretty much exemplifying the house of Lords before their power was broken), and the whole Pax Britania era attitude of the ruling class and all the rest, it's pretty clear that the wizarding world is just not open to new ideas or ways of thinking, and thus their methodology of warfare would perforce, likewise show a lack of innovative thinking. So I'd say that Jim has pretty much captured one of the core issues of the Wizarding world.

Besides, as you yourself pointed out above, "You have unlimited power over muggles at your finger tips."as a wizard, so where is the need in their society to innovate? Advancement has always been about filling a need or making something easier. Muggles are used to working hard, wizards are soft and it shows in how they are cowed by Riddle.

That said, your comment of "The idea of Harry coming up with a whole new idea that no one has ever come up with pisses me off." is a good arguement... but if you think about it... when has a muggle raised wizard existed who was in a position to bring a new type of warfare into the fore in their world? Yes, voldemort was running around long after WWII, but we've not seen one muggle raised wizard in a position of power that could effect change during that time period.

I think it's also a matter or temporeal perspective here. People tend to live in their own time these days and forget that things that we take for granted haven't always existed. Aerial warfare is less than 60 years old. Before that time noone ever even considered dropping bombs from the sky as a possible way to fight a war realistically. And as they say, SOMEONE has to invent things. Innovations don't just spring into being on their own when the time is right. Take the Ipod for example. The technology to create personal MP3 players has existed for more than 15 years, but only in the last 5 or so have mp3 players actually existed. Someone had to sit down and come up with the idea.

So, in this case, concerning the matter of aerial bombardment, why not Harry? He is rather uniquely positioned to do so. You can just bet that any war movies on the telly would be constant fodder for the Dursley's evening watching, and Harry would at least catch glimpses of bombing runs and the ideas behind them. Besides... would you rather that someone like Hermione come up with the idea? *Shudder*Can you imagine the levels of smug that she'd be radiating if she came up with an idea like that? She'd be insufferable. I'm sure that at this point you can imagine her bossy little voice nattering on about "Well now... now that you've SEEN (annoying and patronizing tone to "seen") how effective aeroplane style based bombing can be... I have all these other suggestions for the wizarding world...." *unrolls a scroll as large as herself*


EDIT: Just read the latest installment of Darkness.

Damn! So many things going on in one story at the same time. Harry and Dumbles, Voldemort and Wormtail (Silverclaw? *snicker*), Narcisa and Draco, HArry and Susan, Harry and his Revenants, Pansy and Longbottom... I'll say it again... damn!

As to feeling sorry for Pansy... HA! No... not really feeling sorry for her, she was a vindictive, bitchy little witch who likely wouldn't have thought twice about crucioing or imperioing Longbottom if she could get away with it. Who knows if she keeps trying to get away... Nev might just tell her, "I've had quite enough of your attempts to get out from under my control... You now like being my slave, and will cease attempting to escape my control, from now on."


Anyway, Very well done chapter all the way around. Very impressive. Though I'm at a real loss to see how you could possibly conclude it all in 6 more chapters... Unless they are truly monsterously big chapters.

 

1945 Auror command HQ

Auror Team leader:- Rightyo men this is it we have found Grindewalds base of operations and will be making our move against it at 1800 hours whilest they are at dinner. We have a half dozen trolls who will carry several large blocks of iron into the ward zone to sap them of their power. This will likely take some time and we can expect heavy resistence during this period.

Muggleborn Auror:- Sir cant we just drop some of the iron block directly into the ward zone to save time? Have Broom riders carry them above the base and drop them directly into the killzone to save time.

Team leader:- Yes... aerial attack... those blasted muggles managed to hit Diagon ally with a few of their bombs the least we can do is return the favour.

So it was that Grindewalds HQ wards were breached long enough for several strike teams of Aurors and Albus Dumbledore to inflitrate the base and end the rule of this dark wizard.

It seems a very logical thought process to me. Granted I know of muggle war tactics so I have a advantage of wizards but still they aren't stupid... well most of them.

 

Above post is made of win for the flavor it brings to the table.

Honestly though... The sort of "modern warfare practice" and magical innovation in the magical world, brings up a question I have before I get back to the iron debate.

When did wizards in the potterverse stop using staffs... and why?

Were wands an innovation that caught on because they were faster to use than staffs. Sort of like how cartridge based firearms and pistols replaced muzzle loaders type weapons because of the speed with which they could be used? Or are staffs a different sort of tool altogether.

Maybe staffs are slower to use, but much more powerful. But, that in one on one dueling (like it looks like wizards use from all appearances in the books) the wand lets a wizard get in a hit quickly and thus is more effective in such battles.

Honestly, from all indications, fights in the JKR wizarding world are all one on one, wild and unorganized melee sorts of affairs, we've never seen teamwork in their warfare at all. Even Grindelwalds death was supposedly from a one on one battle.

If so... then a team of Aurors that is organized more on the lines of a modern military fireteam could be vastly more effective if they had a staff user filling the role of a heavy weapons specialist.

A group of allied forces wizards and witches move through a german forest in the dead of night, searching for a group of Grindelwalds followers that have been operating in the area.

Auror team leader. - Righty-oh, wands out... and Hastings, you have point, eyes and ears sharp and smart now... good man.

Rowlings, Hartchilde, Williams, eschelon behind Hastings, shields at the ready. Cummingsly, have that staff primed and charged with a dozen reductos on my order.

Cummingsly- 15 meter radius for it, or something more focused, sah?

Auror leader- 15 meters, but charge it up good and heavy, lad... All I want to see left of those blighters is a fine red mist when we're done. Right? Forward then, quiet and quick.

10 minutes later

Hastings - *handsign* 9 Grindees (Grindelwald followers), 2 o'clock, star formation. 50 meters.

Auror leader - *handsign* On my mark.... Rowlings, Hartchilde, Williams, Open fire on the leftmost Grindee, shieldbreakers and confundus charms if you manage to get through. Open up a hole for Cummingsly. Right then ... fire.

Fight ensues. A hole is opened in the Grindees group defense*

Auror leader - Cummingsly, Now.

Cummingsly- Reducto!

A massive reducto blast rocked the forest, uprooting several old growth oaks while hurling the enemy forces about brutally.

Auror leader- Thats done it. Pick off th survivors now, before they can regroup.


JKR however, would likely just make it a stand up one on one battle with the Aurors losing baddly because they charge in, are completely fucking disorganized, and because they won't actually kill their enemies for some reason.

Anyway, back to the iron issue.
Actually there's a problem with the way of moving the iron that you present if you think about it. (Something I pointed out to Jim that may or may not be a plot hole depending on how he works out the iron issue)

Okay, first off, iron saps/disrupts magic, right? That's the reason you use it.
So, how can a magical broom lift it?
...(waits)...
I think you see the problem.

It's that whole "what happens when an immovable object meets an irresistable force?" issue.

My answer to this is that Harry lucked into a solution when he started putting the bombs into a extradimensional space. Placing iron inside something that isolates it from the magic of what is lifting it is key.

The space inside something like a spatially distorted box is itself non-magical. The magic tied up in the creation of such a space being either a extradimensional portal, or simply a magical twist in spacetime that packs a real world area into a compressed region of folded space. Either way, the space inside is itself unmagical... and thus unaffected by the presence of iron.

Thus, Harry could pack the anvils in such a pocket of space, and their magic sapping powers would be insulated away... until he dropped them on the DE fortress.

I suppose a witch or wizard could tie a suitably long rope around an anvil and tie the other end of the rope to the middle of their broom...letting the anvil swing at the end of the rope so as to carry it, but that creates a tremendous issue with momentum and torque when they try to change course, or when they have to dodge attacks, or even when they try to drop the load they're carrying, and the longer the rope needed, the worse the effect would be.

For example, diving ( thus putting the anvil into freefall) and then jinking up or changing direction suddenly could even cause the rope to snap their broom or jerk it right out from under them when the anvil *still in freefall remember* snaps the rope tight.)
And, from all indications, iron appears to have an "area effect" since once it hit the ground it kept suppressing the wards just by being there.

 

I will hit staffs first.

I don't think there has ever been a canon reference to this so anything we say is just speculation.

I think the reason we think of staffs is Merlin is traditionally shown as using a staff so we think they must be in the past.

Well I think Staffs may be a easier tool to make. In canon Olivanders is said to be "Makers of fine wands from 300bc" or something like that. So we know wands have been around for ages.

So I think that back in the day before a formalized ministry and schooling like Hogwarts were everything was done with apprentices trade between wizards would be very little. Wizards may be one of only a few dozen people in the world to know a spell because knowledge wasnt traded.

Thus while the Olivanders may have been making wands which may be far more complicated than it looks (Hollow piece of wood with a feather in it) They may need binding magic and craftman ship ect. So only the olivanders and a few other would have wands available to them.

I would imagine staffs would be easier to make and every wizard would be able to craft one for themselves. Just get a bit of nice timber and your done. A magic core might have been added but probably not since they wouldnt of had the skill to to it or get their hands on the right core. You really think a wizard 1000 years ago would of had access to the 3 primary cores. If they were lucky they have of gotten their hands on a unicore tail hair but what if that wasnt compatible with them what if they need a dragon heart string? They gonna go knock over a fucking dragon? doubt it. Or catch a phoenix... good luck.

No they are either going to have their normal stick that they use to help focus their magic or if they are lucky a bit of incompatable magic core they they may not have the skill to bind to their staff. People like Merlin would have had the skill to do it but not many others. It was not until mass trade and centralized meeting places for wizards like Diagon Ally and Hogsmead showed up that wizards had the collective resources to harness into high powered magical creations.

Thus I don't think staffs are better infact they may be inferior. They would appear to be harder to control and for spells that need fine detailed work they may be useless. Possibly they could be used for warding and magics over a large area but even then I imagine a wand would work just as well. If all it took to make a more powerful magical focus was a bigger bit of wood and possibly more magic substances inside it then we would have seen them before now and everyone would have the biggest wand they could reasonably use with out being cumbersom.

Ok onto the iron/broom/attack debate.

According to the details in Jberns story (Which are the only relative points since tis his story we are debating) Iron doesnt dampen magic around it it is just very resistent to magic its self. So that point is mute a Broom would not be negated by the iron its self but it would have to struggle to life the heavy weight. I'm not sure if it could lift it or not but they could use the anti gravity discs Harry used in the story to make them weight very little.

So I don't see transport as a problem at all. Iron itself is resistant to magic but its not a dementor, it doesnt suck in ambient magic. Iron being pressed against a ward is the same as a rock being pressed against it. They would both be resisted by the ward but the rock would be turned to rubble long before the iron would. You couldnt banish the iron at the wards because as we saw in the graveyard fight Iron is very hard to spell.

I suggest you re read the chapter because you are confusing a few points. The bombs were in the trunk not the iron.

Thus so long as you can get it above the ward zone which I don't imagine being to hard it should be easy to then deliver them into the ward zone.

The reason the wards of the property and the magic in the area was being disrupted was due to when the iron hit the wards it vaporised coating the area in iron dust which weakened the building and stabilizing charms but dint remove the effect totally. The bombs probably had a hand in dispersing the iron and weakening the magic in the area to.

TEAOS

 

The Portkey took Harry straight to Greater Hangleton where the Goblins had staged his carpet (from his vault if you recall) the anvils and the ordance.

He only had to manage a short flight on the carpet. If it makes you feel any better, he placed a flat piece of wood on the carpter so the anvils weren't directly contacting the carpet and attached the lighten my load (tm) disks that Fred provided him. The anvils were busy sapping the magic of those and didn't bother with the carpet they weren't directly attached to.

The wards are only magical and have no physical component. Harry didn't have a group of trolls and giants so, he overflew it and let gravity do the work for him. You'll note that magic can affect iron to some extent, the first few were vaporized when they struck the wards.

On the subject of staves, I'll be mentioning them in The Lie I've Lived. One of the additional tasks will involve the use of staves. I envision them as a cruder version of the wand in this instance capable of few spells, but wielding them with great force. (Hard to swish and flick something 4-6 feel long - hence the need for a fine wand.) Our 6 (why can't Drumstrang and BB have an extra champion? Always seemed stupid to me) champions will compete in a bit of old fashioned staff fighting on a small catwalk. Haven't gotten to the specifics if it will be one on one single elim or a big brawl. Plus I have to narrow down what spells a basic staff wielder can cast with one. That's more for that story thread, but I wanted to say that I was thinking about it, just not for this story.

Jim

 

Without going too much indepth into the staff vs wand debate, since we are here to discuss Darkness, anything we really discuss about staves is (of course) pure speculation.
That said, I see your very valid argument re staves potentially being an inferior device, but this is spec just as mine is that they may be a superior one in applied power. The key here, I think, is the issue of a magical core. Now, I never thought for a minute that staff users wouldn't use magical cores in their implements, the magical core being what clearly seperates a wand or staff from a stick or hunk of timber. Instead I'm thinking of the core as more of a "magical capacitor" if you will. I mean it seems to have all the traits of one. For example, when casting a spell, the user must channel sufficient magic into the wand to enact the spell (if insufficient magic is present, the core acts like an open circuit would and nothing happens until an appropriately strong magimotive force is applied) Further it takes a tigger (the motion and the words or the will in the case of a wordlessly cast spell) to trigger the release of the spell. That said, my theory was that a staff might have a larger (longer) core, thus taking longer to charge it up to cast the spell (to build up the magical charge to fire off the spell) and thus be less useful in a contest of magic where speed is critical (avada kadavera only takes one hit, and the faster you can get it out... the quicker the fight is over), but more powerful once you get them fully charged and able to lob off the spell. (Or as Jbern said, less useful, but able to "wield[ing] them with great force)

Anyway, back to the issue of iron. Well, jbern has spoken... so on we go.
Magic does effect it to some extent... since as has been stated the wards vaporized some of the anvils. So it's not as if it's a magical null... just that it's deleterious to magic in some plot driven way. The physical rules of them being secondary to the story being spun out.

Still.. good debate, I can hardly wait to see what comes out next so we can chew it over.

 

So someone recognizes the necklace Pansy has? I wonder when dear ol' Ginny is gonna tell Harry, and what Harry is going to do afterwards. I hope he punishes the fat oaf or kills him. To me, Neville is getting too dark... too fast.

 

"The fat oaf"?

Okay, maybe he is going a little dark a bit too quickly... but calling him a "fat oaf" is just fucking stupid.

Neville had his whole god damned family and all associated relatives killed or tortured into madness by death eaters... so pardon me if some of us aren't crying hot tears of remorse for the poor little Death eater spawn/wannabes that he's been offing.

Frankly, at this point I'm cheering him on because he's gonna tear the fucking heart out of their little pure blooded terrorist club when the body count starts to really mount... mainly by screwing their families out of heirs to continue their lines, and by giving them a first hand taste of the suffering they've visited on others.

The one thing is, we know that eventually he's gonna go for the big score (offing a ton of them at once) because that's the trend he's establishing.

At this point, I wouldn't put it past him to order Pansy to whip up a potion his way (AKA. Neville Longbottom School of industrial cauldron melting)... and poison the whole Slytherin dorm at once with something nasty... Killing them all in their sleep.

It'd be a tragedy of epic proportions.. but one that would gut Death Eater forces by denying them new forces and also emotionally gut the DE parents at the same time.

 

?

Lol. Did I once say that it was wrong for Neville to kill? No. I clearly stated that he was walking that path too fast! So far, he met his Ancestor whom in turn trained him for the next month or two, and suddenly he just kills without remorse and steals people of their free will? I really don't mind his actions. However all of this is happening too fast.

Maybe your letting your feelings towards the general term of Death Eaters get to you? Mind you, not all are willing Death Eaters. Some are mentally fucked to think that way. Just look at Draco, whose having a hard time to believe his mother due to the way his father brought him up. There are some whose family were bribed by Voldemort, have a debt, cursed to, etc. Don't justify the light to do anything it takes to rid of the so called 'darkness', because due to your response, I can easily say that the Yaxley twins have every right to make sure that the Ministry/Order doesn't have forces and emotionally gut the Order/Ministry parents.

Within every beacon of light, there's darkness, and with every shroud of darkness, there's light (a twist from a lot of KH/2 shit xD).

 

Been updated and it aint bad but its been better.
A character dies or rather I dont see how she could survive.
The fic probably wouldnt seem as average as it does if we didnt know just how good jbern is at writing(aka Bungle).

3/5

Jim I know you just love it when someone says this but... PLEASE HURRY WITH BUNGLES SEQUEL I feel the need to read something that is excellent not just above average but EXCELLENT

 

Nice Jim. Love the way the play of words came back to bite Neville in the ass. Only 5 more chapters to go? Hmmmm....better make 'em quick.

 

OMIGAWD! This story is so awesome. Its so romantic how Susan and Harry have to fight the stigma of arranged marriages to prove to everyone they love each other. And Harry is so strong and courageous, with fighting the vampires and not killing Neville's relative.

This is your best story, Jbern! You should focus on it!

 

...Let me take a shot in the dark: Bio?

 

I gonna go with you on this one.

 

Chapter 35 has been well received thus far. Thanks for all the input. I haven't really jotted down Author's notes for the chapter. The chapter itself was pretty self-explanatory. The only interesting scene outside the chapter was originally, Neville and Pansy were going to be discovered by Hermione, but that changed a month or two ago. Ginny was the far better candidate.

Next chapter in 2 weeks.

See you then

Jim

 

Next chapter for this or your other fic?

 

Hermoine, as annoying as she is at times, really does mean well. Much like an overbearing mother-in-law.