I can in a way understand the reaction from Ginny and Katie. They got dumped and stood up by a boy and of course can't see any other perspective than their own. Their mistake was in blowing up what should have been a private affair into a huge mess involving their entire house. But I don't really see the two of them plotting something like that, it was probably their friends being overprotective. And then everything went out of track.

So yes, they deserve righteous payback but don't let them hurt too much
After all, James is supposed to be the mature one in the company of children.

 

Even though I'm sure Jim has something even more awesome in mind, I'd second the call for him to take one of the Puddlemere united female players to the ball. Having Angelina find out that Harry already has a place in the Spring leagues would indeed be classic and this would give her a springboard for finding out about it. She starts asking about why Harry is with whomever he goes with... and thus follows the info. It's a logical and believable string of events.

Holy crud... I'd not even thought about Sirius's reaction to finding out that James lives on in Harry's body. Lupin of course (having been caught screwing Lily by James) would be a problem if he found out, but letting Sirius in on the situation is a must. I don't know how the James part of him could possibly justify not telling him, given the dire straites that Sirius has had to live through and is still suffering, I'm sure that James would be moved out of pity alone to tell his friend... if only to give him a real reason to live again. Finding out your best friend lives on in some form would be enough to bring Sirius back to himself and save him from the sad and desperate mental state he was in in the series.

I'll second that as well. It'd be a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid sort of thing.

 

While I agree that HJ telling Sirius what's going on would probably be something Harry and James would both do, I can't see them saying anything in a letter or calling Sirius out from wherever he's hiding to Hogwarts to inform him of current events. Canon Harry was petrified of that and while HJ would have a better idea of the risks why would he chance it? It's not like Sirius can hang out with him at Hogwarts and he doesn't seem to have any plans that would require bringing Sirius in. If he tells Sirius and doesn't want to tell Remus he'll probably end up having to tell Sirius about Remus and Lily. So Remus will find out something no matter what, as I doubt Sirius's ability to remain the same around Remus afterwards.

With the twins response to Harry, first there was Harry snogging everyone, including their girlfriends, in the closet. Then he was leading both Ginny and Katie on. Then he tells Corner to take Ginny off his hands, which the twins weasel out of Corner and someone, possibly the twins, informs Ginny of hurting her feelings. Then he's blamed for Ginny's heartache. He stands up Katie, causing her to get all upset and spend the rest of the day up at the castle being consoled by the twins girlfirends, ruining their Hogsmeade trip. Then he pissed off all the upper years by being entered in the tournament. And finally he has a flaming row with Ron, who no doubt said some unflattering things about Harry afterwards. It's not a question of the twins suddenly turning on Harry, it's one thing building on another until the Twins feel the need to get some payback on Harry and Harry ignoring or getting by them only increases things. Whether Harry deserves it or not is a moot point, really.

As for Katie, it may have only been their first official date but she's a teenage girl about to date the Boy-Who-Lived who she's hung out with before and really likes. It all comes down to feelings and teenage dramatics.

 

I may be alone in this sentiment, but I could go without the HJ/Sirius bonding. I don't really think that it would add anything to this particular story. I feel that the story already has enough humor and doesn't need to add any frat-boy type humor. And sorry to disagree, but I don't think that anyone would beat Nonjon in that genre.

So yeah. The story is all well and good without all that mushy "Oh Merlin, James, I've missed you so" crap. Just my opinion.

 

I agree completely. If HJ and Sirius meet, it's only going to lead to a hug.

No. Just no.

 

Exactly.

Sirius has always been a fav character of mine and honestly, other than a few humor fics & A Black Comedy *unrivaled*, no other genres out there do his character justice.

Including Sirius here does not immediately mean HJ/Sirius mushiness nor do any of us want that.

 

I just don't think that it is practical. How would you do it? Really? Have Harry sneak out of Hogwarts every night? Have Sirius sneak in? If you want that Sirius/Harry type humor then read Nonjon's story. I just don't believe that you could fit it into this story without it seeming forced. I say just leave him in the background like in canon GoF. JBern has hinted at a possible sequel so you can start that relationship up then. I just don't feel it necessary to add that in at this point.

 

The Sirius/Harry interaction really depends on how you portray Sirius. I myself prefer the mature verison of Sirius who is truely one of the best and brightest of his generation but is fully capable of pranking the frown of Minverva's face. Many prefer the very immature childish Sirius and others prefer him to be just a plain old guy.

 

Sirius will make an appearance in chapter 8.

Remember HJ was just selected for the tournament. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that Harry being able to send Sirius an owl (even if it is the bestest owl ever!) in book 4 was a tad silly. Why couldn't the Ministry do that and follow the owl?

Anyway, HJ wouldn't mind seeing Sirius, but knows he is on the run and this is the kind of thing you drop on someone in person. Also, HJ is a bit nervous about what he would say to Sirius in the first place?

Well that's enough said about that.

Jim

 

Yes, excellent points. However, why does Harry not retaliate even a little bit? James is not portrayed as being any more mature or patient than Harry, so it can't be James shining through. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter that much, as Harry will be getting his revenge soon enough. Do want more.

 

I think I remember JB saying something about how the first war had hardened JP a bit, so that was why he was more mature than he appeared in canon. Plus, in canon we only really saw him when he was 15. I'm 22 years old now and I have changed a WHOLE lot since when I was 15. And I haven't had to deal with what JP lived through. And just like you I can't wait for HJ to get his revenge.

 

I can imagine how HJ would be nervous/angsty over interactions with two of the last marauders. (remember: WORMTAIL LIVES!!!)

At this point Remus is looking a bit like a backstabber. First he shaggs Lily, then Crouch-Moody tells Harry he knows about the map from Remus. I have my theories about what will be done with it, but I'll be quiet out of respect for the mighty jbern.

The former being why Wormtail was chosen as the secret keeper, would allow Sirus to blame Remus for Lily and James' death instead of himself.

Can you imagine the chaos it would cause if HJ let that slip?

 

Nice work jbern, as always. The hat is as cool as Hack, and in a strange way endearing. I liked your "fire and brimstone" comment about McGonagall and would really like to see a little of that character reawaken in her. I also hate your Skeeters, which is the way it should be. I can't wait to see what you make Ron's reactions and action in the future. A very enjoyable read all together.

But there were some points I hope you'de consider. For instance why let Dobby go to Dumbledore? I've gotten the impression that Harry was a little hesitant to contact him for anything so why allow Dobby to?

Another thing, I think the insults from HJ would be a little more refined. He's got quite a bit of James in him and James never came across as the blunt and crude insults type. I'm refering to your scene with Malfoy mainly. I'm not saying that he can't be crude just that he could have articulated it better.

I look forward to your retaliatation on all the idiotic Griffindors. Especially the twins. HJ is mature but not that mature I hope. If anything else it would get thing off his back.

In response to the other comments by people. You don't have to wait for the Yule Ball for HJ's quidditch connections to come through. The first task is a broom race. Even if HJ was not competing how many of the managers would give up a chance to see V. Krum in action? I think they'll be there by the truck load, or is that carpet load....

 

All this talk of pranking...

Are we ever told in canon that the Maruarders were pranksters like the Weasley twins, or is it just an assumption?

I believe all we're told is that they were "troublemakers".

Personally, I never saw them pulling off innocent pranks like the Weasley twins. Rather, I always saw it as a mixture of bullying and anachism - a serious and slightly malicious attempt to destroy Hogwarts. Stuff like trying to disable all the moving staircases. Stuff that Fred and George only began to pull at the end of OotP.

 

Vengeance is what HJ needs to focus on. The twins don't match the marauders in skill at making life miserable.

The tournament is pretty much a wrap up with James' skill at dualing/fighting (magic in general).

The whole Ginny and Katie mess could easily be sovled by telling them he took Neville to St. Mungos (no need to explain about his parents). And that he wasnt interested in Ginny(the whole kiss in the closet was a dumb move on his part).

 

I disagree, completely. This isn't a 14-year old reverting back to a petty, hurt child. This is a 14-year old with the memories of a 20-something war tempered auror, who is well aware someone is out to get him. Heck, if he remembers dying the first time, I don't think he'll want to repeat the experience anytime soon.

Anything else is small beans untill it interferes with his survival.

 

It'd be pretty suspicious if Harry started using advanced magic that's probably not on the curriculum. I'm pretty sure his goal is to keep his situation a secret. Of course he might need to use advanced magic to survive the tournament, but he didn't in canon, so I doubt it. This is why I'm excited about the tournament. I'm still wondering how he will handle himself.

 

To be honest, everyone time you have Harry being powerful when he shouldn't there's always talk about secrecy.

I say FUCK IT. Go nuts, use auror grade spells whatever that is. It's not like he's gone back into time to redo everything exactly as it went just with the inclusion of cool spells only he knows
So what if he knows spells normal people his age don't? Nobody would believe the truth and you can't go to jail for studying ahead.

 

Unless they decide that he's possessed by Voldemort.

 

If that happened, HJ would be screwed. Any knowledge that Harry and Voldemort didn't have could be explained by Voldemort having used legilimency on JP during their final confrontation.