Title: Rustlings in the dark
Author: Neisseria
Rating: T so far.
Genre: General
Pairing: H/Padma
Chapters: 15
Words: 87,549
Updated: May 28, 2009
Published: April 16, 2008
Status: Abandoned
Summary: Alternate fourth year: a forgotten foe plagues Hogwarts and Harry is left trying to solve the mystery as he is plunged into another adventure.
Link: Link

Starts of average, but it has an excellent update rate so far and the plot is shaping up nicely.



Checked by Minion, June 20, 2013

 

Like you said, starts of average and I haven't seen enough to judge it well enough though. I like what character work their is so far and it's done enough to keep me mildly interested.

3/5 for now.

 

On the plus side: soundly written, chapters have a good size, nice speed of update, interesting story, rare pairing.

On the minus side: the story is still being laid out, there's amazing potential here but nothing's really happened yet.

I'm enjoying this story and I think it has the potential to be awesome, but at this point there's not enough written to say whether it belongs in the library or not.

No vote from me yet.

Edit: 300 posts. woot.

 

A few very interesting twists to a normal 4th year plotline (no TWT) and nice development of Harry's character makes this into a very pleasant read so far.

 

This story was pretty entertaining and pleasantly readable. No complaints from me, but nothing stood out as particularly amazing or masterfully done either, except perhaps the political scene.

4/5 at the moment, with quite a lot of potential.

 

@Sesc, lol sorry but I love this story.

Anyone ever get that feeling when someone gives you a really good link thats everything you want? Favorite pairing, nice plot (so far), good characterisation and a nice update rate.

Yeah, I've got that feeling now.

It's got nothing to do with me browsing 'not4chan' right now.

 

I like the DADA professor. He seems like a well-written charcter from what we've seen so far and no doubt will play a large role. Most of the DADA professor's seem to anyway, thoguh I'm curious as to whether Crouch Jr will be included in this.

And I liked the train killing, it's a cool little plotline, and the whole 'shrivelled up dead person' thing is sweet.

 

It's a good story so far and seems to be picking up momentum. I liked Bill's characterization and the emphasis on Runes and Curses.

 

Technically, as I mentioned it in the Harry/Padma thread, I should be the annoyed one, but meh.

Like I said there, it started off meh-ish to me, but has improved over the past couple of chapters. Very fluent and respectable writing as well. Gotta give the praise when it's due.

I'll wait a little longer before rating.

 

A very decent story. Much like the beach novels you read. Standard, solid writing, but when you read fanfiction that's something you don't see much of.

I've only read the first chapter so far, but the conversation is realistic, the characterization is good (the author established Bill's personality in only a chapter, which is pretty impressive), and the style, while not exactly the best I've ever seen, does not bore one to death.

What this story is missing is something that makes it special, that makes it stand out. Nevertheless, definitely worth the read.

4/5 but it deserves a 4.5/5 in comparison to the rest of fanfiction.

 

So far this story looks promising, albeit it will take some time to take off.

As to the story itself, liked the way the TWT was dealt with (possible sequel) as well as the small fight with Death Eaters after the Cup. The characterization is, at least, very good... those small details like Hermione's behavior. Not to forget the sense of mystery that is slowly building up.

Unfortunately this story lacks this "spark", this thing that makes story outstanding.. Still, a decent read it is.

4/5

 

This fic is certainly promising. The author has already included interesting aspects of magic, such as his focus on runes and curses, and the fight scene was respectably written.

I particularly like that Harry had to go back to Madam Pomfrey for regular checks to see if there is a relapse of the Blood-Boiling Curse. Most authors would just have the main character brush it off with a five-minute jaunt to a hospital wing.

It would be even better if the author chooses a slow build-up to the H/P romance, as he seems to be doing.

4/5 for now.

 

Overall it seems okay.

I've tried to stop reading bad fics, so I'm getting more and more used to judging others by a higher standard. If I would have read this a few months ago I'd have though it was amazing.

If the beginning hadn't been mentioned I'd have stopped reading after the second chapter. It seems to drone on and the characterisation just seems off... But as the story moves on the pace quickens and the characters develop.

I didn't like Hermione. It's a personal view really; a lot of it just seemed like pointless bashing. But it wasn't enough to turn me off the story, just enough to half irritate me when reading it.

From the little we saw of Padma she seemed really genuine and a nice character. The author also looks like they are going to devlop that slowly.

Overall I'd say it has the potental to be a great mystery story. I give it a 3.5/5 leaning towards a 4... The only issue for me is the first few chapters.

 

I like this story and actually didn't mind the first chapter so much, given what the author was trying to accomplish. Stories that depart from canon need to start somewhere. While I agree that the author might have benefited from starting with Harry's arrival at the Burrow, the salad scene, a bit of civil disobedience on Harrry's part, at least stayed faithful to canon while showing a bit of "Harry with backbone." I also liked the curse breaking/rune stuff at the end, which has already been mentioned.

The story does have a feeling of Hermione bashing, but I think it's less a matter of going OOC with Hermione as cherry-picking aspects of her personality that paint her in the most negative light (and Harry's picking up on these things more than in canon). The author's portrayal of Ginny was quite good and in an economy of lines.

The pacing of the story reminds me of that of the first few books, where the mystery was the primary driver of the plot and not a subplot, subordinate to a game, Umbridge-fighting, monster-in-the-chest, or road-tripping. She's put enough intrigue into the story to catch my attention. I'm giving this a 4.5/5 because I think her auspicious start will pan out. (And I have nostalgia for these kinds of stories).

 

I like it. Yeah, Hermione is probably more annoying than she is in the books. But book Hermione would be pretty damn annoying to me in real life too so I can let it slide.

Not too sure what to think about the author being named after gonorrhea though.

 

The author focuses mainly on them, only focusing on her negative points. If you don't like the canon Hermione you are bound to like this one, and if you like the Canon Hermione, although you won't hate this one, there is a chance it might annoy you a little. That is all.

The personality traits of Hermione are correct, in fact it is not that that really annoys me. It just seems as though Hermione, although smart, is pointless. She knows nothing of use and just gets in everyones way. Her brains mean nothing because she doesn't know how to use them. THAT is what I meant by sort of Hermione Bashing. On a small scale. A very small scale. It just irritated me.

Hermione's personality DOES have a purpose though. The author has reasons for Hermione being less brilliant and always feeding Harry the answers, and so I accept that. It is not pointless bashing. (I asked the author, which is why I've changed my mind about pointless bashing)

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an update.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4201201/9/

 

It's rather strange reading the comments here. Especially strange about the Hermione comments since I wasn't deliberately bashing her.

At Jenkins: Crouch Jr's out of the picture entirely. I found it funny that you thought the Defence teacher well-written since someone told me I made him sound like a pirate. I was going for a northern accent but sort of failed. I'm blaming it on the fact that I don't really talk to the locals when I'm up north for uni.

And I agree with everyone about the meh-ish start. I needed to pick somewhere to start and that was it. There was originally going to be a prologue but it would have revealed too much and made the mystery going on much easier to guess at. As it is I'm continually surprised that no one I know of has even an inkling of what's going on. But that's a good thing.