I come upstairs, ready to kill myself after the Celtics loss, and I see this update.

You've saved a life Santi, be proud.

 

Isn't the issue with the Rosiers settled during Harry's first year? Viktor kept warning Harry about that, and that he should be careful around the girl.

What's so different with Calypso this year?

 

I don't agree at all. It's got a tough eastern bloc thing going on to it but I find it plausible for a school where a guy like Karkaroff could be headmaster. I can't even imagine what you'd say about Hogwarts, "it feels stupid having a school with massive monsters in the basement and teachers that don't care about their students being entered in probably-deadly magically binding contests".

I don't mind reading the slow progress but on the other hand getting to the more actiony parts of the story could take years at this rate, especially if it remains the contrast of canon-adventures-at-Hogwarts versus normal-school-at-Durmstrang.

 

Disclaimer: long post about wizarding geopolitics. tl;dr - I disagree with the quoted sentiment.

I disagree.

Rowling gives us very little about the greater wizarding world in Britain, and even less about the wider world. However, certain licenses can be taken and inferred, as well as what we have in the books.

Britain, despite the haters and manip!Dumbledore stories, is a leading world power - or at least one of the most prestigious. Unless the International Confederation is some trumped up group of tinpots, then Dumbledore is clearly viewed as a major player on the world stage, and a major reason for Britain's general stability and national power. Hogwarts is a hub of magical learning, and the fact that Britain, in a single year, hosted both the Quidditch World Cup and The Triwizard Tournament speaks of its clout supporting its own interests abroad.

Then, we look at a logical historical element. It's an island with centuries of a (relatively) homogeneous culture living along a static border. Even without this, it's an island, with natural barriers. Muggle and Magic politics might have forked in the past, but it's impossible to believe they've been separated entirely, and the constant muggle (at a minimum) wars surely had an impact on the stability and entity of wizarding states. What happened, for instance, with the fall of the Hapsburg? The Ottomans? Even if purebloods kept themselves to themselves, what happened to the legions of muggleborns that found themselves in these everchanging nations?

Most recently, we have Grindelwald. Further supporting the above concept, canon does nothing to discourage the idea that Grindelwald's crusade and WWII happened at the same time for a reason, even if the reasons are never given. It makes sense then that Europe, especially in the east, would be reeling from the events of the latter half of the 20th century. Hell, right now, the story is in 1992 - right after the fall of the Soviet Union. If that's not throwing shit in the fans of the Eastern European magical world, then hell if I know what is.

The point to this very roundabout faux history lesson is that Hogwarts can afford to come across as a more compassionate and equalizing school (and to a lesser extend, I expect Beauxbatons can as well) . Because Britain, despite all the flaws available when looking through the modern day lens, is seen by the wizards as a very stable, very rich, and perhaps even very progressive society.

But for the students of Durmstrang, life is very different indeed. It doesn't surprise me at all that the chief values amongst the populations of the school is Order. As such, you have societies that care less about the moral implications of certain brands of magic, provided that the result is a strong central figure that lets the nation as a whole keep from slipping backwards. Dictatorship over Anarchy.

And so this materializes in a school with zero patience for those that cannot keep up, a strong culture of humiliation and no tolerance for the weak, and a totally amoral pragmatism to attaining power. Yeah, camaraderie and loyalty haven't fallen completely by the wayside, but they're certainly a very distant third in terms of traits needed to survive.

/end lecture.

Santi, keep up the brilliant work. The atmosphere is great, the characters are interesting - double points because you've had to work from scratch for the most part - and Harry's character shifting is tastefully done.

 

Great updates. When can we expect to see them on FanFiction.Net?

I have nothing to comment about except for the bit at the end. I like how you've thrown Harry's relationship with Calypso into doubt because, well after all she IS the daughter of a probably influential Death Eater, and would have been raised with those same beliefs. It also creates an excellent foreshadowing. My problem is with how it happened. I think Harry would have been more concerned with Rowle's warning, and not Kira's, because Rowle is, after all, another child of a high-ranking(?) Death Eater and would know more about it, plus Harry knows Kira and knows that she hates Calypso (and him) so from my point of view it would just make more sense. If you had ended with Harry being concerned about Viktor's, then Kira's, and THEN Rowle's, it would have truly been a "moment of pause" moment.

But whatever. This is good. Keep up the top quality work. Don't be discouraged on my account.

 

Seriously?
____________________


The Santi: Not the most exciting of updates, but still consistently good.

I hadn't caught on to the fact that Havard had staged the confrontation; I don't like that part too much either.

No idea who Broch is. Am I supposed to?

Not a question.

Harry hasn't been affected by the spell; he has no idea except from what he's told. So it shouldn't be a question.

Not very good: Harry isn't a teacher so the question is slightly awkward, and this is for the reader's benefit - Harry already knows why he was checked for illusions.

The/We Rosiers have had a number of Animagi in our family line

ado

 

This i have to agree with. Harry just brushes off Viktors warning but now that a stranger and someone that despises Calypso warns him he starts to take it seriously. Just seems off.

 

I think because he's heard it from more than one person and the fact that he found out about the Death Eater relations.

 

Or maybe the fact that Viktor was talking about something completely different?

He was warning Harry that she was dangerous (she's a Rosier and she's also good at cursing people). The latter two were warning about something entirely different...

 

"The Rosier's have" - Rosiers

"a number of Animagus' in" - Animagi

"Want to work on that essay from Rosemburg on switching spells?" - Why would the transfiguration professor give them an essay on a charm?

"as he started to walked over to" - walk

"Harry saw two older students" ... "Deddrick ... is the short blonde one." ... "that's his older brother Havard" ... "a nervous glance at Broch, who had followed slightly behind his brother" - What are their names, again?

“Calypso wouldn't do that,” Harry hissed. “She's my friend!”

Havard simply snorted. “You know, for a supposedly smart kid, you're really fucking stupid.” "

Exactly my sentiment. Of course she would, in the right circumstances. He's too intelligent to say something like that.

"Without further adieu" - ado

RE: was it apparent. Definitely? No. Suspicious? Yes.

 

You do realise I pointed most of those out already, right?

Also, Switching Spells are taught as transfiguration in Hogwarts. I think they need to be capitalised though. Harry's reaction to Havard's warning is fine; he's a 12 year old kid with two friends after all, and it's a gut reaction.

 

I was kinda hoping for some retaliation from Harry for that stunt Calypso pulled.

I understand it wouldn't be in character for Harry but if he was caught by someone...

Keep it up Santi.

 

I can understand the position on this. Viktor could only give him vague warnings based on rumors and general misgivings. Rowle, on the other hand, offers a specific example of what Viktor was getting at, which is cause for greater concern, having gone from what she might do to what she is apparently already doing.

Also, with all her bloodline ravings, Calypso is starting to sound like Malfoy. Harry hates Malfoy. I really can't see Harry sitting there listening to her go on about that shit when his own damned mother is a muggleborn.

Pretty sure Harry hated people who judge others negatively based on their birth or lineage, and those who believe they are entitled to more in life because of their own ancestry. That's a fundamental character trait, not something that arose from the plot of the originals. It's part of what makes Harry who he is.

Where did Calypso learn to think the way she does? Her father taught her. Who controlled her father? Voldemort. How? By appealing to old, deeply-ingrained bigotry. Forget any secret plots, her attitude alone should be revolting to Harry. Her closest link to Voldemort isn't her father, it's her philosophy. Is Harry really incapable of drawing those connections?

Sure, she's his friend but Malfoy wanted to be Harry's friend too. I can understand being lonely, but he has other friends who don't represent the antithesis of what he himself is inclined to believe.

 

I posted the notes I took as I read the new text without reading the comments first. I'm sorry you were upset by having to skip my post.

He asked her what she think of the blood purists and she said she has evidence for advantages that are afforded to those from strong bloodlines and she wishes muggle and muggleborns no ill will and explicitly does not support DE agenda. Prejudiced, but not like the Death Eaters.

Please remember the protagonist of this story and the protagonist of JKR's books have nothing in common but their name. The protagonist of this story is not a dumb jock. He was never chased up a tree by a dog belonging to a bigoted aunt who said he was defective and inferior because, as she always said, "if there's something wrong with the bitch there will be something wrong with the pups", and clearly there were many things wrong with his no good dead drunk parents.

Calypso agrees that muggleborn wizards and witches are no less magical than purebloods. She says being from a strong bloodline makes one more likely to have uncommon magical gifts; his mother confirmed this. He is a Potter and a powerful wizard. The political view that there is and should be an advantage to being born of an old family with known valuable inheritable traits does not hurt him. Depending on the particular genetics, he is for example a more attractive potential husband than an equally handsome and rich muggleborn, because his children have a higher chance of being animagi. Sperm banks advertise donor traits and women pick up taller men in bars. What's wrong with that?

In the harshly competetive environment of Durmstrang, everyone can see whether blood correlates with competence and draw their own conclusions. Of course, nepotism often trumps competence in getting ahead.

Anyway, Calypso is very bitchy and the protagonist has reasons to both be suspicious and dislike the drama, but not just because of remarks that are on the same level as gingerism.

 

I have a question about Kira. Is this going to stay as close to canon as it can? If so, remember Viktor went out with Hermione. Does that mean he will be dumping Kira in the near future?

 

Calypso's comments go beyond that though. Maybe it's her dislike of Kira making her go overboard, but the words are still the same. They should still get some kind of negative reaction from Harry, even a mild one. Also, just because she says she's not with the DE agenda doesn't mean it's true. She's obviously willing to deceive Harry.

This Harry, whether it's his twin who has to follow canon or not, still has no reason to be that comfortable with her rampant pureblood elitism IMO. I just feel that Harry shouldn't be so inured to the kind of comments being thrown around.

Believe it or not, I actually can tell the difference between this Harry and JKR's, but something tells me that this Harry would be just as unhappy as canon!Harry to be judged based on who his mother was rather than his own merit.

I just can't see Harry standing there as a bald-faced exception to what he should know is an opinion based on little more than what her father has told her, spoken by an 11-year-old (built-in ignorance). Harry's smart enough to question her how deep her prejudice really goes.

Beyond that, the "more likely" part of the whole deal makes it seem a bit...like a baseless generality. It still seems to leave room for those who are skilled enough to complete the transformation. Professor Rosemborg doesn't seem to care a lick about Harry's bloodline, he only cares if Harry has the talent to pull it off.

tl;dr: Even if what she's saying doesn't apply to Harry himself, I can't see him liking that kind of person for very long.

 

I disagree about the comparisons between Calypso and Draco. There is a difference.

Draco values purity of blood for no other reason then because he is a Pureblood. His belief in Purity of Blood is irrational.

Calypso values magical apititude and magical abilities. The former she has said she knows is largely irrevelant to purity of blood and the latter has shown a correlation. Her belief in Purity of Blood is rational.

Her interaction with Kira has shown Harry that Calypso values magical abilities over Pure Blood ideology. Meaning that he has reason to believe that if he can show evidence that the correlation is nonexistent or insignificant then she will drop the ideology altogether. As it stands, Harry has no reason to think that her belief in that correlation is not justified.

Harry is not an exception to what Calypso's believes, he actually fits comfortably in them. I would say he will fit them even better than Voldemort does if he proves to have the ability to be an animagus.

If his mother or Hermione show a magical ability than her ideology would show some problems. It would still not make them bald faced exceptions, she has said that it is possible for a muggleborn to have a magical ability. For that a muggle would have to show a magical ability.

 

I concede the point, then. I'd rather not make an issue of it, since it's not that big a deal. Looking back, Harry handled the situation well enough, I just expected him to be more surprised by how passionately Kira was dismissed on the basis of ancestry (at least going by the content of Calypso's statements).

 

Didn't Calypso once say that she would've ignored Kira if it was just her ancestry, but that she was the one who started it when she trounced her in a duel? But yeah, I think Harry should have handled that a little more strongly.