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Oneshot Before the Beginning by Arabella - K

Discussion in 'Almost Recommended' started by Stan, Jun 20, 2015.

3.3636400699615/5, 11 votes
  1. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    Jun 20, 2015 #1
    Title: Before the Beginning
    Author: Arabella
    Rating: K
    Genre: Fantasy
    Library category: General
    Updated: July 27, 2002
    Words: 6,759
    Status: Oneshot
    Pairing: Hints of Godric/ Rowena
    Summary: A story about the beginning of Hogwarts - did you ever wonder how the ceiling in the Great Hall was created?
    Link: Sugarquill

    An excellently written founders era story about the beginnings of Hogwarts by one of the best writers in the fandom. The story takes place a week before Hogwarts is to accept it's first ever batch of students, and is mostly about the founders going about their final preparations to receive them.

    The story does so many things so well it is hard to believe it is a oneshot of moderate length. In barely a few thousand words, it characterizes the founders better than any fic I've ever read, all four distinct characters with actual depth and distinct character voices. The characters feel real and that is the most important thing: Godric is brave and Salazar is cunning and Rowena is smart, but that is not all they are. Their interactions feel real and meaningful, and you can see both the bonds of friendship between the founders and the tension between Salazar and the others, and you can see why Godric and Salazar were friends and why they built a school togethere, despite Salazar being prejudiced and bigoted.

    Oh, and Slytherin is prejudiced, thank you very much. If I read another "Slytherin really loved muggleborns" story, I swear.....

    A bigger selling point of the story might be the magic of Hogwarts. Hogwarts feels like a magical place, with its armors and paintings and specialized common rooms, and the founders hustling around getting everything ready for their first batch of students -- it invokes impressive images.

    The best way part, of course, is the grand finale -- the enchanting of the ceiling of the Great Hall, in all its magical glory. Beautiful.

    5/5.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 22, 2015
  2. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    Jun 20, 2015 #2
    Minor nitpick, Merlin attended Hogwarts, yet in this fic they swear by his name. Also not a big fan of the long Latin incantations. I like my spells short and sweet.

    Aside from those though, the descriptions were vivid and beautiful, certainly gave me a new appreciation for Hogwarts. The characterizations and interactions were also well done.

    4.5/5, rounding down to 4.
     
  3. Odran

    Odran Fourth Champion

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    Jun 20, 2015 #3
    Yeah, the Merlin mention bothered me a bit too.

    Along with Rowena constantly noting how beautiful/perfect/cold Salazar was.

    3/5 from me, and I'd have given it a bigger score if we weren't privy to Rowena's thoughts so much.
     
  4. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    Jun 20, 2015 #4
    The story was written thirteen years ago. I believe the author deserves a bit of leeway for not prediciting that JKR's Merlin would end up in Slytherin.
     
  5. NuScorpii

    NuScorpii Professor

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    Jun 20, 2015 #5
    Meh, it had a few problems, but the biggest one I felt is that the character voices were muted and not very convincing. Even with the use of Merlin, what bugged me more than the actual use of the name is that the utterance fell flat.

    I'll give it a 3.5 rounded down.

    3/5
     
  6. Rahkesh Asmodaeus

    Rahkesh Asmodaeus THUNDAH Bawd Admin DLP Supporter

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    Jun 20, 2015 #6
    I also didn't know this little tidbit about Merlin. Isn't Arturian era somewhere around the 5th or 6th century AD? Hogwarts was built around the 9th or 10th century AD, so...
     
  7. NuScorpii

    NuScorpii Professor

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    Jun 20, 2015 #7
    Yes it is, but Pottermore says that Merlin was a Slytherin. I'm not sure if there is any other concrete info.