Shhh, don't say anything like this around Portus; he'd say 'Suspension of Disbelief'. :awesome

 

I can't stand those stupid "these people read the Harry Potter books". It's the most stupid fucking idea. Or those dumbass useless stories of "Ask the character questions!" horseshit. Get these stories the fuck off of ffnet!

 

What's with fics written in Spanish or some other language being posted in the English section of FFnet lately? The language option is there for a reason people! Stop posting languages I can't read in the English section!

 

Nicolas Flamel having Dumbledore levels of power instead of being a wizard of average power with a wicked talent for alchemy. The fact that he relied on Gringotts and Dumbledore to protect the stone, despite being 600+ years old, seems to suggest that he's a pretty average wizard who's good at alchemy.

 

It's just as likely as not.

I prefer seeing the Flamel's portrayed as cunning rather than powerful myself. Also, the "Philosopher's Stone" seems more like bait than the real deal. It's supposedly capable of being destroyed, why not do just that if it isn't anything other than bait to lure in Voldemort. Nicholas made one, I'm sure he could make another, so there's no reason to keep it hidden in a school.

 

It could've been a fluke of magic.

I recall reading a short story once, in which Dumbledore visits Flamel. Turns out that despite his accomplishment Flamel is, in fact, a muggle alchemist. It's a nice twist.

 

In VotN's Sitra Ahra Flamel can't remember how to recreate the stone.

 

Or simply a 600 years old alchemist just keeps it within his sight. I mean would you give something capable of producing endless amounts of gold to Goblins? Let alone to Dumbledore to be seen as nothing but a plaything. I always thought it was just a fake.

 

I always thought of Flamel as someone borderline autistic, same as as wife. That way they can actually stand each other for six hundred plus years. A crazy obsession with his precious stone, but not really a people person. Or that good at spells, that's why he got into alchemy.

 

So... like The Big Bang Theory, but set in France, with a series run of 600+ years?

 

Authors really need to learn how to use quotation marks. I've seen a few stories where single quotation marks are used everywhere. It really breaks up the flow of the story.

 

THIS.

Lots of authors seem to use it. And I'm not sure why - initially I thought it could be something a certain country teaches, but it doesn't appear so. Even some otherwise good authors do this (although I can't name any off of the top of my head), and whilst it doesn't actually ruin the story, it can make it damned hard to read.

 

Actually, single quotation marks used to be the British convention, though I don't know if that's still the case.

If a writer uses them instead of double-quotation marks but uses them correctly and consistently, then it looks kind of old-fashioned, but it doesn't bother me much.

 

I'm referring to authors using quotation marks to set aside or emphasize words. I could not care less about authors using single quotations for speech.

e.g.:
If Harry hadn't been already anticipating it, he might not have been ready for how quickly the Headmaster's hand came up to throw the 'Petrificus Totalus" hex at him. He was ready though, and Harry's response was much more vindictive. Shielding his thoughts against any chance that the Headmaster would try to use them to anticipate his attack, Harry thought to himself, "Laceo". The cutting curse was just on the edge of being a 'dark' curse and therefore banned by the Ministry for Magic.

Those quotation marks should be removed, although the double quotation mark is somewhat defensible.

 

Well there's your problem: Stop - right now - reading stories in which Harry tries to fight Dumbledore, stories where Harry has any success at "shielding his thoughts" while Dumbledore is still alive, stories where Harry uses "a cutting curse just on edge of being 'dark'" or "banned by the Ministry."

Those stories are shit, almost without exception.

 

It was shit. That section was in the first chapter. It didn't take me long to discard the story.

 

I always shake my head (and X out) when I come across a story I which Harry not only *tries* to take on Dumbledore, but it's especially absurd when the result is anything other than "and when the smoky haze cleared a bit, Dumbldore looked with great sadness upon the greasy spot on the floor of the Great Hall; a greasy spot in the shape of a lightning bolt, in the middle of which a pair of cracked spectacles was gently smoking.

The End"

 

So you never read nuhuh's Catharsis?