This is one of my favorite stories in the fandom of Harry Potter. I had a tough time getting through the start, I don't really have much patience for exposition and the first 10 chapters are mostly just Harry and Tom talking withouth anything actually happening, but when they get to Hogwarts i feel like the story really starts to pick up.

I very much like the presentation of this Harry as a brilliant but heavily damage child who has a pure heart and the best intentions but is corrupted and led astray by the voice in his head. The constant struggle that Harry faces between his desire to please Tom and his desire to do the right thing is just exquisite and I also like how this is a better representation of how an abused child would actually behave than in canon.

P.D: i love the psycopath Daphne, I just find it hilarious.

 

I ended up re-reading the last few chapters and keep coming back to this particular paragraph. I find it to be honestly magnificently Dumbledorian and I wish more people were capable of capturing such essence in their writings as well.

"Power is a blessing...but it is also a curse; for the powerful it is so very easy to become hubristic and foolhardy. It lies buried deep within all of us – the desire to rise above the troubles of the world; to overcome, and conquer. This desire, while a profound driving force that fuels progress and strength of character, is a poison to those with power; it lures them into the dark places in their own minds, and drains away their humanity and benevolence." He paused. "A student of mine once said, there is no good or evil – there is only power, and those too weak to seek it. These are the words of a man who is trapped within himself; a man who sacrificed his own future and the futures of others for a dream which in the end, turned out to be empty. These are the words of a man who has lost his humanity, and become nothing more than a villain – a man who has lost everything, and will never amount to anything."

 

His newest idea is definitely the dumbest way to post a chapter I've ever seen. However, what's there of it as of now is highly intriguing. I actually think that this is the best HP story I've ever read when it comes to psychical development.
However, with what one can grasp from the author's notes, he definitely needs some help in the mind department. That shows in the story, I guess, but at the moment I feel like it's helping it rather than damaging it, because I don't think a person fully perceiving themselves as sane could portray insanity that nuanced.

 

I've been following this story for a long time and I have to say this is the first time I've felt so confused. This chapter doesn't follow the previous one. It's incomplete, but it's almost like the scenes that are missing are the first scenes.

 

What were the multiple projections of Harry about? It sort of makes sense, but it was such a confusing mess, but perhaps that was the point. It made me think of Schroedinger's cat.

The latest chapter (Christmas) was better though, and I am curious to see how his interactions with the other horcruxes (and Nagini too - is it just me, or was that weird?) will pan out. It appears that Harry considers them an extension of himself. Where does Harry end and where does Tom begin? How messed up will he be when everything comes crashing down, and Tom finally acts out his plans?

I certainly hope Harry emancipates himself in the long run, but it doesn't look to be anytime soon.

 

What instead of a choice between scar tom and wraith tom, Harry works to make Nagini the dominant soul piece? So tom would be born from a place of life instead of death. The rebirth ritual did involve Nagini venom. Nagini would lay an egg, and they could hatch under a chicken and a frog, similar to a basilisk.
Harry could gather the bones of the gaunts and the riddles to stabilize him. Blood willingly given by a unicorn, ash from Fawkes as he gave feathers for their wands. Blood from a friend, which is Harry. The only tricky substitution would be flesh of servant.

Harry just got his mother soul and emotion magic notes. The magics that lily used to bring down tom. It would be cool if Harry used it to enhance and augement the patronus. Dementors feed on souls,so I wonder if they would be unstable, similar to how tom accidently make a horcrux. So could he make dementors unstable enough be reactive. Making magics to go after dementor would really bolster his reputation. It is possible to heal a soul using regret/redemption.

 

The last chapter made me think of what Harry saw in The Mirror of Erised.

Smiling as he drowns with a bleeding finger.

Curiously, Tom didn't react right after. Could it have been a twisted form of both their hearts' desire?

That is, Harry smiling as Tom leaves, with the blood of the "enemy"? Or a foreshadowing of the master soul using Harry's blood?

Or did I miss something, and that plot point has already been resolved?

Also happy to see that he skipped through a lot of the boring bits of year 4. Although,did he and Tom not already suspect Moody of working for the master soul, or did Harry get obliviated?

 

Tom has made some unique magics, the taboo, flight and the dark mark. What if Harry to counter and under mind tom, he releases versions to the magical world? Imagine quidditch without brooms.

Harry is working on the magics involved his mother protections. Tom might have forcibly taken this blood, but it offers Harry a new approach. The blood acted as an anchor when Harry had the soul piece removed, so Harry could use this to aid him in restoring his tom.

 

If Tom is indeed out of his head, I hope we finally get to see Harry start healing. Separation anxiety is gonna be a right bitch though.

What was that about with Nott Sr? What did he do?

 

After spending so much time in lurking here and going through library, I've finally decided to post my first review. Any criticism is welcome.

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I dislike concept of magical cores, mention of light magic as a counterpart of dark magic and using science to explain magic. If a story contains these, it is a very high probability that I will drop it. But no, not this fiction... It has these concepts that comes abhorrent to me, yet somehow managed to capture my interest so much that I wait for its next episode in excitement every other week.

I enjoyed portrayal of characters greatly. Characters develop in a believable pace and their relationship with each other are handled nicely. Also, not making Ron a nemesis just because Harry is a Slytherin is a big plus for me.

Harry's characterization is lovely. Here we have a seriously damaged kid who tries do good but his moral compass is barely working. This situation coupled with his extremism creates an intriguing character to read.

I have no issues with writing. I enjoyed the style and if there was any grammar mistakes they're not too jarring probably because I don't remember any errors at all.

It is a good time to state that now this story is on hiatus due to real life issues of the author. A little bit selfish of me maybe but I want author to solve his problems so he can continue to write this.

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Damn, writing a review is hard.

 

I think tom is trapped in that mindscape thing, what Harry experienced after the diary soul piece merged with the scar one. Tom has often left Harry to use another body, but always drawn back. I think taking of the blood enhanced or augemented the link between the two, so tom was kind of drawn more into riddle. If the link is some how broken on Harry end, tom would be pulled fully into riddle. I wonder if that could be done using Nagini as the last true horcrux.

 

This recently updated. I'm glad the author is still alive and kicking. My best wishes to him in his struggles.

Theo's confessions were very heartfelt. He's so sweet.

Curious that Fudge is showing signs of being more proactive than his canon counterpart. He still has the same agenda, but maybe year 5 won't have as much denial as canon did, and more things will happen?

For some reason, I really feel like fake-Moody obliviated Harry when or after he came to seek him out in the library, because Harry figured out he was an imposter. Or is that something that happens in another story?

 

For some reason I am imagining another ritual in reflection of the rebirth one, with some additions and alterations.

I could see Harry getting willingly donated unicorn blood, with some hair and unicorn horn powder. He has Nagini so able to milk her for her venom. Harry could again provide blood but as an ally and friend. He could locate the remains of the gaunts, it would reinforce his magical nature and slytherine heritage. Instead of flesh of a servant, it should be traitor. While snape could fit this, why not use regulus? His body is likely still in the cave. A lot of him would be decomposed, but I bet the magic in the dark mark could at least preserved that bit of flesh.
That is my reflection of the ritual. Additions Harry could provide. Ash, feathers and tears from Fawkes due to the connection derived from the brother wands. It could aid in healing and rebirth. Harry has two snake companions which could donate material. He could also harvest from the basilisk. This would be useful due to their parseltongue connection. I am imagining creating some kind of magical egg for the rebirth. Due to his master of death desires, he could use components from the threstle. Dragon blood is used in alchemy, egg shells would be useful for the magic egg, and scales would help a lot.

 

@syed, have you written any fan fiction?

 

Nope, just an idea guy. And most of those are not exactly gems.

 

A very impressive new ch. 23, in my opinion. The author seems to have found a bit more stable circumstances for their life atm, which also means regular updates. So, now might be the time for a reread (even though I personally don't have time for that atm).

Still, the events in this chapter actually had exactly the impact they were intended to have, I think. I don't want to spoil anything, I'm just gonna say that the events in the new chapter are both surprising and highly beneficial (at least I guess so) to the advance of the plot. And that this fic is one of the few actually able to get to my feelings.

 

I hope the necro isn't in bad form, but this has been getting semi-regular updates. I haven't read anything past the point where Harry's in New York for holidays, I think. I remember losing patience with it, being disappointed in the new updates, and I stopped paying attention to it.

Has anyone kept up with this? Is this going anywhere good?

 

seems to be taking a weird turn at least IMO anyway. author has issues with substance abuse, so they write a chapter with sirius being a functional alcoholic. No offence to the author but it just sounds like filler at this point and when the author updates once every other month filler isn't really required.

 

Cheers, that’s why I lost interest, and if the updates since have been more of the same, that’s a shame. This really started picking up steam at the end of year four, with the graveyard confrontation.

 

As of eleven hours ago, this story is officially abandoned.

On a purely selfish level, big sad. I wanted to see where this could've gone, and this story had some segments that were all manner of twisted. I really liked this Tom.

It helped me with some of my own demons, and I can sympathise with the author's decision to move away from the fandom.

It's nice to hear that he/she is doing better and has almost completed an original novel. I'd be very curious to see what it's all about but odds of that are slim, I imagine.