Opened the story and started to read. After some sentences I realised I had no idea who in the Devil's name this Calypso person was.

Went on to reread everything. It has been a while...Thanks for the update mate.

Edit: Since this is probably my first post in here, and seeing that most of the other 'non-discussion' post have been flagged, this will probably my last one in here. So, sorry for the unrelated post, no reason to flag me.

 

Well, just re-read the entire story (fuck uni tomorrow), and I realized that one, Harry hasn't thought about Dumbledore's age line again (which I guess, is kinda justified after seeing the nature of events in this chapter), and that Romulus Rosier might orchestrate a "mysterious disappearance" if things go too far. *cue evil laughter*

 

I disagree, using his private room seems natural if he wants to do private projects. I want to know why he can't.

I read it as Nathan, perhaps subconsciously, shifting responsibility on someone else. I think it's fine as it is.

+1

I'd say that Dumbledore achieved greatness despite being at Hogwarts, not because of it. Imagine if he was in an environment that actively challenged him and helped his education instead of wasting countless hours on teaching him stuff he already knew. Hermione's case is similar: she rarely, if ever, learns something new in the classroom.

I may not remember correctly, but I'm pretty sure they didn't compete naked in canon. Obviously, there must be a line somewhere, but I don't think some defensive enchantments would cross it -- I think it's fair to assume that most of wizarding clothing has some enchantments (anti-dust, anti-clothes moths, whatever), so, again, you'd have to determine what is allowed and what isn't.

My turn:

waive -> wave

I wish we'd learn them somehow.

There was a fic where Harry took Skeeter to the Chamber to experiment on her, finally killing her. I think it would be fitting if he and Calypso shared the kill in this fic, although I suspect they'd trap her in her bug form, and only do it in Durmstrang, where it is relatively safe, not directly under Dumbledore's nose.

I disagree.

Dumbledore has not said a word about Snape or Malfoy using dark magic, even though he knew from get go what his mission was. Harry's words about intent around summer after book two fit exactly with Dumbledore's view, intent is most important in magic. He may be too scared about losing control to do it himself, but he's perfectly happy to let others make choices, and, should they be mistakes, receive their second chance if they're not too far gone.

Logically, if casting magic that requires ill-intent made you unhappy, exactly the opposite would be true for the Patronus Charm, and we see no evidence of that in either canon or this fic.

 

I wasn't saying that it wasn't logical, I was saying that it's entirely logistical detail. It can be skipped for the same reason that toilet breaks can be skipped. It doesn't add anything to the plot; we can assume that Harry has good reason for being in one place instead of another.

 

This might make me sound like a perv...but as I re-read everything I think I figured out why Calypso/Harry's relationship feels so muted and bland. Taure nailed part of it with the lack of physical description in regards to Calypso, but ultimately it boils down to a lack of sexual tension. Their relationship is very...chaste is the best word I can come up with. Victor was just mentioning what he and Kira were doing fifth year, so I think now is the time to start integrating that into the relationship.

Quite frankly, Harry needs to hit puberty soon.

 

Speaking of that part of their relationship, regardless whether it's incoming or not in the next few chapters, I want to ask something here, since I just about finished rereading the whole fic, rather than just the latest chapter.

There's that one scene, with Romulus and Calypso, with Lady Shulga, talking about damages done to her. Am I getting the wrong impression or has Calypso

Spoiler

been fucked up so thoroughly by that one curse that hit her, early in the fic, that it's going to be fairly difficult for her to conceive or carry a child to full term?

No doubt it's something that's been answered discussed and answered before, but I was not on DLP at the height of the discussion, so pardon me if I'm just repeating what everyone else clued in on from the moment it was mentioned.

 

The prodigal son returns. It's always nice when a fic that appears to be abandoned gets an update.

Few comments.

I really liked a scene where Harry and Calypso tested his wards using Hermione. For all their talk about cursing people that crossed them, like Draco, it tells more about their characters by how they treat people who, for most part, try to be friendly with them.

If Victor ends his relationship with Kira, the question is what will happen to her character. She could be simply discarded away, her role was simply to be Krum's girlfriend until he finds another, but at the same time there was some effort put into presenting her as a fully fledged character and that usually means they will have other uses.

As for reminding readers how Calypso looks like, a perfect moment for that is when she appears to Harry in her dress. He would definitely take his time to rediscover how beautiful she and that could be described in a narration.

 

Completely disagree. If Santi wants to go in that direction, fine - but you can certainly have a strongly written relationship without much in the way of sexual description - shit, they're still just fourteen.

 

I agree about the age being a reason to avoid the sexual tension and would certainly agree that it has no place in the story prior to this chapter. There would not be a reason for it.

This is not a romance story obviously, but there definitely seems to be a lack of thought on Harry's part about what he feels towards Calypso. I would say this chapter was the first time we saw real attraction towards her. There have been nice scenes where they have that little flirtation, but here was the first scene where it is obvious that Harry becomes aware of her beauty/femininity.

Ultimately, their relationship lacks passion. Whether that be sexual or otherwise. It feels very sterile at times. Sexual tension could offer a gravity and encourage readers to enjoy the relationship more. Another option could just simply to be emotional passion. Harry and Calypso are both reserved people however, so I see the physical being more likely, but either works. The dueling scene at the beginning of the year was probably my favorite scene between Harry and Calypso. They need some more sparks.

 

The third option is that they're not an OTP and are due to break up, thanks to that very lack of passion. They can realise that they're better as friends.

 

After more than three years of long waiting, I'm very very very glad to see you're back to update your great story, and you have written again a great new chapter, The Santi.

About the chapter itself, its content is very good (have been very good the different ways in which Harry could help both Viktor and his brother with the first task; without forgetting the scuffle with Ron and Draco, while some people suspected that the entry of Nathan in the Triwizard Tournament is a political maneuver by the Potter family), but I missed two things:

• the exact content of the article written by Rita Skeeter, which chronicles the alleged dark inclinations of Harry Potter, including his insanely jealous by the enormous attention given towards Nathan, and even her theory that whoever put Nathan in the Triwizard Tournament was Harry himself with the aim of Nathan's death during the tournament;
• and some more hot action between Harry and Calypso (but maybe you're reserving it for the beginning of the next chapter, considering as you have finished the chapter 17), considering they are a couple who could less inhibited more at Hogwarts that Durmstrang, considering the presence of her father as professor of Durmstrang (however, in this last chapter has happened the first scene where it is evident that Harry becomes very aware of her beauty and femininity).

I also want to give my congratulations as you included the Viktor/Hermione couple as well as the future conflict between Viktor and Kira (from love to hate is only one step).

By the way, I wonder if we will see soon the reactions of Karkaroff and Romulus Rosier, knowing that their respective Dark Marks are being revived.

 

Except Dumbledore is worried. We saw that in Dumbledore's interlude. He just doesn't seem to be doing anything about it, and letting the chips fall where they may, which seems OOC to me.

As for the dark magic, are you really trying to argue that any spells which call upon anger and hatred to cast would actually be good for your health? There is probably a good reason that dark magic is taboo and most dark wizards in canon are Death Eaters.

Except that's not true if your abilities influence said choices, which I'm arguing is the case for Dark magic.

Calling upon happy thoughts and reminiscence of your fondest memories won't make you happy?

Plus canon barely had any sexual description, and neither do most stories which are meant to be read by kids as well as adults. So a relationship is definitely doable without a description of Calypso's breasts every couple of lines. Although HP canon is probably not the best of guides if you want to write a good relationship.

 

Even HP canon has, in appropriate places, winks at the adult audience that sex is happening. Fleur and Roger Davies in the bushes at the Ball, Harry and Ginny's "long afternoons by the lake" which Harry dreams about all through DH.

And I think this fic is aimed at an older reader demographic than the HP books.

The narrative PoV is basically third person limited on Harry's shoulder. And as a 14 year old boy, he will not be thinking "Oh, I'm only 14, I'm not ready for that." Teenagers think they're ready for everything; they think they're already adults who simply haven't been recognised as such by the law.

 

Yeah, I'm not suggesting that at all - obviously this is true, yet at the same time, winks at the audience are different than what it seemed to me like Pasta was asking for (which I interpreted as sex scenes, which I doubt very much are necessary).

 

I didn't see him worried about Harry in the interlude, but even if he is, doing nothing and letting him make his own choices is very much in character.

You're missing Aurors using unforgivables in canon. I think it's closer to lethal force (used by both police and criminals), rather than pure evil.

It may be pleasant, but it definitely doesn't put me in happy mood or affect in any considerable way. Additionally, remember that the effect (if any) would be even further reduced because it's a routine action.

I disagree with the premise, but your logic afterwards is valid.

I think some people use more dark magic because they're more prone to negative feelings, not the other way around.


As for the relationship:
1) they're 14,
2) they kissed for the first time less than a year ago,
3) they're 14,
4) if Harry is too forward, he has to fear Calypso, her father and damaging their friendship, possibly irreparably,
5) if Calypso is too forward, she has to take her father finding out into consideration, especially at Durmstrang,
6) they're 14.

That said, Harry noticing certain parts of Calypso would be appropriate imo.

 

I thought the start of A Bloody Yule Ball was doing a good job at portraying Harry's physical attraction to Calypso. It felt a bit innocent (Harry didn't discribe every curve of her body), which I thought was a good way of keeping the tone light and in contrast to the cursing and goat killing. Plus back in third year there was his first legilimency bout when he felt her "desire". So in my opinion their relationship is perfectly fine, given that they are both rather controlled individuals, enhanced by their occlumency training no doubt, and at the age of 14 entering 15.

Though I think this is the age, when Harry's hands will start to explore certain areas, if you know what I mean.

 

I think what was originally being expressed about Harry noticing Calypso has been sidetracked by the idea of them being in the throes of teenage hormones; it was a way for Calypso's appearance to be 'cemented' in the minds of the reader. It doesn't have to, and shouldn't, be overly sexual.

No 'Harry noticed her large breasts', etc.

It should be something along the lines of, 'Harry was startled by how [insert color] her eyes were, when brought out by the color of the dress'. As a teenage guy, at formal dances like prom, I definitely notice my date's figure. However, the first thing I generally notice is a specific feature; how blue/green/etc her eyes are, to a host of others.

But I digress.

 

Firstly to clarify, by sexual tension I was not meaning smut. I suppose a better statement would be sexual awareness. Are they fourteen? Yeah, but I know for a fact that kids in my freshman year were more than just 'aware' of sex.

Crackedmind has the right of it. On an emotional level, there needs to be more awareness. Emotional awareness would be things like Calypso cursing Malfoy to cause affection to burst in Harry's heart or something similar. (My example there sucks, but it gets the point across.) Her actions should offer that youthful "puppy love" feeling to Harry. On physical level, he needs to be aware of the fact that she is a girl. She's got different body parts and "By merlin they are awesome!"

 

I never thought I'd see this fic updated again, so boy was I surprised when I logged on last night. However, I had to reread the entire story due to it being so long. I had forgotten how much I love this story.

As for Harry/Calypso. I like them together. I want them to stay together. I enjoy all of their interactions. But I do think that something in their romance is missing. I don't feel much of any passion or excitement from Harry concerning their relationship. Calypso always felt more invested in their relationship then did, especially on an emotional level.

Not that such distance, for lack of a better word, is unbelievable from Harry. Ever since his experience at Hogwarts in first year he became reserved and closed off to a certain extent. His experiences getting attack by Durmstrang students, his detention with Ivan, and increasing use of occlumency have all culminated together rather wonderfully into the Harry we have now.

It is certainly believable character development for Harry to be this way. I just wonder if the distance I see from Harry's end in his relationship with Calypso is intentional or if I am over-analyzing things.

The Rita Skeeter thing has been done to death for years. I could do without it, but I do understand it is a rather essential part of canon in GoF.

I continue to love Viktor and his friendships with Harry and Calypso. I agree with those of you that say Viktor/Hermione felt forced. It felt like it only happened here because it also happened in canon.

But I do hope this is the beginning of Kira being phased out of the story. I don't find her character enjoyable, not even in a 'love to hate' kind of way.

One thing that stood out to me in this re-read is how much I love the relationship between Harry and Sirius. I can't wait to see more of their interactions.

 

Can I ask why people would expect 14 year olds to be paragons of romance?