Title: Scenes from the Hog’s Head Inn
Author: wotcher_wombat
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen/Character Insight
DLP Category: General
Pairing: Non
Words: 11,341
Published: August 16, 2010
Status: Complete, Oneshot in two parts
Link:Part 1,Part 2
Summary: Aberforth wondered if he’d ever had a handle on Sirius Black. Had he ever seen the boy, or merely the shadows of things he’d wanted to see?

As per the summary, we read from Aberforth's point of view as he interacts with Sirius throughout the years ; Albus appears once or twice.

Fits really well with canon - I could imagine these words written by Jo herself [back when she wasn't sniffing crack].

Insightful, complex characterization ... every character was well crafted - and flawed. There is sense of gloominess in the story, a feeling of inevitable tragedy. Loved that.

4.5/5 caused it seemed a bit disjointed at times.


Checked by Minion, August 19, 2013

 

Great! The characters could well be canon. It could easily be a backstory of what really happened and it shows the perspective of a rarely shown character. 5/5

 

An honest 5/5. The scenes were powerful, and each stretched the story into a good direction. What stood out the most was how excellent the word choice was, in all situations.

 

5/5, no question.

 

This was really, really good.

5/5. I loved it. Not much comes to mind to say that wouldn't spoil things in it.

 

Again, really good. Nothing to complain about at all.

5/5

 

Excellent. I can't find a single flaw other than the fact that it's hosted on live journal. 5/5

 

Wow.

Maybe not perfect technically, but very, very solid. Powerful, poignant. Not much I can really say, other than an excellent look at several characters.

5/5, without a doubt.

 

OP: WTF are you doing on LiveJournal, chum ? XD

Seriously though, excellent find. 5/5

 

Now Blaise, you know that LiveJournal is not evil per se. It's all about intent. :d

I actually found the story in a Fictionalley rec thread. A gem among a thousand shitfics.

 

More like a million shitfics.

 

Incredibly well done. Between this and Happiness in Azkaban, I really want to read a full-length fic that deals with Sirius seriously. 5/5

 

Fucking brilliant, but too goddamned short.

5.

 

I know what you mean, but the vindication of Sirius in Aberforth's view wouldn't have fit the overall tone of the piece. One the other hand, an added scene of Harry in sixth year getting a glass of firewhisky from Abe might have communicated that moment, in a way that you might expect Abe to act. Again, it might not fit the tone of the piece, disrupting the cathartic bleakness.

Yeah, I liked it. Now I can't write, from shame at my comparative lack of skill and nuance (sadly for the rest of you, I'll forget this feeling in a day or so).

I think I'll download a copy for ready re-reading.

 

It was so, well, captivating with the way the scenes played out. A great look into the Black brothers. I wish wotcher_wombat would do a similar one with Harry's experiences in the Hog's Head. Might be worth a try and could be good read.

 

5/5. One of the best short-fics I've read in a long, long time.

 

^This. A /thousand/ times ^this. Sirius in this fic is what Harry /ought/ to have been - a complex, flawed, but ultimately bad-ass wizard. Of course, that's all before the Potters are massacred and his world is shredded.

I can't think of anything at all to complain about. I would have said that Albus was written too casually, or maybe a better way to say it is he's too pedestrian, but as I thought about it, what better place to let your guard down and speak plainly than with the estranged brother that you want to reconnect with, etc. In the end I decided that Albus was written in his non-public persona, if that makes any sense.

50/5, but since I can't really vote that, 5/5