Fair point, but through the entire fic HJ demonstrated a good level of self-restraint. Coupled with his Occlumency skills and awareness of the possible cost of such a fuck up, it would take a little bit more of Remus' nagging to reach HJ's boiling point.

 

I just *have* to review here, as well as at FanFicAuthors. Awesome. Certainly the best medical magic scene I've ever read, and good character development, as well. I love it.

I did pick up a typo: AD's last sentence.
"You were off-key and, most importantly, it should be a crime to cover any song by the Rolling Stones song other than Ruby Tuesday."
Just a minor error.

5/5, and a need to catch my breath

 

Occlumency skill is not necessarily reflective of one's patience - look at Snape and Voldemort. As a skill, it seems that occlumency makes you more aware of what's in your head, without the benefit of blurring or rationalization that the mind normally implements in order to cope. I never understood how the art, which basically forces to relieve your most sensitive memories in order to hide them, is never recognized as the bit of self-inflicted mindfucking it is, but this isn't the thread for that discussion.

I do see your point though. HJ probably should have been able to keep his calm a bit more, seeing as he recognized that Remus had no clue what was causing his anger.

 

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: you fuck'n rock Jbern, you fuck'n rock, but the Lupin/Harry dialogue seemed off a bit, Lupin wasn't really in his face for HJ to explode. And as for the whole Aimee getting seriously messed up, I will hunt you down and kill you if she winds up dead.

 

On the whole I liked the chapter, the only slight issue I had with it was the Howlers, while they did there job in distracting the dragon there were lots of other, faster ways of doing it, even if it's just other ways of creating lots of noise. Now I realise that part of the reason HJ did it that way was for the crowed, but I still don't buy it.

It reads like the effective but over complex solution an inexperienced, yet smart person would come up with, that then got their face burnt off of playing about with a dragon instead of finishing it quickly.

 

I don't think that quote spoils anything and yet it is exactly why HJ snapped at Lupin. Here is a man talking to an orphaned boy about the proper way to act, and he slept with a married woman. Not only a married woman, but his best friend's wife to boot. There are some things that are forgivable, but in the face of Remus playing the part of moral counsel played against him here in a big way.

That being said, I thought the entire chapter showed just how ethically bankrupt the vast majority of the magical world is. Beaucourt throwing a hissy fit to the wizard who just saved her daughter's life by in essence donating a lung...yeah not so much. Not every confrontation need be a political pissing match...

But, the dragon scenes were wonderful...and while the prank on the twins was good...I tend to think something more permanent needs to be done against all male Weasleys save for Arthur and Ron to get the point across.

Chapter rating 4/5.

 

That happens a good number of time in real life so I won't say it's a good example of why the wizarding world is ethically bankrupt.

 

A lack of gratitude for someone who in essence just donated an organ to save your daughter's life isn't an example of being both ethically and morally bankrupt? Not only a complete lack of gratitude but referring to him as "the boy".

Karkaroff blatantly favoring his student, while the other judges seems to score things more evenly. That's a nice case study in ethics right there. Sure it happens in real life, but generally there is outrage if it happens, and with Karkaroff its basically a case of, oh he's a dark wizard it's ok.

A man who slept with an orphaned boy's mother, who was incidentally married. An action that quite possibly led to James picking Pettigrew instead of Remus...and we all know how that turned out. That isn't the person who ethically could look a boy in the eye and tell him about the proper way to grow up. Sure war is stressful, but not everything can be excused by the pressures of war.

Maybe our definitions of ethics are different, which in light of the topic is very possible. But, in my eyes each of those examples scream, ethical bankruptcy.

 

That prank belongs straight to the S&P lol.

 

I liked the chapter very much.

I did find Amy's mother's actions a bit odd though - even if they were due to stress.

It's difficult to believe she didn't know who Harry was, considering he took her daughter to the Yule Ball - a rather publicized event that was part of the Triwizard Tournament.

I think it was even mentioned that their pairing was given a great deal of press.

I'd think that a politically savvy and prominent person like Mrs. Beaucourt (I think I got that right) would keep an eye on who her famous daughter is being seen in public with - especially if that person is arguably the most notable figure in their generation.

That's pretty much all I have. The dragon solutions were good, though I agree that HJ got caught trying to be a little too clever.

That was the point though, right?

 

Normally I'd agree but it was already stated there's a bit of difference between the real life version and the wizarding version. And quite frankly you'd be amazed by how many times people tend to be ungrateful little pricks in real life after you've either saved their life or that of a relative.

If anything her attitude was more of that of somebody in power then anything else to me. Yes she was an utter bitch but I've seen worse in City Hall.

At least he can be said to be trying, which is better then nothing at least to me and more then quite a few people would do. People screw up and quite frankly almost everyone tends to be a hypocrite in someway.

To me I'm quite seeing anything that's really all different from real life, so I can't really see what's supposed to be so 'evil' about their society when compared to the oh so saintly muggle world that I have tendency of seeing in fanfiction.

 

This chapter was pretty good. The prank against the twins, while interesting, really doesn't seem like a "stop fucking with me"-end all-be all kind of prank. Sure, it's disgusting and pretty humiliating, but it seems more like something the twins would want to one-up, rather than back down from.

As far as the Healing spells and Dark Arts goes, it's not an original concept, though the Dykstra shuffle is new to me. I've seen other fanfic authors give good explanations for how Healing spells came from Dark Arts spells, and even better explanations of how Healing spells became Dark Arts spells. I liked the way it was used here, but I didn't have my mind blown or anything. As far as Aimee goes...she's one of your better characters(at least in TLiL), Jim. No killing her, ever.

I love how the Dykstra Shuffle is going to get HJ in good with Fleur, though. " 'Arry, you were so brave an' selfless--you saved my best friend's life! However might I thank you?"

Keep it up, jbern. Can't wait for more.

 

I liked this chapter quite a bit.

I think jbern has gone a long way and demonstrated to great effect that the Triwizard Tournament is actually very dangerous. I've read too many Triwizard stories in which everything is kind of glossed over, but the fact is that this is no game for kids. People have died in this in the past and there is real danger.

That said, the fact that Aimee was injured could become a important plot point in the future. Aimee could have been steering Harry and Fleur together, but that was before Harry took a bullet for her. She at least owes him a life debt. There is also the question would Aimee's boyfriend have done such a thing for her?

There is also the question of how he might recieve her now that she does have scarring, even with skin grafts. Would her boyfriend be a bastard and turn her out as 'damaged goods'? There are some men like that.

This could turn Aimee, who was kind of amused and flattered by Harry, into something else. There is also the fact that Harry stood up to Aimee's mother, who comes off as kind of an ungrateful bitch, as does her father, to an extent.

I got the feeling that perhaps Aimee's mother thinks her shit doesn't stink because she's up there in French magical government. There could be some underlying mother/daughter tension that jbern could explore. The fact that Aimee's father wouldn't even look at the person who saved his daughter's life is something as well.

French arrogance, maybe?

All that said, I did like Dumbledore at the end of the chapter. It was funny and shows that the old man's not out of touch with things.

 

Default font color is required for the continued survival of your family line.

On topic: FUCK YEAH! <--- All that need be said about this chapter.

 

To each his own. You don't have to like my stories. Although I will point out that this was coming off a year where Dumbledore via McGonagall allowed Hermione to use a time travel device for an entire school year. The Sorting Hat is just an old hat that can look into other people's minds, devise clever insults, and write bad songs.

The chapter's been well received and the feedback is appreciated. HJ will get his lung shuffled back as soon as Aimee's has been rehabilitated inside of him.

I've got TML 11 mapped out in my head and it should come out pretty quickly. With the story progressing, I'm thinking that TML will likely conclude in 4 chapters, but I don't think I'll end up putting Lie on hold to finish it.

 

You know, there's a joke somewhere in this...

Great chapter, jbern, I agree with the high points everyone else has mentioned. Looking forward to both this and TML.

-Kevin

 

I came in a little late to the discussion it seems, so I really don't have anything new to add here. All I can say is it was a great chapter with several interesting twists and novel ideas. Looking forward to the next chapter, hopefully soon.

 

One question I did have from this chapter- is there anything magical going on here to prevent organ rejection? It seems like there should be, but it's never mentioned explicitly.

 

Well, if there are no worries about switching ears for plant parts, I don't think that organ rejection is something that even has been thought of...

It seems to me, at least, that the magic of switching body parts around takes care of that sort of thing.