3/1/2014

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated recently. I just started a new job that takes up a large portion of my time. I will try to get some new chapters out this weekend. Don't give up on me! Also - In relation to the adopted fics I picked up, 'Handle With Care' will be completely re-written. I couldn't find any other way to do it that would fit with my writing style. When I have 10 chapters written, I will post the first one.

I know I had accidentally said "Uncle Severus" was the one I was completely re-writing. I apologize for the mix-up. "Uncle Severus" now known as "The Potions Master's Nephew" will continue on as we began.

I have part of a chapter of "The Muggles' Son" and part of a chapter of "HLP 2" finished, but the going is slow. I apologize for the delay and will try to write a little on them each day.

--Cosmyk

Hey, all. I know I haven't updated recently. Part of the blame goes to school and part to the flu I had two weeks ago. I am still hunting down my muse. She fled when she found out I had the flu and has been hiding incognito since then. As soon as she returns from her sudden vacation, I will get a new chapter to you for my in progress stories. Hopefully she will come back some time this weekend. 4/1/13.

I just had a disturbing thought. Has anyone thought about the resemblance between the description of Gellert Grindewald and Gilderoy Lockhart? Very disturbing. It makes you wonder exactly why Albus hired him...

The picture posted above is supposed to represent Harriet. I got the picture from my Yahoo Avatar.*

36 year old fiction writer. Loves Fantasy and Anime. Oh, and Harry Potter. Can't forget him. Creative Writing Major. Keep mostly to canon pairings with a few rare exceptions.

I will make you three promises here and now:

1. I will always finish a fanfic, even if I don't update for a while, and if I can't finish it, I will try to find someone who can.

2. I will usually always ship Harry/Ginny. I have adopted a couple of fics and I may not pair them in those fics, but normally I will pair Harry/Ginny. If I don't it is because I wish to experiment with writing things differently. All other characters are fair game (I may change this if I ever find/create a character that has been through as much as Ginny has AND loves quidditch as much as Harry does. She would have to be someone who isn't domineering (in other words, NOT Hermione), is easy to talk to, can stand up for herself in a fight, and doesn't turn the water pipes on every time she breaks a nail (coughs *CHO*)).

3. Snape may still be an ass in some of my fics, but he will always be on the side of light.

Favorite Fanfiction to read: Harry Potter, 2nd Favorite Elizabeth/Darcy fics from Pride & Prejudice.

I have moved and am now attending classes so I will be posting every 1-2 weeks. More frequently over the hols if I can.

I get very miffed with how Snape was treated not only by the Marauders, but also by his supposed best friend. He may not have turned out as dark if he hadn't been bullied. I do have to agree that his choices were not the best and he did in fact contribute to the problems, but bullying is wrong. His bullying of Harry was wrong too, and I am not saying I overlook or forgive that, because I don't, but I can understand some of where he was coming from. Harry was a constant reminder of the worst parts of his life, but that does not mean he had the right to take his grudge out on the boy. True, Harry was a reminder of Snape's double failure, first, he said something in anger which lost him the friendship of the only person he really cared about, and second his failure to save her when the Potters became a target for Voldemort. He probably also blamed himself for being the one to bring the prophesy to Voldemort's attention in the first place. I do agree that his behavior towards Harry and Gryffindors was just as bad as the Marauders.

I personally don't know how I would react if I was in Lily's shoes. I disliked Lily's treatment of Snape, but have come to understand that I don't really know the circumstances behind the situation and have decided not to judge.

I am not even going to get into my opinions of James and Sirius because it will take too long, but if there are any stories where I write Sirius in as Harry/Harriet's godfather, he either won't have much contact with Harry or will have come to understand what he has done wrong and matured a lot during his time in Azkaban.

AS for Dumbledore, many of my fics will portray him as manipulative at the very minimum. Here are my reasons:

1. If you are protecting something as important as the Sorcerer's Stone, you DON'T leave puzzles to hide it. It was bad enough hiding it in a school, but each of the things guarding the stone wasn't a trap but a test. A real trap would not have been able to be foiled by three first years, no matter how smart they were. If he was serious about hiding it, Flitwick would have used a FIDELUS charm, McGonagall would have used something more challenging than a giant chess board - I am sure there are much more powerful transfigurations she could have performed that even full grown, powerful wizards would have extreme difficulty getting around. If it had not been a test, Severus Snape would have put poison in all of the bottles because that is just the way a Slytherin thinks. Not only did they have the bottles there, but there was a written CLUE about how to find the right potion to get to the next level. The mirror I could understand. That was just a genious bit when it came to the stone, but I want to know WHY it was in an unused classroom where students could stumble across it in the first place, UNLESS Dumbledore wanted Harry to find it.

2. Second year - If the information on the Basilisk was easy enough to find that a second year girl could find it, WHY hadn't Dumbledore, thought to be the greatest wizard ever, figured it out? It is pretty certain that Dumbledore knows Legilmency, so how could he have NOT known what Harry and them had discovered? Who put the sword in the Sorting Hat and sent Fawkes to Harry? Fawkes obviously didn't do it on his own or he would have bonded with Harry after Dumbledore died, so Dumbledore knew what Harry was doing, and why. Also, why wasn't the school warded to prevent dangerous artifacts such as the diary from being brought in?

3. Third year - who in their right mind allows a thirteen year old obsessed witch to have a time turner - can you imagine what could have gone wrong? She could have worked herself to death. Also, letting the half giant who has only had 3 or 5? years of schooling and never graduated teach an important subject like care of magical creatures? That was just asking for trouble. They were lucky none of the students were harmed worse than Draco.

4. Fourth year - after the last 3 years, you would expect Dumbledore to have enough protections on the school to prevent an imposter from entering, but NO! Also, if Harry was under age, how was the Goblet of Fire a Binding Magical Contract? If he is under the age of consent, he shouldn't be allowed to enter into a magical contract. I am sure Dumbledore knew a way for him to get out of the tournament without competing, but he wanted to test and train Harry without anyone knowing what he was doing. AND Mad-Eye/Crouch using unforgiveables on students? Come on, most teachers have to talk about their curriculum with the Headmaster, I can't see him agreeing to something like that unless it served his purposes.

5. Fifth year - How could he NOT have known about the blood quills? I am certain someone had to have complained to McGonagall or another head of house. Making Snape, teach Harry Occlumency when he knows the two of them despise each other and not even monitoring it? I am almost certain that the only reason he wanted Snape to supposedly 'teach Harry Occlumency' was so that Snape would be able to secretly examine that link Harry had with Voldemort. I think Dumbledore suspected it was a horcrux and wanted Snape to verify it secretly. Having the order meetings in a house that was full of very dark magic and allowing children to be around that magic was not very smart either. Not giving Sirius an important job, even if it was just research was rather silly of him. IF he knew Sirius' personality at all, he would have known the best thing he could do was keep the man busy.

6. Why did he not prepare Harry more for the task ahead of him? I am sure there were some order members such as Bill Weasley who could be trusted enough and had enough experience to deal with such things as Horcruxes. And to NOT tell Harry how to destroy them? He had plenty of time to tell Harry basic things he NEEDED TO KNOW about the Horcruxes, especially if he knew he wasn't going to live out the year. He could have told him about the Sword of Gryffindor, and possibly even helped Harry harvest some Basilisk fangs.

7. Why in the HECK did no one check up on Harry at the Dursleys? Leaving a squib who wasn't even close to Harry and didn't see him very often isn't enough, especially after McGonagall said she didn't trust the Dursleys. Who sends out the Hogwarts letters? Unless it was a house-elf or Hagrid, someone had to know that a cupboard is NOT an appropriate place for a young boy to be living. Also, WHY send Hagrid to get him instead of a more responsible and experienced teacher? Hell, even Snape would probably have been a better choice. He would likely have been less hateful to the boy if he had seen the conditions he was living under. Harry came to school with less knowledge about the Wizarding world than even a muggleborn. And WHY did Dumbledore send Hagrid to pick up the stone from Gringotts at the same day he was taking Harry there unless he wanted the boy to find out about the stone?

Well, that is enough ranting about Dumbledore for now...

Oh, and I am not British, but I like some of their slang terms, so I use them sometimes.

--You know what irks me more than anything? Many of the really great fics I have run across get twenty or thirty chapters into the story and then just stop. I have read numerous ones that obviously aren't finished, but haven't been updated in two or three years. It annoys me to get halfway through a story and never get any more of the story. I don't mind if people want to update once every month or two as long as the story gets finished. People, please, if you can't or decide not to finish a fic, please find someone who is a good writer to finish it for you, us readers really appreciate that.

I will be starting a new fic that is going to take a backseat to my other two stories and so will only be updated on an occasional basis. I promise to finish it, but I may not update on it more than once a month, so please bear with me.

6/7/2016

Hey all, I know I've been kinda absent from FFnet lately. I've been having RL issues, but I'm hoping to be able post new chapters more regularly. Thanks for not abandoning me.

-Cosmyk-