Neither Sirius nor Snape do I see as being wholly good, or wholly bad. I've tried to draw both of them as real people, with their faults and flaws, but with parallel lives. I try to bring out the better side of Snape, without missing out on the fact he can be an utter bastard. However - if you win his respect, you have it for life, or nearly that, but his good opinion, once lost, is lost forever.
I don't subscribe to the view of Pettigrew as being always bad either - he was one of the group, and had a sense of humour, and must have been quite likeable at one time, although now he's a sad and twisted git. I see him as having a penchant for 007. I will post some stories about MWPP, when I allude to them in the text. If it's a snape story, it'll find itself in 'A simmering cauldron'. There's one MWPP story up, so far, called 'Reversal', and another in the pipeline, called 'Wuthering Heights'. 'Quidditch in Bed' will also be making an appearance. Wuthering Heights will feature the Lupin family and the Snape family.

The addressee of Snape's letter is a student at the school, who will be in the trio's year, and a ravenclaw. She has been mentioned already in the story. Yes, she's critical to the plot.

Poetry
- the chapter 'The Leaving' is based in part on Funeral Blues by WH Auden. I may do this with a couple of future chapters - stay tuned

As far as Snape and the Death-Eaters
is concerned: He made a deal with Voldemort, that his family would be protected, and that his life would be Voldemort's. Voldemort broke this contract when he failed to prevent a DE killing the Llewellyns, and the second part of the contract was fulfilled when Dumbledore freely took Snape's place in the prologue. This is partly what has weakened Voldemort - the death of Dumbledore, and the fulfilling of the contract.

The flatness in parts of the story, after Juno's death, was partly helped by having a family friend die two days before I wrote the chapter. No one close, but enough to affect everyone. I try to get the mood into my writing - Snape is quite badly affected by both deaths, because Juno was very important to him. When he first turned, he stayed with her, because Dumbledore didn't trust him at the school yet. You will get to find out more about her - she wasn't simply a convenient plot device, but a very powerful woman.
I'm not turning Snape into a cry-baby. He only cries this once, and he really didn't like me mentioning it.

The model and the 'Old Crowd' - the Order of the Phoenix becomes the inner circle of the trio, Ginny, Snape, Lupin and Black. The rest of the group are Arabella Figg, Fletcher et al, and some others who are involved in covert operations.
The Amulets that connect them aren't quite like mobile phones - more like tape-recorders that can be used to send text messages.

Narnia
- this wasn't a cross-over fic, entirely, however there will be certain narnians appearing in the story, not least in the final chapters. To the characters of HP-land, Narnia (as described in the end of 'The Last Battle') is their idea of the heaven-lands. Tumnus I've always had a certain affection for - I see him as being like Ron in many ways, the friend that leads Harry/Lucy into the magical kingdom. However, in the middle of the forest, there is a lamp-post. it only has one arm, and it doesn't appear very often. And one of the Pevensies is the mother of a canon character.

The Lestranges - they're back, and they're evil. Nerosites is a word I derived from Emperor Nero - that of doing evil, and making it look as if it is being done by others. Black Witch is (in my canon) a person with the ability to manipulate demons. They were unaffected by the dementors, because their 'happiest' memories are also some of the worst things they've done. In effect, they can feed off the dementors.
They left their daughter under the Fidelius Charm. When they left Azkaban, they broke it, which is how Snape knew to write the letter - the charm being broken means that knowledge will slide into your head, if you held it before hand. He knew about Ella, but hadn't connected it - Ella isn't her full name, and she isn't known by this name in school. She doesn't understand this, and blames Snape. Her parents blame Snape for landing them in Azkaban - the testimony that Karkaroff gave is known to them, as is Dumbledore's reply.
I see the Fidelius as being the magical equivalent of the Muggle-repelling charm of Goblet of Fire.

The Prophecy - (OA6) is based on Isaiah.

None of this would be without the great goddess that is JKR - it really all belongs to her and CS Lewis. I've tried to use ideas from both to influence the way I've turned my own plot. The uses of Dragons which will appear later in the story are borrowed from Arabella and Zsenya, in their story 'After the End'.

Rowan Blackberry, Hereward Wicken, Jasmine Trufflehunter, Jerome Snowdon - these are the guardians of the Founders. Each Founder had a place where they left their legacy. For Rowena, it was at Ravenscar, the glen that Sirius and Harry visited. Ravenscar is a real place, and you can walk along the railway track from Whitby to Scarborough. Hereward Wicken is from the fen country of Cambridgeshire. Wicken Fen is about 10 miles from Ely, and is the last bit of wild fen left. Hereward the Wake was a rebel leader of the marshes. Jasmine Trufflehunter - Trufflehunter was a badger in the Chronicles of Narnia (Prince Caspian), and Jasmine in its white form represents friendliness, a good keeper for Helga's valley, which I'm placing as being at Helmsdale, in Scotland. Jerome Snowdon - the latter name is the mountain in Wales, the former is a saint associated with removing a thorn from the paw of a lion. Godric's Hollow, I'm placing as being in the mountains above Aberystwyth.
The Languages used at the Sorting do not correspond to the languages spoken by the Founders themselves. The locations chosen relate to the sorting hat song in Goblet of Fire. Part of the role of the guardians is as keeper of the gifts of the founders, and the missing rings come under this remit. The rings have different functions, and the empty ones will need to be filled.

The Gifts - these are the gifts that are given to the children in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The yellow and green rings are from The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle, and are an alternative way of getting into Narnia. The comments about names - Edmund was the traitor in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Peter was the High King.
Lupin's discomfort about the shield and sword relate to the first time the sword was used - to kill a werewolf. The chess set is mentioned at the beginning of Prince Caspian, when the children find themselves in Cair Paravel.


Snape's boots: He gets away without being seen by virtue of Slytherin's boots, a privilege similar to that of the Gryffindor sword - one that could be wielded by showing the traits of one's house. As Headmaster he could use all four gifts - the sword, the quill that leant a near omniscient wisdom to its bearer, boots that made one invisible, and a cloak that attracted loyal friends to its wearer, if that wearer was worthy.
The gifts relied on the character of the individual to augment whatever traits he or she had. So the sword lent valour to the heart of one with some bravery, and the boots stealth to one already possessed of cunning.