As much as it hurts me to read them, I love me a bit of 'Harry goes a little bit overboard with paranoia' stories if they're explained and written well. This one was written well - at least there were no major SPaG errors and such, and the story's flow was also flawless, so really, there's no more to say on that matter -, and to a reasonable extent, it was also explained well. Although, I kind of hate to see Neville as somebody who would approve of torturing anybody, even if it was a Death Eater - you know, even after learning to be brave, he wouldn't have hurt a fly if it was not necessary - but hey, at least he apologized and realised that he was not himself when he just stood back and watched as Harry tortured Rabastan. I really couldn't imagine him as a bad guy, period.
And once again, Harry being too paranoid is a really good topic to talk about, and I think it could happen at some point, if the circumstances are right, and that if he did snap, then he could go batshit crazy. I have read stories about that, and while it was emotionally hard to read, I could understand where it came from, since being the poster boy of a war is such a goddamn burden that if it did not end quickly, he would certainly break sooner or later. But at the same time, it was nice to see that at least he saw some kind of reason after he accidentally attacked Hermione. I would imagine that even if everything turned for the worse, he would still not want to hurt his friends, deep down.
And then Hermione. Well, obviously I could imagine her being like this, and being the only one who knows about what Rabastan has been up to, but then again, I could imagine Hermione as a lot of things, and being the one who has the connection with a double agent is just one of the many. Also, her standing up to Rabastan was really on point as well, she would totally be the one to stand up for his case, after all, she was the one who knew about his secret. I don't read that many Rabastan/Hermione fics, I gotta give you that much, but this was a really good take on the pair, and it all came out well in the end, I guess.
Altogether, I enjoyed reading this fic, and you did a really good job with it.
~Sophie

I was really impressed reading this. I was saddened to see Harry torturing someone as I don't see him like that but you managed to write him pretty much in character despite this which I was extremely impressed by.
I like how you wrote Neville too. I can actually see him in this situation (at least for this character) more because of what happened to his parents. I can see him finding the torture of Rabastan necessary and I can see him willing to do it because of what Rabastan did to his parents (like I can see Harry doing the same to Bella, Peter, Voldi or any of the others who hurt him deeply like those three did) so well done in choosing characters.
Hermione was written wonderfully. I loved how she flew into the house in a whirlwind and how she ignored the guard and flew down the stairs, throwing herself in front of Harry. It was brilliantly done and I enjoyed reading Hermione's characters.
I felt that Rabastan was a little pushed to the background for the story. Maybe that was the point but I think I would have liked to see more of him a little bit. This didn't subtract from the story though so there's no worry there.
I really loved the part where Harry lunged at Rabastan but hurt Hermione instead. This part and the few paragraphs before was when I thought Harry was most in character. I liked how you made him worried about a spell on Hermione or the fact that he possibly seduced her. I thought that was great and completely in character.
I should mention that although I'm not a fan of the Harry character choice I think you wrote it in wonderfully (I think I've already said this but I wanted to point this section out and it's past midnight so I can't be bothered to find my Harry section). When Hermione is talking to Harry, trying to reason with him, she mentions Sirius. I thought this was a great addition to the story. You gave a valid, understandable and, more importantly, a realistic reason that Harry would turn to torture. I could see Harry going down this path if a few things had changed. I can see him turning to torture and becoming paranoid and I was to really emphasise the congratulations on this area because to make me say that is something impressive. I am seriously impressed that I enjoyed reading this as much as I did with Harry playing that role. Anyway, I'll stop rambling on about that.
Overall I loved reading this. I didn't see any SPaG issues and, other than the fact I didn't like Harry being a part of it (purely personal preference though as he is my favourite character and I don't like to see him as a bad guy, even if only for a moment) and the fact that Rabastan seemed to get a little lost, it was wonderful. I seriously enjoyed it, a lot more than I thought I would. Well done!
(I apologise if this review is a little confused, I'm so tired right now...)

Hi Livia,

I really enjoyed how you incorporated the historical conflict into the mother-son conflict in this story. I really like how Phineas and his mother consider two completely different purposes behind the Statute of Secrecy. He thinks there should be more safeguards for the Muggles against abuse by wizards and witches whereas she believes the witches and wizards should be kept from mixing with muggles and especially from having families with muggles. Very interesting example of two completely different ways of interpreting the purpose of the Statute. I also enjoyed how you characterized Phineas as a young man who was given many resources and who choose to make something important of his life instead of just enjoying his privilege.

Where is my glue? I need to re-stick my heart together!
That was so emotionally jerking for me! Damn, I love a good angst and romance and yours excelled! Well done for making my heart hurt! :) x

Oh my God, Livia I love you! This was so dark and at the beginning, I was really worried it wasn't going to be romantic but damn, I loved it! Rabastan and Hermione is one of my comfort zones, so good choice!

What I think about this is that it grasped the concept of my main problem with Romione rather perfectly. Because I can absolutely imagine Hermione always focusing on her career, and in the process, I can also imagine her neglecting her family, and Ron is a character who wouldn't take such things lightly, as he's a very loyal person, and he grew up in a big family, where everybody looks out for each other. All this while after a point, Ron simply wouldn't understand why does she put so much time into work when she already has a family. And truth is, Ron was never one of my favorite characters, but he's absolutely right in this one, because while I can imagine that it would be hard to balance between family and work things, but when it comes down to decisions, your loved ones should be the first.
Apart from that, your writing was very enjoyable, you nailed the characters precisely, the dialogues were also on point, the flow of the story was also flawless (flow - flaw... It sounds so good :D), and I really like how you interpreted the prompts you've been given :)
Overall, I think this was a very nice piece of writing, and I enjoyed it :)
~Sophie

Oh, this was very nice :) I liked how you showed that the two of them just wanted to get away from the seriousness of the war, that even during a war you need a little bit of fun. The scene was funny and cute, it made me smile :D But well, I can understand that Remus is not that happy about seeing them like this XD Well done!

Okay, Drinny is one of my favourites, and you did this tragic... *huffs* These love from afar stories make me sad sometimes XD
So, I liked how you did this, having Draco reflecting about Ginny and comparing her temper and all with fire, though I personally feel like you could have used a tiny bit more words that can describe fire too, but still you did good while working through the task.
The flow was good, I saw no grammar errors or typos, and the idea was very nice, I enjoyed this :)

I found this very nice. It was something new (at least to me) how you showed a different side of the whole founding of Hogwarts, the serious side, that the project was really stressing them greatly and that they too of course were sometimes doubting that they would be able to do this properly.
It was great, though, that there still were some small moments of humor to lighten everything up a little bit!
I feel like you characterised Rowena and Godric just right, of course bringing out the qualities after which they would later choose their students.
The flow was very good and the grammar was okay, but there were some typos and punctuation was missing here and there.
Overall, this was greatly done! :)

... woah, I am really as shocked as Katie is... Though I normally am happy when Katie/Oliver is broken apart because I just love her with Marcus XD
So, firsteval, thank you for signing up for Transfigurations ;) I really liked what you did with the assignment, it was really clear that it must have been brooding in Oliver that Katie seems to be a little bit above him in her opinion, and then there was the trigger present that set him off, turning this into that offense that, in his opinion, tears them apart. So, you fulfilled the task very well, the idea itself was good, I liked it, the flow was good, grammar was flawless as far as I could see (though I was confused by you writing his accent, but I realised it before seeing it as typos or something XD), characterisation was good, with Katie standing up against Oliver during the argument and Oliver just being a different kind of idiot ;) and overall, this was very well done, I enjoyed reading it a lot!

Okay, so I really like that you did actually choose Florean for this drabble, he really is a character we don not see around much in fanfictions, though he always seems like a very kind man in the books :)
It was nice how you added some background informations about his family, somehow showing that even someone like Florean can have family issues and a overall a bit complicated situation.
Now, there is one thing that I found a little bit odd - How was Maisy supposed to get into Diagon Alley all lone? Or did her father let her in through the Leaky Cauldron? Maybe you could have added that tiny bit of information... Also you left it unclear if Maisy has magical powers or not, something that confused me throughout the story, as you had her buy her own wand - as a Muggle, she surely would not have been able to buy one. So, that is a point where I feel like you could have added more informations to avoid confusion about the girl.
Otherwise, this was really nice! I liked how Florean did not really know what to do with her and just letting everything come at them. It was really sweet at some points! :)
So, no grammar issues, but there were a few minor typos in it, but nothing that would have influenced the story. The flow was nice and this really was a very enjoyable read! Well done! :)

I told you I'd review this if you put that Scottish accent in, so here I am :D
So, about the story:
While the reason of the argument - for me - seems pretty unusual, because there really aren't many people who would make a fuss about a Christmas present, but put that aside, since you really did a great job on actually turning it into a serious conversation. Which was the task, after all. And on that note too, the characters were nice, too. I can totally see where both sides are coming from, and why would it cause a problem (though I don't actually have much headcanon on the actual characters, mind me).
And the Scottish accent. Beautiful. (I know even less about accents than you do, but I always appreciate it) Please do more, and it still counts as a challenge :D
~Sophie

I really enjoyed this interaction. I like how it shows Rowena and Godric's competing outlooks while it suggests growing discord among the Founders. You do a great job contrasting Rowena's analysis of problems and solutions with Godric's faith and confidence. At the same time, their friendship seems very believable. :)