Harry Potter and the Burden of Becoming

A Behind the Scenes Look

Chapters 4 through 7

Well now that we've established the new characters, did you know….

Chapter 4 Tears in the Sunset

Harry's Hair

An effort to make him into a "bad-boy" that didn't really get to where I wanted it to go. Oddly, Harry's hair grows overnight and nobody seems to notice. What surprises me is that none of the readers (you) seemed overly bothered by this. Thank you.

The Molamar

Obviously based on a mole, the "mar" extension was intended to give it an oceanic ability which never came to pass. It was my intention that the creature be essentially forgotten and later return helping to save the day at the climax. Trying to find a reasonable way to fit that in was hard.

Hints… foreshadowing:

"Today you're going to die… Tom," he whispered. There was the slightest pang in his forehead. The phone rang, and Harry ran downstairs to answer it; it was Emma.

- The pang was caused by Emma, not his thought of Tom.

And Duncan saying: Ask Em! She's special too. Eh, Em? Well, Em knows. We're bound by thorns, did yeh know that Harry?

Hermione and Ron

"OUR last letter?" Harry repeated to himself out loud. "So you two were off with the Order, weren't you?"

I thought readers would clearly see what Harry could not - Ron and Hermione were getting it on together, and that Harry was just blind to that fact. Reviews, however, were scathing as the readers were upset that Ron and Hermione had excluded Harry, and that they would never do that. The two were off snogging in Germany, and Harry and you (?) thought they were off with the Order. Do you think they would have said?

Chapter 5 - The Test

Well this was hard since I'm not from Britain. I had a lot of advice, and I tried to fit the real rules in as best as I could (and hope that we account for the rest with magic).

The tire slashing scene introduces a bunch more Muggles. I suppose if I had to edit the story these chapters would go, but I wanted to show that there's good in all of us. I wanted that to feed Harry's determination to set things straight at Hogwarts and the Wizarding world.

Mrs. Figg

"Idiot, boy, for all you know they could be working for him."

Well, originally Grigor was to be like Snape - a double agent, but then that's not very original is it? I mean, he'd be like Snape. Instead he's a sort of Van Helsing, chasing the witch that has subsumed his son.

Chapter 6 Dudley's Confession

So this Chapter helps explain Dudley's conversion to 'goodness'. I've seen a lot of fics that discuss what happens to Dudley after his encounter with the Dementors. I equated it to being sent away to four years of military school compressed into about ten seconds.

Chapter 7 - Eyes of the Dragon

By Harry's birthday, Gabriella is well aware that he's got special abilities. Seeing Fred and George appear and then suddenly disappear after walking out the front door, she's sure he's not only a wizard but has wizard friends. Of course, Harry doesn't know this.

"Out of bravery, fire. Out of wisdom, blood. Out of love, true power."

Was originally written as

"Out of bravery, fire. Out of love, blood. Out of wisdom, sight."

At first, I envisioned the stone would give Harry the power to see anywhere in the world like some type of crystal ball… perhaps commune with the dead. But then it came time to present another theme… sometimes what we think we're going to do with our lives is not what happens. Harry wants to be an Auror, but instead he will become a healer, the stone amplifying this special ability. It is Hermione who will become the Auror. And Ron, well… we'll see.

Gabriella: "If you are the one, the heart of the dragon will be yours." This was originally the Eye of Asha, but then there was the Marauder's Eye, and two eyes are just too much for any story. Heart fits better anyway; don't you think?