Okay. I forgive you for letting Harry lose.

But as I see the date for this chapter is NOVEMBER, I'll just have to either beg you to post the next chapter or offer to beta read if that will move it along. I'll even contribute ideas if you want.

Loved the interplay on the potions. And that Dumbledore is out of it. Can't wait for Cho to get her just due.

Please update! We need more good stories like this!

The ride Harry goes on after the match, i believe, is very much in character. And then Ginny saving him again and Harry saving her from Grawp. And then he remembered to fly! I loved this part! It was really good! And thanks for keeping us updated about Dumbledore.

I loved Ginny's letter to her Mum ala TLOS! I loved that story and it is a great way to get things moving. I'm looking forward to more letters.

I'm glad you had Ron and Harry make up quickly with just a small row.

I liked the subtle and not so subtle interaction between H/G in thier extra defence class. I wanted to see if Ginny really was going to win the chess game :( I'm glad you brought Remus in at this point. For me it was a great surprise as I assumed we were going to see the end of the chess game. I'm glad Remus is there to give us the outside world info

Snape's class- more suspense? I can't wait to see what this leads up to.

I would think that Harry would love to be around him more. Did I read this wrong?

So the war is starting to heat up!!! This was a good chapter. Lots of interesting things going on between the characters in this one.

So what about Ginny's song (Black is the color of my true love's hair) that reminds her of Harry? Did she forget that too? I'd like to see her humming that again.

Cracking start to the chapter. My heart broke for Harry while he was racing through forest and then I was annoyed with him from running away and not wanting to see Ron and Ginny. I love how he reacted to see Ginny had followed him. And then I loved how she comforted him so easily, it not only showed how far they’ve come since CotH, but also that their relationship is based on friendship, and not just the bond, hormones and, well… undergarments ;)

This was particularly lovely:

Then, looking at her for the first time since she had cornered him, Harry said, "Thanks for coming for me. Thanks for rescuing me – again."

And Ginny’s description of Malfoy completely cracked me up. It was so like her, both Canon, and the Ginny you’ve made here (I think we all change the canon characters, to a certain degree when we rewrite them in a story).

Thank you, thank you, thank you for finally having Harry ask how Dumbledore is. That was starting to bug me (not that Harry didn’t have enough going on, but you know).

The letters were fantastic. Although, Ginny said “and all” which is an Americanism in this context. I really like that Harry feels comfortable enough with Remus to write such a letter and it also brought home the fact that he really has no one else to turn to.

 I also like the interaction between Ginny and her roommates. I love that she isn’t willing to kiss and tell, so to speak. Also very Ginny. I think once she finally snags Harry, that she will keep certain aspects of their relationship to herself.

I’m not sure of Ron’s reaction to Harry losing the match. I thought that was really unfair of him, and he doesn’t strike me as an unfair person. I also think that his dismal performance the year before would still be fresh in his mind, and he’d be a little more understanding. Him getting over it so quickly, however, is pure Ron

I keep liking Professor McTierny, which is about as big a compliment I can give you. I don’t generally like OC characters if they play major parts in the story, unless they’re in Post-Hogwarts stories. He’s witty and fun.

Remus’ news about the war getting worse for the good guys was particularly unnerving. Between the spell, and Cho, and re-learning to fly and Ginny’s undies, it was easy to forget that outside Hogwarts, people are dying. I think it’s interesting that Voldemort made himself such a well-known base of operations and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with that.

Oh oh, and last but not least, what does Snape want with a love potion?? That struck met as odd too!

Was this review silly/nutty enough for you?  Looking forward, as always, to more M!

-- Katie

I've finally got myself caught up with this and I certainly can't complain about too much fluff this time. You've got action going on all over the place. I'm finding the fast pace of this very enjoyable and the plot has me quite intrigued.

As I suspected from the setup in CotH, I found Dumbledore's spell as a very compelling way to start off a story. It let you detach Harry and Ginny from what's going outside Hogwarts to deal with their own issues and allowed you to make the overall situation bleaker.

In that regard, I really like the contrast. You start out with Voldemort nearly killing Harry in his own mind, and then the war almost completely disappeared from the story for several chapters. Now in this chapter when Lupin tells Harry how badly things are going, it takes him by surprise. It looks like the grace period the mental protection allowed Harry and Ginny is over now though, and that promises even more excitement in the future. I like the notion they're probably going to have to find a way to fight back without Dumbledore's help. That's got me trying to figure out where you're going with the Path of Light thing. ...

I thought you've done a nice job with the other unexpected consequences of the spell as well. As a male reader, I have to start by saying any plot devise that lets you work Ginny's undergarments into the story is a good plot devise.  You also took the old fanfic standby Harry-and-Ginny-break-up-briefly thing to a new level by having Ginny forget about their ever being together. Between that and Harry forgetting how to fly you've actually -- dare I say it -- added a significant dose of angst to this even beyond the war itself. In my opinion at least, that's very nicely done.

Also adding angst here is Harry's lovely ex. What Cho does to Harry is rather egregious so I'm left wondering if there's going to be more to it than the brief difficulty we've already seen. Either way, you've certainly brought her well beyond the human hosepipe stage.

Anyway, I'm finding this story quite enjoyable so far. I continue to enjoy your writing style and I think John's influence has fit in nice. Good work.
-KC

I wonder if the Love Potion is significant in some way later on; perhaps the Order has a use for it?  Snape wanted to keep all of it.  Hmmm...I would love to find out exactly what was said in the Harry/Remus talks.  Loved the letter to Molly! 

Great job!

I love the scene in the forest with Grawp.  That's a sure way to remember how to fly a broom, lol!  Also, love the "sincerely clueless" ending of Harry's letter to Remus, and the use of the letter format.  It's kind of more personal that way.

Oh great writer!! lol Loved this chappie! Brilliant I say! lol I really liked the scene between Remus and Harry, and also the letters between Ginny and her mum- that was funny! Excellent work! And as the plot thickens, so does my curiosity and eagerness to read the rest! lol Please update soon!

~Maria~

The letters... great! Sincerely clueless Harry... The resolution to the Quidditch episode was well thought out, even with Ron although I did feel that Hermione might have chipped with an excellent rationale to explain Harry's feelings to him.

The love potion thing has got me on edge. Somebody is going to abuse this, aren't they.

A great mix in this chapter, of light-hearted fun moments and more sober thoughts and issues. A case of art reflecting Real Life.  I've swallowed the bait; hook, line and Seeker...

You know that was just plain cruel to have Harry remember how to fly "after" the Slytherin match.

I'm kind of worried as to what Snape wants those "Love" potions for.  Something like that could have some disasterous effects on our favorite couples.

I'm still wondering like some of the others as to how much Cho was in her right mind when she pulled that stunt with Harry.  I also wonder how much having the Ravenclaws against him might bite him in the butt.

Seems to me you are weaving a nice bit of chaos in the wizarding world.  This will be made doubly so with Dumbledore down and Fudge ... well being Fudge.

I can forsee Fudge trying to take advantage of this situation to maybe get another foothold in Hogwarts.  It would be interesting to see the return of Umbridge or someone even worse to arrive.

Is it going to be important that the new Head Girl is a Slytherin? or was Tracy Davis just a throw away? Just curious because according to JK's notes she is one of the few non-pure blooded Slytherins.

It will be interesting to see if Harry and Ginny end up cooling off some as they become more comfortable with being together or will the passion continue to keep the pot boiling whenever they are alone with one another.  and