Superb! I would really like to read the rest of this story someday!

Bittersweet! Good to know Sirius doesn't hold Harry to blame.

I loved this! Is it over? (It must be if you haven't updated in 2 years!)

That was so sad I loved it! Write more!

you have this strange fascination with harry dying..i still think you are JK Rowling pretending to be an American, you cant fool me! these are clues to the next 2 books, all your stories are!! ive worked it out, worked it all out i tell ya!! *shakes head* American my arse, bet my last 5p piece you are sitting in a nice cosy house in Edinburgh.

Well, here i am again...giving you another review...i know it is long awaited. But here it goes.

I destroyed the copy of the chapter i printed out of your fiction...there are comments everywhere. A lot happens in this chapter. My first thought was of the long cooridor...i thought...his is long, for long life? ANd then you answered that for me. But what struck me most about this cooridor is that the length constantly changes. Hmm choices...could this mean that hp has a choice of returning? But he obviously was sent here for a reason...and that reason has not yet been divulged...but it is coming.

"It was a shimmering veil, identical to the one he'd passed through in the Department of Mysteries-only ths one wasn't ripped-and it was translucent white."
Oh such an important thing here...the veil. So like the scar...appearances don't matter...but this is the real veilto pass thru...the other one goes into the nothingness...neither here nor there. A few lines down...you mention the mirror of erised...ahh a connection...the veil is a portal for harry into what he deems to be impossible...a way to fulfill his deepest desires. That of seeing his family. "but hear not accepting" NOw he will be given the chance to accept the love his family has for him. That even though they only exists as memories in his world...they still love him.

"'That may be true,' cut in a tall older man with shoulder length hair the colour of honey,"

WOw...Lily has relatives here? And not just any relatives...it is her parents. This is huge...in the afterlife...the boundary between being a muggle and a wizard matter not. Just as the scar disappeared and the shimmery veil was not torn...muggles and wizards live together in the afterlife.

Now here comes the big one...Cedric...ohh first thing that hits me is respect...this is the first time that hp is getting the respect that he deserves...just the fac6t that Cedric is there to welcome him is respect. ANd then he states it...there is mutual respect between them. Second thing that hits me...and this is big...cause it ties in with Sirius and Harry in the first chapter...GUILT...yup i said it...G-U-I-L-T. He ultimately feels true guilt about cedric's death...cedrics death is all his fault. This guilt is HP's humanity cause ultimately it leads to his empathy for others. BUt he must first shed his guilt...and this is where it all begins. HE feels all the guilt of the years of abuse...etc...and ultimately he forgives himself and he transforms...and viola...he no longer feels the guilt, anger, and hate...but is released and feels the love, humanity, and empathy for life. That is why he sheds the phoenix tears...and those tears will help him get rid of the stain that is LV.

Great Great work Rae...i really enjoy all the levels that you write on. Really gets one thinking...and when i read your work i always have a pen handy.
Alisa

So an important theme that i noticed in chapter 1 is guilt. Harry is feeling guilty about Sirius going through the veil. It is this guilt that makes him human. I noticed that in this short passage that guilt=humanity. This (I believe) will tie closely to the fact that Voldemort has no guilt...no remorse for anything. There is a transition here that shows how Sirius in a way "forgives" harry. He allows Harry to know that it was not his fault. And for once Harry lets it go. THis is VITAL to the story. If it is going where i think it is going...Harry needs to feel guilt and then forgiveness. He needs to understand the ways of humanity in a way that Voldemort will never know. This is part of Harry's powers that the dark lord knows not...LV does not know guilt, LV does not know remorse, LV does not know what it means to forgive. It is the guilt that helps to separate Harry from Voldemort...that even though Harry and LV have many similarities...it ends when humanity becomes involved. LV has given up his humanity side, forgotten what it was like to be loved, feel guilt, and in general feel anything...he has traded his humanity for power and the prospect of never dying.
Another thing to note about guilt is that Rae relates it to empathy. Rae establishes a connection between Harry and Sirius. It is a connection of empathy. It is this empathy (I believe) that will allow hp to be empathetic to the world...in order for hp to make the ultimate sacrifice (choose all others survival over his own) he needs to be empathetic of other's needs. He needs to understand what they are feeling. He will experiece it all...LV will take everything away from him...but hp will conquer because of his empathy towards others...he will not want others to suffer in the way that he has. That empathy is yet another power that Voldemort knows not.
This also ties in closely to Fate...no one can change fate...and it is best if you accept what you are suppose to do and embrace it. This guilt and empathy will help Harry embrace his fate. It will move him towards his ultimate goal...the wheels are in motion and nothing can stop it from happening...all it can do is delay it for awhile. But she is just getting into fate...she just barely introduces it to us. Leaves us wondering where she is gonna take us with the whole fate thing. But notice she leaves it open for Harry to return to his old body. His death is not for good. The fate part is most likely introduced to us at this point because Harry obviously hasn't fulfilled his fate (knowing what the profecy says). It is just giving us an inkling of what is to come...harry's big decisions that he willhave to make.
Okay Now i am going to talk about one of the most controversial characters to have graced JKR's pages. Snape. His name says it all. She introduces Snape in a sly manner.
"me who assumed Snape didn't care when i told him you were being held in the Department of Mysteries-"
Notice that she uses Sirius to cut Harry off here...and the last thing that Harry was talking aobut was Snape. Here Sirius begins to explain something to harry (he is leading into the fate sequence) but it serves as a deeper purpose. It is warning us about Snape...it is like correcting Harry that his first intuition was right...Snape does not care. But a few lines later that only Dumbledore and Riddle are the only known Occlumens. This has several meanings here...it implies that LV knows not of snape's power...but also we do know that Sirius, Harry, and Dumbledore do know of his power. In a way it is implying that Snape is really not accomplished the way that LV and DD are. Not only that, it leads us to Snape's two-faceness. I am sure that Rae will give us more juicy details on the Snape dilemma...it is defintely worth knowing more aobut. snape is an exciting character.
A Review of chapter 2 will be given once i have read it.
WIZENED

I can understand why that was hard to write. And don't worry, I get into my character's heads and emotions as well. That was an amazing chapter, I really enjoyed it. Please, please update again soon! I love this story!

that was great! I loved it. I totally have to print it out.

Wow. This is such a great fic. It made me feel really sad. I liked that you put in HArry meeting all of his family. He deserves it. I hope that he could get back alright.

I can't wait to read more of this fic

that is a great story. please keep it going! i almost cried, but i never cry so i just squeezed bak the tears. but it was great though.

I love this story as well! It's really good, and I hope Harry can go back to the living world without injuring himself more...Poor Harry! But you portray the character's personalities extremely well, and the vocabulary words you use are amazing. Update soon!