Thank you for sharing this fun little jaunt down an ethical lane! Well written, well thought out, and brutal and touching enough to make me cry. Thank you again, and keep up the good work!

They say that one should begin as you plan to go on, and this Harry certainly did.

In a way Harry sacrificed his innocence so that his peers did not have to become child soldiers. Like many soldiers who return from war he found that people who have not really considered the implications of war did not understand him. Does the magical word have such a thing as PTSD? Perhaps a non-magical therapist would be better. Heavens knows that there are enough wars going to produce a constant stream of people in need of their services.

Thank you.

Yes, Luna is awesome. Hermione had some reflection (and growing up) to do. The broom in first grade was an indicator of things to come, wasn't it!

Thank you!

In her defense how was she supposed to act? Her world is sideways at the moment and it will take her time to grasp what and why Harry eliminated the evil twats! She is 15, that’s a helluva liad to dump on a teen!

He can do all that and still get his girl! The more he takes out early the easier getting rid of Voldy will be!

Thank You for ending the story. Although I miss it so much!

Hermione was very sheltered in canon.

Why else would she think expulsion was worse than death?

She believed in authority, she hadn't been betrayed like Harry had.

Someone needs to write a good story where Lily ACTS like the genius she was supposed to be in the books.

A tale in which she out smarts both Albus and Tom, saving her family.

I would begin by Lily not believing Dumbledore is really as good as he pretended to be.

Why did Dumbledore wait over a decade to confront his lover Grindelwald?

Was he a coward, didn't he care about the thousands of deaths, WHY?

And DO NOT give the reconned BS about the blood pact, that was JKR closing a plot hole that never should have existed.

I would have her using a house elf to stun the fool from behind then using truth potion and compulsion spells.
Maybe even the imperious to find out what he had planned for them.
And don't say a mother wouldn't use anything and everything to protect her family.

Then I'd have our genius muggle born use muggle explosives to set a trap. Tom shows up and BOOM!
Thirteen tons of explosive will vaporize Tom and the cottage too. Peter can be collateral damage.
Dumbledore will think All The Potters are dead and lost to his manipulations.

Further I would have our favorite bookworm and her family move to Australia.

Let the backwards witless wizzy world face the wrath of the Queen when Tom returns and starts killing muggles.

Luna is innocent, but the rest I'm not sure.

For the way Rowling Abused her characters I want to kick her.

Read the prophecy, it doesn't require James and Lily to die.
Dumbledore set them up as a "sacrifice" so Tom would "die".

Funny how all the sacrifices are made by someone else ... until he does something stupid and is dying himself.

Dumbledore is the True dark lord of the story.

Go read FOR THE GREATER GOOD by marietsy2

You're right, Dumbledore was WRONG.

You protect the innocent first, last, and always!

If this means you slaughter the GUILTY so they cannot harm anyone again THEN SO BE IT!

Has anyone noticed that Harry "won" by sheer stupid luck?
Luck the author forced? There is no way anyone could have predicted or planned the series of disarming that supposedly let Harry win.

FURTHER WHEN TOM KILLED HARRY THE LOYALTY OF THE DEATH STICK SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS!

That last battle should have resulted in Tom killing Harry again. For keeps. Permanently...

source exe

I know just a review saying great story is lazy but I’m not a writer. The do over has Been done a bunch but I’ve never read one like this that was just so unapologetic and real and gritty. It was a wonderful read and the characters were so real. Ty for the story.

I think I enjoyed this even more than the first time reading it.
I also suspect that the previous Guest reviewer forgot to read chapters 7 and 8. They seem to think that Hermione’s understanding of Harry doesn’t change from when she is a teenager.
Great story.

I’m not really sure what’s romantic about this. I’ve read it all and read the reviews and some people seem to think it’s super romantic and the perfect ending but I have to say I disagree. In this novel hermione is an arrogant, self important, moral busybody. While Harry is doing his best to save the world and be her friend, she’s criticizing him and thinks him a monster because she never tried to grow beyond her ignorance, Harry wasn’t worth it to her to try to understand his actions. Then getting together isn’t romantic at all. It’s a tenuous relationship based on Harry fitting into her carefully ordered world of right and wrong. Never understood why people think this is a good or healthy relationship. Harry would have been much better off being with someone like Luna who lacks common morals but is not lacking in dedication or love. Hermione was a bad friend, who prized the rules and her OCD perception of the world over the well-being and happiness of someone who would die for her and sacrifice his happiness for her. I truly hoped he would end up with someone else in the end. Truly a disappointment for him to end up with a woman who lacks the dedication, maturity and selflessness that he himself brings to the table.

loved it all