Another fantastic fic, like the previous one. Thank you for continuing to write for year 3. Looking forward to reading it!

:) :)

Thanks!

:)

Thanks !

I like the story a lot. Which is obvious if I've read thus farBUT!
But I can't get it out of my mind that Harry is acting most inefficient. A good character development is where a character takes the optimal course of behaviour from their point of view. No bashing or making a joke out of a character just to have an antagonist. But in this case Harry is both a reasonable protagonist and his own joke of an antagonist.

Take first year's Christmas holidays. Instead of staying at Hogwarts with unlimited food access and studying to his heart's content, he decides to go to the Dursleys where he bargains to have food and a little bit more free time to help with or Dudley's homeworksexams! And he even decides to do that throughout the year on top of his education! Whatever for? He could have easily lied he is obliged to stay at Hogwarts, he could have said NO to Dudley and nothing big would have happened. Yes, he may have received smaller rations for two weeks or Dudley would have looked at him menacingly but that would have been the extend of his punishment. Even if Dudley or the Dursleys did try anything more abusive he could have said he'd use his magic. His aunt obviously believes he's allowed to.

So Harry is mature enough to know the Dursleys don't have his best interests at heart (his belief Petunia will use his money for their benefit demonstrates that well enough) yet he still undermines his grades for their benefit.

I mean what does he think that will get him? He'd always get semi-approval and even if he gets full recogniton as a an ordinary person he would be resentdul for his medal in mediocrity.

I just thought by now he'd have been more discerning what his priorities should be.

Another controversy that's poking me in the eyehis disregard and lack of love for magic and the so-called magical ghetto just because Aunt Petunia used once in an emotionally charged conversation such strong words to describe wizarding society. Harry was doubtful of the Dursley's stance on what is normal and good eay before that. Yet he absolitely interrnalized her feelings on the matter. Insomuch he doubts magical career options for himself.
Even when he is later aware that his parents were part of this world, loving it and excelling in it.

And he is following the Old Ways as much as he can. Nobody pushes him as nobody seems him when he does the rites alone so he obviously likes them.

He is not so delusional a character with total lack of self reflection but his thoughts and continuous actions of undermining his success and bowing to the Dursleys speak to me of great character difusion.

You can usually tell a male from a female by their tails. Males usually have a blunter end and denials taper to a fine point. Also when older you can tell from their reproductive organs or if you find any eggs. The fastest way would be the tails. The other ways would require a snake expert, vet, or time and another snake of the opposite gender.

I am very late to this party, having just stumbled across this series a week or so ago! I am really enjoying the characters, the spin on Harry's thought processes, & I can't wait to see what you do with them next!

You have surpassed all of my expectations with this chapter. That was a beautifully written scene, and you *still* are patient enough to wait for things properly.

The Shield Charm does not reflect spells. That would be a *horrible* liability in real battles. And besides, I would think that the Memory Charm would be relatively delicate in general.

The backfiring of Ron's wand was because faulty wands could do almost *anything* strange.

I absolutely love the little details (like Lily believing that her rejection of Snape caused him to become a Death Eater, etc). Things that make each character just that little bit more realistic. More so than canon, while keeping them consistent *with* canon.

Realistic will. Nice. That doesn't happen very often.

Harry "suddenly" realizing something is a shortcut - something that fanfiction writers use as an excuse to write a Harry that otherwise would have no other reason to act like he does.

In order to do it right, you either have to slowly change like you do here, or create an AU where his circumstances were a little different. (Which isn't actually all that hard, and I wonder why people don't do it more often. All you need is a little creativity and at least a small understanding of psychology... now that I think about it, that second thing might be a sticking point for some people.)

Draco thinking he is the Heir is absolutely hilarious.

If you are talking about which punctuation mark to use, commas will always overwrite periods. And while you should probably avoid this situation in general, question marks overwrite commas. Since periods always indicate an end of a sentence, and questions should always be marked for understandability. (And of course, you should never use two punctuation marks in a row.)

If you are talking about which side of the quotes the comma ends up on, that is a topic that is debated, and it really depends on personal preference and style. Probably because in physical writing, the comma goes *under* the quotation mark, and it is only with computers/typewriters that you have to actually decide that sort of thing.

(I could be wrong and the UK does have an official answer, but this is what I have heard from others and observed in other writing. I do know that fiction sometimes has different rules than something like essay papers.)