Hey! Thank you for this. It was the anti-house-prejudice pro-Slytherin fic I dreamed of finding. How you managed to bring Harry, Ron, Hermione, and even Dudley back to life even more believable as 16 year olds, yet still our favorites! How you brought in our 3 favourite enigmas, in order Snape, Lupin and Dumbledore, giving them a redemption I wish JKR could have found. And Draco, you are right that he could have benefited from Harry & friends, and may have naturally if the sorting wasn't so bloody final! Anyway, I loved this homage to the Wizarding World. Best of luck with future writing.

So, I obviously came to the party a little late here, given how long ago this fic was published. But I thought I'd post a review anyway. It's taken me three obsessive re-reads of the story until I felt able to write a coherent review that didn't consist entirely of exclamation marks. This. Is. Awesome.

I particularly loved the relationships between Harry/Draco, Draco/Ron, Snape/Lupin (which I guess we're supposed to). These friendships (frenemy-ships?) would have been impossible in canon, but they work extremely well in context, and they give Draco and Snape a humanity which I think was largely lacking in many of the earlier Harry Potter books. In SoS, Draco is so incredibly villain-esque for much of the story, but he has *emotions* that aren't hatred and vulnerabilities that fit so very well with his background. As for Snape-I was initially a little thrown by his abrupt behaviour reversals in this story, but it was well-done and fully explained by the end of the story. It's interesting to read this after the final books have come out. Some character quirks, particularly the obsessive nature of Snape's relationships, are almost flawlessly anticipated.

Who I loved most, however, was Ron. I absolutely agree with the author: what happened to the Ron we loved so much in the first book?! SoS Ron is flawed, yes, but he displays the qualities which I think are very much needed in the best friend of a trouble-magnet like Harry. I can't wait to see what he gets up to in the sequel.

The only thing I wasn't quite comfortable with was the extremely fast progression of events within the story. To me, Draco and Harry's relationship in particular is one that would take a good long time to mature to the point it reached in SoS. The explanation of Imperius etc. made sense, plot-wise, but left me feeling a little dizzied by the abrupt turn-about.

That being said, that's literally my only complaint about this story. It's beautiful. I'm almost afraid to begin the sequel for fear I won't emerge again for weeks.

This story is mother bloody fucking brilliant. I dont read much stories without pairing or slashes but god be damned all hail Kirinin, the mist ninja? Tricky tricky

Yay! I'm so very glad when characters actually have (semi) civil conversations with each other, particularly Remus and Severus, both of whom I admire.
I really am enjoying your story so far and look forward to more. Thanks for sharing!

I've really enjoyed your story so far and am interested to see where it leads. Thanks for sharing!

The stag leaping through Harry's scar is a very powerful image.

"Malfoy! Your mother!" That's hilarious.

Excellent story, wonderful characterization and suspenseful. Great use of Ron and Hermione and Ginny. Loved the OC's and the joined houses and I like the idea of Lupin and Snape being friends. Those two could cause a lot of trouble. Also, clear use of manipulative Dumbledore. Thanks

i don't know. this is the fifth time i read this story, and the first time in two years. your quality of writing is noticeably lower in the first few chapters, but by chapter 4... the language, the themes, the conversation draws me in again. i love how subtly the hypocrisy of humankind is pointed out. people act like showing preferential treatment to people similar to them and showing distaste towards people different from them is an evil, such as in the case of racism and classism. yet subconsciously or otherwise, this kind of like-minded seeking behavior is present in everyone. a wealthy person would be criticised by the less wealthy if they preferentially associate with other wealthy people. yet, the less wealthy themselves shun them and prefer to associate with people from a similar socioeconomic class, sometimes calling the rich people derogatives such as snob. and it was actually one of the best possible times to eschew the sorting: slytherin was essentially the recruiting ground for death eaters. because of the bad rep slytherin got from lord voldemort, a lot of good, clever children who gets a choice would refuse to go to slytherin. in the end, the only children willing to enter slytherin would be voldemort supporters anyway. you're a genius for pointing that out! and SOS really handles the intricacies and nuances of human nature really well, i love how you got your ideas through via a conversation with hermione. it was insightful, but not didactic or rambly. seriously. you're the best.

Squib?

Thank you for sharing your fabulous story. I enjoyed it very much.

LOVE your version of Ron!

Hilarious ending!

thanks for writing this story. I read it yesterday in nearly one go. It made me like Malfoy and hate him again and like him again - all while you stayed true to canon (apart from the book-we-should-never-talk-about aka the horrible book 7)
I especially liked your Ron.

I loved your story! I liked the mystery and seeing how Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione became friends.