You JERK I've got THREE PAPERS due in TWELVE HOURS, two of which I've barely even STARTED, and you keep dropping bombshells like THIS?

Hahaha - TWIST!

'The professor turned into a snake again, and the sense of doom diminishedIs that the strangest sentence I've ever read? Well no, not by far, and that's pretty sad.

*laughs crazily*
What will Harry say to that?
Eheh...

No esperaba esto. No entiendo del todo a esos jóvenes adultos tampoco. Osea puedo hablar mal de quien quiera y nadie hara algo al respecto...espanto a alguien con un 'fantasma' y todo el mundo pierde la cabeza.

dang this means no sirius

Lol, surprise

reading the line about what it meant meant it a friend USED you was that they wanted to make you stronger with their use instead of weaker made me rethink some parts of my life and brought tears to my eyes, so thank you.

Oh god, Quirrell wants to break out Bellatrix. Harry could probably do it, but unless a lot more has been changed than I thought in this version of history, that is an awful idea.

serious' matter" lol..

WHAT! This fic... I fear it will break my sanity.

Harry is going too deep and now he'll have to help Bellatrix (bet he was thinking Sirius...)

no! i knew this would happen but i didn't want him to be the bad guy! well, lets see how harry reacts to that now!
not really trusting dumbledore, and now realising he can really trust quirrell as well, who will he turn to? i wonder if it will be snape at some point? or if he'll stick to the ones his age...
in any case thanks for sharing it! i'm loving it!

Harry really needs to look up the rest of that song...

Awesome password (Terry Pratchett says everyone chooses swordfish as a password, so I'm guessing you did that on purpose, but it's awesome either way)

oh shit bellatrix

How the blood soaked hell is Quirrel talking about BELLATRIX? Sirius being innocent, fine, but, BELLATRIX? This should be good. Hard to believe though, that so far, 51 chapters out of 111 in, we're STILL on Harry's first year.

Can someone please explain how the Time Turner was activated? This doesn't make sense to me:

Step six.

And so in that room shielded from every possible scrying, which Professor Quirrell had personally and further secured, it was not until after Harry was wearing the true Cloak of Invisibility that he reached beneath his shirt and twisted the outer shell of the Time-Turner just once.

The Time-Turner's inner hourglass stayed anchored and motionless, the setting twisted around it -

What this says is that Harry can turn the outer shell, and the inner shell won't turn - that sounds like the "not until 9 pm" protection. Yet it still works.

Bruh
Bro

Whatever

What.

The.

Fr1ck.

Is.

This.

*cries because Quirell might be Voldermort and he might just die*

Nice.

Never forget that Quirrell is evil. I do hope Harry sees this at the earliest convenience ...

Okay, at this point someone is trying to sell Harry a bridge in Brooklyn. Can he tell?

'he could Transfigure something the size of a car battery in four minutes flat'
Car batteries oozes hydrogen as a result of the chemical reactions inside them. So it's not so very good idea to transfigure one ad hoc.

Bellatrix?! What the . . .

Ha ha ha. Finally Harry manged to guess one of Quirrel's plans. Sort of.

WHAAAA-t?

Congratulations, you've astonished me.

That last line was the first time any text has caused a physical reaction in me. I sat back, curled into a little ball, and clutched at my hair saying "No, oh my God fucking shit." Well done.

-"You are about to invite me to join a secret organization full of interesting people like yourself," said Harry, "one of whose goals is to reform or overthrow the government of magical Britain, and yes, I'm in."
There was a slight pause.
"I'm afraid that is not quite where I intended to direct this conversation," said Professor Quirrell. The corners of his lips were twitching slightly. "I merely planned to ask for your help in doing something extremely treasonous and illegal."
Darn, thought Harry. Still, Professor Quirrell hadn't denied it... "Go on."-ADORABLE. And I dearly love this quirrell.
Omg Bella?! I should've guessed!

...
MINDBLOWN

Whaaaaaat! That was beyond unexpected. I almost skipped the last sentence in my haste. This makes no sense lol

nice twist on the prisoner of Azkaban, and while Bellatrix is one of those "always chaotic evil" psychopaths she's still human and nobody deserves to be in azkaban. heres hoping that there will be a lot of dementor casualtys

And then with a sudden sickening lurch in his stomach, Harry knew where this was going; he should have seen it before.

Oh. My. God.

That was a joke, right? RIGHT?!

"Melon friend" is part of a password? I see what you did there, maybe. I can't even tell if that was an intentional reference to the Lord of the Rings or an accident. Now that I've felt unreasonably proud of myself for having caught that, I'm ashamed of everything I've undoubtedly missed. Thank you, though, you've made my day again.

Bellatrix? Now that’s... strange. Just what's wrong with this universe?

...Oh. Bellatrix, not Sirius. Is she really innocent?

Fucking what.

What? MINDBLOWN.

Okay, so...wow. There's just no words.
Apart from flatly AMAZING.
I did not see any of the events in this chapter coming.

Firstly, the step by step process of getting to a secure location to discuss the events was very well written, and based on the information I can guess what's going to happen after they talk. I'm guessing Professor Quirrell will transform back into his animigus form, travel to Mary's place in Harry's pouch under the invisibility cloak, and that faint murmur Harry felt at the beginning in the room was his older self coming back, at exactly the time they left, and they both Harry and Quirrell would undo the charms, and head back to Hogwarts.

Secondly, I am now even surer then I was several chapters ago that Professor Quirrell has something to do with Voldemort, because why else would be request Harry break Bellatrix free? It's all a ruse isn't it? Professor Quirrell is working for the wrong side and is trying to get Harry to set Bellatrix free, and probably a few other death eaters so Voldemort can rise again.

Absolutely lost it at "sword fish melon friend"

I tip my hat to you, sir!

LOTR this time. Very good.

This can only end positively.

For some reason I keep imaging Professor Quirrell as Tom Hiddleston/Loki from the Avengers/Thor movies.

Why? I don't know - but he's evil, smart, and sexy :)

Wait, am I wrong or is it happening somewhere about the time when Moody visits Nurmengard? This cannot be a coincidence?

"You are about to invite me to join a secret organization full of interesting people like yourself," said Harry, "one of whose goals is to reform or overthrow the government of magical Britain, and yes, I'm in."

I knew I should be worried when I saw that Chapter 51 was "Title Redacted, Pt 1" ... But...Bellatrix? I've stayed onboard for some rather interesting twists and turns, but we'll have to see about this one. XD I'm a HUGE fan of the canonically evil Bellatrix. (Then again, I should have seen this coming since she was earlier referred to as Black and not Lestrange, and that the son [by her canon husband's brother, right?] was illegitimate. Interesting. Carry on!

This is a question that somebody might be able to answer - I'm sure Eliezer knows, but he may not see the question. What kind of snake is that that Quirrell turns into? I think somewhere else, there is also a mention that it is venomous. Green snake, blue and yellow bands, venomous? Tree snake? Sea snake?

Excellent! Fun twist at the end, too.

Eep!

Bellatrix...BELLATRIX! Of course, it's her. Why did I think for a mere sliver of a second that they were talking about Sirius?

Or were they?

Harry's jaw hits the floor at this point, doesn't it?

Oh, so this is where things get interesting. Harry meant Sirius, knowing that Sirius was innocent, but Quirrell, being Voldemort, wants Bellatrix back. Harry knows, or can guess fairly easily, that Bellatrix isn't innocent...

Okay, seriously(pun untentiononal), what the-?

Looking foward to where you're going with this.

Was Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Cross Time Saloon" series available in 1992? More to the point: was "Lady Slings the Booze" ? Jake, the big Irishman Mike, and Mary herself all appear here but it's not clear to me that Harry recognizes any of them (or any resemblance) from his reading.

This might be fun

wat...wwwwwwaaaaaaaatttttttt... WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!?

my only complaint regarding chapter 51 is that "Be Prepared" is not the Boy Scout Marching Song, rather it is the Boy Scout Motto. Not a significant difference, but enough of one to actually be noticed by an actual Boy Scout.

I so totally WTF'd here.
I'd have to say, I consider myself mildly insane and at least fairly intellegent, but this is the one thing where I had been truly, utterly suprised.

I honestly had expected the 'twist" since he mentioned Azkaban (not before) and thought others would too. In fact, I'd be shocked if Black in question turned out to be canonical Black. It was obviously exactly the twist that this writer would just have to insert, and when Quirrell only mentioned the name, it became inevitable. But I am much more interested in finding out if it's straightforwardly a ploy of Quirrelmort to save his Bella, or if there is anything more interested in play.

Do you find it hard to accept the possibility that women like Bellatrix exist? Martha Goebbels murdered her own children. I have always thought Bellatrix was cut of similar cloth.

lol, trolled us in chapter 51...

Damn it, I thought it was going to be Sirius! HAHA. My favourite character in Rowling's original version somehow connected to my favourite character in your version!
I don't like Bellatrix, haha, but if she's innocent in your version, I might!

I wonder, was this-this very line that sends chills down the spines of your readers the first time they read it-the only reason Bellatrix didn't marry Lestrange in your AU? Or is there more to it, yet to be revealed?

You certainly have a strange relationship with commas and semicolons, but your writing is phenomenal.

Gwah? BELLATRIX? Oh man, now I know I'm not gonna sleep until I've finished this arc.

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge or if I'm on a totally wrong track, but this chapter makes me think that Quirrel has escaped Azkaban before.

In this chapter, Quirrel says: "The Dementors don't like their meals being taken away from them," Professor Quirrell said. Coldness had entered that voice, now. "They know if anyone tries. . ."

Earlier, in one of the Humanism chapters, the dementor talks and all but Harry hears it. Quirrel says: "It said to me that it knew me, and that it would hunt me down someday, wherever I tried to hide." That sounds a lot like a dementor pissed off that one of its meals escaped. Maybe I'm just crazy though.

Is Professor Quirell telling the truth about Bellatrix? Or is he simply freeing her for the sole purpose of getting his best follower back? And if it is true is he actually trying to heal her or will he simply leave her as she was before Azkaban, fanatically loyal to him?

Bella? Now why would he want to rescue Bella? I guess I will just have to keep reading. But not tonight.

Ahahaha, I was also certainly not expecting that. One of my pet theories has been that Sirius was guilty and Peter was good, so wormtail really is dead, but I didn't expect Bellatrix to be innocent. She's always been kind of evilly deranged in my eyes. Ahahaha. This is an awesome piece of work you've written here.

Harry is so full of shit it's coming out his ears. He wants humans to live forever, and think of death as weird, but other animals can still die and it's fine? I hope he burns at the end of this.

Not altogether unexpected.

Goes to further support my theory..

but I am SO glad that I have found this story after you have written what happens next.

Hell of a twist!

daaammmmmnnnn! this is too much of an AU for me to comprehend! nooooo noooo! what about Sirius?

I figured it was too obvious to be Sirius, but I don't want him stuck there either ;_; Also omg, I can't imagine Bellatrix being good, that's so crazy. So many changes! Interesting chapter anyway~

...

...

...

Excuse me. I need a moment to pick my jaw up off the floor.

The Suspense is building here. Keep it up!

The Suspense is building here.

I love it so much more than I did when I last reviewed. Honestly. At first I wondered why Bellatrix was still Bellatrix Black, and I love how you set us up for that mind screw right there.

We're all thinking "Oh yeah, of course it's Sirius. Even the main character thinks it's Sirius. Because in the Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius is all like 'I'm your Godfather, Harry,' and everything's okay." But then Quirrel's all like "Bellatrix never married Rodolphus Lestrange, and she's still a Black." And then I remembered that this was the fic that shipped Sirius with Peter Pettigrew.

Still great though. I love it and despite any and all changes in characterization, it's still amazing (if not better in some respects). I won't give suggestions because they are all for things that would have to be retconned out of existence, and I doubt that you would do so, as that would stoop down to daytime television territory, and I'm pretty sure you have a good idea of what you're going to do, as evidenced by the fact that you wrote twenty-one more chapters after this one.

Keep up the amazing work.

I would like to inform you that I nearly had an orgasm because of that last sentence.

Your writing is brilliant. The plot is well done, the characters are mostly intriguing and complex. They are /human/ in a way that takes the reader and makes them care about their internal struggles. That makes them wish to see how the characters will change and mature and grow as life and time give them problems to overcome and lessons to learn.

There is only one grand, large problem I have with your fiction.

I /HATE/ what you have done to Hermione Granger. You have taken a brilliant character who is wise not only in the way of books and such, but who was also wise in the ways of people. And who was aware that there is not only Good and Bad. Not only Black and White. For whilst you write muchly and praisingly towards her intelligence as a student... you have turned her into a simpleton fool in regards to common sense or reality.

Often enough, even though your writing makes me laugh. Even though it teaches ideas and ideals both intellectual and moralistic. Though it stimulates thought and contemplation. Though it brings terror and joy and sadness and curiosity and triumph and laughter and tension..

When I once again see your characterization of her.. it makes me want to stop reading the entire thing. And it is only. ONLY because of the fact that the rest of this fiction is so entirely wonderfully full of quality.. that I will continue to read it until the very end, or until you stop writing.

I am glad for the writing of it. Even just the ideas and lessons within have turned me onto the Blog and Rationalism. I have enjoyed it as a storyteller, as a writer, as just a simple reader. But But this is my main, and probably only major problem with this fiction. And there are very, very few small ones.

So I will thank you for the effort and determination and creativity spent upon the literary work, most sincerely.

But I suspect I shall continue to cringe whenever Hermione, a favorite character of mine, comes upon the scene.

I read your story today (50 chapters of it) and I loved it, sorry for being a huge douche and not reviewing every chapter. I created an account today just to say thank you. Freakin' fantastic.

Haha, the last line was really well done here. I cant wait for the mission.

does that mean sris is guilty then? or will they break him out too, if only by accident?

Very interesting fic so far. I want to read more, but then I'll have to wait until your back from your break to remember and begin reading everything again. I guess I might as well slow down my inhalation of this story and study for my exams...

Oh, God, I love this fic so much.

UNFAIR - a most Slytherin trick. This chapter assumes knowledge of the REAL H Potter stories, and achieves its impact by predicting the reader's adoption of one of those interminably demonstrated logical fallacies. One might come away from reading the last sentence of the chapter becoming convinced that there were layers of author's intent beyond telling a well-crafted story. If projected over the whole of the tale, the burgeoning sense of required rational analysis could complicate the discerning reader's state most alarmingly.

Ugh. I hate seeing Harry make a mess of things by listening to Prof Q. Great story so far! I am missing a bit of the humor from the beginning though.

My browser is finally letting me leave reviews! sixpacksirius: the snake you are thinking of was Draco's patronus/his dad's cane top.

lol

Strongly agree with keeping the acetylene torch and flares, while ditching the battery. Torch/flares have many more diverse uses in more situations!

Very interesting that Harry finds himself manipulated into freeing Bella. I was hoping that Sirius would somehow also get sprung, but I can see how that would be stretching it a bit much.

Excellent chapter!

'"Sword fish melon friend," Harry spoke the passphrase to the lock, and it clicked open.'

Heh. Nice hommage. :)

OH SNAP!

Tell Quirrel that someone already begged you to free Bella!

Tell him that Longbottom knows you wanna free Bellatrix and will suspect you at once and that dumbles will know the true Patronus was used!

'...he had removed some of the bulkier items, like the car battery.'

You might need that later Harry. Actually you'll probably be OK because you won't need to be rescued from your house with a flying car.

'Harry said nothing, but it was simple enough if you believed in the processes of modern democracy. The most obvious person in Azkaban to be innocent was the one who hadn't gotten a trial - '

Good work, Harry. I would say, well it's obviously Sirius, however you've made enough changes, some of which were both brilliant and unexpected, that I was totally ready for you to ambush us all with the words 'A person by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange', for instance.

'How in the name of Merlin, of Atlantis, and the void between the stars, did you guess that I was talking about Bellatrix?'

It appears my first instinct may have been correct after all.

Just so you know. This chapter, with the word "Bellatrix", is when you blew my mind.

Excellent chapter! I should make a fanfart for this one,

There's a lot going on in this chapter, but I wanted to comment on the passwords. Earlier, Dumbledore's temporary password was "squeamish ossifrage". If you google that, you'll understand why it's symbolic of a relatively-secure password, especially in the year 1992 when this story takes place. And here, we have Quirrel using "sword fish melon friend" - that is "swordfish, mellon/friend" - as a password. These are perhaps the two most stereotypically weak passwords that exist; even though, when combined, they are significantly stronger, the complete password is still so weak as to be susceptible to an actual dictionary attack, that is, a human physically reading from a password dictionary.

I wonder if there's an in-story reason for these passwords; if they're the author signalling that Dumbledore is sometimes cleverer, and Quirrel sometimes less so, than they appear; if there's some other authorial message which I can't fathom; or if it's just random cultural references without any deeper meaning. If it's the latter, I must say that I'm dissappointed.

They are both making assumptions in the last few panels - something both are normally loathe to do.

Harry's is understandable, both in that he is trying to impress Q by making a quick deduction, and that the logic flow from "innocent prisoner" thru "innocent till proven guilty" thru "never had a trial" to Sirius Black seems relatively straightforward.

But Q knows there are 2 Blacks (at minimum) in Azkaban, and reasonably could expect Harry to follow the above reasoning, so assuming that he refers to Bellatrix seems less likely.

I guess Harry succeeded in his goal to dumbfound his professor, even if only by coincidence...

*flat what*

Though I AM glad - would've broken the suspended belief if it had been had been her cousin.

he he

Ooh, great chapter.

"I will speak plainly and in human form. Parseltongue does not quite suit me, I fear, as I am neither a descendant of Salazar nor a true snake."

This absolutely screams to me that snake animagi cannot lie to a parselmouth while in snake form and that Professor Quirrell switched to human form because he's about to lie his ass off.

Oh ho! I see what you did there! Changing it at the last second, making it a cliff hanger. Niiiiiice!

Have I gone mad, or wasn't Quirrel a blue and silver snake in the earlier chapters? I remember thinking it was weird for a snake to appear so icy, but then it made sense. Perhaps this was another story with a different Slytherin with a snake animagus form, but nontheless, I was surprised to imagine Quirrel as green. Very common color for a person to think of when they think "snake."

I can't wait for Part 2! I'm sure it'll be epic! :) I hope it's soon!

I prefer finished chapters, of course, but as for finished sequences, as a fanfiction veteran I'm used to sucking it up and waiting, and if it's slowing you down to NOT post them in pieces then the rest of them can suck it up too. It helps you and we ultimately get more chapters faster.

give a thirsty man one drop of water and he'll continue longing for his thirst to be quenched though he may fail to appreciate that his situation is better that having no drop at all :o)

drip drip drip drip drip...

It is an ending like that that reminds me to the first time I had the (obvious, in retrospect) realisation about the fiction you write.

This is what fanfiction should be like.

It was yet another amazing chapter, I don't even remember which one and this was maybe fuelled by wondering how to recommend this to other people... And I caught myself thinking along the lines of "This is so good, you need to read it! It's so good, that it's too good to be fanfiction, it can be fiction in its own right!..." And then I stopped.

Don't get me wrong, you are more than capable of writing self-sustaining fiction (I loved your Babyeaters novella :), but I was looking at this entirely wrong: why is "fanfiction" a bad thing to begin with? Why does a piece of fiction need to grow out of being FF? And more to the point... Are there circumstances in which fanfiction can be more than fiction?

I am very impressed by the additional level of content you manage to add to your story by the sheer fact it's fanfiction: we get all the humour and plot and... everything fiction provides with the added benefit of knowing what this universe is, knowing how things work, having some preconceptions about things we have experienced through a different viewpoint... It's quite amazing, but your story, while developing a plot in its own right, which a reader can experience, also develops... it's not exactly a plot, but let's call it "intrigue" by its differences from the original books.

And that is just this one little tiny thing. I am simply enthralled by your ideas, I find your writing style very enjoyable and your sense of humour does seem to tickle the right spot :) Thank you for providing this and I hope to get the time sometime soon to start going through your main website. (Right now, for probably the 3rd or 4th week/update in a row, I am recalling what you said about that Twilight fic and its reviews: I would like to go back and post a bunch of chapter specific reviews. Knowing myself, that might not happen, but I wanted you to know this at the very least :)

That ending was amazing! Holy shit what a twist...

Everyone who thinks that Voldemort is on the back of Quirrel's head needs to reread chapter 12. It is clearly stated that Professor Quirrel is not wearing a turban; Harry can see the back of his head and Quirrel is actually slightly balding.

Love this chapter. I was thinking, "Wow! How are Harry and Quirrel going to break Sirius out?" Then I read the last line. Amazing!

I think that people enjoy this story more when it's about the mistakes of an eleven year old boy. People love to hear about Battle Magic, the Time Turner, and Harry standing up to Snape and Dumbledore. In my opinion, it's less interesting when this story is about things like Harry and Draco's conspiracy.

By the way, my favorite part of this story so far is the encounter between Harry and the Dementor.

"The author's notes for this chapter will..."

Will the notes disappear when Pt 2 is posted or when a newly titled chapter is posted? What's the definition of a chapter? This is the only fanfic I've ever read, so if these definitions are understood in the community, please excuse me.

Anyway...A pretty good chapter (so far?)...

_

I took a look at TV tropes and don't care to create a thread there.

Obviously Q is Dark and trying to turn Harry Dark. As I read LW's philosophy, if we make Harry a rationalist, we've got to compensate Voldie accordingly. So Rational!V/Q is pretty on the ball. He still underestimates Rationalist!Harry, and he doesn't realize that his goals aren't Harry's (esp. in terms of a Muggle v Magical war).

If trying to guess what's REALLY going on, we have to consider LW/Eli's motivations. While he's an author steeped in Western tradition, he's a rationalist. He's written one other thing I've read, (3Worlds) which had two endings. One was a "this is how many stories would actually go" but the other was an ending we, as readers, expect, one in which we (those who the reader identify with) "win", and it took a deus ex machina of "hidden knowledge" to accomplish.

So, don't expect a) events to follow JKR's traditional pattern of who lives and dies b) total randomness that represents real life, like Harry gets hit by a drunk driver and c) an unhappy conclusion ("Voldemort Wins! Everyone Dies!"). But do expect a resolution one that follows rationalist principles and dramatic ones. Maybe Voldie wins, but everyone lives.

I'll be reading to the end to find out...

Also, why hasn't Harry investigated the sense of doom yet? I suppose it the same as why he's fine with eating again?

I see unintentional cold reading practices :).

Great chapter. Keep up the good work!)

Another awesome chapter! Looking forward to more rational goodness,

-Boots

woah, mindblown... XD of course, that's what you have to expect in this kind of story

Woah! Now that's the way to hang us off the side of a cliff!

Prof. Q's announcement's thrown my thoughts into turmoil. I'm wondering is Prof. Q still possessed by Voldemort? Is Bellatrix really innocent (when viewed through a certain perspective)? Is Sirius Black guilty of the deed even though he never received a trial? Will Harry make a choice that results in evil deeds done?

Phew! What a trip. I can't wait for the next chapter! I'm very excited to see where this development will lead us.

What? Nononononononononono. Harry, don't listen to him! I knew it! Voldie is still attatched to the back of Quirrel's head! I thought he might not be for one second and then, BOOM! BELLATRIX! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, HARRY! Ahem. Okay then. Please update soon.

To be honest, whenever I read your fic, I find it interesting, but I don't have anything more to say then "I like it". (And while I know why I like it, I'm too lazy to type out why exactly I like it.)

Nevertheless, I shall just say: this fic is interesting, especially the last line here - I love the way Harry and Quirrell interact, although I'm more fond of Hermione's thoughts as I feel they are more age appropriate. The subplot with Draco is nice as well.

I sense that we are at a crossroads here, and look forward to Harry's reaction/what he does.

By the way: once you've posted a whole chapter, you can always edit it "backwards", and rejoin it into one chapter. (Since I don't really like to keep clicking for a new chapter.)

(This may be a rather odd review, but you did say that you wanted more reviews.)

But thank you for writing this fic.

Bellatrix? Can't wait to read what's coming next. Thank you for writing!

WHAT? How on earth do you manage to make your story so confusing yet funny yet epically awesome? By the way, it is the 7th result for Rationality on Google

FUCK YEAH, BELLATRIX!

I'm loving the story and can't wait for the next update.

What. The. Fuck?

Bellatrix is supposedly interested?

I am most certainly intrigued to see how you'll make this work. Very intrigued indeed.

Update soon!

-Kayla

Laughed out loud there. Great chapter. Thinking about kidnapping you and make you write faster with electrical whips.

So either Voldie is playing mind games with Harry to get his most loyal supporter out of prison, or this universe is more skewed from canon than I thought. Either way, that twist threw me off guard.

below. And possibly made the diary of bacon a horcrux. It is really obvious considering Yudkowsky...

Very interesting chapter again. Things start to get rolling...

Is the picture at tvtropes page something pointing at printed copy? That would be just utterly and impossibly awesome. (although even at this point with OotPs word / page count it would make around 900 pages) Hardback standing in my bookshelf...

Have enjoyed this series so far, but even from the very beginning of the story, Harry Potter is incredibly arrogant. And I fear that he is not going to learn about his arrogance until later, if at all. You, as the author, may or may not have written Harry in this fashion, or even believe that you have done so. Also, I am aware that you may think that it is I who is mistaken.

In any case, as I do not know as to how you plan for this story to go, and this is your story, I will not be telling you what to do with this story. Now, based on everything you have written, it would seem as if Harry is going to end up being Dark, especially with Harry's arrogant belief about searching for Immortality and some of his other values that you show him to have. Especially his constant denials to not go dark, and yet continue to behave in such cruel and manipulative manners.

I hope you continue this series as I have enjoyed it, however I also hope Harry finally learns to temper his arrogance in the future.

SHAZAM! cliffhanger.

Nice twist.

How close are we to the end of the school year, now?

Will we see Quirrelmort and Harry storm Azkaban?

Look forward to where this goes.

To everyone wondering whether Quirrell is really evil in this universe... must I remind you that he crushed Rita Skeeter to death for the sheer pleasure of doing so? To refresh everyone's memories, here's a quote from Chapter 25:

Quirrell stared at her for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"Miss Skeeter," said Quirrell, "I had hoped to find some lever that would prove persuasive. Yet I find that I cannot deny myself the pleasure of simply crushing you."

...

He LITERALLY crushes her! To death! For the pleasure of doing it! He's evil! Evil evil evil! And some of you are wondering if maybe Bellatrix isn't really evil because Quirrell says so?

I LOVED THIS LINE: "You are about to invite me to join a secret organization full of interesting people like yourself... and yes, I'm in." (Slight pause. 'Um, no.') I would feel awful if Prof. Quirrel kicked this little overeager puppy with big green TRUSTING eyes IN THE FACE but with that 'Bellatrix! not Sirius!' twist, I think it's somewhat likely. My instincts say that he's still Voldemort - what with the slightly dark, intensely smart, and the snake motif - and yeah, he just found out that this little Gryffindor trusts him, and he needs Harry's Patronus, so he's going to use that trust to rescue loyal Bellatrix.

Harry even recognizes that he's being used, but it sounds like he's putting that to the side, because he *likes* Quirrel for being similar, and thinks he can trust Quirrel because Quirrel saved his life.

I predict that Harry's going to screw himself over even more than when he started talking about HORCRUXES with Quirrel. This is like watching a CAR CRASH.

Ah, well, now, it's official and I am stupefied. But no surprise really. However... I am very much puzzled about the current location of Lord Voldemort and it is only bugging me more and more. Because it seems fairly clear that he is not emblazoned on the back of Quirrel's head, because Quirrel says some things that Voldemort would take serious issue with, Dark Lord-y or not. I considered the possibility that Voldemort fully took over the body but that was an issue for the same reason. Then I was thinking, perhaps the dizzy spells and weird sleeping habits are related. Perhaps Voldemort is still *trying* to take over his body. But those have only shown up a few times, and, what's more, I am not convinced that the dizzy spell was not a premise to quite literally crush Rita Skeeter. Particularly given his promise to do exactly that. So perhaps he isn't sick at all. But then, where is the Dark Lord and how does Dumbledore know about his continued existence? Unless, of course, Voldemort has really been dead all along, which would be kinda silly in plot terms but would seem to make more sense in Harry's philosophy. Anyway this business with Bellatrix is alarming. You better revamp the hell out of her because she has always been a truly objectionable character even by Harry's standards, so it's hard to imagine voluntarily rescuing here from much of anywhere.

Neh? *enter brain explosion here*

Wow, so many things to mention.

Okay, so I was fooled. I thought maybe Quirrell was some lost friend of the marauders, trying to get Sirius out. Though I do wonder how AU the story is, since Bellatrix was always referred to as Lestrange, maybe in this reality she never married? Tough of course, obvious to the audience is that of all the death eaters (at least in JK's universe) Bella was the most devout of them all.

"You are about to invite me to join a secret organization full of interesting people like yourself," said Harry, "one of whose goals is to reform or overthrow the government of magical Britain, and yes, I'm in." Ha! An... accurate description of death eaters (and, rather ironically enough, to some degree the order of the phoenix as well - which I would guess the reader is meant to think of in the first place). I can just imagine, if Quirrell should turn out to be Voldemort, poor Harry, being questioned and having to answer truthfully, would have to not only admit to helping the escape of Voldemort's most faithful servant, but of willing to join the ranks of the death eaters!

Another favorite line: "The most obvious person in Azkaban to be innocent was the one who hadn't gotten a trial -." So damn true!

Fingers crossed that Sirius still makes an appearance in the story in the near future.

Repl to my acct, can't be shitted to log in and review.

Are you fucking with me? Bellatrix is Lestrange, isn't it? Unless there's been some change I missed out on, she's still a DE, and unless the Prof is seriously Voldemort-possessed, then Harry's fucked.

How the hell does he get out of this one?

Never forget Harry;s main goal though! I dont remember the exact wording and wont go back to look for it but it had something to do with him discovering all the secrets of the universe and rule it. Overlord Potter sounds awesome.

Great chapter, if rather short. I loved the part at the end when they confused Sirius and Bellatrix.

Ohhh, you would. Trick me, will ya?

Oh wow, did you have me going. Just when I thought I knew where their discussion was going, Harry responds and I'm floored. Then Quirrell starts talking and I'm again certain I have guessed where the redirection is leading only to have his last line disprove that and send me straight back to my first guess.

I can hardly wait to see where this leads, though I'm confident it won't be whatever I predict.

OH SNAP!

Awesome, love it, nice twist!

A bit predictable at the end, but nonetheless thoroughly awesome. Still absolutely loving this story.

*GLEEFUL GASSSP*

Lesath is gonna be happy.

"So tell me, Mr. Potter. How in the name of Merlin, of Atlantis, and the void between the stars, did you guess that I was talking about Bellatrix?"

Stare...

Stare...

Stare some more...

LOL!

I totally did not expect that!

Can't wait for the next one!

...Professor Quirrell is evil, isn't he?

That, or you're making this seriously AU. Which, I suppose, you already have...Probably.

I have heard it was possible but I never saw it done. that one word,a single word, the last word...could change the whole storyline.

I eagerly await your next installment I don't care if you post one word at a time I'm here ready for it.

Heh.

So is it really that prisoner? Or is Quirrell yanking Harry's chain for blurting out his answer?

Harry should remember what levels other folks are playing on and remember "In the future, never share your wisdom with anyone unless you know exactly what you are both talking about."

LW, thank you for writing.

What.

What.

WHAT.

Alright Lord Wong, you've stumped me this time. I've no idea how the hell you're going to pull this off. If you manage to do so, you win big. You don't...well, I don't need to tell you what will ensue. I hope you know what you're doing...

Oh dear. This will be interesting, to say the least. I wonder what you've done with Bella. Is she going to be everyone's favorite psycho or have you reinterpreted her into a somewhat less psychotic personage? Because I can't imagine your Harry would be very willing to work with a nutter like her.

Also, you ought to join us at PD. We need more shadowy conspiratorial figures like yourself. :D

Thanks for the update.

You have a way of turning things upside down, don't you?

Quirrelmort is awesome.

Pure.

Awesome.

That's if he even IS Quirrelmort.

How much did you deviate from canon again? :)

Ahaha, wrong Black! Hahaha! xD Lovely twist-it certainly caught me by surprise! I wonder how Harry will play his cards now, with Quirrell thinking he knows more than he does...

I'm going to laugh myself out of my chair when Harry springs Sirius rather than Bellatrix.

Bellatrix? Wait... WHAT?

o_0

1. Now we see why the author chose an additional point of departure in not marrying Bellatrix to Mr. Lestrage.

What? Bellatrix? The hell? Why can't i stop reading this fic?

Excellent title.

"Professor Quirrell gestured for the door to close and lock, and began to speak twenty-nine security Charms, one of the ones in Mr. Bester's sequence being left out this time, which somewhat puzzled Harry."

I can only assume that the security charm left out was the one against invisibility cloaks and that this was done because a future Harry and Quirrell are already in Mary's room at that point.

Quirrell makes a big deal of the lead up that Bellatrix is innocent. In "Personhood Theory," Draco claims that "some of the other Death Eaters were truly evil too, like Bellatrix Black." I look forward to seeing how those two view points resolve themselves.

AFLIDSFNGDSDDFS NO! NO NO NO. NONONONONONO. Oh, my gaw. I really, really, really, really hope that Harry isn't going to do what it seems like he's going to do. He knows better, doesn't he? I mean, he knows about Neville's parents and everything. And he thought it was Sirius, to start with. Oh, man, I am really glad that you aren't one of those authors that updates once a month at best, because I really am on the edge of my seat about this.

So, ow that Harry can kill Dementors, he can rescue Sirius.

But Quirrelmort comes to him with a proposition to rescue an innocent from Azkaban - but at the last minute, the diversion: it's not Sirius, but Bellatrix!

Hmmm. Bellatrix Black. I've been wondering for a few chapters - Did she not marry Rodolphus Lestrange in this world? Or is she merely using her maiden name?

And why would she be innocent here? Is Sirius truly guilty?

Sounds like you've invented a really interesting alternate history here. Being a fan of AH, I just have to see this through.

Bellatrix? Ooh... This is getting intense.

Oh...ok-aaay.

Seriously, it's like I'm not allowed to have any pre-conceptions about this story at all. They're forbidden and completely taboo and so completely ridiculous that I feel silly just attempting to figure out what's going to happen next. Everytime I think: "Okay, I know where this is headin'" I get the rug pulled right out from under me and I'm left flailing like a fish out of water.

I do love you for it though. )

Awesome chaper as per usual though I was gobsmacked at the ending. Bellatrix? I, of course, was expecting Sirius but that's what I get for 'expecting' anything when it comes to this story. I need to learn to stop that because I keep ending up flabbergasted and knocked for six. -laughs-

Still, I loved the chaper, loved the twist (Though it very nearly drove me crazy) and plain old loved the story so far.

Kepp up the excellent work.

x

Ah, how paranoia abounds. ))

Sheesh.

And Bellatrix at the end, that was masterful. Now I'm very curious to see what Harry will reply :)

Wait - wha - huh?

I should have suspected this when it turned out the Weasley pet rat was really just the Weasley pet rat. But I didn't; I totally thought it was Sirius.

Well... I guess it might still be Sirius, Quirrell being who he is.

Hahaha, oh my gosh, what an ending to this chapter! I have no idea what Quirrell's agenda is, but I'm excited to see how this pans out. Please do write more soon!

~fd97

that last line was..wow just an amazing way to do a twist/cliffhanger just wow so nice that i just had to leave a review like a virtual cookie wow

"I am certainly impressed, Mr. Potter," said Professor Quirrell. His face was grave. "But this is a serious matter, and if there is some way others could make the same deduction, I must know. So tell me, Mr. Potter. How in the name of Merlin, of Atlantis, and the void between the stars, did you guess that I was talking about Bellatrix?"

What? Bellatrix innocent? Which game is Quirrell speaking? I thought Harry was talking about Sirius.

Dude. Just. Dude. O.O

Say what say what?

Well, this is certainly an unexpected developement.

wait what? Nicely done sir, nicely done

OH SNAP!

OK, I'm surprised. Good work.

Ooh, what's Harry's going to say /now/?

I have read your series for a wile and all I can say it is genius! And very well written. Witty, thoughtful and funny. And you are a master of plot twists.

Your character development is way better and more interesing than in the original and as you lovingly take apart Rowlings world and look at the pieces you build something way more interesting from it. Which almost each chapter - the side plots sort of stayed at the niveau they started at - your story gets better and am really curious what future harry will shape and how.

If you ever plan on publishing this as a book, I will buy it.

I am beyond trying to figure out the direction of the plot at this point.

Very good. Nice tension building. It seems weird that Harry would agree to lying forever just on a basis of someone needing him - it hasn't been established yet that person is not evil. He _should_ enquire about it. Spectacular ending.

nooo! lol pleaase save sirius :3

And here I was hoping it was Sirius! Oh well - I always forget that Bellatrix's maiden name was Black... THis should get interesting

Didn't see that coming. As always a great chapter.

Well, for once, I made the right guess.

Still marvelously done.

I DO hope to read the next chapter(s) very soon.

Awesome chapter can't wait to see where this goes next.

I'm becoming tired of the props. Probably because the subtler references escape me...

Chapter 51, best cliffhanger to date!

I love the ending of this chapter to pieces. Very smart.

Hmmm... If the 'innocent' one is Bellatrix (not that I'm completely sure that Quirrel is right about that), then does he know that Sirius is too, and just doesn't want to free him? Or does he not know? Questions, questions... I'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out. This is a GREAT story, and I think that the in-depth planning and characterizations are amazing. I could never have done something like this, so I'll say good job, even though you deserve a much better compliment for writing this amazing story.

whaaaaat?

Sweet ending, completely flummoxed me.

Interesting to see the plot take a definite step towards changing the world outside of Hogwarts..

Looking forward to your update!

Very good chapter, though the ending was fairly easy to guess at, and the mission was only slightly less so.

OH MY GOD.

Interesting chapter..

While the step one, step two.. were annoying, the conversation at the end was interesting, and most of all, the cliffhanger was surprising.

Waiting impatiently for the next chapter :)

That... was brilliant :) Utterly, utterly, brilliant :D

If your lost, rereading is helpful. MoR is definitely entertaining enough. Comprehension/Understanding is handicapped if you don't have the various plot twists and nuances fresh in your mind.

Anyways, Bellatrix. Okay. I REAlly can't wait to see how that turns out ), but don't forget about Sirius!

Thanks for the chapter,

SPANNER IN THE WORKS! Good ending! I look forward to more posts tomorrow.

Hook, line, and sinker.

I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I enjoyed the juxtaposition of storing who-knew-what-else, and you-know-who.

Good god, Belatrix? I can't say that I am entirely surprised, you certainly have a way of twisting the HP universe in the most delightful manner, still, I can't way to see how you will explain this one.

I almost laughed out loud at the ending. Wonderful. :)

I watched a TV show the other day where one of the side characters was wearing an interesting t-shirt. On the t-shirt was an image of a hand about to snap its fingers. I instantly thought of this fic. :D

Hello.

Having just read chapter 51, I have two things to say.

First off, I absolutely adore this fic. It is extremely well written and a pleasure to read.

Secondly: holy crap I did NOT see that coming.

That is all.

Have a nice day,

Kris

... What the hell? Honestly, what is going on? BELLATRIX? You are a terrible person, you know that? I hate you. I can't wait for more.

...Why is the password always swordfish?

OK, I admit it, you are the master of the sudden switch. Every time I think that I've pinned Quirrell down, another horned rabbit pops out of the hat. Congratulations.

yrs. L. huss

My thoughts as I was reading the end conversation:

-"Um, I think there'd be MORE than just ONE innocent person in Azkaban actually."

-"What? But I thought you canceled the innocent!Sirius story arc when you made him Peter Pettigrew's gay lover and deserving of his reputation as a traitor to the Potters."

-"OHHHHHHH no you DIDN'T!"

Now I don't know what to believe - either your Bellatrix is such a departure from canon that she actually is innocent (and that's getting less unlikely by the chapter, at the rate you're leaving canon for dead), or this is just Quirrellmort being a manipulative villain using our hero to bust out his best henchman. Quirrellmort could also just be throwing Harry off, but until you flesh out your Bellatrix, the manipulative villain theory seems like a safer bet, at least if this were a conventional fanfic where entire characters and plotlines weren't totally rewritten.

I had in fact forgotten that your Bellatrix actually had a son, and I can't wait to find out the story behind her. If you did not know from reading the books then you are almost certainly aware from reviews: canon!Bellatrix was in love with Voldemort (for even evil people can love), though it was unrequited and we don't know whether he was even aware of her feelings (and possibly manipulating her through them, for he certainly was aware of romantic love, even though he did not experience it and could not understand it). She declared that if she had sons, she would be glad for them to die in the service of the Dark Lord. If your Bellatrix had a son, does that mean that

1. she actually cared for her husband (could still just be doing what her high society family expected of her though)

2. would she have tried to bring Lesath into the Death Eater fold?

And suddenly the sick thought occurs to me, that if your Bellatrix still loves Voldemort, and if your Voldemort is capable of relating to other human beings, then Lesath Lestrange could even be Voldemort's son. Eww.

A reviewer or two has wondered whether your Quirrell is Voldemort at all, but since he has hinted at Horcruxes and asked Harry where he'd hide them (not to mention the doom sense and zombie time etc), it seems a pretty safe bet that Voldemort's in there somewhere, lack of turban notwithstanding.

When Quirrellmort says that he is not a descendant of Salazar, is he flat out lying (since everyone knows Tom Riddle is Slytherin's heir), or is he telling a half truth (since the mortal Quirrell without Voldemort is technically not)?

Thanks for the update, and I eagerly await an elaboration on MoR!Bellatrix and a reason for the repeated title chapter.

what, what, WHAT? i suppose i shouldn't be surprised that it was not sirius you had 'quirrell' talking about, if only because that would be the expected innocent in azkaban. however, i really, really cannot wait to hear how this one is explained. bellatrix innocent? ha! unless of course this AU has altered her backstory.

Dude. DUDE. You just totally detroyed my mind with that cliffhanger. Bellatrix Black, now that's a surprise. Your ruining all that the series held dear, and I'm loving every single minute of it. Thank you so much!

-curledruler

rofl You-we-Sirius! But its Bella and of course its Bella, this is Voldy! She was his favorite. Oh, beautiful, lovely. Excellent bait and switch. I wonder if anyone figured it out, cuz it doesn't make sense that it'd be Sirius, but it didn't occur to me that Bella'd fit too. Though she technically had a trial, it certainly wasn't much of one. XP Update soon please!

Hmmm...I'm officially LOST in this story since a few chapters ago :)

Is anybody actually still reading this garbage? I had no idea you'd continue writing after our breakup, fool! You ain't gonna fool them fools for long though, fool. Just you wait and see, my tender loverboy! You ain't got nuthin' at all to offer, fool!

OH SHIT

The ending gave me a full-throated laugh. Thanks.

Jailbreak was the obvious thought once Quirrell started talking about Dementors. He never said he wanted to break out the innocent person, so I thought he was deliberately implying Serius. Certainly surprised me when he came out with Bellatrix.

'One level higher than you', maybe? That is, his oh-so-innocent misunderstanding further imply her innocence? (It sure seems to work on other reviewers)

Oooh, does he know about Lesath's request? A lie is certainly more soul-wrecking (for an honest person), if one has to keep repeating it in face of rumours.

Azathoth, I love this fic.

Oh. Oh my.

This is reminding me of when we were told about what Voldie did to one of his horcuxes and it's almost just as brill.*

*I say "almost" because this one pretty much depends on the reader knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that Bella was a real DE in at least canon, whereas Voldie's horcrux trick would have been just as brill as it is now even if it had cropped up in canon.

In the official canon, Bellatrix is a childless, married woman who married out of convenience. Really, she only has feelings for Voldemort. Further, she was fairly proud of torturing Neville's parents, which made her thoroughly deserve Azkaban.

It's very difficult at times like this to forget the official canon and focus on what Elizer is writing. Elizer does seem to enjoy causing cognitive dissonance about some of these things.

Given the above, it's possible that we may be able to take Quirrell at his word regarding Bella's innocence... perhaps having a kid made her less evil?

Well now. When I said I couldn’t decide whether Sirius was innocent or not I didn’t expect you to throw that at us. But I must wonder, is the Good Professor lying through his teeth about her?

Darn it, I didn't catch the reference th Mary's Place till I read the name of the owner. Which means that the huge Irishman was probably Mary's dad! Oh my.

"How in the name of Merlin, of Atlantis, and the void between the stars, did you guess that I was talking about Bellatrix?"

And completely AU stuff like this that makes me annoyed that we're suppose to assume Qurriell is still Voldemort.

Thanks! Quite delicious, as usual. Since I might have not gotten around to reviewing the previous chapter, thanks let me thank you for that too. It was very enjoyable.

Now, that last line? What a twist!

Anyway, great work, keep it up. Please update soon.

what the...

Did not see that coming. Harry's certainty he is smarter and more able then the rest of humanity has led him to being invited to break out Bellatrix. This would be the time to do some soul searching.

Well, damn. Totally saw it coming (well, only after Quirell had mentioned Azkaban), but still: damn!

I wonder how Harry will react to this twist of his expectations...

Right, so, let's get it out of the way: Bellatrix? Siriusly?

Okay, this _can_ easily be an evil plot. But that would be straightforward.

I rather get the feeling that in MoR, Voldemort has possibly merged with Quirrel on a deeper level than in canon, resulting in a somewhat different personality than either of them apart (an actual Quirrelmort, so to speak). This amalgam is then perhaps trying to redeem one of his past selves, in his own sinister way.

Thus I suspect that Bellatrix actually is innocent (as a question of volition, not necessarily of what she's done).

Anyway, good to know that there's probably a bit more coming soon.

Woo-hoo! It seems that Harry forgot to revert Quirell's advice upon him - ask everyone (especially McGonagall) what they know about Quirell - his past, days at school etc.

After a little thought, my best guess for a sentient magical creature is the Giant Squib. In canon, it can somehow distinguish between people swimming and drowning and help the latter. Even if someone trained it to do so (like search and rescue dogs), it has to be decently intelligent.

Anyway, I want to know what Quirellmort did about the Resurrection Stone in the Gaunt family ring. Really, really!

Thumbs up about the current story!

Yet another chapter full of awesome!

..so, Harry, how do you explain this one? XD

Oh Oh, Wonder if Bellatrix really isn't evil or when Harry is going to figure out how deeply he is being played

Every time I read this story, I become so happy that I cry, just because of how well it matches my own thoughts. LessWrong is a writing god.

Wow, I'm totally... not shocked, actually. I mean, when Harry first said Black, I was like "Oh my gosh, it actually IS Sirius" but I'd kind of been expecting it to be Bellatrix from the beginning. I've read enough Parallel Universe fics to expect that.

This also kind of reinforces the Quirrellmort stuff, though. I mean, if like in canon Quirrell really is Voldemort, getting Bellatrix out of Azkaban would be the first step.

HAHAHA OH MY GOD

oh you brilliant thing

of course it was bellatrix.

of course.

i think i love you :)

Buh buh buh what? Well done with that cliffhanger, I don't see how anyone could've seen it coming!

Yet even supposing that Quirrell is not evil and Bellatrix was innocent, all that time in Azkaban would still be likely to corrupt her, given her innate personalty and fanaticism (unless you're changing that as well). Seems like Harry should be thinking ahead here and wondering what so many years of having your happiest memories eaten up could do to a person, after experiencing what happened to him after only a minute or so.

Excellent as always!

BELLATRIX?

I'm beginning to worry! :O Update asap!

SIRIUS? SIRIUS?

i loved it!

Bellatrix! Oh Frak!

Harry is going to help Bellatrix escape. Man, that was unexpected! But finally, it's good to see some unambiguously evil request to come out of Quirrel. BTW, even considering that the government is a bunch of fools, won't they notice a lot of torn cloaks and missing dementors?

And the cameradrie Harry feels with Quirrel. Something very nietzschean about it. Only my truest enemy understands me.

*blink*

.

.

.

well, I wasn't expecting /that/! lol

although perhaps Quirrel is just messing with Harry, seeing as Harry tries to preempt the answer (and getting it wrong [against quirrel] mostly) all the time p

DON'T DO IT HARRY! He is sucking you into the darkness! And the spider-sens... I mean, sense of doom is killing me!

Another great chapter. I'm looking forward to your next update.

I wonder if Bellatrix could possible be innocent in this storyline.

Nice twist at the end, and yes given Bella's fanaticism I can totally see her being brainwashed as opposed to a true beleiver. On the other hand, there's a good chance Voldemort has been working through Snape to set this up from something like 20 chapters ago. And of course we know Harry will do it, if only for guilt - but given Bella's psychotic tendencies can Voldemort keep her in check: the second she starts going nuts Voldemort's relationship with Harry will strain. Oh, this is going to be exciting.

P.S.

This is the same chapter title as chapter 9, are you aware of that?

"listening to the murmer of conversation and the gurgle of alcohol": murmer - murmur

It seems Harry has been progressing in his quest to hurry up and become God. Lesath Lestrange of Chapter 27 would presumably be quite interested in this Azkaban breakout... Bellatrix is his mom, even. Convenient, that.

I'm trying to weigh the ethics of taking an eleven-year-old into combat with a bunch of Dementors and violation of the laws of magical society, versus allowing an (assumed) innocent person to go on being tortured for n more years. Neither option seems particularly good.

Third alternative: Quirrell gets Harry to teach him Patronus 2.0, and invades Azkaban alone. I feel like a sufficiently Ravenclaw-not-Gryffindor Harry ought to think of this option, although he might reject it if he's still being extremely secretive about Patronus 2.0.

Awesome. You really know how to twist the knife. Did not expect that at all.

Bellatrix? Oh, this is bound to become very interesting indeed...

I...did not see that coming

Good show...

O_O

Two things.

The first is simply an amusing coincidence. You updated chapter 51 while I was in the middle of writing a quick review for your story over on . I had been clicking back and forth looking at things like length and the review Eric Raymond wrote when I realized that the author's notes had changed between clicks. A pleasant surprise!

The second is that, for the last few chapters I had honestly started to wonder if a great many of us (myself included) were basing our thinking on a false assumption. "Is "Quirrel" really Voldemort?" I had begun to think, and when I saw "There is an innocent person in Azkaban," I was honestly blown away with the revelation that something VITAL was DIFFERENT and I had MISSED IT SOMEWHERE!

And then the very last word left me utterly poleaxed.

I couldn't have been more surprised. In fact, I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Nothing else I do tonight will be able to compare.

Bellatrix... Holy shit, I had to read it twice to make sure! And you managed to wait for the LAST freaking WORD to throw out that cliffhanger!

.

wait-I'm thinking...

.

You know, somehow I get the feeling I should have known that the moment you mentioned Azkaban. That's pretty much the only way to spin the 'free "Black"'-plot that suits your style of misdirection...

cheers

so is quirall voldermort or not?

Bellatrix. Holy shit Bellatrix. I did NOT see that coming.

-

Staying under the Cloak of Invisibility, Harry left through the open door. He navigated the tiled hallways of Mary's Place to the well-stocked bar that greeted new entrants, tended by the owner, Jake. There were only a few people at the bar, in the morning before proper lunchtime, and Harry had to wait invisibly by the door for several minutes, listening to the murmer of conversation and the gurgle of alcohol, before the door opened to admit a huge genial Irishman, and Harry slipped out silently in his wake.

-

An Irishman's wake? Really? You shouldn't joke about that. The book with that name is half-responsible for that mess called post-modernism. (The other half-responsibility falling to Margret Mead's credulous nature, of course.)

-

"Sword fish melon friend"

-

I don't get the 'melon' part.

-

"All right," Professor Quirrell said calmly, when he had finished. "If anyone is still watching us now, we are in any case doomed, so I will speak plainly and in human form. Parseltongue does not quite suit me, I fear, as I am neither a descendant of Salazar nor a true snake."

-

If Quirrell is Voldemort, and if he has no reason to suspect that HPEV has any reason to suspect that he's Voldemort, why the useless lie? Is that not a suspiciously specific denial? Is that not the sort of thing someone would do while carrying the villain ball?

It must mean something else...

-

last word of the chapter

-

Oh. My. Godlessness.

Seriously?

And now there's sleep and wait and more wait and perhaps two or three meals between now and the next and you sonovagun, you. Damn your eyes.

I liked the pacing of this chapter. Not frantic, but also not slow. And the surprise at the end was delightful.

Good chapter.

I hate you so much right now for leaving that cliff-hanger there. I was so stupid to think for a second that you'd make it nice and easy and go with Sirius instead of Bella. Please relieve my pain and suffering by posting the next chapter very soon!

Not Sirius? *PLOT TWIST*

Gods know I hated her in the books/films... So this will be interesting. Most interesting indeed.