Okay, you're on my favorite authors list now. I'm running out of superlatives. And I'm in love with Tamino, furious at Marvolo and Aberforth needs a hug, except it might be dangerous to stand that close to him.

Still awed. About to be chased off my computer by other people who want to use it so must type fast. The details are so beautiful. Headmaster Trelawney doing an occasional float-by appearance. An explanation for why Voldemort's mother died in childbirth. Binns a young, popular teacher!

Amazing dynamics between Albus and Julius. The air crackles with the force of their rivalry! I can't wait to find out what's happened to Aberforth. I must reclaim the computer after a polite interval has passed.

Still in awe. Loving your world & the complex dances of interaction between characters. Slytherin house the way it should be, complex, graceful, multi-layered. Your characters are fantastic. Aberforth tears at my heart. Why can't he read? Learning disabilities? (Though they wouldn't have called them that in his day and age.) Your handling of the rivalry between Albus and Julius is especially deft.

Onward!

Ariana Deralte sent me, and I'm so glad that she did. I'm in awe. This is the most complex, realistic, intriguing and beguiling portrait of Slytherin house that I've ever seen. Julius and Aberforth have won my heart. Gotta go and read your next chapter now.

I'm kicking myself for not having read this sooner. This fic is absolutely a new favorite of mine.

The universe you've created-or adapted from canon, rather-is so complete and incredibly complex. The "game" is fascinating, and the part magic plays here really sets this story apart. I love that there's effort required in casting and maintaining a spell. The closest we get to that in canon is Harry's difficulty with the Patronus, and I really like how you've elaborated on that sort of thing here.

Julius is such an excellent and interesting character, and I enjoy reading the story from his POV. I'm not sure how to explain how memorable he is, but well, he did appear in a dream I had the other night. His friends all have very distinct personalities, too, and the inter-house relationships between them are a great addition. You've written young Albus really nicely, and Aberforth's reaction to the wizarding word is both realistic and for some reason, I want to say it's kind of touching, too. Finally, Lucretia's inclusion in the story is wonderful, and though I like her correspondence with the boys, I'm hoping we'll get to see her in person in future chapters.

My apologies for how vague and generalized this review is. If I went into too much detail, I'm afraid I'd be commenting on this story forever. I'm really looking forward to reading more!

-Jenny

I am a notoriously bad reviewer as a rule, but this ... There are so many lovely touches, I hardly know where to begin! And how do I say something at least fifty others haven't already? I've always had a love of Victorian literature, and I've longed to see tales of Hogwarts in Dumbledore's day. I've also always been partial to the idea of Dumbledore's being Muggle-born. *sigh* Well, I do believe my taste for past fic has truly been born. And the Shuttle ... *shudders* ... I think that was at once one of the most startling and most believable spells I've ever read.

Alas, I am a laboriously slow reader and must rest - and continue to think about this first installment - before I tackle chapter two. Not that my opinion matters in the slightest, of course, but I think this was very well done. My only slight criticism is that, so far at least, the characters' voices don't scream Victorian to me. Then again, perhaps Victorian wizards speak differently. Maybe I'm merely to used to first person narrative from Victorian Muggle's point-of-view, such as Dr. Watson.

Wow. Just wow. This is one of the best-plotted, characterized, well-written fics I've read in a - really long time. I'm wildly in love with all your characters, but especially Marvolo. He's a completely ruthless bastard, but I still find myself cheering whenever things go his way. I love the intrigues, the idea of the games of status, and can't wait to see where you're going.

Oh Minerva, absolutely wonderful! Loved it, really. Great writing and characterizations, you really drew me in. I can't wait to read more of your stuff!

-Kate

When I first read this fic, my reaction was simply Wow. Just wow. What should I rave about first?

You have a beautiful command of the English language, and a graceful narrative style that eased me into the story. It's somewhat reminiscient of Anne Rice.

And I can't say enough about the universe you've created - so many little details about nineteenth century Hogwarts, so many political intrigues - your story creates an impression in my mind of a very real place and era.

The characters. Wonderful. It's so easy to screw up OC's, but again, you've managed to create very real, likeable, convincing people. And I do love the first person narrative from Julius's perspective.

*eagerly awaits Chapter 5.*

This is quite frankly one of the most brilliant and original pieces of writing on this entire site. You have a gift for building real dramatic tension. The dinner Transfiguration blitz always leaves my heart pounding and the wizarding flame confrontation was just as thrilling. The dynamics between Julius and Aberforth are just amazing, the pages burst with tension. Your Julius is one of the most well-fleshed out OC ever! I love how he switches from being extraordinarily confident in his skills to being flustered when he isn't the best. How he inserts comments about how gifted he is (learning Imperius when he was young, his ability to Heal) serves as a double -edged sword: the reader sees just what a powerful wizard he is and also sees how insecure he can be. If anyone was Voldemort's ancestor, Julius is it. Villians are extremely hard to wrote and you've made a one of the most charming and deadliest villian worth rooting for! I was very excited to see Ch. 4 up and can't wait until Ch. 5!

This is not a fic.

This is a cult.

I'll be the first to say that I can be a real snob when it comes to fanfics. I am not easy to please. At this, however, I am down on the ground in the eight inches of snow, prostrate in front of your muse (I discovered mine's male! Who knew? anyway...)

You have done what so many are terrified to do: You have made magic and history the focus of the story. Rather than the occasional "Alohomora," or "Expelliarmus," your characters live and breathe magic, and it builds their lives and who they are. Magic is their litmus test, their armor, their only way to exist.

I think I am now ruled by Julius Marvolo. He is so... at 3:30 am I am lost for the words. Menacing, and at the same time, sensual. The language and settings never falter for a second. We are trapped in the Marvoloverse net, unable to speak, cast spells, or move, with only one finger available to hit the down arrow.

Will read chapter 4 when I'm more coherent.

So very glad I finally got around to reading this. Kicking myself for not having read it ages ago.

*twiddling thumbs* CRUCIO!

I may have said this before, but of all the things I love about this story, I believe the one I love most is the way you depict magic itself.

In so many HP fics, magic is almost an afterthought. Here, it's the very fiber of the universe the characters inhabit - they're surrounded by magic, imbued with it; they probably smell of it. And their attitude toward it is lovely. They don't simply perform magic the way stage magicians do. They work it. They craft it. The sense of it as *artes magicae* comes through in your descriptions of the color and scent and feel of each spell.

On to the characters themselves:

I do love Julius. Yes, he's cunning and manipulative and all that a good Slytherin should be, and yet he cares about things in a way that makes him human, even if his passions aren't necessarily the same as everyone else's. His power, his magic, his status - they're his religion, so to speak, and his revulsion at the thought of someone rejecting such things is like the horror of blasphemy.

At the same time, I have to sympathize with his poor Mudblood protégé. I think Dumbledore Minor's reaction to being a wizard is quite realistic, especially in light of his desire to *not* be like his brother. There's some sort of interesting family dynamic going on there, and I have every confidence that you'll explore it fully later on.

(And I agree that Tamino is just delicious. Are you sure I can't have him for myself? No? Ah, well.)

Anyway, I wish I could think of brilliant words to express my admiration, but you've taken them all and left me at a loss. :-) All I can say is the standard: Write more! Right now!

- Alchemine, the notorious Cliffhanger Reviewer

It was entertaining to watch Julius make a complete hash of dealing with Aberforth, particularly in contrast with Carus' greater perceptiveness and sensitivity. Julius' thoughts about Aberforth becoming his retainer "if he wished a long life" were quite sinister; the wizarding world is starting to sound a lot more dangerous for Muggle-borns than I was thinking.

I was going to say that the idea of Dark wizards rising to prominence in the fight against witch burnings was hard to reconcile with canon ('Witch-Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless - discuss') not to mention basic human nature (if a hundred non-witches had been killed by magic as the result of even a few witch burnings, it seems like the custom would have died out pretty quickly), but I've been getting some really horrible ideas about how it could all be consistent, which I'll be posting to your mailing list, um, eventually.

It's also odd that Slytherin, as opposed to Gryffindor, would be the warrior house. The four Hogwarts houses seemed to divide pretty neatly into the military, the political, the industrial and the scientific (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw). If you make the Slytherins the fighters, what does that leave for Gryffindors to do? They could become reformers a la Hermione, I suppose; this society certainly has a crying need for them.

Well, to start off with - loved the chapter. Serious.

In something like chronological order (also known as Faith Goes Through The Whole Fic...)

Your pattern of magic, how you explain its workings and ways, is nothing short of _brilliant_. You make it work, and in such a lovely descriptive voice-ought we to thank Julius for that, or shall we cover your head with the coals of blame?

Ooo, Julius...someone's got a cru-ush-ahem, as I was going to say, the Sight as you put it is a wonderful thing. I mean it, you make everything so logical, in a neatly twisted way, from all the perspectives you choose to show it from. You make beautiful magic, my dear. ;)

However, at this point...

'Wordlessly, Tamino held up Dumbledore Minor's robes.'

...was it so terribly wrong that my first thought was 'Holy shit, Dumbledore Minor's running about naked!'? If so...tough. Nice job, but.

I really do feel sorry for Julius. The Mudblood he's somehow managed to saddle himself with, but... the entire argument, oh, I love it. It flows like a waterfall, smooth and turbulent at the same time. I've got the feeling that I'm talking crap, but I mean it. Your deft handling of the way a mudblood would feel, would react, to being immersed in the world of magic - and thrown into the snakepit, to boot! - is inspiring, in that 'Oh, kill me now, I'll never be that good' way. The different mental renditions of the Imperius are both insightful and amusing.

This, '"You say we are not real," I began, pointing my wand at him again. "That offends me.' - it's, it's just perfect Marvoloness, and I have to applaud him on his part in the entire mess-ah, argument.

I'm. I'm not doing a terribly good job of reviewing today, but I blame it entirely on you. I'm not sure I could _ever_ give you a review that would do this chapter justice, for even reading over it again for the tenth time, this line gives me chills.

"Because we were few, and they were many..."

It's... oh, his every word is inspiring, searing through the reader's retinas to embed themselves firmly in one's brain, and it's, oh, it's just perfect. Every word, every subtle intonation as they read out in my brain...spellbinding. Appropriately enough, given what you write.

And this, too-

'He stood in a charnel-house, and he screamed at the corpses - some in their blood-stained robes, some naked, others reduced to charred bones or torn limbs, torture-scarred - and he choked on the acrid tang of scorched flesh, irrefutable as the demands of memory and loyalty.'

Vivid. Masterfully done, done to perfection and then just a step further. Dark, wonderfully dark, but vivid and bloody and painful, as the very best work is.

As for the colours, the chaos, Dumbledore Minor's attempt at Imperio...

Ungh. You reduce me to a quivering, whimpering little kitten, your skill with dialogue, description, humour, pacing and flow, your style, it makes me give up all delusions of adequacy I once held, and for this I really ought to loathe you, hate you, and despise you with the utmost contempt that the most patrician Slytherin feels for the common Mudblood or Muggle... Yet I can't.

And I've run out of words to continue as I wished, I regret and beg your forgiveness, but be assured, you're doing _nothing_ wrong with this. Continue, continue. More.

Write chapter five. Faster. *whipcrack* Please?

i lkie the way you included aberforth but it would be cool if you said something about goats because dumbledore makes a ref. to it in book 4