"Viktor Krum was practicing his smile. He didn't need the practice for Hermione, of course."

This was beautiful. Apparently, Viktor has a permanent scowl that honestly needs work to become a smile. Cute.

Poor Viktor. He is suffering what everyone who is near but not close to Harry Potter suffers: a complete overload of Potter conversation. It drives Draco nuts on a regular basis. It was discomforting for Ron until the first task in Goblet of Fire. Viktor's case is worsened because he actually likes Harry, and even though he reassures himself that Harry is still a boy while he is a man, he still has doubts and thinks that Harry is his rival for Hermione. (The fact that he is vying with the wrong fellow entirely escapes him.)

Not only that, but the long-awaited visit may be cut short because Harry needs help. Poor Viktor can't win. :-)

Rupert misses his wife. That does not make him a baby; it makes him human. However, it's okay that he doesn't figure that out. Hermione freaks out if she misses any answers on her tests, despite the fact that she scores higher than 100% on a regular basis. It only makes sense that her father would freak out for being less than perfectly stoic.

I like the pre-dawn visit to the Dursleys. I think it was more effective to not have Mr. Granger clarify that he was a Muggle. It kept the fear of magic in them. Cowing the Dursleys is an interesting pasttime, and I always find it interesting to find who does what in fan fictions to make them crazy. Good show! (Just for the record, I loved the exchange: "You should keep your daughter in line, acting like that where decent folk can see her!"

"Well, that's not a problem you'll have to worry about, is it?"

No, she doesn't count as decent folk :-) )

I hope you will give us more of an idea of what happened in Ron's night vision. Besides "bad feelings" or something, how was Ron sure that this was worse than a nightmare? You might let us know once Harry gets a chance to speak to Ron in the hospital.

Please tell us more about the golden snitch-sized bomb. Why did it knock out Harry and Mr. Granger but not Hagrid? Please let us know about this burning sensation Harry's been feeling. I can't wait to read about what Harry's grandfather's ghost has to say!

I hope you had a happy holiday!

-Miriam

Great story, lovely details laid down for later plot-use. Looking forward to the next parts!

Small glitch at the end of ch16. Harry goes back inside for Hedwig's cage, but he sent it with the cloak to the Weasleys and told them to keep it, he would get another. (I presume the wingless not-snitch is what whacked Harry when he thought it was Pig. How would a round something manage to draw blood enough to drip, as opposed to raising a knot? I mean, ball players who get beaned don't bleed all over.)

And if the wingless thing is magical, why didn't it set off Rupert's WatchOut? (You didn't say he was the second patient brought in by Hagrid, but none of the Dursleys would've been close enough to Harry and Hagrid to be caught.)

Thanks for writing!

Another great chapter! Sorry I haven't updated until now, I've been on vacation. So, Harry gets to meet his grandfather! Is Harry delirious in this point of the story? He has a fever, right? How high is the fever? What is the date at this point? As for Harry being a cat saving his life, will it be in 'A Sirius Situation', or this story?

I can't wait until the next chapter! (And the sequel...) As I said before, great job on this chapter! Hope that the next one comes out soon!

I want new chapters and NOW, NOW, NOW. Was it persuasive enough? :o)

Alla

watch outs? *rolls on floor* WATCH OUTS! *can't speak*

yay! keep it up!great stuff!

Hi Again, Jill,

I hate to say it, but I think I found another tiny mistake in this chapter. Harry went back upstairs (before the explosion) to fetch Hedwig's cage... However he had sent Hedwig *and* her cage along with Ginny. There should not be a cage there any more.

Otherwise, I just made the time to reread the entire story from the beginning. It hangs together very nicely. I had missed it the first time through that the little gold ball was possibly the thing that knocked Harry out, rather than Pigwidgeon. If so, I wonder (a) who threw it at him, and (b) why it then lay dormant for so long. Hmm. Still, I have hopes that Harry isn't *too* badly ill, since if I read it right, he's not yet throwing up blood. Hopefully just a flu bug or some thing? Hey, I can hope can't I?

Thanks again for sharing

...art

I'll hold you to that!

I'm sorry I'm so late reviewing! I check regularly to see if you've updated, but stupidly I hadn't been looking at the update date, just the summary! Anyway, this chapter was completely wonderful. I loved Viktor's voice - he sounded Bulgarian in my head just by the way you wrote him. His jealousy of Harry was amusing, all the more so because he'd picked the wrong friend to be jealous of! He had some great lines too: "The girl was very pretty for somebody who wasn’t Hermione." "... her name was blessedly easy to pronounce." Lol! and, "Viktor would have screamed, except he couldn’t get a word in edgewise." :) I really like your Viktor – not *quite* enough to want Hermione to choose him over Ron of course!

Rupert running to Harry's rescue was lovely and his sign from God was perfect – thank goodness Hermione is so organised. I was also impressed with how he handled the Dursleys and especially Harry. Harry, I think, has difficulty in asking for help, even when it's plain he needs it because he's just so used to doing without. Rupert's calm, take charge attitude was just what was needed - I guess once you're a dad, it doesn't matter who the child is you just slip into the role when you need to. I did like the idea of Ron having a premonition about Harry being in danger. Was his vision a one off, or something you're going to explore more?

I love Neville and he was so cute here, confident and relaxed and holding his own with *Slytherins* to boot: "It helps me to forget my troubles," he’d once commented. "You need help in forgetting?" Millicent had asked, incredulously. "Forget what?" Neville had teased. "Forget It." Millicent shot back." Lovely! Neville would probably make a good mediwizard, I’m not too sure about Pansy though! But oh dear, after it looking like it was finally going to go right for Harry, you had that ending! Is Harry going to be okay and what was that thing that exploded? Could that have been what knocked him out when he thought it was Pig, or did that happen in the attic? I can't remember right now, I'll have to go back and re-read! Well Happy Easter, (I've got a few days off and I'm planning to spend them writing - honest!) and from now on, I'll keep my eye on the update dates! Oh, I almost forgot - I went back and re-read Sirius's conversation with Nicely - thank you - how did I miss that!

i knew that i would find you here. :) after reading your response of 15 chapters already written. nice chapters so far. harry is a cat is pretty different from other stories. i like that. good job on this chapter. maybe ron isn't as dense as we all thought. ;) looking forward to your next chapter.

linda

Jill!

Wow, I'm honored that you changed chapter 15 based on my comments. Very nicely done, you got to keep the joke even!

I really like your Rupert: "Then he entertained a brief fantasy about the Dursleys that involved dental drills, forceps and no anesthetic." Ha!

And then a bit later, more subtly: "

"Well, that's not a problem you?ll have to worry about, is it?" - Oh, nice jab at Dursley. I bet a lot of people, Vernon included, will have missed that one.

Poor Viktor, though. I didn't think he still carried a torch. Doesn't stand a chance. you are so gently mean to him! :-)

keep up the great work, thanks for sharing.

I'm very curious what that gold ball is.

...art

First off, I really enjoy reading your story. I discovered it on however many months ago, and have been waiting patiently for updates since. Today, I discovered that you have a more comprehensive version of the story up here, on , so today was pretty good for me...

I do have a few things I'd like to bring up though. First, and most disturbing to me - why, oh why, did you make Harry become a *cat*? Cats are so common - and there already is a cat Animagus in canon (McGonagall), so now the Cat-Animagus market is super-saturated. Couldn't you have made him something more interesting? With Harry's personality, I imagined that he would become something like a Lion (still a cat, but far more acceptable), or a Phoenix even (there is a non-HP-related website that associates certain personality traits with animals - of all of the animals, the Phoenix shares the most traits with Harry). It really bothers me, that you made him become a *Cat*...

Next - and even more disturbing; certain of Ginny and Hermione's jokes and comments make them sound bisexual. Was that intentional? I just can't imagine that, in the apparently conservative Wizarding World, a moral woman like Molly Weasley would encourage her daughter to be bisexual... ditto for Hermione's parents... Maybe I'm just reading into their comments too deeply, but I really don't think that's something any of the Weasley children/Hermione would joke about, at least in front of their parents...

Well, on to Ch 16...

~Maegnas Essenya

A galad ven, i reniar,

hi'aladremmin ennorath.

A Elbereth! Gilthoniel!

Ithil na thul, ithil lin hen!

I loved Rupert and Harry bonding. Yes, it would probably take a lot for Harry to decide to call at such late hour, but he is soo lonely at Dursleys and poor child can't just bottle up his emotions forever.

I can't wait to learn what was that thing that hurt them both.

Ha! Harry finally meets his grandfather.

Loved description fo the visit to Bulgaria. Poor Victor, he does not know yet that harry is not his main romantic rival :o).

I second Ozma's sentiments - neville, Pansy and Millicent interraction was very well done.

Thank you!

Alla

That's an interesting twist having Harry meet the ghost of his grandfather.

I also like how the relationship between Harry and Ginny is changing slowly. There definitely is a foundation laid for something to happen there but it's not going to happen overnight.

So does Harry have the same illness that killed his grandmother? Was Rubert injured too when whatever that thing is that went off. Was that what hit Harry before when he thought Pig had bounced off his forehead and knocked him out?

That's good to know that the woodsman was okay. I was worried. Once again a good chapter. I can't wait to see what Harry's reaction to meeting his grandmother will be. And you better not kill off Rupert! He rocks. Anywho, can't wait to read the next chapter.