Comes Out of Darkness Morn

Sacrifices Arc #3

by Lightning on the Wave

Fandom: Harry Potter
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AU of PoA, Slytherin!Harry. Harry struggles to rebuild himself after the shattering events of his second year. He will finally learn the truths he needs to know...but they're hardly going to be pleasant ones.

Cover art by Kenobisgal (deviantart.com).

Genres: Fan Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery, M M Romance, Young Adult, Harry Potter

1116 pages, ebook

First published December 23, 2005

About the author

Also known as Limyaael.

Reviews

[Julesmarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew. This just keeps getting more and more intricate and more and more fascinating.

I'm delighted with the answers we were given in this one (even if I did have to wait until almost the end of 300k words to get them...) and can't wait to see the way the rest of this series is going to play out.

I continue to be impressed by the way the author has been able to take J.K. Rowling's world and by altering just one or two little things manage to turn everything on its head. I'm intrigued by the way the characters who are almost purely "good" in canon are not so much here. Not that they're all evil, but that they've all made some different choices and have become different people. It's a fascinating exploration of how our choices shape both our paths and our characters.

It did begin to become slightly predictable, though, that nearly every "evil" character is now good. And every "good" character is now at the very least untrustworthy (except for McGonagall...). I did really enjoy the twist of having Wormtail be the Azkaban prisoner who escapes so he can protect Harry.

I have to be honest and say that Dumbledore in this makes me horribly uncomfortable. I appreciate that the author didn't try to make him wholly evil, but even having him be this devious schemer is difficult to read.

And having Harry so calmly accept that Fawkes chose him instead of Dumbledore seemed out of character. Harry fights so hard against accepting that anyone could love him, but doesn't even give a second thought to having stolen another wizard's familiar... that didn't sit right with me either.

The more time I spend with this Harry and this AU, the more I enjoy them (especially this Draco, whiny and clingy as he can be...) and I find myself actually GLAD that there are like 2.5 million more words to go in the series before I'm done with their story.

favorite quotes:
"Strange as it may seem," said Harry, his back and voice both gone stiff with indignation, "someone can want to be free, and can even be cunning and Slytherin, without being an utter bastard."


"Powerful wizards don't just walk out of the broom closet every day, you know—oh, sorry, here I am, rather got lost for a while."


Harry turned away again. He knew that he was Draco's friend, and he knew that Draco was his, but this intense care unnerved him. As he had told Snape, it was one thing for someone to value people in general, and another thing altogether for them to show that they valued him.


"No," he countered. "They're the kinds of things that a very angry, very tired, very magically powerful teenager might say when he's been forced to grow up and become a soldier too quickly and a sacrifice all his life."


"You can't end this friendship because you feel guilty. It's not only yours to end."


But it would not end until he reached the end of it,


"He was mucking about in my Ministry," Scrimgeour explained peacefully. "You don't muck about in my Ministry. You just don't."


"A vates is not being," he said. "A vates is not a vates only once, and then never again. A vates chooses again and again every day of his life, and makes some wrong choices, but always comes back to the right path."


"Connor. Do you really think like that? Or do you have a mad gnome in your head who starts yelling whenever you hear the word Slytherin in any form?"


"Shut it, Snape," Harry muttered, hardly registering what he was saying. "Sirius is dead, and it wasn't Peter, and we defeated Voldemort again. I think I deserve a nap before you start yelling at me."

[David Curtiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. I read them with my wife a few summers back, but did not make it beyond the fifth book, Wind That Shakes the Seas and Stars. It's such an amazing experience to re-read them now, having forgotten a lot of the minutiae, and have all of the stunning realizations, impressive plot progression, and thunderous displays of magic come slamming back into me. The author, Lightning on the Wave, did an outstanding job in weaving together an extremely compelling tale and reordering the Harry Potterverse while still maintaining some oblique (and amusing) references to the canon.

I think what pleases and frustrates me the most about this book is Harry's incredible power -- especially when it's freed from most of the phoenix web by the leader of the Dementors, and further broken when Connor tries to use his compulsion gift to force Harry to reconcile with Lily -- combined with the realism of his psychological weakness in this book. He's still recovering from the events of the last book (No Mouth But Some Serpent's), and continually encounters setbacks whilst rebelling against the phoenix web, learning that Connor is not All That, revoking Lily's magic utterly with an ancient pureblood Justice Ritual, the ultimate shattering of his phoenix web, re-prioritization that protecting Connor should not be his #1 aspiration, and discovering that it's highly likely that he is the Boy-Who-Lived after all. And, of course, the emotional and political consequences of that discovery. I have a tendency to love high-powered characters outright, and while this book delivers that in spades, I am impressed with the author's ability to dampen Harry's supercharged nature and sometimes under-power him while still pulling me into his role as Badass. I crave over-powered characters, but cannot help but delight that Harry is not OP.

There's a lot of self-identification in this one, and it's balanced by the believable effects of a 13-year-old wizard struggling with his past, present, and future. The involvement from Draco and Severus grows stronger in this book, and everybody starts to slowly realize that what they're feeling is affection, not just duty. Yes, even Harry. He slowly learns how to accept their affection and that, without the phoenix web binding him anymore, he can feel strongly for them as well without impinging on his vestigial feelings of duty to help train and protect Connor. Moreover, Harry learns more about his nascent vates role, and takes the first step along the path to fully embracing it by shattering the binding on the Dementors and sending them back to the nightmare realm from whence they came. This was a deliberate choice instead of just freeing them, as doing so would have merely unleashed the unbound Dementors on the magical and non-magical world, which violates the vates creed of respecting the free will of all, not just the group being immediately considered. I am so utterly enthralled to continue reading and see how he will affect the other bindings in the wizarding world and the consequences of his decisions.

About Albus Dumbledore... you know, I was really shocked, the first time I read these books, at how unlikeable his character is. Now, I'm so accustomed to this alternate universe that I am often surprised by the canon's portrayal of the mirrored characters. Pettigrew, Snape, the Malfoys, Dumbledore, the Weasleys, various Slytherins... I have a hard time reconciling the fact that the canon's versions of these characters is the "true" version. When I watch the movies or read the original books, I bristle at Dumbledore, forgetting that he's actually a good guy in the canon. But anyway. Dumbledore is such a meddling ass in this book, and the glimpses into his thoughts and emotions really sets the stage for some hardcore manipulating further on. Such an ass.

In any event, this book is dark, frustrating, beautiful, shocking, rewarding, painful, and perception-shattering. There are some amazing plot twists, hidden gems, and references to which you should really pay attention, but they're done so subtly that sometimes you don't even realize that something was set up until it drops.

Favourite quotes (and this ain't even all of them)

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Shacklebolt lingered a moment, and glared at Harry and Snape both.

“This isn’t the end of things,” he breathed.

“Of course it isn’t,” said Scrimgeour from right behind him, making Shacklebolt jump a foot in the air. “Come along, Kingsley. There’s still paperwork to file.” He made it sound as if he would look forward to it. Harry felt a horrible kind of admiration rise up in him. Damn, he’s good.

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Lucius had only a moment to enjoy his victory before Narcissa’s palm connected with his face.

She had chosen the slap carefully, he knew, and had hit him in such a way that the handprint would be highly visible, and red. He had heard the wandless spell she hissed under her breath, and knew the handprint would not fade. Lucius took a stumbling step backwards and touched the handprint. He felt numb. In all the years of their marriage, Narcissa had never hit him this way. It was how a Dark witch marked her husband for doing something savagely, unforgivably stupid. He would wear the marking until she chose to take it off.

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James inclined his head, feeling as though someone had just breathed all the air in his lungs. “I don’t deserve that level of confidence, son,” he murmured. “Or, at least, I didn’t. And I knew I didn’t. I could so easily see what I’d been, a rabbit—“

Harry started at that word, for some reason. James eyed him and waited, but when Harry said nothing, James decided it was nothing his boy wanted to share right now and went on.

This is one of those loose ends that the author surprises you by tying up, since you didn't realize it was still loose. It's a reference to the previous book, wherein Sylarana classified James as "the rabbit" when musing about his character to Harry. I really liked this little inclusion. Totally unnecessary, but oh man, the author waited a long time for it.


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Harry raised his eyes to his mother’s.

“What you have done to me cannot be forgiven,” he said, beginning the ritual with a sense of relief. Already, the magic was taking hold, calming his own magic, bending it to this one specific task, and insuring that Lily could not leave and no one else could enter the room until it was finished. This dance was the best of them all for this particular moment, designed to contain anger and to end it. “I have no wish to face you in a duel, nor to arrange legal means of settling the insult. Both of them would involve seeing you again, and I have no wish to do that, either.

“Therefore, I will take a payment from you, a weregild for all that you have done to me. One time, one shattering price for another shattering price, one apology made in terms that I have decided. We need never see each other again. We will make the exchange, and it will be done.” He took a deep breath, because this was the last conscious step of the dance, and the test. “Last time pays for all.”

And it worked. The kitchen slammed into red and yellow light, as though fire had burst into being through the walls and the air. Harry could feel magic older and stronger than he had ever dealt with swirling through the room, sucking the breath from his lungs and binding Lily in place, to take the price from her that he had demanded.

I was right. She did do me an injustice. Had it not been a true injustice, then the dance would have failed and the magic would have snatched his chosen price from him instead, for daring to invoke it on an innocent.

Harry held the box aloft and opened it. He had no choice anymore. The magic of justice was clutching at him, and it was implacable. The same magic tugged the words from him, the words that always varied every time this ritual was performed, but were what the invoker must say.

“I can never be safe so long as you would bind me with the phoenix web. I am going to make sure you can’t. And this is it. This is all I need to satisfy my anger. I never want to see you again.”

The ritual acted. The red and golden glow became fire, a huge scarlet hand.

It reached out and stripped Lily’s magic from her.

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started re-reading the Sacrifices arc because I found myself referencing it and thinking about it over and over again lately - and I realized I was forgetting details, and perhaps whole plots.

It's a beautifully crafted story, which really comes into its own in "Comes out of Darkness Morn" - full of psychological detail, of wonderful world-crafting, of interesting characters, of endless plot twists and wonders.

Some of the scenes remain ever-vivid in my mind: that of dark witches and wizards dancing on Walpurgis night, free and wild, encountering the magic of those long-dead, reveling together. The necromancer, hidden from sight inside his cloak and hood, never to be seen except by his wife and daughter as a sacrifice for he great power he wields. The songstress, capable of luring the hearts of men and making them cheer for the deaths of their allies.

Or perhaps Harry's run through the forest, awaking all magical creatures with his power. Or, why not, Dementors asking to be freed and a tired, but wise, negotiation of their peace, so that their freedom does not mean the death or worse of others.

And what's best - these highlights are beautifully placed right in the middle of endless plots and toils.

It occurred to me as I was reading "Comes out of Darkness Morn" and wondering if all Gryffindors were cowards (and why LotW made them so) that Dumbledore's influence corrupts just as much as Voldemort's. And Dumbledore is nothing if not a fearful old man, plagued by his failure to stop Voldemort before he rose to his current Dark Lord height, desperate at the thought of change, horrified that the world is falling to pieces around him. So, instead of making his followers more capable and powerful, he manipulates them like chess pieces and teaches them over-reliance on a greater power (himself) and fear.

I keep jotting things and ideas down as they come to me. I could probably keep going on and on about the story, but I'll stop here. I love it. It's just as good as I remembered it.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa.

Rtc.

Edited 11/16/2015

I honestly don't know what to say about this. It was ridiculously long, but everything fit perfectly, and it kept me guessing what exactly was going on until the very end. I had suspected the final twist that Sirius was being possessed by Voldemort but I didn't think that he would die right there!

No matter how much I hated Sirius for most of this (and wasn't that a surprise), I actually felt really sad when that happened.

And Harry! Oh, Harry! I don't even know what to say about him. His blind devotion to Connor had irritated me in the prequels to this, but when I learned there was an actual reason he was so devoted, it was a true 'whoa, man' moment for me. I liked the huge amounts of character development that was in this.

As for Connor and Dumbledore... well, I feel like this was becoming one of those typical 'Harry is the actual Boy-Who-Lived, Dumbledore is totally evil and the twin brother is a spoiled little brat who hates Harry' fics in regards to them. However, in the end, they both realized their mistakes, and I liked that.

(Even if Dumbledore is still a manipulative little-)

And what Harry did to Lily...well, I can't say it wasn't justified.

You know, I think this is the first time that I've ever agreed with Pettigrew on anything. He's portrayed as such a coward in the books, and in 99.9% of fanfics, that this was a pleasant change. I really hope he doesn't die anytime soon.

Anyway, it was awesome, but very long. 4.3 out of 5 stars.

[Anna Kļaviņa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harry/Draco friendship
Slytherin!Harry
Mentor!Snape
AU

I would like to know who Lightning on the Wave is and what else s/he has written.

[Debbie Hazeleger · Rating 5 out of 5]

More plot twists than you can count and this is where things go completely bonkers.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointed with the endgame being the exact same as it was in NMBSS—Voldemort’s horcrux possessing someone and no one suspected it—and this one also starts the exhausting part of the series where Draco and Snape get on Harry’s ass about every single risky decision he makes even if it’s a completely reasonable one. But this book also has some of the scenes that stick with me the most from the series, like Dobby and Fawkes showing Harry his webs, the confrontation with Ron, Harry’s power being released, and Harry enacting the justice ritual, that I can’t dock it too many points. Plus it introduced Scrimgeour, who is my favorite.

[Tea and Spite · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series starts to hit its stride here, though the pacing leaves a bit to be desired. The final act, in particular, seems to take forever to get to. It's a great set up for the second half of the series though, especially when it comes to worldbuilding. It also brings in some of my favourite characters: Millicent, Peter, Scrimgeour, and Regulus. Absolutely worth reading just for them and the worldbuilding.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I said previously, this is better than fan fiction has any right to be. The way that magic is written makes you see it and feel it in a unique and wonderful way. And while I had a few moments of thinking "why is that character doing/saying/acting like that? Real people don't act like that", all of my objections had reasonable explanations. This is really well-written.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXTREMELY AWESOME. Engaged reading from the very start. I love nefarious authors that put this much deviousness and planning into their writing! This series is just consistently good, and I'm confident in my lot with Lighting on the Wave. Hoo-ra.

*Antagonists and Protagonists: The author does extremely good anti-heroes, and really bad traditional heroes. The talk of purity and love and all that is gross and grating. I like the double-edged swords of bad character but fierce good morality.
*Dumbledore: I really am liking what's happening to the perception of Dumbledore. Really, really, absolutely approve. His descent from the paragon of Light was delicious -- I'd never had much love for Dumbledore in any case. And I have serious respect right now, for the author's contrast between levels of Dark and Light, and the forms actions of Light and Dark may take. Dumbledore being theoretically good, and yet having done various dark activities are thrilling comparisons.
*Suspicions: The Starborn, as we learn of him. After learning he was born a pureblood in the letter, I have suspicions that he's Lucius. If he is, I'm extremely pleased, because that is a sweet reveal. Never would have guessed, and little Draco can be firmly settled in his loyalties. (And, having read futher than that, I guess not. A little disappointed, 'cause that would've been awesome, but I still get my happy ending.)
*Fawkes: If Sylarana had to die in the last installment, I suppose Fawkes is as kick-ass as the Locusta. Phoenix, I admit.
*Connor: Thank god he's still a prat. I'm extremely vindicated in my hatred. Hurrah.
*Zacharias Smith and Hermione Granger: Love the rivalry here.
*Second prophecy:
Five weeks before the time of longest light
There comes one who puts lesser foes to flight,
Who has a soul and magic cold as ice.
Now comes the hour
Of the black one's power,
And he shall die by the wand of the sacrifice."
"Now comes the hour all truth is revealed,
Now comes the hour the gray one takes the field,
And first decision sets the path for all.
Now kindness is tested,
Now soft heart must be bested,
And on that test he will stand or fall."
*Harry's mind: So many intruders ... not that I mind. I'm all in -- I accept the author's brilliance and go willingly. This latest intrusion is extremely interesting, inquisitive, yet mysterious.


Quotes:

Harry set his teeth. "I didn't say that I believed him absolutely, not yet. But I don't trust you, either."
Dumbledore had the gall to look shocked, as though that were the last thing he would have expected. He opened his mouth to say something else, but a spell abruptly struck past him and hit the wall. From its color, Harry suspected it had been a Jelly-Legs Jinx.
He turned, staring, to see Millicent Bulstrode standing at the end of the hall, lowering her wand. She was blinking innocently at Dumbledore.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Headmaster," she said. "I didn't know that was you. Of course you wouldn't have hurt Harry. I just saw a threat standing over him, so I attacked without thinking." She trotted forward, making a variety of soothing noises that Harry wouldn't have believed could come out of her throat, just as simpering and wide-eyed as Pansy could act. She put one arm around Harry's shoulders. "Come on, Harry, let's get you to the hospital wing. You poor thing. It looked like it hurt when you hit the wall. And it looked like you had an enemy. That's too bad, but you should take comfort. You always have less of them than you think. And your enemies might have more." As she spoke the last words, she was looking straight at Dumbledore.

Millicent mocked him, but she obliged him. "Someone's been talking to us, someone who goes by the name of Starborn. He said we should watch you, that you could be a far more useful ally to us than we had suspected." She smiled like a cat stretching. "And you are, Harry. You outfaced Dumbledore. Now our families have a real choice. They don't have to go crawling back to the insane followers trying to put the Dark Lord back together or obey Dumbledore, whom none of them trust not to compel them. They can follow you."
"I'm going to be protecting Connor," said Harry flatly. "So you'll be really following him."
Millicent patted him on the head. "Aren't you cute," she said.

But he had to know how much of his friendship with Harry was just magic. He could see the way that that magic was beginning to attract other people too, now, see the way heads turned when Harry entered a room (Harry was utterly oblivious, of course). He could see the same thing with Dumbledore. What Draco had accepted as evidence of a presence or aura the Headmaster projected was actually his magic. Wizards—pureblood wizards, at least, he corrected himself with a sneer—turned to meet it like flowers to the sun, or planets spinning around a star. Draco was starting to think from the book about the Light and Dark Lords that that was the main reason so many people grumbled about Dumbledore but didn't actually do anything to oppose him. The sheer strength of his magic lured them and soothed them and told them it would be impossible before they tried to accomplish anything.

Please, move the mountains. That is lovely, Draco. I applaud you.

While light dreams are the will of the future reaching down to touch those so favored, nightmares, also called dark dreams, represent a different kind of favor. They are commonly accepted as either the dreamer's fears made manifest, or, occasionally, as the reaching back of a future so awful that it wants to prevent itself from happening.

Dumbledore stood. Harry could sense the power rising around him. He met Dumbledore's eyes calmly. "Will you really do this, Headmaster?" he asked. "We could destroy Hogwarts if we were dueling. You know that."
I totally cackled at such an impertinent Harry.

[T]his was something else, a deep and booming symphony that had raised a thousand thousand voices in response to it. The Forbidden Forest was still stirring, not like a hornet's nest but like some sleek and beautiful creature awakened after a long sleep.

It was pulling on Dumbledore's magic, tearing pieces of it away from him and merging them into Harry's power.
That is fucking terrifying.

Harry didn't have to brag about his terrible tragic past or his power. He ate, he slept, he studied, he did homework, he walked around, he plotted an awful lot (at least according to his clock), and he made efforts to reconcile with prats who obviously didn't deserve them.
And he turned heads.
Power rippled out from him slowly and subtly, lapping onto others, making them think and whisper and debate, and thus inspiring other people to think and whisper and debate. Slytherins floated nearer to Harry bob by bob, lured by the fact that he had this magic and wouldn't use it to rule over them. Older students watched with narrowed eyes, and sometimes asked probing, testing questions that Harry answered with more honesty than he should have—except that the strength of his magic protected him. The Slytherins who had kept secrets from Harry last year were beginning to share them with him, forgetting that he hadn't been raised perfectly pureblood and didn't grasp many of the things that were instinctive to them.
Harry, the prat, continued not to notice.
Draco shook his head, and gave one more hard look at the Gryffindor table. There was the figurehead people actually paid attention to. Eating calmly beside Draco was the soldier who would actually change the world.

Besides, any teacher, Remus was fervently convinced, would need all his or her concentration to deal with having Hermione Granger and Zacharias Smith in the same class.

"A vates is not being," he said. "A vates is not a vates only once, and then never again. A vates chooses again and again every day of his life, and makes some wrong choices, but always comes back to the right path."

This wasn't the sudden sundering that had marked the end of his ability to trust his mother, nor yet the sensation of triumph and wings that he had encountered when the gray Dementor freed his magic. Instead, the world swung around, and around, and then Harry realized he stood atop the Owlery, and saw in a thousand directions.

She doesn't sound as outraged as she should have, Harry thought, staring at the matron. And isn't it a coincidence that she only entered after everything was all over?
Madam Pomfrey caught his glance and tilted him a wink as she helped Connor into a bed. Harry blinked several times. So it's not only students who don't really like Connor.

I will not let them destroy me with fear. Fear is eating the Ministry alive from the inside out. Fear is destroying Connor. It hinders Dumbledore and makes Snape impossible to live with.
I am going to fight.

Harry was reeling. He could feel hot tears slipping down his cheeks, and though Merlin knew he had plenty to cry about, he realized he was mourning the loss of the dance's purity. Voldemort could not change the nature of the justice ritual for anyone else, or permanently, but within this shack, something old and beautiful had died. Voldemort had perverted its intent and brought it back to life as a shambling corpse, ready to snatch the price he asked from an innocent. It was wrong. It was obscene.

"So he told Lily to sculpt you and train you to love Connor. If you were his guardian, if you loved only him, then you would be the best candidate for at least two lines of the prophecy—the one that said Connor needed to be shielded, and the one that said the elder would love the younger. That made the prophecy all the more unlikely to shift, and to choose Connor as its savior instead. And, of course, it made you extremely unlikely to use your power for any other purpose than protecting your brother. It means that we're up in the air," said Peter. "We were from the moment Harry broke his phoenix web, I think. Dumbledore could no longer trust that he would only love you. His power is free, and he might be the one the prophecy will choose. On the other hand, perhaps it will choose you, and Harry will be the elder who has to love you. Or the elder could be someone else who loves you. Or the younger will be Harry, and his elder someone else. Since you both do bear marks from the Dark Lord, then I think the choices have narrowed, and it can't really be anyone but one of the two of you. But Dumbledore's neat plans are all smashed."

"Shut it, Snape," Harry muttered, hardly registering what he was saying. "Sirius is dead, and it wasn't Peter, and we defeated Voldemort again. I think I deserve a nap before you start yelling at me." He curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

Snape looked down at Harry in his bed in the hospital wing and shook his head. No. It had been three days, and still his fury—that Harry had been so badly hurt, that Harry had felt compelled to go after Voldemort and Black alone, that Harry had had to fight and kill a Death Eater—had not eased. All the Houses except Slytherin had lost nearly a hundred points in Potions, and McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were giving him significant looks. Snape did not care.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ended up reading about a quarter and then skimming the rest in two days because I wanted to finish something else and couldn't get my mind out of this one. Then, I went back and properly read it from where I left off. (Right before the Quidditch match, if you must know.) So, I kinda have two reactions about this.

I really liked how anytime I had serious doubts about character behaviors, they get addressed eventually. Whatever problems I had with Draco in the previous books are explained here. Sirius is a conundrum for his whole existence and that's mostly explained. However, that does still feels a bit off. Even Connor being incredibly dense at times is explained to be on purpose. But Dumbledore.... Even if I understand his new role, it is so hard to read at first. I got used to it by the end, well mostly. Conniving manipulator Dumbledore might fit a little bit with canon, but the extremeness of it here is really hard to square.

I like some of the new characters. Hawthorn. Scrimgeour. But, I was a bit sad about some of the other students who got some good scenes in the second book basically being a non-entity here. I can't remember if Justin even says anything. Luna's scenes are completely pointless. Zacharias gets one scene that actually matter. Essentially ends with Harry only having one(two? does Hermione count? what about Neville?) friend when he'd made others in his second year and even the other Slytherins more earlier on in this one.

As for the plot, I really liked the parallels with PoA. It's fascinating how this Pettigrew mirrors canon Sirius. You think that he was just caught for the betrayal he did in canon HP so you don't have to retread familiar ground with the third year. (And also because Harry's parents were alive to tell everyone who the secret keeper was.) But no, he escapes from Azkaban. And then because the readers would likely guess where this is going early on, it's revealed pretty quickly that, yeah, he did it, but not for the reasons everyone thinks and really he's mostly innocent. Then he is able to help Harry a lot more explicitly. I really liked how Peter was changed in this story.

Now, because I essentially read most of it twice in a row (with less than a week between) it becomes much more apparent how long this is. When I skimmed, I skipped whole chapters at a time. Walpurgis Night. A lot of Dumbledore's inner monologues. Action scenes. Newspaper articles and letters. And upon the the more thorough read, it doesn't seem like I missed much. Sure, I understand what actually happened better, like I skipped Walpurgis, but I did catch from a later conversation that Harry did something risky there. I can see how that chapter might be more important for future books, but for this one, it seems pointless. And I guess I did miss a bunch of explanation about Sirius's past and Dumbledore's charm for him the first time around that improved things. But I don't know if the letters or Dumbledore's monologues really added anything. I read the Starborn letters much more closely know their identity but I couldn't really see what purpose they served. (To be fair, I did get sequence of events confused. Like has such and such scene happened yet?) And I can see how the newspaper article about werewolf legislation might also be more important later on, but you don't need much more than the headline to understand this story. It just makes me think how everything could be streamlined a lot more if it was actually edited. And I get that I completely disagree with others over what parts needed more editing. Another review complains how feelings are described too much, but I don't mind that so much. So really, maybe the lesson for me should be to just let myself skim more.

[Janina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really know what to say here lol. I still absolutely love Harry/Draco and Harry/Malfoys relationships. I'm still so in love with the fact that Draco and Harry are best friends and Draco said he loVES HIM IN THIS ONE I also still like Harry/Hermione. That didn't change a bit.

I liked how the book handled the free will/compulsion discussion and I'm also happy that a few tedious characters don't get as much 'screen time' in this one, too. I wish the time travel was included a little bit more (it's very important for the ending of the book and it does happen but not to the extent that I hoped). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I understand Connor better in the next book and very excited to see how James Potter is going to fit into the family dynamics.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes over dragging and lengthy, but most of the time very emotion-inducing, well-thought-through, and dark. I am really interested in what will happen in the next books! 10/10 would recommend!

Just a warning, Connor is really dumb in this one. (but I guess we already knew based on previous books :D)


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On another note: Is there a way of downloading the books, so I wouldn't have to read it on my computer? If ANYONE knows, please let me know, I will be forever grateful!!!

[Sean Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, things are hotting up! Harry's made some unbreakable decisions, we did indeed have a prisoner from Azkaban, and I just love the mystique around the pureblood dancing, the dark magic, all of it. It's like this author has a deliciously slanted view of Rowling's world, one where you just take a look at something from a bit of a different angle and you can see around corners. Very much an AU, and book 4 is almost twice the length of this one. bliss!

[Eri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying this series a lot. We're getting darker, characters started dying, there's some resurrection going on (tho, I was waiting for this one since like the previous book), and while I still see plenty of that older-than-adults, I am getting the appropriate vibe also otherwise, so let's continue with this adventure.

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the plot twists!

Loving this series.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series, but I need a break.

[Elena F · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO SO GOOD OMFG I THINK THIS ONE WAS MY FAVORITE SO FAR

[Aliza London · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, these are officially starting to get too long to be manageable, though I still loved it.

[Marge Flemming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the last time he’s “happy” if you can call it that. Shit hits the fan soon

[Julieta Jimenez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry es libre!! amo la vida

[Marian Vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joder que pesado se me hizo. Pero estuvo lindo. Pero jodeeeeerrrr QUIERO DRARRY, COÑOOOO!!!!

[Candice Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff right here

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my third attempt at reading this series as I faltered and lost interested in the third book during the first two. Finally have dredged through it, I can offer my review.

What happened? The author forgot an important rule: avoid telling your audience things they already know. This book is nearly twice as long as the last (which edged on 5 stars for me) yet the number of major plot points addressed felt like less than half. The reason? The author wastes several sections of most chapters describing in detail how Harry feels about the other characters, including every reaction and interpretation of their words and actions. That's not a bad attribute of a story when done in moderation, but after the second book I already knew how Harry felt toward his family and friend (singular) so having to read the author rehash how Harry felt over and over and over with little actual change in his views or relationships became quite laborious. By the latter two-thirds I was skimming or skipping large sections of dialogue and didn't miss out on much if anything.

If the tens of thousands of words spent describing static social interaction were removed, the mystery behind the plot remained interesting enough, but I couldn't help but feel the world lost just a bit of the magic it started with. Maybe Harry is just set on devouring it all. I hope this trend doesn't continue as I venture into his fourth year.

[Menglong Youk · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

After 1600 pages, I think I started to get familiar with this mostly-new-behavior-characters series, Sacrifice Arc, set on J. K. Rowling World, Harry Potter. I'm amazed by how much young Harry could balance and bear with all the situations he's facing this this book, education, his family, especially his brother, Lord Voldemort and many more. The way the author introduced new kind of magic into this series adding to the original ones is quite admirable. So many point of views as this book might contain, it is still moving and keeping readers afloat on this river of fantasy. So, the next book is 2226 pages? Bring it on. -_-

[Ashley Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love guardian!snape or mentor!snape or whatever you want to classify him as. Even though this is my third read through of this arc, there were still several points in this book that made me stop reading and reflect or think about what something means or might mean later in the story. There are so many intricate details that could have been passed over but I know will come to pass in later stories.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem with this series is that the way Harry pushes himself along so determinedly, there is NO good stopping place. This book has some great, notable achievements for his development that are quite empowering but it doesn't matter because I just had to push seamlessly on into the next book. And the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper, more complex, and better-fleshed-out.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous. Epic. I am a complete sucker for books with epic storylines, deep emotions, difficult choices, magic, heroic actions, etc. This has all of those.

Have already started at the 4th book. My Kindle estimates it's over 18 hours of reading. Well then.

[Sabro · Rating 5 out of 5]

skończyłam!!!!! NARESZCIE

nareszcie zaczyna się dziać akcja i czyta się znacznie szybciej, ale cholera, rozdziały między świętami a równonocą to wieczny festiwal wrzącej krwi i przeklinania niektórych postaci

kocham harry'ego i jego głosy w głowie