Freedom And Not Peace

Sacrifices Arc #4

by Lightning on the Wave

Fandom: Harry Potter
--------------------------------------------------
AU of GoF, Slytherin!Harry. Training his brother, negotiating with former Death Eaters, juggling responsibility and duty...Harry's life is running away with him, as he struggles to balance.

Genres: Fan Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, M M Romance, Young Adult, Romance, LGBT

2226 pages, ebook

First published March 4, 2006

About the author

Also known as Limyaael.

Reviews

[Julesmarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This world is becoming increasingly intricate and detailed and fascinating (and marvelous and heartbreaking!). Another reviewer said of the series as a whole she had never read such a well-crafted fantasy world, even compared with Lord of the Rings and the original Harry Potter, and I'm coming to agree more and more with that the further I get in the series. Although, I'd compare it more to the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan given that it's the number and depth of the characters that makes it increasingly intricate.

I'm fascinated by how all of these minor characters in canon have evolved and developed in the AU into real, believable, relateable people. We have PoV sections from Narcissa Malfoy, Rufus Scrimgeour, Pansy Parkinson and her mother Hawthorne, Milicent Bulstrode, Professor McGonnagal, Arabella Zabini (Blaise's mother), and others that I can't even remember right now. And they all have things to say that impact Harry and this AU. It's remarkable, fascinating, and unbelievably impressive.

Reading this series has been such an interesting experience. In this book alone I went from wanting to declare it as my new favorite thing I've ever read to hating it and being very, VERY tempted to stop reading not only this story but the whole series. Reading something that can get me so emotionally involved is such an incredible experience, and has been both delightful and draining.

I'm still tempted to declare this as being among my very favorite things I've ever read... Draco's ability that he gains is without question my favorite supernatural gift both to read about people having and to imagine worlds in which people have. And the way it played out to help develop his and Harry's relationship just had me in awe. Honestly, I know I'm a sap for virutally any version of any Draco and any Harry ending up together, but THIS Draco and THIS Harry are just so spectacularly perfect and beautiful together!

I have to admit, though, that having the author suddenly announce at the beginning of chapter 61 that it turns out she was wrong about the end of book 2 being the darkest chapter she'd ever written and that she expected some people to simply stop reading after that chapter made me feel a little betrayed. The end of book 2 was so tough to read, and I have to be honest that one of the big reasons I'd continued with the series was the assurance that it was all uphill from there. I'm not a good sport when it comes to having characters I love broken or tortured or put into these unimaginably horrific situations. And not since the end of the book 1984, have I read a scene so difficult to get through as that one.

However, I did keep reading (partly because I'm terribly stubborn and refused to stop reading just because of the author note predicting that so many readers would... :P) and I have to say that the ending more than made up for what I'd had to go through with Harry in that graveyard. I've been thinking since about redemption and beauty and how they both seem brighter or more possible after darkness and pain. And the beauty of that last scene was exactly perfect to balance out what came before it. It made accompanying Harry on his journey so far not only seem worth it, but even more special. Fantastically beautifully done.

I am a little leery of what else the author may have in store in the future, but I've now lost any thought of stopping reading. On to story #5!

Favorite Quotes:
If I have to have other voices in my head, they should at least think thoughts I wouldn't have.

"They intended it as a humiliation, yes, a reminder of my 'proper place,' but that doesn't mean I need to take it that way. They can insult me only if I let them."

Lean on our strength when you must, and then stand and go on. There is no shame in this, ever."

He shone joy when he was happy, shone rage when he was angry, and in general acted like a living window on a marvelous land.

And out of the trees came the other unicorns, their legs bending like reeds, their necks bobbing like swans courting, every step light enough to be a dance. They gathered, and then they began to gallop, an enormous, turning circle around Harry and Draco, each one blazing like a stained-glass window with the sun shining through it, gratified and fulfilled and exalted.

"I promise you, I'll be here if you wake or sleep, cry or don't. I'll do anything for you right now, except let you go or leave."

before Draco could even react to him sounding as if he'd put exclamation marks after every single one of his sentences

And all those little things like worrying when Draco was angry and preferring him to most people and not wanting him hurt and being able to dare to kiss him back when I would have run away from anyone else are all right, they're perfectly all right, and oh Merlin I was wrong and this is all right and I can have a future I can have a life I can have love…

Harry took a deep breath. "Thank you," he whispered, one more time. "I'll try to remember. I don't know if I can—" already the sheer clarity of the memories was rushing away from him, obscured by the mask of time and everyday reality, as visions and inspirations tended to be—"but I'll try."

Gryffindors and Slytherins can get along fine, I think. It's just Gryffindors and Malfoys who don't."

He could do this. He could go on.
And some things were not his fault.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I managed to read eighty chapters of this godforsaken book without loosing it, but it's the last six that I'm having to push myself through; it's like being dragged over shrapnel. Harry's brain is not fun. His ragged and gaping emotional wounds are pulling me down too and it hurts. The author is a big liar. She said in a previous book her writing wouldn't get any darker, but that was a lie. This is dark dipped in angst, smothered in self-laothing, sprinkled with sad, and topped off with disfigurement. I can see why people would just stop reading her series at this point; it hurts, and most readers only like so much pain in their reading pleasure. I'm a hairsbreadth from crying uncle myself. But I doubt I will. I'll put it aside for a night or so, but I know I'll be back for more. The writing is too brilliant and I find fantasy of this caliber so infrequently I won't be able to stay away.

And I didn't. I finished it. Phew.

[Janina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it's "just" Fanfiction, I consider this series one of the greatest works of fantasy ever written. It goes far beyond the original books in complexity of the world, its characters and the overall story arc. It moves me like few other books do. Some parts are horrible to read and I don't mean the gore that is present in FANP and the later books. It's such a thorough and intelligent description of emotional abuse and what it leads to. Of what a world with magic and magical creatures could really be like. Of the way we grow up and the struggles that come with being a teen and an adult or anything in between. If I could give only one book five stars, this (or one of the series) would be it.

[Anna Kļaviņa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harry/Draco preslash
Slytherin!Harry
Mentor!Snape
AU

Unbelievably good.

Harry is slowly recovering from his "training". Draco and Connor are slowly growing up. And Snape is growing more attached to Harry, ready to sacrifice their bond in order to keep Harry safe .

Lovely imaginary and characters.

Favourite characters: Rufus, The Malfoys (especially Narcissa), the Parkinsons (Pansy's parents are awesome), Millicent, Minerva, Regulus, Evan and of course Harry and Snape.

[Marta Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I was upset with Harry a lot of times, obviously since some of the decisions he makes made me want to punch him, I loved it! It was a beautiful story, very long but very beautiful, with extremely sweet moments.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, fan fiction. It draws you in with the fully-realized alternate universe, wonderful writing, characters who are distinct from the original versions in interesting ways, thrilling plots, and basically all-around excellence.

Then, in the fourth book (yes, full-length BOOK, of which there are SEVEN), they throw the Harry/Draco slash at you.

And I'm not even mad. Because it developed slowly (it was sort of obviously hinted at in the last book, if not all of the previous ones), it's not the main focus (it's barely even a thing. They kissed like twice in a 700-page book), and most importantly, it makes sense in context. Because so many fanfictions try to shoehorn this shit in, or they write something specifically to focus on the relationship (which is admittedly a completely different genre of fanfiction. I just would have been really disappointed if that was what this series turned into).

I think the gore thing was overstated. So many unnecessary warnings about how intense the last few chapters were. Seriously. They're not that bad. Yes, horrible injuries are sustained and lots of pain is felt, but the description isn't that graphic. I suppose the mere presence of the violence could be gross or uncomfortable or triggering for some people. But I promise, it's not that bad.

I guess my only real criticism is that everyone in this series is more than they seem. Harry, okay, he's the main character and his incredible power is the point. I don't have an issue with that. But if anyone seems weak or you might tend to underestimate them, they're going to surprise you. Ron has power that was blocked somehow and got released. Peter seemed weak and cowardly but he's a badass. Karkaroff also seemed weak and cowardly, but he had a serious evil plan. Luna's not just strange, she can actually communicate with inanimate objects. Is anyone actually just kinda weak and pathetic? I'm just waiting for Neville to have a serious badass moment, because he kinda deserves it.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story holds all the secret untold suspicions and admirations I held reading the original series, and uses them as base-lines for things far far greater than I could ever hope. Every time I come across another aspect of revealing prose and sharp wit, I'm extremely pleased and firm in my decision that yes, Lighting on the Wave is BEST.
The pacing is roaring and ripping, extremely engaging.

*The call of powerful wizards: Scary stuff. Also, super cool. I like that it's a siren call to less powerful wizards, that it gravitates them to him -- just a very interesting concept to consider and admire.
*The Necromancer and the Songstress: I'm glad they're making appearances. They're conceptions and existances too awesome to ignore.
*Draco's affections: Just another sign of pure awesome. It takes a lot of restraint and skill to be able to still the need to immediately set up a romance despite the young age in the first novel (eleven), but Lightning on the Wave has waited until the fourth installment to quantifiably recognize it, instead content to lead up to it in doubtless signs, all among delicate details and strong, complex plot-lines. Serious props.
*Triwizard Tourniment: Um, yay. Super cool, and it should be evident that the war extends beyond just Hogwarts. I'm very interested in the other schools. And other continents, actually, but probably not going to see any of that.
*Magical heirs: Crazy amazing theme -- Draco's potion and Julia, Millicent and her family, Harry as Voldemort's heir, Marie as her mother's, and really Millicent's mother as Harry's heir. So many fascinating magical intricacies.
*Walpurgis Night: Clearly, we're to be kept on our toes. That's not anything like I was even in the realm of suspecting or hoping -- the author brings new levels of awesome with each chapter. And Dobby's gotten a serious recall and reburbish-ation.
*Fawkes: Again, lovely that Fawkes abandoned Dumbledore for his wrongs, and then shoved it in his face by bonding with Harry. And I had wondered in the text that Fawkes didn't play much of a role, having long periods of absence, and then the author explains wonderfully about Fawkes' role as caller and hope-bringer and news-wielder to every corner of the globe.


quotes:

Dear dear. It seems that you haven't behaved well enough to earn a visit with Harry yet.

I've given your thanks to Professor Snape. He grunted.

He followed, and heard Molly's voice climbing. "Children, the both of you, and when that brave sweet boy has to act like the adult, then I think there's something wrong—"

"—AND I THOUGHT IT WAS MY MOTHER'S DECREE AT FIRST, AND NOW I FIND OUT THAT IT'S YOURS! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WANTED TO SEE HARRY AGAIN, BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED? AND HOW MUCH HE WANTED TO SEE ME? WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TELL HIM THAT HE CAN'T HAVE VISITORS? HE SAVED EVERYBODY FROM A DEATH EATER! ISN'T THAT ENOUGH TO WIN YOUR APROVAL?"
Draco, such a cute boy. Sending Howlers to Snape of all people. Sooo adorable.

"I can promise to try," said Harry softly.
The hanarz nodded once. "You swear it by blood and stone, by silver and bronze?"
"More," said Harry. This is where my education comes in handy. "I swear it by gold."

"I suppose that promise was worth so little that they immediately had to let us go, without even a farewell?"
"Wrong, wizard," said Flashkack, turning around to meet Snape's eyes. "That promise is worth so much that we need ask nothing else of Mr. Potter. He will keep his oath."

The goblins made it a point to have red and gold everywhere, the colors of Gryffindor. It was a subtle statement back to Salazar Slytherin, who had tricked them into a bargain long ago, to favor the colors he despised. Hawthorn thought that a thousand years was quite enough time to get over an insult, however, and did not understand why the goblins kept doing it.

He loved Harry, yes, and he had known that for over a year. But this time was the first he had realized that that love was not entirely that of a friend, or even a brother, which was the second comparison that came to mind.
Ha! Revelations!

Once he made out what the noise was about, though, his grumpiness vanished, and he wanted to cackle like his grandmother.
"—NEVER BEEN SO EMBARRASSED BY ANYTHING IN MY LIFE! I WOULD MOVE TO FRANCE IF I WERE ASSURED THEIR GOVERNMENT WAS ANY BETTER! NO, WAIT, IT COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE WORSE! I THINK I'LL BEGIN PACKING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! AT LEAST THEIR MINISTER DOESN'T ABDUCT INNOCENT CHILDREN WITHOUT TWIRLING HIS MOUSTACHE FIRST, I SHOULDN'T THINK!"
Rufus watched in amusement as that particular Howler tore itself to pieces, only to be followed by another from the growing pile on the Minister's desk. This voice, Rufus happened to recognize from the meeting in his office yesterday. Hawthorn Parkinson did a good imitation of outrage, he thought.
"I AM STUNNED, STUNNED AND APPALLED! I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A LOW INCIDENT IN MY LIFE, MINISTER! ARE NONE OF OUR CHILDREN SAFE IN THEIR BEDS? WILL YOU SEND YOUR HOUNDS AFTER MY DAUGHTER? THAT POOR INNOCENT BOY! I THINK IT IS TIME THAT WIZARDING BRITAIN HAD A NEW MINISTER!"

"Blaise again." Draco whispered the name. Blaise was just two seats down from Harry, on the other side of Millicent. "Droopy. Weepy. A brewing black thunderstorm of melancholy." He paused. "Come on, Harry, let me make fun of him."
"You'd have to explain how you knew," said Harry, and sipped at his porridge.
"I would not. I'm a Slytherin. He'd just assume that I figured out he was mooning over somebody from keen observation."

"I hate you," he whispered to Dumbledore, and slipped the letter into the pocket of his robes, and went to find Connor, Draco hot on his heels.

Dobby laughed. His voice was changing, too, becoming deeper and richer with promise, like the neigh of a unicorn or the song of a phoenix. "Some magical creatures respect you for what you are, Harry Potter," he said. "Some do not need you to break their web to prove yourself worthy of their attention."

Draco would always remember that. He was the one Harry looked to first, and part of him preened and gloried and rejoiced in the knowledge.

"It's been more than a week. You'd think they'd have forgotten about it by now."
He became aware immediately that he was the object of pitying stares from several directions. He met Millicent's eyes, and Pansy's, and Draco's, before he got tired of the game. "What?" he demanded.
"Potter," Blaise drawled. "Do you really think that a child defeating three adult dragons is going to be forgotten that easily?"
"I didn't defeat them, they flew off—"
"While the professors were doing nothing but standing around?" Blaise peeked at his paper. "Where is it—yes, there. 'Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore seemed confused by Harry Potter's presence in the air.'"

"You could just talk to your crush, you know," said Harry, grabbing Draco's arm so that he couldn't hex Blaise in the back. "I know you don't want to, that you're shy, but it's the only way this person will ever know for certain that you like him or her."
Draco turned on him so fast that Harry nearly sat down on the floor. "You don't know," Draco spat, his face turning an ugly, mottled red. "You'll never get it, Harry Potter, not until it's marching in enormous letters down the ceiling of the Great Hall." He narrowed his eyes. "And I am not shy."
"You're certainly unreasonable about it," said Harry, moving away from Draco. There was no dealing with him in these moods. "And Blaise will only keep teasing you about it until you do something to counteract the teasing."
Draco just shook his head and brushed out of the Great Hall.
Millicent and Pansy were laughing as though they'd just heard the greatest joke in the world. Harry decided there was no chance to get sense out of them, either, and strode after Blaise and Draco.

"Dumbledore named the Order after his own phoenix, Fawkes. But the bird left him last year."

How many other people would have been able to save a friend's life, survive numerous wounds and Death Eater attacks, free their magic, defeat the Dark Lord for the fourth time, save at least half the students at the school, set three dragons free, get the Minister of Magic deposed, gain control of a Daily Prophet reporter, and insure that their guardian was set free in a year?

"And I know why it's better to leave him alive and not attack him," Harry said. "He's a Light Lord, though he so rarely uses his magic that most people forget that. He's stronger than I am. If I tried to destroy him, he would resist, and that might destroy Hogwarts, Scotland—let us be realistic, half of Britain. I will hurt him only if I must, only if he interferes with me again."

"I can't do it." Weasley's whining voice grated on the ears, Draco thought, as he sat on one of the desks and swung his legs back and forth. He, of course, had performed the spell that Harry was trying to show the others right the first time. His major entertainment now was watching Weasley, rolling his eyes, and trying to get Harry to roll his eyes along with him.

He had returned to find his charge at the center of more and more glances lately, the sun to capture more and more planets.

…Deep green as the color of a soul has several significant readings. One is that of a rich life about to come into its summer of plenty, as the hue is believed to reflect summer leaves. Another insists that the soul thus marked has a tendency to darkness, as that shade of green is of all of them closest to black…

There was shadow love, where one partner took care of the other. There was darkness love, where both partners were locked together in a self-destructive dance that usually ended with one or both of them dying—the great passions such as tragedies were built on. There was starlight love, where the love grew from the desire to make each other's lives easier and then traveled along in a cloudy mixture of light and darkness for all the lovers' lives long. Most arranged marriages and joinings aimed at producing starlight.
There was lightning love, where the emotion flared quickly and usually ended in elopements and whirlwind courtships, but then faded out and might leave the pair unhappily chained to each other for the rest of their lives. There was firelight love, which surged from friendship into warmth and slow, ordinary surrender to feelings, never achieving the heights of emotion that lightning or darkness love might, but also never going out or dying.
There was moonlight love—the perfect, pure, blissful kind of love that simply erupted one day and grew stronger all the time, shining forever, always there even when the moments seemed darkest, as the moon was there even when she waned.
They are the prime example of sunlight love, the love that is equal and fierce and burning always, the love of two so joined that they seem as one brilliant star. All these components are important, or it is not sunlight love. Equal: that the lovers might never know unconquerable uncertainty in each other, even in moments of weakness. Fierce: that it might never yield or stop burning. Burning: that it sheds light and heat upon all comers.

"People matter more to me than magic," said Harry, wondering why it shocked the man so. Surely he should know it, after allying with me? He moved around the bed and bent over to look into Marian's face. She looked slightly less like a red, squashed monkey now, and more like a normal baby. The marking on her forehead was blue and, indeed, faintly star-shaped. Harry gently stroked her blood-soaked, naked head. "Hello, little one," he whispered. "Welcome to the world. I hope that your scar brings you more joy than mine has brought me."

"It doesn't matter if he never Declares for the Dark," her father whispered. "We cannot lose him. He will be more than just another Lord to follow, or someone to reclaim the wizarding world for the Dark in our generation. Stand firm in your guardianship over him. If it comes to it, you may use any and all of our gifts to rescue him or help him continue to live. I give you formal permission."

Walpurgis night memories: Draco eyeing him speculatively on the Hogwarts Express that first year, seeming to know more about him than Harry did about himself…
Harry casting a wandless charm successfully for the first time, and dropping to the grass outside Godric's Hollow exhausted, but also with a definite sense of accomplishment…
Harry swallowing a jolt of envy that he could not be like Connor and relax more often…
Lily holding him and stroking his hair, teaching him to repeat his vows for the first time when he was three…
A flash of green light and a raging scream that he had not known he remembered…

Snape had stood, panting, on the grass when the dancing was done, and received more than one strange glance from his neighbors. Snape had glared them into submission, but he couldn't blame them. He was stronger than any wizard in the gathering but Harry.

"If something's badly wrong with a person who does things like Harry does," said Millicent, "then we are fucked."

She was not intimidated, and she was not fearful.
She was angry. And now she had chosen her side. Circumstances had conspired to make it so that she could fight against this so-called Dark Lord and yet not turn to the hypocritical, puling, shrieking Light.

You're in my head, I have to include you, and it's very inconvenient for the ritual's sake that you're male, Harry responded. He thought he was learning how to handle Regulus. So stop whining.

"Sorry," he whispered. "But it just annoys me at times like these that I've got a body to be fed and rested. Wouldn't it be easier if I was just a creature of pure magic, able to help whenever I wanted, without worrying about silly things like that?"
Draco gave him a full-on glance of pure incredulity for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, "I don't know about you, Harry, but I rather like the fact that you have a body."

"Griselda Marchbanks," said Harry, "Light witch, Elder of the Wizengamot, older than Albus Dumbledore, friend of the hanarz. Lucius Malfoy, Dark wizard, Death Eater, truce-dance ally of mine—" He might have tried to stop what he said next, but the ritual compelled a litany of titles from him, and it slipped out before Harry could stop it. "Smug bastard."

Rosier broke their gaze and turned away, sounding slightly amused. "My Lord created a false truce-dance," he said casually. "He fooled the Light into thinking he had a right to the power the sun gives on the equinoxes and solstices. I did tell you to watch the sun. Now I tell you to watch the sky. The primeval forces of the Light will find out the truth soon, and they no more like being tricked than the Dark magic of Walpurgis Night likes being confined." He grinned over his shoulder at Harry. "They will snap back upon my Lord. Already, I think, a wind has been summoned, and it will stir other winds. We shall have a storm, perhaps more than one."

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not expecting this to take me two whole months, jeez.

This book is the best so far in terms of character growth—Draco and Connor both finally become characters I like rather than annoying. We get some great worldbuilding especially in terms of Light wizard minhag, and the plot itself obviously goes into overdrive. A lot gorier than I remembered.

[Tea and Spite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not quite my favourite TSA story but it's pretty close. The characters and world have come together enough to not be jarring, the writing quality has quite obviously improved, and while there are continued issues with pacing and dropped plots they're mostly made up for by great worldbuilding. The main reason it doesn't get another star is that I just...do not care about the climax.

LotW is still trying to write to the canon beats here and that's just not what makes the series interesting. The violence of the climax comes across as gratuitous rather than enhancing the overall arc of the story and series as a whole. The series is really at its best when it's allowed to flow into its own form with only the occasional mild nod to canon (as it starts to in the next story).

[Debbie Hazeleger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where the shit hits the fan.

[a]

I want to finish this, I really do. But it's never going to happen.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't read this fast enough. I keep trying to skip parts to read faster. Ok, some times people were being dumb, but I love this story anyways. Draco is probably the part that bothers me the most. I just don't get him all the time. I think Snape was totally right about him in the beginning of this book about him needing to be more his own person. But that didn't really get fixed after the aftermath of Snape's actions play out.

I am very happy with how Connor's progressed. He was pretty supportive and is maturing instead of there being another blowout between the twins. I think I would have been pissed if that happened again.

And the end gets so dark. Oh, Harry! I am breaking for you. Please change your mind and go to the Sanctuary.

[Jennifer Faythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this series. I am only reviewing to really just explain to people just how long this series is (not in a bad way!!) all of the books in this series is about 1,000 pages longer than all of the books in the wheel of time series put together. We are talking 12,878 words for this lovely series. And yet somehow I've reread this series already. It's such a good read I genuinely didn't notice the length of time spent with the series but it is just that interesting and entertaining. I hope more people find this series and isn't scared off by the length.

[Chalilodimun Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely my favorite book so far! I really really liked it, it was so well-written and Harry is baby. My poor boy… *sigh* I can't wait to read the rest!

I can't believe I read 500k in so little time, so worth it!

[Sean Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

These have totally veered into mega alternate universe land now, the Goblet of Fire itself being a comparatively minor thing in this massive tome of a work. The writing is just so ... moreish. Addictive. Compelling in a poetic sort of a way.

[Dominique · Rating 3 out of 5]

This went from 0 to dark REALLY quickly...

But I am loving this series, and even though they are coming up to over 700000 words per story, I will keep reading it.

[Tobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very long. Worth it, but reading straight through it can drag at times. I imagine as a serial it works better.

[Romi · Rating 4 out of 5]

De los libros más crudos hasta el momento. Lo peor es que sé que vendrán cosas más sangrientas, pero estoy ansiosa de leerlas porque la calidad lo vale.

[gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

so. Good!!! Really like this one, this is where i started taking notes on world building

[Julieta Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

esto duele

[Oliwia (Diana) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm unwell, i want to cry and throw up and i don't know if i'll ever recover from this series

[Candice Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like da unicorn :)

[Menglong Youk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally I can finish this oh-my-God-I-want-to-quit-but-nah book, the longest one I've read so far, 2226 pages of book four in a fanfiction series. Yet, don't underestimate any book just because it's a fanfiction. Although this one bases on the original Harry Potter world, it changes a hell lot of situations and types of characters, and makes them believable and alive to readers. This Harry Potter's head isn't enjoyable to live in since he has tons of problems and responsibilities as if he were an adult. Saving the world, dealing with the abuse from parents (yes, Lily and James are a.holes here) while maintaining a normal teenage life are definitely not fun to experience, but fascinating to see in a safe distance. Many says the book is getting dark since it's tackled serious problems related to abuse and death, but I can handle them pretty well so far. I love how the author elegantly develop the relationship between Harry and Draco in a slow, emotional and supportive ways, not in quick romance cliché. What's more, the complicated relations in this light-and-dark war has built up in a way different from the original series, which makes me feel excited to once again live in my favorite universe, although with nearly entirely different plots.

So, continue to book five which is around 3500 pages. xD

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I'm able to write a full review on this book, there was just so much of stuff happening I wouldn't even know what to say!! Here are just some of the thoughts I had while I was reading it:

- EVERYONE WAS DUMB!!! JESUS PEOPLE, USE YOUR BRAINS!!

- Draco not talking to harry at the beginning just didn't make sense, they were both angry because of something completely different and I don't think the book descried it quite well.... Draco wanted to have Harry be his friend but when Harry reached out he exploded....really dumb let me tell you. didn't need to be there. Really made me angry at him more than at Harry because Harry wasn't in love and was just a confused friend...Draco was being a child that wanted contradictory things. STUPID

- just realized Harry is very demisexual! random thought

- Zacharias Smith my FAV! he's hilarious!

- Why did James have to become stupid again?? He was atoning last year?! That's just sad, they could have stayed amicable :(. And then later after Snape's trial, I just felt like James just gave up :(, so sad, I'd have really wanted them to reconcile at least a little bit. I think he could still salvage his family at least on the men's side.

- Someone please explain to me what was Dobby doing the Walpurgis night? I didn't really understand what was happening

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic.

I am totally engrossed in this series, in a similar way as I was with the original Harry Potter books, the Many Coloured Land series (Julian May) and the Sword of Truth series (Terry Goodkind). I can't stop reading.

I love the intensity, the grand happenings, the relations between the characters, the additions to the wizarding world (rituals, customs).

I'm already on my way in the next one, which is over 25 hours of reading according to my Kindle.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long,long fic with great characters and a good plot and yet I couldn't get as enthusiastic about it as some other readers. She took the setting and made it bigger and wider; the characters in character but all their weaknesses and strengths enhanced and the rituals and history of the wizarding world more complex and bloody than what J K created. Because of these and gave it four starts.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very, very long page-turner to commit to -- and it's in this book that it really starts its massive expansion of scope, ceasing to be an alternative-universe version of the Harry Potter books and becoming its own universe.

I've been informed that I'm kind of an addict to these stories. So, let that be a testimony of quality? :)

[Brielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

this fucked me up so bad. it was wonderful

[sahra reads]

vates harry is/was so important i love my smol magic child.

[rixx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harry trains his brother. So very repetitive. Each successive book is longer than the last, with not much to show for it. Stopping here on my re-read.