Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 01 May 2017 06:40 AM · For: Shapeshifting Magics

Sorry I'm only getting around to this now. Didn't realise the last chapter was up.

 

Yikes, I would never have thought of Victoire being an Animagus! I'm guessing that comes up in some of your other stories about her as I know you've written quite a bit about her and Teddy. I wonder what difference it is going to make.

 

Nobody in the Potterverse EVER seems to register on becoming an Animagus. Only a handful registered in the last 100 years but in the books, we KNOW of an extra four who weren't registered - Rita Skeeter, James, Sirius and Peter -and we can probably assume Harry hasn't met every unregistered Animagus. Victoire's reasons do make sense though, as do the canon ones. A 16 year old probably WOULD be afraid of getting into trouble for doing an adult spell and once you have lied about it, you kind of have to continue.

 

Hmm, it sounds like a whole things have come together here. I am really intrigued as to why a Banshee would have given her her comb (oh, by the way, do you know what Banshee means? Ban is the Irish word for woman and sí, pronounced "shee" is the Irish for fairy. Just a random comment.)

 

That stuff about the giving of the comb sounds really mysterious. Does it take place in one of your other stories? I would love to know what was going on and why she was not affected when the Banshee touched her. And of course why she was given the comb in the first place. And the part about being its cousin. I am wondering if this also has something to do with her being a Veela.

 

Even if Victoire hasn't entirely stayed human, it sounds like she has avoided the worst effects of being a werewolf, so that is good. 

 

Hmm, I really must read "To Steal Their Breath Away" sometime. It sounds like there is a lot more going on here than we know about.

Author's Response:

No worries! I just got it up in the past week or so - thank you so, so much for stopping by.

 

She's got aspirations of being an animagus but hasn't managed it just yet in Shenanigans, Hi-Jinks, and Capers. She has met the banshee twice already in that story, though (and will meet it again), and the banshee's reaction to her has a lot to do with her veela blood.

 

There are definitely a lot-a lot-a lot of things that come together here, definitely - that's part of why it took me so long to finish the last chapter. Now that I'm done, though, I can really get into 'To Steal Their Breath Away' - it was really difficult without having this explained, but now that it is... hooray. :P

 

Thank you so, so much for your reviews on this. They're super appreciated. <3 <3 <3

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 05 Jan 2017 06:09 AM · For: St. Mungo's

Hmm, the summary of this chapter is interesting. Maybe she won't be a werewolf after all. I was kind of assuming she would.

The title is ominous though. Maybe they are just investigating there, but maybe Victoire ends up there.

"“Youfre off the case,” he repeated. “All of you.” At the look on Victoirefs face, he relented a little. “Look, itfs moving at about a flobberwormfs pace as it is, and once they track him down, itfll go even slower."

I think there was some formatting problem with that paragraph.

Good on Brendon for standing by his team, even under pressure.

Oh yikes, that part about the Wolfsbane being toxic if she isn't a werewolf means that she risks having a pretty nasty time if she is one. Poor Victoire.

And that explains where St. Mungo's comes in. It's not as bad as it might have been, but of course, the possibility of her hurting herself badly is quite high if she IS a werewolf and doesn't have Wolfsbane.

Yikes, it sounds as if she is having a panic attack or something. Poor girl.

Making the glass transparent and allowing sound through seems like the best of both options - protects him from being bitten while allowing them to communicate.

So she didn't transform, but there is something else yet to happen. I'm intrigued. The fact there is only one chapter to go makes it seem like whatever has happened isn't TOO traumatic because it sounds like she will be able to come to terms with it quite quickly.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 05 Jan 2017 05:43 AM · For: Diplomacy

I guess parents never stop worrying. To Fleur, Victoire will always be her little girl. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to be annoying at times.

 

Oooh, I'm interested to see if there's some specific reason why they are off this case.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 05 Jan 2017 05:38 AM · For: The Man in the Smoke

*laughs at Fred asking if he has to wear a dress to her wedding* Sounds like something the son of George WOULD say. And I like the lack of convention Victoire is going with, having the people she's closest to as attendants, regardless of gender.

 

No, it's not Fred's fault. In any way. If it had been a dark wizard or something, I suppose you could argue they should have been more careful who they sold to, but protecting a little girl is the sort of thing that makes shield items a good thing. That one would end up in the hands of a werewolf was just entirely unpredictable. 

 

I can totally imagine Victoire finding that stifling. When somebody keeps treating you as if there is something wrong, it makes you feel there really IS something to worry about.

 

And yikes, that would be hard to deal with. It's hard to know whether it would be better to go to Teddy and reassure him or leave him alone. Going to reassure him might well make him feel guilty about the fact SHE is reassuring HIM when she is the one who has been attacked.

 

I actually think she was very nice about it. If I were her, I think I would have been a lot MORE irritable. She was actually really tactful while making her boundaries clear.

 

Van is right. It did need to be said. It's awful to think you've hurt somebody you care about, but sometimes it is unavoidable. 

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 05 Jan 2017 05:16 AM · For: Bill and Fleur

Yes, that is definitely suspicious. It seems like the uncle has something to hide. Possibly just that he knew his niece was a werewolf and did nothing other than try to protect her from being attacked, but there could be more to it. Did he WANT her to attack somebody? And even if it WAS the former, WHY would he do that? Why not ensure she has Wolfsbane? Of course it is possible he gave her the amulet to protect her without knowing she was a werewolf, but in that case, is his disappearance a complete coincidence? Or does he even exist? Hmmm.

 

Yes, it's quite believable that the girl's silence could be simply due to shock. Or there could be something more to it - not necessarily something sinister, but fear of somebody, perhaps. Poor child. Dealing with lycanthropy, the shock of having attacked somebody and then all the interrogations. Things are not going to be easy for her. Although it does seem like your 'verse has greater support and rights for werewolves than most.

 

I like Victoire's colleagues. They seem genuinely supportive.

 

I can definitely understand why Victoire wouldn't want to tell her parents. After all, it's still possible she might NOT be a werewolf and I can understand that she would feel she might be worrying them for no reason. But it WOULD be worse for them if she only told them after it was confirmed and they realised she'd been dealing with it for a month and hadn't said anything. And after all, they HAVE sort of dealt with this before. Although it was pretty certain Bill wouldn't become a werewolf, they did have some time worrying that SOMETHING might happen at the full moon. So they should be able to deal with it.

 

You've written that Teddy told her "tin no uncertain terms" that he still found her attractive. There is a "t" before "in" that shouldn't be there.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 02 Jan 2017 01:38 PM · For: A Late-Night Visitor

*grins at Teddy reminding himself Dominique was young and immature* She does appear to be, but then this is a rather stressful situation.

This sentence seems to have a mistake somewhere: "I didn’t want to sit around my kitchen pretended that it takes awhile to make tea." Maybe "pretending" instead of "pretended".

I think it is very realistic that Victoire's parents would be concerned she might feel under pressure to do something she isn't comfortable with because her boyfriend is older than her.

I like Victoire's determination and the way she seems to deal with things. She doesn't appear to like sympathy or fuss much.

I hadn't even thought about the part about her spell bouncing off the wolf as my attention was drawn to the question of whether or not Victoire had been bitten. But yes, that is really odd. I'm guessing we've a mystery here as well as a character driven plot.

I like the hints at Lavender's past and how that affects how she responds to Victoire here.

And I can understand how Victoire feels here. Returning to work strikes me as the best way of dealing with things.

And hmm, that last part is intriguing.

Great story so far. Looking forward to finding out more.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 02 Jan 2017 01:25 PM · For: Unwelcome Uncertainty

Oooh, she doesn't know if it's a scratch or a bite. That might be even worse in a way. Well, if it turns out to be a scratch, it's better, obviously, but if it is a bite, it might be better to know rather than dealing with uncertainty on top of lycanthropy.

 

*grins at the comment that "Dom might actually kill her"* That gives a bit of an insight to Dominique's personality right there.

 

And much as she doesn't want to, I think she is going to have to tell people. It's not safe not to. Going without wolfsbane would both make things worse for her and put others in danger.

 

Good on Teddy! I love the way he adds that the only way he'll go is if she wants him to. Some "I'll be with you forevers" come across as slightly creepy - "you're stuck with me whether you want me or not" - but even when he says he'll go slowly, he makes it clear that it's in the hopes she'll reconsider, not that he will pressure her to reconsider or will just refuse to go.

 

I really like the conversation between Teddy and Harry. Some of what Teddy is saying is rather unreasonable, like that the werewolf should be sent to Azkaban for being stupid, but he has good reason to be angry. I also love the comment about "welcome to the 21st century." He is young enough to see twenty years as a long time. It doesn't seem that long to me. It is now 20 years - slightly over it actually - since the referendum when divorce was legalised in Ireland and I remember that well.

 

I also like the way he points out that the Wolfsbane potion doesn't solve everything. That's one of the things that makes lycanthropy interesting.

 

I think your Teddy and mine might get on actually.

 

And ooh, I LOVE the part about him losing control of his metamorphmagus powers. It gives an indication of how perturbed he is.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 02 Jan 2017 01:12 PM · For: The Full Moon

Yikes, she appears to have been bitten. Poor Victoire.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 02 Jan 2017 01:11 PM · For: The Dangerous Creatures Bureau

Ah, I was wondering when this was set. It seemed likely to be after the war because I doubt the Ministries of Fudge or some of the earlier Ministers would be as understanding of a Muggle werewolf who may have bitten someone and of course, it was obviously after the invention of Wolfsbane.

 

I can definitely see Teddy taking an interest, given his family history.

 

I LOVE the careers you have given your characters, especially Teddy. Most fanfics I've seen seem to have him as an Auror and while there's nothing wrong with that, it is supposed to be really hard to get into, so when stories have him, Albus, Scorpius and say Hugo all Aurors, it does seem a bit unlikely and often rather gender unbalanced too. Plus I just like to see different interpretations and I don't think I've seen Teddy as a cursebreaker before. Your Victoire also seems more outgoing and active than many interpretations I've seen of her.

 

This is random but the scene where they ask if anybody isn't comfortable with the idea reminds me of the scene in "Michael Collins" when HE asks if any of his men is uncomfortable with his new form of guerilla warfare. He gets the same response.

 

And I am now wondering how Teddy will react to her essentially hunting people with the same condition as his father and if it will put stress on their relationship.

Name: Margaret (Signed) · Date: 02 Jan 2017 01:00 PM · For: The Werewolf Capture Unit

Yikes, that sounds really worrying. If this woman HAS been a werewolf for the past three months without knowing it, who knows how many people she could have infected?

 

And it's interesting the woman had problems with hallucinations and blackouts before. I wonder if you just included that to explain why she didn't contact them after the first time she transformed or if there is something more to it.

 

Wouldn't they be more likely to give the distance in miles than kilometers in Scotland? I could be wrong about that though.

 

Oh, the sentence "I might be a werewolf" is on two separate lines.

 

Yes, this does seem likely to be a lot of trouble. Poor woman. Even though she was treated quite kindly and even with leniency, if she DID bite somebody, she will have to deal with the guilt of that as well as the implications of being a werewolf, which might be even worse for a Muggle as she wouldn't have any understanding of what she was dealing with.

 

A Muggle werewolf is a concept I haven't read about before, I don't think and it's definitely an interesting one.