By Abraxan
Reviews
Kuronosa posted a comment on Wednesday 17th February 2010 1:04am
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why di you have to kill off Casey!!!! I liked her....
I guess it's so that Harry and Ginny can get together....oh fine, have your H/G ship....I was looking forward to a very nice Harry/OC story....
wilfite posted a comment on Monday 11th January 2010 11:37pm
Ok, the description of rape and murder in this section was flat out sickening. The level of descriptive detail was, in my opinion, unnecessarily graphic. It just takes all the fun out of reading this story. I honestly cant continue doing so. I have enjoyed the story up til this point. Your exploration of Harry and Caseys relationship was sensetive and sweet, and the death of her and her family was handled very well. I cried at several points. It was quite moving. This last scene literally made me gag. Better luck in future.
Tammy Driver posted a comment on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 11:50pm
You meanie!!! Why'd you have to go and kill Casey and her family for?!?!?!?
Abraxan replied:
I created them in order to kill them off. There are very good reasons for why I did that. Casey is gone but not forgotten - she even plays a role in the sequel to this story. And so many people protested her death that I used her name and personality in a character in my original novel, "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two" - and I won't kill her off there, but in this story, she served her purpose best by dying.
Tammy Driver posted a comment on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 11:39pm
Bug!Rita needs to do the world a favor and get squished.
Abraxan replied:
Yup, that would be a good thing! But she's fun to write, so I won't squish her for a while.
darksidhe posted a comment on Friday 3rd July 2009 5:17pm
That was the coolest quidditch match ever!
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! If I recall correctly, this was my first try at writing a sports scene, so I'm really glad you think it works!
Abraxan
clancy21 posted a comment on Saturday 9th May 2009 4:02am
Great read...This is my third time and I still marvel at how well the story keeps my attention.
Abraxan replied:
Wow, thanks!
Abraxan
ImUpToNoGood posted a comment on Friday 8th May 2009 9:10am
I was expecting this. First, Voldemort would not let a Muggle family live that was close to Harry if he could do something about it, and if he knew it would hurt Harry. He knew the ADDRESS! Why didn't the Order realize that, and protect the shop, and their home? Is it because they really only focussed on protecting Harry? That confusted me.
Second, the title -- Refiner's fire-- made it clear that Harry would be going through some pain in this fic. Refiners fire is hot enough to destroy impurities in the metal to make it stronger, like hardship can make a person stronger. (Or break them. but we know Harry is strong).
I think I'll miss the uncle more than Casey. He helped Harry discover a gift that had nothing to do with Voldemort. I wanted Harry to have the joy of that job, of doing something with his own hands and creativity that had nothing to do with prophesies, or being the Boy Who Lived.
Now, even if he continues with his art, it will always be tarnished for him by his belief that his choice to work at the shop, to connect with that family, had caused their deaths.
Kinda sad that it's now going in the direction of Harry / Ginny... I hope that Ginny develops the strength to make her an equal before they get together. It's one of the reasons I read slash: so few authors can write a strong woman partner to Harry without making her into a controlling shrew. I think part of that is from canon, we never really got to see Ginny grow up (only a little in the DA), and Hermione was always a bit bossy. It frustrates me. If you manage a relationship of equals, you'll be doing well.
Abraxan replied:
Wow, interesting review, thoughtful and well-said! You're right, Voldie would attack if he knew about the address. And you're right, the Order was focused on Harry, not on his neighbors. And none of them expected Harry's job to wind up reported on in the media.
I knew exactly what I was doing when I named this fic. I'm a professional bronze sculptor and also make jewelry and I know what a refiner's fire does. And all the HP fics (canon anyway) have Harry going through some pain. That's what makes him strong.
My Ginny, as you may have discovered by now, does become strong enough to be his equal and a proper mate for him. You're right, JKR didn't show her becoming what she needed to be to be Harry's mate. But JKR doesn't write romantic relationships well anyway.
I'm so glad you liked the uncle! I modeled him after my father, and what Doug did, my father did many times - taking young people under his wing and helping them get a good start in life, just as Doug did for Harry. I loved giving Harry a job or hobby that will give him joy all his life (you'll see if you keep reading my stories) that was completely separate from the wizarding world.
I hope you enjoy the rest of my stories!
Abraxan
ImUpToNoGood posted a comment on Friday 8th May 2009 5:12am
I'm nervous that Voldemort will do something to Casie's family... Harry's employer is a prime target.
I'm having fun reading this.
Abraxan replied:
I'm glad you're enjoying my story!
Abraxan
Lisa7 posted a comment on Tuesday 17th March 2009 5:12pm
I started reading HPff a few years ago when one of my friends started sending me links. To this day, I have yet to read a fan fiction more compelling and true to character than The Refiner's Fire and The Time of Destiny. I read these wonderful stories before the last two JKRs came out, and I didn't bother picking them up until a few weeks after they were published because to me, The Refiner's Fire and The Time of Destiny are the true books six and seven. I have recommended your stories many times and have always received no uncertain measure of gratitude for doing so. Please, keep writing, and I'll keep reading.
~No power in the ‘verse can stop me…~ Lisa
Abraxan replied:
WOW! Thanks so much! I really appreciate that!
If you like my fanfics, you might also like my original novels, the first of which is available on Amazon.com and other sites. Go to Amazon or BN.com or your favorite online bookseller (or to a brick and mortar bookseller - they can look it up on their computer if it isn't in the store) and do a search on my name, Lynda Sappington. My novel and my sculpting how-to book will both show up in the search results. The novel, "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two" is a magical fantasy set in the present day. It's gotten good reviews on Amazon and is selling around the world. The second book in the trilogy should be out by the end of the year.
Thanks for writing!
Abraxan
james27 posted a comment on Sunday 15th March 2009 5:18am
Obviously we never really found out the scope of a Prefects powers and this story was written even before we even learned what we did, but doesn't it seem odd that Hermione is able to assign Malfoy a detention but isn't able to dock him points?
Abraxan replied:
I based a Prefect's powers on what I read in canon up to the point where I wrote the story.
Abraxan
Concealed Convict posted a comment on Saturday 14th March 2009 4:15pm
Okay, it's after four am now so I need to go to bed, but I'd like to point out a few things. The first is that this is an excellent story and the characterisation is really good. The only problem I have is that you spelt Romania with a "u" instead of an "o."
Thanks for writing
Keep up the good work
Concealed-Convict
Abraxan replied:
My Britpicker insisted that was how they spelled it, so that's how I did it.
Abraxan, who's heard this comment many times before but isn't changing a published fic
james27 posted a comment on Friday 13th March 2009 11:21pm
After reading your ANs, I now officially feel like a complete idiot...
When I use to watche the movies and wanted to get a spell from them, like the one Hermione uses on the Devil's Snare, I would keep rewinding it until I felt like I had the correct spelling before typing it into a search engine and hoping that I got a hit.
It never even occurred to me to turn on the subtitles...
I believe it is time for me to pull a Harry and start banging my head against the wall.
~James
Abraxan replied:
ROTFL! I hope you didn't hurt yourself banging your head on the wall! You can also refer to the Harry Potter Lexicon online - it's an excellent resource.
Abraxan
james27 posted a comment on Friday 13th March 2009 1:02am
I can't help it... this chapter always leaves me with tears in my eyes, especially when he is standing over Patricia’s coffin.
I suppose that's the mark of a well written tragedy.
~James
Abraxan replied:
Thank you - it had me bawling to write it. I'm glad it touched you.
Abraxan
Concealed Convict posted a comment on Thursday 12th March 2009 11:48am
One question: why? The start of this story was great and I really liked the Asher characters. I'd like to start insulting you but that would be rude. Anyways, I would've preferred to see a good Harry/OC fic like this was turning out to be rather than something else, but I'll read on. Definitely very enjoyable so far (apart from Casey dying!).
Thanks for writing
Concealed-Convict
Abraxan replied:
I created Casey in order to kill her off - seriously, I did. She's gone but not forgotten - she will always be an influence in Harry's life. I hope you keep reading.
BTW, the outcry over Casey's death led me to resurrect her in my original novel series, "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two" which you can find on Amazon.com by searching on my name, Lynda Sappington. I've kept her name and personality and changed her looks a bit and her family - she's now magical and an only child and has different parents, but she's the same sweet Casey otherwise.Abraxan
Krsi posted a comment on Thursday 5th March 2009 1:43pm
Okay, I rereading this for like the billionth time. Ginny gives a password of "cat in jumper" in this chapter. I thought the incident that was referring to (the Easter break trip) hadn't happened yet. Is this referring to something else I'm forgetting?
Thanks
(BTW, love the story!!)
Abraxan replied:
It refers to the time (in CoS, I think) when Ginny comes downstairs at the Burrow and asks her mum where her jumper is, and her mum says it's on the cat. It was shown in the CoS film.
Abraxan
Dragnew posted a comment on Wednesday 14th January 2009 9:13pm
I like the way you handle Harry's angst here. Whilst I've never killed a dozen men with my bare hands, in my (thankfully still quite few) experiences with grief, it's never hit straight away, like it does in so many bad angst fanfics. And I like the idea of Harry having grey streaks. Makes him distinguished and elegant.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! I've been through some serious grief, and I know all the stages of it all too well. I used that experience in writing Harry's stories. You'll see another bit of my personal history in "Now and Forever" when I show Harry dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which my father had after WWII (if you'd flown 43 bombig missions over Germany and ridden two B-17s to the ground the hard way, you might have PTSD too).
I'm glad you like the gray streaks! I got four gray hairs in the top of my head when I was 19 due to some serious stress, so I know it can happen. And no, my hair hasn't gone gray. I'll be 59 in a few weeks and I still only have a little bit of gray hair, which doesn't show thanks to a good beautician! LOL!
Abraxan
Dragnew posted a comment on Tuesday 13th January 2009 5:33pm
The first major battle scene, but from what I recall, in no way the last. I'm looking forward to the rest.
Speaking of taking over from Trelawney, have you thought about going into the Seer-ing business? As well as some shrewd predictions within the story that came true in Canon, you're also predicting real life events. Imagine my surprise when, inspired by the faint glimmer of a memory, I decided to Google Harry Potter the Musical, and found that one was in the planning stages. Although, sadly, it seems unlikely to have dancing hippogriffs.
Abraxan replied:
You know, some of my other readers mentioned Harry Potter the Musical to me recently and we had a good time talking about it. Apparently there are some filkers (people who write songs for fandoms) who've written a lot of songs for a HP musical - not that they'd ever be produced as a real play. Dan Radcliffe was asked about HP the Musical in an interview not too long ago (in context with him saying he'd love to come back to Broadway and do a musical, if I recall correctly) and he shuddered at the thought of dancing wizards, LOL! I can't really blame him - and he certainly wont' star in THAT musical if it ever comes to Broadway! heehee.
As for my seer abilities, yeah, I've had a good time watching a lot fo the things I've written become realities in canon! Thanks for noticing!
Abraxan
Dragnew posted a comment on Tuesday 13th January 2009 2:45pm
Hmm, is Mr Joyero Spanish? The Google Translation tool is a wonderful thing. Fortunately, Spanish was the first language I tried to translate it from. I may not be multilingual, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to enjoy this story, and all the subtle wordplay to the fullest.
Also, do I smell a battle scene coming up?
Abraxan replied:
I thought I included a translation of his name in the A/N? Did the A/N not make it on this site?? I haven't looked at the story files - I have a friend who uploads them here and on SIYE for me, since I'm pretty non-techie! Mr. Joyero is of Spanish descent - he isn't a recent immigrant. England has masses of people from all over the world, so it isn't farfetched at all to have a jeweler with a Spanish name or an optician with a French name (I think he's in ToD, actually).
There could be a battle coming up - keep reading!
Abraxan
Dragnew posted a comment on Tuesday 13th January 2009 2:17pm
Well, I'm glad to see that resolved. I'm not a fan of Harry/Hermione, I just can't see it working. I think it seems reasonable enough Harry knows about viruses, at least in passing. This is, what, '97, right? No complaints from this corner.
Abraxan replied:
I'm glad there are no complaints from your corner! And yeah, I can't see Harry and Hermione as a couple either - he sees her as a sister, and he just doesn't need anyone else bossing him around anyway! It's bad enough to have the Dark Lord after you and a destiny hanging over your head without having a bossy, pushy person trying to run your life! LOL!
Abraxan
Paul Blay posted a comment on Saturday 6th March 2010 3:12am