Unofficial Portkey Archive

i. Foreword:

Like many had undoubtedly felt after finally putting down their copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after a long and exhausting read, I was disappointed. Even the word "disappointed" might not be justifiable enough a word to carry forward my disgust and anger towards J.K. Rowling for providing me, after five luscious books in an amazing universe, a paperweight rather than a book. From that day, I have completely disowned the Book That Shall Not Be Named from the Harry Potter universe, and had continued thinking of Harry Potter and the series of books in its complete entirety… except for that latest "book."

Before you continue on with this foreword, I would first like to point out that the next bit is going to be a rant and/or my personal opinions and comments about the Harry Potter universe, and if you don't feel like reading it, I don't blame you. However, if are interested, by all means, read on.

Why was I disgusted beyond reason by this book? Apart from its nauseating and unbelievable plotline, and its absence of a maturing Harry Potter (which should have started happening books ago), I assume that most of you would easily agree with me that the relationships introduced in the Book That Shall Not Be Named were completely horrendous and repulsive. Not only that, but I was also duped by J.K. Rowling to find out that their "romance" (which easily did not exist at all) caught little to no interest from me. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley - what was J.K. Rowling thinking? She purposely put the selfish tramp and one of the most selfless characters in literature together, and that is not even mentioning the other ship that I refuse to ever put down or describe in words, because it's generally impossible to define something that has no foundation for its creation and growth.

Hermione Granger and Harry Potter are both very unique characters. I have read a great deal of literature, varying from fantasy and science fiction to general mystery/suspense and classic literature, but never have I found myself so immersed into a character as I was with Harry Potter and his best friend, Hermione Granger. Harry Potter was a child born into a home where he had no apparent loving family and was left alone, physically and emotionally abused, up until he was eleven where he was pushed head-first into a foreign world and was introduced to a foreign concept: love. Just thinking of how complex his personality and character must be from such an upbringing is stomach-turning and I always wonder whether or not J.K. Rowling really did portray such a character in the right manner. On the other hand, Hermione Granger is a smart, wise, observant, and a loyal best friend. She is everything that a boy who had never experienced love before would ever want: a friend that would never let go and would always go to great lengths to help you. One who always looks for your faults and tries her bests to remedies them, but overall simply understands the sort of feelings that her best friend are going through, as mind-numbingly indescribable as they are.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all showed us the great strength binding both Hermione and Harry in friendship. However, it also gave us foreshadowing hints of a future relationship that will be so much more. I have heard so many things about how those who think that a Harry/Hermione relationship in canon is unthinkable and supposedly "delusional" of them, but I think that the opposite should be said. Up until the Book That Shall Not Be Named, all evidence pointed to Harry and Hermione to be put together as a couple. Even the sixth book, as contradictive as it was, still held a great deal of evidence to support it! However, when Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Plot was released, all of us were forced to see Harry and Hermione's characters destroyed and shredded - several times - through J.K. Rowling's "writer's shredder".

I respected their friendship so much up until that book, and I loved how two seemingly different people in terms of their background could match each other so well, and still express themselves to each other in an entirely platonic way. You could see them literally understand each other without words, and they had, at numerous times, sacrificed skin and soul to save each other from life-threatening situations. Not even friendships in this day could be commonly found with such intensity, and the bone-deep reality of it made me yearn for their connection to deepen, to grow, to mature into a full-fledged bond of love. It's obvious by the connection that Hermione and Harry shared that they have something between them… an understanding, completion, and care for each other that goes farther than words could describe. It was this that primarily made me realize that there was no way that even J.K. Rowling could write any other ship with Hermione, other than with her ending up with Harry. It just seemed completely incomprehensible, and I am still now left wondering just why J.K. Rowling chose to even implement romance in her story at all? Despite all of this, I have still managed to keep a small bit of myself hoping… hoping that J.K. Rowling will prove to somehow repair all that she has ruined in her universe. Somehow atone herself and release a book that will blow us away. As doubtful as this may seem, I still hold hope.

When looking at the two unique characters that are Hermione and Harry, we can also tell there is another character who completely acts as an opposite to such a description: Ron Weasley. Idiot. Prat. Git. You name it. He's everything there is that resembles senselessness. Of course, I can't possibly say that he isn't a good friend. Of course he is. He's Harry's first best friend and in more than enough ways, he saved or had made a contribution to something that eventually saved his life. A true friend, however, does not scare their friend into being afraid of expressing themselves other than the way they want to be expressed: Harry is forced to hide away his exceptional wealth, and so much more in fear of being the catalyst to Ron's wrath. The friendship that they shared at first was completely innocent. Ron's character was brilliant: a loving friend who, despite his own priorities, could sacrifice to help a true friend. His character, however, eventually became twisted and unrealistically jealous and oblivious. Why Harry is still friends with such a selfish and jealous-prone prat is beyond me, but I just honestly can't believe why Ron Weasley wasn't killed somewhere after Book 2. He had little to no use after Book 4, and was simply one of those characters meant to be Harry's "friend" but had definitely failed greatly at it (major understatement, if you can't notice that). His character became a spoiled vegetable that should have been thrown out into the trash after Book 2! But alas, since he seems to have been given such an outstanding position as Harry's friend, it'd be almost impossible for me to ignore that in this story, so he will have to be there (unfortunately). Despite my hatred towards Ron Weasley's current character, I will try my best to keep him as in-character as possible (pray for me; I'm not sure if I can do it). I will, also, try to right the wrongs that J.K. Rowling has seemingly made with such a potential as Ron Weasley was at the end of the second book of her ingenious series (well, most of it at least).

That just about ends my rant. Sorry if I hurt anyone, or strained any nerves, I was just expressing my personal feelings. If anybody agrees with me, please go ahead and tell me (in your reviews or preferably by e-mail), and I'll enjoy a lengthy conversation about the subject! I think, however, I might have spent just a tad-bit too much time away from the actual point of this foreword, so without further ado….

I entered the Harry Potter fandom a few months ago when a friend of mine almost practically forced me to start writing a fan fiction and to review hers. Even though I may have thought otherwise at the time, I am extremely grateful of her actions. She made me realize the immense creativity found in the Harry Potter fandom. I suppose, after reading a great number of different novels, one-shots, and such in the form of Harry Potter fan fiction, I had finally received the appropriate amount of incentive and inspiration to have finally given the rough push to start an epic novel, one that could transcend the "reality" put forward by J.K. Rowling; completely blow it off of the map. I don't know if that's even possible, but I'll try my best. I vow that to all of you readers, and I hope I deliver satisfactorily. Most prominent of those fanfictions that had helped me gain an incentive to write such a novel was one known as Vox Corporis, which was written by MissAnnThropic. I would invite anyone who enjoys the H/Hr ship as much as I do to read that novel. Don't mind the length: it only took me about a day and a half to complete because of its awesome-ness. It may have its ups and downs, but so do all novels. Vox Corporis is just as close to being perfect as any novel I've so far read in the HP fandom, and that's not just because of the author's knack to actually proofread, which seems to be very rarely found in this fandom, strangely enough.

As you may have realized already from my previous rant, this book will not refer or require the reading of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince… in any form. It is better to simply imagine it was never written (which it shouldn't have been). Rather, this book will act as a replacement for that novel, starting immediately after the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It will, of course, feature an H/Hr ship, and some others which I haven't exactly decided on yet, and will be an Action/Adventure/Romance story. I will, however, focus more on the latter of those genres as I intend to focus on the friendship binding Harry and Hermione and how it will grow.

A word of warning: I'm a revision freak and ultimately a perfectionist. If you're tracking this story and my updates, you might suddenly be surprised to find me completely revise the previous chapters you've already read. It's how I write. My writing is continuously organic, and I never refrain from hopefully improving it… allowing it time to grow and flourish. I also warn you that because of unforeseen events, I might suddenly disappear into nothingness for days or weeks at a time (let's hope I won't at all, but the warning still has to be given out), but I hope for that to slow down as soon as the school year ends (oh, I can't wait!).

So, that's just about enough of time for me on the soapbox! Thank you for everyone who has patiently read through this foreword. If you're interested in reading this novel offline, I will be periodically updating my site (http://beam.to/alx) and additionally posting a HTML/PDF/TXT file that will contain the novel or what has been done on the novel in its entirety. If you don't see it on the main page (which is most likely as I rarely update my site unless I complete something), then simply visit http://aleius4.freehostia.com/nightlies/ where I will post up my latest updates (under, obviously, the directory "Blossoming of Fates"), most likely even before they find themselves here on the site! I will also respond to all reviews, and post the occasional "author's note" after some of the chapters in the story. So, without further delay, on with the novel!

- Alexius

April 9, 2007

Updated and Revised - June 9, 2007

ii. General Disclaimer

I live on a beach somewhere in Bermuda, surrounded by beautiful women and lots and lots of money. Yeah, right. I suppose if I did own Harry Potter and all corresponding multiverses associated to it, then I might just have a chance for that to happen. Alas, J.K. Rowling owns that all and she's the one who gets to boast and flaunt her wealth. I do, however, commend her for her expression of creativity to the writing community, and I also would like to snatch up credit for everything in this story that she or her accomplices do not own.