Thank you for a very interesting and enlightening story.
It is becoming readily apparent that Dumbledore is totally unable to accept that he is ever wrong. It is a well known theme developed in many stories I have read and reviewed that the average wizard is incapable of responding to logic of any type. Ergo, whenever and by whomever Dumbledore is confronted with his faults, he hears, but doesn't listen. Aferwards he immediately reverts to sophistry to explain and convince himself that the criticism was wrong and unfounded. He is arrogant enough, to believe that he his totally infallible and that other people's opinions do not count, because they are neither as powerful a wizard as he is, nor have they his intelligence.
Whether the fact that he has now been abandoned by his phoenix will fianlly let him realise that he is - and has been badly mistaken remains to be seen.
I believe that you are trying to show that not only is Dumbledore becoming unstable, but he is also showing the first signs of impending dementia. In another story Dumbledore was effectively beholden to Snape because he relied on him for potions to stave of the above mentioned condition. Whether this is your intention or not, again we shall have to see
I think that despite Snape's obvious attempt to either obliviate or otherwise discomfort McGonagall, Dumbledore's mindset regarding his trust may well remain unchanged
The way you have structured the narrative has made it very easy to accept the Harry/Luna pairing, but I think that the way you are going, we may be heading towards another multi situation, as I think you have left enough clues to show us that a Harry/Hermione/Luna triune is also very possible.
You have also indicated that there may well be a 'Jealous Ron' scene not too far down the line.
Ok this has been a very long review, but I hope that I am at least partially on track with your story.
Again I thank you for a wonderful story plot and hope to see further chapters in the not too distant future.
Tibi grates ago fabellae, observabo amplius capitulum. Probe et vale. Clivius
Author's response
Firstly, many thanks for taking the tie for such a thoughtful review. I'm certainly grateful for the benefit of online translators, else I'd never have understood your parting phrase. As it is, thank you. :)
You asked if you were on track, and I suppose to answer that would be to provide spoilers. However, it isn't a secret that this story mentions the shipping as Harry/Luna/Hermione, so at some stage, things are going to progress in some form.
In chapter 18, I'll be providing some of the answers to some of the questions I've been building up, such as what the device in AD's office was complining about, and why it affected Fawkes so much. It will also cover why Fawkes is currently with Harry. We'll also learn what happened to Minerva, and maybe even hear from Ron at the will reading as well... maybe. :)
One of the things some of my other reviewers have commented on (particularly one on ff) is that they don't feel Dumbledore's actions are in line with canon. Myself I can only try to disagree as much as I can, and wait for others to prove me wrong. One such response related to canon AD's conversations with the Dursley's proving he knew of their abuse of Harry, seemingly contrary to AD's claims during Minerva's rant at him. Two possibilities exist. 1. Albus did know everything, but was manipulating Minerva by leading her to a false conclusion. or 2. Albus didn't know everything at that time, but learned of it sometime before collecting Harry from the Dursleys. In any case, I certainly welcome debate over what canon-Albus would or wouldn't do if circumstances had unfolded in canon as I've written them. I do have a yahoo group called, surprisingly, 'Thoughts of Pudding', and people are welcome to debate any part of the story there. I've even posted a 1500 word teaser from chapter 18 there. :)
Chapter 18 may take a little while, as there will be a lot of characters to keep in play. I fully expect it to be the longest in the tale so far, but as to how long it actually gets, I won't know until the characters start talking to me.
Thanks again for reviewing. I appreciate all of the reviewers that take the time to provide feedback. It's extremely motivating.
Brian
PS. I forgot to mention. My yahoo group's link is in my author profile...