FicWad

This is one of the best reviews I've had for any of my stories! Thanks a LOT!

> It's a little tough to believe that Fudge
> would even suggest bringing Harry to trial
> for killing Voldemort, let alone think that
> he'd win. Harry just won a major PR victory.
> Even if he did violate the law, the wizarding
> community would call for his release. Even a
> yutz like Fudge would realize that he'd gain
> more ground by graciously pardoning the heroic
> young boy than by prosecuting him.

In a more sensible world, I would agree with you. However, I think a couple of factors come into play here. One is the extreme stupidity, and the paranoia, displayed by Fudge. Another is that Harry has long been seen as a supporter of equal rights for everyone, as witness the way he treats Draco for calling Hermione a mudblood. The purebloods are an aristocracy in JKR's world - no matter how democratic it may seem on the outside. We certainly seem to try to develop an aristocracy whenever we can - look to the behavior of Congress, with their special priviledges that have been set into law. Note that I mentioned that the audience for Harry's trial was carefully selected - it was all purebloods, those most threatened by Harry's stance on equality. And judging by the Weasleys' state, I have to strongly suspect that the pureblood families over all come down on the side of retaining their special rights. Even Dumbledore, when you look at it in canon, doesn't seem to be that strongly in favor of equal rights for other magical beings - he wants them treated better, but that seems to be as far as he goes. Most of the purebloods seemed to agree with Voldemort's general ideas of pureblood supremecy, they just differed in how far they would go in support of that idea, and how extreme they were about what status mixed-blood and muggles should have after the fight was over.

> Trial by Peers sounds interesting, sort of
> like a person in a US criminal court
> requesting trial by combat and finding a
> loophole by which it could be done.

Actually, it was the US theory of trial by a jury of ones peers that came to mind, though this theory does evolve from a principle in English Common Law that developed from the Magna Carta, I think. Note, however, that under English law, "trial by peers" would mean that a commoner would not be sitting on the jury panel of a Knight or Baron. "Jury of Peers" only means everybody here in the US, where the theoretical principle is that everyone is equal.

The purebloods sitting in the audience, eating popcorn, is the equivalent of whistling in the dark. They want Harry gone, because they're afraid of him. I don't really set a point in this story where it splits from the canon storyline, but I believe that at the very least, the purebloods would be aware that Dumbledore was on his way out, simply from age, and that Harry's stock with the common people was on the rise. Much of Dumbledore's power, in fact, comes from his presence at Hogwarts as a teacher, and then as Headmaster, for so many years. If they can get rid of both Harry and Dumbledore, then they would stand a fairly good chance of guiding the Wizarding World into a path to make it much closer to what they had at one time.

> You repeat yourself a little. For example,
> you say "invoked" twice in quick succession.

I need to go back and look at that, but you're probably right on this one. I do that occasionally.

> Harry Potter has never known family, and now
> all these relatives are showing up, so many
> that the tree fills the room. How does he feel
> about that?

> Why does Harry act with such confidence? Why
> isn't he as suprised as anyone else to find
> that he has no peers at all?

In a lot of ways, this piece was not a full-fledged story - it was really more of just a scene in a longer story. However, at the time, I had no idea where that story would go, and how it would relate to this scene. I've had several suggestions since, that have given me some ideas to turn over in my head.

Why did Harry act with such confidence? That's something that I'll have to explore in the larger story, but obviously, he knew what the outcome of the test would be. He had obviously done some research on this subject beforehand, perhaps looking to see if there was anything in hereditary blood magic (the old magics that gave him his mother's protection) that might help in his battle against Voldemort. How did he feel about having all these relatives? That's something else to be explored in the expanded version, but I suspect that by far, the majority were of such distant relationship, that it really didn't affect him much at all. Those few that are particularly close (it's established in canon I think that the Blacks are just a couple of generations back), Harry has already had a relationship develop, and so he's had time to come to terms with it.

I'm currently in the middle of a sequel to Kinsfire's "Family Matters", and once I get that done, I may sit down and plot the expanded version of this story. If I do, it's likely going to be published here primarily, since ff.net's position on "mature" rated stories can be hard to get a handle on. I intend it to be a bit of porn, but with a lot of plot - said plot being Harry turning into the pureblood's worst nightmare: someone with Harry's agenda, but with the legitimacy in their eyes to carry it out (but as always in these kinds of society - might makes right, so he's going to have to shove it down their throats mighty hard!). I'm thinking I'm going to end up with Harry marrying a whole batch of girls - the Patil twins giving him rights over the Indian subcontinent, Cho Chang and Su Li being offered as a way to bond him with the Asian region, Luna giving him a bond with the Nordic countries, Fleur or Gabby (I lean towards Fleur) binding the European countries, Ginny giving him the Light-side pureblood families, Tonks giving him the Dark-side pureblood families, Hermione perhaps having emigrated to the US and taken US citizenship to bind him to the North American continent... Still working on bonds for Africa, the Mediterranian, and the South American communities.

Ambitious, I know, especially because I want the story to be both serious, and not-serious porn fluff. Which is one of the reasons I am thinking it's not likely to be my next story.

You know, I think this reply is almost as long as the story! Thanks a lot for such a WONDERFUL review! I hope you'll have me on alert, so that once I get the formatting issues sorted, you'll be able to comment on my other stories, and eventually get to see this one fleshed out!