WOW! Whatta chapter!
So memory Ron is having trouble concentrating. Who or what is distracting him? That old goat in the DoM? Is that the "he" that's after the baby?
Kemp is going to be very helpful with this because his computer knowledge and understanding of WAN and LAN have given Harry new hope in how to deal with the Cogs. It's a good think Harry has at least a rudimentary understanding of computers, networks, and interface. I wonder if they could implant a virus...
Kemp said Harry was a Trojan, but the type--I'm guessing here--that more like a data miner or a tracking cookie. What they need to do to the Cogs, other than fry them--is to infect them with a "worm," yeah?
Cheryl, now in the company of Paul and Ron, will have a better time of it in there. They can keep the other data at bay until Harry can bring her out.
I thought it was interesting that Ron said he'd been in there for years. That COPY of Ron has been in there for years, but he's been updated like a library file in a program each time the Cogs upload. Obviously, he'd been "uploaded" that night at the Ministry in 5th year and his .dll file keeps updating, or did until he was killed.
I'm also impressed with Mme. Proudfoot. She knows her Aurors and she has a pretty good understanding of Harry. She knows he wouldn't do anything as impetuous as unauthorized legilimency unless he had a damned good reason. The paperwork is going to be hell, though.
We still aren't sure who "he" is, but there's one thing I AM sure of--Percy wants Hermione. Why else would he have been rude to Harry? Harry's his competition, but he's banking that his raven-haired brother-in-law doesn't know Magical Family Law or how to get around it. Berk. Never underestimate Harry OR Hermione. He's lucky Harry didn't pound him to a pulp right there in the Floo.
I'm still not clear why "he" wants to network the Cogs with Hermione's baby, just that "he" does. It's a good thing he alerted his boss to lock down DoM. I hope it's in time. Perhaps, though, Percy IS in this up to his eyeballs...
And the dude with the balloons. That was some fine police work on Harry's part. The guy's coming FROM the park, but none of the kids there have a balloon. Highly unlikely. I thought it was a good thing that Harry sent Hermione and the kids to someplace relatively unexpected as well. The obvious places would be Godric's Hollow, the Burrow, or (NOT) the flat in Kensington where Cog-balloon man is waiting with his red streamers. Now the Occlumency Shields are up and fully functional. Let the fights begin.
Now, according to your answer to my last post, the one who killed Ron is not the same one who killed Ginny. That tells me that Ron didn't kill Ginny, did he? This might be royally climbing out on a limb, but what if "he" killed Ginny and PERCY killed Ron because he wanted his woman? It's a thought...but since I'm not a sleuth, I'm probably wrong. But it's fun to speculate.
Great chapter!
Author's response
Wow!
What a review!
I’ve seen prologues that weren’t this long, hell, I’ve written shorter prologues.
Seriously, thank you for taking the time and effort to write a thorough, well thought out review, I’m humbled, truly.
Some Minor Spoilers Follow
‘Ron’ is being distracted by the one controlling the cogs, who is also the one needing to upload into Hermione’s unborn baby girl.
Kemp will be the only hero of the wizard-centric world who is a muggle, something the Muggle Liaison Office can use for political capital.
Yes, Harry is, in fact, a data miner.
I had considered the idea of a virus, and still may use it, but the ultimate fate of the cogs will be a bit messier than just over-writing them.
A Denial of Service attack is still a possibility at this point.
Yep, the original of Ron dates back to their fifth year at Hogwarts, but he’s been continuously ‘updated’ having been possessed by them since the DoM ‘brain’ attack.
Madam Proudfoot is my idea of a great boss, she knows what’s going on in her department, but lets the people closest to the job do it!
I’m not ready to even hint about the identity of “he” other than to say the bad guy, the one controlling the cogs, is a he.
Percy is a prat, but he’s not evil, per se. He just believes the children of purebloods belong with their pureblood families. He doesn’t want Hermione, he wants her children.
You tell me what’s worse. Then imagine the hexes an angry, hormonal pregnant mom will unleash on said prat.
Technically, Ron didn’t kill Ginny, the “he” possessing him did.
The one who killed Ron will be revealed in a later chapter.
Feel free to speculate, I do it all the time.
Great review.
N!