New Chapter for Dagger of Doubt
Dagger of Doubt
Grace has Victory15 Reviews | 15 Ratings, 0 Likes, 8 Favorites )
Tracey Davies has spent her whole childhood in the shadow of her glamorous brother Roger. Once at Hogwarts, she wants nothing more to do with him. But how easily can she ignore him when everyone loves Roger? Does Tracey have what it takes to survive in Slytherin? And is survival even what matters?
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About Grace has Victory
Author
Grace has Victory
Member Since 2006 | 10 Stories | Favorited by 23 | 3 Reviews Written | 356 Review Responses
My family became hooked on Harry Potter in 2001, when my son was going through a stage of reluctance to read fiction. Now it is a family hobby. I am a psychology teacher from Birmingham, England. My husband, who is Australian, is a computer programmer and network engineer. We have three teenaged children and two cats. We are all Evangelical Christians.
Reviews for Dagger of Doubt
amazing! who would have thought! this entire story is gripping! attagirl!
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thank you so much! And I'm so flattered that anyone is still reading this old story.
wow. that's a really sad ending. I really want to know what happens next!
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks. Given the rules of fiction, there are only a limited number of possibilities.
Oh dear, oh dear. Tracey can't stop being obsessed with her brother enough to be herself, and she doesn't love anyone at all... Susan, you tell her. Ouch. Poor Susan.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
This is the nadir. Thanks for recognising it. Yes, my sympathies in this chapter were definitely with Susan.
She's quite the Slytherin already.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
The Sorting Hat is never wrong.
Poor Tracey. You can really feel her frustration at being overlooked by parents who are just not paying attention. And Roger knows it, the prat. I know someone who has a theory that Ravenclaws have the ability to be *more* cruel than Slytherins are portrayed to be in the books, and it's a theory with merit. Certainly Roger's being a pompous arse.Heck, I'm the *oldest* and I'm sympathetic for Tracey!
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
The parents are not cruel. They are just too worried and busy to notice what they are doing.Yes, I definitely agree that some Ravenclaws would use a biting wit without moral discretion. They are used to the idea that being clever, or even being funny, excuses being cruel. I don't think it's true of all of them, but it certainly can be true of Roger.I'm the eldest too, so let me confide in you that Roger WILL grow up. Whether Tracey does... well, that's basically the plot of the story.Thanks for writing in, GhV
Excellent job balancing the characters. While the parents were inadvertantly cruel, it was in an understandable way (especially the dragon incident). One question though, in the books, there's a Roger Davies, but it's Tracey Davis, isn't it?
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks for writing in, HJS. The question about Davies/Davis is answered in the introductory A/N that nobody ever bothers to read.I'm glad you understood that the parents didn't mean to be cruel. They were thoughtless, but they have other worries. If it comes to that, Roger isn't really anything worse than thoughtless... it's just that children can be so VERY childish... including Tracey, who takes personally what was never meant as a real insult. Human nature can cause so much damage even among well-intentioned people; we hardly need the evils of a Voldemort to create our misery.
What a brilliant story. You were very clever in summarising seven years of Hogwarts, giving us enough old information to recognise the main plots of JKR's books but unabashedly creating your own story and not boring us with Harry's (or anyone else's) exploits. Most importantly, of course, you have written some very well-defined characters who grow as the story develops. With character-led fics it can be difficult to keep up the interest in the story or character. But no problems here! Tracey was so interesting because most of us (well, certainly I) could identify with so many of her thought processes even if we can, from our reader's perspective see, how immature or selfish she is being. You can just see how a Slytherin might not be born, but made. By the way, I didn't pick up on the diamond clues but I hope Tracey is successful both in her business and in giving less importance to Roger's opinion!
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks for writing in, KtM.I assure you that Tracey becomes a highly successful businesswitch; before she is thirty, her personal fortune will run to the tens of millions (that's in Galleons). She stays friends with Theo and Cecilia, but she also makes new friends among her Muggle customers, a group of whom introduce her to the pleasures of strategy games like D&D. Her new hobbies include travel, the theatre and tropical talking birds. So she has no time to worry about Roger, and nowadays she even goes to watch his Quidditch matches.Thank you very much for telling me that I succeeded with the character-driven fic. And thank you for understanding Tracey, who is selfish but not evil, and for cheering for her even when she wasn't very nice. Regards, GhV
I like Zach in this. I'm glad he asked her to the Ball.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks. They had fun while they lasted, but they were both too selfish to last very long.
Actually thanks to her grandmother. Cant' she simply hex Roger?
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
To find a straightforward answer to her problems, she'd first need an unbiased view of life. Not exactly her strong suit!
Oh wow, to be shunned like that. She really made a huge error in judgement.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
She may be smart but she isn't always wise.
a VERY interesting ending, and one befitting a slytherin.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thank you! Did you catch the clues? There was only one chapter of this story that did not include the word "diamond". Tracey considers this a very happy ending.
Such will breed discontent. I'm shocked that Draco came in 18th? I always thought he'd be like 2nd or 3rd or something.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
He and his father would certainly like that, but he's only of average ability. And we discover in "Phoenix" that he doesn't exactly have a great revision technique.
Well, she's learning to fit right in. I liked the bit with the pins. Tracey was smart to act like she did.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Tracey is a true Slytherin.
Gads no wonder! Life in that house is quite biased and one sided. I'd feel like Tracey too if I lived there.
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks for writing in. Life never did promise us to be fair...
Ooh, poor Tracey. I hope she finds some good blackmail on Draco and makes him tell everyone to be nice again. Roger, you idiot! And again, it isn't him trying to hurt her, just being oblivious... yet I'd still love to help her punch him!
Response from Grace has Victory (Author of Dagger of Doubt)
Thanks for siding with Tracey - who is in all honesty not being very nice; but she is indeed in a fix. It wouldn't occur to her to blame Pansy and Draco rather than Roger, would it? Keep reading... She is a Slytherin and the story isn't over yet.