Yup, despite himself, Quin is smitten. Poor fellow!

Don't worry; you'll get your gossip soon enough!

Thanks for the review! 

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the atmosphere of the chapter -- and the descriptions of the dress (I sweat rather over that!) -- and I think I'd rather be an outside observer at such a party than a guest, myself!

Don't worry too much about Albus . . . he'll be okay . . . with rough patches. And that little bit of parchment will be important later on, just not for a while yet.

Thank you very much for reviewing!

Yes, it seems that being disowned by Walburga and Orion would be no great loss! And, of course, Valerianna is just dreadful.

I assume that Albus has an Animagus form -- he is one of the most powerful wizards ever known, after all -- and I have an idea of what it may be, but I fear/hope/suspect his form may be revealed in the final book, and so I figure I'll wait a bit!

Thank you for the review! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Gertie certainly rose to the occasion here. I'm glad you liked it! Like she says, she doesn't lose her temper often -- she find is rather unhealthy for those around her! ;-)

*throws dragon dung at Dustern, washes up clean and new and throws happy rainbows and and red and green pixie dust at Gertrude and Minerva*

Gertie certainly rose to the occasion here. I'm glad you liked it! Like she says, she doesn't lose her temper often -- she find is rather unhealthy for those around her! ;-)

*throws dragon dung at Dustern, washes up clean and new and throws happy rainbows and and red and green pixie dust at Gertrude and Minerva*

Ah, yes, monkeys banging ashcans. Lovely music when you're in love and completely bowled over by the presence of the person you're in love with!

Ah, yes, monkeys banging ashcans. Lovely music when you're in love and completely bowled over by the presence of the person you're in love with!

Oh, my! I just realized I missed responding to a whole bunch of your reviews -- which came at an awkward time, and which I meant to respond to "later" -- but a "soonish" later, not such a late later!I'm glad you enjoyed Albus's little naptime dream world!

Oh, my! I just realized I missed responding to a whole bunch of your reviews -- which came at an awkward time, and which I meant to respond to "later" -- but a "soonish" later, not such a late later!I'm glad you enjoyed Albus's little naptime dream world!

Thanks! Glad you like the scheming parents!

Ah, yes, the little awkward-but-revealing moment there!

Albus' twinkling is so adorable ...

Ah, yes, the little awkward-but-revealing moment there!

Albus' twinkling is so adorable ...

*sighs contentedly* I do love RaM Albus ...

I do enjoy writing Minerva as her Animagus-self, and her indulging in her feline emotions. Glad they ring true to you!And I'm very happy with the rerere-re(?)reviewing!

Laughed quite a bit through this chapter - again and again - especially at Minerva's feline contempt, Wilspy's theatrics and especially Minerva chastising herself when she's bumbling over words after Albus catches her in the stairwell - especially the "dropped on her head several times" part - HAHA! GOLD!

Okay, now you have me thinking I should reread (re-re-re-read?) at least this chapter of RaM. LOL!While there are parts that, in retrospect and after much more writing experience, I would change if I were to post RaM from scratch, I'm still very fond of the story, and I'm still often surprised when I run across a bit that I wrote, and I think, "I  wrote that?" and enjoy it.

*grins* I know what you mean - I've often felt the same way when I go over something I wrote - while some of my stuff is pure garbage, sometimes I amaze even myself. I found a few term papers and essays I'd written in college that surprised me.Oh I most assuredly reccomend you re-re-re-re read this chappie - its soooooooooo awesome!I have decided to prescribe myself a re-re-re-re-read of RaM when ever I'm having some depressing thoughts - its an absolute cure!

 SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*sighs contentedly* I do love RaM Albus ...

I do enjoy writing Minerva as her Animagus-self, and her indulging in her feline emotions. Glad they ring true to you!And I'm very happy with the rerere-re(?)reviewing!

Laughed quite a bit through this chapter - again and again - especially at Minerva's feline contempt, Wilspy's theatrics and especially Minerva chastising herself when she's bumbling over words after Albus catches her in the stairwell - especially the "dropped on her head several times" part - HAHA! GOLD!

Okay, now you have me thinking I should reread (re-re-re-read?) at least this chapter of RaM. LOL!While there are parts that, in retrospect and after much more writing experience, I would change if I were to post RaM from scratch, I'm still very fond of the story, and I'm still often surprised when I run across a bit that I wrote, and I think, "I  wrote that?" and enjoy it.

*grins* I know what you mean - I've often felt the same way when I go over something I wrote - while some of my stuff is pure garbage, sometimes I amaze even myself. I found a few term papers and essays I'd written in college that surprised me.Oh I most assuredly reccomend you re-re-re-re read this chappie - its soooooooooo awesome!I have decided to prescribe myself a re-re-re-re-read of RaM when ever I'm having some depressing thoughts - its an absolute cure!

 SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Minerva will learn the exact nature of Hagrid's problem not long after returning to Hogwarts. And don't worry -- Minerva's little side-trip will be a good thing. And it sure beats sitting around the castle moping! *grin* Thanks for reviewing!

I will be going out of town for a while at the end of this week, so I'll try to post at least two more updates before I leave, because then there will be a long dry spell!

I'm glad you enjoyed the conspiracy of witches and Poppy's role. And we know a little bit more about Albus's feelings toward Valerianna, and more will be revealed in coming chapters.

Thank you very much for the review!

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes, it is a frustrating dance, but they'll get there eventually! Thanks for reviewing!

I am glad you enjoyed it. Minerva visits Poppy in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing.

Thanks!

Thank you! I really appreciate your review. I'm glad you liked that line -- I hope you find other lines that tickle your funny-bone, too! :-)I outlined the fic completely very early on, and had character sketches and notes on future chapters, which was the only way that I could manage to write a fic of that magnitude. I hope you continue to find it awesome & enjoyable!I do love reviews, and always respond to reviews on TPP, so if you review again, know that you will be making me smile! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.Glad you liked the Albus characterization.Thanks again!

Thanks.

Valerianna's fun to write because she's so deliciously nasty and self-absorbed. Glad you liked Quin's rescue.

The Albus-scene is a contrast with the busy, whirling, almost frenetic time that Minerva is having at the Gamp party, and certainly an emotional contrast -- as you say, sad & resigned -- whereas Minerva's more on an emotional roller-coaster.

Thanks for the review! 

Thanks!

I'm glad you're looking forward to the next chapter -- it should be up in about two days. (I'm updating rapidly for a couple weeks before the pace goes back to a more sedate once-a-week!) It will be interesting to see Gertie's reaction, Minerva's reaction to Gertie's reaction, and readers' reactions to it all!

I like your description of Valerianna - very apt!

Thanks much for reviewing!

You'll learn much more about Gertrude and Albus, and Valerianna and Albus, and what Gertrude did! It's yet to come -- you'll learn quite a bit more very soon after the Gamp house party chapters, then there's more that will be revealed later on in the story, too. Just keep reading! The RaM sequel (if I manage to write it) will have the beginnings of the DL's first rise, but I have no plans for going into the 70s when Snape et al. are in school. I might, you never know, but I haven't any story plans for that era. Gertrude shows up some in the sequel to DD, so you'll learn more about her future if I manage to finish it! (The working title is A Long Vernal Season, if you want to keep an eye out for it.)Thank you for the reviews!

Gertrude was his Arithmance teacher, so he only had her for a couple years -- they start Arithmance in their 3rd yr, remember -- then she retired in '76, so as Severus put it in DD, she was his Arithmancy teacher until she retired and Vector was hired. But yeah, the principle is similar to what you note, and as he tells Hermione in that chapter, "And the west moon," she had never done him any harm, her only crime was that the Dark Lord identified her as a Muggle-lover and friend of Dumbledore and said that she was to be killed, and that was the reason for the attack and why she was marked to die.I'm glad that you are enjoying RaM, and that you like the OCs. I try to make all my characters integrated into the story, regardless of their origin, and keep in mind their character as I write.If I ever do write the RaM sequel, which is set in the early 60s, we will see more of Alroy. I'm glad you like him! As for writing in general, I'm writing the sequel to Death's Dominion right now, but I want to wait until it's finished to decide whether to post it to TPP.

Hi! I think you're confusing Valerianna Crouch Yaxley (who then marries Flint & becomes Valeriana Flint) with Philomena Yaxley (who was born a Flint). They are two very different people. Philomena I'm not sure you've met yet -- I'm pretty sure that the chapter in which she appears is later in the story. Philomena is a contemporary of Albus's, but Valerianna is more of Gertrude's generation. Valerianna is also a Slytherin, but Philomena is a Ravenclaw, and Philomena is in charge of the Department for International Magical Cooperation, and Valerianna doesn't have a career, except making herself obnoxious. Haha! And Valerianna wouldn't have the good sense to stay away from Voldy, since she'd see it as a path to status & power. (Philomena we meet in the chapter "Meeting Morag," but she's also the witch alluded to in the first or second chapter of the story -- the one whom Albus had the appointment with to discuss the treaty.)I'm glad you like the RaMverse house-elves! Yes, they are a bit different from the few whom we see in canon, but I like to think they're still "house-elf-ish." :-)I'm glad you are still reading and enjoying the story!

I forgot to answer your question: Yes, I had the story all worked out in advance. I started with the beginning and the end, then worked out a rough outline of the middle. By the time I got to about chapter ten, I had a full outline of the story. I added to the details of the outline as I worked on the story, but I had the timeline and such fairly well set before I'd reached the tenth chapter. I also had notes on various characters well before they appeared in the story. So I had an outline, a chronology, and notes for characters, chapters, and events very early on, which I continued to add to as I wrote the story.The story took me something like 16 months to write, which is probably pretty fast, but it felt like a lot of time.I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Sorry that "groinal regions" squick you! (had to laugh at that expression)

I'm glad you're enjoying it. As far as how long it will be, it's hard for me to say precisely, even though I have it all outlined. It's more than 250K words but probably less than 500K. I think it will be between 80 and 90 chapters, but it depends how they break down -- it may be a bit more or a bit less.

Thanks for reviewing -- I'm glad you're enjoying the story!