Not the gutter...  the SEWER!  You are my newest sewer-dweller!

You know I'm not giving anything away... not in my author notes anyway.  And DUH you know where I'm going.  I'm moving in with you!  Thanks for leaving a review.  I love to see people coming back for more.

Thank you!  I'm SOOO glad you've stuck with me!  I'm waiting for 16 to come back from my beta and will post that.  I think you'll like that one.  *wink wink, nudge nudge*

Thank you.  That is an entirely valid concern that I hope I will address sufficiently.  I've already written most of the scene where he finds out what's up and it's undergone several revisions.  I'll be interested to see what you think of that chapter when it goes up.As always, I appreciate your feedback and support more than you will ever know.    I hope to have the next chapter submitted for validation sometime tomorrow.  *crosses fingers*  It's a doozy!

I saw that windex commercial and just had to pay homage.I understand glossing over the archery stuff.  It's there because it will have a bearing later in the story.  They will be meeting up within the next 2 chapters.  Chapter 14 is going to put an *ahem* interesting spin on how Snape looks at her, not to mention all women.  *snicker*  No, I'm not telling!I'm glad you're enjoying this!*hugs*

Me too!  I have to admit I fell in love with her character after I saw the first movie.  I dig the actress they chose to play her.  I can just see her and Snape trading sarcastic barbs (pre-HBP).  Thank you for the review!  *hugs*

I definitely tend to agree. The movie Hooch was just perfect. I use Hooch in my stories and always have her sniping at Snape. Teehee!

Great minds think alike!  *snicker*

I'll bring the guys with when I head down there.  Using them for moving labor at the moment.  :)  *hugs* thanks for reviewing!  Next chapter should be up in a couple of days.

Your enthusiasm is infectious, as always.  I'm working hard on the upcoming chapters, bouncing around a bit in my scattered state.  12 is pending validation and should be up, hopefully, by mid-week.Thank you again for always bolstering me with such positive feedback.  *hugs and other silly drunken behavior*

*dances with delight* You're still with me!  Thank you again for catching that discrepancy a few chapters back.  I hope I fixed things up adequately.Thank you for the review! *hugs*

*hugs* I wub woo!  It's "wield" by the way.

Ohhh yeah, much more to come.  I've got something truly wrong planned for a rendition of the "First-years speech."  You're gonna love it!

I hadn't realized how I would turn readers off with the character initially looking "all-powerful."  Being the author I know what's up with her and what's going on "behind the scenes" so when I read it I see something different.  It's an act.  She is hiding a lot and trying to make herself look "all that."  She knows she's not, and as more chapters go up everyone will see how flawed she is (or at least stop calling her a Mary-Sue, I hope.  Gads I hate that).  It's all about being a perfectionist (I know I'm one).  I like my OFCs human.  But part of being human is making mistakes.  I think her attitude and secrets might just hurt her more than she realizes.  So many secrets...Thank you for all the positive and constructive feedback!  *hugs*southern_witch_69's response: Readers, self included, are just too impatient to get it all out in the open. LOL... Patience is a virtue. ;)

*drowning in all the praise*  You do realize this makes me want to spend all my time writing now?  Thank you so much!  I really have tried to make my OFC well rounded and 3-dimensional.  As I think I mentioned before she is based partially on a real-life friend who is every bit as complex as the character.  Thank you again!  *hugs*

*blushes* Thank you, thank you, thank you!  High praise indeed!

*runs off to beat up her 7 beta-faries*  You have several very valid points.  I've done a re-write of the chapter to hopefully rectify these problems.  I'm not divulging the secrets of her wands just yet as that comes out in a later chapter which also explains why no one else would really want to do what she did to disable summoning spells on her wands.The shielding issue is now a non-issue *raps beta-faires on backs of heads*.  Won't come up again.Showing up the children?  Gads, I didn't mean it to play off like that.  I just wanted to get across the idea that she has something to contribute.As to someone having multiple incredible abilities...  The character is actually based off a real-life person I know who was a martial arts world champion and is currently a compound archery world champion.  So it is actually possible, as my friend does exist (and she's built like the proverbial "brick house" to boot *curses her luck*).I'm sorry I've put you off.  I hope you will read the revamped chapter.  If it is still not to your tastes, again I'm sorry.  I've tried to address the issues you've brought to my attention and for that I am grateful.

I will go read it again and am glad that you are not up set about what I said I have to go to class but will catch up tonight hopefully

I've added a LOT to upcoming chapters in response to your criticisms and hopefully the explanations allay your concerns.  I think I was trying to draw out the mystery a bit too far.  Chapter 8 will explain her appearance in greater depth.  There's a good deal of backstory there.No, I'm not upset by what you had to say.  I welcome sincere and valid criticism, which is exactly what you gave me.  In response to someone else's review I asked that I be called on making the character "unbelievable."  You did that.  Sometimes it is too easy to let your imagination run away and you don't realize just how far you've strayed from your chosen path.  I really, truly hope the character and story make more sense now.  I hate losing readers because I screwed up, especially when it's fixable.I had to laugh that it was my beta fairy that got all huffy about the criticism as I whapped her for not doing her job and alerting me before I posted.Happy re-reading and thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts.  Too few people are brave enough to speak up.

Thank you for the compliment.  In Shaluinn I've tried to create a character who has a strong, indepedent, personality, yet is still feminine.  It is often hard to strike a believable balance between the "Zena Warrior Princess," who is able to hold her own against strong males, and the "damsel in distress," who is always needing to be saved.  The character is largely based on an extraordinary, and very real, person I know.  If I end up taking her in an "unbelievable" direction, please nudge me back on the straight and narrow.

Oh, it is SO gratifying to know that my misdirect worked!!!  *hugs* Thank you!  *snicker* I couldn't resist the baby-crack-plot-bunny's gender bender.  I mean, really, if you were a guy transformed into a girl wouldn't you be just a bit curious???Thank you so much for stopping in and leaving a review!

Awwww.   I wub woo!

Thank you for dropping by. So I actually had you fooled with the Snape/Krum thing?  Excellent.  I was going through GoF and saw the similarities in their appearances and just had to play a bit.Glad you liked the gender-bender.  I blame Lotm entirely for giving me the courage to shine daylight on my depraved crack-smoking plot-bunnies.I'm working on the next chapter and with people like you on my butt it will be ready by mid-week.Don't mind me... I'm in a "mood."

Do I need to beat you, my dearest beta-fairy?  Of course 14 has been submitted.  Waiting on validation now.  Couldn't have done it without your somewhat dubious help.  No, I'm kidding!  You are the best and you keep me in line.  This fic wouldn't have gone anywhere without you!  *huggles* I wub woo!

Hoochie?  *snickering*  The next chapter just got finished and sent off to the beta.  Lots of things will come to light...  Stay tuned!  Thank you for another great review!

Sorry about the swearing, but I'm glad you found it fit.  I am articulate enough I can express myself without profanity, but where I have used it in the fic, it was meant to have a purpose.  That is exactly what I was going for.  I'm glad you like the way I present the disclaimers.  I got the idea from a friend and make the disclaimers have their own ongoing (and hopefully funny) mini-plot.I am several chapters ahead in writing so I update at least once a week.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter... It's gonna be... interesting...Thank you SO much for such a lovely review!  *hugs*

I love positive feedback.  But you already know that.  Thank you!  With the next chapter this fic will earn its rating... 

Serenity... I just know that's you...  As always, thank you for your encouraging and appreciative feedback.*hugs*

Feeling as well as vision was exactly what I was going for.  Thank you for letting me know I succeeded!  *hugs all around*

Grammatical errors?  Hmmm.  Would you mind at all sending me a PM pointing them out?  I think my writing style may be to blame for that problem.I'm glad you like Shaluinn.  I'm trying to stay away from HP Sue characteristics as much as I can but I do subscribe to the theory of "write what you know."  Being an American myself I made the OC American as I don't feel qualified to create a British character believably.  I simply don't know enough.  As to being physically superior, I'm guessing you're referring to her taking down Hermione and Ron?  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  I'm not trying to portray her as superior, rather she was able to gain the upper hand, having training and skills the others don't.  If she's not very careful she's gonna get her ass handed to her rather easily.  As it's coming out in later chapters, you'll hopefully see that a lot of what she's doing is acting.Magically surperior?  She's not, or at least I didn't write her to be.  I know somewhere I had her actually say she's not qualified to teach them (Golden Trio) anything magically related.  She's good in certain areas and can do things some people can't just because she approaches things from a different angle and has had different/unique training.  She only beat the Golden Trio in that short-lived duel because she got DAMN LUCKY.  That's how I intended it anyway.  She's really just a pawn in the game, and doesn't actually understand the role she's meant to play.As to my betas, what I wrote was actually one of their ideas.  When I sent off a copy of the review she wrote back, "You gonna beat us with a hard-cover book now since you got hit with a book-spine last week?"  She was kidding, and knew I was joking around.  I didn't intend for it to come off as badmouthing my betas, especially since they didn't take it that way at all.  Whole thing has actually become a massive running joke with them putting all kinds of outrageous suggestions into our correspondence.  But seriously, I'm sorry if I offended you.  That particular review led to a nice conference where we all discussed and elaborated on our expectations for each other (I beta stuff for them as well as they beta me).  I realize I am responsible for what I write.  I guess the lot of us just have a really twisted sense of humor.  (Maybe that's why we all get along... hmmmm...)  And the primary beta actually appears in the disclaimers per her preference *coughKimcough* the rest aren't actually betas, just dear friends who like to have a first look at everything I write, and in return throw their honest opinions my way.  They like to stay under the radar just in case I manage to stick my foot in my mouth all the way to my kneecaps (which it seems I have managed).  They've never gotten huffy about my criticism, they actually got pissy about what another reviewer wrote.  The comment being, "You're taking this a lot better than we would."I'm really glad you liked the parallels I'm drawing between Snape and Shaluinn.  It's partly coincidence and partly, maybe, something else.Thank you for the feedback.  I hope I have cleared up any confusion I inadvertantly caused.