Prologue

I hope not.  I'm on break from fic, but may get back to it some time.

I have real trouble seeing Hermione with Molly!  ;-)One of the first things Bambu suggested, when this story was just an outline, was that I try to have some bit of Severus in each of the early chapters before he joins the main story line.  So I'm giving the backstory of their earlier connection in bits and pieces, rather than all at once.  I'm pleased to hear it's not feeling too disjointed for you.I'm having tremendous fun developing the Guild and it's history and traditions.  I've got files of notes on all the Houses and a timeline of the Guild and the development of alchemy that mixes Muggle and magical elements, though I'm not sure how much of that will get into the story.  It's becoming a very real place for me.You like the pictures!  They are my precious babies.  I'm still a bit wibbly about not posting on Ashwinder, but I can't cut out my pretty pictures.

Er, okay, let me reframe that: I can see Hermione with any of the Weasley kids except Ron. LOLI've got files of notes on all the Houses and a timeline of the Guild and the development of alchemy that mixes Muggle and magical elements, though I'm not sure how much of that will get into the story.That does happen.  And while probably only a small fraction will ever actually be shown in the story, it's making it a very real place for us readers as well.I'm still a bit wibbly about not posting on Ashwinder, but I can't cut out my pretty pictures.I can understand that.  The pictures do add quite a lot. 

I once read a Hermione/Arthur fic, and it was exactly as awful as I'd expected it to be.  That was before I learned to be selective in my reading.  I can't much stomach her with Percy either, though I can see how there might be an intellectual connection.

I have real trouble seeing Hermione with Molly!  ;-)One of the first things Bambu suggested, when this story was just an outline, was that I try to have some bit of Severus in each of the early chapters before he joins the main story line.  So I'm giving the backstory of their earlier connection in bits and pieces, rather than all at once.  I'm pleased to hear it's not feeling too disjointed for you.I'm having tremendous fun developing the Guild and it's history and traditions.  I've got files of notes on all the Houses and a timeline of the Guild and the development of alchemy that mixes Muggle and magical elements, though I'm not sure how much of that will get into the story.  It's becoming a very real place for me.You like the pictures!  They are my precious babies.  I'm still a bit wibbly about not posting on Ashwinder, but I can't cut out my pretty pictures.

Er, okay, let me reframe that: I can see Hermione with any of the Weasley kids except Ron. LOLI've got files of notes on all the Houses and a timeline of the Guild and the development of alchemy that mixes Muggle and magical elements, though I'm not sure how much of that will get into the story.That does happen.  And while probably only a small fraction will ever actually be shown in the story, it's making it a very real place for us readers as well.I'm still a bit wibbly about not posting on Ashwinder, but I can't cut out my pretty pictures.I can understand that.  The pictures do add quite a lot. 

I once read a Hermione/Arthur fic, and it was exactly as awful as I'd expected it to be.  That was before I learned to be selective in my reading.  I can't much stomach her with Percy either, though I can see how there might be an intellectual connection.

I'm so glad you liked the Hermione/Charlie part.  I worry that the true ss/hg fans will get turned off by that relationship, but it's an important part of who she is and how she's organized her life at this point in the story.  You'll notice I brushed over the Ron relationship rather quickly - there is only so much I can ask my readers to tolerate!Severus has been a bit player in the story so far, but he'll be getting more important very soon, I promise.

I'm so glad you liked the Hermione/Charlie part.  I worry that the true ss/hg fans will get turned off by that relationship, but it's an important part of who she is and how she's organized her life at this point in the story.  You'll notice I brushed over the Ron relationship rather quickly - there is only so much I can ask my readers to tolerate!Severus has been a bit player in the story so far, but he'll be getting more important very soon, I promise.

You are quite right, the story is very broad at the moment, with lots of threads, but I promise that I will be bringing them all together eventually.  It's going to be a long story, so right now I'm still introducing plot elements.  Sorry if that's a bit confusing.  I'm very pleased that you are enjoying it, even if it isn't everything you could want just yet.

You are quite right, the story is very broad at the moment, with lots of threads, but I promise that I will be bringing them all together eventually.  It's going to be a long story, so right now I'm still introducing plot elements.  Sorry if that's a bit confusing.  I'm very pleased that you are enjoying it, even if it isn't everything you could want just yet.

I can promise I won't forget.  RL got a bit busy, but I never abandoned the story.  I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

I can promise I won't forget.  RL got a bit busy, but I never abandoned the story.  I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

It shouldn't be too long; I'll finish it up as soon as I'm done with the end of semester marking.  The world-building is so much fun, but also time consuming.  This is true not just for Tallinn, but also the broader world.  I'll be continuing to use the footnotes as my version of the Silmarillion - a place outside of the narrative to describe the history and culture of the world in which the story resides.  As to Hermione's importance, well, maybe a bit of forshadowing there.To insert images in text, I just use Photobucket.  Go to www.photobucket.com, get yourself a (free) account, and upload a picture.  It will give you the HTML code you need to insert it into a story.  It's very easy, but let me know if you have you any trouble.

I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter. I'm jealous of Tallinn, though, as the location of the story - I'd love to see your evocative powers applied to old Bucharest! But you needed a Hanseatic city. I guess I'll have to deal with Bucharest myself.I have tested the photobucket method, and it seems to work fine - thank you so much for the information!

Actually, I had a different reason for choosing Tallin, but it hasn't come out yet.  *tries to act mysterious*Glad photobucket's working for you.  It's a wonderfully convenient little toy.

A different reason for choosing Tallinn? I'm on tenterhooks!

It is, by far, the most original story I've attempted.  There will be plenty of links to canon - Hermione is still very much connected to her friends and family back in Britain - but the main story is separate from that world.  I'm glad you are enjoying it, I was worried it was too original to appeal.

I guess what I like about it is that it COULD exist in its own world outside of canon and wondered whether you thought to attempt to write this as a wholly original piece.  I know that I often wonder if I'd ever be inspired to write something original and be brave enough to actually attempt it if I was... Don't get me wrong - I love writing HP fanfic.  It's comforting to write within a universe someone else created.   But I always wonder if I can do more....

The idea for this story actually started with a discussion of why Severus is referred to as a Potions master, when none of the other professors are given the title of "master".  It immediately made me think of the medieval guilds, with their ranks of apprentice, journeyman, and master.  We only see a very little of the wizarding world in canon, so there is no reason why there shouldn't be all sorts of different aspects to it outside of Britain, and the education recieved at Hogwarts is clearly not specialized enough or advanced enough to account for some of the professions we encounter in canon. 

I suppose this could have been done as an original work, but for the moment I like the challenge of seeing how much of canon I can fit into and explain from this different perspective.

Like you, though, I do think about writing original fic someday.  I see this story as a bit of a practice run - seeing if I can manage world-building on my own, but still holding onto that HP framework.

And you have SO much to work with, given the Guild-framework!  Rivalries! Mysteries! Rituals! Secrecy! It's a perfect framework that uses the foundation of the  Medieval Guild system and its peculiarities and then adds magic on top of it.  Very cool! 

I'm sitting here with a big grin on my face, because you've just said exactly what I think of this story.  It's ambitious, but if I can pull it off, it should be a lot of fun.

Thank you so much.  "Fascinating" and "wonderful" are truly lovely words.

I'm very pleased that you liked the illustrations.  For canon, being set in Britain, most of us have a pretty good idea of what things look like.  We don't need a picture of a British pub to imagine The Leaky Cauldron.  I don't think most readers have as clear a sense of what Estonian art and architecture look like, so I wanted some visuals to help the readers form mental images.  There will be more of them as we go along. 

It is quite different; this chapter is the real beginning of the main story.  The prologue was a link to DH and Chapter One introduced the ideas of the Guild and the mystery Hermione has to solve (finding true love along the way, of course), and catching us up on where everyone is in their lives.  Now is where it gets interesting.  At least, that's what I'm hoping.  If you found it intriguing, then it did what it was supposed to do.

Thank you, but no promises on timing.  I've got an exchange piece to write, and I've been told the mods get mean if you slip the deadline.

Thank you.  This is going to be a long story, so there is a bit of build-up here at the start.

Not to worry, Charlie won't last.  You wouldn't want Hermione stuck on a shelf while she waits for Severus, would you?  She deserves better than that.

I do think Luna would be good for Ron.  She would appreciate his good qualities and let his annoying habits roll off her.  And I just couldn't help myself putting Harry and Severus together.  They do have so much unfinished business.  Plus Harry would push all of Severus' buttons.  (And he has so, so many buttons!) 

I'm so glad you liked my version of saving Severus.  I drafted this piece just days after finishing DJ, when I was still feeling really angry about how Severus had been abandoned by both Jo and the characters.  This was my attempt to set the story right.

I figured he and Harry had some unfinished business.  Putting them together makes them deal with it so they can then move on with their lives, not to mention letting me skip the annoying "but what will the boys say?" nonsense. 

I'm so glad you like my idea of the Guild!  It's my very own little world to play in.

I dashed this off pretty quickly after DH came out, so it's not as polished as some of my writing, but I was determined to save Severus as quickly as possible.  Yay, indeed. 

Thank you.

I'm not quite sure how to respond to this.  I'm pleased that you liked this chapter.  The previous ones were necessary bridges from DH and the canon settings before the story could move into the Guild.  This has a lot more description because it's new territory for the reader.  I didn't feel like the Burrow needed describing, nor do we need a lot of explanation to picture Harry or Ron's behavior in a conversation. 

As for the history, some is researched and some comes naturally - I'm a historian by trade.  There will be a lot more of that as the story unfolds. 

Thank you.  I was worried it was too much exposition and not enough action.  I'm glad you didn't find that a problem.

Thank you.  I'm very please with Calpurnia.  As a writer, there is so much you want to tell that doesn't fit in the story.  She lets me tell some of it.  I'm so glad you like her.

Thank you. :D

Thank you so much for the concrit, it truly is appreciated.

Kribu's found me a particular building that Hermione has her flat in, which she assures me is only about 10 minutes from the Old Town - it will appear in more detail in a later chapter. It's not in one of the major concrete housing areas, but there is enough there that the description should fit.

I'm very pleased that you picked up on the language issue - it's a very complicated one.  The question is, how much is the Guild influenced by being in Tallinn, versus how international it is.  While they are physically in Tallinn, the Houses each represent a different geographic area or language group, covering the whole world.  So there should be linguistic influences from all over.  But the Guild is not all of wizarding Tallinn, and the rest is heavily Estonian.  I actually chose the French term deliberately, because the House next door is French and to balance using a British term for the evening meal, but I did check first to make sure the types of meals were appropriate for medieval Estonia.

I hope you do write a story set in Tallinn; I'd love to see how another author uses the same spaces.

Thank you.  This really is a foundation chapter, that creates the setting for the rest of the story, so I'm very pleased that you found it detailed and rich.

There were things that made me go "hmm", but I chalked them up to poetic licence, and also going with the idea of the Wizarding part of Tallinn (and its history) being as separate from the Muggle part as the Wizarding part of London is clearly very different from the Muggle part.

Anything that I might have found odd otherwise can quite easily be explained away, such as the West African apprentices - we can for instance assume that being from a pureblood background, they wouldn't be interested in visiting the Muggle town during any free time (as, well, having black youths seen in real/Muggle Tallinn would be something quite unusual).

Don't forget that, in canon, Muggles generally don't notice witches and wizards wandering around in robes, walking through walls, and taking owls through train stations.  OTOH, they do notice flying cars.  There seems to be some sort of "don't notice me" aura around magical people, which would apply to the Guild members in Tallinn.

Was there anything else that made you go "hmm"?  

Nothing that I couldn't have reasoned away, really.

And that would make sense. I was mostly thinking that if someone already goes to the Muggle part, they might want to interact with people, too, but I guess that wouldn't be necessary. 

I just realised you're Kribu - I'm sorry, I'd forgotten you use

around here.  Which explains why you're thinking about West Africans running around Tallinn and makes the whole conversation make much more sense.

If it is rich and detailed, it's because you helped to make it that way.  I hope you don't mind if I keep picking your brain every now and then for elements of Tallinn life. 

Oops, I should probably have reminded you. :-D And pick away, it's what it's there for!

Thank you so much.