Next chapter in the queue; thank you. I'm flattered the fic has engendered such anticipation.

Thank you! There's certainly quite a bit more to come!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed. There's no shortage of plot in this one, I can promise you. Definitely more to come.

Happy to hear that! There's loads yet to come; we're only just getting to where the excitement starts.

Thanks for reviewing! 

Teehee! I briefly played Rita in an rpg a while back, and my personal canon for her back then was that she was a ruthlessly ambitious half-blood (Muggle Mum putting up with wizard dad, how could Rita be anything but a fierce, audactious go-getter). That's neither here nor there though, I think. ;DSadly for Ron and Harry, it seems like 'speaking without thinking' is their default setting, more often than not. Thanks loads for your review -- and the double-purpose it served in that it reminded me I haven't updated in ages!

Teehee! I briefly played Rita in an rpg a while back, and my personal canon for her back then was that she was a ruthlessly ambitious half-blood (Muggle Mum putting up with wizard dad, how could Rita be anything but a fierce, audactious go-getter). That's neither here nor there though, I think. ;DSadly for Ron and Harry, it seems like 'speaking without thinking' is their default setting, more often than not. Thanks loads for your review -- and the double-purpose it served in that it reminded me I haven't updated in ages!

You're very kind. Real Life is being manageable; the health is being a stroppy cow and refuses to get in line.

I'm afraid the bleakness couldn't be helped much, given the predominant viewpoint. At least he was spared some potentially very unpleasant mortifications over the course of it all.

Oh yes - I certainly do share your assertion. There really was a readily apparent camaraderie between Snape and McG in earlier books; hell, even Minerva's return from St Mungo's at the end of OotP, and her interaction with Snape in that scene, bespoke of an underlying familiarity and friendship.

I would also imagine, for people slightly more ... balanced than Harry, that the House rivalry isn't quite so bitter and entrenched. Interactions between his peers showed, in my opinion, that Harry was a very biased and single-minded minority.

Un grand merci for your lovely comment(s)!

Again, thank you (I'll have to start slipping that in in additional languages such that I don't repeat myself as much).

I do have a certain fondness for adding bits of nuance to my characters by means of these little quirks. Overall, I think we're going to vacillate somewhat between the serious and the more mundane.

I'm kind of preening right now. Thanks very much. (I do have to wonder who *would* want to cross those two...)

Hee! Do we ever. ;D

Thank you!

Well, Severus isn't the most optimistic man by nature; in addition, much as he's tried to keep faith, I see him as fundamentally unable to delude himself ... And Dumbledore doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to his tactics for people on trial.

As for Minerva and Hermione's sleeves ... ~smiles mysteriously~

Thanks very much! Minerva is certainly fair; I see that as fundamental to her nature. Whether that will be enough in the face of current obstacles remains to be seen.

You're perfectly right; that's an aspect of her characterisation I stand quite firm on: I can't see Minerva as anything but fair. She is harsh, and she is quite exacting, but she's essentially fair and relatively unbiased. Well, there is a playful bias at times, in my interpretation of earlier canon interactions, but that would be it.

As for the rest ... ~sits on hands and keeps mum~

Thanks very much; hopefully it will remain at least as interesting as it runs its course.