Springfic: "Where My Thought's Escaping (2/2)" for kereia

[springmod]

Title: Where My Thought's Escaping (2/2)
Author: Snorkackcatcher
Recipient: kereia
Character(s): Cho Chang, her family, Michael Corner, Marietta Edgecombe, Su Li, assorted OCs and canon cameos
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 19,750 words approx
Warnings (highlight to view): Character deaths (mostly canon)
Summary: Cho had enjoyed her visits to Guangzhou. She wasn't at all

Comments

[shiiki]

I do love the way you introduced us to Cho and her background in this fic. Bit by bit you reveal pieces of the wider magical world, so that it's well-integrated into the story and not too overwhelming. I particularly enjoyed your explanation of the use of language in spellcasting:

A spell and its incantation become as two parts of one whole, tied together and gaining in power by use; where everyone says the same words, the repetition smoothes and strengthens the flow of magic. It is like a river cutting its course through the earth, at once carving out and being guided by the path it has formed.

I was fascinated by the idea, which made sense since it seems so unlikely that the entire world would cast spells in exactly the same language considering there are so many different cultures which shape the multitude of languages around the world.

You tied everything into Cho's return to Hogwarts for the battle so neatly that the canon line, "I got the message," she said, holding up her Galleon, and went over to sit with Michael. was really all that needed to be said in the end. Nicely done!

I don't know what to say about the action sequence following except that it definitely set my mind a-whirl (which is a good thing!) with everything going on at once, which I imagine is exactly the way Cho was feeling.

And finally I'm all gleeful at the bilingual section headings. *wink*

[snorkackcatcher]

Thank you -- I was trying to get a feel of chaos and terror in the battle scene, so it's good to know it seemed right. The different spell-languages idea was just something I'd always vaguely thought would have to be the case but which was never relevant to a story before. Once I'd mentioned it, I kind of had to follow it through a bit. :)