A new fanfic - Cathy

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(Note: my thanks to my beta, wemyss)

Cathy - by F.P.Barbieri

“What makes Lord Voldemort powerful,” said Dumbledore thoughtfully, “is the way his followers use him as an excuse.”

Harry looked at him in bewilderment

Comments

[cheyinka]

Wow. That's amazing.

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Thank you. I was rather nervous about this story, felt it might be rather too sugary or emotional - it has to do with a real person - but you are already the second person (the beta was the first) who seems to have liked it.

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That is a compliment. I was scared myself about the emotional content of the story, that it might turn out to be maudlin, because that particular person has left such a mark on me, that I risked overloading the writing with unjustified emotionalism; but so far, all the (very few) people who read it have had nothing but good things to say about it.

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As for the too-good-to-be-good-fiction aspect, I actually made things harder for myself, because I omitted much of Trine Michelsen's, shall we say, professional life. Mainly, I could not think of any way to translate it to the wizarding world, but there is also the fact that I think a bit more detail about the Cathy character really would have overbalanced the story in her favour and damaged it. The story had to stay, from beginning to end, in Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and St.Mungo's.

[dustthouart]

Well, you know how I feel about your giving the Parkinsons as a example of a family behind the Dark Lord (there are no canon Death Eaters named Parkinson she shrieks as if clinging to a life raft), but I'll bypass that, although you could make me very happy if you changed "Parkinsons" to "Averys" or "Carrows" or "Rosiers" (ie actual canon Death Eater families). But it is your fic of course. *smiles angelically*

I've gotta say that the part about Bellatrix stomping on her books actually gave me chills. That was excellent.

Yes, but...!

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I think I mention the Parkinsons once in a 7,000-word fic, and you place them at the centre of your comment. Pardon me for thinking that this feels slightly obsessional.