Report on the Excavations of Sites HH-87 and HH-88

[rhetoretician]

Here I was trying to complete fics that I had already started, and getting almost nowhere, when an idea for a totally new one-shot popped into my head.  It's short, but rather dense (It'll remind you more of The 312th Edition than of any of my other stories).

Length: 2,476 words
Setting:  Post (way Post) HBP
Style:  Angst (Flangst?)
Warnings:

Comments

[rosathome]

'he was a sentimental, melodramatic sort of man'

Indeed! You do like to slip a little fluff in with your stories, don't you?

This was lots of fun to read. I've just recently discovered Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books about archeology in early 20th century Egypt, so I'm in the mood for this sort of thing. I thought it read plausibly as an archaeological report (though I'm as ignorant as you about what they really look like!)

I thought it was going to be Hermione. And then Bill. So when I read about the black head and the red head, I had to rethink lots of things. Nicely done, as always, and nice to see that the muse has returned!

[rosathome]

Oh, and what caused the Emigration? Clearly not the war. Do you know or was that just a fun trick to throw us off balance with the timeline?

[rhetoretician]

I have no idea what caused the Emigration. I needed some sort of large event or historical marker to make it more plausible that records would have been lost. We have precious little from periods 3,000 years ago, but in many ways we're a lot better at keeping records than they were, and it might not be believable that quite as much would be lost. So I included the cataclysmic Emigration to make it realistic.

[rhetoretician]

Thanks, Ros. Yeah, I can't escape a bit of fluff, although if it gets to sugary I get embarrassed and can't keep writing. I'm glad the archeology sounded plausible.

[joianoel]

Loved this! You had me intrigued from start to finish. This was a great example of how a story can be written in academic language and not be dry. Rather, this was fascinating. Like girlyswot, I kept expecting to see Bill or Hermione. But it makes more sense in the long run that Harry would have chosen to live and die at Hogwarts, preserving the tomb and preventing his own "grave" from being turned into a site for hysterical fans/mourners/enemies to gather.

Will there be more to this? I'd love to see our archeologist's reaction when they realize whose bodies they've found and begin sorting through the paperwork.

Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that the archaeologist may be incorrect in assuming that the male was the only one to have cast all those spells. The Egyptian link just says "Weasley" far too strongly to be overlooked. True?

[rhetoretician]

Thanks, Joia. I haven't planned any more, but who knows when the muse may strike?

As for the Egyptian magic, my assumption is that Harry learned it from Bill. (...Hermione is in the story, though; but you have to look carefully for her...)

[joianoel]

I'm just thrilled your muse is in the game!

By the way, have you ever seen the fic "Family Therapy"? It uses a similar approach - academic writing with a fascinating story behind it.

Now I've got to go reread your fic and find Hermione... ;-p

[bandcandy]

More great work from you, in a style I love that's certainly unique to your writing from what I've seen. Unlike the others, I suspected that Dumbledore's tomb was protected by Harry, mainly due to the inscription - I couldn't see Bill or Hermione being that "sentimental" as you put it. I'm intrigued by the emigration and I, too, wonder what caused it and where everyone emigrated to. An Ice Age, perhaps, that caused everyone in the British Isles to flee to the continent?

[rhetoretician]

Thanks, Val. Does this mean you'll do the beta? ;)

The style in this story, I now realize, is somewhat borrowed from several things LeGuin has written, most particularly her terrific short story, "The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics". Oh, and while I'm on the subject, Harry & Ginny's house is cribbed directly from the last chapter of Laura Laurent's story, In the House of the Quick and the Hungry. I'll mention that in the posted version when I get it onto an archive site.

As for the Emigration, I still don't know.

[rosathome]

Okay, I went looking for Hermione. I forgot to mention the first time that I loved 'The Lovegood Manuscript' - I can just imagine the archaeologists having all kind of fun with that. Is Hermione's the highly convoluted, complex style that could be the hand of Dumbledore himself?

[rhetoretician]

Yes.

[rosathome]

*pats self on the back for being so clever*

Though if I were really clever I'd've got it the first time.

[tunxeh]

*gloats*

[iamstarmom]

Very intriguing future-fic! I liked the academic report style which, in it's science-speak is rather chilling. I like imagining a 120 year old Harry as a wizard more powerful than Dumbledore. It makes sense.

Nicely done!

[rhetoretician]

Thanks, Shelly.

I knew that the scientific voice would be distancing and disconcerting. "Chilling" is an aspect I hadn't thought of.