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Reviews For Slave Child
Author's Response: Thank you! Harry's suicidal feelings will not be a secret much longer!
Author's Response: Thank you, Kim, for your support and encouragement! I'm so happy you liked this chapter. It's one of my favorites, too, though that might changed once I've written a few more!
Author's Response: Thank you! Harry's wanting to commit suicide will come to a head soon, and the hug is coming in just a few chapters!
Author's Response: Thank you! Harry doesn't want to see his friends now because he's afraid of them finding out about the slavery spell. He knows they'll have lots of questions about why he's staying with Severus and want to know all about that, and he's afraid of them finding out about the spell. It's also important to remember that Harry is in a very depressed state. A person suffering from severe depression often doesn't act the way they normally do, and one of the symptoms of depression is feeling tired or easily overwhelmed by ordinary things. Harry feels overwhelmed at the thought of having Ron and Hermione asking all those questions and him having to try to think up answers and try to deceive them. But he doesn't want anyone to know about the slavery spell, either. Also, since he's planning to die soon, he thinks it would be the last time he saw them and he's afraid of getting emotional and that they'd figure something out. He's also thinking it might a little easier for them, if they don't see him again. So it's kind of complicated, but Harry's given up on life.
However, I think sometimes that you are missing great opportunities to make this the most angsty story ever. Slavery is a terrible thing and is cause for angst in this story just because Harry is a slave. However, the story is not presenting a picture of a slave who is either resentful or oppressed by the bonds of slavery. For example, in this chapter Severus told Harry that he had arranged for all of the gifts sent to Harry (except for those from his closest friends and valuable gifts) to be sent to other patients. Did Severus do this because all of these gifts really belonged to him anyway (since Harry's a slave)? Did Harry even think about the fact that his gifts were not his, but belonged to Severus? Mention of this would have probably had all of your readers crying because of the angst. But Harry expressed no hurt or anger or even concern about Severus not even giving him a chance to see the things. A second thing I noticed in this chapter is when Severus reached out and took Harry's letters to read. Harry didn't even resist handing them over at all. Was Severus taking them because Harry was a slave and so had no right to keep them from Severus? Again, this could have been another angst-filled moment, but Harry apparently handed them over without any problem. I wonder if Albus or Severus have given any thought about what will happen to Harry when Severus dies. Will Harry be released from the slavery spell or will he be given to Severus' heir as a slave at that point? If Harry will become some other wizard's slave, then Albus and Severus should be horrified at the thought and be even more concerned about finding a way to break the spell. Harry may be able to survive as a slave of a kindly, loving Severus, but Severus' next of kin might not be such a good master. And the likelihood, of course, is that Severus will die before Harry since he is older and also has quite a few enemies. Last point: I also wondered if Harry would be permitted by the slavery spell to kill himself. I would think the spell would prevent Harry from damaging Severus' possessions – and Harry is Severus' possession – so maybe the spell would punish him if he attempted suicide. It would be an interesting way for Severus to find out Harry's true state of mind. I'll quit now, but again, thanks for writing Slave Child. It is a great story and certainly does make me think!! Author's Response: Hi and thank you! I'm sure there are parts that I could write better...sometimes I don't see it unless someone points it out, like perhaps in the scene with the gifts where Severus gave some of them to other patients. Maybe Harry would have wanted to see them, and I should have made him feel upset about that. But Severus wasn't really thinking about being high-handed, even if he ended up acting that way. It was just that there was a ton of stuff, most of it from strangers, and he was reducing the stuff that actually came to Harry to a manageable level. But he probably should have at least offered to let Harry see it or ask his opinion. About the part where Harry gave Severus the cards from his friends, I can see from reading back through it, that I didn't write that part exactly as I meant it. Severus wasn't demanding, or even asking, to read Harry's mail. He does respect Harry's privacy more than that. But he could see that Harry was upset about something, and was asking what was wrong. Harry wasn't sure exactly how to respond...he's not going to discuss his suicide plans with Albus and Severus, and he just handed over the letters. Sorry that wasn't clear. I am going to have Severus and Harry talk more about the slavery spell soon. Severus isn't going to die in SC, but when he does, Harry would be free, not inherited by anyone else. I can imagine that Albus and Severus would definately be trying hard to come up with a way to free Harry if they knew he would be inherited by someone evil. Or at least, Severus would be making notes in his will about who Harry would go to. In the very distant past, when the slavery spell was being used, I imagine there were ways around this condition...perhaps a way to transfer the slavery spell to the heir, if the old master seemed likely to die soon, or perhaps some slaves belonged to one person in the family, other slaves to another person in the family. Perhaps as soon as one master died, the heir would go around and re-cast the slavery spell right away, something like that. Albus and Severus will use the possibility of transferring the spell as a basis for trying to invent a way to free Harry eventually. About your last point, several people have asked if the spell would kill Harry or punish him for trying to escape by attempting suicide. I said that it could, but I don't want the spell to do anything else to Harry...I think he's been through enough...I wasn't going to have it differentiate between near-death experiences...it doesn't see a suicide attempt as different from almost dying through accidental means or due to injury or illness. The exception, I suppose, would be that it will kill him for trying to run away, which Harry is fully aware of. Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Author's Response: Yes, poor Harry indeed. The hug is coming...just a few more chapters! Thank you!
Author's Response: Thank you! Why all the balloons? I don't know except that they seemed like a nice gift for a kid Harry's age. Around here, I'd probably get a child or teenage boy a balloon bouquet or a balloon tied to a stuffed animal rather than flowers. Those are very common for kids around here. I liked the mental of Severus coming in like that too. And I thought surely he and the house elves would have a cake for Harry's birthday, too.
Poor Harry. I'm glad Albus seems to be paying attention...I think he picked up on something being off with Harry when he refused to see his friends. Severus is just so happy Harry's healing that I think he's a bit oblivious at the moment. Severus will be none too happy when he realizes Harry's real state of mind at the moment. I hope he can get through to him! Author's Response: You know, wizard balloons probably do. I didn't really think about it, but I wouldn't be surprised. You're right about Severus, plus he's still insecure and maybe a little jealous of Harry's other relationships. He wants Harry to love him as much, if not more, than he does the Weasleys and Hermione, so he was also kind of happy that Harry didn't want to see them...to the point that he's letting little clues slip by him that he might otherwise notice. It's a combination of that and just being very happy that he and Harry survived, because for a while there Severus really feared they wouldn't.
Author's Response: Thank you! Harry does need to get over soon, doesn't he? Well, things will come to a head in the next few chapters. Severus may well be angry just at first, but his anger will stem from fear, and I think he'll quickly see that getting angry is not helping Harry. I think he'll move into wanting to understand and help Harry soon.
Keep up the awesome work and update soon, please! Author's Response: Thank you! I'm so happy you like it. I'm going to work on the next chapter this weekend. |
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