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Reviews For Night of the Fatal Squirrels
Author's Response: Gory-- yep! But it's Halloween, after all! Oddly, although it creeped me out to write some of this to begin with, after I'd taken the scene through about a dozen revise/edit sessions to get the wording JUST right (!), I got somewhat distanced from the gore! But I can still imagine what it would be like if I were to read it through for the first time! And yes, I really wanted as many characters as possible to have their moment in the spotlight! Thanks so much for reviewing, and I'm so glad you got such a kick out of it!
Author's Response: Hee hee hee! Umbridge would certainly deserve it, wouldn't she?! And the poor centaur family-- I needed some preliminary victims to illustrate how dangerous the Fatal Squirrels were, but I really hated making them suffer. :-( Still, it also allowed me to introduce a couple of original characters, and I'd not seen any HP stories with anything but male centaurs, so I decided to get creative! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Author's Response: So glad you've been enjoying the first chapter! And wow-- I've been sneak-peeked at work! That makes it sound like I've joined the BIG-league writers on the site! *giggles in delight* And yes, the poor squirrel has a lot in store for her... Thanks for the review! ;-)
Author's Response: Hee! And the next two chapters get even more exciting! Yeah, I'm an animal lover, and I hated having to write about tragic and violent animal deaths, but it's really just make-believe in the story... That's how I got through it! But glad you enjoyed the rest of the opening chapter, and many thanks for the review! :-)
Anyway, thanks for writing this, it was a blast to read and just perfect for Halloween! Author's Response: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Yeah, the first two chapters are full of detailed exposition, but it all plays into the action in the third chapter. I kept forcing myself to be patient writing the earlier chaps, because I desperately wanted to get to the Feast! But along the way, I just had to have Draco demonstrate that he can be nearly as brainless as his two sidekicks! Pink knickers, indeed! And when I finally did get to the final battle, I had to be relentless. Believe it or not, I originally didn't plan for a character death, but I realized in the end that I HAD to do it! And I didn't soft-pedal the students' terror, since I wanted to make the squirrels' attack seem as realistic as possible. Thanks again for reading, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! (I'm honestly trying to imagine you having Halloween in the spring in Australia... hee!)
Author's Response: I originally thought of having the squirrels attack a unicorn, but then decided that wouldn't work, due to the way I perceive the purity of the unicorn's magic. So I had to use the centaurs instead. And that actually worked out far better, since I could create REAL characters who could interact with the wizarding population while they shared the fear of a common threat. And yes, these are the FATAL squirrels! Thanks for the review!
Author's Response: I actually got the idea for this story in Sept 2011, but since I'd already planned "The Haunting Charm" for last year, I decided to put the squirrels on the back burner until 2012. I've tried to track down the person who first dubbed the computer error "the fatal squirrel", but I didn't have any success. But the inspiration ran high, and the idea stuck with me all through the past year, so when I sat down to begin writing this back in August, the first chapter was EASY to reconstruct from my 2011 brainstorming, with a few added details. But then I got stuck. Like, I knew how I wanted the climax to take place in Chap 3 in the Great Hall on Halloween night during the Feast, but how to get from the CMC class to the Feast?? Well, watercrystals made the Shout comment, "We need squirrel repellent!", and that proved to be the catalyst for the REST of my story. I just had to figure out what to use! And I thought I remembered something about human vampires being repelled somehow by salt... HA! Thanks for the review! Glad you're enjoying my flight of fantasy!
""Had your experiment succeeded better than ours did," Snape hissed fiercely, "you could be dying now. Or you could already be stripped to the bone." He glared at the three Slytherins. "Detention. Tonight."" Snape giving Slytherins detention?!?!?! wow! " "Good," said McGonagall. "One less thing to worry about, with Albus away. Now – the Feast. What are you going as?" A loud, derisive snort echoed along the length of the corridor." HAHA I wonder!?!?! ""Hun-gee?" asked the foal. When Harry nodded, smiling...' That part made me laugh til I REALLY DID CRY! I LOVED THIS STORY! Great job! Author's Response: YES! Snape really did give detention to his Slytherins! That's how SERIOUS the situation was! And I don't think Lucius would have been impressed with Draco's ragged bones sprawling on the Hogwarts grounds, so Snape had to take appropriate action! But what pink idiots! As for Snape's "costume" -- NAAAHHHHH! And McGonagall knew it. She was just ribbing him! As for Braeden, I wanted to show that he really was okay, fun and full of energy! And kids do say the darndest things! I hope that scene makes everyone laugh, 'cause that was my intention! I especially wanted to see Fayleene laugh after the horrible circumstances had devastated her life. And nothing less than Braeden's innocent offer was likely to do that! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Snape's black eyes seemed to lock momentarily with each and every student's, even though there were hundreds seated in the Great Hall. "Be warned…" he repeated, this time in a voice so low that the students almost had to strain to hear him. "The results of Eruptum Sal can be … disturbing … to witness. The squirrel will experience extreme pain. It will vocalize. You well may find it overwhelming to witness. But never forget – your very life may be at stake. DO NOT RELENT." LOL Snape is channeling Moody here! " at whatever could have attacked the centaur family so viciously. Grubbly-Plank's hands moved gently as she worked on the whimpering foal. Horrible gouges had been ripped into the baby's tender flesh, both on his skin-covered torso and arms, as well as his roan-hided haunches. The gray-haired witch had cast spells to stop the bleeding, and now she was trying to urge him to swallow a centaur-formula variant of Blood-Replenishing Potion. The tiny foal kept turning his head away, screaming his reaction to the potion's foul taste. Grubbly-Plank looked up at the mother. "Please – he needs to ""Fawkes heals as he pleases," Dumbledore stated firmly. "If he did not feel someone deserved help, his eyes would remain dry."" Hehe, foreshadowing a certain "Toad" ? I hope so! Aww, poor Daddy Centaur! As the silence continued, Snape frowned in annoyance. "Miss Granger?" Hermione jumped. "I didn't raise my hand, Professor." "Wonders never cease," the Potions Master sneered nastily as Hermione's cheeks reddened." HAHA, I would be very confused that Hermione didn't know something too! HAHA "Snape cast a Tempus and smirked with pleasure. "Five points per person per minute for every minute that he or she is late for Potions." Gasping in dismay, the students fell over their own feet and each others', scrambling up the steep path to the castle, through the tall main doors, down the stairways, through the dungeons, their shoes pounding the stone floors in a frantic stampede. As they burst through the doorway into the dimly-lit Potions dungeon, Snape was already seated calmly at his desk, pointedly looking at the ticking wall clock. "Greasy git!" groused Ron, flinging his school bag onto the lab table and himself onto his stool. "He must have Flooed from Hagrid's fireplace!"" HAHA How very Snape! Author's Response: I love that you picked up on the Hermione moment! That came directly from a class I was teaching (Intro to Fiction), and there was a guy who NEVER spoke up voluntarily, and when we'd go around the circle to get every student's opinion about something, he'd always say he agreed with what other people had said. One day, I decided to see if he could offer his OWN opinion, so I called on him out of the blue. He just shrugged, and I had to go on to someone else. But after class ended, he came up to me and lambasted me: "Miss Shadow, I did NOT raise my hand! You shouldn't have called on me when I didn't raise my hand!" I tried to explain that I was attempting to help him out with his class participation grade, but he was so MAD! I thought it would be funny to have Snape actually call on Hermione when she wasn't trying to offer an answer, and my student's response popped out of Hermione's mouth! HAHAHAAA! Yep! I tried to keep the characters in character, although Snape is a bit more neutral toward the students during his lectures in the CMC class than he is during Potions. Because of that, I threw in a few random "Snape moments"! Thanks for the review!
"Harry!" squealed Hermione. "Don't even THINK such a thing!" "No kidding mate," agreed Ron, grabbing the packet of peanuts dangling from Harry's hand. "As if a baby dragon wasn't bad enough!" He poured out a handful of peanuts and crammed them into his mouth. "A Fmmff Sqrrmmph omphf vrrmmf…" Harry snatched his remaining peanuts away from Ron. "You wouldn't care to repeat that after you swallow, would you?" After crunching the nuts into jagged fragments not quite large enough to choke him, Ron swallowed painfully several times, coughed slightly, and repeated, "I said, a Fatal Squirrel would be the worst! Hagrid would probably let it out of its cage for some fresh air and exercise, and it would make a beeline for the Forbidden Forest." HAHAHAHAHAHA That is so Hagrid like! I am loving this story and the fact that the scientist did the "experiment" the year that I was born is pretty awesome (Yeah, I know, a coincidence but still awesome!) Author's Response: Um ... you aren't sprouting fangs and wings, are you, autumn??? (*snorts* Just HAD to ask!) So glad you're loving the story! And just think, there are TWO more chapters to go, and they're even MORE exciting! Thanks for the review! |
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