#but anywho i might add lumine again

[intcritus]

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[muffintonic]

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

[the-desolated-quill]

The H Word - The Defenders blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Truth be told, I wasn’t really looking forward to this. For starters the showrunners are Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez, the incompetent twosome behind Daredevil’s lacklustre second season. I knew the Hand were going to be the focus again, which I wasn’t excited about because the Hand are by far the stupidest, most nonsensical and downright uninteresting villains in these Netflix shows. Also... why? What’s the point of all this? Marvel are acting as though this has all been building up to the Defenders, but it really hasn’t if you think about it. With the Avengers, each movie in Phase 1 felt like another piece of the puzzle clicking into place before the grand finale. Here the Netflix shows don’t really have any sort of link with each other. It just feels like they’re doing this Defenders crossover because... well the characters are there. They might as well do something with them.

So did this first episode of The Defenders win me over?

...

Not really, no.

Well, okay, I suppose it’s not terrible, but it’s a tad underwhelming. Not a lot of ground is covered and there were a number of aspects about The H Word that were very irritating.

Let’s start with my biggest pet peeve. The colour coding. I can understand doing it in the title sequence, but the entire fucking show? Are you taking the piss? See all of the Iron Fist scenes are highlighted in green, all of Luke Cage’s scenes are highlighted in yellow, Jessica Jones’ are in purple, and Daredevil’s... okay, that doesn’t even make any sense. What in-universe reason could there be for his flat to be in red? Is Matt running a private brothel now?

Oh but wait! The courtroom scenes are brown! And the scene in the hallway with the disabled kid is in yellow! Doesn’t that make this a Luke Cage scene? I’m so confused... except I’m not because I’m an intelligent adult that can keep track of a story quite easily without requiring a fucking colour palette as though I’m in kindergarten.

I know this must seem like a massive nitpick, even by my standards, but this genuinely got on my nerves. It felt as though I was being patronised. That Marvel think I couldn’t possibly follow their little magnum opus without having all the characters colour coordinated for me. How about crediting your audience with some intelligence?

Still at least the villains aren’t colour coordinated... OF COURSE THEY ARE! Why stop there Marvel? Why don’t you have a flash of lightning and wolves howling in the background too, just to really ram the point home for us?

Let’s quickly talk about the villains. Only Marvel could take a group of Japanese ninjas and not only confuse Japanese with Chinese, but also have a corporate white woman as their supreme leader. It feels as though they’re doing this on purpose now. Still, I can’t deny Sigourney Weaver adds a touch of class to the proceedings. Although it was hard to stomach watching Madame Gao being ordered around like a skivvy. Not even Kingpin treated her like that.

What I’m really confused by is how come the Hand are taking orders from Sigourney Weaver? Wasn’t it established in Iron Fist that the Hand were made up of separate factions? Doesn’t having a supreme overlord figure kind of defeat the purpose of that? Where was she during Daredevil Season 1? Why would she allow one of her subordinates to work for a rival? Why allow her organisation to become so fractured and so splintered? Maybe all of this will be answered in a future episode, but I doubt it. At this stage the Hand have become so convoluted that I’ve practically given up trying to make sense of how their nutty organisation works and the mechanics of their incomprehensible plots.

Also Elektra is back. Yeah, because I TOTALLY wanted to see her again. And she’s wearing black as opposed to white. Typical. There’s always one nobhead who doesn’t get the memo and ends up clashing with the aesthetic. As if I need another reason to hate you, you monster!

Anywho, let’s talk about the main protagonists. And for future reference Marvel, if you want to win over your audience in the first five minutes of your story, maybe don’t start with arguably the most hated character in the franchise. What’s more, don’t then put said hated character into a fight scene that’s so poorly lit and poorly filmed that it becomes difficult to make sense of what the fuck is going on. The shaky cam in that first Iron Fist fight was so bad I was actually starting to feel seasick.

So Danny and Colleen have been travelling the world looking for the Hand (even though they already know the Hand are in New York, which begs the question why don’t they just go back to New York? Oh look! They’ve gone back to New York! I knew they’d work it out eventually!), while Danny keeps having nightmares about K’un L’un. Yes it seems we’re going to be getting a bit of a messiah complex from Danny now as he experiences intense levels of guilt for leaving K’un L’un undefended and possibly letting the Hand slaughter the inhabitants. It’s either that or constipation. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with Finn Jones’ so called ‘acting.’

So far there are two problems with this (well technically three. The most obvious problem being I don’t give a shit about Danny because he’s about as likeable as a nettle rash on my bottom, but apart from that). The first is that it’s hard to believe that K’un L’un would be completely defenceless without the Iron Fist. They must have warriors. How else were they able to train Danny? So I doubt there’s anything for Danny to really be worried about. The second is a problem I mentioned in my Iron Fist reviews. If K’un L’un’s only defence against a potential army of ninjas is one man with a luminous fist, then frankly the citizens of K’un L’un are clearly too stupid to live.

Next is Jessica Jones (the purple one, in case you’re lost). Now Jessica was in a very interesting place when we last saw her. Her abuser Kilgrave is dead and she looked like she was ready to pick up the pieces and move on with her life. I wonder how she’s grown and evolved since... Oh she’s lying unconscious in a pub. She’s still an alcoholic. Her private eye business has gone to shit. In fact she seems to be in a worse place than she was before. Bummer.

Obviously I don’t want to trivialise any of this. Recovering from sexual abuse and alcohol addiction can be extremely difficult and there can be ups and downs in one’s recovery (I can personally attest to this), but I’m extremely disappointed that the writers have made no effort to try and have Jessica improve her life. I’m not saying she needs to make an instant recovery, but show that she’s at least trying to get her life back on track. What we’ve got instead is what feels more like a caricature of Jessica Jones. The writers also seem to have confused being a hardened survivor with being an obnoxious prick. I’m not going to lie. I straight up hated Jessica in this episode. The way she talked to that woman outside her apartment was so unnecessarily cruel and there just doesn’t seem to be any good reason for it. Why doesn’t she want to take her case? Why has she allowed her business to fall into disrepair when she seemed ready to get back on the horse at the end of her first season?

In the end Darth Vader gives her a tinkle on the old dog and bone (on a side note, I do hope that voice scrambler wasn’t supposed to be intimidating because it wasn’t. It was probably the funniest thing in this episode), and threatens her not to take the case, which paradoxically causes her to take the case.

Having traced the phone number almost insultingly easily, Jessica encounters an empty apartment and a box full of explosives. I wonder where this is going.

Luke Cage’s story is by far the most underwhelming. Remember at the end of Season 1 when he got sent back to prison? Exciting, right? I wonder what they’re going to do with this? Maybe have Luke break out of prison when he hears about the Hand. Maybe have Claire and the other Defenders break him out. Maybe have the police illegally release him because they figure he’s the only one that can do something about this. i wonder... Oh they just release him as though nothing had happened.

Okay, what’s the fucking point of setting up interesting scenarios if you’re just going to reverse them immediately afterward? You might as well have not sent Luke to prison in the first place. (Also Foggy Nelson is there because... um... Foggy Nelson is there).

So Luke returns to Harlem and has vigorous sex with Claire (considering his superpowers, I’m amazed he didn’t accidentally break her in half. Also I hope they’re going to give that coffee table a wipe before they eat or drink anything off it. Cum stains can put people right off their cornflakes in the morning, I can tell you), before he takes a pleasant stroll with Misty Knight who deters him from pursuing Mariah and Shades because they want to save that for Luke Cage Season 2, instead informing him of some kid who’s gotten involved with a mysterious organisation whose couriers end up dead. Luke goes to visit the kid and tries to persuade him to leave, he tells Luke to fuck off and then Luke saves  some woman from a lamppost. Well that was pointless.

The only character I in any way gravitated towards was Matt Murdock, who has given up being Daredevil and gone solo in his legal career becoming very successful. In my reviews of Daredevil Season 2, I described his vigilantism as being like an addiction and this episode continues with that theme. His conversation with Karen certainly reflects that as they try to figure out how their whatevership should progress from here. While Matt is really making something of his life now, he still misses being Daredevil as he confesses to his priest (he’s also still mourning Elektra for some reason. Yeah, I’ve never bought their supposed romance and probably never will) and feels slightly empty and unfulfilled without his alter ego. Charlie Cox really sells the internal conflict exceptionally well. At the end when the earthquake happens, we see Matt start to contemplate a metaphorical relapse of sorts (while the cameraman films him as though he’s on a merry-go-round). The difference here is that before he was acting out this Daredevil power fantasy as a way of getting back at the people who killed his father, but in this case (because he doesn’t know this is a criminal conspiracy. It’s just an earthquake) he seems to be contemplating becoming Daredevil again in order to perform a public service and actually help people. It could be the start of a slippery slope, but it could also represent a significant transition in his character. We’ll have to wait and see.

On the whole, this first episode of The Defenders feels like a bit of a letdown, truth be told. Hopefully things will pick up in the next seven episodes, but at the moment, colour me unimpressed.

Ha! Do you get it? Colour me unimpressed!... Because... of the colours and... Oh fuck off.

[icyada]

Chapter 3- Potions, Obliviations, and Bonds, Oh My!

Echos across Time and Space Book One: "Something Wicked this way Comes"

AN: Done editing this chapter for tumblr format! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: As much as I hate admitting it, I don’t own Harry Potter. I do think Mrs. Rowling should rewrite the series though, it’s got so much she can add to it.

---------------

Harry and Hermione,

Bad luck mates, with Ron running off like that. Yeah; if we live to see him again, we'll ream him out for you. If you haven’t done it for yourselves that is. Anyways, onto more serious matters.

We read the whole book (not just the marked section), and bloody hell mates, you have a lot on your plates huh? Harry, in all seriousness, we always thought you and Hermione would end up together. Yeah, Fred and I were talking about it and we think at least Mum and Ronald slipped you two a mickey so to speak. That is to say, slipped some love potion into your drinks. Further research found that it’s most likely Amortentia, the most powerful love potion ever. And some of its side effects match both of your worsening moods since your 5th year (for Harry) and last year (for Hermione). Others include:

-Appearing sickly and pale (no offence mates, but you two did seem rather pale last year and the year before);

-Becoming obsessed with the object of their affections (Hermione, don’t deny you were feeling jealous when the prat was dating Lavender, and Harry, we know you kissed Ginny last year);

-And most importantly, becoming excited or dangerously unstable towards others (No offense you two, but we heard about Harry chasing down Snape to curse him after Dumbledore died, and Hermione, we heard you blew up a few times at Won-Won because of his relationship with Lavender. Even attacking him with a conjured flock of birds).

What’s more, our theory about the love potion could be proven right by two passages in the book you sent us.

Passage 1: "Your mother confessed," sneered Riddle-Harry, (Disturbing by the way) while Riddle-Hermione (Again, disturbing) jeered "that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange..." [R1]

Passage 2: "...I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods........" [R2]

Obviously, George and I would be delighted to have you two as brother and sister for real, but we both know it will never happen. However, Mum has confessed to at the very least making, if not using, a love potion before. [R3] The love potions that are on our shelves at the shop are one-day use only, and we make sure to control the sales of them so they're only used in jest (as all love potions should be). Harry, what Riddle will say to Ron is true; Mom did admit to wishing you were her son, rather than Ron. And Hermione, it’s obvious Ron has feelings for you. In fact, we'd say the ONLY way you specifically would fall for little Ronnikins would be through a love potion.

As for the 2nd passage, that’s suspicious too. Why would Ron spend time looking for you two when he can come straight home? We still have the Ghoul in the attic disguised as a Spattergroit-infected Ron parading around the house, so it wouldn’t be too hard to slip inside Disillusioned and switch places with it....... Unless he's under orders from mother to keep you two dosed to high heaven, as we doubt the prat has enough of a guilty conscience to feel bad about leaving you. Points to him for the good act though! As for Miss Ginevra, we're unclear about her involvement. We can only hope she is unknowing of these love potions, and that she would be disapproving if she ever found out. We'd really hate to have to hate our little spitfire because of her own bad decisions.

Anyways, we could go on and on about our suspicions. We just wanted to give you some food for thought. Two more things: A) Among all our notes that we provided, there should be letters to Dad and us in the past; we'd really appreciate it if you could see to it that they get them somehow. B) No matter what happens from here on out you two, know that Gred and Forge Weasley will always support Mr. Lightning and Miss Flare.

TTFN you two, Gred Forge

P.S.: Mr. Moony let us know before the first Potterwatch broadcast of the new Mauraders. We're undertaking the prestigious honor of joining them. Toodles.

P.S.S: This is a last minute thing: if Fred and I are right about Ron and Mum, then you might want to check all your items for tracking charms. We don't buy that bull honkey about Ron using the De-luminator to find you.

------------

Harry chuckled as he read the twin's letter. It had been a week since he and Hermione had sent out letters requesting help from some of their allies. Since then, he and Hermione had come up with a tentative plan and had relayed it to Godric via the charmed parchment, and were waiting on a response.

In the meantime, they had already started on the plan. Hermione had gone (under disguise) to Diagon Alley, and bought 2 multi-compartment trunks like Alastor Moody's. Since returning with them, Hermione had been examining the magic of the trunks to see if more magic could be added, being that she was the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy expert (She had said, and Harry quite agreed, that an untrained person shouldn’t be creating and experimenting with spells and potions).

Harry, on the other hand, had been the one to start looking through the abundance of notes the twins had sent, marking down the ideas and topics that looked useful. It was a few days later that he spotted a folded parchment on the floor, something he noticed as he was headed over see if Hermione made any progress.

For an hour each night before bed, they had also been practicing Occlumency. After talking it over, Hermione had convinced him to try it again, despite his misgivings about the whole practice. Her logic? He should do so if for nothing else but to keep Voldemort’s anger-induced visions away. Thankfully, the twins had sent a few books on Occlumency; they had written on the inside of one of the covers that they did have a mental link between them, but hearing each other's thoughts ALL the time had gotten rather annoying. As a result, they had asked their parents during their fourth birthday if there was a way to block each other out. Dumbledore had been there, had overheard them, and was enthusiastic about taking them on as Occlumency apprentices.

"Well, that explains why he wouldn’t teach me in Snape's place," Harry had said when they read that. "He already had apprentices."

Hermione looked over at him from the trunks, his sudden chuckle disrupting the monotone silence of the tent which they had lived in for months. Harry handed over the letter to her, a smile on his face.

"Well, the good news is that the twins are definitely trustworthy. Take a look for yourself," he said, before handing her the parchment.

Taking the parchment, she started reading it, just as a soft chime signaled Hedwig incoming with more letters and possible research notes. Harry went over to her as she flashed onto the table, before untying the packages from her legs and giving her a treat.

"Thanks girl, is this everyone?" he said, stroking her head gently.

Hedwig trilled and nodded, spreading her wings a bit before pointing to the charmed parchment laying on the table next to her with one of her wings. Harry blinked before his eyes lit up.

"Hermione!" he call excitedly, as he watched words forming on the parchment. "Godric is writing back to us!"

Hermione came rushing over, and they both sat down, watching the parchment as a lengthy letter appeared on it.

Harry and Hermione,

I am unfortunately not Godric. I am Myrddin Emrys. I am the one writing you currently because on our journey back home, Godric was bitten by a Runespoor. The poor dear thought he was trying to steal her eggs from her nest. Do not fear for Godric; I was able to pull the poison out in time to save his life. He is currently sleeping comfortably. He was, however, overjoyed to see that you had written back to him so quickly, and even more ecstatic to learn that you agreed to help him, despite the risks you place on yourselves in messing with time. 

He has asked me to pose a question to you. He would like to know what you want your younger selves to do about various people around you. In particular, he wants to know about Hagrid with his natural inclination to follow Mister Dumbledore blindly, while Ms. Minerva and Madam Poppy quite possibly might need to be obliviated. Severus (as you might know) made an oath, most likely to Albus Dumbledore in order to protect Harry. I do not know why, but Lady Fate has pointed out to me to tell you that there is also Molly and Ron Weasley to consider. She said you would know what I mean.

She also pointed out to me that it might be prudent to write a few letters to those who you will summon. Godric wishes you were here already; he's getting a bit jittery because he wants to get started. Honestly, that man can never stay patient for very long.

Anywho, that’s all I was told to speak with you of. Myrddin Emrys

The duo was silent for a few minutes as they pondered the information. Then Harry looked at Hermione quizzically, a question quickly forming in his mind.

"How far are you with that trunk?"

"Oh, I've actually got a good list of modified spells that will work with the enchantments already on there," she said airily. "The problem is...well, to be quite honest, I don’t have the right amount of power to cast the more powerful ones..."

Harry blinked in surprise, before replying.

"Ok, what can I do to help?".

"Well," Hermione began. "Since you're able to block...You-Know-Who now, maybe you can draw pure magical energy from him and use that to perform these spells."

Harry looked thoughtful, then shook his head before replying mildly.

"I've got a better idea. Why don’t we go to Stonehenge like Godric and Merlin did? I've been reading about it, and apparently the nearby abandoned wizarding village has a structure there that’s sentient like Hogwarts and the sorting hat. It’s been feeding magic to Stonehenge ever since the Druids who lived there abandoned the place."

"Ok," Hermione agreed making a face. "But how does that help me with my lack of power for our spells?"

"Well, and now this is just an idea 'Mione," Harry hedged watching her carefully 

"Why don't we use some basic magic strengthening rituals on you?"

"On us you mean," Hermione interrupted, looking thoughtful as she spoke. "Although, you're pretty powerful as is, Harry. Sirius told me you were unusually powerful as a baby, to the point that your mum and dad had to place magical blocks on you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself or expose your family to the Mundane. It should have been removed when you were starting your magical training, meaning just before first year started, though. I don’t remember you saying they had been removed though, and with the things we've been discovering about Dumbledore, I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept them on you to keep you magically weakened. Do you want me to scan for and remove them?"

Harry had smiled when she had said Mundane; they had had a talk about non-magicals in general, and had both agreed that the word muggle was a derogatory term, much like the word "Mudblood" is; made up by purebloods to marginalize non-magicals.  Harry shook himself out of his thoughts and nodded at Hermione, before beginning to reply.

"Yes, please. If Dumbledore is up to his old tricks, then I want to know."

Hermione took out her wand and waved it over him, muttering "Magicae invenire ruinas” [T1].

Harry felt like a warm blanket had brushed over him and blinked a bit, watching as Hermione nodded a bit before starting to speak her results.

"Definitely there are quite a few on you...actually, I’m surprised you still have magic. Let’s see if I can identify them," she said, waving her wand again. "Revela magicis cuneos [T2]".

"Hmm, some of these are old," she muttered, while seemingly watching something just above his head "Let’s see…one definitely from when you were nearly a year old. Looks professionally done, most likely by a healer your parents hired to perform the blocks. Another at age five..."

Harry was shocked into silence. He remembered the bout of accidental magic when he was five; he had been bored with the class, as he had already studied the content being talked about (he was, after all, bright as a child; he would just get punished for being better then Dudley), and so to liven up his boring day, he had begun to imagine the teacher's wig was blue. The next thing he knew, all the strands of hair on her wig had begun to turn blue [R4]. 'The color change charm,' he thought idly. He and the class had had a good laugh but then...a blank in his memory, until he found himself at home in his cupboard. 'A possible Obliviation?' his mind's voice provided gently.  

Oblivious to his thoughts Hermione had continued speaking. 

"Another at age eight..."

Again Harry's mind went to when he was eight, and he remembered the shrinking sweater incident [R5] ('Yuck, really! What was Aunt Petunia thinking? Brown with orange puffballs, indeed!' he again thought idly to himself). He had accidently used a shrinking charm that time. But again, he had a small gap in his memory. That very same day at school, he had gone outside for their hour lunch break, but the next thing he remembered he was walking back into school after lunch. 'Another possible obliviation?'

"Huh, another block placed the very next day. This one is specialized, unlike the others...to block Metamorphmagus abilities," Hermione said screwing up her face in concentration.

Harry remembered that incident too. Both of them had occurred around his school's picture day, and Aunt Petunia had apparently made it her personal mission to try and get him to look decent for his turn (not that either attempt had worked anyways). Yet again there was another gap in his memory, this one of about two hours.

"And there were four more, well actually, the third one looks like a leech from your scar; that one’s got to be the horcrux..." she shook her head, shaking off the thought for the moment. "Number four you broke with the ah...training that Moony gave us. That one was placed on you at the same time as the Metamorphmagus one. Number five was several months later at school, the September after you turned nine, this one is specialized too. To block a natural apparition ability." [R6.1]

Harry nodded, that one had to be his second favorite bout of accidental magic. Of course, it was marred by the terror that Dudley and the gang had been 'Harry Hunting' at the time. [R6.2]

"The last one, number six," she said in a more furious voice. "Was placed on you the evening of June 23rd just a month and a few days before you turned Eleven." [R7.1]

"Dudley's birthday," Harry muttered for the first time in several minutes, remembering the incident well. 

He coughed as she watched him curiously before replying, "We were at the zoo, and he and his friend pushed me to the ground to get a better look at the boa constrictor I had been talking to. I guess one of them saw it responding to me.  Er, well, I was upset and a little bit bruised from hitting the ground so hard, so I, unknowingly at the time, cast the vanishing charm on the pane of glass between them and the snake. Dudley had actually been leaning on the glass so he actually fell into the enclosure, and when he went to try to get out after the snake had slithered out he found the glass had returned. I guess I unconsciously willed it back into existence." [7.2]

Harry was blushing furiously when he finished, knowing he was rambling out of embarrassment. Hermione smiled a bit indulgently at him and Harry blushed more, this time for a completely different reason. 'How have I not noticed before how nice Hermione looks when she smiles,' he thought. 'You weren't trying to step on little Ronikin's toes,' the little voice in his head whispered, sounding oddly like both Fred and George. 'But now that he's gone and you don’t plan on letting him find you just so he can drug you both again, you're able to appreciate her without worry.'

Harry quite agreed with the voice, but made his mind focus back to the present. 

"A-Anyway, you said I have blocks, and they all coincide with gaps in my memory. Isn’t that the usual sign of an Obliviation?"  At this, Hermione looked troubled and nodded. 

"Yes, um, let me think," she said, falling silent for a few minutes before speaking up once more, only slowly. "Er, well, I think it’s a safe bet that if we try to remove them all at once, it will cause a magical explosion, killing you and-depending on how powerful-anyone within several hundred miles of you. So if we remove them one by one, slowly and carefully to allow your body to get used to the amount of power you have, then you should be ok. The magical backlash should also eradicate the obliviations on you. As for the leech, its most likely Voldemort's horcrux feeding magic from you to him. If we look hard enough, we might be able to find something to pull it out of you without killing you."

Harry nodded, thinking over what he was told before replying "Let’s take the oldest block off me and go from there."

Hermione simply waved her wand over him and said in a clear voice "Longe antiquissimum scandalum [T3]".

Harry felt unbelievable pain, but tried to focus his breathing through it. 'This is nothing like one of Voldemort's Crucios,' he thought with humor. 'It doesn’t come anywhere close to that.' Noticing that Hermione was watching him worriedly, he reached over and stroked the back of her hand gently.

"I'm ok 'Mione, this is nothing like one of You-Know-Who's Crucios. It’s really miniscule compared to that," he said with an encouraging smile.

The next second however, he felt a stabbing headache forming. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with his scar this time. As he had slowly built up his Occlumency walls, he made absolutely sure to block off the mental connection to Voldemort. He hadn't had a nightmare nor felt any of Voldemort's feelings since he had done so, back when both he and Hermione had started practicing Occlumency. 

This particular headache came from the broken obliviation that had went with the block on him. He took a moment to focus, before closing his eyes and starting to sort the new memories. But the more he sorted, the angrier he got. 'Dumble-arse' was lucky he was already dead or Harry would have applauded Severus and joined him in killing the old bastard.

Harry was so wrapped up in his memories that he didn’t notice what was going on around him.  It wasn’t until he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and heard Hermione's voice in his ear that he noticed the whirlwind of power echoing around him.

  "Harry, calm down. Please?"

Relaxing slowly, he re-opened his eyes and blinked sheepishly. All around him, the papers he had been studying were scattered, while there were deep gouges in the table in front of him as if a huge bird had been clawing at the table. Hedwig had positioned herself on his lap and was nuzzling him, trilling softly with her feathers sticking up slightly, but appeared otherwise unharmed.

"Harry, what’s wrong?" Hermione asked from behind him.

He tried to turn his head to look at her, but she kept her face out of his line of sight. Letting it go for the moment, he focused on her question before replying.

"Dumbledore, the old coot! That obliviation was done by him right after the attack on my parent's house," he said rubbing his head. "He purposely obliviated any memories of my parents. I only remembered how they died because he made sure to leave those intact in my mind."

Hermione hugged him tighter before replying, her voice quiet.

"We won’t let that happen again to your younger self. We'll let Godric and Merlin know about it and they'll definitely make sure that your younger self has all his memories by the time they return for first year."

Harry nodded a bit and sighed, relaxing into her embrace before replying.

"I also was supposed to have an eidetic memory. But since I didn’t have a chance to develop it, it’s an ability lost to me as an adult. [See AN at the bottom]."  

"Again, won’t happen," Hermione mumbled while nuzzling his back.

Harry slowly got control of his emotions, before his nose picked up the metallic scent of blood. Blinking and gulping, he couldn’t help but feel upset over what the implications were. He had hurt her.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I hurt you," he mumbled miserably.

"Relax Harry, It’s only a thin scratch," she mumbled. "Episkey. Anyways, we've still got a lot to do. I'll help you research tonight, and in the morning we can set off for Stonehenge. Er, we'll actually have to be traveling since I've never been there before."

"You mean Hermione Granger, the great explorer of the world, has never been to Stonehenge?" Harry said teasingly.

Hermione smiled and tapped his shoulder playfully.

"Oh, quiet you. Let’s get started."

They both pulled a few books over and started looking through them.

-------------- References: [R1] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19: The Silver Doe, Page: 377 

[R2] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19: The Silver Doe, Page: 385

[R3] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 5: The Dementor,Page: 69-70

[R4] I did not find a reference in the first book where its said to be. Can anyone tell me where it is if they find it?

[R5] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass, Page: 24-25

[R6.1, 6.2] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass, Page: 25

[R 7.1, 7.2] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass, Page: 26-28 (And some of the movie mixed it)

Translation (According to google's English to Latin translator):

[T1] Find the magical blocks

[T2] Reveal the magical blocks

[T3] Remove the oldest block

AN: This chapter felt like a hurtle and took long to type because I gave myself lots of breaks and did it small sections at a time. Anyways, Eidetic memory, I read from its Wiki says "It occurs in a small number of children and generally is not found in adults". 

Beware, SPOILER AHOY!!!!!

However, since we're dealing with magic here it allows me to twist that a bit. If Harry had been allowed to develop his Eidetic memory then he would most likely be able to retain it as an adult.

Spoiler end

Ok, so after deliberation I've decided to split what would have originally been 1 long chapter up into 2. So this fic will be 4 chapters long. So yes next chapter. R&R