Crys posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 3:50am for Closets and Secrets

Well, if you don't want to use "Nantucket" in the song, you could always use "Venus" instead.

The Hat's always good for a laugh, and HJ's mature outlook on life (as opposed to his young body) is highly amusing.

Looking forward to see what HJ can do to break the riot up. In addition to probably catching a few of 'em.

JBern replied:

I'll have to think long and hard on whether or not to do the song or just mention it in passing, though HJ might miss it altogether based on the events unfolding at the end of the chapter.   If I'm playing the WW slightly smarter, there's likely to be an inquest.   I always thought it was ridiculous that they'd hold a hearing on a boy casting a patronus, but not on a bunch of DE's or DE wannabees inciting a riot at the QWC.

HJ's girl problems?   Well that comes from arrogantly thinking that he can handle girls.   I'm coming up on my 13th wedding anniversary and I still don't know how to handle them.

Jim

dogbertcarroll posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 3:50am for Closets and Secrets

Brilliant!

Can't wait for the hat's opening song now.

JBern replied:

Thanks.   Glad you enjoyed it.~Jim

Mickey posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 2:08am for Closets and Secrets

Very nice. I'm not sure if I was in HJ's place I'd have trusted the hat to watch my back but I suppose haveing something do it is better then nothing even if it is somewhat unreliable.

I really like the way you've been handeling HJ's reactions to the girls and vice versa.

The Unicorn

JBern replied:

Thanks for the compliments.   I'm glad you like seeing HJ fail as miserably as the rest of us with the female spiecies.~Jim

pyrodaemon posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 1:39am for Closets and Secrets

Poor Harry. He tried to help Ginny and instead brings down the wrath of Weasley! Lol. The hat's kinda grown on me now and there wasn't a chance I'd stop reading just because I didn't like one part of the story, so no worries there. Are you going to have a battle or is the DM going to go up and scary the little sissies away? Because you know people who have to hide behind masks aren't really that cut, right? lol.

When is Harry going to tell the Twins that it was a prank on them?

All in all I really liked this chapter, hope to see more from you soon.

JBern replied:

Good question.   Answer in 2 weeks.   The twins know they were pranked.   I've just decided to make them much better at giving than receiving.   They also don't like the 'new' Ginny and even if HJ isn't interested, she's probably going to attract other boy's attention at school and none of the brothers like that idea.~Jim

Ravenclawchaser68 posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 1:30am for Closets and Secrets

Fantastic chapter! I like how HJ can put one over on the twins and sometimes the hat, but still isn't infallible. It would be hilarious if the hat did use those lyrics, though I suppose if it did it would never get to leave the castle again.

Nice use of Luna. Between this and Bungle, you're definitely one of the best at using her character effectively. Your take on the Weasleys is interesting too. We never really see anyone pranking the twins in canon, so maybe they just haven't had to learn to deal with people getting back at them. I liked Mr. Weasley too.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for the tournament tasks. Hopefully it'll be as good as the fight with the demon in Bungle.
Thanks for writing!

JBern replied:

Glad you liked it.   HJ is still getting used to his newfound cockiness and arrogance, blended with Harry's brooding anger.   I agree that there's a chance that F&G don't know how to take a prank that well, which is the route I decided to go here.

Glad you liked Luna, she'll turn up now and then, but won't have a big role in the story.   I think you'll be impressed with what I have in mind for the tourney.~Jim

Darke Gray posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 1:22am for Closets and Secrets

Well this is deffinately a different version of Harry Potter but so far I like it, I can't wait to see how you get Harry and Fleur together though. I loved the whole Harry hitting on Penny thing, it was hilarious. Anyways keep up the good work I love where this chapter is going, I always thought that Harry would of rather fought there at the World Cup than run, can't wait to see what he does.

JBern replied:

Thanks.   I'm glad you enjoy the radically different characterization.   Hopefully, I can deliver more than just sexkitten!Fleur to this story.~Jim

jeffstrauser@yahoo.com posted a comment on Monday 11th June 2007 12:46am for Closets and Secrets

Outstanding chapter!!!!! I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter. But the lyrics you mentioned in this chapter would be awesome if used, but I understand your reluctance to use them. Any chance Harry will be the only Hogwarts champion picked for the Triwizard championship? Do keep up the outstanding work and update soon please:):):):)

JBern replied:

Next chapter in 2 weeks.   I have awhile to decide if I want to do a song or not.   Cedric will still be a champion, but BB and DS will be allowed to add an additional champion.   It's not like the GoF said how each task would be run.   The 4 are magically bound.   The other 2 won't be.~Jim

Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 11:31pm for Closets and Secrets

Great sction here, and looks like things are going to go more crazy it seems, can't wait to see what happens at the rest of the Cup, asw ell as the return to Toadblatts, and from there, how the two personality's will continue to play off, with each other. I do wonder if Harry is going to have some difficulties with that, as he's likely to be picked for the tourney, as well as what might go wrong from there on.

JBern replied:

Glad you liked it.   Next chapter in 2 weeks.   HJ will struggle with things (not classes) at school.   He'll have even more trouble fitting in.~Jim

DrT posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 10:48pm for Closets and Secrets

Naw, no reason to do a song unless it really plays a part of the story. You can just have Harry sigh in relief when the Hat doesn't insult him or reveal any secrets in the song.

Good chapter. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

"T"

JBern replied:

It's likely, that no matter what I come up with, it won't be better than what the readers are envisioning.   At least, I have 2 more weeks to think about it.~Jim

chimetal posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 10:21pm for Closets and Secrets

Whoo! Brilliant, off the wall fun. Love it. Thankyou.

JBern replied:

Thanks.   Glad you enjoyed it.   Next chapter in 2 weeks.~Jim

mathiasgranger posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 10:21pm for Closets and Secrets

It's hard to dislike a 12-13 year old with a crush...but egad she is like the terminator...HJ should give up being nice and just give her the old heave ho...

The HJ/Katie was sort of flat this chapter...I look forward to when it become HJ/Fleur.

Thanks for writing,
Matt

JBern replied:

Thanks.   Hopefully, you could believe that Ginny, given a taste of 'the good life', might suddenly try to become lil miss teen witch weekly.

HJ/Katie was meant to be flat.   She's after him and he doesn't want her to be.   I think you'll be pleased when Fleur shows up.   I'm going to try and go for something a bit deeper than sexkitten!Fleur that so many stories have with her as a leading character.

Thanks for reading,

Jim

darthloki posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 9:45pm for Closets and Secrets

Hilarious! Please, please let the hat sing an inappropriate song and Dumbledore be less-than-cheerful over it. And Harry there with the omnioculars.


Im the dumbfounded silence that followed I sniggered quietly and stashed the omnioculars out of sight. Hermione glared at me.
"Harry, did you know about this?" she demanded.
I shrugged.
"Might've."
Ron chortled and slapped me on the back.
"Way to go, mate."

JBern replied:

Now that's an interesting suggestion.~Jim

aemon_targaryen posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 9:13pm for Closets and Secrets

Unintended consequences for Harry with the Ginny thing, eh? Too bad he lost Penny to Oliver, but he isn't hurting for prospects. I still think he should "date" Katie-if this is going to be Harry/Fleur, Fleur as anyone's first girlfriend seems like jumping into the deep end of the pool when learning to swim. The hat is still great, but glad that he got his own little comeuppance. The twins can't take a joke, eh? Bad quality for pranksters-it almost validates those claims made by some that they are bullies with their pranks, since "pranks" and "jokes" work best when it's a two way street. It's good to see an accelerated timeline-got any idea how long this story will be?

JBern replied:

He might and he sort of is dating Katie after realizing that he doesn't really know anything about teenaged girls.   He probably never did...

I like the idea of F&G not being able to take a joke and not liking the changes in their baby sister that HJ has inspired.   The story will be in the range of 100k.   I put a news article on my webpage on this site with the current status of all my stories plus the cool banner by LordW.~Jim

Lufio posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 9:03pm for Closets and Secrets

Nifty! I was quite amused by the teenager version of a soap opera, complete with "sexual tension" in the air, especially with the Harry James Potter narration.

Now this is definitely how you would portray the Weasley clan being in an antagonistic relationship with Harry. Little things that build up over time. Curious as to whether or not HJ and the Weasleys will mend the fences between them in the future.

Can't wait for happens next. Really want to see how well or how badly HJ does against the Deatheaters.

JBern replied:

Well he's got all these hormones raging.   HJ's in a bad situation.   Glad you like the slow build up of hostiliities.   Bill and Charlie don't really know him from dirt and definitely don't like the changes he's inspired in their baby sister.   Next chapter in 2 weeks.~Jim

Rebel Goddess posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 9:00pm for Closets and Secrets

Giggled my head off at the banana split joke and I love the idea that Harry would have Ollie obliviate him to keep it from the Sorting Hat. The Hat making them all believe HJ's gay (and boy did the whole 5 minutes to get her knickers off bit make me laugh) was so good.

The talk with Penelope was so funny. About time Ollie got some serious interest. The Hat wasn't quite as filthy as usual. Excellent cliffhanger ending. Can't wait for the end of this.

JBern replied:

So I hear your the Sorting Beret now?   Tssk Tssk.   Glad you liked the chapter.   If I was still writing this for a contest, Penny probably wouldn't have made it in to the story, but I think she added quite a bit, especially with HJ trying and failing to win her over.   Next chapter in 2 weeks.   I'm off to help Neville whack someone in Darkness!   :-) ~Jim

sammi posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 8:44pm for Closets and Secrets

I've been liking your stories since a long time ago, but this one easily takes the cake! I think this has the most interesting setup of all your stories as of yet (with some really charismatic hats in there too), and it doesn't even matter that most everyone remembers what happened during the fourth year.

I'd be happy with a faster rate of posting for this story, of course, but I also understand that there's a lot of stuff in there that needs careful attention. Please keep the hat as bastardly as possible in the future too. ;)

JBern replied:

Thanks for the review.   I'm glad you enjoy the setup.   The tournament will be vastly different from what you remember.   I think you'll enjoy what I have in mind.~Jim

joeBob posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 8:32pm for Closets and Secrets

No need to write a song...

HJ just needs to stumble across Barty Crouch Jr. After torturing him for info (maybe with the hat's help) HJ learns the location of MoldyShorts and captures him.
Then Dumbledore is tricked or persuaded into rounding up the horcruxes and everybody cheers as Voldy dies again.

Every thing's wrapped up in plenty of time for Deathly Hallows! ;-)

JBern replied:

Nah, there'd be no fun in that.   I don't even know when I'll find time to read DH and I'm sure not going to change what I'm doing for book 7.~Jim

Quizer posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 8:06pm for Closets and Secrets

Great chapter! Thanks for updating!

I still think Harry is letting the Hat get away with a lot. He again gets a bit of revenge on it during this chapter, but I didn't figure the Hat would be bothered by embarrassment. Is it actually effective?

On the other hand, Harry seems to start getting along better with it. Maybe this will work out, after all.

I'm getting it correctly that because of Harry's merger with James, he feels like a cradle robber ogling all those girls his age?

Poor HJ, getting Penny stolen away from him like that. That bit of revenge in the morning was delicious, though. Loved the 'all those extra clothes' line.

I'm looking forward to the next chapters. We're re-entering canon airspace, and with all the changes that have come to pass, it should be very interesting.

until next chapter!


Quizer

JBern replied:

Thanks as always.   The Hat and HJ have an interesting relationship.   Even though HJ has told Ollie, the Hat is the only one that really understands.

Yes to the mind of a 22 yr old the 13-16 crowd seems a bit youngish and frivolous.

There are a whole bunch of changes in store.   More tasks, more champions (I never saw a good reason that BB and DS couldn't just select an extra champion - it's not like the GoF is judging the competition.)   I've modeled several of them after Olympic style events.

Since you're such a longtime reviewer, I'll give you one for free.   The contestants will be in the quidditch stadium and they will have to Apparate onto small platforms floating at various heights and piercing curses at targets.   Similar to the Olympic biathalon (cross country skiing and target shooting) it is a test of speed and accuracy, of course HJ will have to 'learn' how to Apparate...

Jim

MadMax666 posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 7:07pm for Closets and Secrets

Necrophiliac pedophile witch from Nantucket? That Hat is *seriously* messed up!!! Though it would be interesting to see what you could come up with in the way of lyrics...

As for the story itself, an excellent job so far, and I have to say a very novel premise. I don't think I've ever seen one that had part/all of James Potter stuffed into Harry's head. Particularly in such a way that he doesn't know if he's James, stuck in Harry's head, or Harry, with bits of his old man.

I also liked the bit about Remus and Lily. After the third movie, it was pretty obvious that Remus had a thing for her. Might not be strictly canonical, but since it was approved by J.K. Rowling it might not be that far off the mark.

Keep up the good work.

MadMax666

JBern replied:

I don't know if I can do the lyrics justice, but I have 2 weeks to play around with it in my mind.

Glad you like the whole premise to the story.   I hope I can continue to impress you.~Jim

uNople posted a comment on Sunday 10th June 2007 6:27pm for Closets and Secrets

hmm, the plot thickens, more is revealed.

All I can say is that I'm enjoying this story, and watching it unfold is most enjoyable.

JBern replied:

Thanks.   I really appreciate it.   Next one in 2 weeks.~Jim