New HP novel: Transfigurations

[resonant]

I know, I know, it's not Easter Monday. I didn't get as much writing time as I expected during my vacation.

But now, glorying in the knowledge that I completed my HP novel before JKR completed hers (though not by much), I present:

Transfigurations
Harry/Draco -- NC-17 -- 400K
No underage
Five years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts.

Or read one chapter at a time:

1. Homing
2. Ruins
3. Sacrifice
4. Synergy
5. Lessons
6. The Ripple Effect
7. All Souls
8. Greetings
9. Modern History
10. Finding
11. The League of Protection
12. Magic Fatigue
13. Duels
14. Dungeons
15. Memorials
16. Sorting
Epilogue

I can't even begin to list all the people I need to thank here -- you can read about them in the story notes (watch out for spoilers) -- but I owe it all to julad, who deserves to be showered with chocolate, rose petals, good-looking pureblood wizards, and anything else her heart desires. I also want to give special mention to darthfox and cesperanza and kaneko for beta.

Comments

Oh, this is marvelous

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I wish there were more. I dutifully sent reviews for the first five chapters, but then lost patience and devoured the rest straight through.

Sigh. Delicious.

~Icarus

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

...reading ch.7, reading ch. 8, reading ch.9 (it's excellent, Res)...then I had to pause and laugh at this:

"And the title of Headmaster? How is that assigned?" Harry asked.

"By the Sorting Hat, of course," Hermione said. "Have you still not read --"

That's my girl; never change, Hermione! *g*

-Beth

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

I'm really bad about reviewing, but I wanted to drop you a note and tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. It's subtle, understated, so full of plot and action and story and in-character characters... And well, lots of good things. It's obvious that great care was taken with the story and it really shows. Like "The Familiar" this strikes me as both a reclamation of the canon and an expansion of it. It was lovely and sweet and just so subtly powerful at once.

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you finished! ::spinkles confetti:: I very much look forward to reading it.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

It's marvelous. It's so funny, and poignant, and hot, and the mines are really, really devious, and I like a lot.

[rrrosa.livejournal.com]

I have not yet read this, but it's already been rec'd enthusiastically on my friends page. I have to leave for a long, long day of work, but I'm so excited to have this to come back to!

first chapter

[fabularasa.livejournal.com]

Oh, Rez! Okay, I've only read the first chapter, but wanted to get my thoughts down before I was tempted to be a selfish beast and read straight through and then send a message that says itz kool really really liked it plz write mre :)

Disney World? The actual Magic Kingdom? I fell out laughing. The opening is sheer brilliance -- the haunted men's room, indeed. Credulous night workers pissing in pairs. Too funny. Your careful scene setting pays off -- I can almost taste the food on Harry's plate. Almost it's enough to make me forgive you for killing Snape off. Gasp. Harry's wonderment at the changes around him is the perfect vehicle for the reader's sense of displacement. Dear God, did Hermione marry Finch-Fletchley? Egad.

I am off to read more. I will ration myself so I don't sit up reading the whole thing today, turning bleary-eyed and headachy at the screen.

Fabula Rasa

^_^ Awesome story!!

[shoorihoshi.livejournal.com]

Hey! I saw the link to your story on Veela Inc list, read it, checked out your site and wound up here. I figured I might as well give you some feedback since I enjoyed this story so much. *cackles madly* This was brilliant. ^_^ There was so much about this that I liked that I'm just going to hit on a bunch of little details. Calligromancy is a beautiful concept. I also loved the way Draco had changed so much since his years at Hogwarts- the details about him getting along so well with Hermione's family were really great. The H/D scenes were amazingly sexy, and very believable. *_* I wish I could write stories like this. Gah.

[tradescant.livejournal.com]

I was so excited to see this that I stayed up till 4am reading it, and only regret doing it because I feel sluggish this morning and unable to comment intelligently. I'll try to reread it this afternoon with an eye for detail, but I did just want to say right away that Transfigurations is an achievement to be proud of. It's well-planned, immensely complicated without being difficult to understand, funny and wrenching and sweet by turns, and the most impressive thing of all is that even though I know you've agonized for months and months over the whole thing, it's done with such a light, deft touch that it seems effortless.

CONGRATULATIONS!

:D

[mctabby.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading it a few minutes ago, and I'm still high as a kite.

Yay!

[(Anonymous)]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I <3 FixIt!Ron.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm usually pretty lazy about reviewing but I just wanted to to let you know how much I enjoyed this. It has so many intricate details that it kept me engrossed for about four hours.

I also can't believe that I didn't realise why Draco kept calling McGonagall "Kitty" until the ghost cat appeared at the end *smacks her forehead*.

Anyway thanks

Jeddy

review (contains spoilers)

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you what a joy it is to read a fic like yours - compelling plot, solidly-written characters, and such a fluent, unpretentious style. I really immersed myself in the world you created, and was reluctant to resurface at the end of the story.

Firstly, I must commend you on the Harry/Draco dynamic. Their relationship developed in a slow, but credible and controlled way, and the sex scenes were exceptionally well-handled. I adored the offbeat locations, the awkward conversations, and the physical and emotional contortions of the characters in their pursuit (and at some points avoidance) of intimacy.

There was so much to revel in when it came to the characterisations. For instance, Harry's refusal to call Draco anything but "Malfoy" until the very end, while Draco seemed to have extravagant nicknames for everyone except Harry. There was also Draco's varied wardrobe, and Harry's initial irritation and then growing fondness for it. And the way Draco was always stealing food off people's plates, and Harry noticed this every single time - even to the extent of photographing him while he did it.

These elements were all so well integrated into the shifts their relationship underwent (antagonism, understanding, affection, love) during the course of the story. These lines near the end really got me: "Harry spotted him under the portmap with Ron and Phoenix and an empty seat where Hermione must have been, eating fruit from a bowl. He had on that same plum-colored robe he'd worn at the opening feast, and as Harry watched, he met his eyes with the same look -- recognition, attraction, a sort of cautious, well-guarded hope --". It pleased me so much that Harry no longer appeared to mind Draco's affected clothes or annoying eating habits. And, even more importantly, that he had seen behind the facade, and finally grasped what Draco's feelings toward him had been from the start.

I do have one minor reservation, and that was the way you handled Ron. Don't get me wrong, he was in character - rather more laid-back than in canon, but that was a valid approach since he was an adult. I was just surprised at the way he faded from the action after his early comments about Draco's sexuality. Harry worried in passing that Ron would notice his affair, but Ron never actually did so. Ron's reaction to the revelation about Sunday's gender was peculiarly muted. And when the Harry-Draco relationship did go public, we were simply left to assume Ron was one of the people cheering in the background at the party. As Harry's best friend, I think Ron would have been a little more engaged in events as they unfolded. However, I want to stress that this in no way undermined the overall quality of the story. (Let's face it, the prominence or otherwise of Ron is a canon issue. If this was original fiction, rather than fanfiction, I wouldn't even raise it).

So, you'll have gathered by now that I really loved your work. I looked forward to reading it for a long time, and I was delighted by the way it turned out. I guess I will understand if this is your last word on the Harry/Draco pairing, but I really hope you'll carry on writing HP stories.

[marigolde.livejournal.com]

I read this when I should have been studying for my French final. Eh, priorities. Excellent fic.

Thank You.

[ashlle1.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to say to you, beyond thank you so much for writing such a wonderful novel. Transfigurations went above and beyond even my wildest expectations of what a post-Voldemort Hogwarts could be like. The darkness, the depth of character, the intricacy with which you wove your world...

Still the words fail me.

This review/rec, which I posted in my journal, addresses some of what I feel. Above and beyond all else, you rock.



My dear fellow readers,

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a new piece of fiction in town.

It's called Transfigurations, by resonant8. This is a Harry Potter fanfiction novel with a slash relationship between Harry and Draco, but please don't let that put you off. Even if you don't read Harry Potter fic, even if you've only seen the movies, even if... no excuses.

You need to read this.

It's long (400k). It's NC-17, for explicit sex and extreme darkness.

It's 'fanfiction'.

But that doesn't mean a thing.

This is a novel in the best style of novels, taking a war's aftermath and making it into something more than a celebration. There are dark things still at Hogwarts, terrible and complex and so utterly dark that you want to go hide in your bed with all your childhood stuffed animals around you.

I was sniffling by chapter 14, full-out crying by chapter 15. It's something rare, indeed, when I cry. I can count on one hand that which will make me cry, but this story, my friends, is one of them. The gamut of emotions that you will feel while involved in this novel is huge. There are humorous points, there are lonely points, there is nostalgia and confusion and utter despair and sadness...There is the sense of hopelessness and being overpowered by the darkness in the world. And there is that glimmer of hope when you set everything right, and there is love and affection and acceptance and triumph.

This is a masterpiece of characterization. Familiar characters: Harry, Hermione, Draco, McGonagall, Ron, the Weasleys...they're all there, just as you remember them from Rowlings' work, but they've been fleshed out, given heft and depth and reality. They are confusing at times, but they are always true to character. Resonant has taken these familiar characters and enhanced them in such a natural, fluid way that it seems wrong to have them any other way. More than just fleshing them out, however, the characters have been given a dynamic nature (as of yet) not seen in the books. They undergo significant personal changes, and this is what makes them so wonderful, so appealing, so human.

It's not always easy to read, like some fan stories, even the dark ones, can tend to be. This story draws the reader in. You don't always like the characters, and there are many points in the story where their decisions just make your heart ache and your head spin, but it's worth it.

There are some things that aren't completely easy to deal with from a long-term fanfiction standpoint, such as original characters and the big Weasley family of happiness, and a new subject in school, but these are handled, for the most part, masterfully. The few rough points (I do mean few. Very few) among these simply make you appreciate the rest of the story more.

Take this story seriously. Get yourself involved with it. Lock the door, turn off the phone and the instant messenger, get rid of the pesky homework and whatever is preying on you that must be done for tomorrow. Get a nice big glass of your favorite beverage. Keep a box of Kleenex near you. Put on the best emotional music you've got (I chose the two Titanic soundtracks) if that helps you to read, or keep it quiet if you don't like music while you read.

And just read it.

This story contained such a catharsis for me that I cannot adequately express it. But I'll keep trying.

I want everyone to read this. Everyone. I don't care if you've never really gotten into Harry Potter before this, or that you don't care for slash, or that you don't have time, or whatever your excuse is. Take the time soon, clear several hours on the weekend when you would normally be watching TV, and just read it. Transfigurations (http://trickster.org/res/transfig.html), by resonant8.



Ashlle (http://trickster.org/res/transfig.html)

i'm also bad with feedback, but..

[aerie.livejournal.com]

The only thing I loved more than your delicious, utterly credible characterisations in this story was the way you immersed us in the setting itself. All the creative ideas necessary for the quirky wizarding world are there, but more importantly they are seamlessly interwoven in your narrative, in the dialogue, in everything. Subtly and skillfully you gave the characters /culture/, and realistic depth to a fantasy story.

Impressively complex. And the journey was long and hard (darktensefunnysexysweetmoving) but it all came together neatly in an optimistic, very Harry Potter ending. Absolutely enchanting story. (:

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks so much!

It's obvious that great care was taken with the story and it really shows.

Not just by me, either -- I had some truly amazing thinking-and-writing partners on this.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm glad!

and the mines are really, really devious,

Slytherin, ain't they?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

read straight through and then send a message that says itz kool really really liked it plz write mre :)

*snicker* Gotten those, too, have you?

Almost it's enough to make me forgive you for killing Snape off. Gasp

I didn't want to do it! Really! The canon made me!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Ha! As Falstaff might have said, I'm a cause of sleep deprivation in myself and others.

And I'm more glad than I can say that it isn't as much work to read as it was to write.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And thank darthfox and rivier for Fixer Ron. All I could do with the guy was whine about him.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks!

Poor McGonagall. I put her through so many indignities, but being called Kitty has got to be among the worst.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

This made my day -- thanks!

I'm getting more comments (positive and negative) on Ron's characterization than on any other aspect of the story, and I think you've put your finger on why some readers aren't liking it -- he's really a fairly minor character in the story.

He isn't Harry's best friend any more; the two of them have been badly out of touch (though not for want of trying on Ron's part), and that role of "guide, humorous commentator, and reality check" has for the past five years been played by Kat rather than by Ron.

I do see more and more distance in the future of that relationship -- that's my interpretation of the canon. As long as Harry longs for Ron's family and Ron longs for Harry's importance, it's going to be increasingly difficult -- maybe ultimately impossible -- for the two of them to connect. Of course it's possible that they could deal with that openly and together, rather than just by drifting apart -- but I don't see this particular variant of Harry is being capable of doing that -- at least not at the place where he is in the early part of the story. He's not connecting with anyone.

Creating a new connection with Ron is something he could have been doing throughout the story, of course. Honestly, it didn't occur to me until I read your review that that, too, would be something he'd need to deal with if he was going to move forward. (Maybe somebody else will write that one. I had a friendship like that, and don't trust my ability to get enough distance on it to write about it.)

Thanks for the thoughtful review!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! See me for all your procrastination needs.