Name: Phoenix Potioneer (Signed) · Date: 19 May 2018 03:11 PM · For: Ghosts of Christmas

Okay, first of all, just WOW. This was really deep. I love the progression of time and I like how you chose your characters and how it's all connected. It's quite beautiful.

 

I also enjoy how for some characters you don't outright tell us who's POV it is immediately- you leave it to us to figure it out (like Tom Riddle's paragraph). It keeps us moving forward in your story because we're curious to see how it is.

 

I also appreciate how you don't just use canon characters, especially the inclusion of a muggle named Alec. When writing about Christmas at Hogwarts most authors wouldn't consider writing about a muggle, but you did. I've never really thought about muggles existing at Hogwarts before the Statute of Secrecy was implemented, but you did.

 

I also like Alec's sort of nonchalant attitude about magic. He's sort of like "yeah, weird stuff goes on here, but they're cool". It's great.

 

Your choice of characters was so unique. What connects Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Twiwizard champions, a muggle, Tom Riddle, Sybill Trelawney, Remus Lupin, Professor McGonogall, and house-elves? Just one thing- Christmas at Hogwarts. And even though they're all so different, with different personalities and different times, you made it all come together seemlessly. Nice job.

 

I love your final few lines where you speculate how Christmas at Hogwarts will be celebrated. It's such a beautiful sentiment, and it can apply to anywhere, not just Hogwarts. Will my school still be standing 2000 years from now? Probably not. What will be here instead?

 

The last few lines showed how this stsory looks both forward and backwards. I love that.

 

Overall, fantastic job with this. Your description was amazing. Keep writing!

Name: danicasyer (Signed) · Date: 17 May 2018 06:10 PM · For: Ghosts of Christmas

Hello!
I just finished reading this one shot and honestly I'm not sure where to even start because there's so many things I want to express regarding what I just read so I'll try and break them into paragraphs as to convey my thoughts more properly regarding this story. 
The first thing that comes to mind that I want to say is that I really enjoyed reading the different point of views of the differing characters as they experienced Christmas at Hogwarts as time progresses by since it gave you a feel of what time period or the generation that we're reading about. I also find the the different point of views from each character about how Christmas that were being spent at Hogwarts was to read since it gave us a sense of how each of them were going through during Christmas. I enjoyed reading about Helena and Rowena's mother daughter moment involving ice skating during when the founders started the school to Teddy Lupin's latest experience in the Next Generation. 

There was only one thing in regards to the time period in this story that I was curious about was the paragraph where you shifted to the part where Minerva McGonagall was alone in the darkness until she heard a knock and was joined by Pomona Sprout and I was just wondering if that happened during around Harry's Seventh year at Hogwarts but he wasn't around since he was on the run and all since that part did confuse me slightly but otherwise I really did enjoy that scene since it was bittersweet.

I really loved how some of these stories also had elements of grief, tragedy, or sadness to them while others were more lighthearted, festive, lively, and with joy. For example, I felt torn when reading how Helga was there for Rowena when the latter hadn't been well and that she did everything she could to look after her close friend especially knowing that the latter's daughter was now a ghost but her mother hadn't seen her until death, seeing Tom Riddle was enjoying himself while eating the feast in the Great Hall yet also coming to terms that his thoughts had strayed to his thoughts of having realize that he was alone which for him, when Remus Lupin had to go to Whomping Willow since he would have to transform into a Werewolf and stay away from the other students instead of joining in the festivities and I felt his pain until Sirius joined him which by the way really warmed my heart and I think I was grinned after that because he came as his animagus which was really sweet and adorable. I also love the Marauders friendship too so I really enjoyed reading that one. I also recall that Teddy Lupin decided to spend Christmas at Hogwarts and how you managed to contrast the atmosphere of the outside with him standing in the graves and the brightly lit and lively Great Hall within. I also felt that you have captured a lot of different ways to also celebrate Christmas so there were joy and sorrow to capture the theme of the holidays as well.

I wanted to mention that I thought it was realistic that you managed to tell Alec's story of his Christmas not being too festive to the point where the holidays season was in the air and it was more subtle than it had been for the other characters whose point of view you shared considering that it was bittersweet seeing as he would leave his job at Hogwarts working after working with the horses in the stables and the other strange creatures that he was working with. I find that Christmas doesn't have to always be celebrated and or that it's not always about the splendor regarding the decorations, feasts, and presents and I really loved that since I know that not everybody is going to be visiting relatives, eating warm food, singing carols, and or partake in other traditions that happen on Christmas Day that I haven't mentioned and it was nice to see that he was just taking it easy despite the fact that his thoughts had rather been focused on his job coming to an end after the contract as well as him having to leave Hogwarts and living elsewhere.

Another thing is that I really enjoyed your description throughout reading this. The ones that stood out to me were the description was how you describe the fireplace especially the part about the flames and the evergreen during the earlier Yule Ball at the Triwizard Tournament that took places ages ago. I also liked how you described the stark contrast of the blizzard in contrast to the warmth inside with the meuller wine and mince pie when reading Sibyll's Christmas being spent with the staff playing Exploding Snaps.

Overall this was a really wonderful read and I found myself immersed with many of characters and their experience during the holidays especially Teddy Lupin's and Sibyll Trelawney. With that said, this is a really lovely one shot and I enjoyed reading it!

-Anni