Name: Felpata_Lupin (Signed) · Date: 23 May 2020 08:34 AM · For: 1

Back again! :)

I really, really loved your portrayal of Poppy here! I must admit, I've never given her much thought, but you gave her life, strenght and purpose and I love it!

I love how she didn't exactly choose her career, but sort of just went with the flow, I find it very relatable and true to life. And it's also so true to life having people around you judging your choices, deeming them unfitting or unworthy for you. But I love that she found her right place in Hogwarts and how much she learnt. The paragraph where you listed all the different things she saw and treated while taking care of the Hogwarts students was so good! (I mean, taking care of thousands of adolescents who can do magic but also who are still learning is bound to cause the most absurd accidents, isn't it? The my-cat-bit-me-but-clearly-has-poisonous-fangs bit made me chuckle! :P)

The switch to the theme of unwanted pregnancies was so interesting to read. Poor Poppy, it must be so hard for her, seeing so many suffering girls and being unable to properly support them... I love how she tried to convince every Headmaster of the necessity of sexual education for the students and it makes me so angry Dumbledore's total disinterest! But that's exactly how he would be, too caught up in the Greater Good to care about such trivial matters... [insert huge eye-roll here] This time, high time she took matters into her own hands, she's had enough. Poppy's off to see the headmaster, and she'll make him listen this time. I really hope this last attempt is going to be successful!

I'm not sure I made this story justice with my review, but this was, once again, so good! I know I've told you in the past, but you're really a great writer!

Good luck with the Chalices! <3

Love,

Chiara

Author's Response:

Hi Chiara, thank you so, so much for reviewing! <3

I feel like, as a Hogwarts healer, Poppy would see a lot of different things on a day-to-day basis, and I had a lot of fun coming up with increasingly unlikely scenarios, haha! But yeah, the unwanted pregancies are definitely some of the most emotionally taxing cases she has to deal with - and I feel like there would be quite a few of them at Hogwarts because I really can't imagine they'd have decent sex ed.
And while Poppy has already tried numerous times to get various Headmasters to listen, this is the time that she's going to be successful, because she's finally reclaimed some of that agency that she lacked in the beginning of the story!

Love, Julia x
response left to build a sandcastle for the 2020 HC finale!

Name: MuggleMaybe (Signed) · Date: 14 Aug 2019 02:09 AM · For: 1

CONGRATULATIONS OF HUFFLEPUFF STORY OF THE MONTH!

 

I am so glad you got that recognition, because ths topic is extremely important and I don't think I've ever seen it addressed in fic before! I can't even imagine how horrible it must be for those girls who really have no solid education about pregnancy, and then to go through that trauma... it breaks my heart. Thank goodness Poppy is there for them, but at the same time... I'm angry and Dumbledore and all the other men in positions of power who refuse to hear women's voices even on the subject of our own health. Angry and the men in the Potterverse, and angry at the men in our world today. I really love that this story speaks to a flaw in canon, while also equally speaking to the problems with real life patriarchy.

 

You captured the emotions involved in Poppy's work very clearly. Especially the feelings of dismissal and of grief when she cannot do as much as she wishes.

 

Bravo to you! <33 

xoxo Renee

Author's Response:

Hi Renee, thank you so much for your review!

There are so many stories about Hogwarts pregnancies, and I knew that I wanted to do something very different when we got the 'teen pregnancy' prompt for the Great Collab! I love that you see the real world parallel here - there were so many girls in my high school that I felt had been failed by the system, because they hadn't been educated properly, and they couldn't really make informed decisions as a result, and had to undergo a lot of pain because of it (no matter what they decided to do), and I can't really imagine Hogwarts would be any different - at least it doesn't seem like the pinnacle of inclusive, informative Sex Ed to me. And Poppy obviously feels for the patients she treats, so I could fuel quite a bit of my own anger into Poppy's campaign for change!

Love, Julia xX
response left to build a sandcastle for the 2020 HC finale!

Name: Dojh167 (Signed) · Date: 12 Aug 2019 02:17 PM · For: 1

Hello Julia!

I loooove Poppy, and because I didn't get a chance to read this story during the finale, I wanted to be sure to stop by now!

I think that you did a really good job with Poppy's characterization. I got a really good feel for her strengths and struggles. It made me sad to think that she was looked down on for becoming the matron and that it’s not the life that she would’ve chosen for herself, but she is so perfect for the role and I don’t think she should have any shame. 

There are lots of interesting things you can focus on in the hospital wing, but I’m glad you drew attention to the devastating effects of Hogwarts’ abysmal lack of sex education. These are the kinds of incidents that are never referenced in canon, but of COURSE they happened. It was so frustrating but not surprising to see how dismissive the headmasters were.

 

I was really glad to see Poppy stop holding back at the end, determined to make change. I had to go back and check if this was a WIP or not, and I’m a little bummed we don’t get to see her confrontation and what comes of it. I’m rooting for her!

 

I did find myself wishing that we could get more direct scenes depicted, rather than summarized, but I understand how challenging that can be when trying to write a short chapter (not to mention with such difficult subject matter).

 

I think that you did a really good job with this story, and I’m glad I read it.

 

Puffyhugs!

Sam.

Author's Response:

Hi Sam, thank you so much for your review!! <3

Oh yeah, Hogwarts Sex Ed SUCKS BALLS! That is to say, it doesn't exist, because when have they ever taught anything that wasn't strictly academic? And in a boarding school, with hundreds of barely supervised students around, there's going to be consequences. And besides the students directly involves, obviously, Poppy is the one who feels them the most, so she's determined to finally change that!
This time, after so many failed attempts, she's finally going to make Dumbledore listen, but I understand that it would have been a lot more satisfying to see Dumbledore being properly chewed out by Poppy!

Love, Julia x
response left to build a sandcastle for the 2020 HC finale!

Name: Renacera (Signed) · Date: 07 Aug 2019 08:56 PM · For: 1

Juliaaaa!

First of all, congratulations on winning Hufflepuff's Story of the Month this month! You totally deserve it! And in honor of that (and the 'Puff-a-Claw-polypse), I'm here to review this lovely story!

I have to start with massive compliments on your undertaking of writing for Poppy! Minor characters can be so difficult to tackle, but you've done so, so well! Your characterization of her is so solid, and I really feel like you built on canon with the details you included. I love that she's so dedicated to her job, despite the judgment of people who thought she should do "more" with her career.

The basis of this story is fabulous. There are SO many Hogwarts pregnancy stories, and this shows the other side of that perfectly! The adults in charge at Hogwarts don't think about the implications of a bunch of teenagers living in such close proximity, and a lot of them never have to really consider the consequences. But Poppy has to deal with the scared students one-on-one and knows how important sex ed could be for them. And let's be honest: being at boarding school from the age of 11 on means these kids need someone explaining sex ed to them. It's baffling to me that Hogwarts doesn't have something like that.

The descriptions you gave of the many emotions that Poppy goes through as Hogwarts' nurse were beautiful. You really captured the depth of her as a character and showed an underside to Hogwarts that I think many readers don't consider.

All-in-all, this was a fantastic story! Great job with everything in it, and I'm so happy you're being recognized this month! :)

Best,
Emily

Author's Response:

Hi Emily, thank you so much for your wonderful review!!

Yeah, sex ed at Hogwarts is essentially non-existent - I'm convinced that school doesn't teach anything that's not strictly academic - and obviously, there're some pretty serious consequences to this! While the students are affected the most by that, Poppy as the resident healer is really the staff member who feels it the most! I also really, really loved your comment about this story serving as a counter-weight for Hogwarts pregnancy stories - that hadn't really been my intention when I wrote it (although I knew that I really didn't want to write one of those when we got the teen pregnancy prompt for the Great Collab) but I love that this story can serve that function! 
 
Love, Julia x
response left to build a sandcastle for the 2020 HC finale!

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 16 Jul 2019 03:31 PM · For: 1

JULIA OMG. (I’m going to leave this one more review for you, for now, but rest assured! I will be back! :D)

 

Oh my gosh. I am completely and entirely in love with this piece. I first chose this one because I adore Poppy Pomfrey—she’s one of my absolute favorite characters in Harry Potter, even though no one gives her much love because she’s always in the background—and as I kept reading, you made me continue loving her more than ever omg. Everyone who ever told her that this profession was not right for her, that this position was below her, needs to shut up because she’s done far more for these children than most people in the world can dream. I absolutely adored the way you described the many different injuries that Hogwarts children (being magical children haha) have been dealt in the past (one of my favorites was “my-cat-bit-me-but-clearly-has-poisonous-fangs mysteries”), because it shows that she, more than other Healers or researchers, have learned to handle important health crises without any expectation of what’s to come next.

 

And she’s amazing for it.

 

When the story shifted to how she had to help countless teenaged girls who’re struggling with their recently discovered pregnancies, scared and alone, my heart went out to each and every one of them. Poppy, having seen all of them, probably feels for them even more. “A pregnancy, especially an unplanned one, was always a challenging and traumatic experience, regardless of how long the mother carried her child.” Ugh this line is so beautiful, and so accurate, and the fact that there’s no real way to help these teenaged girls—who are too young to have to bear this sort of responsibility—make their decisions makes it hurt so much more.

 

Your Poppy Pomfrey is absolutely amazing. When she was talking about how the Headmasters refused to listen to her endless advocation for good sex education, I wanted to first smack Headmaster Dippet and then Dumbledore. I’ve heard these kinds of things far too much, and it’s really awful and terrible and THEY NEED TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES DAMMIT.

 

Poppy will succeed this next time. I believe in her.

 

Ugh I love her. Thank you for writing this. <3

 

Eva

Author's Response:

EVA!!! Thank you so much for your review!!

 

I, too, love Poppy, but then again, I am obsessed with very minor characters :D And anyone who tells her being the Hogwarts Healer is not a valuable profession can go suck it - she certainly has both a broader and a much more adaptable knowledge of healing than most people in the wizarding world - she's who you want in an emergency!

And yeah, I reckon Hogwarts sex ed sucks, if it even exists at all, which I really doubt seeing as that school does not seem to teach anything that's not directly related to the academic study of magic - while the brunt of that is, of course, felt by the students, Poppy, both as the resident healer and as a fundamentally trustworthy person, is the member of staff who is affected the most by that, so it's not surprising that she's advocating for change - and this time, she'll make Dumbledore listen!

Love, Julia x
response left to build a sandcastle for the 2020 HC finale!