Name: Felpata_Lupin (Signed) · Date: 17 Nov 2022 06:34 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hi, Vicki! Here for our swap! <3

Well... wow... this was quite unsettling... as any good story set in this time period should be, I suppose... :/ I think it was interesting how you used the maggots as a metaphore for evil festering under the surface and corrupting everything. It's sad, but effective, and unfortunately very true to real life issues, I think... :/

I also really enjoyed reading this story from Hagrid's POV. Hagrid isn't a point of view that I've seen explored frequently in fanfiction, and especially for a story like this creates such a great dissonance, because we know him to be so trusting, even to be point of being naive, and what's happening now at Hogwarts is so distant from his sensibility, is beyond his comprehension... and it works so well here!

At first, I was surprised that the Carrows were so well-disposed about the pumpinks and the Halloween feast. They did feel a bit malicious pointing out Hagrid's lack of wand (I wonder if they knew Hagrid's little secret? I suppose they didn't... side note, I had to chuckle a little at Snape's "I have no time for these trivial matters" :P That's so in character for him! :P) but I almost expected them to put up some resistence to the idea of the feast itself, or to Hagrid being involved at all, and I was suspicious when they didn't. And later, when the maggots were revealed (can't blame Ginny for her reaction one bit, I shivered only imagining it...) I wondered if they truly were behind it somehow. Where did the maggots come from, btw? Was it just some strange coincidence or was there something more sinister going on? I suppose it was just a way for you to set the tone of your story and the final metaphore, but still I can't help but wonder about it... :P

I loved the kids at work, though, and how they didn't let the mishap discourage them! I love the bit when you described them carving, how it started half-heartedly but slowly they got into the excitement of the work when the atmosphere of the cleaned up and decorated pumpinks made them forget the maggots for a little while. Loved their resilience, and the hopefulness of that moment, even if it was short lived.

The Carrows' "decorations" were absolutely awful! Disgusting, really! I can't even imagine the shock and the horror the kids would be feeling entering the Great Hall that night... it's not surprising that there was no festive feeling at all, that people were hardly touching food and only talking in low whispers... apart from the Carrows who were so delighted and proud of their work, of course... :/ Poor Hagrid... of course he would try to escape as soon as he could... the idea that he feared that someone might think he contributed to this is so sad... I'm sure no one would have thought him responsible in any way, but I can sort of see why he would feel that way... poor bloke... :(

This was another really good story! I think you captured the mood just right, and I'm liking all your worldbuilding and headcanons for the missing Hogwarts' year, and especially for what the Carrows would be like. I'm really intrigued by the way you write it! :)

Thank you so much for the swap! Always a pleasure reading your stories! <3

Snowball hug,

Chiara

Author's Response:

Hi, Chiara!

 

Thank you so much for proposing this review swap.  I'm glad you "experienced" (I won't exactly say "enjoyed") this story from my headcanon of the 1997-1998 school year.  It was meant to be sort of a horror story.  My original fanfiction home, Mugglenet FanFiction, always made a big deal about Hallowe'en, both in prose and in poetry, so most of the "spooky" pieces on my AP come from that.  It was also my first attempt at writing Hagrid as my main character.  He's such an interesting gkuy.

 

You were correct in being suspicious of what the Carrows were up to and why they were so willing to have a Hallowe'en feast.  Nothing that they were in favor of could possibly be any good.

 

The maggots were not something that the Carrows created or caused.  They were just the result of an insect infefstation of the pumpkin vines starting in the early summer when the pumpkins were forming on the vines.  I doubt that Hagrid ever sprayed his vines with any kind of pesticide to prevent insect infestations, but this year the insects found his plants and laid their eggs in the tiny pumpkins just as they were beginning to develop.  So the presence of the maggots was just a coincidence, but also greatly symbolic for the purpose of the story.

 

It's a cold and uncomfortable scene when the students go out to carve the pumpkins -- already getting cold and dark, and the pumpkins are undersized for reasons that Hagrid and the kids don't know at first, and then all the maggots.  Luckily they had the charms to move the mass of maggots into the tubs and then to scourgify the interiors of the pumpkins -- without magic they would never have dealt with those pumpkins.  But the kids were determined to do their best with what they had -- fewer, smaller pumpkins, with simpler designs carved into them.  And Hagrid did the best he could with decorating the Great Hall with them, even though it wasn't nearly as good as it had been in previous years.

 

Hallowe'en is only two months into the school year, and already we see how evil and cruel the Carrows are, with these horrific displays of Muggles being tortured and executed.  The Carrows were so gleeful to see how shocked and horrified the students and the staff were.  "This is how the future will be -- get used to it!"  And poor Hagrid -- aghast that he had had any part in the decorations, even though totally innocently.  If the Carrows notice that he has left the feast, they probably don't care.  They know that he has seen the decorations and has gotten the full effect of them.  So now, back at his barns, away from that hellish Hallowe'en Feast, in the cold and dark of night, he sees the earth still heaving where he has buried the maggots and he wonders if the evil of the Death Eaters will be any easier to kill than these maggots, or any surer.  No happy ending to this story, not now, at any rate.

 

I am very grateful for your thorough and thoughtful review.  Have a pleasant evening!

 

Vicki <3 

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 31 May 2019 08:59 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hi Vicki! I’m here to check out your scary story. :)

 

I don’t know if it’s the year this story is set it alone that is doing it, but from the very beginning this story feels like it is on the edge of a cliff, about to plunge into disaster. I feel so bad for Hagrid, cautiously asking Snape about the Halloween party, only to be shuffled over to the Carrows. I almost wish Snape had just said ‘no party,’ but then there wouldn’t have been a story.

 

Amycus is so slimy—does he suspect that Hagrid has a wand, or does he just think that Hagrid is stupid? Either way, the fact that he tacitly agrees to the party makes me very nervous. After he’d canceled basically all of the fun stuff, why would he allow the Halloween party? Is it a trap?

 

You’ve written Hagrid so well in this story—his little slip ups were he lets out too much information, his speech patterns—all very nicely done. I giggled when he lamented the lack of nutritious pumpkin seeds.

 

The maggots in the pumpkins are sooo gross! But, at least they know why the pumpkin harvest is was so poor. I would not want to be one of the students having to carve the maggoty pumpkins. This whole section where the students are trying to salvage the pumpkins is visceral. You’ve described it so well and all I could think was ick! I would be with Ginny, as far away as possible, trying to gingerly clean out the things without smelling them. I love that you’ve written what should be a heartwarming scene—some students helping Hagrid carve pumpkins for a feast—and turned it on its head into something so gross and chilling.

 

Of course, that’s nothing compared to the horrific decor that the Carrows decide to contribute to the party! Oh my goodness, the effigies are brilliant and awful! What a scene—the endlessly repeating display of executions. And Amycus’s nasty speech welcoming everyone to the future—how could anybody eat that night? And poor Hagrid! I doubt that anyone would think that he had anything to do with the Carrows’ stunt. 

 

I wonder how much of this year Snape spent blocking out everything going on around him. And all the teachers and students, at least at meals. When they are on public display, Hagrid’s right, they don’t want to draw attention to themselves and get into trouble. 

 

The image of the ground heaving due to the buried maggots is also chilling and Hagrid’s faint hope that maybe the winter freeze will kill them is not a lot to go on. 

 

Another great moment, Vicki! This feast fits right in with 1997 at Hogwarts. What a frightening place to be. Thanks for writing this!

 

Yours,

Noelle

Author's Response:

Hi Noelle,

Thank you for this scary-story review.  It's the first time I have featured Hagrid in a story.  I think that any story set in the year 1997-98 at the castle would be scary and creepy to some degree.  Yes, Amycus is slimy, but I think he just assumes that Hagrid is stupid because of his (Amycus's) prejudice against anyone who is different, and Hagrid is actually the smarter one because he instantly sees what Amycus is thinking and just plays along.  But obviously the Carrows had planned to make the Hallowe'en party as horrible and shocking as possible, and Hagrid and the students had not yet come to know to what depths the Carrows would sink in their depravity.  They soon found out!

I like your question about how much Professor Snape was blocking out the things going on around him.  Perhaps he was just hoping that the damage to the sudents would not be permanent, or maybe he didn't really care, since he never seemed to have had much love for the students anyway.  How much did he agonize over this (if at all)?  We'll never know.

Still having trouble regulating the font size with this computer.  Well, too big is better than too little.  I'm so glad you liked the story.

Vicki