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I thought I was coming here to just finish off the story but I actually haven't read this chapter either??? Oops. But still, I'm so excited that you finished this wonderful story and I'm happy to be finishing it today!
How have I never before thought about owls losing letters? Like, if you don't attach it well enough, of course it would fall it off! That's something I've never considered before, haha. How annoying! Poor Viktor.
It must be so nice to have someone to talk to for Hermione, especially since Harry is dealing with all his stuff, and then after Mr Weasley's attack, Ron wasn't really feeling that great either. It must have been a lonely and helpless time, so I love that she could still connect with someone.
Bless her for asking him for girl help on Harry's behalf, haha! I loved that detail.
Great chapter!
You summarized the end of the trio's year five so well throughout these letters! I was curious how you would address the dramatic end of OotP, and I loved that Hermione gave Viktor a very factual list of what she could. It fit very nicely given all their correspondence about shotty reporting and government interference with what news is shared with the general public. She's telling him straight up what she can, which is far more than anyone else has done for them at this point in time.
I love that he makes a joke and does what he can to calm her down and bolster her all at once. You feel him being a calming presence and her being a little frantic, but there is A LOT going on for her at this point in the series, so it is totally understandable! To highlight their emotions in how they write their letters has got to be challenging but you do such a great job of this! As a reader I felt like I was with these characters (if that makes any sense hah).
Anyway, I loved everything about this Madi! I thought you did such a great job capturing the friendship between these two and exploring it at greater length than what we see in canon. All your details about Viktor's life in Bulgaria were brilliant! I love seeing rare/fringe characters fleshed out more, so it was all very enjoyable! Your ability to conjure up imagery and capture everyday emotions in the letters was so well done!
Thanks for writing this!
<3 Courtney
I wondered how Krum would react to the life long ban that Harry and the Weasley twins received, but his poor owl! I love that you're including little details like that in this. I think this gives depth to these letters and as a reader you can picture these little episodic things happening. :)
I also love how Ron knows about their correspondence and is giving her little details about Viktor's Quidditch progress. I mean, I know he learns it in canon, but seems kind of mehh about it. And maybe he's just generically talking about Quidditch to her. But it feels like he might be constantly feeding her information, which I think is kind of sweet too? And Viktor kind of being embarrassed by it. Adorable. <3
And aww the episode with Mr. Weasley. My heart. My poor favorite fam. :( But this is so Molly Weasley: "Mrs. Weasley won’t stop alternating between crying and cooking so much food it’ll be impossible for it to all get eaten before it goes bad." You can sense Hermione's fear and uncertainty in that letter. I love how you capture it through mispellings, mispunctuations, and repetition of words and thoughts.
Also the image of Viktor being snowed in his house with his parents...just felt kind of cozy? Even if he's not a super big fan of the holidays. The tidbit of them having to "save face" in front of their Muggle neighbors and pretend like they can't just clear the snow away made me chuckle. And the bit about the Bulgarian Quidditch League paying their injured players was another great detail to included to show more about Viktor's life in Bulgaria. I love how much depth you're giving his character! You can see my love of fringe characters is showing through these reviews ;)
Another great chapter Madi!
<3 Courtney
Hi Madi, back again! :)
Also, one thing I forgot to mention in my previous reveiw was that I love how you gave Hermione this academic rivalry with Draco Malfoy. I don't even know if we know from canon that Draco receives top marks (I'm a terrible fangirl like that), but I love that she cites this several times to Viktor. I feel like she wouldn't be able to disclose this Ron or Harry, so I love that she can to Viktor. :)
Anyway, the beginning of this was great! Viktor following the news of what's happening in Britain because he's concerned. Him also potentially giving Hermione the idea to get Harry to start DA. I mean, she could have totally come up with that on her own and maybe she does and its just a coincidence that he also suggests something along those lines. Either way, I liked your inclusion of that in the first letter! It shows that he is thinking of solutions to help her in her current circumstances. And it's very sweet! Speaking of sweets, I love that they're "exchanging" them! Hermione giving him Molly's sweets and Hermione giving him a pumpkin bread recipe...super cute! (See how corny I got with that punny transition?) Now I can picture Viktor chomping down on pumpkin bread in between Quidditch practices, and it's kind of adorable!
And oh, the invisible ink bit?! What a stroke of brilliance to incorporate this "Muggle technology." I loved that! :D And the "Harry and Ron made me tell you Quidditch was cancelled," part was funny! And then "teenage boys are annoying (no offense)" hah. And then "maybe Weasley would enjoy a letter from me telling him to study?" I love these little bits of humor you insert in these letters to lighten the mood of them. Because honestly it is a very dark and uncertain time in canon. Well done there!
I was wondering about how they would get around writing under Umbridge's watchful eye. I think waiting it out was appropriate, but also maybe they're using that invisible ink again? Anyway...I love reading about canon events from Hermione's point of view. It gives an additional depth and way of thinking that we don't see in the canon. So this is great, and I am really enjoying this!
<3 Courtney
Hi Madi! I'm finally here to review this! :)
I loved this first chapter! You can feel both of their awareness and anxiety of what's happening in the Wizarding World, although Hermione's is felt more deeply because she's in the midst of it. But I loved seeing glimpses of what is going on for Viktor in Bulgaria. The banning of Dark Arts at Durmstrang, the interim Headmaster, and the lack of publicizing what happened with Karkaroff and the Triwizard Tournament...it makes me wonder more about magical relations between the different countries and if it was somehow planned.
I really felt like these characters were well captured through their words. Hermione is definitely more open about everything and discloses more than Viktor. But Viktor shares what he can, in terms of life updates and life advice to Hermione. I thought that was totally believable and him telling her not to roll her eyes at him haha. Teenagers/young adults always think they kind of know best, and Hermione is not exception really. But it was a cute and funny moment that shows how much he knows her.
I thought this all made perfect sense, and I thought you did a good job of conveying these feelings through letters, which I imagine wasn't easy because sometimes you can't convey everything with words. Particularly if there's a slight language barrier. But also, writing in another language is easier than verbally communicating, so I get it. You do such a great job at making the correspondence feel meaningful and not like they're waxing poetically to one another! I love it!
Thanks so much for writing Madi! I'll try and do the rest of this (as my gift for your lovely fairy nest ;))
<3 Courtney
Something I forgot to mention in my last review is how good the voices are. They're distinct and fit well with the characters, so you've done such a great job on that! The two of them sending recipes and sweets is the cutest thing ever. Viktor must have been loving those messages haha, with all the stuff that happened in Order of the Phoenix :P I really loved hearing about it all from Hermione's point of view. And I also love hearing details about Viktor's life. He's such an interesting character and I forgot how world-famous he is! I think it's super sweet that Hermione is asking Viktor about Quidditch and also asking Ron so that she can get facts straight, especially when it's something she doesn't care about. It really shows the friendship between her and Viktor and I'm living for it! Really enjoyed this, Madi :)
This was such a great chapter, I really enjoyed it! You have the best ideas and I hate that I haven't read your writing in ages! I totally forgot that Hermione and Viktor kept in touch and I love your interpretation on it. I think my favourite thing was all the talk of Harry. He provided a mutual talking point, but mostly I love that Viktor genuinely cares for Harry and wants these updates. I've also never considered how Hermione and Ron might have felt in the events of the beginning of the fifth book, how they weren't allowed to write to him or anything. It was really interesting to read about it, and I loved what you did with that information. I also loved hearing about how things were in Bulgaria with Voldemort and Karkaroff, and it's scary that they kept it so quiet. Can't wait to read the next one!
Hi, I'm here for the Gryffinclaw "Take Flight" Review Event.
I find it interesting that the letter was lost in the story-entirely plausible, but just as likely that Umbridged commandered it especially since he mentioned the ridiculousness of Umbridge.
Love the fact that she keeps track of Victor's games through Ron (and that Victor doesn't seem to mind that she doesn't care about the sport.) I wonder how Ron would feel if he knew the he was giving them topics to discuss in their letters.
I also like how she admits how scared she is and the expectations when they are only fifteen. It really shows the depth of their friendship.
Great job!
Hi Madi! Here for CMDC Round 3!
I’ve heard so much about this fic. I look forward to seeing you finish it! I haven’t read a fic before about the ongoing friendship between Hermione and Viktor. I love how full their letters are hear, how much thought you'd put into showing these canon events from Hermione's perspective, and you can see their personalities shining through -- Hermione’s especially, I think she really sparkles here. It’s just so nice to hear her “talk” about what’s going on in her life in a narrative fashion -- not just chastising someone about school work, not just responding to whatever crisis is happening, not just mediating disputes, but being a person holding a long, personal conversation with someone. She sounds excited and vibrant in her letters, and it’s very evocative of those times in canon when we see her get fired up about something important to her, like SPEW -- and I find it delightful.
You can really tell how much she and Viktor respect and enjoy one another. And Viktor is very amusing to read despite his formality and understatedness -- I giggled a bit at the thought of his parents not being able to fully let go now that he has flown the nest, visiting him all the time and such. I love how he offers to write Ron to get Ron to study. Wonder how that would work out (*side-eye*). Viktor is a nice, grounding presence in Hermione’s life, even from afar, which is nice because she has to serve as that person so often for her own friends.
Looking forward to more!
Melanie
Another great chapter, Madi (I do hope you continue on with this story!)
I love how we're getting to see the canon story through Hermione's eyes. Even as her (ever so slightly *cough wheeze cough*) smartest witch of her age attitude pops out. If only Harry and Ron let her lead once in a while - things would have gone so much smoother, am I right?
Again, I love the way you write the friendship between Hermione and Viktor. They seem genuinely concerned for each other. This sounds like a good relationship that will pass the test of time. (Even if Ron gets jealous over it.)
I love the little, canon tidbits you intersperse in the letters to give us some continuity to the main story. I especially appreciate the ones Viktor gives - because, basically, it seemed like Rowling forgot about how the War was effecting other schools (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.)
Thanks, again, Madi for writing this.... <3 juls
Dear Madi, I'm here to review you! (Captain Obvious of me, I know!)
I remember when this challenge came up, and thought it was a pretty cool one. I regret not doing it now, after reading your entry.
I love how you picked Viktor and Hermione for this. It amazes me that after introducing Viktor into the story, Rowling never bothered to bring him out much again. He was a light in the Darkness of Durmstrang, and could have been as much a savior as Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Ginny and Luna was. His actual study into the Dark Arts could have helped in the battles to come.
I've always liked Viktor and Hermione's relationship. He was more on her intellectual level. Too bad that Rowling didn't at least explore a healthy relationship between the two of mutual respect and friendship, if nothing else.
Hermione confiding in him seems very canon to me. He was the only one to show her any admiration of her skills in a healthy way. Ron and Harry, while grateful, seemed disparaging at times of her skills.
Great chapter, Madi! <3 juls
Hey!
So I really like the first letter that we are getting to see more of Victor here. I think it's really nice to see more of his troubles and just generally a bit of moaning because Hermione had a lot of that needing reassuring or just someone to listen to her but I feel like we see an equal footing from this first letter. I like they have more even friendship in that regard. I'm obsessed with these little canon details and I got so excited to see Victor give Hermione the idea for Dumbledore's Army! I just think that's such a cool idea to get a little mini origin story behind that idea.
Hermione is a little delight again. I think you've done a good job at framing the serious issues in with little titbits to keep it not too dark or overwheleming. The more that I read Hermione's letter the more I'm hearing Emma Watson's voice so you're obviously doing a great job as I hear that so clearly in the langauage and tone you've used for her Letters. I like Victor saying that she is brilliant. Always be around people that big you up! it's important lesson!
I love how Hermione has to tell Victor about the Quidditch because Harry and Ron wanted here to. I find this believeable. I liked that Victor made the joke about sending Ron a note to take him to study. I don't think we see his humour much from canon. I guess understandable considering his visit but it's nice to see you putting your own stamp on him while staying in line with what we know from canon.
Abbi xx
Hey Madi,
I thought this piece was very well crafted! I'm really impressed at the way you got across some much of the character within the letters. I can be difficult when writing these types of things because you can't see the characters actions/inner monologue so a lot of the impact is in your writing style. I think you especially did really well with Hermione's letters. They were very clearly her style, I found that she started off in a more formal writing style which I think I would expect from what we know about her. I like that she is putting the emotion into her letters.
I think for Hermione that it is probably quite difficult to get her emotions out properly because she is best friends with two boys. One of which she is doing most of her worrying about. It was really cool idea to explore Hermione letting out her emotions through these letters to Victor. I feel like writing these letters to Victor is what is keeping her sane at this point. I think my favourite little thing from the letters was Hermione telling Victor about Bill and Fleur. Hermione is the type to secretly enjoy gossip I think! :P
I think these letters were really cool concept because we don't see a lot outside of Harry's bubble. I don't really know what the reaction outside of UK would be if any so it's fun to use Victor's letters to see how the events are affecting everyone else in the world. I don't find it too surprising that it seems to be kept quite quiet honestly. I think your characterization is Victor's letters is much as I would imagine from him. I think he is straight forward guy and matter of fact about things. His letters bounce off Hermione's nicely.
I loved that he can give her good advice and share his experiences. I feel like that's probably something that she is lacking with Harry and Ron. It's good that she can get that through these letters. They have a lovely friendship by the sounds of these letters. I love the little details within the letters like Hermione sending him some treats over. It is just the little things which really help build the relationship between the two. I think you've nailed that aspect of the piece totally. It comes across very naturally! Great job!
Abbi xx
Hi Madi! I'm just dropping in a review for your Christmas wishlist!
I always worry a little that stories with just letters or notes of some kind are going to be quite hard to review as there might not be enough to say, but this was great! You kept a great story going through the letters and not dropping Hermione's character at all. I loved that despite everything going on, she was still fretting about exams and the upcoming school year, which is just like her. She also talked about Harry and Ron as well as the rise of Voldemort. I thought this was all brilliant.
I liked your Viktor Krum too and how he offered her advice and we also learned a bit of his character and insecurities, such as his grades not being the best, though he did quickly offer a Quidditch-related excuse for that! However, not only that, but Hermione talking about what is going on with Voldemort made him take precautions with his own security - it's great that he doesn't underestimate the threat, even though he lives in another country.
I'm really interested in where this will go. I hope they continue their letters for some time as it's really lovely to read something from Hermione's point of view as I don't seem to very often!
Merry Christmas - Tasha xx
Hi, Madi! I came back!
Wow, I really enjoyed your Hermione's and Victor's letter. It's plausible that it could be Victor who recommend Harry for the DADA teacher while Umbridge's interference at Hogwarts. I enjoyed how Hermione told about the situation around Harry including persuading him to be an instructor with advice from Krum who knew Harry well since the Triwizard Tournament. What a nice idea involving Victor's suggestion!
I smiled at his comment about the numbers of Hermione's O.W.L.s. It's a good thing for both of them to tell the news around them, it was especially dark time for Hermione, she could feel relaxed to have Victor listen to her anxiety. And she was a good listener for Victor who played Quidditch as well.
One merit for us by reading an epistolary story, we don't have to read Krum's Blugarian accent, haha. I could read his thoughts without being disturbed by the allusion of foreign languages.
One thing in my mind is that I noticed Hermione wrote the name, Ron along with Harry. I worry how and when she will confess her true feeling towards Ron to Krum.
oh... you will continue this story... I'm looking forward to reading the next development.
(3/3 the dragon tale award review)
HELLO. Here to judge entries for my epistolary challenge! <3
The idea of showing the letters between Viktor and Hermione is really intriguing—I mean, this is the first instance where someone takes a public interest in Hermione, and this was her first romance of sorts! I honestly do wonder about what exactly that relationship was like; JKR never really disclosed any juicy details, and people don’t usually write fanfics about Hermione and Viktor during that stage of their lives, haha. So I was really interested to read this story, and see how these two are doing after her fourth year ended! (Quick disclaimer: I have not read the books in a very long time, so I can’t remember if it was canonical that Hermione wrote letters to Viktor, or if she ever explicitly mentioned sending anything specific to him in her letters, so if there’s a direct reference to the books here, I probably won’t catch it eep.)
So this is taking place during Hermione’s fifth year, which makes sense. One of the very first things that I noticed was the difference in sign-offs! Viktor ends his letters with “Yours, Viktor” which is kind of sweet! It implies a sense of romance and “I miss you” to me, though perhaps I’m reading far too much into this. :P However, it does also make me slightly wary because Hermione doesn’t seem to be reciprocating that kind of sentiment at all; she signs with simply “Hermione,” which I feel like friends often do, but not romantic interests. So perhaps there is some unrequited love going on here?? Or at least some unequal balance of romantic feeling, haha. Viktor seems to have a softer spot for her than she does for him, which I’m actually a little relieved about because she is just fourteen, so I’m glad that she’s not about to go confessing her love to him or anything as drastic as that.
I think it’s really nice, though, that she’s able to confide in someone who is fairly far-removed from her problems! Most of us don’t have that luxury, and oftentimes the people around us are close enough to understand our problems simply through proximity, and talking to them could potentially burden our day-to-day relationship. But Viktor is a million miles away! (Geography is not my strong suit.) She could write her problems to him to get it off her chest, and vice versa, and then they don’t have to worry about conversing with one another until like four days later! It’s a marvelous system, which I think the international system should invest in immediately. But like she gets to talk to someone about her worries for Harry, and he listens, which I think is nice.
I also really liked hearing about Viktor’s side of things, like how he talked about Karkaroff getting investigated by the Ministry of Magic a few years ago. It makes me wonder how international magical governments work, and whether or not they’re allowed to investigate major magical folk from other countries or not? Or maybe it’s just another example of the British just harrumphing wherever they want to go, who knows? :P I also forgot that their fifth year involved Umbridge! Oh no! I like how Viktor also refers to her as a toad, haha, I suppose that impression carries across to more than just the Hogwarts students.
It’s been really sweet reading the letters from these two! Thanks for sharing!
And thanks so much for participating in my challenge! <3
Eva
Hi, Madi! Thank you for participating and did a great work for my story challenge.
I'm glad to have a chance to read your story again. It's my first ever experience to read friendly correspondence between Hermione and Victor. It's a fresh reading his thought not disturbed by his accent, not that I don't like his English accent, but just hard to figure out what he says from the writing including his accent by J.K.Rowling.
I laughed at Hermione's thought around Ron : 1. his lack of emotion to express around Harry's loss
2. he would not behave well as a Prefect if Harry also got the badge, they would do more troubles altogether!
You developed a good friendship between them by writing their correspondence, Madi. Your Victor is very kind and a good listener for Hermione though he is very busy while doing Quidditch. At the same time, we can imagine how the situation at his school might be. You did a great job on that as well.
I got furious again around Fudge, which means you nailed at the description around the Ministry after Voldemort came back. And you added Hermione's anxiety around her scores, I remember the fact that Draco Malfoy was the next to her. As the contrast, your Victor's advice around career is very impressive and made a point. It's very plausible after he got through many things in the professional field.
I'll come back.
(The award review 1 / 3)
K
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