Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 18 Feb 2022 07:00 PM · For: Around the World, Wizarding Style

Hi, Dan.

What did I think about it? Unusual, that's for certain. Neville Apparating pr Port-keying all around the world with a female companion who turns out to be Luna, and he's trying to avoid the attentions of adoring fans after his heroic stand at the Battle of Hogwarts, but no matter where he goes, his fame has preceded him and he can't escape the crowds and hordes.  Except in Branson, apparently, since there do not seem to be any crowds outside the bar at the moment.

Yes, it was amusing -- Rick trying to help out this tipsy and out-of-his-element foreigner who obviously didn't need any more booze.  And it was funny that Neville was so drunk that he had obviously fogotten all about the Statute of Secrecy and was just running off at the mouth about his troubles, with no curb on his tongue and apparently not much awareness of what he was saying.

I loved the long string of British slang that he used to describe his woman problems since becoming a hero.  Reading HP fanfiction over the years, I've learned some of it myself, but by no means all the terms that Neville used, and I'm sure that Rick didn't recognize any of them.

Everything that Neville says makes sense to us but not to Rick.  Rick's initial helpful impulse is rapidly changing to alarm. For him, the situation is getting out of hand.  

Luckily Luna shows up, no less incomprehensible but at least not drunk or belligerent and takes care of the situation.  Does she Obliviate Rick?  I'm not sure what color that spell is, but at the end he is left with no memory of what actually happened, but a lot of residual emotion, no doubt due to an elevated adrenaline level that will take a while to wear off.

So Branson is a place where nothing unusual ever happens.  Completely predictable.  May it remain thus forever!

I enjoyed this little what-if? story. Just a bit of fun fluff.

Thank you for writing.

VickiReview Drive Voyager

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 21 Nov 2019 08:29 AM · For: Around the World, Wizarding Style

This has, without a doubt, got to be one of the best HPFF things I've ever read. It's witty and fun, the ending perfectly ironic. The tone is great, I love seeing Neville and this whole experience through Rick's confused and skeptical eyes.

 

By the way. I love drunk, overly talkative, slightly crass, British-slang-slinging Neville. He's not OOC at all, you've just given him some oomph.

 

Your writing just flows, man. It's awesome. 

 

Melanie

Author's Response:

Hi, Melanie!

 

I have to get these unanswered review numbers down, and this was a pretty easy one to answer. I wrote this for a House Cup event back in the old days. It was a lot of fun to write, and one of the few times that I could draw on my southern-American roots for inspiration and subject matter.

 

This is post-war Neville. The Neville who, in Ron's words, chopped the head off of a great, bleedin' snake. He definitely has more oomph, as well as a bit of swagger.

 

Really happy that you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by!

-Dan

Name: 800 words of heaven (Signed) · Date: 30 Mar 2018 10:09 PM · For: Around the World, Wizarding Style

*Transferred from HPFF*

 

REVIEW TAG!

 

This was... very amusing! I found myself laughing and smiling all the way through. It actually reminded me a lot of the prequel that JK Rowling wrote a few years ago for World Book Day, where we get to see the wizarding world from muggle eyes.

 

I actually adored Neville here. It was a lot like Neville... but not at the same time. It's difficult to explain, but whatever he was, he was adorable and I loved reading about him and his adventures with Luna!

 

I must commend Rick for putting up with a "nutter" for as long as he did! That takes some fortitude. Whilst the miscommunications due to magic were amusing, the culture clashes took the biscuit!

 

I really enjoyed this! Awesome stuff!

Name: AbraxanUnicorn (Signed) · Date: 21 Jun 2017 02:23 PM · For: Around the World, Wizarding Style

Hello! Just dropping by for a little review, if that's okay :)

At first, when I read the title of this story, I wondered, fleetingly, whether it would be based on the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Alas, if it had been, the parallels would have been totally wasted on me, given that I've never seen the Johnny Depp version (to my eternal shame, given that I'm quite partial to a bit of Mr Depp. Ahem. Moving on now...).

 

I love how you've introduced this story. Rick, in a bar, with a curious stranger. Very quickly, we learn from his use of "buttered beer", which Rick doesn't quite understand, that his mysterious bar companion must be a wizard, and Rick himself must be muggle. I'm really hoping we would get to find out who he was, and I confess I was surprised to learn that it was Neville Longbottom, who was drinking his way through the supplies of a bar, somewhere in a town called Branson, Missouri. I did wonder quite what Neville was actually doing there, miles away from the UK, but it seems quite plausible that he would have taken an around-the-world trip to de-stress and unwind after the horrors of his final year at Hogwarts.

I must admit, my heart was in my mouth at the way Neville clumsily answered Rick's questions. As I was reading along, I was wondering "any moment now, the penny will drop, and Rick will go barmy at the thought of a wizard in his local bar." Mind you, I suppose that watching aeroplanes taking off and landing for a whole afternoon would be considered a pleasant pastime by some, so maybe Rick just thought he was some eccentric at that point. However, when Neville reveals that he was useless at riding a broomstick, poor Rick must have thought his ears needed syringing. Neville did sound like an old man when he talked about "a bit of how's your father", as I don't think anyone has used that expression in the UK for several decades at least! The whole conversation regarding sex did make me howl with laughter though at all the funny little phrases incorporated. Brilliant!

For a while, I wondered who the witch was; I even considered it might be Hermione for one wild moment, but then Luna strolled in. I love how Luna just deals with the situation in her calm, curious way. I did feel a bit sorry for Rick losing perhaps some of the most interesting memories he ever got to make :/

This was definitely amusing; outright hilarious in some places. A little bit bizarre, as most good stories are. A fraction unsettling, but this is testament to your superbly convincing writing skill. It was a fascinating snippet of Neville's post-school life and wonderfully scripted. Excellent job!

Brax X