Name: Pixileanin (Signed) · Date: 28 Dec 2022 03:00 PM · For: Chapter 1

 

Hello there! I'm here for the coldest gifting season of the year, and also to check out this cool premise about a librarian at Hogwarts because that sounds uber cool. I snooped around and saw that in one of your review responses, you referred to this as "weirdly niche". That is so relatable, because I think everything I write is "weirdly niche". I respect that. Let's start a club. It should be its own genre. ????

 

You do the nervous new professor quite well, with the smoothing of the clothing and the going to meet the headmistress for the first time she's been called in to the office. I love that the gargoyle has a name, and that you're able to show Eva's put-togetherness at thinking of asking it for a name. I must confess that I might not consider whether the stone statues have names, but it makes sense, since the portraits are of actual people, and so are the ghosts. I imagine that the sculptors may have named their creations as well.

 

Ah, Eva had the audacity to go up against Pince as a thirteen-year-old! That bodes for some interesting things coming up, to be sure! She certainly has a long-standing love for collections, and the books themselves!

 

Oh gosh! Mrs. Filch! What a vision! Lol. That was completely unexpected, and also funny!  Also, what a charming idea for the professors to pick a place in the village instead of living full-time at the castle! I often wondered if any of the professors would rather do that, with the exceptions of the head of houses who seem to always be around more often than not. But yes, a place in the village sounds completely delightful! Your little details about professor-life and how the adults get around the castle is great! They've got to have some perks for the arduous job they perform every day! I love secret entrances to boot. 

 

She's got so many goals and aspirations, and this line hit me just right:

 

"But first she had to unpack."

 

That's right. Don't put the cart before the horse, as they say. 

 

You've got a great setup here, with Eva's familiarity with even the portraits of the library, her friend down in the village running things and waiting in the wings to cause mischief, and of course the library itself, with all its secrets at her disposal. I love the fact that she's not the only new professor and that you give us reasons for that which make all the sense in the world. The intrigue with Albus most certainly will lead to something as well. Ah hahaha! That portrait of Merlin. So funny!

 

Ok, so just because you asked, I will take a guess at the title of the story. In Chinese medicine, so my chiropractor told me ages ago, "chasing the dragon" is a phrase used when you fix one thing, only to uncover the next thing, and since everything is connected, you must chase the symptoms of the problem, fixing each in turn until you get to the root of it. It's like this big chain reaction, only backwards. It's a great metaphor for chiropractic care, because it's often a slow process. The "green" at first glance, could mean something as forward as Eva's connection to Slytherin House, all the way over to  guessing that ‘green' is a symbol for envy and may allude to the ‘incident' which is still wrapped in mystery. 

 

So it might be that this story is about Eva chasing the root cause of this incident that happened in her youth, that both involves some sort of jealousy factor, combined with possible romantic feelings for Albus, who may or may not also be in Slytherin House?

 

I smell a mystery.

 

Pix

 

Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 21 Dec 2022 12:33 AM · For: Chapter 2

Hi, Abby Rose.  Here is a review for your Winter in Town wish list.  I am so glad that you are continuing this story!  I enjoyed Chapter 1 very much back in September of 2021.  Even if Real Life keeps you busy, I hope you will never give up on writing chapters of this story until it is finished.

 

I read Melanie's speculation, in her review of yesterday, that the title "Chasing the Green Lion" referred to Albus Potter, a man of Gryffindor ancestry who had been sorted into Slytherin, thus making him a "green lion."  Right now it doesn't look as if Eva is chasing him -- more like trying to avoid him --  but you doubtless have your own plans about that!  I can see this story turning into a romance for sure.  Surely Albus can't hold those old events against Eva forever, since, as it turned out, he wasn't expelled, and it seems that he creates enough explosions on his own.

 

Do you plan to give us more details later about exactly what the event was, in the library, that caused Albus to be banned, and why he was banned but Eva wasn't?  It's got to be a good story.

 

I very much hope you will continue to interweave the budding romance with more information about the library, how it is structured and how it works, and how Eva proposes to change/improve it.  (I love the talking portraits of the ancient librarians.)  Poor Madam Pince -- JKR really painted an unflattering picture of her in the canon books, a caricature, you might say, all of her shortcomings and none of her strengths.  (In my WIP, The Crofter and The Snake, chapters 16 and 17, I tried to supply what JKR left out, what Madam Pince did well.)  But in your story, that's all ancient history now.  You have tantaized me by mentioning in passing the wonderful work Eva did at the Beauxbatons library, so I am eager to see it!

 

And I'm happy that Winky is now the head house elf.  So good to see her making a good life for herself.  :)

 

Thank you for writing!  I am enjoying this story.

 

Vicki

Name: Crimson Quill (Signed) · Date: 20 Dec 2022 09:18 PM · For: Chapter 1

 

Hey!

 

here for some winter gifting!

 

I think the concept for this story is so good and it's such a clever twist on the next gen stories. I love that the main characters are going to be a bit older (but maybe not wiser, lucie sounds like a hoot!). I love how much worldbuilding that you've done here, all the stuff about her having her own quarters which can be accessed via the library and the portraits that live within that. all that stuff just makes the story so much richer which is wonderful. 

 

I love madam pince is so bitter and salty about things that she didn't lift all of her charms. amazing. I love the backstory that she married filch and had a grudge with Eva. I kinda wanna know how the filch/pince pairing came about. I would totally read a story about that rare pair. you should write it too! I love her whole interaction with McGonagall during this scene too.

 

I'm so interested in the little teases in this chapter about Albus. I think you did a good job about teasing the connections between Eva and Albus. some of their past meetings sound very interesting! I laughed at 'everything would have been fine without the exploding cake'. I love that imagery and it sounds like this story is going to be a ton of fun. I love that your writing what you know and representing asd too :) that's so special!!

 

Abbi xx

 

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 20 Dec 2022 07:37 AM · For: Chapter 2

I had been just about to say, before we learned what Tamsin is wearing, that you'd think at least by the next gen there'd be formal outfits available for witches that have trousers instead of skirts. Eva should definitely wear what she likes.

 

I, too, am wondering whether Al's lifetime ban from the library continued into adulthood under Madam Pince's rule. Kind of funny thinking about a professor banned from the library. Even funnier to wonder whether Eva would be able to lift the ban now or whether Pince did something to the library to make it reject Al completely. XD

 

(Also, random, sorry, but in all my blabbing in my previous review I forgot to mention that in chapter 1 I noticed a few times where the narrative slips into first person rather than third -- I hope that's helpful -- I didn't notice any of that in this chapter, though!)  :)

 

Eva probably doesn't realize it now, but Al treating her in a teasing way is probably a fairly good sign because I'd imagine he would likely not do that if he were really pissed off about what she did. It does sound incredibly embarrassing, though -- particularly because Al got the detention and ban and... it sounds like Eva didn't??

 

I hope you keep going with this!

 

Melanie

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 20 Dec 2022 07:15 AM · For: Chapter 1

Hi Abby! Here to check out this story and spread some holiday cheer. <3

 

You know, I'm not sure I've ever read a fic where it's about next gen characters teaching at Hogwarts -- which is a shame, really, because it's always fun to see young adults having to now be the authority figures and interact with the youths (which of course I pronounce "utes" as in My Cousin Vinny).

 

I'm passing right over Filch/Pince because I'm not sure I can handle that right now. XD

 

You used the portraits to such great effect, in setting the scene and adding some humor. "In my day I kept a small altar there for animal sacrifices" was probably the most hilarious part. And also needing to get rid of Merlin, because you can't have him just popping up whenever you need to swear.

 

Naturally, I am all eyes and ears to find out what this Incident was all about with Albus Potter.

 

As to your author's note about what the fic title means... well, for whatever this says about me, the first thing this made me think of was "Chasing the green dragon" lmao. If that's where you got if from, it's a fun play on the phrase using a lion instead (which I have now learned is a alchemical symbol). Also, Albus could be a 'green lion,' perhaps, as a (presumably) Slytherin from a family of Potters/Weasleys (lions).

 

Reading on!

 

<3 Melanie

Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 17 Sep 2021 04:07 AM · For: Chapter 1

Hi, Abby Rose!  It looks like you're off to a rip-roaring start with this story.  The premise -- a young new professor taking charge of the Hogwarts library and planning to make fundamental changes in its organizaation and function -- is original.  I don't recall ever having come across a story based on this idea.  And since Eva is not entirely inexperienced in this kind of work, I'm hoping that her ideas will be radical and will be implemented without too much difficulty.

 

An interesting idea you have in this opening chapter -- that many of the professors are new and also pretty young.  That should manifest itself as a distinct change in the culture of the staff, a different atmosphere, and I wonder if there will be any clashes between the older professors who have been at Hogwarts for a long time and this influx of professors from an entirely new generation.

 

Your description of the farther reaches of the library, with its lineup of portraits of long-gone librarians and then the desription of the long-unused private quarters for the librarian, gives us a vivid picture of the layout and architecture of the library, something we never really get from the seven Harry Potter books.  The hidden doors and staircases, the hints of old, old archives with historical materials dating back centuries -- I'll bet that those portraits of long-dead librarians would really have some stories to tell!

 

I like the way you present Eva, with just the right balance of eagerness and self-confidence on the one hand, and some trepidation on the other hand about how her plans to re-visualize the library will be received by the older staff and alumni. But she seems to be settling in rapidly in her professional role, so the conflict that lies ahead must be in her interpersonal relationships, for which you have given us many hints.

 

So I hope she finds love and happiness by the end of the story, but be sure to keep telling us more about this marvelous library, both its hisory and its future under the hands of Professor Perrot.  

A nice beginning!

 

Vicki

Author's Response:

When I tell you this Review made my ENTIRE DAY...

 

I'm a library science grad student and I've always wanted to know more about the hogwarts library, and always HATED that all JK rowling gave it was Madame Pince (gross). I'm so glad you're as intrigued by this idea as I am. I think theres just so much to do with the premise of a magical library, and I've always wanted to do it! I'm glad you also enjoy Eva- I sometimes worry my characters come off as stiff and I especially worried with this story as it's the first time I'm writing in Third person. 

Thank you so much for your kind and detailed review! It seriously means so much to hear your thoughts on my weirdly niche little story and I hope you continue reading! Hopefully will be updating soon- I just started term and am sort of wrestling my schedule into shape!

Thanks

 

Abby Rose

Name: beka_wotter (Signed) · Date: 01 Sep 2021 05:43 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hii, I loved this first chapter so much. 

Eva is great, her friends seem fun and I'm already excited for the relationship between her and Albus to play out.

I really hope you update soon!!

Author's Response:

Hey there! Thank you SO MUCH fore reviewing! It really means so much you took the time! I promise yes I am updating soon! haha I've just been working on too many things at once and slow at ALL OF THEM!