I'm a university student who loves Harry Potter and writing a bit too much for her own good. I just keep ignoring the pressures of my studies to return to MNFF! Chocolate's got nothing on constructive criticism--it's my favorite guilty pleasure.
I started out in fanfiction writing a lot of Draco/Ginny, but I haven't stuck with a particular ship or genre since then. My favorite thing to do is to pick a new character that I've never written before and create a story for them. I've learned that I have a much greater appreciation for characters after I've written a one-shot in which they star. I also have a particular weakness for Contest Submissions--there's nothing like an interesting prompt to get those crazy plot bunnies running through my head.
Hope to see all of you in the review pages for my stories or around the Boards! :)
Badges by Acacia Carter
Rated: 6th-7th Years [Reviews - 11]
Summary: 
It is the beginning of seventh year, and Neville has had just about enough of Amycus Carrow.
This is Acacia Carter of Hufflepuff writing for the first third of the Character Triathalon, for the "missing moment" prompt.
Many thanks to Jess for the lightning-fast beta.
Ooh, this was wonderful. :) I wrote a Neville-centric submission myself for this challenge, and it's really very interesting to see how many different ways you can write a single character--I loved your interpretation! This is Neville in a way which we saw him very little through canon, since only a tiny part of Book 7 was set in Hogwarts/among the DA members. I'm very impressed at your ability to extrapolate from so little into a story this captivating, with this strong a character.
The first time Crucio was cast, I was expecting a Frank and Alice reference by Neville, and I felt a little lost, I'll admit when one did not appear. But sure enough--and perfectly in-character--there the reminder popped up in the second Crucio, very appropriate. I also really loved the plot development caused by a second Crucio. In my mind, standing up twice, after experiencing the pain the first time, that's truer bravery--you know what's in store for you at that point, and you do it anyway. This plot really just yanks those Gryffindor qualities right out of Neville; it was pretty perfect.
The only issue I had as a reader was within my own head. As I was reading the classroom scene, I kept thinking back to Neville's absolute terror of Snape in the Potions classroom. Perhaps this is just my own personal problem, but I would have loved some insight into the thoughts going through Neville's head about Carrow/this situation. How has he gone from quivering, timid boy to brave, determined man? My question is not, "Where and when did that happen?" (clearly, it happened right here in this one-shot), but more so, "How?" I could formulate my own answer--obviously 6th year Potions with a hated Snape is very different from a classroom with Carrow for a thousand reasons, but I'd love to see your interpretation of what catalyst caused Neville to grow in such a dramatic way.
Anyway, this was a wonderful submission. The plot was exactly planned to, as I said earlier, yank the Gryffindor qualities out of Neville, and I very much enjoyed your interpretation of his character. :) Without further ado, write on!
