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Harry Potter and the Skittering Spouse

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I love seeing Taylors evolving tactics, trying to find a balance of Weaver acknowledging the bigger picture outside of one small area and Skitters do-it-myself because there's no reliable backup.

Fantastic move using Taylors reputation to get McGonagall to actually come with them. So many times the Trio were blown off because they were children, having a teacher witness the attack means it's a lot harder for anyone to do a coverup.
 
Anacronism said:
Amazing chapter. Perhaps McGonagall will give their information more credence in future.
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I wouldn't get your hopes up. She didn't believe them after Draco, the marked death eater, was arrested a grand total of four days beforehand. The idea that others could be death eaters and want to harm them was met with disbelief here, and I'm skeptical this will actually do anything.

Did we ever see her fight? Maybe a few times in the last book?
 
Dahashi said:
To be fair, based on the chapter, the whole event took, maybe, a full minute. She may not been knocked out so much as had the breath knocked out of her and not recovered before it was all over. She did take the banishing charm full in the chest
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Yeah, that was what I was basically getting at initially; the whole fight was over so quickly that by the time she finished processing what had happened it was finished.

Brainstorm813 said:
The aurors did a number on her last year. She hasn't fully recovered from that, yet.
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Even more implausible; the right potions can regrow bones overnight and the only injuries magicals don't seem to be able to deal with easily are esoteric curses and 'dark magic', which the Aurors would not have used.
 
Nmaiz said:
If I remember correctly, Draco was sent on his mission as punishment for Lucius' failure to recover the prophecy and causing Voldy to reveal himself earlier than he wanted. It was Dumbledore and Snape's work behind the scenes that allowed him to succeed, both to secure Snape's place with the DEs and out of wanting to save Draco from the consequences of his own actions.
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The Malfoys canonically were also on the shitlist due to the whole second-year book thing where Lucius basically got one of Voldy's horcrux destroyed and his basilisk pet killed.
 
parnary said:
Right, so she can prepare behind the lines and should never be in a fight herself. As this fight showed.
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I do think McGonagall works best as a minion maker, and as support to alter the battlefield.
If she wasn't taken out early and trying to use diplomacy she could have turned the hallway into basically anything she can think of.

If they wanted an actual fighter they should have gotten Flitwick the duel champion.
 
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My first thought is that Malfoy's "death" was cover for him being freed from prison. There are certainly ways that could be done, and his parents do have money and influence, so might be able to do it.

If he was actually killed, my guess is that Voldemort would have had it done because I think Voldemort is camped out in Malfoy Manor, so he would not want that to be revealed. Of course, I would be unsurprised if Malfoy Manor got raided because their son was a marked Death Eater, so Voldemort likely had to move quickly. That could have him be rather pissed off.

I suspect the best hint as to what actually happened to Malfoy will be to see what happens with his parents. If it was a jailbreak they orchestrated, then I would not be surprised if they flee the country. If they start seeking revenge (on either Harry, or Death Eaters), then that would indicate he did actually die.

Removing 8 Slytherins including Pansy is going to definitely shift the balance in Hogwarts, especially if most/all of them end up sent to Azkaban. Probably less open support for Death Eaters because they have seen what exactly that leads to.
 
FictionPack said:
It would be pretty insane to see Narcissa pull out the black family madness on her husband and killing him for what happened to Draco,
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I wonder whether Taylor would be able to flip her into an ally/assets in the right circumstances? They both likely want Riddle dead and Taylor isn't above working with questionable allies of convenience who have done some pretty objectively terrible things (Accord comes to mind, dude literally sold someone to the CUI, and the ease at which he did so implied it probably wasn't the first such a transaction took place) so it'd probably be more about if Taylor could find common ground with Narcissa to build from...
 
Thanks for the chapter! Things have gone down.

Also: Good luck, Snape, you're going to need it!

Fencer said:
"I thought you might like to know that Miss Parkinson is expected to make a full recovery. The healers were surprised at the extent of the damage, but its non magical nature made treatment simpler. She should be fully healed in a few days." The old man offered neutrally.
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An interesting benefit to nonmagical combat.

Fencer said:
That's my wife.
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Aww...

(Well I'm sure it needs a lot of introspection and isn't simple, but fundamentally yeah - Harry isn't actually unhappy to be married to Taylor exactly. Now I'd just like to see her decide it's nice having a (handsome) hero for a friend.)

Fencer said:
the clicks you
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cliques
Fencer said:
Ron Hermione and I all stiffened.
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Add one or two commas.
Fencer said:
McGonegal
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McGonagall
Fencer said:
Protogo
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Protego
Fencer said:
Nevile
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Neville
 
I want to say I'm surprised by Draco's death, but there are entirely too many suspects. Nor would I be that surprised that it was a ruse, now that the idea has been brought up, but that would seem to be harder to pull off.

I am surprised that McGonagall fared that poorly in a counter-ambush after having gone through the first war, but she seems to have a hard time believing that anything's about to happen. I fear that she wouldn't have believed it did happen if she hadn't been there. Especially not the idea of unforgivables being cast by a student.

Speaking of which, that escalation to deadly force is almost certainly why Taylor resorted to the gun. I do believe she's happy with the result of the gut wound (quickly disabling the opponent, but survivable with immediate medical attention) but wouldn't have been too disturbed if Parkinson had died. So how many people are paying close enough attention to understand her rules of engagement? Dumbledore clearly doesn't get it, but I suspect that Moody does.

Meanwhile, that crack about things "usually" heating up around Halloween really ties in well with the comment about good parents not letting their kids attend dangerous schools. Not that Taylor has any plans to dig deeper into that little bit of her trauma...
 
No acromantulas? I thought Taylor kept some on hand. "Me, my wife, and her 5 foot tall body-jacked spider."
Fencer said:
"Shut up! Crucio! Just die already! Avad-"
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Is Unforgivables are easiest, from technical part, spell in existence? Like, students are expected to need extended period of time to learn any new spell, but here it seems she picked it up in less than a week?

Lianthrelle said:
Keep in mind that this Britain, not the US. Gun crime was fairly uncommon in the 80s and 90s there (outside The Troubles at least) and they, as wizards, haven't been exposed to action movies, war movies, or other media involving guns.
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Gun crime yes. But what about hunting with a gun? Traditionally very popular\common thing, especially in time periods wizards more tuned to.
 
Stahor said:
Is Unforgivables are easiest, from technical part, spell in existence? Like, students are expected to need extended period of time to learn any new spell, but here it seems she picked it up in less than a week?
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Torture and Kill are certainly fairly easy. It seems all you need to do is point, say the words, and really really want your target to HURT or DIE.

Other spells require specific wand movements along with the right words, and various other levels of intent or feeling. The Patronus is difficult because you need to isolate a truly happy memory and turn it into a guardian in the face of negativity for example.

Also Pansy was shown the spell in 4th year. She could have been practicing for years.
 
Fencer said:
Not just the clicks you might expect in a school,
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Cliques.
Fencer said:
Given Dumbledore and the Ministries demonstrated effectiveness?
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Ministry's.
Fencer said:
"Funny, I don't understand you at all, and you've hardly surprised me at all."
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Awkward phrasing, but it's dialogue. People aren't supposed to be perfectly eloquent at all times, and should actually, IMO, expected NOT to be. If you did want to punch it up a bit, I'd suggest something like "Funny, I don't understand you at all, and you haven't surprised me once."

As usual, this fic continues to absolutely delight me. Thank you so much for sharing - It's greatly appreciated. As usual, please tell me if I'm coming off rude or if my notes are unwelcome - I'm trying to help, and I admit I've assumed it's welcome, but I am more than willing to stop upon request.
 
novorek said:
If he was actually killed, my guess is that Voldemort would have had it done because I think Voldemort is camped out in Malfoy Manor, so he would not want that to be revealed.
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That probably would've come up during Harry and Taylor's interrogation, so he might have already moved.

FictionPack said:
That was enough for Harry to cast it on Bellatrix. He just didn't do it very well.
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He did it much better in book 7, when one of the Carrows spat in McGonacals face.

So yes, the death eater apparently flawlessly disguised as Dumbledores oldest friend taught 14 year olds (or all the students?) how to easily murder, torture, and mind control each other and no one had a problem with that.


Side note: love the update, very happy you're chugging through these
 
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