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Spells in Silence (Harry Potter)

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While I agree with her abandoning the first two classes, defense was actually a mistake, since the class at least allows her to learn what's dangerous out there and its main characteristics (even if she can't learn the spells)
 
Thanks for another great chapter. The story is has great characterization where it feels like in most HP fanfiction it's paper-thin at best.
Silently Watches said:
I'm fine, she thought towards him. It's just… When we first came here, McGonagall said our house would be like our family. I'm starting to see the resemblance.
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That hurt to read. (In a good way) Really makes me feel for her.
 
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It really feels like these wizards are doing everything in their power to push their 'savior' away, she'sgetting the hint at this point. The only teacher with a legitimate reason to do so has barely even had to try. Only Flitwick is trying to put in any effort, everyone else wants to uselessly force a star peg into a square hole half it's size.
If nothing changes she will just leave, and I doubt thsoon. Even notice any time soon if she did just walk out.

As for the house system as family, yeah the houses always seem legitimately pack mentality hostile to anyone different to them, like a pack of rabid jackals descending on a lamb.
Gryffindors with Neville and Hermione, and Harry in canon.
Ravenclaws with Luna.
Hufflepuff against Harry in canon in 4th year.
Slytherin literally any target of opportunity. About as cunning as a brick to the face


I bet the term for druid she needs to find is 'Hedge Witch' or maybe Wiccan.
 
Thanks for the chapter. This is my favorite actively updating fic and I love how unique it feels.
Silently Watches said:
'I don't see why. Neither Professor Quirrell nor Binns had any issue with me dropping their classes.'

"Dropping— What?!" Professor Sprout shook her head quickly. "She cannot be saying what I think she's saying. Miss Potter, you are skipping three classes?!"
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This got a chuckle out of me. They have extremely different interpretation of what a school does.
 
samuel cavaleiro said:
While I agree with her abandoning the first two classes, defense was actually a mistake, since the class at least allows her to learn what's dangerous out there and its main characteristics (even if she can't learn the spells)
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In theory it does that, but Hogwarts doesn't have the best track record in recent decades for DADA professors in general, and this year they have one who I suspect is, ah, rather specially disinterested in improving the fighting abilities of the Girl Who Lived.
 
Ok Hazel girl. Time to leave. Go back to the werewolf colony. At least they were trying to help.
 
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"On todays episode of 'Being Hazel is Suffering': more suffering!"

That said, I don't actually think you're mischaracterising the teachers or anything; they genuinely have no idea how to deal with a student who literally can't do the things they're teaching. It doesn't really feel like bashing - just the general stuck-in-a-rut nature that wizards/witches seem to exhibit quite often.

Hazel better figure out Counterspell quick though, before the teachers start locking her in the detention room. Can't teleport if you can't leave the grounds...
 
RefugeInAbsrdity said:
With every chapter my desire to see Hazel say goodbye to this dumpster of a learning institution grows like a snowball rolling down a mountain. Which is saying something since was already the size of an avalanche from the first meeting with McGonagall.
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Perhaps she can transfer to Durmstrang or Beaubaton's? I bet they would be more than willing to accommodate a practicioner of the old ways. (Durmstrang more than Beaubaton's methinks)
 
Empty Shelf said:
It's strange to think that the only person to offer her actually helpful advice this chapter is Voldemort. o_O
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Voldemort (muffled): You know, Quirinus, if it wasn't for that bothersome chosen-one-destined-to-defeat-me business, I would rather like to tutor Miss Potter. She reminds me of myself when I was but a young lad.

Quirrel (resigned): Yes, my lord. Whatever you say, my lord.
 
Redcoat_Officer said:
I must admit, I'm growing increasingly unsure of the recent direction of the story. There are a lot of Harry Potter fanfics out there in which the Potter of the day has access to some hidden lore of magic nobody else does, but what set Spells in Silence apart was the holistic approach to it all. It felt like Hazel was bringing magic back to its roots, going out, exploring, and learning from different magical cultures in a very open-minded way, taking everything she'd learned and then merging these divergent magical practices together to make her a wholly unique practitioner.
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Rakkis157 said:
Agreed.

It's still fun, but the recent chapters are definitely getting a bit samey.
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Honestly, you're not wrong. Part of it is the long gaps between chapters; it's just taking me so much time to write them because I have to do it in fits and starts, a couple of paragraphs at a time. Part of it is that I need to cover a lot of the "where are the druid" scenes because that's something that Hazel wants to wrap up ASAP so I can't just spread them out over several years. I need to get them all out quickly, and the physical chapters taking forever makes me feel like I need to hurry even more. And part of it is trying to respond to her particular flavor of weirdness and how it keeps clashing with the canon setting even more than I thought it would when I first introduced Hogwarts! I knew they wouldn't mesh, was counting on it even, but the more I write the more they clash and I feel the need to cover it.

As for the exploration stuff… I've been missing it too. Those were the chapters I had the most fun writing because I get to just let all the WTF-ness inside my head out onto the page. I've been worried about trying to fit scenes of what wild stuff Hogwarts might contain between all the scenes I need to cover for the reasons listed above, but maybe I'll just have to slow things down a touch so I can fit in at least a few. As a palate cleanser. :)

And hey, Hazel even has a new friend to introduce to the forgotten secrets of the magical world! Anyone want to place bets on how long it takes for some eldritch abomination to try eating Sally-Anne?
 
I did quite like that exchange with Quirrel, and I appreciated Flitwick's admission about the limits of their spell theory. I very much like Flitwick as the friend/mentor figure here.

I feel like I've lost track of how much time has actually passed in the school year. I was going to make a guess, but decided it was worth going back to double check the timeline:

  • During her first week at Hogwarts (ch 31-35) Hazel gets sorted, makes first impressions with students and staff, protects Sally-Anne from Peeves, and gets locked out of Hufflepuff for the first time. That weekend (ch 36-37) she visits Ollivander's with Professor Sprout, gets Flitwick's first attempts at help, and finds the hole in the wards and the unicorn clearing.
  • During her second week, (ch 37-38) she is friendly with Norris and Filch, gets help from the house elves to enter the dorms, and is jinxed in the halls.
  • This chapter (39) appears to start in her third week at Hogwarts, when she decides to start skipping classes. Then there's a two week time skip before Sprout calls her on it, a full month into the school year.
Which leads me to being quite disappointed in Sprout, who already went with Hazel to "get a wand" and learned that Hazel was being failed/misunderstood in multiple ways (wand, school supply list, locked out, ostracized/dismissed as a supposed squib). I understand her being busy and also not responding well to Hazel skipping classes and calling the subject matter useless, but a month is a long time to wait before trying to figure out what's going on with your student.
 
ccstat said:
I feel like I've lost track of how much time has actually passed in the school year. I was going to make a guess, but decided it was worth going back to double check the timeline:
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It's early to mid October. Sprout didn't know there was a problem of this magnitude because Flitwick is trying to work with Hazel and it took McG this long to admit she needed help to discipline Hazel. If this was an issue she observed in the halls it would be one thing, but it relates to her own class and so asking for help felt like admitting defeat.

Quirrell, strangely enough, never mentioned ANY issues with Hazel's participation in his class.
 
Sprout's stance here is difficult: on one hand she should be able to understand that McG's class is completely worthless for Hazel (at least once aware), but she also feels the need for staff solidarity. As a former teacher I can confirm that bad things happen when teachers contradict each other. Still, it feels like her stance should be "I understand you can't learn in those classes, and we'll address that, but you can't just skip classes without telling anyone."

Not sure if Sprout is aware that she's driving Hazel away by constantly doubting or ignoring everything she says. I'm curious what McG thinks her status is in Hazel's mind. As annoying as interlude chapters can be, it could be fun to listen in on a teacher conference concerning her.
 
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Silently Watches said:
Still, even with these self-reassurances she could not help but feel angry and disappointed. Picking up on her mood, Morgan chirped reassuringly at her, and she reached up to stroke his soft feathers. I'm fine, she thought towards him. It's just… When we first came here, McGonagall said our house would be like our family. I'm starting to see the resemblance.

The Dursleys never cared much about my needs and opinions, either.
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This is wonderful. A truly different take on HP. Well reasoned, well developed, well executed.

Thank you.
 
MultipleChoice said:
Sprouts stance here is difficult: on one hand she should be able to understand that McG's class is completely worthless for Hazel (at least once aware), but she also feels the need for staff solidarity. As a former teacher I can confirm that bad things happen when teachers contradict each other. Still, it feels like her stance should be "I understand you can't learn in those classes, and we'll address that, but you can't just skip classes without telling anyone."

Not sure if Sprout is aware that she's driving Hazel away by constantly doubting or ignoring everything she says. I'm curious what McG thinks her status is in Hazel's mind. As annoying as interlude chapters can be, it could be fun to listen in on a teacher conference concerning her.
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I wanted part of Sprout's reaction to be the result of Hazel not coming to her or really trying to address her issues with any of the teachers besides the worst one should could have talked to (Quirrell). Flitwick stumbled into his understanding, and when McGonagall shut down her questions she didn't push. Instead she just went off on her own way and decided not to go to class.

This is one of Hazel's big flaws: she is self-sufficient to the point that when faced with an obstacle she will rarely ask for anyone else's opinion before she tackles it. Did she approach this in the best way possible? Hell no. Did she approach it in a Hazel fashion? Yeah...
 
Silently Watches said:
This is one of Hazel's big flaws: she is self-sufficient to the point that when faced with an obstacle she will rarely ask for anyone else's opinion before she tackles it. Did she approach this in the best way possible? Hell no. Did she approach it in a Hazel fashion? Yeah...
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It's a credit to the writing though that there was never any question in my mind of her reaching out to help.
Her entire life has been a series of people that were meant to help her turning their backs on her or actively working against her. She has never had any reason to trust people and you can feel that viscerally from the way you have her look at the world.

It's left her a lot more lonely then she lets on a lot of the time though, hell one of the only reasons she even came to Hogwarts was to find more people like her.
 
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