Scrimgeour and Crouch and lovesick Dawlish and disjointed moments and glimpses of Auror business and new, Auror-based angles and ACH. :D Quite a ride, there, and just… Loving on the glimpses into each man’s life. And am-indeed intrigued by the Dawlish you’ve drawn here, the man who knows what he admires but feels also that he can never be like them, that he can only follow and so only remain suspended in his position as Auror, blown every which way by figures in control (almost a sort of puppy dog seeking love and direction and a pat on the head, more than anything). A-and the situations into which he happens to be thrust offers such intriguing illustrations of moments only seen or referenced briefly in the books… Dawlish’s presence at the moment of thefting Barty Jr.’s soul seemed particularly striking, especially after his response to the courtroom scene, and since you’d built such an affection for Crouch Sr. (and much a fan of seeing some repercussions of that “yeah, let’s just let a Dementor mosey on into Hogwarts” muss-up), yars.
Erm, yes. Apologies for the scattered response, and a thousand pardons if I’ve misread/misinterpreted, but on a very basic level would like to note that this was verrah much enjoyed. :D And has brain going all *whirr* over Auror-related activities and relations, which is always a plus, aheh. Much intrigued by many of your turns and phrases, O Mystery Author, and of the fact that you’ve shown us so, so much here… Always tilted to Dawlish’s eventually-Confounded point of view, and so always just a bit (or more than a bit) suspect, which makes the entire work all the more fun (or at least brain-provoking). And the relationships that you’ve created here… Really. Friggin’ really. You’ve got some Dawlish and Crouch Sr. lurking, some Dawlish and Scrimgeour more than lurking, and am really kind of digging the way you’ve made ’em work. Oh, and in general? So, so much love for overworked AUrors, heh.
Right, and the end, just… Especially after the neigh-on-horror of Scrimgeour’s office, rather hurt to see Dawlish so ready to give in and move along. Pain of, what, admitted to the self what ye are? So, yes, painful but so-very in the character you’ve made of Dawlish (and ye have indeed made of him a full-blown character, individual… well, individual without the assertion to really act and just be on his own, ne?). Then hearing from the Death Eaters (surprise attack by Dolohov, zay!), a mocking sense of what Dawlish has, presumably through the charm and his own (in)action, become. And Dawlish searching so fervidly for memory, for some solid recollection after all of this... Nngh, the BROKEN. NNGH. O_o
MMKAY. Also, just… A few specific lines/moments that were all “!!!” Not noting all that did, just because could-then be here for a millionsy years, but wanted to note some, anyvay…
"He's too popular now (how poorly it suits him!)..." The parenthesized details? Yus. Bits like that throughout, character details as noted by Dawlish. Aw.
"The witches and wizards you protect deserve to enjoy their lives as they once knew them, Dawlish, in peace and order – and according to the principles they have always known." Crap, and my Crouch Sr. crush has just reached new heights. THANK YOU. And the tie-in to Crouch’s thoughts on traditions… the-intrigue.
"I've felt so empty that I wanted to scream – full of nothing and surrounded by chaos, cut free from the world..." This, and so many fucking props for the lost-at-sea reference following. You and emptiness, hrmhrm, makes for thinking (as with Dawlish on Scrimgeour: "I think there must be less to him than there was to Mr. Crouch." And brain goes a-thinkin’ on Dawlish’s attraction to apparent emptiness and what the perceived emptiness might be and suggest. HOLLOW TIMES ARE FUN TIMES, and you do bring them up so well).
"I don't trust myself to be so eloquent." Aw... Just... Aw.