by Ciara Black
The Worm That Turned by Worth 12 of Malfoy
PG13
I was lucky enough to stumble across this excellent piece of fiction first as I tentatively returned to the excitements of fan-fiction for the first time in years. While the summary wasn’t overtly interesting, its simplicity was an enticement in itself and so I opened to the first chapter with a half-hearted shrug. After a few hours, over seventy thousand words, and several pointedly dismissive ‘I’m reading’ comments to those who dared approach me, I realised that I had just found my new favourite fan-fiction (not that I can remember what my old favourite was, but that’s beside the point).
What really made this story was the brilliant characterisation of Severus. He was realistically portrayed and was somehow easy to relate to despite my fundamental differences in opinion to his world view. Unfortunately I found the portrayal of Lucius to be somewhat lacking by comparison – not terrible, by all means, but somehow he fell short of feeling quite real. His nickname for Severus – ‘old bean’ – and Severus’ for him – ‘Lew’ – somehow jerked me out of the story back into reality every single time I read them, and his dialogue in general, while consistent, seemed unfitting to the character we know. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was true to character and, while his scenes were infrequent, left me with the general satisfaction that any encounter with Dumbledore tends to evoke. Another flawlessly written character was Bellatrix – passionate, wild, and more than a touch insane, she brought a sense of unpredictability with her whenever she was present as well as an immediate cringe whenever she came in reach of poor old Dobby.
Overall, I’ve left this review deliberately vague as reading this story is a must for any fiction loving witches and wizards (and Muggle fans who are posing as such) and I have no intention of spoiling the best bits for those who go on to read it.
Writer’s Wizard Level: Severus Snape. Shows a higher level of knowledge of the wizarding world than the average witch or wizard and delves into some forms of magic unfamiliar to Muggle fans.
Bottom Line – Should You Read It? Yes. Now. And it’s sadly under reviewed, so do your bit!