I haven't read the next chapter yet, I wanted to guess first. I imagine Draco turning into a Afgan Hound lol :)

LOVE this chapter! The perfect balance of snarkiness, humor, sharply observed details, and just enough of a serious undertone.

Favorite lines:
Make her happy, Greg—don’t do anything that I would.

and

Bloody lucky bastard, that one. His past didn’t haunt, didn’t hang around his neck like a rotting albatross.
That's pretty much how I would see Blaise. I'm not sure if we ever really knew how much contact Blaise had with the Death Eater crowd, although I tend to think that he was able to wiggle out of it.
Looking forward to more!

And dog breed... I don't know... I'm not the biggest dog person in the world... I'm more about cats.

I'm catching up on this fic, and this chapter was so much fun!! All of the little details were great... Ginny's Potions skills, her banter with Luna, Draco snidely noting that Oktoberfest is actually in September (there's a reason for that... can't remember what it is, though.) And then he eats the chocolates!!! Oh, this is going to be good. :) BTW... the mail function isn't always working, so if anyone emailed you about beta-ing, it didn't go through. Let me know if you still need a beta.

Yes! Lovely reveal!

Author's Response: Thank you! I was a little worried that I had drawn it out too long, given that I probably set the expectation for an immediate transformation based on the last few lines of the previous chapter--a little more character exposition felt necessary though. Thanks for being one of the regular readers and reviewers!

I'm going to guess Irish Wolfhound. The image of a dog still kind of wearing Draco's clothes is hilarious! And he doesn't even freak out about it. He's just, like, mildly scandalized.

Your writing is so nice to read. It's fun and funny and also kind of sophisticated. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. I tend to read peoples' writing and envy their vocabularies. You can tell which authors are well-read, and that's how your writing reads to me. Can't wait to see more from you!

Author's Response: Yeah, you're living in my head, 'cause you're absolutely right about it being a Wollfhound (also, it's just going to be more fun with Draco as a big dog, as he's going to be way too big to just shove in purse or spare room when he's being a pest. And oh my gosh, the sad puppy eyes on this breed can just crack your heart in half.) Aww, you are so sweet. Hope I keep living up to the expectation (and please let me know if I start slipping)--Thank you!

What a fun start!

People are always going to disagree about Luna's proper characterization, but, you know what? We didn't read the Harry Potter series from Luna's point of view, so no one except JKR knows what Luna is truly like! I am all for your Luna using her quirkiness to keep her distance from people. I mean, I don't think that's too far-fetched at all. She grew up in a quirky family. If people teased her, maybe she learned to embrace that quirkiness even more and used it so people would underestimate her? Maybe the Xenophilius started acting the way he did after his wife died, so of course Luna is going to take up his mantle of quirkiness, too. But maybe she knows deep down inside that her father used it to hide his pain, so she uses it to hide hers, too? Who honestly knows, right?

But the other thing that bugs me about people trying to tell other people that they've written Luna wrong is that they usually say that about Lunas that are logical and coherent and capable of holding a conversation with someone without mentioning a single made-up creature. But there is more to Luna than the Quibbler and her creatures. Just because that's a big part of her character doesn't mean it's the ONLY part of her character.

My whole point being, of course, that I love your Luna. There is no reason she can't be a formidable AND quirky witch. None at all. I love her friendship with Ginny, too (in general and specifically in this fic). Loved this line here:

//Waterworks were supposed to wait until at least an hour in, right about the time that Ginny broke open a hand-packed quart of Florean Fortescue’s Triple Chocolate Mayhem, complete with Chocolate Frog garnish (childishly, they always named the frog Blaise and proceeded to chase it down with spoons before putting the enchanted chocolate out of its misery).//

Loved Ginny's support of Luna, and I love that Ginny is a Blaise/Luna shipper at heart!

It sounds like Blaise has been listening to Draco too much (much like Mr. Bingley taking Darcy's advice and giving up on an indifferent Jane Bennett, eh?). So I can't wait to see how Ginny and Luna's plan to punish them unfolds!

Author's Response: Very good points about Luna--I also think that, as an intellectual person, she leads a rich inner life and some of the quirkiness is due to making mental leaps that other people just don't follow, but it all makes sense in her head. Luna is just plain fun to write and explore for me. There's a possibility for a lot of different layers to her character. That's probably my favorite line of the chapter too--nothing like a bit of petty revenge on inanimate objects when your heart has been bruised! (Goodness knows I've been there enough times personally) Also, I swear you're living in my head. First you totally peg one of my favorite authors, then the Austen inspiration here (And at this rate, you've probably already guessed that I'm working on a Pride and Prejudice crossover too)! Thanks for reviewing!

Brilliant start! Can't wait for more.

Author's Response: Thank you!