Folks, we've reached the end of the Half-Blood Prince Challenge. I've been delighted by the quality of submissions posted here--and pleasantly surprised to discover that there are still quite a few untold stories about these characters and events. All told, we had 15 submissions from 11 participants:
The master list
blueeyedgrl wrote By the Firelight In the aftermath of Dumbledore's death, Harry and Ginny are alone by the firelight.
* The Celebrity Sighting (Most Recognizable Story) award goes to "Harry Potter and the New Edition," the author of which, minnow_53, was correctly guessed by fera_festiva, lyras, and snow_blossoms.
* The Most Cunning Fic Detective award is shared by minnow_53 and lyras, each of whom guessed the authors of seven fics correctly.
* The Award for Certainty goes to therealsnape, who wrote about kellychambliss' "The Mark:" Certain about 'The Mark.' It's brilliant, it's beautiful, it's Kelly Chambliss' work, no doubt about it." I don't think the real Snape would have expressed himself more definitively!
* And finally, special thanks go out to Most Valuable Readerwerewolfsfan, who commented on every submission. Readers like you keep writers writing and fests like this one going. Thank you!
What now? You can catch up on reading--and remember to leave a few words of feedback on the fics you've just discovering (the authors will appreciate it). And please let other folks know about the high-quality fic here!
You're now welcome to post these submissions to your own journal or to other communities. In the next day or two I'll go back and add authors' names to individual submissions. Done! Let me know if there are any corrections that need to be made.
Thanks so much to everyone for your participation, creativity, and support! And a happy belated birthday to Neville Longbottom (July 30) and JK Rowling and Harry Potter (July 31)!
Title: Patronus Author: vegablack62 Characters and pairings: Neville, Luna Rating and warnings, if any: G Prompt, if any: Written for lyras, who asked what Neville was doing while Harry was learning about Horcruxes. Summary: Neville tries to cast a Patronus Author's Note: Written after the deadline, but I wanted to contribute anyway.
There's no guessing on the creator of the vid That's What You Get (Waking Up in Vegas) since it's also been posted on the creator's journal, but stop by and watch and enjoy!
Notes:
1. You'll notice that we have 10 authors and 13 ficlets. Some authors have written more than one...
2. Late submissions accepted until reveals and the master list are posted at noon (ET), Saturday, August 1.
Thanks, everyone! Happy guessing! Comments screened, and those of you with the most astute powers of Divination will be accorded Internet Fame on Saturday.
Title: Meeting in the Greenhouse Author:vegablack62 Characters and pairings: Neville, Ginny Rating and warnings, if any: G Prompt, if any: Written for Lyras who asked what Neville was doing while Harry was learning about Horcruxes. Summary: Ginny meets Neville in the Greenhouse Author's Note: This is my first attempt at omniscient pov.
Title: By the Firelight Author:blueeyedgrl Characters and pairings: Harry/Ginny Rating and warnings, if any: G Prompt, if any: Summary: In the aftermath of Dumbledore's death, Harry and Ginny are alone by the firelight.
Title: Stalked Author:lyras Characters and pairings: Remus, implied Fenrir Greyback; implied Remus/Sirius and Remus/Tonks Rating and warnings, if any: PG-13 Prompt, if any: None Summary: Trying to infiltrate Greyback's pack preys on Remus's mind while he sleeps.
Title: Taking Stock Author:lyras Characters and pairings: Horace Slughorn Rating and warnings, if any: PG-13 Prompt, if any: Loosely based on this from lyras: "Something to do with Slughorn and Tom Riddle. Did Riddle ever make Slughorn's wall of fame? When did Slughorn admit that Riddle was evil?" Summary: After his Christmas party, Horace takes stock.
Characters and pairings: Almost all characters, and pairings? Well, there's Harry/Ginny, Harry/Ron, Harry/Draco, Harry/Hermione, Remus/Sirius, Ron/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Hermione/Viktor, Umbridge/Fireworks Dragon, Lucius/Pimp Cane, Lucius/Harry, Harry/Snape, Harry/Dumbledore, and probably a few more that I was not consciously thinking of. Um, Barty Jr/His Tongue? Nobody is shipped with Dudley, though.
Worksafe? Yes, if the Katy Perry song is safe for your office.
Warnings, if any: Crack!
Artist's notes: Heard the song back in the Spring and have wanted to vid to it ever since. It took the release of a slew of preview clips and teasers for me to get enough content to make this vid.
Prompt/Summary: Harry wakes up in Vegas each and every day, since he first learned about the wizarding world.
Title: In My Sky at Twilight Author:snow_blossoms Characters and pairings: Remus/Sirius (sort of) and Remus/Tonks (if you squint) Rating and warnings, if any: PG Prompt, if any: Remus grieving Sirius by cookiedough Summary: Remus dealing with the aftermath of Sirius' death. Title from Pablo Neruda's poem of the same name.
Title: Hook and Bait Author:velvetmouse Characters and pairings: Slughorn, Snape Rating and warnings, if any: G, just a bit of AU goodness Prompt, if any: none, really. just an odd little "what if" scenario that popped into my head; only vaguely connected to HBP by virtue of the fact that it involves Slughorn and a young!Snape. Summary: What if someone had gently pushed Snape in another direction?