A Decoding of the Heart, Chapter 1: Notes

(Originally published September 26, 2001)

All the chapter titles are from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (from this World to the Next) . Vanity Fair is where the pilgrims Christian and Faithful are arrested (and Faithful executed) for refusing to buy anything or admire the people and things on show.

If you know where the verse heading the chapter comes from, I'm truly impressed and will email you a preview of the Slytherin Gift to Virgins scene of the sequel, Ring of Truth. (ETA, er, some time in 2002).
[WebDog's note: HA!]

FFnet has gone and trimmed reviews displayed to 15, so I am in the embarrassing situation of not being able to thank all you reviewers by name and acknowledge the many who got both refs to Romeo and Juliet - Friar Lawrence and "Two houses both alike in dignity", and she who found a third in the Pilgrim motif. Many of you also recognised Thomas Hardy's "Character is fate" (and told me more than I knew myself of its classical origins). Thanks to your erudition, I've been able to cut that quotation in a re-edit and go straight in with the 'personalised misquote'. Much more elegant.

Thank-you to PL for the recent rhyming request to continue (such a relief to read rhymes that scan) to Morrighan for various emails, to Lilith Morgana and Blackletter for the help with Latin. (Blackletter - don't follow my example - please hurry with chapter 3 of 'Fade to Black'!) Much credit to J.L. Matthews for tips on storytelling, on exploiting the Ministry's setting I chose, and for turning up some amazing stuff about Chartres that certainly wasn't in my guide book, and which I'm gradually working in. There's one idea pinched from the "The Craft". (Yesss! - I can do Popular Culture!)

Sirius and Remus fans - please fetch yourselves a Calming Down potion, because you won't like what I've done with them.

I grovel before you for making you wait. I lost my notes, got VERY stuck on a RL essay for an art catalogue, and still have doubts about what I'm putting before you, especially as ever more silly ideas, that one writes and then represses, mushroom over time.

Actually, this chapter, when finished, will still have some very peculiar things in it, but let's hope I'll, er, pull them off. It meanders even more than usual, as I had to get a lot of background in through dialogue (the curse of expostion?) I hope to get the rest up-including the much trumpeted Salomé (and this bit more polished) within a month. I wouldn't have posted such a rough piece of indulgence - for there are MANY themes stated that are to be followed up - but I was BEGGED.

Reference notes:

The Labour Party Headquarters are in Walworth Road, next to the Elephant and Castle.
The spell means 'Lift restraint/moderation'.

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