Will Pratt posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 4:37am for The Breaking Storm

For Taloryas,

There are a lot of "ifs" regarding a thermonuclear explosion, but the radius of total destruction for a 400 kT WE-177 would be about 8 km or a bit less. It would probably break a lot of glass in Winchester and Southhampton. Fallout is limited to a plume downwind, so it would depend upon wind direction and velocity at the time of detonation, but wind would be likely to be from the SW, in which case the plume would roughly cover the area between the northern fringe of London and about Northhampton and on out into the North Sea, decreasing in intensity as it went. Wind from the WSW would send the plume over London, with correspondingly increased long-term radiation effects. You can play with a map to estimate plume coverage for various wind directions.

It was a relatively "clean" bomb, as thermonuclear bombs went and most people downwind wouldn't have severe immediate effects. Statistically they would suffer a decreased life expectancy, with increased rates of cancers. The area of severe radiation sickness would be relatively small, and fall within a largely rural area. It's still a total schrecklichkeit, but given what else is going on, it's a minor concern, unless you lived in Amesbury or within 30 km or so downwind.

You don't even want to think about the amount of suffering, even if it's only a small percentage of the total UK population. But remember the context, we're talking about Armageddon for the Island of Great Britain. The sort of crash that Bobmin are talking about, if total population loss is "only" 30% they'll have dodged the bullet.

Will Pratt

Matt posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 3:23am for The Breaking Storm

Great chapter...I could almost feel the apocalyptic music in the background as many things come to head.

Taloruyas posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 3:15am for The Breaking Storm

Oh my god... I've got to say, your Harry is hilarious.

But, err... A comment on the lil' nuke you just set off there... You do realise the long-term radiation reaches well beyond the blast area? I'm not quite sure about a 400 kTon nuke, but if it's 40 times a Hiroshima nuke... Wouldn't it be around the size of the UK and Ireland?
I'm no atomic scientist, so I'm not sure about it, but I thought I should mention it. :)

Evan Mayerle posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 2:19am for The Breaking Storm

Loved the disclaimer this time, quite reminescent of the classic "Duck Amuck" by Chuck Jones. I do congratulate you on getting the WE-177 details, and disposal timeline, right; you've obviously done some research (I can supply a suitable URL for those who doubt).

I have to admit, I loved the opening; it's definitely what I was expecting, Harry waking up rather po'd.

Finally, my compliments on the time to post for this chapter, I wasn't expecting it 'til near the end of the week.

Snapesmistress005 posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 1:07am for The Breaking Storm

amazing chapter! i totally loved this. hoorah ron's dead! and harry's not! glad they got everyone out though. i was kinda worried about the slytherin's. can't wait to see what harry does w/them. anywho, great job. just one smal question. at the yahoo group home it says that the story is complete. i went back through the posts and found a message that says there will be three more chaps, which i hope is true. otherwise, the little pink alan rickman's i promised earlier will be sent to your door! much love!

patrik svensson posted a comment on Tuesday 1st November 2005 12:44am for The Breaking Storm

grejt story,
keep upp the good work.

Opinions are like assholes.
Everyone has one - but some just smell worse than others.

Kat Armstrong posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 11:56pm for The Breaking Storm

Short review, I know, but just wanted to say yet again SoB is brilliant. I've just had the day from hell at work, and came home to find this waiting for me. Made my day.

quizgirl posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 11:50pm for The Breaking Storm

Hehe, you should've seen me when I saw that you had updated again so soon. Screaming like an idiot! Hum, perhaps you shouldn't have seen it after all?
You two continue to blow me away with your amazing story, plot line and knowledge. Definitely my favourite story at the moment.
Thumbs up to you!
quizgirl

Crys posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 11:01pm for The Breaking Storm

That whole scene at the ward boundary was great. Taunting Voldie from behind an impenetrable shield? Sheer genius, Harry!

Clever to sic the acromantulas on the DEs as well.

We kinda lost track of Dumbledore, though. That worries me.

Myrddin Ambrosius posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 10:56pm for The Breaking Storm

Oh, I had been wondering about the Hogwarts library. Glad that question was answered. Now I just have one teeny tiny question. I know everything couldn't be rescued, but were any of the portraits taken? Especially ones of past headmasters and mistresses? Just a little something I was wondering about, not anything important.

I can't wait to see what happens next. I wonder how many of the student followers of Voldemort will switch sides, and how many parents will join them? What about Dumbledore, where is he and what's he up to? I really look forward to the next part.

Thank you for a wonderful story!

Christopher Estep posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 10:40pm for The Breaking Storm

To those wondering about Kingsley, he was Tom's spy within MLE, and the only Senior Auror who stayed once Richfield was elected Minister. He actually got a *promotion* out of Dolohov's taking over Magical Law Enforcement. *Answer me this: With Dolohov being a known Death Eater (and Kingsley *knew* about the incident at the DoM from at least three sources: Amelia, Dumbledore, and Harry himself) why would he promote anybody who he wasn't sure was in his hip pocket? (That little item came from Draco's earlier conversation with Hermione.) Also, it was *Amelia* that called Kingsley a traitor (in fact, Kingsley led the Auror team that tried to arrest *her*). So, Harry is completely blameless.

Christopher Estep posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 10:31pm for The Breaking Storm

Yep, Harry did survive the A-K yet again. And Voldemort's lackeys did indeed pay for that screwup. (And traitor Kingsley was subjected to the infamous, and previously uncastable, Phoenix Flame Curse. No, it's *not* a Dark spell; in fact, it's a Merlin-developed spell used to punish traitors.) The Ministry Building will have to be destroyed once Harry and Company take Britain back, as his exit left the building itself *completely unusable*.

Nitpick: NMCC, not MNCC. NMCC stands for National Military Command Center. The Primary is in, of course, the Pentagon, just outside Washington, DC, and there are *at least* three alternates (one in Pennsylvania, and two in other parts of Virginia).

Elena posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 10:23pm for The Breaking Storm

your story has inspired me to write harry potter fanfics and fyi i luv ur author notes aand disclaimers bob!!!!!!!!!!!!! i luv harry and hermione parings and wanted to recomend that you post your story at portkey.org

Ben Russell-Gough posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 10:19pm for The Breaking Storm

And so it begins... [/vorlon]

Harry's escape was everything that I expected. I'm very sorry for Kingsley's end, though. Unless I missed something, he was an innocent victim, a fact that Harry will shortly recognise and that will doubtless cause him no end of angst, especially if he has to deal with the man's next of kin. Ultimately, Kingsley was a victim of friendly fire (literally! :-o ). Because Harry was doing his 'glowy eyes' thing, I'm fairly sure that he had only limited conscious control over his actions, being partially submerged in, and guided by, Magic Itself. Nonetheless, I am sure that this will be a bitter memory for him.

I think that Voldemort now knows that Dumbles isn't the only one that he has to be scared of. I also suspect that, after escaping the Acromantula (can you really see him haning around for that fight?) he will be most annoyed to see that he has inherited an empty castle. The ultimate in pyrric victories.

The Ministry is gone! Well, I thought that Harry would pull a trick somewhere along those lines, although I have to applaud his style.

Now I am interested to see what kind of a country Voldemort has got for himself. With the military having already largely left and with all the major magical assets stripped by Arthur and his faithful sons, he might quickly find that the joke is on him.

One little issue - The Portkey co-ordinate error. It is a nice little touch that reminds us that Harry and his friends are just as fallible as anyone else. The real trick is in transcending this aspect of human nature.

*Looks at A/N* So Ron is dead? Tsk! Well, it is your story and it is up to you what happens in in. Nonetheless, I would have kept him around to be Harry's arch nemesis in the sequel.

Anyway, really good writing. Can't wait to see more.

BenRG's Rating: 9/10

Nimloki posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 9:42pm for The Breaking Storm

Wow... Super Harry the only thing missing is the big "S" But seriously that was a really cool chapter. Lots of action and dead death eaters... Yeah! Now I have just one question: How many times in a story do need to have the hero pass out before it become passé? Well, just remember to ignore us whiners and write your vision.

Thanks for another great chapter!

claudia posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 9:21pm for The Breaking Storm

Awesome story! I really liked the first two - "Dumbledore's Army" and "Harry Potter and the Spiritus Cristalus" but this one goes wwaaayy better. Even if I'm not very good in swallow a Harry/Hermione ship. Go on and have pity on us, don't skip any week of publishing.

red jacobson posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 8:15pm for The Breaking Storm

Hey Bob and Alyx; excellent chapter; and; although I'm sorry to see Professor Blackthorne die, I liked her, I understand that sometimes characters die. Darn it!

Anyway; I'm too tired for a more indepth review, but I'm definately looking forward to the rest of this story.

red

G posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 8:02pm for The Breaking Storm

Another brilliant chapter as always you two.

Loved the fact you got padfoot involved again, interest to see if he followed the portkey with H+Hr, not sure what good he would be at Haven, but still...:-)

Wow, all it took was Harry being pisced off to bring down the Ministry...loved the whole idea about the fountain of lava! And Kinsley paid the price, and what a way to go...!

You guys sure do love your spiders too - evil eaten by evil, that'll teach the DE!

Team Weasley off on another mission, man those guys are great! But what's happened to Molly - will she be given the chance at safety, or will she die a most grotesque death?

Love the whole side that is rather technical as well, all the lovely details of bombs and such, don't understand any of it, but the whole thought of magical additions and actions when involved with nukes...makes me shiver at the thought of the destruction!

So is that every major city that has been hit now then? Can't remember if London has been done, but the north seems pretty much wiped out.

Ginny seems like she is itching to kick someone's ass, who's left to kick is the only question I have!

Terry and Susan seem to be on the up and up.

Neville will be quite happy I suppose, got some of the plants from No.6!

Hermione and Luna are sorted, they have the books.

Harry has everyone out and safe, and as you left it, Hermione in his bed, what more could he ask for (A lot, I know, I know, but really, in the grand scheme of things...)

But what is Draco gonna get? Hopefully some full on Malfoy vs Malfoy dueling/fighting action, and hopefully he won't loose, else Luna will flip out!

Will they be staying at the school, or at the manor? Harry doesn't really need to be at the school anymore - would think that the NEWTs are already in the bag, and seeing as he has probably blown up the records and exams in his mission to get outta jail...

Anyways, enough questions, thoughts and comments from me, wouldn't want to hold you up...and don't like ironed fingers!

All the best,

G

Jamie posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 8:01pm for The Breaking Storm

:) Another fabulous chapter. I have to say, though, when Dean hit Harry with the AK last chapter, my initial reaction wasn't "OMG! Harry's dead!" it was something along the lines of "Oh gee, Harry's gonna survive *another* one; after all, only Voldie can kill him." I honestly thought you'd have him get right back up, and when he didn't I was like "Oh, right, must remember not to combine fanfics in my head" ;) hahaha. But then he survived anyway. :) Yay!

I really liked the nuke bit. I mean, b/c you needed a nuking (you just kept TALKING about the nukes, I knew you were gonna use 'em somehow), but if Volide & Co. had figured the use of them out (and their usefulness for wiping out tens of thousands of Muggles) then you woulda had the whole plot problem of "what's keeping the D.E.'s from Apparating into other countries and stealing/setting off THEIR nukes?"... and that just gets out of hand. :-D hahaha.

But yeah, this was a great chapter. I was surprised at Dean being the spy (being that he's a Muggleborn and all), but I *wasn't* surprised (too much) that Harry decided to take everyone, part and parcel, from the school. Goes with that whole "not all Slytherins are evil and not all Gryffindors are good" bit, and there wasn't time to be like "do you wanna go?" and have people waffle, so it was good that Harry was just like *whoosh!* and off everyone went. ;) Sort 'em out later.

I noticed that you had the students sit on their trunks, but Prof. Sprout just grabbed ahold. Did she (and the other profs) have time to pack their stuff? :( One would hope so, but I'm guessing Minerva might not have... I wonder if Dumbledore's office will act like it did for Umbridge in Book 5 and not open, period, or if they managed to clear it out, or if Voldie's gonna get his paws on some of those goodies in there (and I don't mean the leftover lemon drops)... I'm very curious to see what "surprises" were left in Greenhouse 6, but I liked the use of the Acromantulas :-D

Ok well I've rambled on long enough. :) Thanks for a faster update and not making us wait so long to see that you did indeed *not* kill Harry. ;) (hahah, although that was rather obvious since it'd be hard to write a sequel with no hero... *grin*) Keep up the good work!

Obelix72 posted a comment on Monday 31st October 2005 6:34pm for The Breaking Storm

Hi Alyx, hi Bob!

Another great chapter, I like it!
A vulcano in the Ministry - this is good, very good! *LOL* And Voldi killed his own Death Eaters... He really musst be pissed by Harry's words!
But a nuclear bomb exploded in UK? Is this really necessary? Wasn't Hiroshima & Nagasaki enough?

Greetings from Bavaria / Germany,
Obelix72

(I hope you can understand me, it's not easy to learn your language!)