I am a recent member of the Harry Potter fandom, but I have always had a passion for the written word, and I hope to fulfill it here. I live in a relatively boring corner of Idaho, and I like Kokanee and a good book!
So, I suppose you're wondering what's up with my username. Even if you're not, this is how that happened. No, I was not aspiring to be a Gryffindor. I can't think of any house to which I would belong less than Gryffindor, in fact. It was a moment of clarity that I got while I was battling with myself about whether I should want to be Sorted into Gryffindor to be like Harry or to be Sorted elsewhere and follow my own path. I thought it to be much like the contemplative scene in Hamlet when he weighed taking his own life. I'm not trying to be melodramatic. That's simply is what popped into my head when I was trying to sign up to leave a review. :D
Any questions or comments about my work? Please shoot me an email at: tobeornottobeagryffindor@mugglenet.com — I'd love to hear from you!
Written in the Stars by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 25]
Summary:
Growing up as Albus Potter was not an easy task, and being the son of the Chosen One wasn't a piece of cake, either. Expectations of greatness have the startling ability to crush someone, especially an eleven-year-old boy.
Join Albus Potter in his rocky journey to adulthood and what it's like to live, to learn, to love, to lose, and to be the middle child.
This story is going to be epically long, and yes, I will update. It may not come as fast as the updates to The Vindication of James Potter did, as I'm posting this as I write it, but I do promise that this story will not fall victim to apathy. Hopefully, you enjoy this story if you decide to read it. :)
Creed of Rebellion by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 6]
Summary:
The hallmark of Dumbledore's Army was their refusal to give in to the darkness that was slowly but surely emcompassing their world. As long as there was a hope, the DA would live on. This is a warning, an invitation, a promise, to one and all that they will not back down until the battle is won.
This poem placed third in the Last Line Standing Challenge in Poetry Anyone. The last words of each line are from a non-HP poem (Robert Frost, but the name of the poem escapes me), but we were to build a new poem around it.
On a Path to Infinity by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 7]
Summary:
This is a tale of two separated souls who slowly found one another in times of crisis. And how, in the greatest crisis of all, their son in mortal danger, they stood united against the darkness.
This is the story of James and Lily Potter.
Confessions on a Saturday Morning by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 7]
Summary:
Lily Evans had a lot of thinking to do, and what better time to do it than the crack of dawn on a Saturday? Not a person in sight...usually. That was, however, until she happened upon a certain group of boys, but without their normal mischief.
Follow Lily as she investigates this awkward run-in with James Potter and his friends.
Unbreakable by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 4]
Summary:
The marriage between Dorian Nott and Isla Black was the talk of the town, but to reporter Fredrick Whitlatch, it was yet another mundane societal write up. However, when the wedding started without the bride, his wish of a bigger, better story came true all too fast. What happened next went futher than his wildest imaginings.
Where was Isla?
This fic was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best History Story.
Brazen by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: Professors [Reviews - 21]
Summary:
*These are the times that try men's souls.
Well, that couldn't be any more real for Draco Malfoy than on the eve of his wedding. He was getting married the next day, but all he could think about is how his life was about to become so much more damned complicated.
He had no idea.
*Quote - Thomas Paine, American revolutionary.
This fic was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Humour
Eye of the Beholder by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 3]
Summary:
What was it like to be thirteen? Oh, yes...hiding from mad females and complaining about class assignments with your best mate. It may not be what every boy dreams of, but there are worse things.
But for Nick Barnaby, the every day doldrums would become a distant memory as one of those scenarios becomes very real.
This is the story of Nicholas Barnaby, a minor character of mine from The Vindication of James Potter. If you've read that story, I believe that you'd enjoy this one. It gives a little bit of insight as to why he is the way he is.
The Vindication Of James Potter by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: Professors [Reviews - 184]
Summary: 
"James Sirius Potter, it is the judgment of the Wizengamot that you have been found guilty. You knowingly, in possession of sound mind and body, used the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse in the intentional torture and murder of one Gregory Goyle the Third."
James Potter was going to Azkaban for the rest of his natural life, and his whole family was in shambles. His wife and child have fled the country, his sister was missing, and his parents were a wreck. However, James knew that he had larger problems: his guilt was coming more and more in question.
Though he knew that James was withholding information about the circumstances of the murder of which he had been found guilty, Harry had secrets of his own; however, even he could not handle this torrent of trouble alone. Can Harry trust his darkest confidences to anyone? Even family?
How will the Potter clan stop the downward spiral into pain and disaster, and can they recover what they've lost?
This fic was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Next-Generation Story.
The Note He Left by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 19]
Summary:
A note was discovered in the aftermath of Harry's capture at Malfoy Manor. It's sweet, it's romantic, it's...complete fluffy rubbish.
What will happen to this heartfelt missive? Will it find its intended recipient, or will it be lost in the wreckage of Voldemort's former occupation?
Diary of a Black Widow Woman by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 6th-7th Years [Reviews - 6]
Summary:
Lucia Zabini thought that her sixth husband would be her last, but events unfolded that sent her to the altar once more. She was weary of the old vicious matrimonial cycle, and she had fully intended for this to be the last.
Will her new husband find the out the truth of her past, and would he believe that she truly means him no harm?
This is ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor of Ravenclaw, and this is my submission for the Madame Pomfrey's Character Clinic Triathlon's Minor Character Challenge. The Prompt selected was the wedding day prompt. This story was selected as the Overall Winner.
This story was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Dark/Angsty Story.
The March by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 6]
Summary:
When he realises the deadly plan set before him by Dumbledore, Harry's heart goes through an incredible journey to find calm in the eye of the storm.
This sonnet won The Diamond Challenge on the Poetry Anyone forum. The prompt that inspired it was 'Loyalty'.
This poem was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Poem
A Promise to Keep by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 6th-7th Years [Reviews - 9]
Summary:
Ginny Weasley Potter is newly married, but matrimony was proving to be more difficult than she had ever expected. Harry was nearly always working, and her dreams of wedded bliss were slowly slipping though her fingers.
And then came Gabrielle Delacour, an incidental acquaintance and an unlikely ally. Gabrielle tries to help Ginny mend her soul and her marriage, but slowly, Ginny realises that there is more to this newfound friendship than she had ever thought possible.
The Sweetest Mistake by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 6th-7th Years [Reviews - 13]
Summary:
During the trip to Godric's Hollow, Hermione, through the course of events, comes to realize that her friendship with Harry had become so much more to her - but not to him. This pain, this disconcerting feeling, however, had nothing to do with Horcruxes.
These Games We Play by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 4]
Summary:
Certain rules exist between friends and family, one of which is never dating someone’s ex-boyfriend. However, unfortunately for Dominique Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy has seen fit to test her resolve to not cross that line. Could she bring herself to break that taboo?
Lily Potter was nice, but she just couldn’t hold a candle to her vixen of a cousin, Dominique. Scorpius knew who he wanted, but did he have what it took to go and get her?
This story is written as a parallel to my fic, Dust in the Wind. All events from that story are written in the opposing point of view, plus more of the back story and after story are explored.
My Secret, My Hell, My Burden by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 6th-7th Years [Reviews - 15]
Summary:
What could possibly be a higher form of madness than falling in love with someone who does not share your feelings? Well, for starters, if that person happens to be your best friend, then that certainly qualifies.
Albus Potter has fallen prey to this quandary, and through a self-exploratory journey, he learns much about what it’s like to love and what it’s like to lose himself.
This placed second in the February Great Hall Month of Love Challenge - First Love.
This fic was nominated for a 2010 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Same-Sex Pairing.
Dust in the Wind by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 10]
Summary:
Dominique Weasley took a summer job at Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes with the hope to stake her first claim of independence. All she really wanted was to be able to pay for her Yule Ball gown on her own, but one fateful day, someone strolled into the shop and turned her world upside down.
Scorpius Malfoy was sweet, confident, and completely gorgeous, but Dominique knew that he was off-limits as her cousin’s ex-boyfriend. The more she tried to push him away, though, the more she questioned her resolve to do the right thing.
This is ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor of Ravenclaw House, and this is my submission for the Fiction Junction ‘I Challenge Thee’ prompt
Non Compos Mentis by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 4]
Summary:
When left to their own devices, teenagers manufacture all sorts of ways of getting in trouble. In this case, the trouble is of a completely different breed—mischief under the influence.
Unbeknownst to the flock of Weasley/Potter adolescents, though, the cider from the press at the Burrow is not quite as fresh as they think. While most of them realize that the beverage was suspect, a certain cousin does not, leading to antics, shenanigans, and embarrassments, all on a whole new level.
A Touch of Midas by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 5]
Summary:
Albus Potter was dying.
As his brother's body was ravaged by an insanely rare disease, James Potter set out on an incredible journey in search of a mythical creature that everyone was sure was extinct, because if he did not, the cure for Albus's disease could not be concocted and he would die a slow, painful death.
If the journey in itself was not strange enough, James encountered a legendary figure, who agreed to guide him through his quest through many lands.
This is ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor of Ravenclaw House, and this is my Submission to the Eighth Round of the Gauntlet. This entry placed second overall.
It Was the Worst of Times by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 5]
Summary:
In times of peace, tales of strife and angst tend to fall out of favor with the masses, but stories of happy endings and the concept of everything turning out all right don’t often make for good reading. There are rare occasions, though, when both can be met with equal accord and form a bond in the written word.
The first sentence in the Charles Dickens classic, A Tale of Two Cities, simply states that ‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.’ An anonymous writer sent in a letter to Roxanne Weasley’s weekly featurette in the Daily Prophet, telling the story of his father’s murder and his journey to recovery, which seemed to be the incarnation of that very line. Sometimes, it takes a loss for one to truly appreciate what one has in life and even in death.
Welcome Home by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor
Rated: 1st-2nd Years [Reviews - 4]
Summary:
The wizarding mothers of England have banded together after the fall of Voldemort to support one another with a common purpose: to mourn the loss of their children in the war. These grieving mothers formed a group, Hospice for the Orphaned Mothers of England (H.O.M.E.), for just that cause.
Molly Weasley stood before the assembly of H.O.M.E. and shared the story of her son, Fred. Join Molly as she imparts her personal loss and heartbreak so that the orphaned mothers know that they are, indeed, not alone.
This is ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor of Ravenclaw House, and this is an entry for the Winter Snows 09 H.O.M.E. Challenge.
