Andromeda is fascinating; "pretty formidable whilst remaining fairly sane" probably sums up my own opinion of her (though I throw in a dollop of professional goat-torturing for fun. Er, authorial fun, not her's). The same with Alice - why must she be sweet and frumpy simply because she met an unhappy end? Did Barty Crouch have any truck with sweet?

Thanks for the rec. to the series - looks great.