James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

can see it. I know not from whence it comes, nor by what art it has been conjured. Perhaps it means you are my ally, strange as it may seem. But perhaps again, it marks you as my foe. It is that question and that question alone that stands between us, James Potter. That question, resting like a lever on the fulcrum of one very small stone. And do you know what that stone is?'

        James didn't. He started to shake his head, but then he remembered something. Perhaps it came to him directly from the Headmaster's eyes, since it was a memory of another time he and Merlin had stood like this, talking in private. It had been in the cave of Merlin's cache, after the test of the golden cord.

        'Trust,' James said, his voice very dry. It sounded right. Merlin nodded slowly, meaningfully.

        'I will be watching, James Potter. As you know, I have eyes everywhere…' He looked aside, indicating the empty portrait of Severus Snape. 'Trust only lasts until the final evidence is revealed. I will be watching… for that evidence.'

        There was a soft click and the Headmaster's door creaked open. James glanced at it. He was dismissed, but he couldn't quite bring himself to go yet. He looked up at the Headmaster, steeling himself. 'Is it true that you can't harm anyone inside these walls?'

        Merlin smiled very thinly at James. He turned back toward his desk, gesturing toward the Amsera Certh, which sat in its frame, covered in the thick black cloth. 'Ask Lord Hadyn,' he said, crossing the room. Then, in a lower voice, he added, 'Or Lady Judith.'

        The black cloth suddenly flew off the Mirror, revealing the swirling mercury smoke. The smoke began to clear as the pages in the Focusing Book suddenly riffled of their own accord, flipping past as if in a hard wind.

        'Run, James,' the portrait of Dumbledore whispered harshly. 'You do not wish to see this. Run!'

        James turned as quickly as he could and bolted out the door. It slammed after him, shaking the hall. He stopped at the top of the spiral steps, panting and frightened. He was completely confused by the things Merlin had said. The Headmaster seemed to think James might be his enemy, and yet he wasn't sure. It was certainly a terrible thing to know that the only reason Merlin hadn't attacked him yet was because of the protection of the castle and the mysterious phantom scar on his forehead. Somehow, Merlin could see it, and he didn't know where it was coming from. But if Merlin wasn't causing it somehow, then who was? And what was it trying to tell him about the Headmaster?

        'James?' Rose's voice called up from the bottom of the spiral stairs. 'What are you doing? What's taking you so long?'

        James glanced back at the Headmaster's closed door. He didn't know what it all meant, but he had a dreadful feeling that it was all going to become clear very soon. That fact alone scared him more than anything.

        Thinking that, he ran down the spiral steps to join his friends.

        That night, James sat at a table in the corner of the common room and took out a sheet of parchment. He dipped his quill, thought for a moment, and then began writing.

Dear Dad,

How's everything going at home? I hope Grandma is having fun staying in my room.

        Make sure she doesn't look under the bed because that's where me and Al hid all those Dogerpillars

we found, and I don't think we ever got them all cleared out. Also, tell her not to look on the top

shelf of the closet. In fact, if she stayed out of the closet altogether, everybody will probably be a lot

happier.

        I heard the news about the Dementor attacks going on all over London, and I heard that the Ministry is starting a new Auror department to go put a stop to it. Look, it's too much to explain in a letter, but that job is going to be a lot more dangerous than it seems. Something really evil called the Gatekeeper came back with Merlin, and we think it's using the Dementors to feed on people's fear. If you want to know more about it, ask Cousin Lucy. She looked it up at the wizarding library for us, so she knows loads about it. You just need to watch out for it because it's really, really powerful—way more powerful than any regular old Dementor—and it's looking for a human host to give it all the power it needs to stay here for good and ruin everything.

        That reminds me—Dad, do you remember a ring that Dumbledore gave you? It might not have been a ring, but a stone. I think I've heard you talk about it, from back when you had to go into the woods to fight V. Somebody here says he read about it in those books that came out about your life, and he says it was called the Resurrection Stone. Anyway, I need to ask—what happened to that stone? Rose and Ralph and me think that it might be really important for getting rid of the Gatekeeper. I promise not to tell anyone. Except Rose and Ralph. And maybe Zane if we think he can help. And maybe Cameron Creevey since he's the one that remembered about it in those books. But nobody else. OK?

Thanks, Dad,

Love, James.

P.S. Have you and Mum found the M. Map and the I. Cloak and my voodoo doll yet?

        James sealed the letter into an envelope and began to stuff it into his satchel. He stopped, suddenly wondering if he had time to send the letter tonight instead of tomorrow. He checked the clock and saw that it was only nine. He had time to get to the Owlery, and he knew he'd sleep better knowing that the letter was already on Nobby's leg, winging along to his parents' house. Rose had already gone up to bed, and Ralph was down in the Slytherin rooms, so James decided to go by himself. He stuffed the letter into his pocket and climbed through the portrait hole.

        By the time James ascended the narrow steps into the Owlery, the moon had risen to a huge, full orb. Its frosty face illuminated the interior of the Owlery with silvery light, bright enough to see by. James found Nobby and paused to stroke him.

        'They feed you all right up here?' James asked.

        Nobby clicked his beak and ruffled his feathers luxuriously. James noticed that the corners of the Owlery floor were cluttered with the bones of rodents.

        'I guess you get along just fine up here, don't you?' James said, smiling. The great bird seemed to agree. He ducked his head under James' stroking hand, preening. After a minute, James took the letter out of his pocket. He attached it carefully to Nobby's leg with a bit of string.

        'This is really important, Nobby,' James explained. 'Get it to Dad as soon as possible, all right? And wait to see if he writes anything in return. If he does, bring it with you when you come back.'

        Nobby clicked his beak again and shuffled on the perch, obviously anxious to depart. As soon as James released his leg, Nobby spread his wings. He balanced for a moment, and then thrust upwards, flapping toward the Owlery's huge windows. He circled, disturbing some of the other owls on their perches, and then, with a flick of his rudderlike tail, he was gone.