James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

am the Bloodline! It is my duty to descend to the Chamber of my forefather! I am the host of the Gatekeeper!'

        'You aren't,' Scorpius declared firmly. 'If you were, you would've been able to open the Chamber on your own. But you couldn't, could you? No matter how hard you tried. Because you aren't a Parselmouth! You're nothing more than a convenient distraction! That was why my grandfather wanted me to show them the memories and make them believe the Bloodline was you: to distract them from the real Bloodline!'

        'NOOO!' Tabitha shrieked again, closing her eyes and crumpling. Her wand wavered and her grip loosened on Rose. Suddenly, impulsively, she pointed her wand at Scorpius.

        'Avada Kedavra!' she screamed, her face twisting in rage. Green light erupted from her wand.

        Scorpius lunged, instinctively turning sideways, just as they'd practiced in Defence Club. The jet of green light missed him by inches, striking the wall behind him and exploding in a burst of sparks. Scorpius' maneuver knocked him off balance, however, and he struck his head hard on the edge of the sink as he fell. At that moment, James saw Rose's mouth tighten and she kicked backwards, connecting with Tabitha's shin. The taller girl's wail of anger turned into a cry of pain and she stumbled. Rose ducked from beneath Tabitha's arm and Ted leapt forward. He captured Tabitha as she collapsed, but the fight had completely gone from her. Tabitha dropped her wand and sank to the floor, slipping through Ted's arms.

        'Is he all right?' Rose called, jumping to Scorpius' side.

        'If he isn't dead,' Albus announced, striding into the room and pointing his wand, 'I'll kill him.'

        James gently steered his brother away from the bleeding boy on the floor. 'Back off, Al. You can deal with him later. I think he'll be all right.'

        There was a groan as Ralph sat up, rubbing his head. 'What happened?' he moaned. 'Am I dead?'

        'Tabitha Stunned you,' Zane answered, helping Ralph to his feet. 'Be glad that's all it was. She stopped at crazy a few blocks back.'

        'I am the Bloodline,' Tabitha sobbed. 'I've felt the guiding hand of the Dark Lord! I was promised! My parents would be avenged! No one else meets the requirements! I am the only orphan left within these walls! It must be me!'

        Ted glanced sharply down at Tabitha. 'What did you say?'

        'I am the only orphan left, Ted Lupin!' she cried, raising her eyes angrily to him. 'Now that you've gone from these halls, it had to be me! The prophecies say that a child of tragedy would be the host of the Gatekeeper. My parents are gone, dead these many years! And Lucius Malfoy has confirmed it! He told me how the Ministry killed my father, and how my mother died when I was born!'

        Ted was shaking his head slowly. 'That's not true,' he said. He glanced back at James, his face grave. 'Then none of you know, do you? I assumed she'd told you, just like she told me.'

        James shook his head. 'Who? Told us what?'

        'That day at Hogsmeade,' Ted answered. 'She needed to talk to me because she'd just found out about her parents. She wanted to talk to someone who'd gone through the same kind of loss. She never knew until the package came. It was too much for her to bear… to find out so much, so fast…'

        'Petra?' James said, stepping forward. 'You mean the package from her father?'

        Ted frowned and shook his head. 'James, it wasn't from her father. The Ministry sent it. It was all of her father's belongings. He'd willed them to her when he died in Azkaban years ago. When she turned seventeen, the Ministry released them to her. She never even knew he'd been incarcerated. Amongst the old shirts and shoes, there was a note. It was addressed to the baby daughter he'd never met. He told her he believed that the guards would soon kill him, but that he couldn't do anything to stop it. They thought he was protecting his former Death Eater employers, but he really wasn't. He didn't know anything about them; they'd never told him their names or even showed him their faces. He wanted Petra to know that he would have turned his bosses in if he could've, and that… well, that he loved her, and that he was sorry he'd never be there for her.'

        'It was Petra?' James whispered, barely allowing himself to consider it. 'That can't be!'

        Ted nodded seriously. 'She doubted it herself. She went to Merlin about it, and showed him the letter. He offered to show her the truth in that Magic Mirror of his, but he warned her that she might not truly wish to know. She looked anyway, and she saw it all, exactly as it'd happened. They threw her father into the Dementor pit. It was… it was awful. She was completely devastated.'

        Rose glanced from James to Ted, her eyes wide. 'But she never told anyone she was an orphan, did she? We all assumed she had a mum and dad like the rest of us!'

        'Petra was raised by her grandparents, but she never told us that,' Ted replied. 'The Gremlins and I, whenever we saw them at the station, we just assumed they were her parents and that they'd had her late in life. She never talked about them, and we always sort of guessed that she didn't have a very happy home life. They'd only ever told her that her mother had died in childbirth. They never spoke of her father at all, and Petra learned not even to ask.'

        'I should've known,' James said, touching his forehead. 'I saw her in my dreams over and over. I believed it was Tabitha because I couldn't see her face, but it all fits now. The dark shape in the corner… it talked about restoring the people she'd lost. It told her she would be allowed to avenge them, and even get them back. I even saw them… her parents, reflecting in a sort of glowing green pool! Petra believes the Ministry killed her father, and her mother died as a result, and now she's going to do what she thinks she has to do to get them back! The dark shape in my dreams, it said there was only one way to do it—blood for blood!'

        'Lily!' Rose gasped, covering her mouth.

        'She wouldn't!' Albus said, shaking his head. 'Petra would never hurt Lily. Would she?'

        'Morganstern!?' Tabitha half sobbed. 'Impossible!'

        'Not really,' a different voice answered mournfully. 'If you think about it, I mean.'

        Everyone turned to a ghostly figure seated on the windowsill in the corner.

        'Myrtle!' Rose cried. 'How long have you been there?'

        'That's Moaning Myrtle?' Zane asked, arching an eyebrow. 'I expected something a little more… er…'

        'It's rude to speak of people as if they aren't there,' Myrtle chided sadly. 'Even if, technically speaking… they aren't. But don't worry, I'm… used to it.' She sighed hugely.

        James spoke up. 'Sorry, Myrtle, but this is really important. What do you know about this?'

        'Oh, now everyone runs to Myrtle, don't they? 'What have you seen, Myrtle?' 'Tell us everything you know, Myrtle.' But I know how it goes: the moment I tell you, you'll forget about poor, pathetic Moaning Myrtle. It was the same with your father, James Potter. Your brother looks a lot more like him, even though he's not got that silly fake scar on his forehead.'

        'What's she talking about, James?' Albus asked out of the corner of his mouth.

        James shook his head. 'I'm sorry, Myrtle, but this is really serious. Our sister is in trouble. You have to help us!'

        'I know,' Myrtle cooed. 'Poor little Lily. Perhaps she'll keep me company here in the toilet.'

        'Myrtle!' James cried, exasperated, but Rose placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. She turned to the ghostly figure, a thoughtful look on her face.

        'You know, Myrtle, if you help us, I bet Lily's father would be really grateful. I bet he'd even come to visit you, to tell you how much he appreciates all your help.'

        Myrtle looked petulantly at Rose. 'Harry? He wouldn't. Would he? He probably doesn't even remember me.'

        'I'm certain that he does,' Rose said confidently. 'I've heard him speak of you. He'd probably be very