James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

        James looked again. He could see Merlin now. He was returning along the length of the cord, a small box in one hand, his staff held aloft in the other. The cord was perfectly motionless as the big man placed his footsteps on it. James could still feel not the slightest tension on the cord. He squeezed it in his hands, thinking hard. Could he do it? Should he? Would he ever have such a chance again?

        'Do it, boy!' the skeleton of Farrigan whispered harshly, leaning forward. 'Close your eyes, do not watch, and let go!'

        The cord was slick with sweat in James' hand. He almost did it. His fingers twitched. And then he remembered something Merlin had said the year before, shortly after he'd come back into the world. You have rather a talent for looking beyond the flat of the mirror, James Potter, he'd told him. That had been a compliment, James assumed, and it meant that he was not easily fooled. Of course, Madame Delacroix had fooled him, but that had required the use of a very carefully hexed voodoo doll. Merlin had implied that words alone were not enough to dupe James.

        Thinking that, James turned to the skeleton one last time. 'How do I know you are telling me the truth?'

        The skeleton seemed to sputter. 'You know by the evidence of your own soul! You sense the rightness of my allegations! Now drop the cord! End it!'

        James narrowed his eyes. 'You know, I don't think I will. I don't know what things were like in your time, but in my world, we don't kill people just because somebody says they're troublesome.'

        'Then your world deserves its own doom,' the skeleton replied, rattling back against the cavern wall. 'I wash my hands of you. The Doombringer is come.'

        James decided it was best not to argue with the skeleton. Now that he'd made up his mind, he knew there was no point in it. He looked out along the cord and saw that Merlin was nearly back. His face was still grim, but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.

        'Our task is complete, Mr. Potter,' he said as he stepped onto the stone of the cave floor. 'You may release the cord. We will require it no longer.'

        James let the cord drop to the floor. It slithered away and dropped silently into the dark abyss. Sighing, James glanced over at the skeleton, but it didn't move.

        'I'd expect to hear no more from him,' Merlin said quietly. 'He has done what he remained to do.'

'What's that mean?' James said, turning to the wizard. 'Why did I have to hold that cord?'

        'Trust, Mr. Potter,' Merlin replied, smiling a little sorrowfully. 'It is a scarce commodity among those whose hearts are bent on evil. This is why trust was the final test before my cache.'

        'You knew he would be here?' James nodded toward the skeleton.

        'Him, or someone like him. His duty was to challenge your trust. After all, it isn't really trust at all if there isn't a struggle.'

        James looked up at Merlin's face. 'I almost let go,' he said quietly. 'All I had to do was hold the cord, and I almost didn't do it.'

        Merlin nodded gravely. 'Doing what is right is nearly always simple, Mr. Potter. But it is never easy.'

        There didn't seem to be anything more to say. James and Merlin walked back to the rough stone wall that bore the hidden door.

        'Mr. Deedle,' Merlin called, 'by your leave, we shall come out now.'

        James heard Ralph's voice clearly through the apparently impenetrable stone as if he was only a few feet away. 'Er, all right then. What do I do?'

        'Point your wand at the doorway and say 'Braut Tir'.'

        There was a pause. James heard Ralph whisper, 'What's that? I missed the accent!'

        'Just do it, Ralph,' Rose rasped impatiently, 'they're standing right there. What's the worst that can happen?'

        Ralph said the incantation. There was a slight pop and the doorway appeared. The light of the sunset flooded the cave. James squinted out at Ralph and Rose as Merlin extinguished his staff.

        'What'd I do?' Ralph exclaimed, stumbling backwards a step. 'I sealed them in! The entrance disappeared!' Even Rose's eyes had widened in fear.

        'What's wrong with you two?' James asked, stepping through the doorway with Merlin right behind him.

        Ralph's eyes widened even further. 'Whoa,' he said, awed. 'You just, like, walked right through a stone wall. You're not, er, dead, are you?'

        'They're fine, you prat,' Rose grinned, smacking Ralph on the shoulder.

        'One-way stone,' James shrugged, glancing back at the now solid wall of the cave. The door was completely invisible. 'Is it closed forever?'

        Merlin nodded. 'I require it no more. Let us return. The daylight will be gone soon and the tide rises even as we speak.

        James looked and saw that the waves were slopping over the lip of the cavern mouth. Each wave pushed more water onto the rough floor. Merlin still carried the small box under his arm as he turned to lead them up the narrow, curving stairway.

        'So that's it?' Ralph called up from the rear. 'You have all your stuff in that little box?'

        'Are you surprised, Mr. Deedle?' Merlin replied. 'Would you prefer to heft a pile of trunks?'

        Ralph chuckled humorlessly. 'You'd be on your own if that was the case. I can barely manage to drag myself out of here.'

        The return trip across the peninsula bridge was rather easier than it had been on their first crossing. The cliffs of the shoreline were a welcome sight and the wind was less than it had been an hour ago. Merlin was the last to cross. When he joined James, Rose, and Ralph on the crown of the promontory overlooking the peninsula, he turned to look back. Almost casually, he thrust his staff out over the bridge.

        'Discordium,' he said quietly. There was no flash of light or obvious magical blast of power, and yet the middle of the bridge shuddered visibly. As if in slow motion, the spine of rock disintegrated and crumbled massively into the ocean below, sending up enormous, crashing geysers of water.

        'Well, that's that then, isn't it?' Rose said, impressed.

        Merlin smiled down at her. Finally, just as the sun touched its golden reflection on the ocean horizon, they turned to depart.

        As they made their way back, following in Merlin's enchanted path, Rose drew close to James again.

        'Ralph and I heard you talking in there,' she said quietly. 'But it didn't sound like you were talking to Merlin. Was there something in there we couldn't see from the doorway?'

        James didn't answer right away. For some reason, he felt reticent to tell Rose and Ralph about the skeleton of Farrigan. He glanced at Rose. 'That was me,' he said, shrugging. 'I was just… talking to myself. It was creepy in there while Merlin went for the box.'

        Rose tightened her lips and looked closely at James as she walked. He knew she knew he was lying. He looked away and trotted closer to Merlin.

        'Headmaster,' he said after a while, 'what are the Borleys?'

        Merlin was walking directly in front of James, his long stride cruising straight through the Forest like a knife. The last shreds of dusk on his robes gave him a vague, ghostly cast.

        'As I explained to you on the train, Mr. Potter, the Borleys are shadow creatures.'

        'Yeah, I remember, but where do they come from?'

        Merlin's normally deep voice dropped a bit lower. 'Your companion in the cave was talkative, wasn't he?'

        James followed Merlin closely. He wished he could see the wizard's face. They moved through the