James Potter And The Morrigan Web (113 page)

James frowned and shook his head. “That’s what Avior-- or Grudje, or whoever he was at that point-- that’s what he was on about, too. But like I told him, the Crimson Thread wasn’t really a thread, was it? That was just a symbol. The real Crimson Thread was Morgan, and she’s dead.” He glanced up in frustration and confusion. “Judith lied to Avior. She told him
I
was the key to the Crimson Thread. She told him I held it in my hand.”

Petra was still looking down at their clasped hands. “Judith didn’t lie, James,” she said softly. “You
are
the key to Crimson Thread. And you do hold it in your hand.” She raised her eyes to him again, studying his face. “When Judith killed Morgan, it made Morgan part of our world, our reality. She belongs to this destiny now. I can’t explain why, but that’s just how it works. Morgan is no longer the Crimson Thread. Now…” she paused meaningfully. “Now…
I
am.”

James met Petra’s eyes, his own brow furrowed in confusion. “
You’re
the Crimson Thread…? But… that means…”

“What it means will come later,” Petra sighed. “But look,” she raised their held hands. James looked down at them. A faint silvery glow emanated from between their fingers, the remnant of the mysterious cord he had conjured, using Petra’s own magic, to save her life. “I warned you that you’d regret what you did,” she said, still looking into his eyes. “You see? Judith was right. You are the key to the Crimson Thread. You hold it right here, in your hand. We’re connected. Like it or not, as long as I occupy this destiny… we’re part of each other. We’re one.”

James considered this, switching his gaze from their gently glowing hands to her eyes. He was struck once again that he was now somewhat taller than her.

“And still,” he said, feeling slightly bold, no longer caring about the repercussions, “I don’t regret it. I’m glad I saved you, Petra. And I’m glad that we’re connected. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Petra closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. The ghost of an amused, gratified smile curled her lips.

And then, a moment later, James stood in the hospital ward, halfway between the waiting Hagrid and the shifting, muttering Nastasia.

You may regret it still,
Petra’s voice echoed faintly, heard by none but him.
But for now, I am glad you don’t. And nor do I, James… Nor do I…

James nodded to show that he’d heard.

“Any idea what’s wrong with ‘er, then?” Hagrid asked, wringing his huge hands as James returned to him.

James shook his head, casting about for some way to explain. “She’s lost part of herself,” he shrugged helplessly, glancing back. “Maybe she’ll get it back. We’re wizards and witches, after all. Anything’s possible.”

Hagrid nodded fretfully, as if these were sage words. James sat down with him on the bench that ran next to the hospital wing’s double doors. They were silent for several minutes. Nastasia-- Nasti-- seemed to have fallen into a deep, thankfully dreamless sleep.

“We’ll transfer her back to her own school tomorrow,” Hagrid whispered. “They’ve got one o’ the best medical colleges in the world, I hear. They’ll… they’ll be able ter help ‘er, I wager.”

James nodded. He wanted to believe Hagrid was right. He bid the half-giant goodnight and, as quietly as he could, slipped out of the hospital wing. Slowly, thoughtfully, he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, his mind reeling gently…

He glanced down at his hand. It was still, somehow, warm with Petra’s touch, but the faint glow had vanished. It was still there, of course. Just invisible.

The Crimson Thread needed to be returned to its own destiny. James’ knew that’s what Petra had in mind. How she would accomplish this-- and how he might have to help, despite his own desires-- haunted his thoughts. But for now, in the wake of their secret meeting, he felt a strange, numb calm. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. He just accepted it, gratefully letting it fill in the spaces where worry, fear, and loss might soon take over.

He reminded himself that, for the moment, all was well.

Judith was banished, her connection to Petra and Izzy destroyed.

Merlin was back, restored to life and once again presiding as headmaster over Hogwarts.

The Morrigan Web had been defeated.

And perhaps most deeply satisfying of all, Petra was glad to be a part of him, and he a part of her. James walked on, content with this. For now, all was well.

For now, he held the Crimson Thread in his hand.

THE END

AND THUS WE REACH THE CONCLUSION OF ANOTHER JAMES POTTER BOOK…

…and as always I have you, Dear Reader, to thank for it. While I was assuming that the James Potter series was languishing into obscurity, fading away while I worked on the ever-necessary “day job”, you were not only reading (and in many cases rereading!) the stories, you were telling your family and friends about them, posting reviews on Goodreads.com (20,000 reviews so far, with a four-star average rating), creating translations (nine languages at last count, with more on the way), and sending constant notes of encouragement and inspiration.

Because of you, the James Potter series has developed a truly worldwide audience, reaching truly untold numbers (I stopped keeping track after the first million) of readers. And thus, this series continues to be a labour of love that gives me what every writer longs for even more than financial success: legions of readers and positive feedback!

For that, let me say as loudly and clearly as I can: thank you!

In the same vein, allow me to briefly thank a few people specifically. Stick around for it, because you’ll want to read the bit at the end where I discuss possible future books.

Thanks to my primary beta reader, whose anonymity has been a carefully guarded secret ever since “Curse of the Gatekeeper”, but whose enthusiasm, attention to detail, and pure love of story has provided the daily fuel I needed to keep these stories going even when my own enthusiasm failed.

Thanks to the Grotto Faithful (my longstanding friends at the Grotto Keep forum) for their painstaking editorial and continuity assistance throughout the daily chapter release, allowing me to make the final book release as coherent and professional as possible.

A special extra thanks to everyone who bought me coffees in thanks for the stories-- caffeine is the fuel for the creative mind, and your gift of coffee continues even now to contribute to more stories to come! I read all of your notes, and now that I am finished with the story, will respond to as many of them in person as I can.

Monumental thanks to the original Zane, my daughter Greer (a Rose by any other name), and my longsuffering wife Jael-- my toughest critic and most ardent cheerleader, without whose encouragement I never would have released the first James Potter book, much less all the others.

Finally, thanks to a few literary inspirations:

--Ms. J. K. Rowling herself, as always, whose imagination cultivated a garden lush enough to allow even these stories to grow and thrive.

--C. S. Lewis, whose works formed the inspiration for my own Merlinus Ambrosius, as well as many other elements, including the Progressive Element, the travelling rings, and a thousand tiny details and themes. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the ending of “James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing” is an intentional retelling of Lewis’ brilliant conclusion to “That Hideous Strength”. If you have not read that, or the rest of his mind-blowingly spectacular Space Trilogy (starting with “Out of the Silent Planet”) then put this down immediately and go read it this very moment.

--All of the wonderful, whimsical, wacky English authors who’ve provided me with such endless amusement and inspiration, including (but not limited to) P. G. Wodehouse, H. G. Wells, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams.

And now, we come to (drumroll!)…
the rest of the story.

I get asked every day how many James Potter stories there will be. Seven, like the original Harry Potter series? More? Less?

I really want to answer that question. Not just for you, Dear Reader, but for myself! Unfortunately, I simply can’t. All I can say is that I
want
to write at least seven. Not just because that’s the way book series seem to go-- they either run in threes, sevens, or umpteens-- but because that’s what I would want if I was reading the stories myself. Seven is a good number for a book series.

And there really is a lot more story to go.

Admittedly, with the conclusion of “Morrigan Web”, a lot of it is wrapped up. The Sister Fates are broken, weakening Judith and freeing Petra and Izzy. Merlin’s back. James and Petra are, if not “together”, at least willingly (and in James’ case eagerly) connected.

And yet…

The Vow of Secrecy is still hanging by a thread. The wizarding and Muggle worlds are trembling on the verge of complete clash…

The Vault of Destinies is still frozen, causing fate to spin further and further into chaos as destinies merge, fracture, and collapse, all because the Crimson Thread-- now in the form of Petra herself-- remains plucked from another dimension…

And what of James and Petra? Now that they have acknowledged the first, subtle step toward a relationship, how will they move forward knowing that Petra’s destiny is to leave our dimension forever-- and James’ destiny is to help her?

And perhaps most mysterious of all, will James’ dream of the graveyard-- of Petra and Albus and the Dark Mark-- ever come true? What were the words he wrote to commemorate that dream? How will it all fit together in the final pages of the final book?

The Megaplot-- the deeper story arc that runs through all the James Potter books-- is still very thick. There is much to see and do before the final end.

And I know how that end will happen. I have known it almost from the beginning. I know if Petra and James end up together. I know what the dream means. I know who lives, and who doesn’t. I know if cousin Lucy will ever appear again…

But the stories are hard, hard work. Enjoyable work, I admit, but work nonetheless, and I do, unfortunately, have the very consuming “day job”. And it is for that very prosaic reason that I simply cannot promise any more James Potter books.

Not even one more.

That’s not to say I won’t write the next book (it will be called “James Potter and the Crimson Thread” if I do). It’s just to say that I can’t promise it, as much as I want to. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, keep the encouraging notes and comments coming. Stay tuned at the Grotto Keep forum, the James Potter Facebook page, and my Goodreads.com author page for ongoing information, details and news.

And (ahem!) if any of you know any people at Warner Bros. or Scholastic Books, then sure, send along a recommendation about the James Potter books. You just never know what could happen…

George Norman Lippert

St. Louis, August, 2013