G. Lippert - James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

"You didn't think that the rules applied to you," Merlin nodded. "That is the crux of your story, is it not, Mr. Potter?"

James swallowed past a large lump in his throat. His face heated. "I… I guess so, sir."

"Tell me," Merlin said, sitting forward again in his chair, "how did you manage to find your way to the village unseen?"

James glanced at Damien again. Damien's face remained a mask of chaste repentance. Suddenly, James remembered what Damien's role in the Gremlins was; they had discussed it at the very beginning of term. Damien was the official Gremlins scapegoat. Up until now, James had not quite known what that meant. "Er… Damien showed us a way?" James said, still looking at Damien and frowning nervously. "He found the secret passage… er, right?"

Merlin sighed. "Yes, that is the way Mr. Damascus tells it."

Damien nodded miserably. "I teased them, sir. I told them they didn't have the guts to sneak into the village next Hogsmeade weekend. I simply wasn't thinking. I should've known they'd get caught. I should've known they'd get attacked by a wild, ferocious beast on the way back, all because of an innocent half corned beef sandwich! I am just sick with guilt!" Damien crumpled, burying his face in his hands and sobbing with woe.

Merlin simply stared at Damien, his piercing eyes mild, his brow raised slightly. After a long moment, he returned his gaze to James.

"Regardless of Mr. Damascus' purported challenges, the three of you should have known better. I am not inclined to go lightly on you. This sort of careless behavior cannot be tolerated in an institution that prides itself on order."

Merlin looked down at his desk again, ticking his quill over some notes. James glanced at Ralph and Rose. They would certainly get points deducted from their houses, and while that was bad enough, it wasn't the end of the world. Damien looked at James sideways, still managing to look stricken with guilt.

Without looking up, Merlin said, "Your punishment shall be the dissolution of your so-called Defence Club, effective immediately."

James boggled at Merlin, his mouth dropping open. Rose spoke first.

"You can't do that, sir!" she exclaimed. "That would be punishing all the members of the club as much as us!"

"As I recall, you convinced a first-year member of that club to accompany you in yesterday's debauchery," Merlin said, glancing up sharply.

"Cameron?" Ralph said. "He followed us! We tried to get rid of him!"

"In either case, this does not incline me to trust your leadership abilities for such a club."

James frowned angrily. "But it isn't fair to the rest of the club!"

"'Fair' is a strange concept which this age seems to prize above all else," Merlin said, sighing. "In the age that I come from, a 'fair' was a place where farm animals and servants were bought and sold. You may choose to remember what the word means to me before bringing it up again."

"But sir—" Rose began. Merlin silenced her with a raised hand.

"That is my final word," he said flatly. "You may go. That includes you, Mr. Damascus."

Rose turned away, and Ralph followed. Damien got up. He looked as if he wanted to say something to the Headmaster but then thought better of it. As he turned to leave, he gave James a warning look. Merlin watched James, his face inscrutable. Finally, James also turned around and walked toward the door.

"James," a mild voice said from the rows of old headmasters' paintings. James glanced up. The portrait of Severus Snape was empty, but the portrait of Albus Dumbledore had raised its head. Dumbledore looked at James through his half-moon spectacles, smiling a small, curious smile. "Wait just a moment, if you would. I believe the Headmaster wishes to speak to you alone."

The office door thunked as it closed, making James jump. He turned around and Merlin was right behind him, towering over him.

"I've been meaning to have a little chat with you, my boy," the big man said, his voice low and dreadful. "Your friends may believe they know what is happening, but I suspect you agree that the main question exists between you… and me."

James didn't know what to say. He stared up at Merlin's impassive face, his heart suddenly hammering. Merlin went on.

"As you no doubt suspect, very little happens within these halls that I do not know about. You've been through the Amsera Certh, and I can only imagine that you've learned much about me and what has happened in this castle. Thus, you have me at a disadvantage, for while I have been to and fro throughout this new age, learning much and loving little, the one thing I cannot be sure of is your convictions and intent. You worry me, my boy, and that is no doubt. Not because I fear you, but because I fear what you might choose to believe. There is only one thing that keeps me from stopping you in your tracks this very instant. Would you like to know what it is?"

The question was rhetorical. James didn't bother to answer.

"It is this," Merlin rumbled, raising his hand and pointing directly at James' forehead. "Yes," he nodded, "I 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.