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

Slytherin held the mirror so that James saw himself in it. The reflection showed a boy in a pathetically oversized robe, his eyes wild and fearful.

"Have you ever heard of the old Muggle superstition that if you stare into a reflection for too long, you'll become the reflection?" Slytherin asked smoothly, still holding the mirror toward James. "They fear that if they then walk away from the reflection, they will simply… disappear."

James had been inching slowly toward his wand, which was lying on the floor a few feet away. Now he steeled his nerve and lunged for it. An instant later, pain roared up his arm, crippling him. He fell to the floor, screaming. Desperately, he looked to see what had caused the damage, and then gasped in shock. His entire right arm had vanished up to the shoulder. He stared at the place where it should have been, unable to resist trying to grab at it with his left hand. Slytherin was laughing happily. He approached James again, and as he did, James' arm faded back into existence. The pain receded.

"There's nothing so instructive as a practical example, is there, my young friend?" Slytherin said, holding the mirror so that James could see himself in it once more. "As you've just illustrated, if you choose to stay within the reflection, you will be perfectly safe. If, however, you attempt to leave it… well, I really do not need to say any more, do I?"

Slytherin flicked his wand again. James' wand lofted into the air, turning end over end. The bald wizard caught it deftly and held it up. "Curious, this. Such a beautifully fashioned wand in the hand of a boy who barely knows how to use it. You are not a student of this establishment, and yet you seem to know us. So very many questions do I have for you. And do you know what, my friend?" Slytherin pocketed James' wand and his eyes turned narrow and icy. "I have every confidence that you will answer them."

Several minutes later, James found himself in a darkened room in Slytherin's personal chambers. The room was quite low, stone-walled, and surrounded by tapestries depicting rather unpleasant scenes of dancing skeletons and flaming mountains. Tables on both sides of the room gave James the impression that this was Slytherin's personal magical laboratory. The table on the right was laden with gigantic books, parchments, quills, and paints; the one on the left was arrayed with a mind-boggling collection of vials, jars, and pots, all arranged on stacked shelves surrounding a large cauldron. Only one candle burned in the room, blood-red and embedded in the top of a human skull. James had the distinct and unsettling impression that very few people had ever seen this room. He sat against the rear wall in a very straight chair with a high ladder-back. It was rather uncomfortable, but it was the only chair from which he could see himself in the oval-shaped mirror. Slytherin had positioned the mirror on an easel in front of the double doors, assuring that James could not approach the doors without leaving his reflection.

"As much as I would enjoy interviewing you immediately," Slytherin had explained, "I am a very busy wizard, and you've caught me at a rather bad time. Let me assure you, though: as soon as I complete my evening's appointment, you will have my full and undivided attention."

With that, Slytherin had pulled the doors mostly closed, but not completely. Through the gap, James could see a tiny portion of Slytherin's main office. As James waited, he could hear the bald wizard moving about, shuffling parchments and muttering darkly. Finally, there came a single, loud knock on the outer office door.

"How quaint of you to pretend you are not already in the room, my friend," Slytherin's voice said. "I sensed your arrival minutes ago, but I assumed it rude to say so. Please do make yourself comfortable."

Through the crack in the double doors, James saw a shadow move. A figure passed in front of the crack. There was the creak of a heavy footstep, and then a deep sigh.

"I despise the very stone of this place," a deep, rumbling voice said. "The cobbles of its floors are like knives to my feet. I'd call up the fires of the earth's belly to consume it if I could, and damn your miserable college."

In the darkness of the laboratory, James gasped. He recognized the voice of Slytherin's visitor. It was incredible, and yet it seemed to fit all too well. How could he not have made this connection before? His heart pounded and he strained his ears to listen.

"I sympathize, Merlinus," Slytherin said. "This must be a very disquieting homecoming for you. Still, you cannot imagine that we'd have allowed this castle to go unoccupied. As you may guess, not a single Muggle lord wished to claim it after Lord Hadyn's unfortunate… accident. Ironically, they believe the castle is cursed rather than magically fortified. I join you, however, in despising much of what this place has become. My fellow founders are increasingly double-minded. They coddle the unmagicked and the dirty half-bloods. They plot against me as we speak. I fear that my time here is near an end."

"What a pitiful shame," Merlin said, his voice oozing contempt. "And you had once believed this college would be the dawn of your pureblood utopia. You must be positively heartbroken."

"My 'pureblood utopia', as you call it, will be a reality whether I assist it or not, my friend," Slytherin said. "It is the nature of things. The rulers of this world will only live among the cattle for so long before they rise up. My role in the process is insignificant, although I admit I wished to live to see the day. And do not pretend disgust at my words, Merlinus. You are the greatest proof of my claims even if you deign to ignore it."

"You believe that I detest the unmagicked as you do, but I am not so simple-minded," Merlin said dismissively. "One rabid wolf doesn't justify killing the pack. Domination is your only aim, not justice."

"Is it wrong to dominate those unworthy of equality?" Slytherin replied, as if he and Merlin had had this argument many times before. "One can make the claim that it is a kindness to govern those who are unable to govern themselves. Besides…," here, Slytherin's voice became silky, "it was more than one rabid wolf, wasn't it?"

There was a long silence, and then Merlin said, "I'll not speak of such things with you."

"Oh, but you do not need to," Slytherin replied. "Everyone knows the truth of what happened now, don't they? After all, it happened right here, four moons past. It is the gossip even of the Muggle peasants how the great Merlinus was humiliated by the Lord Hadyn and his accomplice. How it must boil your blood to know your name has become a paean to foolish love."

"I'll not speak of such things with you," Merlin repeated slowly, his voice low and dangerous.

"I'll be friend enough not to remind you that you were warned from entangling yourself with the Muggle woman," Slytherin went on, ignoring Merlin's words. "Judith, I believe her name was? Known jokingly among the peasants as the Lady of the Lake? Even I implored you not to lower yourself to her affections. Love makes a fool of any man who indulges it, and the greater the man, the greater the fool he must become. You were a very great man, Merlinus. And yet even you were not immune. Love blinded you when your wits should have been at their sharpest. Perhaps, had you not been so enamored, you might have seen the truth."

"Hadyn gave me her corpse," Merlin growled menacingly. "He promised to return her to me. It was the bargain he agreed to if I doubled his lands and fortified this very castle. But how was I to guess that the man would dare cheat me so gravely while still maintaining the letter of his bargain?"