Book 1 - James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing

“Merlin didn’t die,” Zane said emphatically. “He Disapparated!”
that?”
James was puzzled. “That doesn’t make sense. Any wizard can Apparate. What’s so special about
“Remember what Jackson told us that first day? Apparition is instantaneous for the wizard whose
doing it, even though it takes a little time for the wizard’s bits to fly apart then reassemble at a new place. If a
wizard Disapparates without determining his new center-point, he never Reapparates at all, right? He just
stays stuck in nothingness forever!”
“Well, sure,” James agreed, remembering the lecture, but failing to see the point.
Zane was nearly vibrating with excitement. “Merlin didn’t Disapparate to a place,” he said
meaningfully. “He Disapparated to a time and a set of circumstances!”
Ralph and James boggled, considering the implications. Zane went on. “At the end of your vision,
you said Merlin told Austramaddux to keep the relics and to watch for the time to be right. Then when the
time came, the relics were supposed to be gathered again at the Hall of Elder’s Crossing. You see? Merlin was
setting up the time and circumstances for his Reapparition. What you described at the very end, James, was
Merlin Disapparating into oblivion,” Zane paused, thinking hard. “All these centuries, he’s just been
suspended in time, stuck in everywhereness, waiting for the right circumstances for his Reapparition. To him,
no time has passed at all!”
Ralph looked at the trunk at the end of James’ bed. “Then it’s for real,” he said. “They could
actually do it. They could bring him back.”
“Not anymore,” James said, smiling mirthlessly. “We’ve got the robe. Without all the relics, the
circumstances won’t be right. They can’t do anything.”
As soon as James had heard Zane explain it, it made perfect sense, especially in the context of the
Threshold Marker vision. Suddenly, his possession of the robe had become even more important, and he
couldn’t help wondering at the remarkable series of lucky circumstances that’d led to them obtaining it.
From the briefcase Ralph had discovered in just the nick of time to Zane’s remarkably effective Visum-ineptio
charm, James had the strongest sense that he, Zane, and Ralph were being guided in their goal of thwarting
the Merlin plot. But who was helping them?
“By the way,” James said to the ghost of Cedric, once Ralph and Zane had fallen into an animated
discussion about Merlin’s Disapparition. “You said you were sent to help me. Who sent you?”
Cedric had stood and was fading a bit, but not much. He smiled at James and said, Someone I’m not
supposed to mention, although I think you can probably guess. Someone who’s been watching.
Snape, thought James. The portrait of Snape had sent Cedric to help him when he’d gotten sucked
into the Threshold Marker. But how had he known? James thought about that for a long time after Zane
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