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

As he entered the common room, he stopped and looked around. Ralph and Zane were there,
sitting with the rest of the Gremlins around the table by the window. They all looked up.
“There’s our little alien,” Zane said happily. “We’re trying to work your broom-handling skills into
the routine. What do you think of a Roswell crash kinda gig? Ralph’s got his wand all ready to catch you.”
Ralph wiggled his wand and smiled sheepishly. James rolled his eyes and went to join them.
James awoke late Monday morning. He ran into the Great Hall hoping to grab a piece of toast
before Transfiguration class and met Ralph and Zane, who were just coming out.
“No time, mate,” Ralph said, hooking James’ arm and turning him around. “Can’t be late to first
class. McGonagall teaches it and I’ve heard bad, bad things about what she does to tardy students.”
James sighed and trotted along with them through the noisy, busy corridors. “I hope she doesn’t do
terrible things to students whose stomachs growl during class as well.”
Zane handed something to James as they walked. “Check that out when you get a chance. I already
showed it to Ralphie and it blew his mind, didn’t it? I’ve marked the spot for you.” It was a thick,
bedraggled book. The cover was clothbound in frayed fabric that had once probably been red. The pages
were yellowed, threatening to fall out of the binding in chunks.
“What is it?” James said, unable to read the embossed title, which was ghostly faint with age.
“Between Jackson and Flitwick, I’ve got enough reading to last me until next term.”
“You’ll be interested in this, believe me. It’s the Book of Parallel Histories, Volume Seven,” Zane said.
“I got it from the Ravenclaw library. Just read the section I marked.”
“Ravenclaw has a private library?” Ralph asked, struggling to wrestle his Transfiguration textbook out
of his overstuffed backpack.
“Do you Slytherins have dragons’ heads on your walls?” Zane shrugged. “Sure. To each his own.”
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