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Ralph took the length of wood from Merlin. As he did, the wood became his wand again, still ridiculously fat and chunky, with the lime green painted tip. Ralph gri
"I wouldn't expect it to be quite as powerful as it once was, of course," Merlin said, turning his staff upright and using it to stand again. The staff was noticeably shorter now. "But I suspect you will still be able to do remarkable things with it."
"Thanks," Ralph said seriously.
"Don't thank me," Merlin said, raising an eyebrow. "It's yours, Mr. Deedle. You made it so."
"So the wizard gives the cowardly lion his courage," Zane said, gri
Merlin cinched his eyebrow a bit higher, looking from Zane to James.
"Don't pay him any attention," James said, laughing and leading the group to the stairs. "It's a Muggle thing. We wouldn't understand."
"Come on!" Ralph called, ru
The three boys scrambled up the moving staircases, followed more sedately by Merlin and the newly reborn De
"Will he be okay with that thing?" De
Merlin merely smiled and clacked his staff on the steps as he climbed. U
21.The Gift of the Green Box
The last weeks of the school year spun out before James like a blur, remarkably free of deathly peril and adventure, but packed nonetheless with the lesser stresses of schoolwork and final essays and wand practicals, all of which were relatively welcome in the wake of the Hall of Elders' Crossing. To no one's great surprise, Hufflepuff was awarded the House Cup, being the only house to avoid major point deductions for involvement in the various Merlin conspiracy skullduggeries. The broomstick caper alone had cost Ravenclaw and Gryffindor fifty points each.
On the morning of the last day of school, James was stuffing his books and extra school robes into his trunk when Noah pounded up the stairs calling for him.
"Ron Weasley's in the fireplace. He wants to talk to you."
James gri
"James, look at you!" Uncle Ron cried when James tromped down the stairs a minute later, still tying his tie. "All respectable and everything. Have a good year, did you?"
James nodded. "I guess I did. Looks like I'll pass, after all. Spent all of Monday night getting ready for Franklyn's D.A.D.A. practical, then had the most horrible sensation that I'd forgotten everything five minutes before the test."
"I wasn't exactly talking about your schoolwork, you dunce," said the face in the embers, gri
"Yeah, well…," James said sheepishly, "it was all pretty exciting there for a while, but it's weird. Five weeks of schoolwork and suddenly all of that seems like it happened to someone else."
That's the way of it," Ron nodded. "The dull parts of life spread out in your memory and crowd out the exciting parts until they just seem like little flashes. It's the way your brain copes with it all, I guess. Speaking of which, how's Professor Jackson doing?"
James rolled his eyes. "Nothing can keep old Stonewall down for long. He wasn't really injured in his duel with Delacroix, even though his backup wand wasn't as powerful as the one she broke. Apparently, he chased her through the woods for hours and finally cornered her in a clearing. He says he'd have gotten her, except that she cheated, calling on the enemy naiads and dryads to fight with her. The trees attacked him from behind, knocking him out. That's how he got the big bruise on his forehead. Still, he was back in class the day after Prescott left, and he's been raining fire on Zane and me ever since."
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Can't really blame him, I guess."
"We gave him back his briefcase and apologized and everything. I mean, I know we ruined his lifelong quest to protect the relic robe and prevent the return of the most dangerous wizard of all time and all, but come on. Merlin turned out to be all right. Delacroix got sent back to the States to stand trial in the American wizarding courts. Everything worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"All I can say is if I was him, I'd wish you spiders in your drawers for the rest of your life," Ron mused. "But that's just me. My mind tends to go that way."
"Honestly, Uncle Ron. I want to make it right. I liked Professor Jackson at first."
"At the risk of sounding like a responsible adult, James, actions have consequences. Apologizing is great, but 'sorry' isn't a magic word. You not only ruined Jackson's plans, you took a stab at his pride. You succeeded in foiling him. In his mind, you made a fool out of him. That's a hard thing for a bloke like him to get over. Frankly, you can't blame him, can you?"
"I guess not," James agreed sulkily. "At least he didn't fail us in Technomancy. It was a close thing, though."
"Good man. Still, don't get too wrapped up in classwork, you. You've got a reputation to live up to."
"Or down to," Noah's voice quipped from nearby.
"I heard that, Metzker," Ron said sternly. "It's a proud Potter tradition, squeaking by in school. Started with James Potter the first. Besides, you're one to talk, Mr. Gremlin."
"Got high marks this year, all across the board," Noah said primly.
Ron gri
The face in the coals sank out of sight. A moment later, Hermione's pleasant smile and perpetually bushy hair formed. "James, you look very handsome," she said proudly. "Don't you listen to your uncle. He studied plenty and was just as worried about marks as anyone."
"That's not true!" a muffled voice called from the depths of the fireplace. Hermione grimaced.