GIMME THOSE POWER STONES
---
By 3:30 that afternoon, the signing line had finally reached its end.
Jack set his pen down and flexed his fingers beneath the table while staff guided the last fan away with a signed copy of Deathly Hallows pressed tightly against her chest. The line had still stretched around half the hall, and plenty of people had not made it close enough to meet him before time ran out.
Jack stood slowly, looking toward the disappointed fans still waiting near the back. "I'm really sorry we couldn't get through everyone today," he said into the microphone. "I wish I had another six hours and a hand made entirely of steel."
A few people laughed, though several fans still looked crushed as the staff began handing out complimentary packages. Each bag included Harry Potter-themed cards, a coffee mug, posters, scarves, bookmarks, and a small printed letter thanking them for attending.
[Upstairs]
Richard entered the room with an ice pack. "So, how was your first big book signing?"
Jack rubbed his wrist with a tired smile. "Exhausting, but I'm happy." He leaned back on the couch with a sigh.
Richard nodded as he gave him the ice pack. "You've got thirty minutes before the next part starts. Take some rest."
Jack pressed the ice pack on his right wrist and sighed. "Yeah. I'll take a little nap."
...
[30 minutes later]
Jack walked back onto the stage after the thirty-minute break, and the event hall exploded with cheers before he even reached the microphone. The crowd had grown during the break, with more fans filling the side sections and standing near the back with books held against their chests.
Jack looked out at the crowd for a moment, then smiled as he adjusted the microphone. "Okay, I can already tell none of you came back here because you wanted another signed bookmark."
The audience laughed, though the excitement did not fade. People started shouting questions from different parts of the room, most of them asking what would happen next in the wizarding world.
Jack lifted one hand, trying to calm them down before the room became impossible to hear through.
"I know what everyone wants to know," he said. "What happens after Harry Potter? Is it the end? Are you getting a new series or a continuation?"
The room went quiet almost immediately.
Jack rested his hands against the podium and looked across the audience. "I have a lot of plans for the wizarding world. Harry's story will always be important to me, and I still have ideas that I want to explore someday."
The crowd reacted right away. Several people screamed, while others started shouting names from the books.
"I will say this," Jack continued. "I want to bring the original characters back for one final adventure. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Draco, and the others still have lives beyond what you've already read. They grow up, build families, make mistakes, and deal with a world that is finally trying to heal after everything that happened."
A wave of applause moved through the hall.
Jack waited until it settled before continuing. "After that, it will eventually be their children's turn. They will have their own friendships, their own problems, and their own adventures in the wizarding world."
The room erupted again.
Jack smiled as people began shouting theories at him from every direction. "That is a conversation for another time, because I have a lot to plan before we get there."
Someone near the back yelled, "How many books?"
Jack looked toward the voice and shrugged slightly. "More than I'm ready to announce."
That answer only made the crowd louder.
He waited for a moment, then took a slow breath as the large screen behind him went dark. The room gradually quieted again when people noticed the change.
"For now," Jack said, "I want to take you somewhere else."
The screen remained black behind him. Then...
"Long before Harry Potter received his Hogwarts letter, the wizarding world was still full of people trying to understand where they belonged. There were different laws, different fears, different conflicts, and people whose choices would quietly shape the world Harry would one day enter."
Multiple hand-drawn pictures of beasts, wizards, new places, and characters appeared in a spiral animated format.
Then the title appeared in large gold letters.
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
For a few seconds, the hall was too loud for Jack to hear anything clearly.
Fans screamed, hugged each other, and lifted their phones into the air. A few people near the front stared at the screen in shock, as if they needed another second to process what they were seeing.
Jack smiled and waited for the reaction to settle.
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be the next story in the Harry Potter universe," he said. "It takes place sixty-five years before Harry enters Hogwarts."
The audience fell quiet again, listening carefully.
"It will be a three-book series," Jack continued. "The story follows a different group of characters during a completely different time in magical history. You'll see new places, creatures, threats, and parts of the wizarding world that Harry never had the chance to explore."
A fan shouted, "Who is the main character?"
Jack laughed immediately. "You're not getting spoilers from me."
The crowd groaned playfully.
"I'm serious," Jack said, pointing toward the audience. "You can ask me about the characters, the creatures, setting, ending, the villains, or anything else you can think of. I won't tell you a single story detail today."
Someone shouted, "What creatures are in it?"
Jack smiled wider. "Especially that."
The crowd laughed again.
"I know some of you have been asking for more lore about the wizarding world," Jack said. "You want to know about magical creatures, other countries, old families, different schools, historical events, and everything that existed before Harry's story began."
People cheered at every part of the list.
"This series is going to give you more of that world," Jack continued. "And answers to your questions that you had while reading the Harry Potter series."
The audience stayed completely focused on him now.
"I've been planning this story for a long time," Jack said. "I know where the three books begin, where they end, and which parts are going to make some of you very happy."
He paused as the audience waited.
"And which parts are probably going to make some of you throw the book across the room. Or maybe make you cry."
The crowd laughed loudly.
Jack raised both hands before the next wave of questions could begin. "Don't worry. You don't have to wait too long. The first book releases next month."
The event hall exploded again.
A girl near the front covered her mouth with both hands. Someone dropped a book near the back. Several fans started yelling the title together, while others immediately pulled out their phones to text friends who had not attended the event.
Jack looked out at them with a tired but genuine smile.
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes out next month," he repeated. "That is all I'm giving you for now, so please do not try to follow me into the parking lot with questions."
The audience laughed.
"I mean it," Jack added. "I have security, and they are much less fun than I am."
The crowd cheered as the title stayed on the screen behind him.
Jack stepped back from the podium for a moment and looked across the hall. Thousands of people had come to celebrate a story he had shared in this reality, and now they were waiting for the next chapter of the magic world.
He smiled and lifted one hand.
"Thank you for being here," Jack said. "I hope you'll love what comes next."
...
[Next Morning]
By the time Jack left the hotel, the city had already settled into its usual morning rush. Cars moved through the streets, people hurried past with coffee cups in hand, and somewhere nearby a delivery truck kept beeping while somebody yelled at it from the sidewalk.
Jack had showered quickly, pulled on dark jeans, a gray T-shirt, and a lightweight jacket, then left before Richard could turn breakfast into another planning meeting. His hair was still a little damp, and he had sunglasses tucked into the collar of his shirt even though the morning light was soft enough to make the whole city look calmer than usual.
After spending most of yesterday talking to fans, signing books, smiling for pictures, and trying to keep his wrist from falling apart, the silence felt almost unreal. He walked without checking his phone every few seconds, letting the crowd carry him along until he reached a small park.
Jack found an empty bench near the edge of the walkway and sat down, stretching his legs out in front of him while he watched people move through the park.
A woman jogged past with a golden retriever that seemed far more interested in a squirrel than exercise. Two businessmen argued quietly over a phone call near the fountain. A little girl chased pigeons while her father tried to convince her that the birds had places to be.
Jack smiled to himself as he leaned back against the bench. For once, nobody was asking for a photo, a quote, an autograph, or a teaser about the next Harry Potter book. He could just sit there and exist for a few quiet minutes.
'Haaa... Feels so peaceful. I still don't get it. The books are barely two and a half years old, and the number of fans was just... too many. Not that I'm complaining. I earned a shit load of money thanks to them. Still, sometimes it feels a little too easy. Not that I'm complaining. How many people get an easy life? It feels like god is watching over me and helping me in every step.' He thought for a moment with his eyes closed. 'Thank you, god. For this new life and making things easier for me.'
Jack stayed on the bench for a few more minutes, letting the noise of the park settle around him. His stomach finally interrupted the peaceful moment with a loud reminder that he had skipped breakfast to avoid Richard's planning session.
"Alright," Jack muttered with a small smile. "You win this argument today."
He stood, stretched his arms above his head, and walked toward the street. A few blocks away, he found a small café with wide windows, wooden tables, and enough people inside to make it feel busy without becoming crowded.
The smell of coffee and fresh bread hit him the second he stepped inside. Jack chose a table near the window, ordered pancakes with strawberries, scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice, and coffee, then sat back while the waitress took his menu away.
For the first time since yesterday's event, he pulled out his phone.
There were dozens of notifications waiting for him. Fans were still posting pictures from the event. Entertainment accounts were already reporting on the Fantastic Beasts announcement. A few headlines called it the biggest fantasy news of the year.
Jack ignored most of it and opened Haley's contact instead.
Jack: Good morning, beautiful. Sorry for not checking in on you last night.
The typing bubble appeared almost instantly.
Haley: Good morning, famous author boyfriend. Don't be sorry. I'm pretty sure you were tired after a long day.
Jack smiled and leaned back in his chair.
Jack: You've no idea. The hall was completely packed up and I just kept speaking nonstop while signing. My hand is still sore. But it was really fun. I wish you were here with me.
Haley: Me too. Next time, I promise. By the way, I watched the Fantastic Beasts announcement online this morning. You looked really good on stage.
Jack: You are clearly biased because you have excellent taste in boyfriends.
Haley: I am biased because I have eyes. Also, your hair looked nice. Makes you look hot.
Jack: My hair had professional help yesterday. Today, I look like I escaped from a hotel laundry room.
Haley: Send proof.
Jack glanced toward the café window, adjusted his hair with one hand, and took a quick photo. His gray shirt was slightly wrinkled, his jacket hung open, and his hair was still damp at the front.
He sent it before he could think too hard about it.
A few seconds passed.
Haley: Okay, maybe you can escape from hotel laundry rooms more often.
Jack laughed quietly as the waitress arrived with his breakfast. She placed the pancakes in front of him first, followed by coffee, orange juice, eggs, and bacon.
"Everything looks great," Jack said as he moved his phone aside. "Thank you so much."
The waitress smiled and walked away.
Jack started eating while texting Haley. They texted back and forth for a while...
Haley: You are trying to distract me because you know I have work today.
Jack cut into another piece of pancake, smiling as he read the message.
Jack: I would never distract you from your important fashion career. I am only reminding you that your boyfriend is alone in New York eating sad pancakes.
Haley: Those pancakes look amazing in the picture.
Jack: They taste empty without you sitting across from me and stealing half my plate.
Haley: I do not steal your food. I sample your food with affection.
Jack shook his head with a quiet laugh.
Jack: You sampled three of my fries last week, then said mine tasted better than yours.
Haley: That was scientific research. You can't blame me for wanting accurate results.
Jack took a sip of coffee and looked out at the street. People passed by the window without recognizing him, and the café remained calm around him. He liked the quiet, although he wished Haley were sitting in the chair across from him, probably judging his coffee order while stealing strawberries from his plate.
Jack: How is your morning going so far?
The reply came after a short pause.
Haley: Busy. My boss gave me a pile of fabric samples and said I need to help prepare ideas for a client presentation. I'm trying to look professional. Check it out.
She sent him a picture of herself. She was wearing a classic suit and glasses, just to look sexy.
Jack smiled and leaned closer to the screen.
Jack: Wow! Have I ever told you that you look hot in a classy office suit? And those glasses... Cherry on top.
Haley: Ohhh, thanks.
Jack: Oh no, thank you for the pic. Just so you know, I want you to wear that next time we do it.
Haley: Only if you wear a wizard costume.
Jack: Done.
Haley: Awesome. Okay, I gotta go now. Time to activate my serious work mode. Love you, bye.
Jack: Love you. Bye.
--[Spoilers. Upcoming chs names. Click to read.][1]
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