Author's Note

Hello! It's been a day since I posted the last chapter of Scepter of Shadows. I hope you enjoyed it and will continue reading book three and onwards! Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed—those reviews brought a smile to my face! And if you didn't review, thanks for reading! And please review, too! Hopefully, those of you who didn't review will do so now that the story is finished. ;)

You're probably all wondering when book three is going to be posted. As for that, I'm estimating mid-August. I've already completely written it, but... er... I'm not happy with it, and re-reading it makes me want to bash my head against the keyboard. Then again, re-reading any of my work makes me do that...

Also, I'm going to summer camp in mid-July, and I won't be coming back until early August. After that, it'll take me a week to edit and rewrite some scenes. So the next book will be out about mid-August. Sorry the wait is so long! It's all the summer camp's fault!

So, while the next month and a half or so go by, I'd like your feedback. Please review and answer these couple questions! It'll really, really help me!

Do you want to see more romance?

This is a big one. Nearly a fourth of book three is romance. I don't know whether I overdid it. Basically, the romance twists through the main action plot. I wanted to show more school-life drama, and that's basically all romance. I don't want to make it too unrealistic, but keep in mind that this is fiction/fantasy. It's going to be cheesier and more unrealistic than in real life. I warn you.

What did you think of the main villain?

I'm a bit nervous about this question. I tried everything I could to make Cryptan worse than Voldemort, and I don't think I proved that. My excuse is that this is only one part of Cryptan. When we see him later—and yes, we will—he'll be scary. Worse than Voldemort? Cryptan's supposed to be, but Voldemort is just way too cool to be topped. I don't know what I was thinking to try and top him, because there's no way anything I come up with can.

But I think Cryptan comes close to doing it, anyways. We learn even more about him later. I promise he gets scary. Really scary. And his powers get scary, too. And now I'm saying too much, so I need to shut up.

Are you confused about the plot or do you not understand something? If so, please ask questions!

I don't know whether I explained everything well enough or not. Well, I probably didn't, but nobody's pointed it out. If you're confused about something that doesn't make sense, please tell me. There are a lot of discoveries that get buried, but they come back up to hit you later. If Albus realized something important and doesn't think of it again, it doesn't mean that he's forgotten it. Everything should tie back together eventually—and a big part of it will in the next book.

Information on Book Three

Since there's going to be such a long break until book three, I'll tell you a few things about it.

-Book two was an "action" book. Book three is an "information" book. This means that book three has less fight scenes and more important plot points. Book three just pretty much introduces the big plot. It's a 'stepping stone' for the rest of the series. It's really important.

-We meet the real villains. So far, we've seen Hoffman, Heartley, and Rylon. Those were pawns, and they are now irrelevant. We actually meet some REAL villains, villains that are Cryptan's right-hand men/women that are important through the whole series. They are the mirror versions of the Death Eaters. But, of course, my villains aren't copies of Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy, etc. They're very different in personalities.

-We learn the identity of the red-cloaked man in the first chapters of book one and two. He's the same person as Cryptan's mentor, and the person who set the Tenebrums of the Scepter of Shadows on Albus. And we've already met him. Any guesses? It should be somewhat obvious by now. I've already scattered clues across books one and two.

-The Marauder's Map returns, as do the Whomping Willow and other secret passages to Hogsmeade.

-We see a new "stage" of Albus' powers. They get cooler, but they aren't at their peak yet, not even in book three. And we also see a few more of Albus' flaws. In book three, you might see a darker side of him. We also learn his Boggart (His greatest fear) and his "inner animal." (Ex. Harry was a stag—but Albus is not. Any guesses for what he'll be?)

Finally, the next adventure of the Emerald Trio will be titled Albus Potter and the Assassin's Quest!

Because I'm nice, I'll also give you the planned summary: (May change.)

In his third year, Albus Severus Potter learns that a ruthless army of wizards have been plotting to destroy the world ever since the beginning of time. They tried to kill him, but now they want him on their side. On the dangerous boundary between good and evil, Albus realizes that he may be nothing but a pawn in a complicated game—a game where the pawn must be sacrificed.

I won't be updating here again, so I suggest keeping me on Author Alert (If you have an account.) so you can know when the next story is out. So, see you next time!

~Crystalline Iridescentia

P.S. Random fun fact time! Did you know that Albus, Rose, and Scorpius were originally all supposed to be in Gryffindor and were dubbed the second Golden Trio? (That was the best name I could come up with for a Gryffindor trio. I fail. Hey, at least I did better with the Emerald Trio! I don't think I've seen that name before. :P)

I changed it up because they were all clones of the first Golden Trio, and the plot bored me with Albus as a Gryffindor. I wanted to make him hated and rejected and feel alone, (I enjoy torturing him, as I'm sure you all suspect by now.) and I wanted brother rivalry instead of having some random stereotypical Slytherin rival. I already knew my plot was similar to Harry Potter, but I didn't want the characters and school experiences to be the same, too. Therefore, I decided to majorly switch things around, and I like it much better with Albus in Slytherin.

And now, bye! Remember to review and answer the questions in the first part of the author's note! ;)