Last night I finished the James Potter Series, so I decided that today's chapter would consist of my honest thoughts of the story. A warning though, this will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read the series yet, please do so before you read this. I will give the positives, negatives, and then my overall opinion.

The positives.

It matches up with the laws and rules of the wizarding world-

This is by far the most important thing that needs to be done when creating any story about our world, even if it's fiction, and this story does that very well. It's nothing like that nonsense Cursed Child play, which repeatedly broke the laws of our universe. When you use Time Turners in real life, you age by the amount of time you go back by, so Lippert made sure to create alternative methods of time travel for this story, in which that does not happen, unlike the Cursed Child, which used Time Turners and ignored that very crucial fact.

It portrays most people accurately personality wise-

This is another very important aspect that Lippert got right, in that he made sure that the majority of us were portrayed like we actually are, unlike in the Cursed Child, in which Harry was portrayed as being a twat who treats his children like shit, and threatens to attack Hogwarts if McGonagall doesn't obey him. Yes, really, that happened in that god awful stage play, and Joanne expects people to believe it's part of our actual story. The one person the James Potter series sadly doesn't portray accurately is myself, which seems to be a common theme among Muggle consumed wizarding world content. I'll talk more about that below.

Petra Morganstern-

Petra is an absolutely fascinating character, so unique, unlike anyone I've heard of before. Her story is so emotionally deep, and in the end, rather tragic, but beautifully written. She's portrayed as James's main love interest, and sadly has to sacrifice herself to save the world, meaning James is never really able to find true love afterwards, and have any kids of his own. Lily does though thankfully.

The detail and depth of the writing-

Lippert clearly has a lot of knowledge and understanding of how our world works, and this is evident in how much detail and depth the story goes into. It's clearly not lazily written, he clearly took a lot of time and put a lot of effort into this, and I commend him for that. I'd like to meet him one day if I can, I'd be fascinated to know his motivations behind creating this story and how he came up with all the plots. I wonder if he's really a Squib just like Joanne...

The negatives-

The long conversation chapters-

In most novels, it is important to have some chapters which consist solely of conversations between one or more characters, as these can establish plot points and give a lot of crucial information. I feel, however, that Lippert included a few too many of these in the James Potter series. Yes, it's necessary to have them, but he included more of them than I feel were needed, and some of them were probably only there to increase the length of the books. Some of them could have been removed and not changed the outcome of the story at all.

The timeframe-

Lippert got the character ages and timeline for the story wrong by one year. The stories take place between 2016 and 2023, whereas James actually attended Hogwarts between 2015 and 2022.

The absence of Hugo Granger-Weasley

My niece Rose, daughter of Ron and Hermione, is one of the most prominent characters in the story, but my nephew Hugo is not. He's a few years younger than Rose yes, but I feel like Lippert should have incorporated him into the story in some way, at least in the final 2 books.

The bloodline-

Voldemort made a secret 8th horcrux out of a dagger, in which Lucius Malfoy would then use on Petra's mother in order to spill her blood and make Petra Voldemort's "bloodline" and potential successor if he were to be defeated. My problem with this is that Voldemort never even considered the possibility of defeat, he was far too arrogant, far too blinded by his belief that he was immortal to ever make any contingency plans, and that's one of the biggest reasons we were actually able to defeat him.

Myself

In this story, I am rarely seen, and whenever I am, it's usually only to scold the children or stop them from getting involved in stuff. I'm portrayed as a rather strict and overprotective mother, much like my mum was. As I've said before, this isn't me, I'm not strict or overprotective, and I always knew that I would try to be as different of a mother as possible from what my mum was. I was seen as nervous about Harry's Auror duties in Vault of Destinies, though IRL I know how well Harry can handle himself, so I make sure not to worry about him too often.

I apparently allowed a Quidditch Seeker move that I invented to be named after my stupid legal name Ginevra, something I'd never actually do. Also, I played Chaser professionally anyway, not Seeker. I don't think Lippert understands who I am very well, and that's another reason I'd like to meet him. If the events of this story happened in real life, I'd want to be in the thick of the action, and I certainly would have been part of the re-formed Order of the Phoenix at the end of Morrigan Web, the hunt for the dragon and the final showdown in Crimson Thread.

Parental strictness-

It isn't just me that is a strict parent in this story, Harry and Hermione can be too. Harry less often, but still so at times. I definitely think the kids should have been allowed in on that meeting at Grimmauld Place, and if it happened in real life, they definitely would have been, James and Rose at the very least. Lily should also have been allowed to go with James on all those night-time escapades earlier in the book. I'd have let James have the Marauders Map and the Invisibility Cloak with him from his first year at Hogwarts onwards, it's only fair and natural that he should continue the Potter traditions. He should never have had to steal them from us. Rose should also have been allowed to go to find the dragon the second time in Crimson Thread, especially as James managed to manipulate them into letting him come.

My overall thoughts-

Overall, I think these books are a solid addition to our universe and I enjoyed them very much. If you liked Joanne's original work, then you'll like these too. What happened in real life between 2015 and 2022 in our world is even more intense than what these books portray, and if you want to hear about that, then stick around, because I will get to it eventually, and trust me, it is one hell of a tale!

James and I had the following conversation via Floo this morning, as he now lives in London above the WWW shop.

"Hey James, I just wanted to let you know that I've finished those books" I said

James rolled his eyes

"Finally. I thought you were never gonna finish them!"

"Hey, I have other priorities! I am working full time and I am telling my true story to the Muggles, as you well know!"

"How far have you gotten in that?"

"I've just started third year, so there's still a long way to go yet"

"You sure you're committed to finishing it? I mean it's a very long story to write"

"Look, James, I'm a journalist, I write for a living. 1-2000 extra words every 2-3 days is nothing to me"

"Fair enough, anyway, what did you think of the books then? You know I enjoyed them, although the ending is quite tragic. Me never finding true love after the one girl I did love died, that's pretty depressing"

"Yeah I agree, although let's be honest, both of us would reluctantly accept that type of thing if it meant saving the world, and Petra became the new Gryffindor House ghost anyway, so it's not like she was gone forever"

"I heard that the author said that Petra and I avoided each other for the most part, and that when we did talk, it was only ever one tentative conversation"

"Really? Oh wow that is pretty sad actually"

"Yeah, although I find me becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts interesting. I'm glad that version of me got to hold such a prestigious title, although you know I'm not anywhere near that ambitious in real life"

"Yeah you don't need to tell me, your actions in school showed that you were never one for rule following or enforcement"

"Hey, you said you approved of that!"

"And I still do. I'm not complaining about your career choice either James. As I've always said, you are your own person. I am not going to try and force you to go a certain way, I don't believe in that nonsense"

"And boy am I glad about that. You're the best mum ever, though I'm sure you're tired of hearing it"

"James, I'll never tire of hearing it. It's something I'm immensely proud of"

"Why do people portray you so differently in stories though? First JK Rowling, now G. Norman Lippert"

"Beats me. How's things at the shop?"

"Business is booming like usual, especially our newest releases. In the next couple days we'll be putting my own inventions on sale, I can't wait! What about you, how's work going?"

"Very nicely. I'm assigned to the European Cup quarter finals this week. Shame the Harpies aren't involved though. Anyway I've got to go now, I'll speak to you soon, love you"

"Love you too, bye Mum"

"Bye"