Gideon Drake and the Fire Within (Harry Potter Sequel/Spinoff)

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading my story! I really hope you enjoyed it and if so (or if not), I would love to hear from you! This time last year, I would never have thought I could write a whole book to completion. I can hardly believe that as I write this message, I'm about to hit the Complete button. It still feels surreal.

Funnily enough, I've always written for my "career", but I've never tried it for myself. I hadn't tried writing a story since secondary school, where we had to for our exams. As much as I had dreamed about it, I always considered writing fiction to be an intangible goal, something reserved only for the best and brightest. Then, I discovered Wattpad.

As you may have guessed, I'm a big Harry Potter fan, and after reading the books and watching the films for the umpteenth time, I wanted more. So, I went in search for it in the world of fan fiction.

I quickly realised, however, that fan fiction is generally more about retellings and reimaginings of the original work, rather than sequels and new stories inspired by it. Because of that, I was never able to find quite what I was looking for e.g. a new and original Wizarding World story, like what Fantastic Beasts did for the franchise.

Hence, I decided to try writing it myself! I had a general idea for a story but had no idea how to put it together. I simply started typing and let the words come to me. Soon, I had my first two chapters, which worked like a prologue and set up the story. The next three chapters shifted the focus to my main character, Gideon, and worked up to the dramatic reveal at the end of chapter five.

At this point, I looked back and marvelled at what I had achieved. I had never written anything with so many words before, and I was liking it. I was unsure of myself, though, and wanted to get some feedback to see if what I had produced was worth continuing with. So, I began entering my work-in-progress in Wattpad community contests. I probably applied for about forty between August and December of 2020.

Ultimately, most of the contests either disappeared or became inactive, but over the next few months, I started hearing back from some of them. I was delighted to find that my story was well received and picked up a surprising amount of contest awards. The feedback and reviews from judges spurred me on and I carried on with my story, making sure to write and post a chapter every week.

After each chapter, I kept expecting writer's block would come, but it never did. Instead, I found myself totally absorbed in my own ideas, especially the action-packed chapters or the ones with big twists and cliffhangers. I was writing the story I wanted to read.

Sadly, reader engagement really dropped after November, but by this time I was determined to continue, and was enjoying seeing what my mind came up with, so I pushed through. In January 2021, I heard from one of Wattpad's Ambassador genre accounts that the book was to be added to their reading list. To my shock, two more of them contacted me in April.

The story ended up longer and much trickier to iron out than I had expected, but I actually finished writing my first ever novel. There was a beginning, a middle and even an end. I couldn't believe it.

Proud of myself, but fearful that I would be hit by that proverbial bus (or COVID...) before posting it all, I began uploading the remaining chapters twice a week throughout May. I posted the final chapter on the 27th, just in time for the Friends reunion (LOL) and my birthday weekend.

What happens next? Who knows? For now, I'm simply looking forward to seeing how people respond to my finished story and its final twist. Twists, of course, are abundant in my story from beginning to end, including the fact that (spoiler alert) the title of the book doesn't completely relate to Gideon himself, but to one of his closest friends. I wanted to demonstrate how there is always someone out there who, one way or another, can understand what we're going through, and the tragedy of not being open to trust in them.

I'm aware I've written myself into a niche area (fanfic readers think the book is original fiction and original fiction readers think it's fanfic) but I wouldn't change a thing. I tried to stay true to JKR's work and the Harry Potter canon (even the Cursed Child), while introducing many brand-new aspects of my own to expand and modernise the Wizarding World. Hopefully, I've done this in a way that existing fans will like, and that will encourage new readers to read the original books.

To the aspiring writers out there, trust me, if I can write a book, so can you! All you need is an idea and characters that you care about. Get the story out of your head first and worry about editing later, and there will be a lot of it to worry about! To the readers who encouraged me along the way with such kind and supportive comments, I want to say a big "THANK YOU!" I'm not sure I would have made it to the finish line without their support.

I hope you have all enjoyed returning to the magical world we all know and love, as much as I have while writing. If so, please follow me and look out for news because as many of you will have surmised, there is more to come. I have plans for bonus content and, of course, a sequel...

Gideon's story will continue!