Potterwizbiz is monthly edition of featuring wizard/witches in writing amazing Potterverse stories! We aim to introduce the best Harry Potter fanfiction story there and about the writer who was behind it monthly.
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TEZofAllTrades AKA "T.J. Smith" or simply TEZ, is a communications professional from London, England. Tired of writing for other people (and bored during covid lockdown), he discovered Wattpad and decided to try writing for himself.
As a fellow Surrey boy who also played in cupboards as a child in the 90s, TEZ always related with Harry Potter, so testing the waters with a Harry Potter fanfic seemed an obvious choice. To his own surprise, one year later, he had completed his Wizarding World sequel/spinoff, Gideon Drake and the Fire Within, which went on to win a 2022 Wattpad Amby Award.
Fuelled by this, TEZ fully embraced his creative roots, publishing the Pokemon and Sailor Moon stories of his dreams with accompanying artwork. With this experience under his belt, he is looking forward to writing his first original story, and hopes to become a professional author.
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Like Fantastic Beasts, Gideon Drake and the Fire Within is a brand-new story set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! However, unlike Fantastic Beasts, the story takes place after the books, so it works as a sequel and is loaded with easter eggs and other references. Find out how the magical world and fan-favourite characters have changed since Lord Voldemort's defeat, in this canon-compliant, nostalgia-filled, modern-day tale of magic, family and friendship.
As a baby, Gideon was found at the centre of a mysterious magical accident, and the Ministry of Magic took drastic action. Ten years later, Gideon is finally leaving his Muggle primary school and looking forward to attending Hogwarts with other magical children. However, when his acceptance letter doesn't arrive, Gideon's life begins to unravel, and so do the secrets surrounding his past... When faced with the shocking truth, can Gideon withstand the looming darkness? Or will it consume him?
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1. What made you start writing on Wattpad? What is the best thing when writing a Harry Potter fanfiction according to you?
After re-reading/re-watching the Harry Potter books and films for the umpteenth time during covid lockdown, I needed more. I went in search for it in the world of fan fiction. That's when I found Wattpad. I quickly learned, however, that fan fiction is generally more about retellings and reimaginings based on 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 Fantastic Beasts. Hence, I decided to try writing my own! I never expected to be able to write more than a chapter let alone complete a whole book. I think the reason I did was because I was writing the story I wanted to read. I literally created the Harry Potter sequel of my dreams! That was the best thing about it for me. That and the slim chance that other Harry Potter fans might also think of it as the sequel they've been waiting for, even an unofficial one.
2. You built your main protagonist "The Boy Who Died" to be somewhat opposite to Harry Potter "The Boy Who Lived". What inspired this contrast? Is it your intention to create it to be contrastive with the original?
Absolutely! Despite Harry and Gideon being polar opposites in many ways, readers are supposed to be able to draw parallels between them. This theme of contrast or duality is especially apparent in their "origin stories" but I kept it in mind throughout the story. The intention was to provide a sense of familiarity with the books we all love, whilst exploring the Wizarding World from a new and different perspective.
3. In this story, you chose the timeline to be after the war and the defeat of Voldemort. what magical elements and details in your story that reflect the most about this timeline?
There are new organisations, technologies and, of course, lots of new spells to read about in Gideon Drake and the Fire Within, but the biggest changes in the modern Wizarding World occur in its political landscape, and play out through a sub-plot featuring a certain Minister for Magic and an old friend/enemy...
4. We can see that you are planning a sequel to this work. What can we and the readers expect in this next story? Can you give a hint or a one-line trailer for the upcoming exciting story?
Sharp readers will see that the book leaves a couple of niggling questions unanswered. The sequel will explore all of them, including the prophecy... The first thing to address, though, is Gideon's family life. Despite the book ending on a good note, the Maxwell's have a lot of work to do in order to get things back to "normal", and Gideon will want to explore his parentage further while looking for answers about himself. The political sub-plot will also continue following the book's final twist/cliffhanger, and it's going to be an election year in the Wizarding World!
5. If you could pick a future job in the Wizarding World, what would choose to do? And why?
That's a difficult one! I think I would like to be a Spellcrafter! It can be dangerous, but creating magical solutions to the world's problems, big or small, would surely be interesting work!
6. What is your future project for you? Do you plan to continue writing Harry Potter fanfiction after you finish this series?
In my head, Gideon Drake is this huge series just like Harry Potter. If I could get paid to write Gideon Drake I would be focused only on that! Sadly, I can't count on the idea that J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros. might one day read it and and reach out to make it part of the Wizarding World canon, so I need to consider my career. I'm very nearly done with my current WIP, my gritty Sailor Moon sequel story. Next, I'll be focusing on my first original work, Second Chance, and seeing whether I've got what it takes to write professionally. When that's done, it will be time to revisit Gideon's story. After that, who knows...?
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Thank you for joining us! Check out more stories at TEZofAllTrades!
