Also, if this really is the end (and given he talked in the present for the first time and everything it seems like it might really be) I'm actually now even more interested to see what the author did for the rest. What were the professor's "plans nearing completion"? Will the professor still continue to appear to her in some form, if only flashbacks? Having her leave the nest and actually telling the story after the typical sequence rather then leaving it up in the air would be pretty gutsy.