Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
The Secret Seer

Anna and Sarah Bell followed the rest of the students back totheir Halls, tired and full, after the start of term feast. The two roommatessaid very little to one another as they crawled into their warm four-posterbeds, looking for their pillows. Tired as Anna was, Sarah had fallen asleepeven before she did. She could hear her roommate’s rhythmic breathing in theopposite corner, while the very full moon lit Hobb’s cage sitting empty in thedark.

Seconds later, Anna was dreaming. She was cloaked in a darkforest, walking quietly by herself through the trees under the same brightmoon. Although the setting was unfamiliar, the darkness surrounding her madeAnna feel secure, the sovereign of everything she could see and sense. For someunknown reason, she felt more at home here, alone in the night, than at anytimein her life. Then it came to her, and she suddenly knew what she was doingthere by herself in the woods. She was ravenous and eagerly looking to satisfya craving for… something in the shadows. She was hunting.

She stopped to look back; she could smell something behind her,coming nearer with each passing second. She could hear it breathing, its heartbeating. Anna closed her eyes and watched as the picture in her mind began tomove through the trees toward the sound coming ever nearer. The brainless thingwas unknowingly walking closer to its own death. As the picture in Anna’s mindraced through the undergrowth, her senses locked on the exact position of thething wadding through the forest. Anna opened her eyes and smiled. She raisedher arms and, without a wand or a door to lift her, she shot into the nightsky. Effortlessly, she zoomed through the nearly black canopy to circle backand, like a predator, behind the thing walking into disaster below. She saw it beneath her now, mutteringstupidly to itself.

“I’ve got you now, Grayson. I’ll have you out of Castlewoodtomorrow,” the thing said, struggling to keep a steady pace. Squatting high inthe branches behind the creature, Anna smiled evilly. It was Debbie Dunning.Anna could see her fat little body and short curly hair stumbling across theroots, swearing every few steps as she tripped along.

“Soooooo,” Anna whispered to herself, treacherously, “It thinksit’s following me. Looking to catch me, when in fact she’s the one who will becaught.” Anna let go of the branch she was holding, swooped silently throughthe green-gray mist covering the ground, and lightly touched down behind thegirl. She watched her trip and fall into a thorny bush at her feet. Anna couldinstantly smell the girl’s blood from her cuts, and she closed her eyes to suckthe air and the ecstasy of the warm flow.

“Oaf!” Anna growled, loud enough to be heard. Dunning scrambledto her feet and jerked a wand into the darkness behind her.

“Who’s there?” Dunning hollered, but nobody was there. Like aninvisible rush of wind, Anna had circled around behind her again. She wasplaying with the thing, standing there in the dark with her arm out-stretchedand shaking. Anna leaned in close behind her, her lips nearly touching thegirl’s ear. She could smell her sweat, see the veins in her neck pulsating withthe blood her frightened heart pushed through her trembling body.

“Are you hunting me tonight?” Anna whispered into her ear.Debbie gasped and whipped around once more. Too late, Anna was already behindher again.

“Where are you?” yelled the girl, her voice now breaking inpanic.

“Drinking your blood, Dunning!” Anna whispered next to her earagain. The girl spun around and screamed when she saw Anna’s face next to hers.Debbie tried to bring her wand hand around, but Anna caught her by the wrist inmid-air without looking. She lifted the girl off her feet effortlessly.

“A succulent little piggy for dinner tonight,” Anna said,bearing her teeth. Dunning screamed as Anna plunged into the girl’s neck. Theblood flowed like a gushing fountain into Anna’s mouth, and she smiled inwanting rapture. She could feel the girl’s struggling body deflating in her armsas she sucked the life out of her.

“Someone you love has been injured!” came an unexpected voicethrough the darkness. Anna opened her eyes and bolted upright in her bed. Thedream was over, and Anna grabbed at her mouth in horror. There was a familiar,salty taste there and on her lips. Fearing the worse, Anna used a hand to wipeher tongue and held it up to the light of the moon shining into her bed. It wasblood. Panicked, Anna wiped her lips and chin; she found more blood there. Shehad bitten her own tongue.

“Someone you love… someone in your family, has been attackedtonight,” came an unfamiliar voice from across the room. Anna looked over andsaw the small shadow of Sarah sitting upright in her bed.

“Sarah?” What did you say?” There was no reply. She could seeher roommate from the side, her head lulled down against her chest. “Sarah? Areyou awake?” Anna whispered. She reached over and pulled the curtains on thewindow open fully. The bright moonlight filled the room and Anna could now seeSarah more clearly.

“Someone from your family is coming to help you,” Sarah said,without looking up. Her voice was different, choppy, and lower than normal.

“What? What are you talking about? Sarah? Sarah, wake up!” Annanow realized Sarah was still sleeping. Anna wiped her mouth again. The bleedinghad stopped but her tongue was still raw and very sore.

“Tomorrow… you will see the dwelling place of the evil one!”said the strangely shrill voice.

Anna jerked around. “What did you say?” she replied, insurprise. “Sarah! What was that?” Her roommate didn’t respond. Anna watched thegirl slowly fall back into her pillow, grunted as if she were poked, and thenquickly rolled over to face the wall.

“Sarah?”

She could hear Sarah’s breathing returning to its normal, quietslumber. Anna lay back down and rolled over to look out the window.

“Great, a roommate who talks in her sleep. I hope that doesn’thappen every night,” she said, wearily. But what was that she said? Somebodyin your family was injured? And somebody is coming to help? Anna smiled. Iwonder what she was dreaming about? Then she frowned. You will see thedwelling place of the evil one? That comment sounded as if it was directedat her, because she had heard something close to that before when she wasinside the mirror. The evil one, the one that altered her at birth, it said,was nearby in a prison of its own making. But Sarah couldn’t have beentalking about that. That would be silly. Anna reached out and pulled thecurtains on the window closed. As her tired mind drifted off to sleep again,Anna forgot all about her own dream of hunting in the forest.

TWO

Tap-Tap-Tap.

Anna heard a far-off rapping noise in her head. It seemed tobatter through her comfortable sleep like an intruder wanting in.

“Come in,” Anna moaned resentfully, and she rolled over hopingthat, whoever it was, would go away.

Tap-Tap, Tap-Tap-Tap continued the sound.

“I’m sleeping here!” Anna said, more forcefully.

“Anna, I think there’s something at the window,” came a voicefrom across the room. Anna opened her eyes and saw Sarah, already dressed, andpointing at the window behind her.

“Huh? What? Oh!” Anna said, sitting up quickly. She opened thecurtains of the window to see Hobbspacing on the outer ledge. She slid the window open. “Good morning,” Anna saidbrightly. The owl hopped on the inside ledge, and then quickly onto Anna’s bed.The damp morning breeze entering the room told Anna it had rained during the nightand the wet cobblestone walkways of Spellsburg below confirmed it. The owlpuffed up his feathers and shook himself vigorously.

“Oh,” Sarah gasped, “she’s beautiful. Is she yours? What’s hername?”

Anna smiled as she smoothed the owl’s soft feathers. “HIS nameis Hobbs, andyes, he is beautiful, isn’t he?” The owl dipped his head affectionately,begging for a scratch behind the neck, and Anna was happy to oblige.

“I think he’s gorgeous,” Sarah said, sitting on her bed to gazeat the bird. Hobbsunfolded his wings, as if to give Sarah a better look at his plumage. He hoppedup, flapped once, and landed next to Sarah with a graveled screech. She eagerlyreached out and smoothed the owl’s feathers back into place. “Oh, I wish myMommy and Daddy would let me have a pet,” she said, scratching Hobb’s favoritespot on the neck. He gave her an affectionate nip on the finger, raised hisshoulders, and hopped into the air again. With two easy flaps of his wings, hewas back in his cage, preening in preparation for a nice rest.

“Where are you from, Sarah?” Anna asked, as she moved to unpackher trunk.

“Minnesota,”Sarah replied, walking over to Hobb’s cage to watch his daily routine. “I havefive other brothers and sisters. There’s Judy and Joann; they’re the oldest.And then there’s Mark, Bill, and David. And then there’s me.”

“Wow, six children. Excellent. Well, you’ve met all of mybrothers and sisters. I have two of each. I’m the youngest in my family too.”

“Yes, I spent some time with your brother Eric yesterday when hehelped me move into our room. I like him, he’s very nice.”

Anna smiled agreeably. “Yep, that’s Eric. I know I’m notsupposed to say this, but he’s my favorite. I don’t get along with the othersall that much. We’re always fighting about something.” They spent the nextthirty minutes chatting about their homes and what they would miss the mostabout being away. Sarah’s parents, it turned out, lived on the side of a skihill, and gave classes and instruction during the winter.

“Wow, I’ve never been skiing before,” Anna said, as she headedfor the shower. They continued their discussion as Anna finished her hair, andthen she told Sarah how she had only received her letter from Castlewood theweek before they arrived.

“Weird. And you were never able to do any magic before thattime?” Sarah asked, watching Anna experiment with a variety of hairstyles. Annaopened her jewelry box, and Sarah watched in amazement as an assortment ofpretty hair clips and pins jumped out and hopped about, hoping to be chosen.

“Wow, would you look at that,” Sarah said, peering under Anna’s arm.

Anna smiled, looking at Sarah in the mirror “Would you like totry one? I have to warn you, though… some of these clips don’t know how tobehave in public,” and Anna told Sarah about her last ride on a Muggle schoolbus. Sarah laughed as she picked up the little red hair clip, which had causedall the trouble with the Drummond girl.

“So… you’re a nasty little tiger, aren’t you?” she said,stroking the back of the clip gently. Anna watched in amusement as the littlered clip began to purr in Sarah’s hand and then pop open, hoping for a chanceto go out. Sarah smiled keenly, looking up at Anna in the mirror.

“Go ahead, wear it if you like. But don’t say I didn’t warnyou.” Sarah beamed as she moved next to Anna in the mirror and slid the clipinto place, which snapped itself shut with an evil giggle.

“Very nice,” Anna said, admiring the adornment. She leaned in,“But I really think he’s just smoozing you,” she said distrustfully. The clipbegan purring again.

Anna felt a little pain in her mouth and then twisted her tongueto touch the sore spot she had bitten the night before. “Mmmmm,” she said,looking at her own distorted face in the mirror. She leaned forward and stuckher tongue out to have a look. “Geez, no wonder it bled so much,” Anna mutteredincoherently. Then, remembering the night more clearly, she looked at Sarah.

“You were talking in your sleep last night, you know.”

It was as if Anna had suddenly flipped a switch on herroommate’s body. The look on Sarah’s face instantly changed from a happy smile,still admiring her hair, to one of deep worry and gloom. She slowly set herhairbrush down and walked away without saying a word. Anna watched in surpriseas Sarah slowly headed back to her bed to sit. Her hands pressed down on themattress on either side, trying to replace a comfortable way to ask a question.Her eyes were staring out the window across the room.

“What did I say?” Sarah asked, apprehensively.

“I don’t remember, really… it was lot of muttering, but you weresitting up in bed, yakking away.” Sarah didn’t seem to like Anna’s answer.

“What exactly did I say, Anna?” Her voice was tense and gruff.

Anna frowned. The shy little girl Anna thought she knew hadsuddenly turned very stern. What started as a funny comment was definitelyscaring Sarah for some reason. Anna set her brush down and walked over to siton the bed opposite.

“Well, let me see,” Anna said, trying to remember. “I think yousaid something about a member of your family being attacked.” Sarah’s eyeswidened. “Then you said someone from your family is coming to help… orsomething like that.” Sarah looked down fearfully, then up again.

“Anything else?” she said, in an almost mournful tone.

“Oh — yeah. You said, ‘You will see the house of the evil one,’or some such thing.”

Sarah screwed up her face and tilted her head at Anna. “Whatdoes that mean?” she said, with a frown.

“I don’t know. You tell me… it was your dream.”

Sarah’s face fell as she thought for a moment and then looked upagain. “Anna, do you have a way to call home?”

“Call home? Why?”

“You should do that right away.”

“You’re not serious. What? Are you saying you were talking to melast night?”

Sarah turned away, looking rather embarrassed. Her eyes turnedto stare up at the ceiling.

“Yes.”

“And you think this stuff is true?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because it’s happened before. Many, many times before… athome.” Sarah looked up expecting Anna to say she was crazy.

“You’re crazy,” Anna said, smiling as if someone were playing atrick on her.

“I know. But you should make sure you’re brothers and sistersare all right this morning.”

Anna frowned. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You actuallybelieve…?”

“Just do it, Anna. Okay?” Sarah said, folding her arms angrily.

“Sarah…What’s going on? What happened when you were at home? Didthis happen there too?”

“Yes.”

“And did any of it come true?”

“Yes.”

Anna grinned disbelievingly. “But coincidences like this happenall the time, Sarah. I once heard about a man who had a dream one time and…”

“They always come true,” Sarah interrupted.

“Always?”

“Always.”

“But how do you know you were talking about me?”

“Because that’s how it works. Whoever I’m closest to when I’msleeping is the one I’m talking about.” Anna leaned back, now folding her armsseemingly unconvinced. Sarah could see Anna was now rethinking everything sheknew about her. She had seen this reaction many times before.

“Remember when I told you my family was afraid of me? Well, itwasn’t just because I could make things fly around the room. In fact, at first,my Daddy was very happy about my abilities. He had plans for putting me on TVand making a lot of money. He said I was going to be famous and travel all overthe world.

“But some people showed up at our house from a place called theMinistry of Magic. They told my Mommy and Daddy that I was a witch. Then theytold my Daddy I wouldn’t be allowed to show anybody what I could do. Daddy gotvery angry and tried to throw them out of the house, but they warned him thatthey would use their power to stop him from putting me in front of the Muggles.The Ministry would see to it that people would believe what they were seeingwas a trick, a fraud. Finally, Mommy stepped in and told Daddy she never likedthe idea of my being put in front of a bunch of reporters anyway. They had abig fight. And that’s when I started talking in my sleep. I told my brotherDavid he would fall and hurt himself. The next day he did, and broke both ofhis arms. Then I said Mommy would be burned. A few days later, she had to go tothe hospital because of an accident on the stove. I kept talking for months.Finally, my parents had to put me in my own room to make it stop.”

“Was it always bad stuff you were predicting?”

“No, not always,” Sarah said, and then a small smile curled onher lips, like she had just remembered some happier moment in her past. “I toldmy brother David everything he was getting for Christmas once. He thought thatwas pretty neat. Mommy and Daddy weren’t too happy about it though and theystopped the rest of the kids from trying to sneak into my room before theirbirthdays.”

Anna smiled cautiously. “So does this happen every night?”

“No. It’s really slowed down recently. In fact, it hasn’thappened for months since…” Sarah stopped short.

“Since what?” Anna could see Sarah hesitating. “What happened,Sarah?”

The girl looked up. “Since the night I scared my Daddy.”

“Oh…? What happened?”

“I was up late watching the TV with Daddy, and we both fellasleep on the couch. Apparently, I started speaking in the middle of the nightand gave another premonition. I said he was going to die the next day.” Annagasped, and Sarah jerked up. “But it wasn’t Daddy who died, it was Gluffy.”

“Gluffy?”

“He was our cat. Gluffy was sleeping on Daddy’s lap that night.He was hit by a car the next day.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s terrible.” Then Anna thought, “But atleast it wasn’t your father who was hurt.”

“No, but we didn’t know that at the time. Daddy was so scared hedidn’t sleep at all that night, and wouldn’t leave the house the next day. Heeven called a doctor-friend of his to stay with him the whole day at our home.He was afraid he was going to die.”

“Oh my God!”

“After we heard about Gluffy, Daddy was so relieved; he agreedto let me come here to Castlewood. I heard him telling Mommy he wanted me outof the house.”

“What? Why…but… that’sterrible! Sarah, that’s really awful. But… I’m sure he was just scared aboutwhat happened, right? He doesn’t feel that way now.”

“That’s what Mommy said too, but Daddy wouldn’t speak to me verymuch after that day. Right up to the time I left… he didn’t even say goodbye. Imiss him so much. And they don’t have any telephones here at the castle to callhome.” She looked up at Anna with tears forming in her eyes. Anna stood up andsat next to her on the bed.

“It’s all right, Sarah. After all of this, you have a right tobe upset,” she said, putting an arm around her. “Listen… you can use Hobbs to send them aletter if you like. I’m sure he could get them a message for you.” Sarah lookedup and then over to Hobb’s cage.”

“Do you think he would mind?”

“Not at all. Just write a note, tie it to his leg, and tell himwhere you want him to go. Make sure to tell your parents to give Hobbs a note back foryou.”

Sarah smiled enthusiastically. “All right. I’ll write one today.”

“Excellent. Just tell them you made it here all right, andyou’re meeting loads of new friends who think you’re great,” Sarah smiledappreciably at Anna. “And tell them how much you miss them.”

Sarah nodded, but then her face turned serious. “Anna… you willcheck on your family today, won’t you? Please tell me you will.”

Anna frowned. “Well, I’m still not saying I believe all of this,okay? But, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll send Hobbs to check on my brothers and sisterstoday before we send him off with your letter home.” Sarah cautiously smiled.

“Anna, you mentioned I said something about an evil one? Didthat make any sense to you?”

Anna hesitated. “Yeah, it did. I didn’t think much about it atthe time, because… well… I didn’t realize you were talking to me last night.But I’ll have to admit, after you said it… I thought you might have beenreferring to something I was told in the Mirror of Enlightenment,” and Annatold Sarah about the evil thing the mirror said altered her at birth, somethingthat was supposedly close by in a prison.

“But nobody ever said there was a prison anywhere aroundSpellsburg. How could you possibly see such a place?” Sarah asked, logically.

“Exactly. You see? It doesn’t make sense, does it? Maybe I’ll bethe one to break your perfect prediction streak, eh?”

“Maybe,” Sarah said hesitantly, the first hint of self-doubtfinally emerging.

There was a heavy knock on the front door. When Anna opened thedoor the hallway was empty, but a note was tacked next to her name. Anna openedthe note and scoffed.

“What is it, Anna?”

“I’ve been given detention! Oh, I can’t believe it. My first dayat school and I’ve got detention already? I hope Daddy doesn’t hear about this.He’ll have my skin.”

“Detention? But… what happened?”

“It’s that Debbie Dunning girl. Listen to this.”

MissGrayson,

It hascome to our attention that you were involved in an altercation on the schoolgrounds yesterday with another student. We have confirmed you actuallythreatened this student in front of several other witnesses. This is certainlya violation of the school rules set forth for the proper behavior of studentsamong their peers (Article 51, Section 3, Paragraph 6 in the Castlewood AcademyCharter.) As such, I am duty-bound to deduct 25 points from your Hall. However,being that the Guardian Union has not earnedenough points to cover this penalty, you will be placed on detention. You willreport to Mr. Kingston at the Castlewood stables immediately following yourlast class today. Other duties will be assigned to you upon your arrival aspart of this reprimand. It is our hope you will avoid any further altercationsof this type in the future. If this office receives another report of similarbehavior this term, a letter of suspension will be submitted to the StudentPresident’s office. A copy of this letter has been sent to your home.

RespectfullyYours, Gregory Dunning, Captain of the Crimson Guard, Castlewood Academy.

“Respectfully yours,” Anna said, sarcastically, “I doubt that!”She groaned. “Daddy’s going to kill me.”

“Oh dear. This is very serious, Anna. What did you do?” Annatold Sarah about the fight she had had the day before with Debbie Dunning.

“Well, it hardly seems fair that Debbie’s brother is the onegiving out the punishment in this case,” Sarah said, with a scowl.

“No it’s not, but Gwen tried to warn me at the time. I guessI’ll have to stay clear of all the Dunnings this year. Hey, you know, thismight be a good thing. I wanted to get down to the stables anyway to see theacademy’s horses. Old Debbie-D just helped me get there a little sooner thanexpected,” Anna said, with a smile. “Don’t tell her I said that, of course, orshe’ll have me cleaning the boy’s toilets next time.”

Sarah giggled before her face turned serious again. “Anna, ifyou want to change rooms, I’ll understand. It isn’t fair for anybody to be inthe same room with me during the night. If you think you might be morecomfortable sleeping somewhere else…”

“Hold on there. Let’s take things slow, all right? Who knows… youmight tell me I’m getting a terrible grade on my next test. It might give me anopportunity to do a little more cramming and turn it around. You never know.Let’s wait and see what happens, okay?” Sarah smiled.

“Well, we’d better get going. I think we might have just enoughtime to grab a bite to eat before my first class. Magical Incantations; howabout you?”

“We’re in the same class. I can’t wait to try my new wand,”Sarah said, jumping to her feet. They gathered their books and set off.

Forty minutes later they were sitting in a large classroom,thumbing through a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One.Anna was laughing because Sarah’s hair had already been restyled twice by thelittle red hair clip. Their teacher was running late, and soon the sound levelin the room was reaching a chaotic state. Airplanes made of parchment were nowflying about, but they were barely noticed by Anna who was having anotherconversation with Sarah about skiing in Minnesota.Finally, the classroom door opened and Professor Titan walked in. He glanced upin time to see a balled piece of parchment sailing across the room. Quick as aflash, Titan whipped out his wand and, like a conductor looking for a change ofpitch from his orchestra, he flicked his wrist left and up. The ballimmediately stopped and reversed direction.

“Engorgio!” Titan whispered, and the small wad ofparchment grew to the size of a very large beach ball. It flew right back intothe arms of the boy who had thrown it, knocking him and the desk he was sittingin sideways to the floor. The class howled with laughter.

“Good morning, class,” Titan said, joyfully. He had already puthis wand away, ignoring the boy trying to lift the heavy ball off his chest.

“Good morning, Professor Titan,” the students replied in unison.

“Welcome to Magical Incantations, Grade One.” He quickly tookthe roll and then looked up to frown. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’ssee those wands.”

The students each pulled out a wand and held it up except forTommy Johnson, who had to admit in front of the entire class that he hadforgotten his wand in his dorm room. Titan tutted loudly, and then handed theboy a large sunflower from a vase in the window to use instead. The boy turnedpink in the cheeks as he waved the sunflower about as he would his missingwand.

“Now, then. I like a fast start. So, if you please, wandspointed up… and repeat after me, “Relashio!”

“Relashio!” they all said together.

The result of this simple word from the class was instantchaos. For a few students, nothinghappened at all. For everybody else, however, sparks of different color andsize shot up toward the stone ceiling. Professor Titan smiled appreciably atthe booming fireworks high above them. Anna’s wand shot a jet of bright purplelight, which seemed to catch Professor Titan’s eye at once. Finally, all wasquiet again, except for one boy who was sitting in the center of the class,trying desperately to put out a small fire, which had lit upon his sleeve. Asthe students laughed, Titan walked over to the boy.

“Can I see that wand, Mr. Shovelton?” He held the boy’s wand upto the light along its length and spun it between his fingers. “Quite old,yes?” he said knowledgably.

“Yes, sir. It belonged to my Grandfather,” replied the boy asTitan continued his inspection.

“Ah, yes. There you are, see? You have a hairline crack rightthere. It’s causing you some flashback. Common thing, really, but… completelypreventable.” He raised his own wand and muttered, “Reparo!” There was aslight clicking sound, and then he handed the boy’s wand back to him.

“There you are Shovelton, good as new. Make sure you pick up awand maintenance kit at your earliest convenience. A little binding wax willkeep the fibers from drying out on you again.”

“Thank you, sir,” the boy said, appreciably.

Professor Titan looked up at the ceiling and smiled at the fewremaining pops of color against the dark, gray stone. “Looks like the Fourth ofJuly, my favorite holiday,” he beamed. “Right then, let me see. Where did I see…?”his eyes set on Anna against the wall. “Ah, there you are, Guardian,” he saidwith a smile, walking over to her. “Wand please, Miss Grayson.” He gently ittook from her hand and then looked down its length toward the light.

“Exquisite!” Anna smiled as he expertly twirled the wand betweenhis fingers. “Outstanding balance. Perfection end-to-end. A little more polish,if you please, right there on the handle,” he said, pointing to a slightly dullspot near his hand. “Some index finger push causing a little wear there.” Hestared at the wand keenly, holding it up between his two index fingers,checking for straightness. “I’ll be putting you in the center of my ChristmasArray of Lights this year, Miss Grayson.” He looked up at the ceiling andclosed his eyes. “I see your purple sparks surrounded by a circle of red andthen blue.” He smiled down at her. “Ought to be quite a show this year, eh?” hesaid keenly, a huge grin moving on his face. Anna smiled as he handed the wandback to her. “Outstanding quality. Take good care of it. Nice to see it again.”

Anna’s face fell. “What? Have you seen this wand before, sir?”But Professor Titan had already turned away and was heading to the front of theclass.

“Right, then. Raise your wands if, when you said the spell,nothing happened.” A few students timidly raised their wands into the air,including Sarah. “How’s that wand working for you, Mister Johnson?” The boywith the sunflower blushed again as the class sniggered. Professor Titan wentabout the room inspecting the rest of the wands that didn’t work, repairingsome, and giving advice to others about the proper way to annunciate the spell.

“Your wand is perfectly fine, Miss Bell,” Titan said, handingSarah back her wand. “Just deliver the incantation with a little more thrustnext time, yes? I should think you’d see better results that way.” He gave hera gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The bell in the outsidecorridor rang, signifying the end of class, and Professor Titan walked back tohis desk.

“I’d like you to read chapter one in your text, paying closeattention to arm-movement. And for those who had trouble delivering yoursparks, give it some practice outside before the next class. That’s all, you’redismissed.” Then he quickly grabbed his bag and moved to be the first out thedoor. Anna tried desperately to follow. She was hoping to talk to Titan abouther wand, and where he might have seen it before, but by the time she enteredthe hallway, he was gone.

So, it was on to The History of Magic. As always, many eyesfollowed Anna as she walked in and found a seat with Sarah against the wall.

“Howdy,” said another first-year girl with long black hairsitting in front of her. “Your name’s Anna, right?” asked the girl in asouthern draw.

“Yes, hi. What’s your…?”

“Tanya Joe Wangstaff, from the great state of Texas.” The girl shook Anna’s handgregariously. “But you can call me TJ.” Tanya Joe Wangstaff was a very prettygirl with very dark black hair in braids and a jovial, almost carefree, manner.“You mind if I ask you a question?”

“No, go ahead,” Anna replied, bending over to place her booksbeneath her, but as she leaned back against the stone wall, she immediatelyheard a voice.

“Guardian!”

Anna quickly took her hand off the wall. She recognized thevoices as the same whispers she had heard on her first day, when her hand wassomehow buried in the wall outside the castle.

“Well?” said TJ, sitting in front of her.

“Huh? What? I’m sorry, what did you say?” Anna said, staring atthe wall next to her.

“I said, what exactly is a Guardian? I mean, what do they do?”Anna could see several other students now looking at her, listening curiouslyfor an answer.

“Um. Well, it’s a littlehard to explain, and I’m not exactly sure of everything myself yet,” Anna said,paying more attention to the wall than to Tanya Joe. She slid her hand underthe desk and placed it carefully on the wall again.

“Greetings, Guardian,” came another voice as if from theother side of the stone. “We can help you answer the question.” Annalooked around, wondering if anybody else could hear the voices, but nobodyseemed to notice the talking stones within the wall.

“That’s okay,” continued TJ. “I just became a member of theDefender’s Union, and I have no idea whatthat’s suppose to mean either.”

“The Guardians protect the rudiments of magic,” said thevoices in Anna’s head.

“I think the Guardians are called to protect things,” Anna saidout loud.

“Protect things? What things?” asked TJ.

“All things magical,” said the voices.

“Well, this castle for example. It is a very magical place. TheGuardians would seek to protect it,” Anna said, surprising even herself withhow logical she sounded.

“Protect it from what?”

Anna could see several students were now standing in the aislesbetween the desks and listening to their conversation.

“From those who would seek to claim it as their own, butdestroy it in the process.” Anna repeated the message.

“I don’t understand, Anna. Who would destroy it?”

“Those who believe the acquisition of power more importantthan the magic acting as its foundation.” Anna tried to duplicate thethought word for word.

“Wow, that there’s a serious brain-cramp. You mean any evillow-down skunk of a wizard, trying to thieve these things, right?” Annacouldn’t help smiling.

“The seeking and taking of power is not limited to evil. Therighteous intentions of Saints can be destructive as well,” Anna repeated.

Another student, standing one row over from the Laborer’s Union spoke, “So what are you saying? Good is just as badas evil, because they both can be equally destructive to buildings?” Annalistened closely to the voices within the wall, and then smiled. The logic passingto her from the stones seemed so vividly clear to her now.

“Let’s say,” Anna explained, “that you have a rare and beautifultree set in a garden. It’s a wonderful tree set apart from all the rest, andnobody would ever think to cut it down for any reason. Then, one day, somebodycomes along and says they’d like to cut down the tree to fashion a weapon fromits branches. What would you say to that?”

“I’d say no. That wouldn’t be right,” said a boy, leaningagainst his desk.

Anna listened attentively to the stones. “But what if the weaponwas going to be used to stop an evil wizard? Would it still be wrong?” askedAnna.

“Well, I reckon that might be all right then,” said TJ, smilingand looking around at the other students.

“Would it TJ? What if this tree were one of a kind, the only oneof its kind?”

“Well… I’d be all over that tree like a pack of dogs on athree-legged cat. I’d whack it down quick for the chance to rid the world of anevil bad-guy.” Anna laughed along with everybody else.

“But what if this evil wizard also needed the same tree toconquer the world? Wouldn’t you see to it that this one of a kind tree wasdestroyed rather than see it fall into his hands? Can you see it’s in ournature to destroy the tree rather than lose it?” There was silence whileeverybody thought about the question.

“Yes,” said Sarah, “I would destroy it before giving it up tosomebody who intended to use it to hurt others.”

Anna turned to speak to Sarah directly. “But what if the treerepresented something more than itself. What if the tree we’re talking aboutwere… say… your legs?” Would you cut off your legs to keep this evil fromtaking over?”

“Well, I’d be thinkin’ it might not be fair because they were mylegs,” replied TJ, “but if that’s what has to be done to put a varmint likethat down, then yeah, sure, I might do it,” she said, confidently.

“Then here’s the important question, TJ. What if your sacrificemeant all those who came after you, all of humanity, would be forever bornwithout legs because of your decision?” The students stared at Anna, not quiteknowing what to say.

“Well that’s a little out-with-the-dogs, ain’t it?” said TJ,frowning. “I mean we’re gettin’ a little far-fetched now.”

Anna leaned in close. “But if the tree represented all thingsmagical, the beasts and creatures, the wondrous places like Castlewood, themagical objects of legend, then it’s not far-fetched at all, TJ. If we cut downthe magic that is the tree to destroy a tyrant, we change who we are moresurely than if we cut off our own legs. Once the magic is gone, it’s gone foreverybody, forever. We can’t go back, and we’ll never be the same again.Everybody you know, all future generations, might be Muggle-born.”

TJ looked at Anna and smiled. “So you’re saying the Guardiansare here to protect the magical places and things from evil folk, as well asthe good guys who might be just as destructive for all the right reasons.”

“Eximius!”

“Splendidus!”

Anna leaned back and smiled. A number of voices from the wallseemed to be very happy with Tanya Joe.

“I think you understand this better than I do, TJ,” Annareplied.