Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
Guardian Good to Go

The day that followed had givenbirth to a very high level of anticipated excitement as Anna went from class toclass, searching the corridors and hallways for anybody who might be wearingnew Guardian robes. Anna had double Transfiguration in the morning withProfessors Nevork and then double Magical Incantations with Professor Titan,which made it extremely difficult to replace the newest member of her Union. By mid-day, Anna was disappointed she still hadnot discovered the new Guardian’s identity.

“It might be an older student,”said Sarah, as they left Titan’s class together. “A lot of the sixth andseventh-years spend most of their time on the other side of the castle in theWest tower,” she added, encouragingly.

Anna looked over and grinned.“Actually –– for a short while there, Sarah, I thought it might have been you,”Anna said, smiling at her roommate and pointing down at the blue server stripeembroidered on her sleeve. Sarah looked surprised.

“Me? Oh dear… I don’t think themirror would allow me to be a Guardian,” she answered resignedly.

“What do you mean? Why not?”

“Well,” she said, in a timidvoice, “you and your brother are… so… very brave.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sarah paused to consider herthoughts. “You and Eric know how to stand up for yourselves. The way you foughtwith Captain Dunning and the way you were willing to go flying off on thosewinged creatures. I couldn’t do those things. And Eric is such a strong leader.He’s been a Knight for two years, and he’s so sure of himself. That’s really…so very different than who I am,” she finished, and Anna could tell Sarah hadbeen giving the subject a lot of thought.

“Well I don’t think you giveyourself enough credit,” Anna replied. “I think you’ve already proven how braveyou are. You came here all by yourself, didn’t you? And you seem to be gettingalong all right. It took a lot of guts for you to leave home, after everythingthat had happened to you, and then come to Castlewood.” Sarah smiled gratefully.“By the way, have you heard from your father yet?” Anna asked, and she watchedas Sarah’s smile suddenly fell.

“No… I haven’t. I did get aletter from mother though, but she didn’t say anything about daddy at all. Ithink he must still be mad at me,” Sarah said, sadly. Anna could see howtalking about her father was upsetting her friend. She tried to sound upbeat.

“Well, I wouldn’t worry aboutit too much. I’m betting he’ll come around soon. I’m sure he loves you verymuch.” Sarah beamed appreciatively at her.

The two girls shared lunchtogether in the Rotunda and were soon joined by Gwen, who couldn’t reportseeing any new Guardians anywhere in the castle. Anna looked around for Eric.She felt certain that, being a Guardian Knight, he would surely have beennotified about a new student joining their Union,but her brother was nowhere in sight. Anna looked up at the Guardian counterabove their table. Forty-seven more Guardians to go… would they make it?

After Anna and Sarah hadfinished their sandwiches, it was off to the North Towerand The Study of the Dark Arts. Anna could tell something odd was going on themoment she entered the room. Several students were gathered in a group nearwhere Anna and Sarah usually sat and, as Anna approached, a hush fell over thecircle.

“What’s up?” Anna said, smilingat the crowd. Everybody looked to their center and then parted to reveal a girlsitting on a desk grinning broadly.

“Howdy, Grayson! How’s ithangin?”

Anna smiled. “Hey, TJ. Listen…did you get that homework assignment Professor Van Doorn…” Anna stoppedsuddenly as TJ swung her arm around to reveal a single purple stripeembroidered on the sleeve of her robes.

“TJ! YOU? You’re the newGuardian?” Anna blurted out.

TJ smiled back at her. “Yep…and I know what you’re thinkin’. Neighborhood’s goin’ straight to the dogs,ain’t it?” Anna couldn’t help herself. She dropped her bag and grabbed TJgleefully where she sat.

“This is wonderful,” Annahowled, laughing excitedly. As they swayed in a tight embrace, Anna realizedshe had been so concerned about replaceing the new Guardian that it never occurredto her it might be somebody she already knew. “This is fantastic!” she said,wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Now don’t get all soggy on me—” said TJ, who was dabbing her own eyes. “You have no idea what happens when agirl from Texasgets on to cryin’,” she sniffed. “Once we get a-goin’, there’s no stoppin’ it.”

“What made you do it? What madeyou walk through the mirror again?” Anna asked her.

“Well, you know, it looked likeyou were having sooooo much fun out there by yerself…” Anna smirked at heramusingly. “Then I saw that brother of yours in his Guardian garb and I thought–– whew doggie, put a pair of chaps on that boy and I’m good to go!” Annarolled her eyes as the rest of the students around them started to laugh.

“But honestly…?” TJ said,turning more serious. “It was that talk we had on the first day of class. Whatyou said made a lot of sense to me, especially the part about protectin’ the magical places from abunch of polecats lookin’ to grabem’ up for their own selfish purposes.My Pa had some trouble a while back with a group of Muggle Yanks trying to takeour land. He got into a lot of trouble with the Ministry for usin’ magic tokeep what he spent his whole life workin’ for,” TJ explained, soundingfrustrated. “So… I gave myself some cycles to think on it, and then I said, hey–– ‘I got no ties to the Defenders’… no offence,” she said, glancing over at agirl from the Defenders’ Union standing next to her. “I didn’t see the harm inknowin’ what the mirror might say. So I told Professors Nevork I wanted to doit and they made the arrangements. Next thing ya know, your brother was on mydoorstep having my trunk shipped off to the Server Hall. They put me in theroom across from you.”

“They’ve already moved you?”Anna asked in surprise. “I don’t know why they bothered. I mean… it’s not likewe have a Guardian Hall yet. What difference does it make where you sleep?”

TJ shrugged. “No biggie.Professors Nevork told me they wanted all the new Guardians together. Since youand Eric were already there… it was just easier to move me.”

“So ––” Anna said, smiling atthe other students standing around them, “all we need is forty-seven morevolunteers to step through the mirror and we’ll be…uh… how did you put it TJ?Good to go!”

“I already tried,” said ablonde girl in the next row. “It said I still belonged in the Laborers’ Union.”

“Me too,” said a brown hairedboy in Defender colors, standing behind them.

TJ looked surprised. “Well I’llbe. I guess gettin’ fifty Guardians might be a little harder than we thought.”

“Maybe so ––” said Annahappily, looking back at TJ again, “but at least now Eric and I won’t be alonetrying to replace them.”

TWO

Over the next month, thingssettled down quite a bit for Anna. So much had happened in the few days beforeand after her arrival at Castlewood that the weeks that followed seemed ratherdull and uninteresting in comparison, but Anna was happy for it. As the days ofSeptember faded into October, the balmy nights turned cooler, and the treessurrounding the plateau slowly began to change from their deep emerald green tothe dazzling colors of fall. Anna had never seen anything so spectacular innature, as the Northeast proved its reputation for a color-drenched autumn hadnot been exaggerated. The mountains surrounding Spellsburg looked as if theywere ablaze with fire, and the continuous rain of drying leaves added to Anna’sappreciation of the season.

As Halloween quickly approached,several events in October stood out in Anna’s mind. The first was theVollucross tryouts, which she had awaited with eager anticipation. It was thefirst time Anna and Eric had seen each other riding winged horses, and theywere both impressed with what they saw. Eric’s skill in the saddle wasunmatched as he and a number of fellow seventh-years took to the air tosolidify their dominance over the skies of Spellsburg. But Anna’s admiration ofher brother’s talent was nothing compared to the pride Eric felt in seeing Annaon Swooper. Admittedly biased in his evaluation of her ability, Eric couldclearly see Anna had easily taken to the sport, and when his sister hadreturned to the stadium after her ride through the tree-lined alleywayssurrounding the city, Anna’s place on the flying roster was a foregoneconclusion.

But as another month passed,there remained only the three Guardians at the school. Eric and Anna had spentseveral evenings in the Server library together, trying to replace and understand everythingthey could about the Guardians of old. Their father was a tremendous help aswell. He had assigned an entire staff of Goblins the job of researching theMinistry Archives and, as information was located, he promptly sent it by owlto his children. Eric was now confident enough to begin a series of scheduledmeetings with the student population at the school, and thus, taking a muchmore aggressive role in trying to get others to re-enter the Mirror ofEnlightenment. Eric was especially worried that the longer they let the newfirst-years get settled in the less likely they would be to switch Unions asthey became more comfortable within their current Dynasties.

The second happy thing thatoccurred in October was the personal letter Anna had received from her father,which came a few weeks after Eric had sent his owl off to report on Anna’sgrowing abilities. Although her father did not respond immediately, his letterwas genuinely supportive of Anna in every way she could have hoped.

My Dearest Anna,

I received your brother’sowl some weeks ago concerning the startling news about your newfound abilities.I am sorry I did not write to you sooner, but your brother’s letter haslaunched a series of meetings between myself and a number of trusted familyfriends and advisors here at the mansion. I felt it important to take the timeto understand what was happening to you, and why these changes have taken placeso suddenly. My study of the situation continues, but I thought it important tofinally write to you with my never-ending love and support, and a father’scounsel.

First, I agree with yourbrother. The tasks ahead of you must include doing everything you can tosustain the new Guardian Union. Nearly all ofour family’s advisors have concluded that what is happening at Castlewood hasfar-reaching implications for the Wizarding world well beyond what you see inSpellsburg. I shall say no more here, but I look forward to discussing thesematters in greater detail with you over the holidays. I cannot stress enoughhow important it is that you and Eric succeed in your efforts there atCastlewood.

Your brother has alsoinformed me about your becoming an Animagus. I can only imagine how confusingthis must be for you, especially after what occurred here at the mansion beforeyour departure. I am desperate in the hope that you will forgive my lack ofunderstanding for what must have been a truly frightening experience for you.Once again, Professor Thordarson has been extremely helpful to me in graspingwhat has happened to you. Although none can explain the implications of this,the Chancellor will be working with me to bring in some extra support to helpyou understand and control this extraordinary skill. Again, you will learn moreabout this when you return home for Christmas.

In closing, I cannotpossibly put into words how much I truly miss you by my side. Your leaving forCastlewood was too abrupt and unexpected for me to fully comprehend just whatyour departure would mean to me. I miss you terribly, my dearest sweet Anna,and I count the days until you and the rest of my children return home to me. Iknow these are confusing times for you. There are so many questions yet to beanswered for all of us. But always know this – I love you, and I am so very proudof you.

With undying love always, Iwill forever be your devoted Father.

Tears fell from Anna’s eyes andsplattered the pages of her father’s letter. She raised it up and clutched ittight to her chest. “I love you too, Daddy,” she sobbed, and it was then thatshe realized just how much she desperately missed her father. She reread theletter several times before noticing the tiny message scrolled on the bottom ofthe page.

e4

Anna smiled and then ran to hertrunk. Flipping open the lid, she began to tear through Gabby’s carefullyfolded work until she came upon a small wooden box at the bottom. She grabbedup the box and ran back to the kitchen table. Setting it down, she pressed asmall button in the center of its lid, which popped open and several layers ofwood began to lift and whirl in several directions to reveal a very oldchessboard within.

“Well –– it’s about time!”yawned one of the chess pieces sitting in the bottom of the box. “I wasbeginning to think you had forgotten us.” The pieces scampered out of theirdrawers of blue satin and took their proper places upon the board.

“With whom is the fair maidenbattling this evening?” asked a Knight in gallant voice, rearing back on hismatching horse.

“My father,” Anna repliedmerrily.

“Oh… a true battle of wits,then,” said the white Queen. “These are always the best campaigns,” she said,and the rest of the pieces nodded and agreed excitedly.

“I’m afraid there might only beone move tonight. Daddy isn’t here with us this evening,” Anna explained, andthere was an accumulated groan of disappointment from the various pieces.

“Still –– it’s nice to be outof the box,” said the Queen optimistically.

“So… who is to make the firstthrust, my dear?” said the white King who had just strode onto the board totake his queen’s hand.

“My daddy,” Anna replied. “e4 —Pawn to King-four.”

“That’s me!” squeaked a whitepawn standing in front of his king, who then stepped forward two squares on theboard. “Grrrr…” growled the little pawn, menacingly. “Let’s get it on!” hesaid, jabbing his spear forward at the row of black pawns standing at attentionin front of him.

“Typical strategy for MisterGrayson,” quipped Anna’s black Queen, “working to immediately control thecenter.”

Anna giggled and then nodded.“Yep… that’s Daddy, all right. He’s such a control freak,” she added jokingly,leaning over the board to survey her options.

“So, what will it be, my dear?”asked the black King, looking back at her. “Are we playing a quiet game again, Giuoco Piano perhaps?”

Anna thought. She didn’t feellike playing defensively right now. Her mind thought about the many difficulttasks ahead of her in sustaining the Guardian Union; she needed to be bold.

“No… Nc6. The Queen’s Knight,” Anna said,determinedly.

“Oh… we’re taking risks thistime,” said one of Anna’s Bishops, “Glory be to the father, this is going to begood!” The black Knight hopped over the pawn in front of him and then strode tothe middle. Anna sat there quietly waiting… and watched.

Nearly three thousand milesaway, Mister Grayson was at his desk preparing the final wording on anegotiation between two of the leading wizard banks in Eastern Europe. He was exhausted. The agreement was due to the principleparties first thing in the morning, but he knew he wouldn’t have the energy towork much longer. He rubbed his eyes, dipped his quill again, and was about tofinish the next sentence when he heard a scraping-sliding sound coming fromacross his office. He looked up and, realizing what it was immediately, he smiled.Tossing his quill down, he got to his feet and walked over to a small tablenear the entrance to his conference room. A chess set, exactly like the oneAnna was watching at Castlewood, was sitting on a small table under aflickering lamp. The black Knight had just finished Anna’s move.

“She’s there!” Mister Graysonsaid, smiling. He glanced up at the repaired portrait of Victoriabehind his desk. “It’s Anna!” he said, excitedly. He pulled up a chair to sitand, looking down at the board, he frowned. “She’s in a rather aggressive mood,tonight,” he observed, looking at his daughter’s opening gambit. “That’s mygirl. You’ll need to be aggressive for what you have to do this year.”

“I believe we’re playing theQueen of Spain tonight, sir,” hinted the white King, looking back at him.Mister Grayson tapped his chin as he thought.

“Hmm… yes… possibly a Spanishopening. All right then, let’s prepare for Ruy Lopez and the inevitable d5.Knight to f3!” he bellowed, pointing at the board again. Many of the whitepieces began to applaud, apparently pleased with Mister Grayson’s response toAnna’s aggression.

Annawas resting her chin on her arms at her table, boringly flicking at the ball ofdust by her board. Everything was quiet and still. “I wonder if Daddy is hometonight?” she said, in a restless tone. Suddenly a white Knight straightenedand moved forward.

“He’s there!” Anna shouted.“It’s Daddy!” and all of the pieces began to clap happily.

“The game is afoot!” bellowedAnna’s King.

The two Graysons played wellinto the night until Anna lost spectacularly against a forking Queen. Annamoved quickly to set the pieces up to start again, but her father’s Kingstepped off the board to return to his drawer.

“No… wait… let’s play onemore,” Anna pleaded with the King, who was motioning to his Queen to followhim.

“Your father says –– it is lateand you should be in bed,” the King replied kindly. The other pieces on theboard moaned disparagingly.

Anna stretched and then smiled.She pulled open the King and Queen’s drawer again. “Can you give him a messagefor me?”

Mister Grayson was back at hisdesk working joyously, bolstered by the unexpected contact with his daughter.

“The young Miss Grayson wishesme to relay her enduring love, sir,” came a small voice from the oppositecorner again, “and a very pleasant and restful evening.”

Mister Grayson smiled as helooked up. “Sweet dreams, pumpkin.” He dipped his quill and continued workingthrough the night.

THREE

The next afternoon, Anna andGwen were sharing an early dinner before the start of Anna’s first-ever duelingclass. “I don’t understand why I’m in this club,” Anna said, nervously. “Ihaven’t learned any spells I can use in there. Why do you think ProfessorThordarson would throw me to the wolves like this?”

“A fair question, but I don’tthink you have anything to worry about,” Gwen said, stuffing the last of herdinner roll into her mouth. Professor Bots is the nicest teacher at the school.I’m sure he’ll let you sit things out a while until you’re ready. Just stickclose to me while we’re in there and you’ll be fine.”

WHAP!

A thin stack of parchment wasdropped over Anna’s head next to her plate. Anna looked up to see Dowla’sscowling down at her.

“Very funny, Anna. Yuk-yuk,ho-ho-ho, oh you’re a real hoot, aren’t you?” she said bitterly.

Anna looked uncaringly at thestack of paper next to her. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me what you’retalking about soon enough, right?” she said, glaring back up at her sister.

“Oh… like you don’t know. Wellyour little joke backfired, didn’t it? No doubt you thought hopscotch wouldn’tbe accepted as a sport for Tencha and me either, did you? Well, the joke’s onyou little sister, because the Student President did accept hopscotch despiteyou sending me off on some wild goose chase looking for this black castle ofyours.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Theblack… castle? Are you saying you found something about it?” she said, lookingagain at the stack of parchment next to her plate.

“Yes I did. Ha-ha, very funny.What –– was the fact that it’s a mental hospital supposed to be some referenceto me? Oh — you’re such a riot.”

“A mental hospital?” Gwen said,in surprise.

“That’s right. Well… you’ve hadyour fun. But next time, try to make your practical jokes a little more worthyof the legacy Tencha and I are trying to leave you here at the school, allright? This one was poor,” she said rolling her eyes before turning to stormoff.

Anna flipped over the pile ofparchment and saw, to her astonishment, a black and white lithograph of thecastle she had seen while riding on Swooper.

“That’s it!” Anna yelped,excitedly. “That’s the exact castle I saw in the shadowed forest.” Anna turnedthe page and started to read aloud.

Saint Drogo’sHospital for Incurable Lost Causes

One of the oldest guarded prison hospitals in theentire Wizarding world, Saint Drogo is home to some of the most violentcriminal deviates ever to hold a wand. Kept in an unknown and heavily guardedsecret location, this Wizarding hospital and prison has within its walls thoseof incurable mental disorders with a single common trait among its population.That is, extreme violence of a nature so brutal that its residents cannot bekept with any other humans, be it Wizard or Muggle. Perhaps the most notoriousoccupant now living within the walls of this prison is non-other than theinfamous Arief Sugianto. The exploits of this Wizard are the substance ofnightmares, even though he’s been incarcerated for more than forty years. Itwas reported that Mister Sugianto slaughtered and then ate his entire family,including his wife, mother, six children, and then at least 3 officers of theMinistry Authority who were sent to arrest him.

“Eeeeoww!” Gwen squealed indisgust. Anna screwed up her face at Gwen and then continued to read.

“Mister Sugianto wasreported to have also killed nearly one hundred Muggles in a remote town in Brazil. At thetime of his arrest, Sugianto was caught in the act of drinking the mixed bloodof many of his Muggle victims. But Sugianto is just one example of the horrorskept locked away behind the enchanted walls of Drogo castle. Although the mottoof the hospital is: To Cure and Protect, nobody sent to Drogo has ever beencured or released. The process by which prisoners make their way to Drogo isonly known by a small handful of wizards within the International Confederationof Ministries, whose members oversee the prison’s needs. The array of spells,enchantments, and guards that protect the Wizarding world from the prisoners ofDrogo is a highly guarded secret, and has reached a skeptical level oflegendary status in rational circles. This is most likely because no prisonerhas ever escaped from the black walls of Drogo. But the very sick, and somewould say evil, individuals living within the castle’s walls are terrifyinglyreal. The castle is reported to be unplotable and hidden from public view bythe Fidelius Charm, whose secret keeper is unknown to all but the Confederationof Ministries. One can only hope that while the population of Drogo is gettingthe help it needs from the Wizarding World’s best healers, the prisoners therenever see the light of day outside this historically ominous and hidden place.

Anna looked up. “Wow, can youbelieve this? No wonder nobody talks about it. Nobody is supposed to know itshere!”

“Yeah… and I can understandwhy,” Gwen said, with a shudder. “It’sgoing to be difficult to sleep tonight, knowing a place like that is just overthe mountain. If our parents knew this place was so close to Spellsburg theywould freak out. Muggle murderers, people who eat their children? That is sosick.”

Anna nodded. “It’s no wonderthe Crimson Guard is stationed there. They’re watching over all of thoseprisoners. Captain Dunning is probably in charge of the place.”

“Oh… that’s got to be pleasantduty,” Gwen said, her eyes bulging. “I’ll bet some of the guards are loonythemselves, working inside a place like that. No wonder Dunning is half a nut.”Gwen paused. “Anna, what’s the matter?” Anna’s face had gone suddenly rigid.She looked at Gwen as if just awaken from a trance and then leaned in.

“Remember… the point of mylooking for information about this place was because Sarah said the evil one,the one who altered me at birth, was somewhere near by. If the thing she wastalking about is in Drogo’s castle, then that would mean it’s probably theworst kind of witch or wizard we can imagine,” Anna explained, looking somewhatfearful. “I wonder… who it is.”

Gwen looked hesitant. “Girl…its time you dropped this, because I get the feeling… you don’t want to know.”Gwen leaned back and folded her arms. “There’s just one thing I don’tunderstand,” she added, frowning up at Anna.

“What’s that?”

Gwen gave Anna an incredulouslook and then leaned front to whisper, “It says here that the castle isprotected by the Fidelius Charm.”

“Yeah, I was going to ask youabout that. What is that?”

“Professor Titan told us aboutit last year. It’s a really complicated spell that allows somebody to hide asecret inside the soul of another. This person is called the Fidelius SecretKeeper. Once the information is given to the secret keeper, the location of aparticular building for example, nobody would be able to replace the place unlessthe secret keeper decided to tell them where it was.”

“So… nobody would be able toreplace this place unless they accidentally ran into it like I did?” Anna askedher.

“No-no, you don’t understand.If you’re not the secret keeper, or if you weren’t given the castle’s locationby the secret keeper, then you wouldn’t be able to see the place even if youwere standing right next to it,” Gwen explained.

Anna frowned. “But… I did seeit.”

“I know — and that’s my point.If the Fidelius Charm was in place, you should not have been able to see it atall.”

Anna thought. “You know… when Iwas in Dunning’s office, he seemed rather shocked when I told him I had seenthe black castle in the forest.” Anna smiled satisfactory and then smirked. “Iguess his secret keeper charms aren’t up to scratch, the idiot.”

Gwen still looked hesitant. “Idon’t think that explains this, Anna,” she said, staring at her friend.

“Explains what?”

“How did the castle look to youwhen you saw it? I mean did it look normal, exactly as you described it to me,or was there anything else about it that you might now consider strange?”

Anna looked away and tried tothink back. “I remember first seeing the castle at a glance and then askingSwooper to go back so I could take a second look.” Anna squinted, as if forcingher memory to see more clearly. In her mind’s eye, she could see the towerscoming into view and the fires in its windows flickering in the distance. Andthen, “Oh… wait a minute,” she said, realizing something for the first time, “Ido remember the building had this weird hazy glow. Kind of like… a bluish vaporsurrounding it.” She looked back at Gwen who was nodding.

“Interesting… it’s almost likeyou could see the castle even though it was supposed to be protected from view.Another thing,” Gwen continued, “you sent Hobbsto deliver those letters to the castle. You told him where to replace it —” shesaid, frowning.

“Yeah, so?”

“Well Hobbs should never have been able to see it–– let alone go there. It’s almost as if…” Gwen looked suddenly startled by herown logic. She looked at Anna. “It’s almost as if… you were the castle’s secretkeeper.”

“Me? But… that’s ridiculous.How could I be its secret keeper?”

“I don’t know… but it’s theonly thing that makes sense.” Gwen leaned back and then grinned. “Remind me tonever try keeping a secret from you!”