Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
The Joining

As Anna walked throughCastlewood’s arched front gate, she immediately began to hear a soft muffledecho. Very faint at first, the sound became increasing louder as she continuedto walk through the tunnel toward the castle grounds. The echo turned into avelvety whisper, like the sound of many voices speaking to one another. Shestopped to listen more closely, frowning as she stepped to the side where shecould hear the light murmurs becoming louder. Finally, Anna was standing rightnext to the wall and noticed the cold, gray stone beginning to sweat, almostbleed with water. The whispering was louder now. She leaned closer and couldalmost make out some of the words.

“The… --tor… --…am--… us.”

“What was that?” Anna said,stepping closer to the wall. She reached out with her hand and placed it on thesurface of the stone. At once, she heard a scream shoot through her mind like aknife splitting her forehead.

“The protector is among us!”

It was so loud her kneesimmediately buckled as Anna tried to cover her ears and drop to the ground. Shecould hear many voices now yelling excitedly.

“The protector! It is here!”

Again, Anna tried to cover herears, but realized she couldn’t remove one of her hands from the wall. Forcingher head up, Anna opened her eyes in horror at the sight before her. Her handwas buried up to the wrist within the surface of the wall. Panicking, Annastood and tried to pull her hand out, but she found it fixed tight. She triedto scream, but the yelling in her head was so loud she couldn’t even hear herown voice. She began recklessly yanking on her arm, looking at her wrist interror as she felt what seemed like dozens of cold hands touching the tips ofher fingers deep within the rock wall.

“Let go! Let go of me!” Annayelled, sickened at the sight of her hand slipping, and perhaps even pulled,still deeper into the stone.

Her mind flashed back to hernightmare of Damon, when the hands in the floor were grabbing at her feet. Herreaction was much the same; she could feel her blood begin to boil as shepulled desperately back to free herself.

“I said — let me go!” And allat once, her hand slipped free. Anna tumbled backwards to the ground as thescreaming in her mind suddenly stopped. Anna sat up quickly, clutching herhand. She looked around, listening carefully; the voices were quiet. She lookeddown. Other than feeling a bit cold, her hand seemed to be fine, and shenoticed the wall in front of her now looked completely dry. Anna slowly reachedout and quickly stabbed at the wall with her finger. The stone was solid again.She placed a single hand on the wall again and lightly swabbed over it, lookingfor any weak spots. She pressed hard against the stone with both hands.

Hmmm, I wonder if this is some kind of trick to catch the first-yearsoff guard. Could be one of my sister’s stunts, but that wouldn’t explain thevoices I heard. She looked down at her hand again, flexing her fingers andfeeling their tips.

“Strange… really bizarre. Iguess you have to be mindful of what you touch around here,” she said, tryingto insure her first experience within the castle was more interesting thanfrightening.

She got to her feet and enteredthe inner courtyard. She could see a set of doors at the top of some stonesteps and, ascending them two at a time to the second rise, she suspiciouslyturned to listen again for the voices. All was quiet. She opened the front doorand stepped inside.

As Anna entered, a largereception area opened before her, lit by the fires of many bracketed torches.There was a long hallway at the opposite end of the room, and two more on herleft and right. Although the air around her was somewhat chilly, the room waswarm and inviting with its many tapestries, marbled stairways and worn flagstonefloor. Anna smiled and wondered aloud how many other students had entered thisplace since the castle’s founding.

“First-year?” barked a voicebehind her. Anna turned to replace one of the castle guards, dressed inspectacular red robes, standing there.

“Uh… yes. Where am I…?”

“Down the right corridor to theend, and then turn left,” he interrupted coldly. “Continue to the end again,down the steps to the double doors. You’ll replace the rest of the eggs there.” Hepivoted to return to his station at the foot of a sweeping staircase.

“I’ll replace the rest of thewhat?” Anna said, looking confused. The guard stopped and turned again. Thecold look on his face never broke.

“The eggs — the first-years. Wecall them eggs here.” His hand came out from under his robes, displaying asilver sword. He pointed it down the hall. “That way.” Anna didn’t argue. Shefollowed his directions until she came to the double doors and then entered.

She stepped into an enormousclassroom that looked like an amphitheater.There were steep steps leading downward, and seats arranged in a circle arounda small staged floor at the bottom. The seats where filled with nearly twohundred first-year students, the steady hum of their voices were talkingexcitedly. Anna found an open seat next to the aisle with a good view of theplatform and sat down.

A few minutes later, a trapdoor in the center of the wooden stage swung open and banged the flooropposite. A tall, rather thin man, with blonde hair and bright red robes, couldbe seen walking up a set of steps below the hole. He stepped onto the platform,and then flipped the trapdoor over with his foot, slamming it loudly again.

“Quiiiieeett,” he growled. “Myname is Gregory Dunning, and I am the Captain of the Crimson Guard here at Castlewood Academy. I am responsible for yourprotection and safety during your stay with us.” He began to pace back andforth across the stage, his hands clinched tightly behind his back.

“I’m going to do you all afavor tonight, and tell you about a few rules you’ll need to know if you’regoing to avoid an inconvenient death before your first holiday break.” A few ofthe students chortled in the audience, and the captain’s head snapped around,giving them a look that let them know he was absolutely serious. Those who werelaughing immediately went quiet.

“Inconvenient to me, that is,because of the paperwork an incident like that can produce,” he sneered atthem, before continuing his pacing again. “Castlewood has a wonderfulreputation for creating scholars in every walk of life, but it also has areputation for being an extremely dangerous place. If you ignore the rules setaside for your safety, you may very well get yourself killed. But if you’relucky enough to break the rules and live, I will personally toss you over themoat and out on your ear.” The room was so quiet; Anna could hear the boy nextto her gulp.

“There are only three people onthis mountain that can expel you and send you home,” Dunning continued. “Thefirst, of course, would be the Chancellor of this school. The second is the Mayorof Spellsburg and the other…” he slowly turned to face them, looking all theway up to the back row of the seats above him, “is me!” He grinned maliciously.“And make no mistake… step out of line in the slightest, and I’ll have youpacking and on that ship faster than you can say, better off dead.” Anna shuddered. Was this the man the twins hadto face last year when they were nearly suspended?

“Rule number one: You will nottravel about the castle on your own after lights-out. There are exceptions tothis rule, of course, but those occurrences will be made exceedingly clear whenthey apply.

“Rule number two: The moataround this castle is not a swimming hole. There are several species of beastliving in those black waters, and they don’t take kindly to students bathing intheir home — keep out!

“Rule number three: You willstay out of the Shadowed Forest and the woodssurrounding Spellsburg. There are a few exceptions when it comes to thosewoods. For example, those flying for their Union teams on the Vollucross fieldare allowed to enter the forest on a predefined route under the directsupervision of the resident Vollucross Steward. For the rest of you — stay thehell out! What you can’t see in there will surely kill you!”

The Captain turned to face theopposite side of the room. “If necessary, the guards under my control willfollow my orders to their death. I command — they follow. However… entering theShadowed Forest, looking for lost or dimwittedstudents, is the only time I will askmy guards to volunteer for a task. Very few have singularly agreed to enterthose woods alone, and fewer still have returned alive to tell us what theysaw. Remember this; you put more than yourself in danger if you enter the woodsalone. The guards who follow you may very well die in a wasteful attempt tosave you. Think about that before you mindlessly blunder off.

“Finally, you will follow allcommands given to you by the Crimson Guards in and around the castle withoutfail. Is that understood?” Several students murmured yes and then nodded.

“At the end of each year, oneUnion Dynasty is awarded the Chancellor’s Cup, a very prestigious honor that ispart of nearly every conversation you will have here at the school. Points areallotted based on your grades, test results, and your participation and successin your sport of choice. Every student will participate in at least one sporthere at the academy. This is tradition… and there are no exceptions.

“Anyone breaking the rules atthe school will receive detention and will have points taken away from theirHalls. Anyone suspended from the school, even for a single day, makes his orher Union Hall ineligible to receive the Chancellor’s Cup.” Captain Dunningpaused.

“Tonight is a night you willremember for the rest of your lives. Tonight, you will be joined to one of thefive Castlewood Unions. When you leave here in just a few minutes, you will beserved dinner and then taken to the Great Rotunda, where the rest of thestudents will be waiting to witness your joining. After you have been seatedwith your Dynasty Unions, this year’s Union Knights will be named, along withthe Academy Student President. That will complete the evening’s events, and youwill be given your day-one schedules and room assignments. Tomorrow, you willfollow these schedules to the letter and then, in the evening, you will returnto the Rotunda for the start-of-term banquet.” He turned around and yanked thetrap door open and let it drop on its back again with a bang.

“Oh… and one more thing. Youare not to interfere with the duties of the men under my command. They areposted in the hallways and main corridors for your protection. Castlewood is avery special and magical place. As such, it has many secrets yet to beunderstood. There are ghosts within these walls, and at least two ogres I havepersonally seen living somewhere in the dungeons. Until you understand moreabout the things that exist around you, stay on watch and near my guards at alltimes.” He paused again. “Enjoy your dinner. There will be guards at the top ofthe stairs to show you the way. You are dismissed.” And with these final words,Dunning disappeared down into the floor again. The students stood and headedback up the steps toward the exits. As the Captain had promised, they foundseveral guards in the hallway pointing the way.

“Kind of an odd, stiff fellow,wouldn’t you say?” asked a boy, walking next to Anna, speaking of the captain.

“Yeah, I’d hate to accidentallybreak one of his rules,” she replied, with a smirk.

“My brother said Dunning hastried to suspend more students for rule breaking than any other captain in thehistory of the school,” the boy said, worriedly.

“I can believe that; seemssomewhat grumpy by nature, I think.”

As they made their way throughthe corridors, Anna could smell the food wafting down the hallways, enticingthem onward to their dinner. Anna lagged behind the rest of the students; onceagain, taking in all there was to see within the castle. As they walked, thestudents periodically passed other corridors, branching away to their left andright. Looking down these other passages, they could see an assortment ofoddities and strange things occurring. There was a row of stained glass windowswhose pieces were constantly rearranging themselves to change the images withintheir frames. There were wobbling wardrobes, and chairs that stood and walkedabout their tables. They passed a series of doors that began to floatmischievously around on the walls.

“I wonder how they expect us toget into that room,” commented a boy, pointing at one of the doors that moveditself flat to the ceiling above their heads. Anna noticed some of the torcheshanging on the walls had left their mounts, and were floating through the air bythemselves to light their path. One hallway was completely upside down, and thestudents had to carefully mind their step as they maneuvered around the ceilingfixtures, rising straight up from the floor. One of the girls in the grouppointed to the bottom edge of a hallway door upside down against the ceiling.They could see the shadow of somebody walking around on the other side.

As they rounded the next bend, Annacould see some of the students in front hesitate before turning suddenly quiet.As Anna turned the corner, she understood why. Standing in the center of thehallway was another guard draped in a red cloak and a hood covering his face.Unlike the other guards who had been escorting them through the castle, thissentinel before them was enormous. At least eight feet tall, the man took upnearly all the space between the walls.

The students cautiously madetheir way around the figure, too frightened to look up as they passed on hisleft and right. The colossal form stood motionless, like a statue, never movingor offering instruction.

“Is it real?” Anna heard a boyask another ahead of her.

“Nah… can’t be. Nobody’s thatbig,” replied the boy walking beside him, but Anna could tell by timbre of hisvoice he wasn’t really sure.

As Anna followed from behindand approached the guard, she instantly froze. Without deliberately meaning to,she had halted right in front of the enormous sentry. The cloaked figure nevermoved, but Anna could sense something completely unexpected from him. Shestood, concentrating hard, scanning the hulkish form looming high above her.She could hear its breathing now, a low and steady rumble, and could feel itselephant-size heart beating deep within her head; something was very wrong.Other than his immense size, there was something strangely different about thisone. Anna closed her eyes and tilted her head down to concentrate harder on theodd sound that was his beating heart.

It’s… the rhythm, Anna thought. The man’s heart wasn’t beatingproperly. And then the answer came to her like a bolt of lightning and Anna’seyes popped open with shock as her head jerked up.

He has two hearts! Thiswas no man standing before her; it was some kind of creature, a beast. And justas Anna began to consider what kind of creature the thing might be, sherealized she was now completely alone with it in the corridor. Fear suddenlyswept over her. She dropped her head and quickly started to walk around him,acting like a spy carrying some guarded secret. As she passed, Anna glancedupward again, and was shocked to see the hooded figure looking down at her, itsface still clothed in crimson silk. Anna’s blood ran cold as she continued pasthim without hesitation. Did it somehowsense that she knew he wasn’t what he seemed to the others?

As Anna got a few steps pastthe giant, she quickly broke into a run. Sprinting all the way down thehallway, she only turned to look back when she reached the end of the longcorridor and saw the other students rounding the next turn in front of her. Shefinally stopped, and twisted around to look back. Her view instantly went red.Stunned, Anna looked up and was shocked to see the giant standing right next toher, no more than three feet away. Just as before, he stood motionless, stillfacing the long, now empty, corridor behind them. Anna slowly backed away untilshe bumped flat to the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. And then,like a bird of prey focusing in on its next meal, the figure slowly turned hishuge head all the way around, its covered face now looking backward at her.

Frightened at being left alonewith the creature once more, Anna saw the last of the students disappear aroundthe next corner and quickly moved to join them. She raced down and around thenext turn just in time to see a large wooden door slowly closing ahead of her.As she yanked open the door and stepped inside, Anna didn’t have the courage tolook back for fear the giant might still be hovering there next to her. Shequickly slammed the door behind her. She backed away, watching the door’srusted latch for a moment, and then cautiously stepped forward again to pressher ear to the panel, listening for any movement coming from the other side.She stepped back and then turned. Apparently, when it came to protecting thecastle, Captain Dunning’s crimson guard included creatures as well as wizards.

To Anna’s surprise, the dininghall looked very much like any other Muggle school cafeteria. It was well litand modern looking, except for the old wooden tables and benches, which werepushed together into long lines. Even the portraits hanging on the walls lookedrather new, and contained the smiling and moving faces of several old witchesand wizards dressed in white within their frames. Most of them, Anna noticed,were wearing tall chef’s hats on their heads.

“Please, if you will, try the Saumon cru à la moussed’avocat,” waved a friendly French cook in a frame to Anna’s right.“C’est magnifique!” he said, kissing his fingers toward her.

“Uh… okay. That’s the salmonright? Thank you, I will,” Anna replied courteously.

“Bon appétit!”

They all sat down to afantastic dinner. There were dozens of turkeys, platters of sliced ham andfish, and several wonderful old world entrées that the portraits discussed andbickered over, while simultaneously trying to get the students to sample andtaste.

“No, don’t eat that! That’s hisdish,” said a grumpy old cook from his painting. “Try the corned beef next toit. Now that’s a real meal.”

“Egit, nein ich es das nichts immer! That mess vill make you sickand give you gas. Try the Spätzleand the Kalbshaxen behind it.”

Even in her mansion home withWidwick’s best effort, Anna had never seen so much food. There were piledmashed potatoes and yams, mounds of stuffing, rolls and breads, and an assortmentof vegetables and fruit. Although the dinner was tremendous, Anna feltenormously uncomfortable. The difference in her size and age compared to thoseseated around her was more than obvious now, and made her feel terribly awkwardand out of place. After being singled out by the Mayor in front of the wholetown, Anna wanted nothing more than to disappear and blend in. Unfortunately,sitting among the younger first-years was not the place in which she could replaceobscurity. She longed to see Gwen again, and take her up on her offer to showher around the castle grounds.

“Eeeeekkkkk!” a young girlscreamed at the end of the table and everybody turned.

“What is that?” the girlyelled, pointing at the floor below her. Anna could now see a small figure waddlingaround the end of the table. It was a house elf, carrying another platter ofham to the table.

“Oh… I is sorry, miss. Did Iscare you?” asked the elf, in squeaky surprise. A lot of students at the tablelooked shocked as well, and Anna understood why. A small number of thesestudents were from Muggle families and would never have seen an elf before now.The others probably knew about them, but very few had ever actually seen one.Anna could tell who at the table was familiar with the creature, because shecould hear them snickering at the now crying young girl at the far end of thetable. Seeing the girl mocked and laughed at made Anna’s face go red withanger.

“Knock it off!” Anna said,glaring at the giggling students in front of her. They all stopped instantly insurprise. Anna picked up her plate, stood, and walked to the end of the tablewhere the young girl was crying. She could see the elf trying to soothe thetiny girl’s fears, but she was leaning away and cringing in horror. Anna sether plate on the table and sat down on the end of the bench between the girland the elf. She placed her arm around the girl’s shoulder to soothe her, andshe instantly leaned in to clutch Anna’s robes.

“Calm down… it’s all right.”The girl looked up; her eyes were wet with tears. Anna could hardly believe hisgirl was old enough to be at the school. Although she knew she must have beenat the age of entry, the girl was tiny and looked barely ten years old.

“Wha…. what is that thing?” thegirl said, looking at the elf behind her.

“It’s not a thing. It’s anelf!” Anna replied, sounding upbeat. “Hello,” said Anna, turning to the smallcreature, trying to show the girl there was nothing to fear. “And what is yourname, little elf?”

“Oh, I is called Tisket, mum,”the elf replied is a high squeaky voice. “I is sorry Iz frightened the child,mum. I should not have come in unannounced.”

“It’s all right, Tisket. She’snot afraid anymore, are you?” Anna looked at the girl, trying to bolster herconfidence. The girl had stopped crying, but Anna could tell she still wasn’tquite sure about the creature serving their food.

“I… I,” she started to mutter.“No?”

“There now… you see? No harmdone.” Anna turned to the elf. “My name is Anna Grayson,” she said, joyfully.“It’s very good to meet you, Tisket.” Anna stretched out her hand, showingeverybody at the table that elves could be touched as well as seen. The elflooked at Anna’s hand in shock, and then slowly smiled. He quickly set theplate of ham down on the table, and wiped his hands on the dirty Castlewoodpillowcase he was wearing under a tiny apron. He shook Anna’s hand vigorously,beaming with delight.

“Oh, Miss Grayson, the pleasureis all mine… all mine, indeed,” he squeaked, and a few of the girls around themlet go a heart-felt sigh. After releasing Anna’s hand, the elf peered over atthe girl still hiding to Anna’s left.

“Wez have lots and lots of desserts.Would the bunny of a girl like something sweet? Does she have a favorite?” Thegirl looked up at Anna.

“Go on… what would you like?”Anna asked her softly.

“I… I like ice cream,” she saidmeekly, not knowing if a place like this had such a thing as ice cream.

“Ohhh… wez has lots of icecream. Wez have sweet acorn, basal, pepperbush, locknut, and many — manyothers.” Anna looked at the girl. She could tell she had never heard of theseflavors before.

“My favorite is vanilla,” Annasaid. “How about you?” The girl nodded.

“Two vanilwas it is, then! I isgetting them coming right up just for you’s.” And with that, the elf scamperedback into the kitchen.

“Sorry… I was being so silly,”the little girl said to Anna.

“Oh... no problem. It’ll takesome time getting use to all of this. I take it you’re the first witch in yourfamily, then?”

“I think, I mean… I guess so.”

“And… what’s your name?”

“It’s… I’m Sarah Bell,” thegirl peeped.

“Glad to meet you, Sarah. So,when did you get your letter from Castlewood?” Anna asked, still trying tosoothe the girl, but, despite her efforts, she thought Sarah looked quiteshaken by the things going on around her.

“About two weeks ago.”

“So that would mean yourbirthday was about three weeks ago, right?” The girl nodded.

“Well happy birthday, Sarah.”The girl’s head drooped down unhappily.

“What’s the matter?”

“I really miss my mom and dad.I… really don’t want to be here,” she said, not looking up.

Anna was stunned. To her,coming to Castlewood was a dream come true, and yet, here was a girl who wantednothing more than to go home.

“Really? You want to leave?”Sarah nodded. “But… why?”

“I don’t want to be a witch. Iwant to be normal, like my brothers and sisters. I don’t like this scary place.I don’t want to see ghosts and ogres. I don’t like scary giants in the hallwaysor pictures that move. I just… I just want to go home.” And with that, the girlstarted sobbing into her hands. Anna patted her on the back. She couldn’t helpbut appreciate how ironic this moment was to her. In truth, both Anna and Sarahshared a similar problem; both of them just wanting to be normal. For Anna, beingnormal meant being a witch, but for somebody like Sarah, it meant… well… beingjust a Muggle.

“Why did your mom and dad sendyou here if you didn’t want to come?”

Sarah raised her head. “Mydaddy said going away would help me come out of my shell, but I don’t believehim. I think they did it because they’re afraid of me. They’re afraid of all ofthe weird things that happen around me all the time,” she replied sadly, beforereturning to her whimpered moans.

Anna bent forward. “Look… allyou need is a friend, somebody who can look out for you and make sure you don’tget lost in the mix. Tell you what, how about… I’ll be your friend, and you canwatch out for me and be my friend?” The girl peered up through her wet, redeyes and sniffed, looking at Anna with a slight sparkle of hope building in herface.

“How about it? Does that soundall right?” The girl finally smiled. “So, it’s agreed?” Sarah nodded.

“Here is you’s ice cream,miss,” came Tisket’s voice behind them. Sarah looked at the elf and then at Anna,who smiled down at her and then gestured to the elf for a reply.

“Thank you,” Sarah saidquietly, taking the bowl from the elf’s hand. “I’m very sorry I screamed when Isaw you.”

The elf’s eyes brightened. “Isall right, Miss. Iz just hope I see you’s again soon; such a pretty-bunny of agirl.” Sarah smiled, again.

As the students finished theirdinner, several more elves were seen coming in and out of the dining hall, and,by the end of dessert, hardly anybody took notice of them picking up the many platesand platters, and sweeping the floors around their feet. Seeing the elves atwork reminded Anna of Gabby and Widwick, and how much she missed them already.

After a while, the Captain ofthe Guard appeared once again, and was escorting them down the many hallwaysthrough the castle. Everybody was full and happy, smiling in amazement at thenumber of portraits waving and welcoming them to Castlewood. They finallyturned down a dark, stone hallway, whose torches burst with fire as they walkedpassed. There were no portraits here, just a series of chipped, stone pedestalswith large, horned gargoyles crouching down menacingly on top. Sarah stayedvery close to Anna as they walked between them, and then reached out to grabher by the arm when she thought she saw the eyes of one of the ugly, wingedcreatures move to stare down at her. Suddenly, one of the statues stood uprightto stretch his long bat-like wings, and the children walking close yelped infright as they moved together against the wall opposite. Another gargoylebehind them gave out a deep growl and bared its blackened fangs at them.

“Come on — keep moving. Don’tworry about them — they won’t bite,” hollered the Captain, walking briskly tothe front.

The students crowded singlefile into the center of the hallway, and as far away from the pedestals aspossible. Anna huffed irritably. Her father had two statues exactly like thesein their garden at home, and she knew the creatures would think nothing ofscaring all the children they could. Anna found herself rebelliously walking asclose to the pedestals as possible, almost daring one of the creatures to makea move toward her. The other students were impressed by her apparent courage.

“Eggs… Tasty, delicious eggs,”whispered one of the statues to another creature squatting next to him.

Anna looked up and scowled. Thegargoyle snarled back at her, and then showed her his long black fangs and uglyforked tongue. Anna hissed back at the statue, reached up, and slapped thegargoyle across the nose.

“Mind your manners, you!” shewarned, pointing a threatening finger at him. The statue rocked back on hisheels and screeched out in surprise, but then fell silent. Captain Dunning,looking back, chuckled amusedly to himself.

The students entered an immensegathering space where two guards were standing in front of a large set ofdouble doors behind them. As Captain Dunning entered the space, the guards wentrigid in attention. He turned to face the students again.

“This is the entrance to theGreat Rotunda. Your classmates are waiting for you inside.” Anna could now hearthe rumble of many voices on the other side of the doors. “When we go in, youwill follow me to the far side of the room where you will be seated near theChancellor’s observation box. We will begin the Joining Ceremony soonafterwards. You should be concentrating once again on your ambitions; it willmake the joining go much quicker for everybody. Each of you will be calledindividually to the front in the order given to us by the Book of Births.There are nearly two hundred of you here tonight, so listen closely for yournames. Several names could be called at once to keep the line to the platformmoving smartly.

“Any questions?” Lookingaround, the Captain glared at them. “Pay attention… and don’t make us ask foryou twice. Gather behind me as we enter the rotunda.” He turned and walkedtoward the two guards, who separated to give him access to the double doorsbehind them. He grabbed the two latches, clicked, and pulled. The doors swungin and the guards to the side grabbed the handles to hold them open. TheCaptain stepped forward and stopped a few feet inside on the threshold. Thevoices of the crowd inside went quiet.

“Chancellor Thordarson, I giveyou… the first-years, sir!” He turned back to the students waiting behind himand, with a wave of his hand, he called to them. “Come!”

They all marched in as theother students inside cheered and clapped wildly. As Anna entered, she couldsee the Great Rotunda was a wondrous place. The room was round, withtwenty-foot windows encased within large arches, wrapping around the outerwalls surrounding them. There were five long Union tables on the floor,extending down the entire length of the vast space inside. Seated above them inan open balcony against the round walls were the professors, teachers, andinstructors, sitting in high-back chairs. Most were wearing beautiful robes ofvarious colors and impressive hats, their Dynasty colors draped impressivelyacross their sleeves and front.

Anna’s first instinct uponentering the room was to look up, but from the steep angle at the door, theceiling above them was strangely blurred from their view. But, as they madethere way between the long rows of student tables, the ceiling began to sharpen.

“That’s my dad!” yelled a boyon Anna’s left, and they all looked up and gasped. High above them, where thedomed ceiling should have been, were hundreds of faces looking down upon them.

“They look like ghosts!” saidanother boy in astonishment. There was a squeal from a girl ahead of Anna, andshe started waving frantically up at the ceiling.

“Mother! Mother… over here!”The girl was jumping up and down, trying to get the attention of a woman wholooked like she was seated among a long line of heads, spiraling high abovethem; her image was flattened, as if projected, against the stone of the dome.The woman in the ceiling saw the girl waving at her, and then nudged the manseated next to her. They both started waving merrily at their daughter below.“Hi, Daddy!” the girl sang out, enthusiastically.

They were the parents andrelatives of the first-year students, their images somehow magically placedinside the rotunda to watch the Joining Ceremony. Anna was scanning the ceilingtoo, looking for her father, but with so many people, it was difficult to replacea familiar face among the hundreds looking down upon them. Somebody grabbedAnna’s robe on her right and she turned to replace Tencha and Dowla smiling ather. The two looked impressively formal in their black robes and gold braidedtrims. Tencha turned Anna’s shoulders, redirecting her gaze to the upper leftand then pointed at a figure in the ceiling above her. Anna squinted, lookingdesperately toward the area where her sister was drawing her attention. Andthen, she finally saw him.

“Daddy,” Anna whispered. He wasseated in the front row in the ceiling, smiling broadly. Mrs. McConnell waswaving politely next to him; she could see her father’s secretary wiping awayher tears with a tissue. Anna waved at the two of them as her father bent toblow her a kiss, and then cupped his hands together toward her. Anna was givena slight bump from the back before realizing she was holding up the processionforward. She continued along, not taking her eyes off her father’s position asshe walked.

They were finally seated in anumber of chairs facing the Chancellor’s box, and Anna could at last seeProfessor Thordarson sitting impressively between two crimson guards on hisleft and right. There was a wide, lifted platform, stretching the width of theroom before them, and steps leading up to the flattened stage on the right andanother set that lead off to the left. A very large mirror stood imposingly inthe center of the platform. The highly polished mirror was at least eight feettall and five feet wide, sitting in an ornate frame. Looking into it, the glassreflected the room behind them perfectly; in its center, a dim yellow light waspulsating.

After they were all seated, theChancellor slowly stood. He was very old, but by the look of the professorsseated in the balconies watching him, there was great deal of admiration andrespect for this remarkable wizard. He was of medium height, with long whitehair pulled tight behind him. He was wearing a blue robe and very dark glasses,which Anna thought was rather odd, considering it was already dark outside. Heleaned on a tall gnarled staff in his right hand, which was topped with a bluecolored orb that glowed very slightly. As he stood, he stepped forward to theedge of the observation box and opened his arms to speak.

“Welcome, one and all, to thisyear’s joining. We are happy so many of our family and friends have joined usthis evening, because what we do here tonight is extremely important. The joiningrepresents the final validation that these students are ready to begin theprocess of replaceing their place in our Wizarding community.” Anna felt uneasy.Up until just a few days ago, she wasn’t sure she belonged in the Wizardingworld at all, and since she had come to Castlewood by way of a very strange setof circumstances, the thought of being validated, in any way at all, made herapprehensive. What if the doctors were wrong? What if what happened to her hadnothing to do with magic? What if…?

“Are you all right?”

Anna looked over and foundSarah Bell staring back at her. Anna realized the tension was starting to getto her, and found herself nervously rocking back and forth in her chair.

“Yeah… I’m fine,” she lied,trying to embolden herself with a fake smile, “just a little nervous.”

“Me too,” Sarah mouthed, beforeturning to face the front again.

TheChancellor continued. “When we call the student’s name, we would ask anybodythat might know them in the audience, and can vouch for their character ofspirit, to please stand as they approach the Mirror of Enlightenment.This is done to remind us we are never alone as we search for our future pathin life. Who we are, in part, comes from where we’ve been, and with whom wehave shared our lives up to this time. In this way, the past and the future areconnected, not only by what we do tonight, but also by the love of those aroundus. To the new first-year students, the mirror you see before you can onlysuggest what might be in your future. What you will be — is entirely up to you.We seek only to help you replace the right path.”

He smiledbrightly and held out his hands. “And now, your Union Halls await your joining.Professor Titan; if you would be so kind as to read the names from the Bookof Births?”

A verythickset man in velvety green robes walked up the platform steps and to apedestal standing to the side of the mirror. He lifted an enormous, dusty-oldbook from a shelf below, and carefully laid it on top of the pedestal, itsfront cover flat. He pulled a monocle out of the pocket of his robe and set itdeep into a socket, scrunching his face to hold it in place. He opened the backcover to read the names from the book’s last pages. He grumbled, as if to tunehis voice, and then spoke over the students below him.

“When I callyour name, you will walk up these steps to my left and approach the mirror,” hesaid, in a surprisingly light voice. “You will wait for the mirror to tell youwhen to enter. Step quickly through the mirror to the other side, and thenlisten for the Union name to which you have been joined. You must answer anyquestions put to you while inside the mirror.” He coughed slightly to clear histhroat again.

“CatherineOsgood!” A tall girl with blonde hair stood in the third row in front of Anna,and made her way toward the steps. They could hear the scratching and scrapingof many chairs behind them, and Anna turned to see two older boys standing atthe Servers’ Union table. They were waving to their sister with enormous pride.A woman in the ceiling above them also stood, obviously the girl’s mother; shewas also waving merrily. Anna looked around and could see Chancellor Thordarsonsmiling, and happily gesturing toward the woman in the ceiling to anotherteacher seated next to him. As the girl made her way up the steps, ProfessorTitan walked over to the mirror and waved his wand. The mirror rotated aquarter turn so that its thin edge was now facing the audience. The mirror waspositioned like a doorway as the girl approached. She stood before the mirrorand Anna could see the dim, yellow glow from its center begin to brighten,lighting up the girl’s entire front.

“Enter… and prepare to be joined,”boomed a powerfully strong voice from within the mirror.