Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
Duck!

Anna had fallen asleep on her windowsill, waiting for Hobbs to return. The lastthing she remembered thinking before dozing off was wondering if she might haveput her owl in harm’s way by sending him off with her message into the Shadowed Forest. She would have slept in thatspot all night if not for her owl’s quick return three hours later. It wasstill dark as he swooped over Anna’s head through the window and landed on herbed with a soft thump. His loud screeching made Anna jump with a start, bangingher head against the window’s top sash.

“Ouch!”

“What did I say?” Sarah blurted out, bolting upright from a deadsleep in her bed.

“Sorry, Sarah. It wasn’t you. It was Hobbs. Shush! You’ll wake up the wholefloor,” Anna said angrily, scowling at the bird as she rubbed the top of hersore head. “What’s the matter with you?”

Then, as the fog of her clouded mind started to clear, sheremembered what she had sent Hobbsto do and could see why he was so excited. The letter she had given to him todeliver was gone and he was clutching something new in his fisted talon.

“What is that you have there?”

The bird screeched again and then hopped over to Anna’s lap toraise a clawed foot. Anna took what looked like a piece of cloth and raised itup to the moonlight, turning it around several times to see what was written onit.

“What is this?”

Anna got up and ran into the living room. She turned up thelamps with Sarah struggling with her bathrobe as she followed close behind.

“What is it, Anna?”

“I don’t know; something Hobbsbrought back.” Anna laid the cloth out flat on the table and then moved thelamp in closer to see. “It looks like… part of a flag or some kind of banner.”

Sarah looked confused. “Now where would he have gotten that?”

Anna looked at Hobbswho had flapped over to their table, still screeching and hooting withexcitement.

“Hobbs— were you able to deliver my letter? Did you see the castle?” The owl wasclicking his beak and bobbing his head up and down, circling obsessively. “Didsomebody take the letter from you?” The owl wiggled his tail and continued tobob excitedly.

“I think he’s saying yes,” said Sarah with a little chortle.“Where did he go?”

Anna told her about the letter she had sent to the black castleearlier that night. Sarah’s mind seemed to be stuck between gears, highlyimpressed with Anna’s ingenious plan and its swift results.

“Is… it possible Hobbsmight have taken the flag from the castle, then?” Sarah wondered aloud.

Anna thought about her ride on Swooper. “Now that I think aboutit — yes, that must be it! I do remember seeing black flags waving on thecastle’s highest turrets. Hobbsmust have delivered the letter and then took the banner on the way back asproof that the place does exist.”

“Wow — now that’s one smart bird.” Sarah said, smilingappreciably. She reached out to stroke Hobbs’back. “So, what’s on the banner?” The girls looked down to study the clothagain. It was ripped diagonally, leaving only half of its tattered remnantsremaining, but they could plainly see a coat of arms in its center with ashield, a red cross, and two wands crossed in the middle. There were theletters S-T-period, D-R-O above the tear, and then T-O C-U-R below the shield.

“It looks like it says, Saint Dro… something,” Anna observed,smoothing out the words.

“Yes… and that looks like some kind of medical crest,” Sarahadded, pointing at the shield and the cross. “It looks a lot like the medicalemblems some of the winter rescuers wear on our ski hill.”

“But those are crossed wands in the front. So maybe it meansit’s a medial facility or a hospital for wizards.” Sarah was nodding as Annasat to rub the bump on the top of her head once more. “But why would they keepthe place a secret? If it were a hospital, why wouldn’t everybody know aboutit? I mean… every hospital you see in the Muggle world has signs all over theplace, pointing the way to the front door. Why wouldn’t Doctor Pearl know ahospital was out there? I don’t get it.”

Sarah sat down on the couch. “And why would they put it in themiddle of the Shadowed Forest? It’s almost likethey’re going out of their way to hide the place.”

“Yeah…” Anna said, leaning back in her chair. “It doesn’t makeany sense, does it? The mirror said the evil one was in a prison of its ownmaking. So, assuming that’s where it is… what is this place, a prison or ahospital?” The girls sat quietly considering all they knew. Hobbs was still hooting with delight at thesuccess of his important mission, while Sarah stroked his back unconsciously inthought.

“Maybe…” Sarah said, looking up at Anna, “it’s both.”

TWO

“So… how long were you and Stephan out last night?”

It was morning and Anna was sitting down across from Gwen atbreakfast.

“You get any homework done?” Anna asked, smiling inquiringly ather friend.

“Nope, not a bit!” Gwen answered complacently, spooning aliberal amount of jam onto her toast. “We had our ice-cream and then went for anice long walk in the city. We barely made it back before curfew.”

“And?”

Gwen looked up. “And… what?”

“Well… did anything… you know… happen?”

Gwen smiled. “Nah… we just walked,” she said, stuffing her mouthwith her toast.

“So… what do you think of him? He seems nice,” Anna asked,pryingly.

“Yeah, he is.”

Anna recognized Gwen’s hesitancy. She had seen it many timesbefore.

“But?”

Gwen stopped chewing, smiled, and then shrugged. “But I’m notsure it’s going to work out.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. Not enough… he’sjust too… serious… maybe. No, that’s not it. Oh — I don’t know what to sayabout him.”

“Well, he’s in the Defenders’ Union.That must say something about him, doesn’t it?”

Gwen frowned. “What do you think that says about him?”

“Uh…” Anna thought for a moment, “mind you, the only people Iknow that came from that Union are my fatherand Damon, so that doesn’t exactly make me an expert. I guess the question is —what do all the Defenders have in common?” Anna twisted her bottom lip as shethought. She finally looked up and tried to summarize her assessment. “I wouldsay both Damon and my father… are very driven people.”

Gwen frowned. “What does that mean… driven?”

“It’s hard to explain, but we did study different personalitiesin my Muggle sociology class last year. Putting the ability to show simplehuman respect aside, because Damon doesn’t have any respect for anybody, Iwould say they are very task-oriented.”

“As opposed to…?”

“As opposed to… say… being people-oriented. And they’re not veryreserved in the way they get things done.”

Gwen smiled, “Yes… I think that’s how I would describe Stephanas well. He’s very ambitious and seems to have his whole life planned out. Hewants to work in the Ministry like his father.”

Anna laughed. “Yep… that’s Damon all right.” She looked at Gwenwho still looked uneasy. “Well, ambition isn’t a bad thing, is it?”

“Oh, no — I’m not saying it is, but Stephen is our age. Do youknow what you want to do when you leave Castlewood?”

“Hardly,” Anna said, rolling her eyes. She reached over to takea bite of Gwen’s toast. “But I have an excuse. I just got here, remember?”

“Exactly! You see?” Gwen continued. “Who do we know that can saywhat they want to be right now? Nobody. So how can Stephan know what he wantsalready? Who’s got their life all planned out like that? It’s a bit strange,isn’t it?”

“Not at all. Some would say Stephan’s lucky to really know whathe wants so early. It gives him an edge over everybody else, because he canwork on his goals now. It’s that drive that probably explains why he’s in theDefenders’ Union.”

“Yeah, maybe. It’s just a bit scary being around somebody likethat, you know? I feel like I don’t know anything about myself. Here he is,going on and on about his plans and what he’s going to do next year, and theyear after that, and I’m standing there, trying to remember what classes I havein the morning. It made me feel like… I was a kid, listening to somebody who…oh — I don’t know… has his act together.”

“You’re not a kid — you’re just different.”

“Different? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean your personality is different from Stephan’s, that’sall. It doesn’t mean Stephan is a better person than you. It just means you’rewired differently than he is.”

Gwen laughed. “Some might say I have a loose wire.”

“Well, there is that,” Anna giggled, and then reached across thetable to spoon some of Gwen’s scrambled eggs into her mouth.

“No, I mean the strengths in your personalities are different.Actually, I see you and Stephan sharing similar qualities as well. For example,you’re both fairly outgoing. But if Stephan does have a driving personality, itprobably just means he’s a little more task-oriented, whereas you’re more of apeople-person. One isn’t better than the other, it’s just who you are. Younever know, somebody like Stephan might be exactly what you need. He might helpyou understand what you want to do with yourself.”

Gwen twitched a smirk. “Yeah… maybe. He’s cute though, don’t youthink?”

Anna settled back, “I guess he’s got a certain appeal, so longas you can keep him off a flying horse, that is,” she said, trying to sounduncaring. They both laughed, but a strange and unexpected feeling began tocreep over Anna, which she thought she recognized almost immediately. Was it ahidden sense of jealousy?

“So… did Sarah predict the winner of the Triwizard Cup lastnight?” Gwen continued.

“Nope. Not a peep out of little Miss Bell. But I did learnsomething fairly important this morning.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“I was able to prove that black castle I saw in the forest doesexist.” Gwen was right in the middle of swallowing the last of her orange juicewhen she almost choked.

“What?” she said, through her wheezing coughs. “What, cough, did you do?”

Anna leaned in to whisper. “I sent Hobbs to the castle last night with a note,”she said, reaching over to steal Gwen’s last piece of bacon before leaning backto smile.

“You didn’t! Really? What happened?”

“He actually delivered it to somebody.”

“Really? Who?”

“No idea — they didn’t write back. But Hobbs brought me back a souvenir to show mehe had definitely been there.”

Gwen’s excitement was growing steadily. “What? What did hebring?”

“A piece of a flag — look.” Anna cautiously looked around at thetables surrounding them, and then pulled the black banner out of her pocket.She carefully unfolded it on the table between them.

“Wow! Your owl brought this back from the castle? Amazing!”

“Yeah, I’m going to do some research in the library tonight tosee if I can replace anything about the place. And I’m going to send Hobbs out this eveningwith another letter.”

Gwen’s face quickly turned from excitement to worried concern.She glanced around them again before leaning over to whisper back. “Anna, areyou sure you want to do that? I mean… you saw how Doctor Pearl reacted when youmentioned the castle. I get the feeling you could replace yourself in a lot oftrouble if you’re caught looking around for information about this place.”

“I don’t see how. I’m not signing the letters, just looking fora reply. You know… trying to replace a name or what the place might be used for;that’s all. It’s not like I’m planning to visit the place for tea.

THREE

Over the next several days, Anna, Sarah, and Gwen begansearching the school library between classes and in the evenings, looking forinformation about the castle within the Shadowed Forest.Gwen even got Stephan Durkin to help them with the story that Anna was lookingfor information for her father. Nobody, however, had had any luck. Theysearched various books on hospitals and prisons, Ministry buildings, and evensome rather secretive societies of the past, but still, nothing could be found.

Anna continued to write her anonymous letters to the castle, butnight after night, Hobbsreturned without any response. That is until one evening at dinner a weeklater. Anna had started writing her letters at lunch, hoping that, if Hobbs came back with anynew information, she would be able to see the reply before they all went tobed. Hobbs flewthrough an open window into the Rotunda and glided down onto Anna’s shoulderwhile Gwen and Sarah looked on.

“Anna, your owl has something tied to his leg!” said Sarah,excitedly.

Looking surprised, Anna untied the note from Hobb’s foot andunrolled the small piece of parchment. “Oh,” she sighed, “it’s only the letterI sent earlier today.” She sadly looked up. “I guess Hobbs couldn’t deliver it this time.”

Anna’s enthusiasm was fading. Their failure to replace anyinformation on the castle after so many days of searching had lead her tobelieve Hobbs wasn’t delivering the letters to anyone after all. Maybe he wassimply dropping them over the castle somewhere, and the building, in reality,was just an abandoned relic long forgotten by everybody living on the plateau.

Anna dropped the letter onto her empty dinner plate and satback. “This is a waste of time,” she sighed, miserably. But to everybody’ssurprise, Hobbswas hooting obsessively and seemed even more excited than his first trip backfrom the castle. He was screeching loudly and reaching over to peck at theletter with his beak.

“What’s the matter with you?” Anna said, trying to wave the birdaway from her plate. The owl picked up the note again and dropped it intoAnna’s lap.

“He certainly is making a fuss about an undelivered letter,”Gwen observed, taking another bite of her steak. Anna picked up the letter andlooked at it again. She turned it over and her jaw dropped.

“What is it, Anna,” asked Sarah, sitting her fork down. Annalooked around worriedly, and then showed them the back of the note. Written inbold letters and different colored ink were three words:

WHO ARE YOU?

“Oh… my… God,” said Gwen, in a slow whisper. “Somebody is livingthere!”

Anna looked up excitedly. “I told you, didn’t I?”

“But now what? What are you going to do? You’re not actuallygonna give them your name are you?”

Anna thought. “No — I’m not ready for that yet, but I have beenthinking a lot about this possibility over the last few days. What if I toldthem I’m a reporter from one of the local newspapers, looking to write a storyabout them? You know… a dark castle nobody wants to talk about in the middle inthe Shadowed Forest? Any reporter would be interestedin that, right?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect. Then you won’t have to give them yourname, but you can keep asking questions,” Gwen said, agreeably.

Anna nodded. “I’ll write another letter tonight. Maybe bytomorrow —”

“Funny time of night to receive an owl, Anna,” came a familiarvoice behind her. It was her sister, Dowla. Anna quickly wadded up the letterand stuffed it into her pocket. “What is it? You having Widwick forward yourMuggle mail or something?” Dowla teased.

“Yeah, that’s right Dowla. I’ve got to keep all my Mugglefriends up to speed on how I’m doing here at Castlewood,” Anna replied, rollingher eyes without bothering to look back. Then a sinister grin replaced Anna’shard expression as she turned to look up at her sister.

“By the way, I meant to ask, did you and Tencha decide on asport yet?” Anna’s eyes darted over at Gwen and Sarah, and an eager smile beganto form on her face.

“No, not yet,” Dowla sighed, sitting down next to them. “Thatstupid Nancy Dodimayer turned down our Blazing Gin idea again. Said it wasn’t activeenough to qualify as a sport — as if.” Anna struggled to hold in a laugh beforeturning a serious face toward her sister again.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about your problem and I believe Ihave an answer for you.” Anna let these words settle a few seconds beforecontinuing. “But — well — never mind. You wouldn’t be interested.”

“What is it?” Dowla looked at Anna curiously. “Listen, I’mdesperate here — I’ll take anything at this point. Otherwise… they’re going toassign us something we’ll have to do on a broom. What were you thinking about,and why wouldn’t you think I’d be interested?”

Anna grinned. “Well… because it’s kind of a Muggle game.” Shesaw Dowla recoil slightly. “But it’s very active and easy to do,” Anna addedhurriedly.

Dowla leaned in as if she was being passed an important secret.“Okay… so — what is it?”

“It’s called… hopscotch,” Anna replied with an innocent littlesmile. Sarah started to snicker, but only Gwen seemed to notice.

“Hopscotch?” Dowla said keenly. “What’s that?”

“It’s simple, really. You draw a number of squares on thepavement, and then you have to hop in and out without touching the lines. It’squite easy, but it’ll give you a really good work-out.”

Sarah was now covering her face with her napkin, trying not toburst out laughing. Gwen could clearly see the joke was on but, like Dowla, shewas clueless as to what Anna was doing.

“And there’s no flying involved?” Dowla asked, hopefully.

“Nope! Well — unless you count jumping from one foot to theother as flying.”

“Great. Why don’t you write down the rules for me and I’ll trysubmitting them to Dodimayer tomorrow.”

Anna smiled wickedly. “Tell you what... I’ll make you a deal.I’m working on a class project to identify old ruins, but there’s one I can’tfigure out. I’ve looked in the school library, but I understand the Searchers’library is much better on certain subjects. If you’ll agree to help me replacesome information on this place, I’ll have your hopscotch rules ready for you bytomorrow. What do you say?”

Dowla’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t some stupid Muggle placeyou’re looking for is it?”

“Of course not. Why would I have you looking for a Mugglebuilding in the Searcher library?”

Dowla looked skeptical, but, “All right then, it’s a deal. Tellme what you know about this place you’re looking for?”

Anna described the clues they had without telling her sisterabout the black castle or anything about the evil one she suspected was inside.Anna didn’t tell her the castle’s location, nor did she show her the tatteredbanner. She knew that would take too much explaining. After Anna finisheddescribing the look of the crest, Dowla got to her feet.

“All right, I’ll expect that hopscotch recipe tomorrow then,”she said determinedly, before turning to leave. When Dowla was out of site,Sarah took the time to explain to Gwen that, while hopscotch was a fairlyactive game, Anna had conveniently left out the fact it was something generallyreserved for Muggles under the age of eight.

Gwen howled. “Anna, sometimes I think you can be as evil as yourbrother Damon.”

“Hey… I didn’t call her over here and tell her to give me a hardtime, did I? As clumsy as my sisters are, even hopscotch will be a stretch forthem. Trust me; I’m doing them a favor here.”

As the twilight of evening approached, Anna drafted anotherletter to the black castle and sent Hobbsoff to deliver it. She was getting pretty good at keeping the letters anonymousenough to make her enquiries sound official without giving up who she reallywas. As she watched Hobbsfly over the city and then turn toward the north once more, Anna rested herhead on the window edge to think.

So… somebody was living at the castle after all. Who was it, andwho finally took the time to write a response? And why didn’t they answer myquestions?

Only one answer made any sense. Whoever was there was followingthe same pattern as everyone else living on the plateau. They were refusing togive any information out about the place. Anna felt as nervous this night asher first night at Castlewood. Although the response from the black castle wasshort, those three words told her a lot. How much more would she learn by keepingthis up? Anna thought carefully about the risks. In her mind the danger seemedfairly minimal. Nobody knew who she was, or the real reason she was writing.Nobody knew where her owl was coming from, or who owned him. She was safe. Shecould keep this up indefinitely if she had to without the worry of beingdiscovered. Little did she know, however, deep inside the black castle, a planwas being devised to locate the individual sending the unsigned letters, andAnna would soon learn the price she would have pay for being too curious aboutthe mysteries within the Shadowed Forest.

FOUR

Anna was awakened early the next morning by a soft breeze,billowing the curtains in the window next to her bed. As the sheer flutteredgently across her face, she opened her eyes and squinted into a cloudless bluesky. She rolled over. It was still early, and she could see Sarah’s tiny bodyrolled into a ball under her blankets across the room. Anna sat up in herfour-poster, still dressed in her clothes from the night before. She quicklyglanced over to Hobb’s cage. It sat empty in the darkened corner. He hadn’treturned from his evening’s journey.

Strange — what was taking him so long? It usually only took hima few hours to make the trip into the forests to the north. Where was he?

Anna stuck her head out the window to search the morning sky,and then down at the ground and the ledges around her. The city was alive withthe hustle of its many residents, opening the shops and starting their dailyerrands. The morning dew still lay glistening and wet on the shadowed rooftopsbelow.

Anna pushed back onto her bed and thought. He might have gonehunting after delivering the letter. Yes — that had to be it. She gave nospecific orders to return right away. Anna made a mental note: Next time, shewould make her wishes for a quick return more clear. She got up and headed forthe bathroom.

Within seconds, however, she heard something that turned herattention back to the open window again. She listened carefully, staring out atthe blue sky beyond the window’s frame. She could hear what sounded likedistant screeching, and it was getting louder. The sound was terrible, a shriekfilled with fright and pain, and Anna now recognized the high-pitched crypiercing the morning air.

“Hobbs?”

She made a step toward the window when, suddenly, there was aWHOSH through its opening. Hobb’s terrible screeching was now magnified ahundred fold as he hit the bed and rolled several times before settling ontohis back, his talons curled painfully into the air. Yellow smoke was rising offhis body.

“HOBBS!!What happened?”

For a second time that week, Sarah bolted upright in her bed.“What’s going on?” she yelled, over the continuing screams of Anna’s owl. Annaran over and gently picked up the bird, cradling him like a baby as she sat toinspect his body.

“Oh my God — Hobbs.What… who… did this to you?” Anna whispered, mournfully.

She pulled one of his wings straight and could see his featherswere burned and black where they should have been silky gray. His tail wasscorched and smoking and Anna could still see tiny orange flecks of singe ontheir blackened edges. Anna started to cry, hugging her owl close to her chestand rocking back and forth.

“Oh God — no! This is my fault. All my fault.”

Sarah sat next to her on the bed. “What happened to him?”

“Somebody tried to kill him — look!” Anna opened her arms toshow her roommate the owl. Sarah gasped. “Look at him!” Anna sobbed as shelifted one of Hobb’s blackened talons, which was curled excruciatingly into aballed fist. The owl screamed at Anna’s touch. “I’m sorry — I’m sooo sorry,”she said, releasing the bird’s foot. His beak quivered as his screeches of painslowly died away.

“Why would anybody do this to an owl?” Sarah moaned blankly, asa shadow suddenly fell into the room.

Anna seethed in rage. “I’m going to kill whoever did this toyou, Hobbs. Iswear I’m gong to…”

“Anna, look!”

Anna glared at Sarah who she could see was pointing to the openwindow behind them. She looked around and saw a man standing there looking in.Anna leaped to her feet and stared at the unknown man glaring in their window,his shoulders and head framed like a portrait against the wall next to her bed.

“What are you doing there? What do you want?” Anna yelled, turningto the side as if to protect her owl from the strange intruder. The man saidnothing, but stared angrily into their room, the light of the day totallyblocked out by his massive silhouette.

Sarah was hiding behind her roommate. “Who is it, Anna?” she trembled,peeking around to look.

“I don’t know. Go into the hall and replace somebody to…” but nosooner was Anna about to send Sarah for help, when the man slowly started toback away. Finally, Anna could see he was floating on a flying door, and thatwasn’t all.

“It’s… a Crimson Guard!”

Sure enough, Anna and Sarah could now see the man’s billowing,scarlet robes whipping in the morning breeze, a smoking wand in his loweredhand by his side. Anna’s fright instantly turned to anger as she leaped forwardto the open window.

“Did you attack my owl? Did you do this? You did — didn’t you!Why… you… stinking coward!” Anna screamed at the guard, now floating twentyfeet out of her reach. Suddenly, two more Crimson Guards flew in from the leftand right, standing on their doors, and then a fourth on a boom fell into viewto hover outside their window as well.

“You… there in the window! Stay where you are! Do not leave yourroom,” yelled one of the guards back at Anna.

“Anna… I think we’re in trouble,” Sarah said, looking underAnna’s arm. “They look very angry.”

“Report to the inner guard,” yelled the man to the other on thebroom. “Tell them they’re in the Server Hall, fourth floor, first room on thecity side.”

“Yes, sir,” said the other guard, before quickly turning to zoomoff.

“What’s going on, Anna? What are they going to do?”

Anna stepped back from the window still cradling her owl. “Idon’t know,” she replied angrily. “But they’re going to pay for this; attackinga defenseless animal this way. I’m going to make them sorry they ever didthis,” Anna seethed, gritting her teeth through her falling tears and lookingdown at Hobbswho now looked lifeless in her open arms. The sight sickened her, and she shuther eyes tight as her whole body trembled with loathing and revulsion.

Suddenly, images were bursting forth in her brain. Unknownplaces and creatures she had never seen or knew before were taking shape in awhir of color flashing past her. Finally, two familiar eyes, old and gray,slowly stopped to stare at her. Although she couldn’t see his face, she couldhear his far off voice speak.

“Protect that which is magical,” he whispered. “This is yourcause, Sithmaith.”

Anna’s insides were writhing with maddening disgust, and shecould feel a cold wave of consciousness trying to burst forth from her chest.Clouds of thick smoke began to block her vision, and she could see theblackness of the Lethifold oozing out of the pores in her arms. Crying angrily,she tried to regain her composure.

“No — not now. I can’t — I have to stay in control,” Annablistered angrily, dropping to her knees and shutting her eyes tight to focusher concentration down inside. “Can’t let it take over — must — stay incontrol!” she moaned, forcing the inky coldness back down with all her strength.

“Anna! What’s happening to you?” Sarah yelled, standing overher. “Oh my God, Anna. Are you all right?”

Sarah watched in horror as thick clouds of icy, cold smokestarted billowing into the space around Anna’s body, like a fog filling the gapbetween them. The smoke lifted into the air and then curled down and aroundAnna’s body like a shroud. Sarah tried to reach out, but then yanked her handback in terror as the smoke stretched itself out like an appendage to snatch ather.

“I’m going to call for help?” Sarah yelped, as she turned toleave.

“No!” Anna yelled back, lifting her head to glare up at Sarahfrom the floor. Sarah recoiled in shock. The whites of Anna’s eyes werecompletely black, and the smoke was now creeping out of her sockets like thousandsof tiny spiders running up her face. “I just — need — time to — regain my —control,” Anna sobbed, shutting her eyes tight again.

Sarah hesitated for a moment and then ran to the bathroom. Sheplaced a washcloth under the faucet, wringed out the water, and then quicklydashed back. She dropped to her knees in front of Anna, took a deep breath, andthen pushed the cloth through the smoke where she thought Anna’s face shouldbe. It was like sticking her hand into a bucket of ice.

Anna felt the rag probing at her face and the coolness of thewater seemed to pull her focus away from Hobbsfor an instant, but it was enough. Sarah watched, transfixed, as the smokeseemed to slow, and then invert itself to retreat. It was like watching anexplosion take place in reverse, as the blackness was sucked into Anna’s bodyfrom every direction.

As the smoke finally cleared, Anna’s vision began to return andshe slowly stood to sit on the edge of her bed again. She was still sobbing.“Thank you,” she whispered.

“What happened to you?” Sarah asked, still on her knees belowher, but Anna didn’t reply. She could here them coming now, the thuddingcadence of several guards marching up the hallway toward their room.

Boom-Boom-Boom! They were now punchingrapidly at the door.

“Open up in there. This is the Crimson Guard. Open this door!”

Boom-Boom-Boom!

The girls didn’t move.

“Open the door, Sarah. It’s all right. I’m okay now. Go aheadand let them in.”

Sarah got to her feet and quickly unlocked the door and swung itopen. She found five guards standing outside. One of them pushed Sarah aside tostep in.

“You!” he bellowed, pointing at Anna. “You will come with us,now!”

Anna looked up, her anger still writhing. “Why did you do thisto him?” she said, looking down at her owl again.

“Get up!” the guard barked back as he stepped past her to lookout the window. “We have them,” he said, waving outside.

“Good! Take her to the captain’s office immediately,” a voiceyelled back.

“Yes, sir.” The guard turned to face Anna again. “On your feet!”Anna stood and followed the guards out the door.

“Where are you taking her,” Sarah asked them in alarm as shetried to follow.

“You will stay here until you have been questioned. Do youunderstand?” shouted one of the guards back to her.

“But… what about my classes?”

The door was yanked shut, and Sarah could hear a muffled voiceon the other side say, “Guard this door. Nobody in or out without mypermission.”

“Yes, sir.”

Anna followed the Crimson Guard downthe steps and into the main Server Hall, occasionally taking a shove in theback to keep pace. Several students slowly stood to watch the procession pass,but Anna never looked up. All of her attention was now on Hobbs. The owl looked terribly weak and neardeath. Finally, one student stepped in front of the crowd of guards surroundingAnna. It was Karen Scott, the Server Knight she had met earlier.

“Wait — hold on, there. Where are you taking this student?” shesaid, assertively. The guards did not reply and marched straight past her. “Isaid — wait!” Karen yelled. They did not. The Knight ran to catch up to theleader, having to jog next to him to keep pace. “I asked you a question. Whereare you taking our student? You don’t have the right to come into the Hallwithout a Knight’s permission.”

“You are a Server Knight. This student is not in the ServerUnion. Your permission was not required,” the guard growled back, as theycontinued to march toward the exit.

“Then you should have asked for my permission!”

It was Eric. He had just entered the Server Hall in front of theguards in time to hear Karen’s voice. He looked confused, but immediately sawAnna was in serious trouble. “I am a Guardian Knight. You will stop now andexplain this.” The guards finally halted.

“Guardian… we have been commanded by our captain to detain thisstudent for questioning in a matter of school security. Normally, we would haveasked for your permission, as you well should expect, but the Captain of theGuard has final authority in all matters of security. You’ll have to take thismatter up with him.”

“What has she done? What security matters are you talkingabout?”

“I am not at liberty to explain, Guardian Knight. Please contactthe Student President, and have her speak to Captain Dunning,” replied theguard, who then stepped forward to pass him.

Eric quickly moved to block his way again. “This also happens tobe my sister you’re marching off with. You’re not taking her anywhere!”

The guard hesitated. “I understand your concern, but I have myorders. Now, step aside,” he said, bluntly, “or I’ll have you removed.”

Eric stepped up into the guard’s face. “Just try it, and I’llcall on every student in this hall to block your way. Do you understand me? Iwill not allow you to come in here and…”

“Eric,” Anna interrupted. “Let me go. It’s okay. I’ll explainall of this later. I need you to take care of Hobbs for me,” she said, reaching out to handher brother the owl.

“My God, Anna. What happened to him?”

“Please… just help him. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Erictook the bird and stepped aside to watch the guards escort Anna out of thehall.

“What the hell is going on?” Eric said angrily, as he set thebird down on an adjacent table to inspect his injuries.

Anna followed the marching guards through several corridors andfinally to a hallway she had never seen before. They stopped at a metal doorand the guard leading them lifted an iron ring hanging there. The clanging fromhis knock echoed down the hallway around them.

“Enter!” came a voice from inside. The guard opened the door.

“We have the, uh… student, sir.”

“Good, thank you. That will be all.” The guard pointed Anna intothe room and then closed the door behind her as he left.

Captain Dunning was working at his desk, writing on a scroll ofparchment. “Sit!” he said, without bothering to look up.

Anna sat in an oak chair closest to the door; her anger waswrithing inside to the point of bursting once again. Her eyes quickly scannedthe room around her. There were several portraits on the walls, previousCaptains of Castlewood, and Anna noticed they all seemed quite a bit older thanDunning. She looked at his desk and her eyes immediately fell upon a Quidditchbludger-club, sitting on a display mount. Her mind was blind with rage. Yes, she thought wildly, envisioningDunning’s head as a budger and herself as a Quidditch beater. The captainfinished what he was writing and then finally looked up.

“Anna Grayson?” he said, sounding somewhat surprised. Then hesat back and sighed. “I should have known. Who else would it have been? Tellme, Grayson, is trouble going to follow you here at the school everyday?”

Anna didn’t answer. She grit her teeth, trying to hold in herlast bit of resolve not to explode. The captain stared at her.

“Nothing to say? Now that isn’t like any Grayson I’ve everknown?”

He stood to gather a pile of papers on his desk. He walked overto her and dropped the parchment onto her lap. They were the letters she hadwritten to the black castle. Anna’s mind was swimming. How could he havegotten her letters?

“Is this your scribble, Grayson?” he asked, walking over to hisdesk and turning to sit upon its corner. Anna remained silent. “Why have youbeen sending your owl into the Shadowed Forest with thoseletters?” he asked angrily.

“I didn’t realize our letters going out of the school were beinginspected by the guard,” Anna replied heatedly. “Are all the students luckyenough to have their mail censored, or is it just me?”

Dunning smiled. “You didn’t answer my question. Are those yourletters?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, finally, a straight answer. Couldn’t have imagined seeingthis kind of progress so early in the day — excellent. Now then, why have youbeen sending them into the forest? Didn’t I warn you along with all the othernew students arriving here at the school about the dangers within the forest?”

“It wasn’t the forest that tried to kill my owl,” Anna snarledback. “That was your doing. You did that.”

“Your owl? Has he been injured? Hmm, I had no idea,” Dunningreplied, smiling maliciously. “My guards were simply told to follow the birdback to ascertain who was sending the letters.”

Anna was slowly rising to her feet, her body shaking with fury.Growling under her breath, she stumbled and lurched slightly as she made herway toward the captain as his voice continued to buzz menacingly in her ears.

“It was not my intension to have the bird…”

SMACK!

Anna slapped Dunning hard across the face. Dunning’s headwhipped back around to face her, his expression a mixture of surprise andshock. Anna was already waiting. Quick as a flash, she grabbed the bludger-clubfrom his desk and was halfway into her swing by the time Dunning’s eyes hadrefocused upon her.

CRACK!

Anna smashed him on the side of the head with the small woodenbat. The blow spun the man around, knocking him off his desk and onto thefloor. Before Dunning knew what was happening, Anna was over him, punching andkicking every part of his body she knew would hurt.

“YOU filthy, disgusting…. PIG!” she yelled, kickinghim hard in the side. She heard one of his ribs snap from the blow. “I’ll killyou! You dirty, murdering scum! I’ll kill you! AAAAAH!” she shrieked, as shelifted her foot to stomp down on him.

The captain quickly rolled to his side and used one leg to sweepAnna off her feet. She crashed to the floor with a loud BANG onto herback. Immediately, the doors of the office flew open and two Crimson Guardsquickly dashed in. They grabbed Anna by her arms and lifted her up off thefloor.

“You’re dead, you son of a…” Anna screamed, as she stretchedherself out to kick at the captain again.

The guards dragged Anna back to the chair and threw her into ithard. Anna’s neck snapped back, her head slamming against the wall behind her.Dunning was on his feet again and moving angrily toward her. She tried to riseto meet him, but he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her head back againstthe wall while his two guards held her arms down. The blow sent white-hot starsshooting through her brain again.

“You’ve just given me all the reason I need to expel you fromhis school, young lady,” Dunning growled, squeezing her windpipe closed.

Anna could see the captain’s blood trickling down the side ofhis head; she wanted more. She was seething in rage and spat into his face.Dunning released her as he recoiled in disgust, wiping his eyes.

“Why you little…” he clinched his fist and raised it to strike.Anna, helpless and pinned, turned away and closed her eyes. She readied herselffor the blow, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes to replace the captainwalking away from her, clutching his side. He pulled his chair over to the sideof his desk and slowly lowered himself down, wincing with pain as he sat.

“Let her go — and get out,” he said angrily, waving the twoguards away. The men, looking somewhat shocked by his orders, slowly releasedAnna’s arms. They stood there for a few seconds to insure she wasn’t going torise again and then immediately left the room.

“Well… this is a first,” Dunning groaned, breathing heavily andgrimacing at the sharp twinge of pain in his side. “I can’t say as I’ve everhad a student attack me before.”

“You deserved it… you pig!”

Dunning frowned and then whispered, “You know, Grayson… thatmouth of yours is worse than your temper. Where did you learn such language, atthat Muggle school of yours?”

“Comes with the territory,” Anna said, feeling the large lumpnow rising off the back of her head. “Growing up as a squib teaches youthings.”

“Hmm… yes, I suppose itwould.” Dunning screwed up his face as he wiped the side of his head. Lookingat the blood on his hand, his eyes slowly narrowed to glare at her. “I can’tstand you, Grayson. You know that? But it’s not just you; it’s your whole damnfamily. Look at you. About to be expelled for attacking the Captain of theCrimson Guard in your first month at school. You must be proud.”

“You think too much of yourself. It wasn’t an honor smacking youaround; it was all pleasure.”

“Is that right? There… you see? That’s just what I’m talkingabout — no respect. None of the Graysons have it. Can’t you see I have aposition here at the school of great importance? Can’t you see that positionshould guarantee a minimum level of respect, regardless of your personalfeelings toward me? Your family struts around this school like you own theplace, using your money and influence to get and take what you want, withoutregard to those who have to earn the simplest things to survive. You disgustme; all of you.”

“You don’t know anything about my family. All you know is whatyou see at this school. If I had to judge by what I see in you and that sisterof yours, I’d condemn your entire family to the tortures of hell.”

“You self-righteous little…” Dunning sneered, his voice rising.“I’ve seen how your brothers and sisters treat each other. I know much moreabout your family than you might think. In fact, in some areas, Ibelieve I know more than you. All of this family honor hogwash is just that.You don’t respect one another, why should I expect you to care about anybodyelse? You’re all a bunch of hypocrites… lunatics all.”

Anna seethed. “Go drown yourself, you pompous ass.”

Both of them sat staring at each other, wanting to say much morethan what had already been said. Matching his every blink, Anna fumed andsnarled. She knew the damage was done; she was gone — out of Castlewood —disgraced. But she wasn’t going to give any ground now. She wasn’t going to begto stay. She hated him too much to give him that.

“So what am I to do with you, Grayson?”

“Throw me out, I suppose. It’s what you’ve been working forsince the day we got here. Well, you’ve finally bagged your first Grayson. Youmust be the happiest demon on the planet right now.”

Dunning shook his head in disgust. Gazing around the room with alook of wanting, he said, “Oh you don’t know how much I wish I could.”

His statement shocked Anna. Of course he could, shethought. Why wouldn’t he throw her out? She could see that’s what he wanted todo. What would possibly stop him? Despite how much she hated him, Anna foundherself hanging on his every word.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Dunning finally said, calmly.

“What question?”

“Why were you sending your owl into the Shadowed Forest?”

“Because I wanted to know who was living in the building that’shidden there.”

The captain stared at her with a sudden look of troubledawareness. “There are no buildings in the Shadowed For...”

“Liar!”

His face flattened. “Now,why would I lie about that? For what purpose would I have for doing that? Itell you… there are no castles in the forest!”

“I didn’t say it was a castle,” Anna replied, echoing thecaptain’s words back to prove he was lying. She could see Dunning’s ragebuilding to new levels yet again. Anna grinned, her eyes flashing withsatisfaction. “I saw it. I know it’s there.”

“You… you saw it? But… how could you have…” he stopped short.“Whatever you think you saw, you didn’t. But even if you did see something outthere, why would it interest you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is my business. Haven’t I already told you?Everything that happens on this mountain is my business.”

“So you admit the castle is there, even if you won’t tell mewhat it is?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“That’s okay. I’ll replace out on my own.”

The man scowled. “There you go again… that arrogant attitude ofyours. Besides… how would you hope to accomplish such a task, sitting at homein that mansion of yours in California?”Anna didn’t have an answer to this statement, which seemed to bring Dunning toan acceptable level of contentment.

“Oh how I wish I could take you to the place you seek, and showyou around. You don’t know the irony of this situation. Here you are, lookingfor a place that nobody will talk about — but where, by all accounts, youyourself should be.”

Anna’s head was throbbing, and the pain seemed twice as badbecause she was fighting not to show how much it hurt. What did he mean sheshould be there? What was he talking about? Finally, Anna’s head hurt toomuch to ignore. She leaned forward in her chair and rested her aching skull inher hands.

“I’m tired of this,” Anna moaned. “If you’re going to expel me,then do it. Then I can contact my father, you can call the Chancellor, andwe’ll let them figure out the rest.”

She looked up and could immediately see her words had struck anerve. Dunning’s face began to push thick veins through the skin of hisforehead. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back into his chair as ifcontemplating his many evil options. Finally, he came forward again to look ather.

“No…” he said slowly, and he shook his head as if disbelievingwhat he himself was about to say. “I won’t kick you out, but only if you willagree to three things.”

Anna frowned disbelievingly. “And what would that be?” sherumbled, skeptically.

Dunning sneered. “First, you will stop sending owls into the Shadowed Forest. Second, you will not speak toanybody about what you think you saw out there. That includes your family… andespecially your father. Have you told anybody else about this?”

“No,” Anna lied.

“Not your family, a friend, your roommate?” Anna thoughtquickly. She had no idea what Sarah might be saying under interrogation back inthe Server Hall. She had to hope for the best.

“I said, no!”

“Good. So… do we have a deal?”

Anna stared at Dunning suspiciously, untold buckets of doubtracing through her mind. She didn’t like the idea of making an agreement withsomebody she despised, especially when it meant keeping something from herfather. There were too many unknown elements here; it made her feel like shewas striking a covenant with Satan himself. Why would the captain want her tokeep quiet about this? What part of this incident would Dunning not want herfather to know about? It seemed to Anna that if her father knew anything aboutthis, she would be the one in a lot trouble. What was Dunning hiding? Whatwas he afraid of?

“So?” he said, still scowling at her for an answer.

“And… if I say yes, you’ll just forget about all of this?” Annasaid, distrustfully.

“No, I didn’t say that. I just won’t expel you.”

Anna looked down in disgust. What should she do? On one hand,she hated the idea of saying yes to this man.

“Tick-tock, Grayson.”

On the other hand, the thought of being expelled from Castlewoodwas…

“Oh — come now; this isn’t hard.”

She decided to take another chance. “All right,” she said,resignedly, not bothering to look at him. “Hold on…” her head jerked up, “yousaid there were three things you wanted.”

Dunning slowly stood and then walked over to her. He placed hishands on either side of her chair and leaned in so that his eyes were level andjust inches from hers. She could hear the wood in her chair groaning under hisweight.

“As hard as this decision was for you to obviously make, girl,”he said, his stare laying waste her remaining courage, “you can’t imagine howdifficult it is for me. The thought of letting you go, after what you’ve done,pains me greater than the death of my own mother, and you should know won’t getanother chance like this in the future. If you ever raise a hand to me again,I’ll leave you on my office floor a bloody mess, without limbs to swing. Getme?”

For the first time since Anna had entered Dunning’s office, shetruly felt fear. Dunning didn’t wait for an answer. He quickly stood straightbefore her and whipped out his wand. He pointed it at her, and Anna recoiled tocover her face.

“Incendio!”

Anna felt something hot explode near her legs, and her feetjumped off the floor as she looked down. She saw the letters she had sent with Hobbs curling as they layburning on the wooden floor. Dunning was already walking away.

“Get the hell out of my sight!”

Anna stood, took three steps, and pushed the latch to open thedoor. She looked back at the smoldering parchment under the chair, and aroundat the wooden club lying on the office floor. Glancing up at Dunning’s back,Anna smiled, and then walked out.