Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
The Keeper of Verosapt

It was late, and Anna and Sarahhad only just entered their dorm room after leaving Gwen in the tower, whenthere came a quick knock at their door. Sarah gave Anna a weary what-nowlook before opening the door. It was the Knight Karen Scott. She was escortingEric, who was standing in the hallway behind her.

“I found this guy lurkingaround the girl’s stairway. Says he knows you,” Karen joked. “Should we trusthim to behave himself?” Eric didn’t wait for an answer and stepped into theroom without a hint of emotion on his face. He was looking at Anna, but spoketo Sarah.

“Sarah, I know it’s late, butdo you think I could have a private moment with my sister?”

“Ah…” Sarah looked at herroommate. Anna looked like a person who, if she could speak freely, would begher to stay. “Of course. I… ah… still have some homework I need to finishanyway,” the girl fibbed. “Let me get my books and I’ll get out of your way.”After another minute, Sarah was heading out the door. “Take all the time youneed,” she said, glancing back at Anna who looked resigned to finally facingher brother.

For the first time she couldever remember, Anna was not happy to see Eric. She still didn’t have a reasonready, nothing to explain why she was taken early that morning to Dunning’soffice. Eric thanked Karen and Sarah and slowly closed the door before turningto face his sister.

“You okay?” he saidconcernedly. Anna nodded, not bothering to reply. “You sure?” She nodded again.“Where have you been? You weren’t in class today.”

“I… I was over at the stadium,”she said, walking over to the stove. “I’m going to make some tea; would youlike some?” Eric nodded, and Anna put the kettle on to boil.

“You going to tell me whathappened in Dunning’s office?”

“Nothing-happened.” Annaanswered, much too quickly than she had intended. Eric frowned as he reached upto pull two cups down from the cupboard.

“You sure?” His manner wascasual, but his voice had a strong prying quality about it.

“How is Hobbs?” Anna asked, suddenly remembering herowl.

“Out of danger, but it’ll be awhile before he’s flying for you again. He’s in my room sleeping. You can seehim tomorrow.”

“But I should make sure hegets…”

“He’s fine; tomorrow would bebetter.” Anna reluctantly nodded. Obviously, her brother wasn’t going to lether escape so easily.

“What’s the matter, Anna? Yousay you’re okay, but I can see you’re not. Is there anything you want to tellme?” Anna stared at him. She wanted to tell him everything, but Dunning’sthreatening face loomed in her mind, replaced only by the image of her father’sdisappointment as she saw herself trying to explain how she was expelled fromCastlewood in her first month. Eric was getting some spoons from the drawer.“You understand that what happened wasn’t your fault? I presume the Captainmade that clear to you?” Eric asked her, suspiciously. Anna didn’t sayanything. She was too afraid to speak. There were words on the tip of hertongue trying to come out, and the thought occurred to her that if she were toutter them without care, her whole world could come crashing down upon herhead. She could hear herself repeating them over and over, screaming them out -Dunning is hiding something from our father in the Shadowed Forest.But then she saw herself standing on the deck of the Allegheny Pride, sailingoff the edge of the world and into the black void beyond. Thankfully, Ericspoke first.

“He didn’t tell you, did he?”he asked, his voice rising contemptuously.

Anna looked up in surprise.“Tell me? Tell me what?”

“That son of a…” he scoffedangrily, slamming his fist down on the kitchen counter, making Anna jump. Herbrother looked like a coiled spring ready to snap. “He drags you out of yourroom, embarrasses you in front of the entire Hall, and he doesn’t have thedecency to say — I’m sorry?” Annastared at him blankly, which only seemed to enrage her brother more.

“It was a mistake –– Anna.” Andhe sat next to her on the couch to tell her the story Lieutenant Hayman hadgiven to him about the smuggling ring in the forest. Anna listened carefullyand was astonished at the length Dunning had gone to cover his tracks. She knewthe story the Captain had given his lieutenant was concocted fiction and, onceagain, Anna was left with an ill feeling about Dunning’s real motives.

“So,” Eric finished, “as youcan see, it was all about nothing, just a huge mistake. Dunning sent hisapologies to our family through Hayman’s office, but I’m shocked he didn’t tellyou this directly,” her brother fumed.

“It’s okay, Eric,” Anna said,feeling somewhat relieved she didn’t have to explain what had really happened.

“It’s not okay!” he yelled, rising to his feet again.“Tomorrow, I’m going have a talk with Dunning,” he blistered, his rageincreasing by the second. “His attitude toward our family is becomingintolerable. I don’t know what his problem is, but I’m sick and tired ofdealing with him. I’ll schedule a meeting with the Chancellor if that’s what ittakes and, if I have to, I’ll go to father and…”

“Please, Eric,” Anna said, “I’djust like to forget about it, okay? Just… can you please… just let it go?”

Eric glared at her. “NO!Damn-it, Anna, NO! I won’t let it go. I’ve had it! Who the hell does he thinkhe is?”

“Please,” Anna pleaded, placingher forehead into her hands. Her head felt like it was being squeezed in aniron vise.

“HE TOOK YOU!! HE TOOK YOU OUTOF YOUR ROOM,” Eric screamed, his fists clinched in fury. “OUT OF THE HALL, ANDAWAY FROM ME!!” His face was hot with rage as he heaved one of the teacups againstthe wall, smashing it to bits. “HOW… DARE HE! How dare he presume to treat amember of our family like this without regard to…?”

“Pleeeasee, Eric”

“After everything our familyhas done for this school…”

“Eric…”

“I WON’T PUT UP WITH IT! I WON’T — DO YOU HEAR ME!!!” he said,shouting at the top of his lungs.

“ERIC!!” screamed Anna back;her head felt like it was going to explode. Her brother spun around to glare ather. “PLEASE, listen to me… I need to put this behind me. Can’t you understandthat? I need you to let it go. Please, I’m begging you. Just… for me… don’tpush this, okay?”

Eric stared in horror at hissister, and then frowned suspiciously. “What exactly happened in thedungeons this morning?” he yelled.

Anna thought quickly about whatSarah and Gwen had told her. “Nothing… HAPPENED! OKAY? He just asked me somestupid questions about sending owls in the forest. I… I told him I didn’t knowanything about that,” she lied, waving her hand at him in open irritation.

“And that’s all? Nothing more?”

“Nothing...” she said, rubbingthe back of her throbbing head.

Eric wasn’t sure. “So whydidn’t you return to class today, and why didn’t you come back to check on Hobbs?”

“I… it’s… well, I was upset. Ithought Hobbswas …maybe dead… and… I was too afraid to see for myself.”

Eric looked fixedly at her,still unconvinced he was hearing everything he should. Gripping his handsbehind his back, he started to pace worriedly across the room, all the timeglaring at his sister. His eyes were probing her for any subtleties in hermanner, anything that would tell him she was hiding something more. Anna triednot to look at him and, after what seemed an eternity Eric took a deep clearingbreath.

“I’m sorry. I… I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.This wasn’t your fault. Forgive me,” he bristled. Anna nodded, still notmeeting his stare. She was suddenly amazed at how much her brother reminded herof her father.

“You… would tell me, of course,if something did happen to you?” he said, trying to compose himself. “IfDunning ever…” he suddenly broke off, his obsessive pacing unexpectedly haltedin mid-step. For a moment, it seemed as if someone had cast a spell on herbrother, freezing him to the spot where he stood. He looked transfixed, unableto move. Anna looked around the room; maybe they won’t alone, perhapsDunning… but… no. She was about to say something when Eric finally spoke.

“Anna… what is that?” he asked,looking over her shoulder at something behind her. Anna leaned over the couchto look into her half-lit bedroom; the only thing visible was her dressersitting in the shadows beyond. She looked back at her brother.

“What do you mean?” she said,somewhat relieved to hear her brother speaking again. Eric’s face was slack,his eyes wide as he stared into the space behind her. He slowly raised his handto point at her dresser.

“That!” he whispered, and hewalked past her to the open door. Anna stood to follow, trying to see where hewas pointing. She looked again and realized he was directing her towardsomething sitting upon the dresser.

“Oh, you mean my kaleidoscope?”Anna had unpacked her favorite treasure given to her by their father the daybefore. Eric quickly turned to look back at her.

“Kaleidoscope? Where did itcome from?” He took another step toward the doorway, but stopped at thethreshold.

“Daddy gave it to me before weleft for school. Meredith said it belonged to our Grandmother.” Eric shot heran incredulous look.

“What grandmother?”

Anna thought he was beingsilly. “Our grandmother!” she said smiling, as if Eric was being dim onpurpose. Suddenly, Anna’s face fell as a wave of unexpected comprehensiondawned on her. “Oh… you mean… your Grandmother or mine?” she surmised, quicklyremembering they had different mothers. “Uh,” Anna hesitated as she looked backat the scope, “now that I think about it, I’m not sure. Meredith told me sheused to play with my Grandmother Mary when they were children. She showed mehow the scope works. Here… let me show you,” and Anna stepped into the bedroomand moved to turn up the lamps.

“No… stop!” Eric called to her.Anna turned.

“What? Eric, what’s thematter?”

Her brother stood rooted at thedoorway unwilling to move, and Anna recognized the look now stealing across hisface. It was fear. With some uncertainty, he finally stepped forward in frontof the scope. He began to tilt his head left and then right, looking carefullyaround at the jeweled encrusted kaleidoscope as if inspecting a rare museumpiece. He straightened and then stepped back.

“Your grandmother’s name wasMary Jennings. She was Victoria’s mother,” hesaid, not taking his eyes off the scope. He hesitated and then took anotherstep back, then another, his arms folded in front of his chest as he stoodgazing at the scope. Anna could see his eyes struggling to make out the detailsof the object in the dark even as he continued to step further away from it. Hetook another step back and stopped to stare at the scope again, titling hishead to the side as he struggled to see through the gloom.

“What – are – you – doing?”Anna chanted, smiling in amusement. Eric turned to look at her for a moment andthen walked past her to the beds on the other side of the bedroom. His eyesmoved to the bed against the wall before turning to sit. He closed his eyes andtilted his head back, as if trying to excavate some far off memory. He slowlyopened his eyes and then turned again to stare at the scope.

“It can’t be,” he whispered. Helooked up at Anna, his voice faltering somewhat as he spoke. “Anna –– you wereabout to show me something. How it worked, you said?” Anna stared back at herbrother totally bewildered at the very odd way he was acting.

“Yeah, okay. It’s simplereally,” and she turned to walk toward the dresser. Then she looked back. “Youwant to see?” Eric didn’t move. He seemed somewhat frightened at what Anna wasabout to do.

“No,” he said quickly, almostto himself. “Go ahead, do what you need to do.”

Anna frowned, and turned to thescope. She ran her finger down the length of one of its legs and then tapped ittwice. The soft, blue light began to glow forth from the scope’s lens, bringingwith it the familiar array of colored shapes. The shapes moved in and out offocus, and then started to change into the flattened animal cutouts Anna hadcome to love. She turned to smile at her brother through the multi-coloredshapes now floating in the air between them.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” shesaid, staring off into the distant spaces of the room. “I think it’s one of themost wonderful…” she suddenly halted. She could see Eric’s head was tilted backagain, as if listening to some mysterious song playing in the air around them.Anna stepped over to her brother and watched as the flashing lights of thescope danced across his closed eyelids. “Eric… what’s the matter?”

His eyes suddenly popped open.“That’s it!” He quickly stood. “That’s what I saw!”

“What? What are you…?”

“Anna, remember when I told youabout the night of my fourth birthday, when Victoriacame into my room with that strange woman I heard?”

“Yes…” Anna replied slowly.

“Remember when I said I sawthose strange lights in the room, and then something sitting on my dresser inthe dark after they left?”

“Yes.”

“Well that’s it! That’s what Isaw,” he said, pointing at the scope. Anna was stunned.

“Are you sure?” she said,disbelievingly.

“Yes, I’m positive. That wasthe device. What else does it do?” he asked her, excitedly. Anna walked over tothe dresser once more and Eric could see her fidgeting at the base of the scopeagain. Instantly, the flattened shapes were transformed into detailed replicasof animals dancing, flying and swimming through the air around them.

“Astounding!” he said, turningin a circle to watch them move about. He looked again at Anna. “Okay… whatelse?” His eyes were wide with sharp anticipation.

“What do you mean?”

“You know — make it talk, now.”

“Make it… make it talk? But itdoesn’t talk…”

Eric frowned. “But it does. Iheard it speaking that night. Your mother and that woman got it to speak. Theywere asking it questions. You know… about that person lost in the forest.”

“But, I’ve never heard it speakbefore; Meredith didn’t show me that.” Anna replied, uncertainly. Eric steppedup to the dresser to look at the kaleidoscope more closely.

“It does speak, I assure you. Meredithprobably just didn’t know it could. Show me what you did,” he said, motioningher back to the scope. Anna reached over and tapped the scope, which stoppedthe display. Eric reached over to turn up the lamp on the wall while Annashowed him where to touch the scope’s legs. Soon, the splendid colored animalswere floating and galloping through the air once more. Eric looked down toinspect the device again.

“There must be a way…” he said,tapping the third leg, and then other parts of the scope. Nothing happened.Eric put a hand on his chin to think. Then his attention was drawn to a largered ruby prominently displayed on top of the scope’s barrel. He smiled, andthen reached up to tap the gem, still nothing. He tapped it again, tried toturn it, and then looked carefully around at the ruby’s edges. He peered underits mounting and then stood straight to stare at it once more. “You try,” hesaid to Anna, without looking at her.

“Right here?” she said, puttingher hand on top of the gem. He nodded. Anna pushed on it and rubbed it as herbrother did before. Still, nothing happened. And then, in the far-back regionsof her mind, Anna heard what sounded like a gust of wind blowing through herhead, and then a soft, growing voice began to speak to her.

“You must say the words…” Annasnatched her hand back in surprise and the voice immediately faded off.

“What’s the matter?” Ericsnapped, looking apprehensively at her.

Anna stared at her brother fora moment, listening for the voices in her mind again. “Wait-a-minute,” shesaid, frowning. She cautiously placed both of her hands on the scope and closedher eyes. Running her fingers almost lovingly across its rough surface, Annaconcentrated hard on the object as she had done before with the stones in herHistory of Magic class. Anna began to hear it again, a wispy almost singingvoice in the back of her mind speaking to her.

“You must say the words,”the voice repeated, more clearly this time.

“What are the words?” Annaasked under her breath.

“What?” Eric replied.

“Ssshh!” Anna hissed, keepingher eyes closed and continuing to move her hands over the scope, as if hopingto replace the exact spot in which she might best tune in the voice that wastrying to speak to her. She listened intently to the whispers, floating like agentle breeze through her mind. She finally opened her eyes and released thescope. She placed the palm of her hand on top of the large ruby and said, “TheKeeper commands you to speak.” Instantly, a beam of red light burst forththrough her hand toward the ceiling. Anna yanked back in shock, and Ericgrabbed her by the shoulders to pull her away from the dresser.

The beam spread itself widelike a fan opening before them and then began to glow in its center withbillowing clouds of gray smoke. It looked like a swelling explosion coming atthem but never really entering the room. They could hear the echo of birds andinsects, chirping and squawking in the room around them, like the sounds onewould hear in some far-off jungle. An object could be seen coming into viewthrough the smoke; something very large was hunched over and loping forward onits knuckles to greet them. Eric and Anna stared blankly in amazement at theface of a very old gorilla, glaring at them from amidst the red glow.

“Where is the Keeper?”the thing said, in a deep, bad-tempered voice. Eric and Anna were half startledand amazed at the sight before them. “Who hath called me from my forest?”

“I suppose –– I did?” Annareplied, meekly. The gorilla glowered down at her.

“Art thou the proper Keeperof the Scope of Verosapt?”he asked,in a tone of irritated doubt. Thegreat ape was massively muscular, but very old. Anna could see the fur of hisbeard sticking out from the sides of his face. Once ebony black, it was nowsilver-gray with age, but his deep penetrating eyes were bright and alert.

“The… Keeper of what?” Annaasked it, sounding confused.

The grayed head bared histeeth. “Simple human. How didst it come into possession of the gem-encrustedscope?”

“My father gave it to me. Itbelonged to my mother and my Grandmother Mary, before her,” Anna explained.

“Hmmm,” the headgrumbled skeptically. “Place thy hand upon the ruby of YU.”

“Anna, this is the same voicethat I heard speaking that night to your mother,” Eric whispered. “Be verycareful.”

“On the blood-stone, human!”the gorilla growled. Anna cautiously raised her hand and then watched the imageabove her wobble momentarily as she pressed down upon the ruby. The creaturelooked down under his chin, staring almost distrustfully at her fingers. Agreen light shot up through the back of Anna’s hand. It turned yellow and thenswiftly to blue, back to green, orange, green again, white, purple, and then tored. The light changed again and again, blazing through Anna’s hand like abeacon through a dense fog. Finally, the light seemed to settle on purple, andthe gorilla groaned in a tone of impending foreboding. The stone turned cold asthe light went out and Anna lowered her hand. The interrogation was over.

“Thou art, indeed, theproper owner of the scope,” the beast said, glumly. He then peered out ather. “Where is thy mother?”

“My… mother? My mother is dead, “ Anna repliedsomberly.

The gorilla scoffed. “Weshall see,” he said, in a distrustful manner. He then closed his eyes andraised his head as if checking the cosmos around them for the truth. Ericleaned in to his sister while they waited.

“Anna, I want you to ask himwho was with Victoria the night they were inmy room.” Anna looked hesitant, her eyes darting back and forth into herbrother’s stare. He nodded her on.

“It… is true,”interrupted the image in a low grumble, his eyes still closed as he lookedsuspiciously into the past. He tilted down to stare at Anna. “VictoriaGrayson is dead. Nearest thirteen years dead and dying.”

Anna frowned. “Yes,” shereplied, mournfully.

“Then… thou art the properKeeper of the Verosapt,” the ape concluded reluctantly. Anna felt Eric giveher a nudge.

She swallowed hard and then,summoning her courage forward, she said, “I’d like to ask you a question aboutthe last time you spoke with my mother.” The gorilla looked down at her, hislip curling like a wave across his fanged teeth.

“I am the representative ofcreature truth and knowledge,” he said, his voice filled with meaningfulpride. “Passed to me through the eyes of my brother creatures, thou hast butto ask the question of choice, but only once on or after the date of entry.”

Anna looked at Eric. “What doesthat mean, the date of entry?”

“I think… he means yourbirthday.”

“Oh!” She looked up at thegorilla again. “So… I can ask you any question I like on my birthday?”

“One question on or afterthe date of its entry, and, so be it, one question every year following thefirst.”

“Oh, so I get one questionevery year,” Anna said, more gratifyingly.

“And who is this human withthee, daughter of Victoria?”

“This is my brother, Eric,”Anna said, as if introducing a member of her family to someone she had just metat a party.

The ape grumbled ominously. “Placethy hand on the stone,” he said.

Eric stepped forward, placedhis palm upon the ruby, and watched as the lights flashed through the flesh ofhis skin. The beams rotated through a spectrum of dazzling color, finallystopping on green. Eric quickly snatched his hand away as the ape roared.

“Thou art not of Jennings’ blood. Thishuman willst be ignored.”

“Anna and I share the samefather,” Eric explained.

“I ignore the human who isspeaking,” the ape replied, maliciously.

“Well that’s not very nice,”Anna complained. “So… you can’t tell me anything until my birthday, and then Ican ask you anything I wish?’

“One question…”

“On or after the day of myentry,” Anna repeated in a funny singsong voice. “Yeah, I heard that,” shesaid, boringly. The ape growled at her. “Okay then,” she said, lookingnervously at the head floating over her dresser, “how do I… ah… shut you offthen?”

The ape sneered. “Shut meoff?”

“Yeah, you know… power youdown? Pull the plug? Put you back in your bottle? Hocus-Pocus and closesesame?” The ape grumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like, insanehuman. Anna rolled her eyes. “How do I make you go away?” The ape jerkedback in a manner redolent of being highly affronted.

“Touch the gem of YUthrice,” he snarled back. Anna reached up and tapped the ruby three times.The array of color floating in the room started to withdraw into the barrel ofthe kaleidoscope as the ape grumbled his final words of instruction.

“The creatures of Verosaptawait thy question, Keeper Jennings.Thou art welcome in our forest. Return to us on the date of thine entry…” hesaid, in a deep fading voice as his face began to disappear into the swirlinghaze behind him. The fan of light closed into a fine red beam, which thendropped down into the ruby and disappeared with a soft click. The lights in theroom began to brighten on their own.

“Amazing,” Eric said, squintingas the lights came up.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cool. So Ican ask it anything I want after my birthday in November.” Anna smiled. “MaybeI should ask what Daddy’s getting me for Christmas.”

Eric seemed deep in troubledthought. “So, that’s why Victoria was usingthis device. They were looking for somebody, and were using the scope to helpthem replace him.” Anna’s mood changed abruptly. She had been excited aboutusing the scope to her advantage, but then something ominous slipped into hermind.

“Eric, do you think this deviceis… well… do think it might be… evil?” Her brother looked somewhat surprised bythe question.

“Evil? What makes you saythat?”

“Because… from what you toldme, my mother died about a week after talking to this thing. Is it possible thescope had something to do with her death?”

“I don’t see how. I neverreally knew that much about Victoria’s death,but Father always said it was an accident. I would be more concerned about thatwoman who was with Victoria at the time. Itwas almost like she had a power over your mother. She was the one who wasdemanding that Victoria use the scope.”

The room seemed suddenly verycold to Anna. The thought of something sitting here, in her room, that hadtaken a part in the events leading up to her mother’s death instantly seemed tochange her opinion of it. She had a sudden urge to open the window and heavethe scope into the night.

“Anna, can I ask you a question?”Eric’s voice yanked Anna’s thoughts back to the present.

“What? Oh… of course.”

“What exactly happened to youwhen you placed your hands on the scope? You seemed to enter into a deep levelof concentration, and then you came up with the words necessary to make thedevice work for us. How did that happen?” Anna was taken aback. It felt likeher brother was peering into a window of her soul as she undressed. She wasembarrassed.

“I… don’t know how I do it,”she said, hesitantly, “but I could hear it speaking to me,” and she told Ericabout the voices she had heard both from the scope and from the walls ofCastlewood during her first week at school. Eric listened intently withoutinterruption until Anna had finished. He then walked back into the living roomand started to pace again.

“This ability you have issimply amazing, Anna. You seem to have a connection to magical objects andplaces of great interest to the Wizarding world. It’s remarkable because… well…the possibilities are really endless. You could tell us so much about the magicaround us.”

Anna frowned. “What do youmean?”

Eric turned to stare at hissister, somewhat surprised by her lack of understanding. He motioned for her tosit on the couch and then sat next to her. “Listen… a long time ago, Fathertook me to the Ministry offices in Los Angeles. He wanted to show me some of the things hedid there for the Ministry there. He gave me a tour of the entire building andI saw some of the most incredible things during our visit. One of the placesI’ll always remember was the Department of Unknown Magical Devices. There wereobjects kept in there that would blow your mind, and dozens of witches andwizards who dedicate their lives to the study of them.

“There was this one area theycalled The Hall of Wonders. This place has some of the most amazing andpowerful devices under study at the Ministry, but they can’t figure out exactlywhat they do because they’re hundreds of years old. My God, Anna, you couldprobably go in there and solve all of these mysteries for them in a single day.Why, you could probably…” but Eric suddenly stopped. His mind began to slidesome of the pieces of information he had gathered together, and then theobvious finally dawned on him. “There’s still more… isn’t there?” he said,staring at his sister. “You haven’t told me everything yet, have you?”

Anna was quietly listening toEric speak, but then realized she wasn’t really hearing what he was saying atall. Lost in her own thoughts, she finally looked at him. “What?”

“What other abilities do youhave, Anna? This isn’t all it, is it?”

Anna sat there for a momentcontemplating what she should say. She stood and began wringing her handsnervously. There was more, so much more she could tell her brother. She couldtell him about the evil one, the castle in the forest, and how they weresomehow connected to her birth. But Dunning’s face loomed in her mind oncemore.

No, I can’t. That devilwould throw me out! Anna thought, worriedly.But there was somethingelse she wanted to tell Eric, something just as important. She stared at herbrother, wondering if what she had to tell him would drive him away from her.

“What is it, Anna? What’s thematter?”

Anna sat down again. She wasfinally ready to tell him more. “This connection, you called it,” shebegan, “is with more than just the magical objects and places. It’s also withthe animals and a lot of magical creatures as well.” Anna told Eric about theextraordinary events in the ocean the day before receiving her letter fromCastlewood. She also told him about her time with Swooper, and about herability to sense and understand what the owls and creatures were feeling whenthey were close to her. Eric listened without interruption again until Anna hadcompletely finished. He finally shook his head.

“It is amazing, but… moreimportantly, I think it explains a lot,” he said satisfactorily.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… up to this year we’veall just assumed you were a squib, but now I’m starting to believe that’s neverbeen true. You’ve always had a strong connection with the animals andcreatures, going all the way back to when you were a baby. I remember seeingyou playing on the lawns of the estate as a small child, but you were neveralone. Meredith would constantly complain about not being able to leave you,because she would always replace you surrounded by the things living in theforest… rabbits, birds, squirrels, owls.” Eric began to chuckle. “I rememberone day Gabby was supposed to be watching you. She started screaming at the topof her lungs because she found you playing with a large mountain lion that youliked to call your kitty.” Anna smiled. “The animals would never hurtyou. They just always seemed to… want to be near you.” Eric nodded. “This alsoexplains why you’re so close to Gabby and Widwick.”

Anna’s smile suddenly dropped.“Gabby and Widwick are my friends. They’re not animals.”

Eric grinned. “No, of coursenot. The house elves are very magical creatures, but you can’t deny they’vealways been very loving and protective of you; much more than what they’veshown to the rest of the Grayson children.” Anna thought for a moment, and thendecided to plunge forward.

“There’s something else I haveto tell you, Eric, and I don’t know if I want to,” she said, looking at herbrother mournfully. He could tell she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue.

“All right. So? What is it?”

Anna took a deep breath.“Remember when I told Daddy that I thought I had turned into that creature?Daddy called it the Lethifold?” Eric looked surprised.

“Yes…”

“Well, I wasn’t imagining that.It was me you saw attacking Damon that night. The creature wasn’t somethingthat came in from the outside, it was me all along.” Eric looked shocked, andthen highly skeptical.

“How do you know this? I mean…if you were attacked…”

“I wasn’t attacked, Eric,” Annaargued. “It’s happened again since arriving here at the school. And… well, ithappened this morning after Hobbswas injured. Sarah Bell saw it happen; I mean, she saw me change.”

“What? You mean… you actuallybecame that… that… thing again?” Anna nodded, and then started to tell Ericabout her experiences. She explained the dream she had at home that lead to herattacking Damon, and what their father had told her about her coming intocontact with the Lethifold in Indonesiawhen she was a child, and how she purposefully made the transformation occurafter her fight with Debbie Dunning. When she had finished, Anna waitedanxiously for her brother’s reaction. He seemed too shocked to speak,completely taken back by her confessions.

After a length of time thatseemed to pass like hours, Anna spoke again. “Chancellor Thordarson knows aswell.” Eric bolted up suddenly.

“WHAT? But… but how…?”

“Daddy told him what I saidafter the attack on Damon, and then I talked about it with him after theJoining Ceremony when I was in the hospital. I know Daddy doesn’t believe meyet, but the Chancellor does.”

“But why? Thordarson hasn’tseen you change, has he?”

“No. He believes me because ofwhat he saw happen to me at the Joining,” and Anna explained what Thordarsonhad said about Merlin, the Sithmaith, and how it all connected to her becomingthe first Guardian in centuries. After she had finished, silence took hold ofthe room once again. Eric’s mind had lost its thread of reason. He dropped hishead into his hands, trying desperately to reel in his emotions and piecetogether the remnants that were his jumbled thoughts. He stared at Anna with alook of utter disbelief, which over time slowly changed into forced acknowledgment.He lay back against his seat to stare up at the ceiling.

“What was it Doctor Nellandtold us?” Eric whispered to himself.

“Who?”

He looked over at her. “DoctorNelland. You know… the family healer who assisted Doctor Pearl with yoursorcerer’s tests? That night, at dinner, Nelland told us about the strongsimilarities between you and what happened to Merlin. The fact that yourabilities showed up so late in life, and that Merlin was a spontaneousAnimogus. And now we learn that the two of you have been given the same name…this title they called Sithmaith. Sithmaith…” he said, frowning, “Iwonder what that means, exactly?”

“Bringer of Peace,” Annareplied. Then she glanced up at Eric and shrugged. “Professor Thordarson toldme.”

Eric nodded. “From what you saythe Chancellor told you, Merlin was the leader of the Guardians of old. Andnow, it’s happened again here at Castlewood. That would make you…” he pausedslightly, “the leader of the Guardians now.”

“The leader?” Anna smirked.“No… I’m just a first-year. I’m a Guardian… just like you. I’m not the leaderof anything!”

“But… that’s not true, Anna,”Eric said, realizing the certainty of what he was saying as he spoke. “When Iwalked through the Mirror of Enlightenment the second time, the voices told meI would be joining an army under the leadership of the Sithmaith. They alsosaid they would bring others to join us. We’re all here to help you, Anna. Youare the Sithmaith they were talking about. Only you have been given theseextraordinary abilities. Like it or not, you are our leader; you are what magichas brought about to protect itself from this future battle to come that youyourself told us about in Thordarson’s office after Father was attacked. I amconvinced, more than ever, that what we have to do here at the school is evenmore important than anybody understands. We must replace a way to sustain the new Union. Others must be convinced to join us.”

“But how will we do that?”

Eric suddenly stood. “Let meworry about that for now. I think it’s time we called it a night.” He kissedAnna on the cheek. “I’m glad you told me about this, Anna. Things make muchmore sense to me now. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I want to get back to myroom and send an urgent owl to our father.”

Anna looked up. “What? You’regoing to write to Daddy tonight?”

“Yes, Anna. I want to tell himwhat you’ve told me. No secrets from the family, remember?”

“But –– you’re not going totell him about my arrest are you?”

Eric hesitated. “Well, no. Iwasn’t going to mention that because I’ve received a strong commitment fromLieutenant Hayman to keep me informed on the investigation that lead to yourbeing improperly detained. But I feel we have to tell Father about theLethifold and these other abilities. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Anna wasn’t sure she wantedEric to do that. What would her father say? What will he think? Shereluctantly decided to trust her brother’s judgment. “All right,” she said,hesitantly, “if you really think that’s what’s best…”

“I do,” he said, confidently.

Her brother took Anna by thehand as he headed for the door. “Anna, getting back to this thing with Dunning,I’m going to be honest with you –– it’s gonna have to be straightened out. Ibelieve he’s gone too far already, and this problem will only get worse untilwe take action. But… out of respect for what’s already happened to you today,I’ll… leave it alone for now.” He then pulled out his wand and pointed it atthe floor. “Reparo!” Little shards of porcelain spun into a circle and,with a slight crackling sound, formed themselves back into a teacup. “Accio!”The cup flew into his hand. He looked back at Anna and handed her the cup. “Butsooner or later you’ll see… problems like this just don’t go away, they have tobe stomped out.” He bent down to look directly into his sister’s eyes. “You dounderstand what I’m saying, right?” Anna nodded, and after a quick hug, herbrother left her.

Twenty minutes later, Anna waslying in her four-poster bed, trying to force her mind to think of happiertimes, but she couldn’t stop Dunning’s face from invading her thoughts againand again. She finally rolled over and tried to relive her ride on Swooper. AsAnna drifted off, the images of winged horses flying through the tree-linedalleyways surrounding Spellsburg made her smile, but it wasn’t long beforeAnna’s dreams took her back to Dunning’s office once again. She was standingover the Captain’s body, hitting him again and again with a wooden club. Thefloor and her arms were covered in blood as Anna raged on.

SMACK… SMACK… SMACK.

She looked up in shock at herfather standing over her; his face, like her own, was spattered in Dunning’sblood. He looked heartbroken as he reached out to her. “Madness… beware theabyss.” His voice slowly faded off, “…the abyss… the abyss.”

Anna suddenly jerked up in herbed with a start. She was wet with sweat, and she looked desperately at herarms for the blood covering them in her dream. Looking over at Sarah, she couldsee her roommate curled up, barely breathing in quiet slumber across the room.

“I’m sorry daddy… I’m sosorry,” Anna whispered, looking out her window. She slid back down into herblankets and quietly began to cry.

TWO

The next morning was awhirlwind of blinding activity. Both Anna and Sarah had slept late, and it wasonly due to Gabby bouncing violently on their chests that they woke up at all.

“You’s must get up!” the elfscreamed. “It’s late. You is going to miss yer breakfast,” she yelpedfrantically. The two girls crashed into one another several times as theydashed about, rushing to get out the door. Throwing their bags over theirshoulders, they tried to step out into the busy hallway.

The corridor was full ofenergetic girls, bustling up and down the hall, talking and checking their bagsto make sure they had what they needed, and thinking eagerly about thebreakfast waiting for them downstairs. Anna noticed some of the girls staringat her Guardian robes again and whispering to one another as she passed.

As Anna and Sarah were buffetedalong, they heard what sounded like the single dong of a bell ring out.Everybody stopped and turned to see where the sound had come from, and thennoticed something odd hanging above Anna’s door.

Frowning at each other, Annaand Sarah made their way back through the crowd who had stopped pushing to letthem pass. They stopped to look at the object, which resembled a very oldclock, but it wasn’t a clock at all. They could clearly see there were too manynumbers on its round face. At its top was the number fifty, and smaller numberswere printed at what were normally the three, six, and nine o’clock positionsaround its edge, and where the numbers twelve, twenty-five and thirty sevenwere plainly visible. There was only one hand on the device, which was movingin a quick circle around its painted face. The clock let out another loud dongas the hand clicked to a stop on what would have been the number one. For amoment, it shuddered there, and then slowly moved to the right, stopping at thenumber two. It let out an odd sounding ka-chunk-ching and then wasstill. Letters in purple flame began to form on the clock’s face. Anna liftedhigh on her toes and squinted to make out the message becoming clearer on theobject’s front.

[Guardiansneeded to sustain the Union:]

[48]

“Don’t worry,” said a voicebehind them. They turned to replace Karen Scott standing there. “Only forty-eightmore Guardians to go and you have a whole year to replace them. I’m sure you’llget there,” she said, brightly.

“What… what’s this supposed tobe?” Anna asked, pointing at the strange device above their door.

“Professor Van Doorn gave it tome to put there. There’s another one just like it in the Rotunda over theGuardian’s table. It’s a running count of all the new Guardians here at theschool. It’s supposed to be a tool to help you keep track of how close you areto sustaining the Guardian Union.”

“How close I am?” Anna said insurprise. “But I can’t tell people to walk through the Mirror ofEnlightenment,” she said, frustrated. Once again, she felt accused of being somekind of leader. “That’s not my job to do that,” she insisted.

Karen frowned, looked at Sarah,and then back to Anna. “Ah… yeah, I think it is. I mean, everybody here at thecastle is willing to help you in anyway we can, but it really falls to you tomake it happen, doesn’t it? At least that’s what’s being said in all themeetings of the Knights. The Student President told us the teachers are behindyou one hundred percent, and we’re all hoping you succeed.”

Anna was staggered. “Are yousaying it’s entirely up to me to replace fifty people to walk through the mirroragain?”

“Of course! Well, actually, Iwould expect it’d be a lot more than fifty.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to remember, you needfifty Guardians at the end of the year to sustain the Union.But not everybody that agrees to walk through the mirror will become aGuardian. I figure you’ll probably need a couple hundred people to agree towalk through.”

“A couple,” Anna gulped, “ofhundred?”

“At least! Maybe more.”

“But… how? How am I going to getthem to do that?”

Karen smiled and leaned in.“Well that’s the challenge — isn’t it? You have to replace a way, make it happen!”

“But… how…” Anna sputtered,nervously.

“Now you understand why thecounter was put above your door. I know we have a whole year ahead, but whatyou have to do is going to take planning and persuasion. You really didn’tthink the glory of what you’re doing was going to come without a lot of hardwork, did you?”

Anna didn’t know what to say.“I, ah… no… not me!” she insisted, her face reddening.

Karen frowned. She looked likea person reevaluating everything she knew about Anna. Then, without warning,she reached out and grabbed Anna by the arm. “Excuse us a minute, Sarah,” shesaid, turning Anna around and opening the door to their room in front of her.“Get in there,” she said curtly, giving Anna a shove through the doorway. TheKnight closed the door behind them and then turned to face Anna. “What the hellis wrong with you, Grayson?” she said, angrily.

Anna was surprised. “What areyou talking about?”

Karen folded her arms andstared at her disbelievingly. “Anna, you’ve been given an enormous opportunitythis year, but I get the feeling you’re not taking it very seriously.” Annadropped her bag defiantly to the floor as Karen continued. “I don’t believe youunderstand what’s going on here. You’re the first Guardian at Castlewood, andthe first in the Wizarding world in over fifteen hundred years. Haven’t youbeen reading the newspapers? Wizards all over the world are talking aboutwhat’s going on here.”

“What? They’re talking aboutme?”

“Well –– not you… specifically.I believe your father and the Chancellor have been working to keep your nameout of the papers. I think they’re trying to steer the story away from you andmore toward the Guardians in general. But you have to understand how importantthis is for the school.”

“Now you’re starting to soundlike Eric,” Anna scoffed, in frustration.

“Good!” Karen replied, smugly.“Now I know I’m telling you something you should already know.” She steppedforward and scowled. “I should think what Eric’s done, what he’s sacrificed foryou, would wake you up.”

Anna looked surprised again.“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Your jobthis year is to work on your lessons, and finish what you’ve started with theGuardians.”

“But I didn’t start this! Ididn’t go out there and ask to be some…” Karen waved a halting stop so shecould continue.

“I know you didn’t ask for thisto happen, but it has. It’s on you to sustain this Union.I’m sorry if you didn’t understand this from the beginning. This means you’regoing to have to learn everything you can about what it means to be a Guardian,and then move out into the school like an evangelist to explain why they’rehere. You’ll have to persuade, enlighten, and show them by example why theyshould listen to you. And, by the way, it certainly doesn’t help your causewhen people replace out you were put in detention on your first day.”

Anna looked scandalized. “Waita minute…” she said, ready to argue her side of what happened, but Karen cuther off again.

“And it doesn’t do any good forthe other students see you marched into Captain Dunning’s office under Crimsonescort.

“That’s not fair, Karen. Youdon’t understand what happened…”

“I don’t care what happened!I’m just telling you how it looks! And it looks really bad.”

Anna dropped her head indisgust. She remembered the stares she saw in the hallway the morning she wasarrested, and then realized what that must have looked like to the rest of thestudents. Anna stood staring at the floor between them.

“Listen,” Karen said, in a muchsofter tone. “I’ve known Eric for more than five years, and I’ve never seen himto do anything important without thought. But his leaving the Server Dynasty tofollow you to the Guardians has stunned this entire Hall. If you haven’tnoticed, everyone’s walking around in a state of shock around here. You have tounderstand, we expected Eric to be the next Student President and, not only didthat not happen, but we lost him to another Union altogether. Fortunately, Iknow him well enough to understand why he did it. His love for you and hissense of family honor are coming together here, and he’ll do anything to makesure that what you’ve started succeeds in the end. He’s sacrificed a lot foryou; don’t make what he’s done for the Guardians meaningless, and don’t let ourlosing him come to nothing important. There are a lot of us who care too muchabout Eric, and this school, to let you blow this thing off without a fight.You have to somehow show the rest of the students a reason to follow you.”

“But… how do I do that?” Annaprotested.

“I can’t tell you that, Anna,but it’s up to you to replace out. I personally think it has something to do withwho and what you are inside. Most of the oldest families in the Wizarding worldhave set the Grayson name apart with distinction. You have a proud familyhistory and an honorable heritage. Why is that? What makes the Graysons sospecial? Why is that name synonymous with honor and integrity?” Karen steppedforward and jabbed Anna in the chest. “If you look for the answers to thesequestions, I believe you’ll replace a strong starting point for the things youhave to do this year.” Finally, there was silence. For a long time, Anna stoodthere thinking about Karen’s words and advice.

“Well… I’ve said my piece, soI’ll leave you with an old Defender adage.” The Server Knightstraightened. “You have a job to do, Grayson. So –– get on it!” She turned andopened the door to leave.

“Karen,” Anna called to hersomberly. She looked up at the Knight, standing in the open doorway. “I don’tknow what to do… or… what I can say, except… well… thanks.”

The girl smiled. “No problem,glad I could help. Listen, you’ve already missed breakfast, and we’ll both belate for class if we don’t get going,” she reminded her. Anna nodded, grabbedher bag, and strode across the room to follow her into the hallway.

As Anna closed the door, thecounter above her head let out another loud dong. Anna looked up and watchedin stunned silence as the arm swung down from the number two to the numberthree.

Ka-chunk-ching!

Anna gasped as she watched thepurple message on the counter’s face brighten as it changed to read:

[Guardiansneeded to sustain the Union:]

[47]

“There you go…” Karen said,beaming with satisfaction. “You see what a little positive inspiration can do?”

“I don’t believe it!” Annasaid, looking quickly back at Karen. “There’s another Guardian at Castlewood!”

“Apparently so; must have justhappened.”

Anna couldn’t help smiling. “Iwonder who it is,” she said in disbelief.

They trotted down the emptystairs into the Server Hall and then finally parted to go their separate ways.

“See youlater!” Karen said gaily, waving back to Anna. Feeling somewhat emboldened bythe thought of a new Guardian in the castle, Anna suddenly had a thought.

“Hey – Karen!” The Knightturned. “Anything I can say right now to get you to walk through the Mirror ofEnlightenment again?”

Karen grinned. “Already did,”she replied, and then she pointed down at the embroidered stripes on hersleeve. “Still blue!” she said, proudly.

Anna smiled back. “Damn…”

“But I like your spunk,Grayson. Keep it up!” And with that, the Server Knight turned and walked away.