Anna Grayson and The Order of Merlin
Titan’s Tale

“That was incredible!” shoutedGwen, running over to Anna in the Server Tower that same evening.Anna was sitting by the fire, trying to use her homework as a way to forgetabout the duel with Debbie Dunning. Suddenly, a large group of Servers andArtisans came bursting through the tunnel doors. Laughing and talking gaily, itwas apparent that the dueling club had finally let out. “Anna, you’re a hero!”Gwen yelled out over the crowd.

“Way to go Grayson!” shoutedanother fifth-year boy, coming over to smack Anna on the back.

“Finally,” said a sixth-yeargirl, reaching in to shake Anna’s hand, “somebody put that awful Debbie Dunningin her place. You were positively brilliant!” Anna was both surprised andembarrassed by all the attention as the giant mob pressed in on her.

“Outstanding!”

“Unbelievably fast! I’ve neverseen anybody move that quick over the sand in the pit.”

“And did you see CaptainDunning’s face? Ohhh yeah! I’d give my gold fillings to see that sour pussevery day.”

Suddenly, another large groupof students came storming into the tower. Dueling club Defenders, Searchers,and Laborers were now crowding into the room.

“Over here!” Gwen yelled,waving the group over to them. “She’s over here!”

“Gwen, no! Oh my God!” Annagasped, as the huge multitude moved as one toward them.

“Where is she?” called a verylarge and burly seventh-year Laborer, pushing his way gruffly through thecrowd. He found Anna and hoisted her to her feet. “Let me be the first from my Union to congratulate the person who finally had enoughguts to fight and defeat the worse menace of Castlewood since Sugianto himselfroamed these towers.”

Everybody cheered and clappedas the giant boy lifted Anna high into the air and shook her gleefully. Anna,trying her best to construct a friendly smile, thought her teeth would rattleout of her head. She was finally set on her shoes again when several morestudents began pouring from of the Artisan and Server Halls, drawn out by allthe shouting in the tower. Word spread quickly throughout the Halls, and sooneven those who were not there to witness Debbie Dunning’s defeat by afirst-year were passing the story on to others.

“Speech!” someone yelled fromthe railing above. “Speech!” Gwen took this cue to stand on one of the coucheswhere she started to flap her arms to quiet the crowd.

“Let’s hear what our hero hasto say!” Gwen shouted over the near rioting throng.

Anna was shaking her head asshe tried to pull Gwen down. “What are you doing?” she said apprehensively.

“I’m trying to win over someGuardian recruits. Now shut-up while I set them up for you.” Anna tried toprotest, but Gwen was clearly enjoying the moment. She looked up and presenteda toothy smile to the crowd.

“The conqueror of thatdastardly ‘D’ is a little tired, so let’s give her a little encouragement tostand up and give us some insight on what it took to take down the beast ofCastlewood.” Everybody laughed and began to chant.

“Speech – Speech – Speech –Speech – Speech…” Anna, feeling very embarrassed, was hauled up by Gwen whilebeing shoved from the back by several others to stand. She looked over the seaof faces as Gwen waved at them to quiet.

“Umm,” Anna mumbled shyly, “I…ah… don’t know what to say, except… well…” she finally shrugged, “she had itcoming.”

“And how!” yelled a Searcherand everybody cheered. Gwen stood and, wrapping her arm around Anna’s shoulder,she turned to speak to the crowd again.

“Now… for those of you whodon’t understand why the Guardians are here, I hope what you saw tonight willembolden you to consider the ways you can help.” And like a traveling salesmanhocking some miracle tonic, Gwen launched into the most ambitious sales pitchfor the Guardians Anna had ever heard. She was forthright and very persuasive.She talked about the virtues of protecting the magical world from people likeDebbie Dunning and other dangerous elements like the type they all saw in the pit that evening. Gwen was magnificentand Anna stood next to her friend with marveled appreciation at her efforts onthe Guardian’s behalf.

“So — if you want to make adifference,” Gwen continued, “if you want to take a stand for what’s right inthe world, if you want to wear the coolest shade of purple since the robes ofHenry the Eighth, contact your favorite teacher and see what the Mirror ofEnlightenment has to say, because courage like this,” she pointed at Anna, “hasto be supported!” Loud applause filled the tower room as Gwen waved to thecrowd and then yanked up Anna’s wrist in triumph.

As the crowd cheered andclapped, Anna leaned sideways to whisper to her friend. “I’m not sure askingpeople to join the Guardians so they can smack their fellow students in thenose is what the Mirror of Enlightenment had in mind,” she said, worriedly.

Gwen looked at her and smiled.“Lets replace the fifty Guardians first — then we can figure out what to do withthem after they get here.” Anna thought she had a point. “For now, let’s stickwith the themes of truth, justice, and the Wizarding way. It sounds better onthe stump anyway.”

“What about you, old friend.When are you going to walk through the mirror for this noble cause?” Anna askedher challengingly. Gwen looked at Anna in shock.

“Me? Are you nuts? My parentswould kill me if they knew I was even thinking about leaving the Artisans,” shegrumbled fearfully from the side of her mouth, still smiling and waving at thecheering crowd.

Anna laughed. “You should workon a speech on how to stand up to your parents.” Anna grumbled back. She lookedout over the happy mob again. “Frankly, I think you’d make a better Guardianthan me.”

“Yeah, well… if it’ll get me adate with that blonde, sixth-year hunk standing next to you, I just might takethe chance.”

Over the next week, Annareceived dozens handshakes and thoughtful waves in the hallways of Castlewoodthan in the entire first two months put together. The experience made herrealize Debbie Dunning wasn’t just somebody she didn’t get along with; most ofher fellow classmates seemed to have a personal grudge to settle with theCaptain’s sister, which seemed to be satisfied in some strange way by Anna’sactions in the dueling hall. Little was seen of Debbie Dunning over the daysthat followed, but the captain made his branded loathing of Anna evident byassigning her to detention in the stables once more. Fortunately, Anna’s timewith Mr. Kingston and Swooper was so common these days that it was impossibleto tell where her willing stewardship ended and where Dunning’s punishmentbegan. Still, as the days passed, no new Guardians were announced.

TWO

A few days later, Eric waswalking his rounds in a remote section of the castle. The wind outside howled,rattling the windows as the first week of November brought with it an unusuallyearly winter flurry. Although most might call walking through the emptycorridors after curfew rather boring or maybe even a little frightening, thishad never been the case with Eric. He absolutely loved having this section ofthe castle to himself. After living in this magical place for more than sixyears, there was always something wondrous to see and learn within its stonewalls.

“Hello Barty,” said Eric. Hetossed a friendly wave to a large canvas in an ornate frame. The man in theportrait looked properly regal but, due to the late hour, was found leaning tothe side of his chair in a light doze. He startled at Eric’s voice.

“Huh? What — What?” he said,jerking up straight. “Oh… it’s you Grayson. Off on… your… rounds… I see?” hesaid, yawning widely.

“Yes, sir,” Eric replied with asmile. “See any students sneaking about tonight?”

“No… all is as it should bethis time of night –– quiet. I think everybody has properly reported to their…”A sharp clang echoed from the end of the corridor, which cut Barty’s sentenceshort.

Eric turned to look and thenfrowned. “Who’s there?” he called, looking for any movement at the end of thelong hallway. He heard a thump, as if something heavy had been dropped on thefloor.

“Well…” said Barty from hisframe, “it looks like somebody might be out of bounds after all.”

“Hello? Is somebody there? Allstudents should have reported to their Union Halls by now. You are out ofbounds after curfew.” Eric stopped to listen, but there was no reply. “That’sstrange,” he said, looking back at the portrait. “I wonder who it could be.”

“Perhaps a teacher,” said theportrait, stretching and then yawning again.

Eric thought. Yes… Isuppose… but why wouldn’t they answer? “Well, I’d better check it out.Goodnight, Barty!”

“Take care, Eric,” said Barty,leaning on his hand again to resume his repose, and Eric gave a friendly waveas he ambled down the corridor.

When he reached the end, Ericscanned the halls to his left and right; all was quiet, but he did noticesomething lying in the center of the floor by his feet. It was an old book, itsedges yellowed and uneven due to the castle’s gnawing silverfish. Frowning,Eric picked up the book and wiped away the graying dust from its cover. UnsolvedMurders in the Wizarding World.

“That’s strange… I wonder…”

Suddenly there was a crash.

“Who’s there?” Eric yelped.“It’s well passed curfew. Show yourself!” Nobody did. He set the book down on atable against the wall and started down the empty corridor in the direction ofthe sound.

Suddenly he saw something thatmade his heart stop. The torches at the end of the passageway had abruptly andinexplicably gone out, and the end of the long, stone corridor was now shroudedin complete darkness. The sight of it was eerie, and projected from within itsshadows an unwelcome sense of coldness, like the entrance of some forbiddencave. If just one of the torches had gone out it might have given Eric barely amoment’s pause, but he could see the snuffed smoke of both torches now pouringout of the shadows on either side of the corridor away from him.

“Hello?” Eric called out,uneasy this time. Two more torches blew themselves out a few doors closer towhere he stood, but before Eric could think what would cause such a thing tohappen, another set, closer still, flickered and then died. The darkness seemedto be crawling its way toward him. Eric took a step back from the approachingshadows. Another set of torches started to sputter and then went out. He turnedto look down the hallway in the opposite direction and was shocked to see thetorches there also beginning to fail. The darkness was now closing in from bothdirections.

“What the hell?” He snapped hiswand forward. “Who is it?” he yelled, pointing his wand at the approachingblackness. And then he heard it; a soft and airy voice that seemed to seep fromout of the gloom.

“Errrrrrriiiiiiiiccc.”

A cold shiver ran down theGuardian’s back. “Who’s there?” he shouted, stepping boldly toward the creepingdarkness. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the last two torches on hisleft and right start to flicker and weaken. “Uh-oh…” he whispered, ominously.The torches suddenly went out with a sharp snap.

“Lumos!” The light from Eric’s wand split thedarkness, shining bright in a sphere surrounding him.

“Errrrrrriiiiiiiiccc,” sighedthe voice again. It seemed to come from the darkness just out of his wand’slight. Eric stepped forward again.

“Yes?” He said, trying his bestto sound casual.

“Heeeelllpp meeee.Pweeeeeaaassseee, Errriiiccc, help… me…”

“Who are you? What do youwant?” Eric barked, squinting hard to see more clearly through the darknessahead of him. “Show yourself — please.”

The voice began to fade.“Heeeelllpp meeeeee.”

There was something in the purrof the voice; something Eric thought strangely familiar, almost recognizable inits timbre. “Wait!” Eric ran forward into the darkness. He could hear thefaintest of footsteps running just ahead of him now. Somebody was there, tryingto get away. Eric sped forward, the light of his wand flashing ahead as he ranuntil he came upon another split in the corridor. He ran headlong into a tableat the tee, falling with a loud crash to the floor.

“Ouch! Damn it!” He got to hisfeet, listening to hear in which direction to follow. All was quiet again.

“ERIC!”

Eric wheeled around and pointedhis wand’s light at the voice next to him. It was another painting, this timeof a woman sleeping with a dog on her lap, and then a man suddenly stepped intothe frame.

“Barty!” Eric barked, loweringhis wand. “What the devil are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry, my boy, but I had tofollow after hearing the voice.”

“You heard it too?”

“Of course… I…” There wasanother thump in the hallway behind him. Eric turned and pointed his wand intothe darkness again.

“Eric, why are all the torchesout? I don’t like this,” Barty whispered. Suddenly, they could hear footstepsrunning down the hall once more.

“There! Stop!” Eric yelped,pointing the way.

“I’ll go ahead of them throughthe portraits,” Barty said quickly, “I can certainly make it to the end of thehallway quicker then our mystery guest.”

“Good idea, Barty.” Ericreplied, grateful for the help.

“I’ll meet you at the end,”grinned the man in the painting.

Eric waved and then took offagain. As he ran, Eric could hear Barty entering and exiting paintings down thehallway in front of him. A woman in one of the portraits screamed.

“Sorry, Isabel,” said Bartysomewhere ahead of him. Eric came to another tee in the darkness and stopped.

“Barty! Where are you, Barty?”

“Ah-ha!” yelled Barty’s voicefrom out of the darkness to his left. “Great Scott! You’re not a student… whatare you doing?” Eric heard a loud bang and then a thud.

“Barty!” Eric ran forward.

At the end of the hall, hefound a portrait lying in the middle of the floor. The man named Barty lookedlike he was unconscious within the frame. Eric picked up the painting andleaned it respectfully against the wall. “Barty! Are you all right? Who was it,Barty? Who attacked you?” But the man’s eyes were closed, his head lulled over toone side.

“Errrriiiicc,” came the wispyvoice behind him. “Help-meeee-peeeeease.”

Eric turned angrily this timeand ran toward the voice again. He heard a door fly open against its stops andthen footsteps running down a flight of stairs. There was something strangeabout them. The feet were almost too quick, too light to be human. Their faintslapping sound gave him the impression of a small child trying to escape. Ericfound a gap of light behind a door slowing closing and threw it back hard oncemore to follow. The steps lead to a bright underground tunnel. He knew thisplace; it was the tunnel connecting the castle to the Server Tower.As Eric entered the passageway, he could hear the far-off footsteps echo theirslapping sound preceding him.

“Stop! Stay where you are.Stop, I say!” Eric screamed as he pelted down the tunnel in hot pursuit.

Suddenly, about halfway throughpassageway, all of the torches instantly blew themselves out. Eric slid to astop, pointing his wand forward.

“Lumos!”

“Cooommme…” beckoned thesinging voice again ahead of him. Eric was shocked at how close the intruderseemed to be. “We must reach… the other tonight,” it said, fading off, “theother Guardian… is waiting.” Eric’s eyes widened.

“The other? You mean Anna? Why?Is she in trouble? Who are you?” He could hear the footsteps running again.

“We must… replace thefirrrrrsssst,” called the intruder, and Eric thought he heard the sound ofsomething evil giggling in the thing’s voice as it fell away from him. Ericchased the footsteps to the end of the tunnel and finally to the massivedouble-doors, the entrance to the Server Tower. The doors wereclosed, locked tight. Eric pounded on the heavy, wooden planks.

“Why are these doors locked?”he yelled. “Open up. Open them, I say!” Eric stepped back and pointed his wand.“Alohomora!”The lock clicked and the doors instantly swungthemselves open. To his astonishment, Eric saw something he had never seenbefore in all his years at the school. The tower room was completely dark.

“Whatthe hell? Hello? Where is everybody? Where are the guards?” he yelled.

“You found me, Guardian,”another voice whispered behind him.

Eric whipped about, the glow ofhis wand lighting the face of the person standing there. In the eerie glare, herecognized the person staring back at him. “Anna?”

“Hello big-brother. Have a nicerun?” The lights suddenly burst to bright all around them.

“SURPRISE!!!”

To Eric’s utter amazement,there were at least a hundred people standing and smiling at him in the towerroom. Gabby, the Grayson house elf, was wheezing from an apparent lack ofbreath at Anna’s feet.

“HAPPY-BIRTHDAY-ERIC!!” yelledthe crowd in unison. Eric gawked in complete disbelief as the crowd around himbegan to clap and cheer.

“What the…?” Eric mumbled, smilingstupidly as Karen Scott stepped in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Eric,” shesaid, happily.

“What’s all this?” he said,still shocked by the huge crowd now pushing an extremely large and candle litcake into the room.

“Cheers, Eric!” called severalof his friends, who were grabbing butter beers from one of many trays heldaloft by empty suits of armor. They raised their drinks from the student-packedrailings above him.

“It was all your sister’sidea,” Karen said, pointing an accusatory finger Anna’s way. “She made all thearrangements and then everybody pulled together to keep it quiet.”

Eric beamed. “Well I wouldnever have thought it possible to keep a secret this big quiet within the wallsof Castlewood,” he said laughing, stowing his wand away and gratefullyaccepting the butter beer pushed into his hand. “Oh my…” Eric murmured, as morepeople stepped from out of the shadows. The Student President Nancy Dodimayerstood next to Lieutenant Hayman, and several other Crimson Guards that Ericknew came forward flanked by Tencha and Dowla, all were clapping with the rest.All of the school’s Knights were present, together with dozens of Eric’sseventh-year classmates. Doctor Pearl stood next to Jeremiah Kingston, who wasstill wearing the bibs from his day’s work in the stables, and severalpaintings had been hung in the tower room to allow some of the residentportraits to join in on the fun. Eric saw a familiar face trying to hide to theside of one of the frames.

“Barty!” Eric yelped, stridingover to the painting disbelievingly. The man Eric thought he had leftunconscious didn’t look any worse for wear. “Barty — don’t tell me you were inon this too?” The man’s normally stiff and proper stature suddenly fell absentas he tried to explain.

“Ah… yes… well, you see,Grayson, I was approached by your sisters and recruited… all be it reluctantly,mind-you, to… ahh… well… participate in a bit of pleasant mischief.”

“Ha-ha-ha. Very good, Barty.Remind me to send you out for a good cleaning before my next shift.” Severalportraits began to laugh, but Barty looked worried.

“And I suppose one of my otherso-called friends was responsible for the torches going dark in the hallways?”Eric observed disdainfully, as Anna pulled him back into the center of the roomagain. Suddenly all of the torches bloomed in the tower room, flickeredbriefly, and then snuffed themselves out. The entire tower was cast intodarkness once again. There were a few unexpected yelps from the crowd as avoice rattled forth from out of the shadows.

“No… that… was my doing,”something grumbled. Two of the torches popped on again to reveal the Dark Art’steacher, Professor Van Doorn, walking forward draped from head to toe in herusual black. Professor Titan was on her arm. “Childish –– yes,” a far off wailcould be heard yowling somewhere outside, “but satisfyingly effective, no?” shesaid with a hiss.

“Yeah… well… thanks for that––” Eric replied sardonically. “Nearly sent me diving out the window infright.” Everybody chuckled amusingly as Professor Van Doorn bowed beforewaving her wand again and the torches in the tower room burst into light oncemore.

“And was that you I was chasingup there in the dark?” Eric asked, looking down at Gabby.

“I is…” the elf stammered,hiding behind one of Anna’s legs, “doing what Iz can to helwp...” Eric stoopeddown to pick up the elf and then placed her on his hip like a child of two.

“You’re a lot faster than youlook, elf!” he said with a smile and then kissed Gabby hard on the cheek. Thecrowd howled with laughter.

Soon the party was a frenzy ofloud music and merry-making, and Eric and Anna were passing out squares of cakewhile several of the Artisans strummed out the most popular tunes of the day.Gwen and Stephan Durkin started dancing and were soon joined by several othercouples. Eric tried to admonish Anna and the twins for their role in theevening’s deception, but was soon too busy unwrapping a mountain of gifts togive any impression of being truly upset by their actions.

“Still,” Eric said, smilinggratefully, “you shouldn’t have bothered. With all your studies...”

“Oh shut up and open this one,”Anna snapped back, handing her brother another gift. “It’s from me.” Ericquickly tore away the wrappings to reveal a very thick book entitled, TheCare and Treatment of Uncommon Magical Creatures.

“Thanks,” he said, hugging hissister. “Oh look,” he quipped, raising the heavy tome over Anna’s head, “allthe better to pound you with.”

Anna smiled back and thenkissed Eric on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, big-brother.”

“And you. It’s your birthdaynext week as well, you know, but I really don’t think I can top this,” Ericsaid apologetically, motioning to the party going on around them. “But maybe Ican get Captain Dunning to help me replace a couple of ogres in the dungeons tochase you about the castle.”

Anna smirked. “Yeah, I’m surehe’d be more than happy to help you with that,” she replied scathingly.

Smiling, Eric put an arm aroundAnna’s shoulder and cautiously led her away from anybody who might hear them.“And speaking of birthdays,” he said, in a hushed voice, “have you given anythought to the question you’re going to ask that scope of yours?” Annahesitated.

The fact was she had thought oflittle else as her birthday approached. She knew, of course, what question herbrother would have her ask the Verosapt:Who was the person with Victoria that night in his bedroom? But there wereseveral other questions that seemed just as important to her right now. Whowere her mother and this person looking for?Who was the ghost that hadcome to visit Anna twice before she left for Castlewood, and why did it attackher father? Who was it that hadmurdered this phantom when they were alive, and why did they do it? Whowas the evil one that the mirror said had altered her at birth? Howwould they do such a thing and… for what purpose?And in what way was shealtered?

Yes… she had questions, lots of them. But there was one questionthat always haunted her more than any other; one question she always foundherself searching an answer for even when she was a small child. How did hermother really die? But to ask such a question when she already had theanswer given to her by her father seemed almost, should she say it… rude.Wouldn’t asking something like this be admitting she didn’t believe her fatherwas telling her the truth? And what if the answer was just as simple as herfather had said? Then she will have wasted the opportunity to ask somethingalmost as important. Anna looked up at her brother.

“I haven’t decided what to askyet,” she said honestly and, to her great relief, she saw Eric smile.

“I suppose that’sunderstandable, given what’s been going on around here lately,” he said,knowingly.

“Eric ––” Karen Scott steppedin to join them. “Sorry Anna, but some of the other Knights wanted to get apicture of all of us together. Who knows when we’ll be in a casual setting likethis again?”

“Do you mind?” Eric asked, withan obligatory nod toward a group of Knights waving him toward them.

“Of course not — you go ahead,”Anna whispered, somewhat relieved she didn’t have to discuss the subject of theVerosapt more.

As Karen playfully shunted Ericaway, Anna sank blissfully back into a quiet corner near one of the manyfireplaces ablaze and crackling around them.

“Quite a party, aye?” said ahappy voice next to her.

“Oh… hello Professor Titan, Ididn’t see you there. Yes, I think we were able to pull it off successfully,”Anna observed with a sigh of relief. Anna watched in amusement at severalKnights posing with Eric, some with their wands at his throat as if holding hima prisoner. She suddenly remembered something and frowned as she turned againto the teacher.

“Professor, can I ask you aquestion?”

“Of course, my dear,” Titanreplied, pleasantly watching some of the dancers. “Easy on your partner’s feetthere, Riggins,” the teacher chuckled at one of the boys leading a dark hairedgirl on the dance floor. He took another sip from his short glass and thenlooked at Anna as he swayed appreciatively to the music.

“Um, well… on the first day ofclass you were inspecting our wands, and you said something that sounded likeyou had seen my wand before. You said, ‘It was nice to see it again’?”Anna said, cocking her head to frown up at him.

Titan looked at her somewhatsurprised. “What? Oh… you mean the Victoria Jennings’ purple heart?”

Anna’s jaw dropped. “How didyou know my wand belonged to my mother?”

Titan smiled down at her. “Mydear, I come from a family of old Welsh wand makers, going back hundreds ofyears. You could say wands are in my family’s blood. But I must admit, before Imet your mother, I had never seen another wand quite like the purple heart. Oneof a kind, that is.”

“What? Are you saying… you knewmy mother?” Anna replied, in shocked surprise.

“Knew her? Of course I knewher. We went to school here at Castlewood together. For a time, I can proudlysay, Victoria allowed me the pleasure of hercompany almost constantly,” he informed her, brightly.

“Really? Are you saying… thatyou… and my mother, dated?” Titan looked at Anna, the eyebrow that usually heldhis monocle rising high on his forehead. Anna realized that her reaction mighthave inadvertently sounded contemptuous.

“Sorry, it’s just that… I knowso little about my mother’s life. It’s always a surprise whenever I hearsomething about her.” Titan seemed surprised, but then he smiled kindly.

“It’s not my place tounderstand why that would be, but I’m sure your father has his reasons, and itprobably has something to do… well… with Victoria’sunexpected passing.” The professor looked suddenly sad. “Some wounds take alifetime to heal, I’m afraid. The news of your mother’s sudden death was a blowto many of us who cared about her.” Anna smiled again, but then quickly movedto harvest as much information from the man as she could.

“Could you tell me more aboutmy mother? It’s so rare for me to meet somebody who actually knew her.”

Titan seemed to be evaluatingher. “Well… it might not be my place to…”

“Please?” Anna pleaded, placingher hand gently on his forearm. “Your memories are yours to freely share,right?” Titan thought for a moment, and then motioned for her to sit on thecouch near the fire. Anna sat as Titan lowered himself with a heavy groan intoa chair next to her, his huge bulk sinking deep into the cushions. He pausedagain. Taking the monocle out of his pocket, he began to clean it with thesleeve of his robes.

“Victoriawas a beautiful woman,” he began, with just a hint of longing still lingeringin his voice. “And I don’t mean just physically. Your mother had a genteelquality that could make a stranger feel comfortable to be around her. In a word— gracefulness.” Anna smiled.

“I met Victoriain my first year here at the school; we all arrived together –– me, Boris, Victoria,and of course Leola.” Anna’s eyes widened.

“Leola? You mean LeolaGrayson?”

“Well, in my day, we knew heras Leola Vaughan,” Titan explained. “Your father and Victoria arrived togetherat Castlewood, of course.” He chuckled. “They looked more like brother andsister than two people from separate families. Two pees in a pod, those two;they were never apart.”

“Are you saying my mother andfather knew each other before they came to Castlewood?” Anna asked him insurprise.

Titan looked amusedly at her.“Knew each other?” he laughed. “They had known each other ever since they werechildren. Grew up right next to one another on that precipice of yours,overlooking the sea in California.Next door neighbors for generations.”

“What? The Jennings family lived on Grayson hillsomewhere? But… where? The Jenningsaren’t there now.”

“That is because Victoria’s father passed away when she was a baby, andher mother died in her fifth year while she was here at school. Her mother leftthe Jennings estateto Victoria, their only child.” Professor Titan could see how confused Annalooked. “You really don’t know that much, do you?” He paused to think. “Allright then –– let’s see. The Graysons and the Jennings both occupied the hill we now knowas the Grayson estate. Boris and Victoria were born the same year, and theirfamilies were very close as the children grew up. That’s why Boris and Victoriaarrived at Castlewood together.

“Then Victoriamet Leola in one of her classes, and the two became very close friends. Infact, it was through their friendship that Boris was introduced to Leola in thefirst place, and the two started dating seriously in their fourth-year. I beganspending a lot of time with Victoria thefollowing year. Your mother was an accomplished student, and she was willing tohelp me when I found myself struggling with my O-W-Ls.” Anna knew O-W-Ls were OrdinaryWizarding Level tests all the students had to take in their fifth year. “Westarted talking about our families and, before long, I was lucky enough to callupon Victoria nearly every day.” Anna wasenthralled by the thrill of this new information. She sat mesmerized as Titancontinued.

“To nobody’s surprise, Borisand Leola announced their plans to be married a little while after they leftCastlewood.”

“So… what happened between youand my mother?”

Titan’s face suddenly fell ashe reached up to wedge the monocle into his eye. “Well… it just didn’t workout. Victoria wanted to return to the Jennings estate, ofcourse, and I planned to continue my studies here at Castlewood to be ateacher,” he explained, somberly. “I know that sounds sad, but at the time itwas an easy decision for the two of us to make. She was the only Jennings left to care forher ancestral home, and Boris and Leola were right next door on the same hillafter they were married. Your brothers and sisters were born over the yearsthat followed, and Victoria and Leola continued their close friendship right upto the time of the accident.”

Anna suddenly had an ill feelingof shame spilling over her. Many were the times she felt angry whenever she sawLeola Grayson’s portraits at the manor. Those paintings seemed to present awoman so cold and unwelcoming to her, but now she knew better. Anna lowered herhead, trying to replace comfort with the knowledge that her mother had such a goodfriend in her father’s first wife.

“Leola Grayson must have been avery nice person for my mother to…wait a minute.” Anna looked up in surprise atProfessor Titan. “But how could they have been friends up to the time of theaccident? Leola was dead more than two years before I was born.” Titan screwedup his face trying to understand Anna’s question. Finally, he seemed tocomprehend what she was saying.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I wasn’treferring to Victoria’s accident. I wastalking about the accident at the Grayson estate that took Leola’s life.”

“Oh ––” Anna said in surprise.She frowned curiously. “I… never actually knew how Leola Grayson died. Whathappened?”

“Very sad… really. Apparently,Leola was walking on the grounds somewhere near the cliffs at night when sheaccidentally fell. Her wand was found at the cliff’s edge near where shetripped.” He sighed regretfully. “Terrible thing. If she had held on to herwand, she could have easily saved herself, but… well. Poor Boris; for a man tolose his wife so early in life was bad enough, but to have it happen again twoyears later with Victoria… I honestly don’tknow how your father ever made it through those dark days.”

“I… never knew,” Anna said sadly,looking over at Eric who was laughing with several of his friends. “I guess Ijust never thought…”

“Your brother Damon was just afew months old when he lost his mother; nothing more than a baby, just likeyou,” Titan added somberly. Anna looked over at Damon, who was talking withProfessor Van Doorn in a private corner of the tower room. She found a strangefeeling of unexpected sympathy rolling over her. Titan was right, of course.Damon could never have remembered his mother either. Why had she, Anna, neverthought about these things before now?

“You children have doneextremely well, considering the challenges you had growing up without a mother.I always liked your father. Of course, I have a great deal of respect for whathe’s accomplished in his professional life, but it’s what he’s done with hischildren, despite his personal loses, that make Boris Grayson a trulyremarkable man.” Titan settled back in his seat to continue his story.

“After Leola died, we saw alight of hope for Boris and the children, because, of course, Victoriawas right there to step in and support them. Both Boris and Victoria wereabsolutely devastated by Leola’s death, and it was a good thing they had eachother to sustain their faith for the children’s sake. Professor Thordarson andI visited Boris after the funeral, and I’ve never seen a man so distraught andlost in life.” Titan removed his monocle unnecessarily to clean it once again.After rubbing the lens and peering through it at the fire, he placed it intohis eye again to continue.

“Victoriawas a saint. Exactly the right person at the right moment to step in and insurethe children were cared for, while Boris took the time he needed to recoverfrom his loss. Did you know Victoria wasliving at the Grayson estate at the time of the accident?”

“Oh?” Anna said, in surprise.“Why was that?”

“Fire,” Titan repliedmatter-of-factly. “The Jenningsestate burned to the ground just a few months before Leola’s accident. It wassomething of a miracle that Victoria survivedthe blaze. She was asleep when the fire started, and was very lucky to make itout alive.”

“But… that’s… that’s terrible,”Anna moaned, glancing over to stare at the burning embers in the fireplace nextto them.

“Yes… Victoriahad lost her home, and was beside herself with grief. She blamed herself forthe accident, confessed she left a candle burning on her nightstand. Boris andLeola took her into their home immediately, of course, but the historic old Jennings’ estate was lostforever.”

Anna laid her head back on thecouch to think and then, quite suddenly, something obvious dawned on her. “Holdon…” she said, jerking up. “I know the place you’re talking about. I’ve seenit. There’s a burnt structure on the other side of the estate that I visit fromtime to time while riding on the grounds. The remains of the Jennings’ estate are still there!”

“Really?” Titan said insurprise.

“Yes. It’s a wonderful place.It must have been glorious before the fire,” Anna observed, and an overwhelmingsense of realization began to flood over her mind. So many times she had foundherself sitting by the trees, looking into the ruins of what she now understoodto be her mother’s ancestral home.

Anna looked back up at Titan.“So what happened after Leola passed away?”

“Ah… well, I think you probablyknow the rest of the story. After about a year of living together at theGrayson estate, I guess it was inevitable that Boris and Victoria would fall inlove and marry. To tell you the truth, I always suspected it would turn out thatway in the end,” Titan added, shrewdly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well — as I said — Victoriaand I were very close the last couple of years here at the school. When weparted, she told me she wanted me to come with her to California and carry on with my studies outthere, but I knew it wouldn’t work out. I knew we really didn’t have a futuretogether,” the man explained somberly.

“Why was that?”

Titan looked at heruncomfortably. He seemed to be struggling with something very private,something he had never repeated to anybody before this night. Anna thought helooked resigned to keeping his feelings a secret, and was surprised when hewent on to explain.

“When two people are togetherfor as long as Victoria and I were, after spending that much time getting toknow somebody to the extent that we did, a man can always tell the truth aboutsuch things.” He paused, and then, looking back at Anna, he said, “Victoria always loved Boris,” he confided to her warmly.“Oh they might have come here acting like the best of friends, but I know itwas never really true for Victoria. I believeshe loved your father from the time they were children.” The man almost seemedto catch himself thinking out loud, and then quickly moved to recover. “Don’tget me wrong, I know for a fact that Victoriawas very happy for Boris and Leola when they decided to get married. I believeshe was thrilled at the thought of her two closest friends starting a familytogether. But deep down, I knew the truth. She really loved your father, and Iknew even if she wouldn’t admit it to herself that she could never be trulyhappy with me.”

For a time the room seemedquiet to Anna and Titan, even though the party around them was clearlyapproaching a near riotous level. Finally, Professor Titan seemed to snap tolife again. “So! Things did work out just as I thought they might. After atime, Boris began to realize what he had in Victoria,and found the courage to ask her to marry him.” He smiled broadly. “And what acelebration that was. Everybody was so happy for the two of them. After whathappened to Boris and the children in losing Leola, not to mention Victoria losing her home, everything seemed to be rightwith the world again. Then, of course, we heard that Victoriawas pregnant, and we started to believe the best was yet to come from these twowonderful people.”

Titan’s infectious smile slowlydropped as the inevitable reality of the rest of the story came into his mind.The rest of Titan’s tale unsaid saddened Anna, and the two sat together lookingat the fire in somber reflection. It was a strange moment, the two of themthinking about the life they could have shared with a woman already departed.

Anna looked at Titan andsmiled. “Thank you,” she said, meaningfully.

He looked at her. “For what, mydear?”

“For sharing your memoriesabout my mother with me.”

The man grinned broadly at her.“You know… you look so much like Victoria,” hesaid thoughtfully. “More than your wand, it’s very nice to be reminded of herby your presence here at the school.” Anna smiled as the two shared anotherquiet moment by the warm fire.

“Well!” the man said, heavinghimself up to stand. “I have to prepare for Monday’s lessons, so I’ll saygoodbye to your brother and be off. Thank you for the invitation, Miss Grayson,”he said, bowing respectfully, “and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”

He left Anna sitting on thecouch staring at the fire, her mind numb from the flood of information spinningaround in her head. After a few moments of private reflection, Stephan Durkincame over to join her.

“Great party, Anna. I feel likeI’ve made the ‘A’ list. Thanks for inviting me.” Anna looked up and smiled. Inthe warm glow of the firelight, Stephan looked very handsome. His straight,rugged chin and dark, wavy hair fell into sharp relief in the light, and Annareceived an unexpected sense of delight as he rounded the end of the couch tosit next to her.

“Oh… no problem, I’m glad youcould come,” Anna said nervously.

“Why are you sitting here byyourself?” he asked her.

Anna smiled. “Professor Titanwas just filling me in on some old family history. It turns out he went toschool with my parents.”

“Excellent! Did he give you anygood rot you can use in the event you get into trouble at home? It’s alwaysnice to have a ‘but you did it too’ excuse when you replace yourself in ajam,” he said jokingly. Anna giggled, but then caught herself looking aroundfor Gwen.

“No, not really. Just filled ina few gaps for me is all,” she explained.

Stephan nodded. “I wanted tocongratulate you on making the Vollucross team. You were excellent at thetryouts.”

“Oh… thanks. Of course, itwasn’t too difficult to make the Guardian team when there are only three of usin the Union.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.Doctor Pearl is very strict about who’s allowed to compete. She calls it her flyingstandard,” he said, rolling his eyes mockingly. “If nobody from aparticular Union can achieve the standard,then that Dynasty won’t be allowed to compete. I should know,” he saidmournfully, “I’ve never been good enough to make the roster.”

Anna smiled. She really likedthe way Stephan could openly admit his faults. Knowing he was an excellentstudent and excelled in nearly everything else he did at the school somehowmade his confessions of weaknesses charming to her.

“Oh well,” he said with a heavysigh, “there’s always next year. One day, with a lot of practice and hard work,I’ll get there.”

“I’m sure you will,” Anna saidencouragingly.

“Hey — you’re not trying tosteal my man are you, Grayson?” Gwen quipped, walking around the couch to giveStephan a quick peck on the cheek. Sarah Bell was following her.

Anna laughed nervously.“Wouldn’t think of it. I still don’t have a properly practiced spell I can usein my defense, remember?” she added, echoing the words of the portrait overseerfrom the dueling hall. Gwen laughed. She was still clearly basking in the gloryof Debbie Dunning’s defeat.

“Oh that was so great!” Gwensaid meaningfully. “You guys should have been there.” And for the hundredthtime that week, Gwen recounted the intricate details of Anna’s duel with thecaptain’s sister. “And you should have seen Captain Dunning’s face. You couldhave cooked eggs on his forehead, he was so mad.” They all laughed. “I hopeProfessor Bots comes back soon. The class was much more fun when he was ourdueling instructor,” Gwen finished.

“I don’t think that’s going tohappen,” Stephan countered. “He’s still hard at work bringing the TriwizardTournament to Castlewood.” He leaned in. “Did you guys hear what happened atHogwarts over the Halloween holiday?”

“What happened?” asked Gwen,sitting down next to Stephan and wiggling a shoulder affectionately under hisarm.

“Well –– remember the newspaperI showed you had said the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were supposeto arrive at Hogwarts to select their champions for the tournament?”

“Oh yeah,” said Gwen, whoseemed overly interested in the boy’s every word. “So when are we going to seesome Triwizard action out of England?”

“The action, as you correctlyput it,” Stephan said, glancing at Gwen, “has already started with somecontroversy.” The group leaned forward to hear the news from overseas. “Itseems the Ministry officials running the tournament ran into some trouble whenthey went to choose their champions. They were using a very old and magicalobject to help them select the most qualified students. The object was calledThe Goblet of Fire.”

Anna’s mind immediately startedto swim with the possible images of the Goblet of Fire. She pictured a woodencasket encrusted with set jewels, and a wooden cup billowing blue-white flames.

“The goblet,” Stephancontinued, “was supposed to choose one representative from each of the threeschools to compete.”

“The three champions,” Sarahadded.

“That’s right. But somethingwent wrong, because the Goblet actually ended up choosing four champions… twofrom Hogwarts.”

“Well that doesn’t seem veryfair,” Gwen complained. “Why should one of the schools get to have twochampions?”

Stephan looked at them andsmiled. “That’s what the administrators from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons said aswell. It seems their governments are very upset about this turn of events.”

“Can’t say I blame them,” Annasaid, frowning. “Why don’t they just make Hogwarts choose one of their two championsto compete and leave it at that?”

“Well that’s the thing. It’snot up to them to decide who competes. Apparently, if the Goblet of Firechooses you, it represents some kind of binding magical contract. The fourchampions are now forced to compete in the tournament… whether they want to ornot.”

“But that’s not fair,” Gwenrepeated.

“I know… but everyone’s sayingthey don’t have a choice now. The first task is going to be held in threeweeks.”

Gwen looked over at Anna andsmirked. “I guess that means Professor Bots will be too busy to watch over ourdueling club.” Anna nodded worriedly.

Stephan broke in again. “Butthat’s not all the news. Guess who got selected as the second champion fromHogwarts?” The three girls looked anxiously at him. “None other than HarryPotter.” Gwen and Anna looked stunned, Sarah perplexed.

“You mean, the-boy-who-lived?That Harry Potter?” asked Anna.

“Yeah,” Stephan said eagerly.He seemed to be relishing in the delivery of this unbelievable news.

“But isn’t he about our age?”asked Anna, scowling. “I thought the newspaper said they were only going toselect students who had come of age?”

“That’s right. There weresupposed to have been precautions taken to insure no students below the age ofseventeen entered their name into the Goblet of Fire,” Stephan explained.“Those in charge of the tournament are in chaos right now, because half of themare confused as to how the mistake could have happened, and the other half isupset because Hogwarts now seems to have an unfair advantage. But now thatHarry Potter has been selected as one of the four champions competing, thetournament has taken on a whole new level of excitement.”

“So when we see thistournament, we’ll get to see Harry Potter compete?” asked Gwen, a tone ofbuilding thrill invading her voice. Stephan nodded.

“Excuse me ––” Sarahinterrupted, “but… ah… who’s Harry Potter?” The other three looked at her insurprise.

“Who is Harry Potter?” Stephanbellowed. “Who is… you mean… you’ve never heard of Harry Potter and how hesurvived You-Know-Who?”

Sarah frowned. “You-Know-Who?”From the stunned faces staring back at her, Sarah could see she had once againexposed her lack of knowledge about the Wizarding world. “Sorry. Being thefirst witch in my family, there are many things about the magical world I stilldon’t understand.”

“No need to apologize, Sarah,”Gwen said, reassuringly. “It’s not necessary with us.”

After the initial shock thatsomebody at the school had never heard the story of Harry Potter, Stephan washappy to fill Sarah in on all the details. After telling her about theboy-who-lived, Sarah was appalled to hear about an evil wizard who had tried tokill a baby.

“So this Harry Potter,the-boy-who-lived, is going to compete in the tournament’s first task in threeweeks?”

“That’s right,” said Stephan,settling back into his seat. “And then afterwards… we’re going to watch Annacompete in her first Vollucross race.”

“What?” Anna yelped insurprise.

Stephan grinned. “The racingschedule was posted this afternoon in the Rotunda. Since England is fivehours ahead of us, the first task will take place at seven AM our time, andthey’re estimating it’ll take about two hours to finish. Since most of the townand nearly all of the students are going to be in the stadium anyway, DoctorPearl has decided to treat the school to our first round of Vollucross races aswell. Anna will be among the first groups to fly.” Anna smiled gleefully, whichdidn’t go unnoticed.

“Uh-oh, I can see thatcompetitive glint in her eye,” Gwen said jokingly, pointing at Anna. “Here’s toAnna’s first Vollucross win,” she said, raising her glass. “Cheers!” The grouptapped their glasses together. As they drank to Anna’s future success, astrange hush fell over the tower room and the music unexpectedly began to dieoff.

“What’s going on?” Anna said,getting to her feet. “Nancy Dodimayer said we could carry on with the partyuntil midnight.” Everybody looked around and instantly became aware of a mostamazing sight. Professor Thordarson had entered the tower room. He looked regalin robes of emerald green with gold embroidery, tapping his staff as he slowlywalked among them.

“Chancellor!” Eric said, inawed surprise. Setting his butter beer down, he hurried over to greet the headof the school. “This is an honor, sir.” Thordarson was smiling as he shookEric’s hand.

“Not at all. Indeed, the honoris all mine. I was very happy to receive Anna’s invitation earlier today. HappyBirthday, Eric,” Thordarson said kindly, patting him on the shoulder. Eric lookedat Anna with a disbelieving grin and found his sister smiling back at him.

“Thank you, sir,” said Eric.“Can I offer you refreshment?” he asked, motioning to the elf named Tisket, whohappily scampered over with a tray of drinks. Gabby also came bouncing upbehind him, hoisting up a plate of horsd'oeuvres.

“Oh — no, thank you. Actually,I can’t stay long. I have a fire chat scheduled with the Head Master ofHogwarts this evening about the Triwizard Tournament. Albus is never tardy, Imust be prompt. I just wanted to stop in and quickly pay my respects.”

“Thank you, Professor. Thankyou for taking the time.”

Thordarson smiled. “I do havetwo things to deliver to you before I leave,” the Chancellor said, rathermysteriously. He started to fumble within the pockets of his robes. “Now wheredid I put it? Oh dear… did I leave it…? Ah… here it is.” He pulled out a tinybox, no larger than a grape, wrapped in purple foil and a bow. With two longand very white fingers, he handed the box to Eric. “This… is from your father.He had planned to send it to you by owl, but I insisted he allow me to presentit to you properly.”

“Thank you very much,Professor, but you needn’t have gone to all the trouble.” The Chancellor humblywaved off whatever effort it might have been as Eric unwrapped the small boxand pinched open the lid. Several students gathered in close to see what mightbe inside the tiny package.

Eric looked up. “Empty,” hesaid uncertainly.

“Really?” Thordarson said,smiling. “Are you sure?”

Eric looked again. Indeed thebox looked completely empty; nothing inside its blackened depths. Suddenly Ericrealized that the box had no bottom, just a seamless cube of nothingness in thecenter of his palm. And then, unexpectedly, Eric noticed a speck of somethingmoving, slowly turning, inside the blackness of the box. The small bit of whitelight was now growing larger from within. A moment later, the dot, nowresembling that of a tiny hurricane, began to swirl and rotate, gathering morespeed by the second. As the storm enlarged, the sides of the little boxcontaining it split and were instantaneously sucked into the swirling mass nowraging the size of a large grapefruit in Eric’s palm. He slowly extended hishand away in proportion to the storm’s growing size, not knowing whether heshould drop the thing or throw it out the nearest tower window. Severalonlookers began to back away from him.

“You might consider settingthat down, Eric,” the Chancellor said amusingly. Eric didn’t need anypersuasion. He immediately walked to the center of the room where Anna joinedhim. He slowly set the raging storm down, which had now grown to the size of abeach ball. He then slowly backed away, resembling a man looking to be rid ofsome ticking time bomb.

“Eric — what is it?” Annaasked, looking at the object now spinning faster in the middle of the room,causing the air to blow around them. Bright flecks of lightning could be seenflashing out of the storm, which had now grown larger than the piano slidingaway from the pressure next to it. The storm began to wobble and then bounce upand down, looking like some living thing seething and pulsating angrily.

“I have no idea,” Ericadmitted.

Several students tried to speakover the wind now howling around them, which was whipping their robes and hairin a clockwise direction inside the tower room. The storm was now huge; thesize of a large automobile and, abandoning any remaining courage, the studentsin the room pressed themselves flat against the tower walls and squinted throughthe blowing, near blinding wind thrashing around them. Even ProfessorThordarson moved back to the edge of the circled room, but kept an amused grinplanted firmly on his face.

The hurricane continued togrow, now getting taller, before splitting itself in two. The two halves of thegale looked like growing tornados gyrating furiously, and emitting a purplishmist into the air around them. A loud and ugly roar was heard screeching fromone of the twisting giants whose rotation seemed to be slowing now, changinglike some mist-cloaked object walking out of the surface of the Mirror ofEnlightenment.

The second storm had ceasedrotating as well, and curled over onto itself as if bowing to the other. Itstraightened with a jerk and arched back to let out a roar so loud that thewalls of the tower room seemed to shake on its foundation. One of the Artisangirls let out a scream in reply. The two shapes were sprouting protrusions fromtheir backs, extending high into the ceiling and then curled down nearly to thefloor. Another limb seemed to eject itself from what one might likely call thebody of the thing. It elongated, wrapping itself around its body –– a tailperhaps. Anna’s eyes shot to the top of the body, expecting some kind of headto show itself and, sure enough, in the exact spot she was watching, anotherprotrusion blossomed there. Thick and long, it grew high toward the ceilingbefore sprouting two more appendages, like arms thrusting themselves forward,and now Anna knew exactly what the shapes were.

“Dragons!” she whispered outloud. Eric looked at her and then up again at the shapes now screeching andbellowing angrily at each another. He tilted his head to the side, trying torecognize what Anna was seeing through the cloudy haze, and now he could seethem too. Two enormous dragons suddenly appeared from out of the mist. Theirheads were stretching and forming fanged mouths, the elongated protrusions ontheir backs split themselves to create enormous, beating wings. Suddenly twomassive eyes opened to reveal white, boiling orbs that emitted smoke.

“Oh my God, they’re dragons!”somebody yelled from the crowd, and several students moved toward the doors ofthe tower room thinking to escape. The two dragons reared and bellowed; theirimages now clear for all to see. One of the beasts was black and the otherwhite, and they looked down upon the crowd below them with eager longing. Oneof the girls in the crowd screamed again, as the dragons bellowed fire downinto the crowd. But what should have created a stampede of terror toward thedoors suddenly did not, and an unexpected tranquility seemed to calm everybodywhere they stood. The crowd looked up in awe at the ferocious beasts that nowseemed to turn upon each other. They breathed fire, and took massive swipeswith their black talons the size of a man at one another. They fought savagely,their ghostly tails whipping across the floor and through the tower walls,striking each other where they could. Their powerful wings began to rise andfall, struggling to keep the heavy brutes aloft, while their scaled bodiesthrust themselves forward in deadly combat.

“They’ll destroy the castle!”somebody yelled, as the white dragon reared back and shot fire at the black.The black screamed in pain, and then lashed out with its knife-like claws. Thewhite bellowed in agony. Suddenly, something moved to separate them from theceiling. It was lowering itself between them as they continued to fight andbrawl. It was a massive sword. Turning and glinting, its steel shined bright,reflecting the blooming fireballs bellowed by the giants as its twin, razoredges slid down between them. Angry at the object now separating them, the twodragons seemed to turn on the sword. Thrashing and spitting fire at the steel,they howled angrily, trying to get at each other, but the sword would not allowtheir battle to continue. With one deafening and final roar, the two dragonsscreamed in utter frustration and then reared back as if to suck in all the airfrom the room around them. Their heads shot forward, blasting fire they hopedwould kill the other. The flames exploded in the center around the sword,filling the entire tower with a scorching heat that blinded those watchingbelow. Nearly everybody in the room dropped to the floor in fright.

Suddenly the tower was quietand the students gathered themselves to stand once again, surprised to bealive. The two dragons and the sword were frozen in mid air, rotating in acircle for all to see. The purple mist within the tower collected around thebeasts, and the dragons seemed to deflate and then flatten to face each other,the sword still between them. The scene became a massive tapestry stillrotating slowly above the crowd. The smoke finally cleared and everybody wasleft speechless at the wonderful, embroidered tapestry, twenty feet tall,suspended high in the tower room. A soft muffled clapping could be heard fromthe side, and everybody looked over to see Professor Thordarson smilingappreciatively up at the new hanging. The crowd smiled and then joined theChancellor with their applause.

“Amazing!”

“Incredible!”

“Wonderful!”

“It’s the Guardian crest!”

“That’s unbelievable!” said TJ,bouncing up and down and clapping madly.

“That’s daddy,” Anna said,leaning over to her brother who was clapping with the rest. Eric looked down atAnna, nodding a smiled reply.

“Our father isn’t known fordoing anything in a small way, is he?” he mused. Eric looked over at ProfessorThordarson and then turned serious. “Uh… sorry about this, Professor. I… guessmy father’s gift went a little overboard.”

The Chancellor moved to jointhem still smiling. “Not to worry, my dear boy,” he said, staring at thetapestry with delighted wonder. He leaned in. “Although I did think it best tocast a calming charm over the tower at the height of the battle,” he said,beaming through his dark spectacles. Eric and Anna remembered the feeling ofpeaceful tranquility floating over them just at the moment when they thought torun from the tower. They both smiled gratefully.

“Now,” Thordarson continued, “I must give youmy gift,” he said, looking again at Eric.

“Oh, but sir,” Eric replied insurprise, “you really didn’t have to bother…”

“Tut-tut,” Thordarson said,stopping him with a wave. “I must admit, however, that my offering cannot inany way surpass your father’s skill of the dramatic,” he said, pointing towardthe tapestry in the ceiling again. The crowd laughed. “In fact, I seem toremember that Anna’s birthday will soon be upon us as well. So let me allow yourattempts to dissuade my generosity to only go so far as to say that my gift toyou can certainly be shared.” Eric and Anna looked at each other and grinned.

Without another word, ProfessorThordarson turned and headed for the tunnel doors. Stopping a few feet fromtheir center, he waved his staff and the orb on top glowed briefly. The doorsclicked and slowly moved to swing open.

“You may come in now.”

The crowd gathered around theopening and watched as several other students began filing into the tower room.They marched in a straight line, shortest in the front, their heads ramping upto a huge senior classman bringing up the rear. They stopped and turned to facethe crowd, their faces hooded in black. Eric frowned as he inspected thisstrange sight, and then noticed the commonality that had brought the grouptogether there.

“Guardians!” Eric whispered.Anna pushed her way through the crowd and beheld an incredible sight. Twelvenew Guardians stood before them, wearing Union stripes of purple. “But how? Ishould have been told about this,” Eric said, disbelievingly. “I should havebeen informed.”

“That… was my doing,”Thordarson explained. “It would seem that after one particularly… ah… eventfulevening in the dueling hall last week, we received a flood of eager willingnessto reenter the Mirror of Enlightenment,” the Chancellor said amusedly. “Mystaff,” he said chuckling and shaking his head, “were quite overwhelmed by therush of so many willing to try. We decided to bring all those who wanted to reenterthe mirror in on a single night; this night, in fact. More than a hundredstudents entered, and now these courageous few have been moved into their newlodgings within the Server Hall.” Thordarson looked around at all the newGuardians surrounding him. “Oh dear…” he said worriedly, “at this rate, a newGuardian Hall must be aconsideration.” The crowd in the tower room began to cheer as each of the newGuardians lowered their hoods.

“John!” Eric yelled,recognizing the huge seventh-year boy at the end of the line. “Old man — whatare you doing here?” he said, walking over to shake the boy’s enormous hand.Anna recognized the student immediately. He was the burly Laborer who hadraised her high after her triumph over Debbie Dunning. Anna’s eyes began to wellwith tears.

“Oh, I couldn't let you Graysons graball the glory for yourselves,” the boy grunted, and then he grinned. “We'regoing to fight evil, aye?” he said, with a twinkle in his eye.

Eric’s face turned serious as heleaned in to whisper. “Yes… but we may also have to fight those seeking to stopevil at any cost.”

“HAH!” the giant bellowed. “The morethe better!” he said, smashing his massive fist into his palm. He reached downand grabbed Eric behind the neck and pulled their foreheads together. “We shalldo great things, Grayson; an army of warriors – ALL!”

Eric grabbed the brute’s boulder-likehead and pushed him back to stare up into his friend’s happy face. “Yes…my friend. With your brand of courage, we are truly formidable!”

One by one, each of the new Guardianslowered their hood and was recognized by the students within in the tower roomand Anna stepped in to shake each of their hands. When she got to the middle ofthe line, the person standing there hadn’t removed their hood.

“Hello,” Anna said anxiously, tryingto peek under the hood. “Anybody I know in there?” she said, extending out herhand to shake.

“I think so,” a quick andmuffled voice replied. Anna recognized the voice immediately, but couldn’tbelieve it unless she saw for herself. Anna reached up and yanked the back ofthe hood down to reveal the girl hiding there. Fine strands of blond hair fellout.

“GWEN!!”

Gwendolyn Reese smiled back ather best friend. “Got any room for a piano player in this club,” she saidhumorously.

On the fourth floor of theServer Hall, several girls had finished climbing the steps and turned as onetoward their rooms. They were stopped by the sudden, odd-sounding ka-chunk-chingover Anna’s door. They looked up to read the message:

[Guardiansneeded to sustain the Union:]

[35]