Zak Turner - A Twist In Time (32 page)

* * *

Sartrina had heard everything that Andra had heard, and was trembling with the same fear as she found herself running forwards to pull her friend away.  She grabbed Andra’s arm without looking into the room, and dragged her backwards down the passage.  The only thought in her mind was to get them away from the place, fast! 

‘As far away as possible!’ screamed a voice in her mind. 

Neither girl clearly recalled their flight from the horror of the cavern.  Their desperate panic to escape made them rush blindly through the secret passages and hurl themselves back through the false wall into the school.

White faced and trembling, they rushed across the courtyard and through the concealed entrance into Leo house.  The common room was almost deserted as they ran towards the door to the girl’s dorms, and up the stairs as quickly as they could, taking all the shortcuts they knew to get round the strange house, which was spread out along the castle walls, until at last they arrived in their own dorm which was, mercifully, empty.

They sat trembling together on Sartrina’s bed, arms round each other’s shoulders, hands clasped together, breathing deeply, trying to shake off the crawling fear that seemed to have followed them, and eventually Sartrina spoke.

“What on earth was that all about?!  I’ve never felt so scared in all my life!  And it all happened here in the school!”

“I’ve no idea.  Was it some kind of pagan curse he cast on Rufus?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve never studied anything about pagan magic Andra, nothing at all!  All I know is that Rufus didn’t want to do whatever just happened to him.  What did you see?”

“He was writhing on the floor as they tortured him, and then just before that evil feeling, his body twitched really violently and then went rigid and still, just before the voice spoke.  It looked like he might have been dead or something!”

“We need to tell Professor Pectus.  Straight away.  They might catch them as they come out of the secret passage and they can force Shaul to tell them what happened and undo it all.”

“There’s no undoing it Sartrina, I’m sure of that.  Rufus Logan just lost… his… his soul…”

Andra’s voice faded away as she struggled to speak the last three words, almost unable to believe what she was saying, but both girls had a horrible feeling it was true.

* * *

Sunday afternoon in Netherdale couldn’t have been more of a contrast to what was happening at Mhonarr Castle.  Zak had enjoyed a good morning’s football training, followed by a proper traditional family Sunday lunch, which had left him feeling relaxed and happy.

His mind ran over the previous afternoon when Steven had showed them his new wand and related his trip to Upper Nettleton.  Bjarne had provided most of the detail about the flight over the moor on the way home though, because Steven had been way too excited about his wand!

Tallion had showed Steven again how to use the wand pouch and fasten it to his leg, although Zak advised him to leave it at home during the week and not take it to school until he’d learnt a few defensive spells and could actually use it!  The happiness Zak felt, now that his long standing childhood friend could share his new life properly, was overpowering, and he simply couldn’t stop smiling. 

When Tallion arrived at The Copse in the early evening, they talked about it for a while before Jenny reminded them about school the next morning.  Zak realised that they’d missed some French homework, so they quickly sat down to do it, and were only just finishing as Jenny stuck her head back round the door and announced it was time for bed.

As sleep overcame the eleven-year-old a few minutes later, Zak’s mind went back to Steven, and he fell asleep dreaming of his friend.  His dream was a mixture of magical and non-magical life, and Steven even joined them at one point for half term at Mhonarr Castle!

* * *

Steven’s Sunday was full of farm chores, and he wasn't sure that he liked doing them on Sunday rather than Saturday.  He’d had to do all of his homework during the afternoon too, and he flopped on to his bed at seven o’clock feeling well and truly done for.  As he reviewed his very full weekend in his mind, he suddenly thought of Sartrina, and he smiled.  She needed to know about it too, and especially about his wand!

With a new lease of life, fuelled by happy thoughts of his girlfriend, he jumped up, grabbed his pen and paper, and started to write a letter.  He put his pen down half an hour later, and was shocked to find that he’d written six pages, more than he’d ever written before in a single sitting!

“I think I must be in love!” he murmured happily to himself, and stuffed the letter into an envelope ready to take to Zak’s house in the morning.

As he looked happily at his wand lying on his bedside table, he decided he needed to hide it.  Sure, it really did look just like a twig with a carved handle, and non-magical people like his parents would never guess it was a wand, but still, better to be safe than sorry.

As he closed his wardrobe door, he recalled how Sir Philip had spoken with him on Saturday about telling his parents of his new found abilities.  Steven knew he had to do it eventually, but every time he started to plan how, all he could see was looks of disbelief or pity on his parents’ faces!  They would
never
believe him, he was sure of that, unless he did some magic, but even then they still wouldn’t really believe it!

The eleven-year-old wizard-farmer settled down for bed with the knotty problem still occupying his thoughts, but not for long.  Thoughts of Sartrina soon took over his mind, and a smile crept over his face as he slept…

* * *

Restful sleep was
not
something that was occupying the minds of the senior faculty at Mhonarr Castle!  Professor Pectus had immediately gone to the crypt as described by the two frightened first year girls, but had found it empty.  If it hadn’t been for the lingering feeling of evil in the place, and a vaguely sulphurous smell, he might have downplayed the whole event, but something had definitely happened there, that was certain.  So, he went straight to the headmaster and relayed the tale from his two first year girls.  Orion Trell’s response surprised him.

“Vincent, you must not let young Malchus know that we’ve been tipped off about what happened today, under any circumstances.  We’d be putting too many lives in danger.  If he’s anything like the rest of his family, he won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to protect himself, and I don’t suddenly want a spate of apparent student suicides in the school.”

“We can’t just let him continue though, Orion!  We have to stop him, and we need to undo what he’s done!  If we can prove it, then we can exclude him from the school as well!  The sooner he’s out of my house the better!”

“Calm yourself Vincent.  There’s a lot more at stake here than freeing a few students from enslavement curses, if that is indeed what they really are.  I have to say that I don’t really agree with your interpretation of what the girls heard though.  Who shares the dorm with young Malchus?”

“Tom Drake, Andor Tharsen, Jamie Styles and Victor Greatheart, and yes, they’re all worried about being in the same dorm as him already!”

“They’re all from long established wizarding families, with a history of leaning towards the light.  Not surprising really for Leos, but there are always exceptions…” mused the headmaster.

“I assume you have lots of protection charms in their dorm, Vincent?  We should put tracking charms on them all too that will reveal if they have any clandestine meetings with young Malchus, then we’ll know if something goes wrong.  If I understand him though, and I don’t pretend to be an expert psychologist, he will prey on the vulnerable in the school rather than the strong.”

* * *

The headmaster summoned all the heads of house after dinner that evening and warned them that Shaul appeared to be recruiting followers, and was possibly using magic to ‘persuade’ them to join him, although that had to be verified.  He asked them to be vigilant regarding their own students’ behaviour, keeping a close eye out for students developing a sudden affinity to Shaul.  After the meeting ended, he asked the heads of Draco, Aquila and Taurus houses to stay behind, and then invited Professor Pectus to repeat the story of what had occurred in the dungeon that afternoon.  When the duelling master finished, the headmaster’s tone was sombre.

“We have three boys so far who appear to have fallen into the clutches of young Malchus, and the manner of their falling seems to be most disturbing.  That’s three within the first five weeks of term.  It took his brother Sargas much longer to gather
his
followers, and there can be little doubt therefore that young Shaul is at best bewitching them, and at worst, well…  doing something else to them.” 

“Please do not share any of these details with anyone else.  It’s very important that young Malchus does not realise that we’ve been tipped off.  I may have to remove the three victims from school for their own safety, and will be making that decision before morning.  Vincent will keep a very close eye on Shaul, ensuring that he doesn’t work himself into a situation where he can prey on others.  I will be investigating what’s happened intensively from now onwards until the truth comes to light, and we can set things right.”

A few minutes later the shaken heads-of-house found themselves, one-by-one, back in the corridor outside the headmaster’s study.  Each slowly made their way back to their own studies, deliberating on their next steps.

21.  That Sinking Sensation

Zak, Tallion, and Steven were already sharing the secret about the magic in Netherdale, which itself drew them closer together as shared secrets always do.  Now that Steven had his own wand though, the friendship between the three boys intensified quickly.  They worked hard to make sure that Sam wasn’t shut out though, going out of their way to include their non-magical friend as much as they could at school,
and
during weekday evenings.  Life was getting very full for all of them, with Zak and Steven feeling it the most. 

Zak was determined to keep up with his football, and his daily training got him out of bed at six thirty every morning to go for a run before breakfast and school.  Tallion would often join him, and the two boys developed several circuits round the dale following the public footpaths and farm tracks. 

Although the boys lived at The Copse during the week, it wasn't exactly the ‘magic-free’ environment that had originally been planned.  They both spent a lot of time reading magic text books and doing their magical homework as soon as they’d completed their non-magical studies.  They also made frequent use of the portal to the castle, with Jenny Turner and Sir Philip’s permission, to visit the library there.

Steven, however, had a different problem.  For him it was tiring farm work that stole his time, not magical homework.  He was determined to honour his side of the bargain with Sir Philip, and ‘work his socks off’ to make the farm a success though, and so he started getting up first at six thirty, and then at
five
thirty like his dad, to do some of the early morning checks around the farm.  It would soon become a deeply ingrained habit, and while it gave him the extra hours he needed in his day, it meant that the eleven-year-old was getting much less sleep than an eleven-year-old needed!

At Steven’s request Sir Philip paid a ‘surprise’ evening visit to Nether Bank Farm on Wednesday to help the young farmer explain to his parents about his new found abilities, and to arrange for him to spend regular time with the Middlehams to understand them, and learn how to use them.  The word ‘magic’ didn’t come into conversation, and at Steven’s request the baronet said nothing about his wand either.

The Robson’s were very sceptical to start with, but Sir Philip was serious and persuasive, explaining that Steven seemed to have some mystical abilities that would give him lots of advantages with the farming, if they were properly developed. 

Ian Robson latched onto the possible benefits for his son though, together with the fact that Sir Philip was clearly serious about it all.  Like everyone else in the dale, he had an inbuilt deference to the man whose unseen presence influenced all their lives, and he wondered suddenly if Sir Philip had mystical abilities too!  He decided that he probably had, and that it was safest therefore just to go along with him! 

In any event, Sir Philip was looking after his eldest son and that would assure his future, and the future of Nether Bank Farm.  That was enough for the Yorkshire farmer, although he still had a vaguely uncomfortable feeling at the back of his mind.

As a result, Steven went straight to Lofthouse Castle on Friday evening with Zak and Tallion, but this time he was an official student of Barty Greatheart, rather than just a spectator!  Barty rose to occasion, predictably, and provided Steven with a catch-up curriculum so that he got the essentials of everything Zak and Tallion had learned during the summer.  It
seemed
that Steven’s magical power was much more limited, but that didn’t really matter because he had no wish to live in the magical world, unlike Zak and Tallion.  Therefore Barty missed out history and numerology, and gave Steven the option of skipping Alchemy and Astronomy.  However, the young farmer was fascinated by Alchemy, and his love of the outdoors meant he wasn't going to miss the opportunity of studying the stars with an expert, something he’d have no chance of doing at Netherdale Academy!

Bjarne seemed to have become a fixture in the classes too, and against his better judgement, Sir Philip decided to allow his younger son sit through Barty’s full curriculum, with the exception of the lessons that required wands.  He knew this meant that Bjarne would be bored to tears when he went to Mhonarr Castle, but he was sure that Orion Trell would sort something out which would allow him to focus on activities outside the classroom.  It seemed pointless to hold the youngster back when all he wanted to do was stuff his head full of knowledge!

Sartrina and Columbetha both sent letters during the week, with Columbetha relating the generalities of school life, and Sartrina covering what the first years were doing in more detail.  The boys decided that the two girls must get together to write their letters to make sure that they didn’t miss out anything important.  Sartrina dropped some big hints about the events that she’d witnessed in the crypt, although she didn’t give any details, just saying that she had something ‘really serious’ to discuss with them at half term.

* * *

The second weekend in October rushed by in a blur of magical and non-magical activity for the harassed students of both Netherdale Academy and Mhonarr Castle.  The only student who seemed to be taking everything in his stride was Bjarne, but then he didn’t have much in the way of homework to do, either from Lower Nettleton Primary School or from Lofthouse Castle Magic School! 

It was as he quietly left the Lofthouse Castle library on Sunday afternoon, after being snapped at by his elder brother when he asked about Balayage practise, that he remembered his experience in the LookOut Tower a couple of weekends before.  How had he forgotten
that
little mystery?  He determined to put his theories to the test as soon as possible, and headed off for Tai Tuie’s Tomb!

* * *

Sartrina and Andra were once again stealthily following Shaul Malchus, having volunteered for the unpopular Sunday afternoon shift of keeping an eye on the self-important Leo.  He’d seemed rather more withdrawn during the last week, almost timid at times, but after a few moments he would remember who he was, and the arrogant aristocrat would re-emerge.  The girls were hoping that he’d try something again this weekend as he had done the previous weekend, but they were disappointed to witness nothing more than a meeting with his brother in the courtyard. 

The two siblings seemed to be arguing about something which the girls couldn’t hear because Sargas had cast a silencing charm around them, but it finished with Shaul stomping back into the entrance to Leo House.

The girls were about to set off after him when each of them felt a hand resting on their shoulders and they turned round in fright.  It was only a partial relief to see the serious face of Professor Pectus looking over the top of his glasses at them!

“It’s a dangerous thing to follow a wizard and spy on him girls, however good your motives.  Do you want to tell me why you’re following him?  Is it something to do with what happened last Sunday?”

The girls became aware of a blue aura surrounding them which Andra immediately recognised as a silencing charm, similar to the one Sargas had just used.  She nodded to her head-of-house and proceeded to explain how the first and second year girls had been keeping an eye on Shaul for a several weeks because they didn’t trust him, and that they’d volunteered for the Sunday afternoon shift in case there was a repeat of the previous week.

“Very noble of you girls, and as a fellow Leo, I applaud your courage.  As your head-of-house though, I should really discourage you from what you’re doing.  However, because you two saw the first incident, I’m merely going to caution you to be more careful.  Shaul doesn’t realise that you’ve been following him, yet, but anyone else who was watching him would have spotted you easily.  Watch out for those who watch the watchers,” finished their professor enigmatically.

* * *

As the month progressed, the three wizards attending Netherdale Academy spent almost all of their school lunchtimes doing their academy homework, trying to keep right up-to-date so that they didn’t have to do it at home.  Sam joined them some of the time, but mostly went outside to play football or mess around with the other first years. 

It was a tiring routine, and it didn’t go un-noticed by their form teacher, Miss Hamilton.  When she questioned them about it, they all answered that they just preferred to get it done while it was fresh in their minds.  Steven seeing the sceptical look in her eye added that he needed to help-out on the farm too, so
had
to do his homework at school.

“Boys, it’s not healthy for you to be indoors all the time, and I want to see you outside more please.  I don’t mind you working inside a couple of lunchtimes a week, but two maximum!”

Tallion, we’ll never manage to keep up if we don’t do our homework during lunch!

Don’t worry Zak, there are other places we can go as well as in our form room.  We can go to the library and do it up there.  Miss Hamilton will never notice so long as we’re not in here.

Good point.  Never thought of that.  Excellent!

The thought conversation had lasted just a couple of seconds as the two wizards were simply thinking, rather than talking telepathically.  Zak answered their form teach therefore more or less immediately.

“Okay Miss, we’ll only come in here on Tuesday’s and Thursdays then, is that alright?”

“Yes Zak, that’s fine.  Now, there’s still fifteen minutes left before the bell, so please pack up and go outside for some fresh air.  Look sharp now!”

The boys quickly stuffed everything into their bags, Steven with a frown on his face, and headed for the door.

“Please don’t go sneaking into someone else’s form room to work either,” called Miss Hamilton after them, “I’ll be checking!”

As soon as they were outside, Steven turned to Zak with a despondent look on his face.

“Now what we gonna do?” he grumbled.  “I’ll never get it all done if I’m up at t’ castle Friday and Sat’day, and I ain’t missing that fer nuthin!”

“Chill Steven!  Just ‘coz we can’t go into our form room doesn’t mean we can’t go somewhere else.  We’ll try the library tomorrow.  If we get far enough round the corner only Mrs Rigg ‘ll know we’re there, and we can still get it all done.”

“Never thought of that,” said the young farmer cheering up a bit.  “Aye, that should do it.  I know Dad don’t really mind if I do me ‘omework when I get in from school, but I’d rather be helpin’ on t’ farm if I can.”

* * *

For the rest of the week the three wizards got away with using the library on the days which they were banned from their form room, and managed to get to the end of Friday having done all their homework except biology, which they picked up in the last lesson of the day.  Still, it was only reading and summarising a section out of the text book, so it was easy enough.  They agreed to do it as soon as they got to the castle that afternoon, before alchemy.

Un-noticed by them however, Miss Hamilton saw the three boys coming down the stairs from the library at the end of Friday lunchtime, and quickly put two and two together.  She decided to have a word with Mrs Rigg at the end of the day to close off another bolt-hole for the boys.

* * *

“Right boys,” announced Barty, as the gong rang to announce the end of Magical History and the start of Transfiguration, “we’re going to take a look at a different aspect of Transfiguration today, replication.  Some teachers prefer to deal with this subject as part of Spells and Charms, and strictly speaking it
is
more of a spell than a transfiguration, but you need to understand the structure of the material you’re dealing with in order to make this work properly, and
that
aspect is more closely related to Transfiguration as far as I’m concerned.”

“Replication isn’t conjuring either.  People often confuse the two things, but conjuring is creating something from a pattern in your
mind
, or by simply using the correct words.  Replication is taking something and copying it, very precisely.”

“At the basic level that we’re going to start with, it’s quite easy, and you’ll feel that you’re making rapid progress.  Indeed, you two
should
make rapid progress because the amount of power you can put into a replication spell makes a big difference to the result.  Steven, you’ll be okay with the basics, but don’t worry when these two leave you behind.  They’re going to leave me behind soon too!”

“No problem Barty, I don’t think I’ll be right bothered if I can’t replicate me cows on t’ farm!  Mind you, replicating a few lambs wouldn’t be such a bad thing!”

Zak and Tallion sniggered, and after a quick smirk, Barty turned serious.

“Time for a word of warning.  Replication spells such as this are not primarily intended for use on living creatures boys.  It’s too dangerous.  Now, you two could probably get away with it when you thoroughly understand how this magic works and can powerfully guide the process.  Even then, I would start with small creatures, such as insects or maybe worms.  If it goes wrong, the resulting creature could end up in terrible pain if some essential parts of its body are missing.  Please, don’t try it on larger animals until you’ve mastered it with plants and insects!”

They spent the rest of the lesson reading the theory in their textbook, and practising by replicating pieces of wood and ceramic.  By the end of the lesson, Zak had even managed to replicate a cup, although it leaked when Barty filled it with water.