by Noel Pogson
“Are we really in danger there, Barty?”
“Not unless Malchus wants to start an open war. He won’t fight his way into a school just to get you, so I think you’re safe while you’re inside. All the buildings are fully protected by defensive wards that will repel offensive spells and unknown wizards. As you know there will be a few more wizards watching when you’re playing sports and doing outside activities, so I think you’ll be okay outside too. Now, the second thing I need to know is from you, Zak. Your father said that you saw Niall Donoghue before he cast the spell, is that right?”
“Yes. He was walking along the path round the field. I even saw him reach inside his jacket for his wand…”
“Are you sure you saw him walking along the path, not just standing still on it?”
Zak frowned and screwed up his eyes trying to remember exactly what he’d seen. It took a few seconds before his memory got going.
“Actually Barty, I don’t think he was walking. I can’t really remember how I noticed him, but he sort of looked a bit lost I think, and then he reached for his wand as he was looking at Tallion’s seven-a-side match.”
Barty looked closely at Zak. Something very peculiar had happened on the football pitch the previous day, and Sir Philip seemed to have missed it, probably because he hadn’t been there himself. Barty was certain that Niall Donoghue was not visible when he cast the first spell at Tallion, and probably when he cast the second one at Zak. Barty was actually watching Zak as it happened, and had seen him reach for his wand, shout, and start to run, but there was no sign of anyone on the path outside the school fence! It now appeared that Zak had seen Niall Donoghue, but no-one else had!
Barty was unaware that his thoughts were audible to both Zak and Tallion, and the two eleven-year-old wizards were working very hard to make sure it stayed that way. Not reacting to the information they’d just picked up was almost impossible though! Fortunately, Barty was rather preoccupied with the possible explanations for what might have happened, which included Zak possessing some kind of second sight which allowed him to see things that were hidden from others. Eventually he spoke to them again.
“Zak, I couldn’t see Niall Donoghue, he was hidden by some form of magic. Tallion, did you see him?”
Tallion now frowned in concentration, but eventually shook his head.
“I only saw him lying on the ground when I got to Zak, I don’t remember seeing him cast the spells.”
“This is most interesting. Zak, I believe you may have a rare ability here, but I don’t know what it is. Can you see people who’ve had an Abscondo cast on them?”
“No, well, I certainly couldn’t before!”
Quick as a flash Zak drew his wand and cast the spell on Tallion who vanished from view to all three of them.
“Nope, he’s definitely invisible.”
Barty cast Finite Incantio at Tallion who duly re-appeared in front of them. He looked puzzled and sighed. “I’m sure I didn’t just miss him Zak, he definitely wasn’t visible…”
“What other ways are there to hide yourself?” asked Tallion.
“Well, the only other way that I know of is to use an invisibility cloak, but they’re not very common, and usually people who are fortunate enough to own one, or powerful enough to create one, are also quite capable of using Abscondo! There is of course the possibility that they know a spell other than Abscondo to make themselves invisible, but if that’s the case then it’s obviously not as good, or you have the ability to see through it! That could be a very useful bit knowledge for us to have though.”
Barty looked at the two quiet boys in front of him, hoping his brain would think of something, but it didn’t.
“Well, I’m pleased to know that you’re able to use Abscondo Zak. Tallion, I assume you can use it too?”
“Yes. We practised on each other until we got it working, then spent a while practising casting it at ourselves.”
“Excellent! Okay, we need to get to the bottom of the mystery, but it’ll have to wait for another time. Now, we need to spend a few minutes practising reflex reactions, and then we need to rattle through another chapter of Henry Scuffle’s book. For homework though, I want you to read the first chapter of Cassius D’Agara’s Ultimate Wizard Warcraft.”
The two young wizards looked a bit surprised, and glanced at each other, sharing some quick thoughts.
“I know I said earlier that I didn’t want you to read the book for homework,” continued Barty, “but we’re going to leave the first year magical defence curriculum behind for a few weeks, you’re miles ahead anyway! Experienced assassins have now attacked you twice, and you need to start studying how they work and how to counter them in battle. Remember, don’t hold the books in your hands, okay, put them on a table, and turn the pages with your wands.”
Barty motioned the boys to come to the front of the classroom.
“First though, reflex practise! You’re not going to be fighting each other though, or me.”
He grinned as he swept his wand round the room, and the furniture obediently rushed back against the walls, which also seemed to recede in every direction as the room grew to twice the size it was before! At the same time the ceiling went up and the apparently wooden floor disappeared underneath a swirling mist which then cleared to reveal a full-sized ritual circle!
Both boys heard the non-verbal incantations that Barty used, but Tallion hadn’t been watching his tutor, so he missed the wand movements. His eyes went wide though as he recognised what was now in front of them, and he glanced up at Barty with concern. Zak had no idea what it was though, so he just watched with interest, until he felt his soul mate’s emotions and heard the vaguely horrified thoughts that were running through his mind!
“Okay, it’s not a real ritual circle Tallion; it’s just a full-size replica. Your father has assured me that no-one has ever uttered any pagan incantations in this room, and therefore there is no dark magic associated with this circle. When we get to third year, you’ll start learning about some of the less-unpleasant aspects of dark magic, and the ritual circle is one of the things we’ll study. I’ll never teach you any of the incantations that are required to bring one to life though. I have personally made a point of staying firmly in within light magic ever since I realised I had a choice. I’ve never studied dark magic, so I couldn’t teach you even if I wanted to, and I don’t intend to learn it now!”
“I need to caution you both though that dark magic draws in those who study it, and few are strong enough to learn about it and then resist using it. That’s why it’s so hard to teach people how to defend themselves against it. To learn defensive techniques you really need to practise against the real thing, but very few wizards are prepared to learn the incantations to enable them to teach their students first hand, including me! Please do not be tempted to do it yourselves, for powerful as you are, you will not be able to stand against it.”
Zak and Tallion both nodded as they studied both their tutor’s very serious face and the ritual circle, and quietly answered with a simultaneous, “Yes sir,” which made Barty smile.
“So why have I shown you this today? Because, amongst other things, this particular ritual circle can also train you in self-defence. When your father showed it to me I was amazed, and I still am! Augustus Sapari Middleham was an astoundingly clever wizard, and he built these classrooms centuries ago for his own sons and daughters at a time of great unrest in the magical world. He knew that his family needed unsurpassed skills with a wand in order to survive, and this is where they learned it all. Training here will hone your reactions like nothing else, it’s as good as being in a real battle, believe me!”
“Let me demonstrate,” he said with a smile, and motioned the boys to wait by the teacher’s desk while he walked to the middle of the circle. He spoke another incantation, aloud this time, but didn’t wave his wand. The circle began to glow and the lines and symbols all came to life, rearranging themselves into a duelling ring, with
sigils in the centre for the trainee, and around the outside for the opponents to stand on.
“How many opponents?” asked a man’s voice from behind the teacher’s desk. Zak and Tallion jumped out of their skin and swung round! There was no-one there…
“Three,” answered Barty.
The voice from behind the desk spoke again. It was a warm friendly voice and sounded vaguely familiar although neither boy could place it.
“Level?”
“Magus,” replied Barty.
“On my mark, three, two, one, MARK!”
What happened next took both boys thoroughly by surprise! Three wizards appeared, standing on three of the eight sigils rounds the outside of the circle. They were hooded and cloaked, and were poised with their wands drawn. One was out of sight behind Barty, but the other two were in view. Suddenly the first opponent cast a spell, which whistled towards Barty. He parried it with a Deflecto, but before he’d even finished speaking the incantation, two more spells were flying towards him from the other wizards. Barty deflected them both, and turned slightly so that he knew which sigil the third wizard was standing on. The first wizard cast again. This time Barty ducked, allowing the spell to whistle over his head straight at the wizard behind him who leaned lazily to one side allowing it to pass.
The second wizard had already cast again, and soon all three of them were flinging a steady stream of spells and hexes at Barty, who was now non-verbally deflecting and ducking, but always keeping his eyes on his opponents, and listening carefully to the wizard behind him.
Zak and Tallion were mesmerised, having never watched a full power duel before. It seemed like the opponent wizards were really trying too, deliberately varying their casts, and trying to catch Barty out. They both found themselves to be very tense, almost holding their breath as they watched their teacher apparently battling for his life!
After a couple of minutes deflecting, Barty seemed to be getting into some kind of rhythm, and started rebounding the incoming spells. His own wand was a blur, whirling from side to side and even casting spells backwards at the wizard behind him! He now had the other wizards ducking as their own spells hurtled back towards them, and he was obviously adding his own power because they returned much faster. He was clearly enjoying himself, and seemed to be equal to the contest as he started to add his own spells into the mix.
Zak and Tallion hadn’t realised at first that Barty was using non-verbal spells, because they could hear his thoughts. It slowly it dawned on them though, that he was casting spells far faster than anyone could possibly say them. He interspersed his Reverturs with Firmus spells, and started casting his spells in pairs, the Revertur first, followed by the Firmus. It wasn’t long before he managed to hit one of the wizard opponents, who disappeared with a shower of sparks and a bang. With only two opponents left, Barty turned slightly so that he could see them both, continuing his double attacks, with the same results against both wizards.
As the shower of sparks from the final exploding wizard faded, and the crackling whoosh of spells stopped, the silence in the room was deafening and sudden. It took several seconds before Zak and Tallion started to breathe properly and gather themselves. For the first time in weeks they’d even lost track of each other so intense and gripping had the duel in front of them been! Now they looked at each other with eyebrows raised and a single word in their joined minds.
Blimey!
Barty was catching his breath in the centre of the duelling circle, bent over with his hands on his knees. Although he was smiling, it had clearly been quite a work out, physically as well as magically! Eventually he stood up straight and walked back to the two eleven-year-olds who were looking at him with respect!
“So, do you think you’re up to handling a few opponents in a duelling ring yet?”
“Er, no!” said Zak firmly.
Barty grinned. “Come on Zak! You’ve taken on and defeated three of the toughest assassins in the country! A little sporting duel against a couple of puppet wizards is hardly in the same league!”
“That was different, I was fighting for my life, and it was only one at a time!”
“You get to choose how many you want to take on, and also the level you want to duel at. You can start with a single opponent at Novice level if you want, although I’m sure you could easily handle a single opponent at Magus level! You know all the spells that I was using, and remember, this exercise is to teach you defence, not how to attack.”
“Now, the duelling circle can be set up to teach you attacking magic, and the opponents will simply block and rebound your spells, but we won’t be doing that for a long while yet. Although we will do it before you finish your schooling!”
Tallion was much less reluctant than Zak was, and seemed quite eager to give it a try. He had a few questions first though.
“Barty, what are the different levels, and how do they work?”
“Good question. There are ten levels, and they mirror the competitive duelling levels you’ll follow at Mhonarr Castle. At school though, they restrict you to certain levels per year, so you have to wait until the following year before you can progress.”
“Sadly, as far as competitive school duelling is concerned, you two are going to have a bit of a problem. You’re already at about fourth year level in terms of reaction times, spells and defensive ability, so to compete you’ll need to ‘downgrade’, which isn’t easy! However, I’ll teach you the spells you need at first year level so that you can compete in this year’s competition. After a few practise sessions in here though, you’re going to be unstoppable!”
Tallion was grinning, and Zak was intrigued to see this competitive side to his soul mate which he hadn’t witnessed before! As his companion’s thoughts raced in several different directions, one thing stood out clearly, the Duelling Cup! Tallion dearly wanted his name on it, alongside his father’s name!
You’ll have to fight me for it though! thought Zak mischievously to his friend.
That will be a battle to behold then!
Barty was explaining the history behind the different levels of duelling, and his voice dragged the grinning eleven-year-olds back to reality.
“…and they’re all based on very ancient grades of magical skill. In the distant past, before the Wizard Council existed, wizards used to duel all the time in order to decide who was in charge and resolve all manner of other disputes. The outcome of the duels revealed the ability level of the witch or wizard, and their position in wizard society depended on their ability in the duelling ring. In those days the results could be fatal too, although official duelling has always forbidden the use of what we now call restricted spells and curses.”
“The levels run as follows. Novice, Apprentice, Initiate, Adept, Magus, Praeceptor, Archmage, Legend, Transcended, and Divine.”
“Divine?” asked Zak, with a very sceptical look on his face.
Barty smiled.
“No-one ever gets there these days Zak, and I doubt if anyone ever did! It’s just something to put at the top of the list to represent ultimate magical power. Today most people aim for and attain Adept status, with some only progressing to Initiate level. You really need to be Adept though if you’re going to feel safe living as a witch or wizard in the magical world.”
“To lift the duelling cup at school you need to be a Magus, bordering on Praeceptor. Your father had attained Praeceptor level here at Lofthouse about a month before he won the tournament at Mhonarr.”
“It requires serious dedication and prolonged training to reach Archmage, but if you want to be a shadow-wizard, that’s the entry requirement. To get beyond that requires special gifts, and you really do have to be a legend to be a Legend!”
“There are a handful of Legendary wizards in the magical world today, although most would be too modest to claim the title. Professor Trell would qualify, as would Arandel Strang, head of the shadow-wizards, but I couldn’t confidently name anyone else in Britain or Ireland.”
Bot
h boys had listened carefully and were nodding. It was obvious that Tallion was itching to have a go, but Barty hadn’t quite finished his explanations.
“In this duelling practise ring, up to Initiate level your opponents will always be in sight, so that limits you to a maximum of four. At Adept level one opponent can be out of sight, and at Magus two can be out of sight, meaning that you could have either five or six opponents, but they always stay in the same location.”
“From Praeceptor level the wizards can move about between spells, and there are no restrictions on their numbers, so you can have up to eight. To actually qualify at any level, you need to defeat at least four wizards in five successive duels. The other restrictions are all around the type of spells that they cast, and the rate at which they cast them. Remember, the purpose of this duelling ring is to train you and sharpen your reactions, not to defeat you.”
“At Novice level they only cast jolts or stinging spells at ten second intervals, so you can survive a hit and carry on, albeit with a bit of a distraction! Ten seconds sounds quite long, but if you have four opponents that averages out at an incoming spell every two and a half seconds, and they could all cast at once!”
“At Apprentice level the rate increases to a spell every eight seconds, and they add in debilitating spells which sap your energy and gradually make it harder for you to coordinate your own defence or attack. Theoretically they could, ultimately, leave you immobilised.”
“At Initiate level the spells will be coming at you every six seconds, and they add in full stunning spells, which will leave you paralysed for a few moments. If you’re up against a single opponent, then you’ll have time to recover before the next spell, but if you’re against multiple opponents, then one hit by a stunning spell will probably finish the duel.”