by Noel Pogson
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 conversa
tion 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.
“I didn’t expect you to get this far today, and we’ll pick this up next week, but you’ve run into the first major obstacle with replication which eventually causes most people to give up on it. Molecular structure. It looks like a cup and feels like a cup, and when you tap it, it sounds like a cup, but it’s porous, it’s not watertight.
Even though you can’t see any difference, the water is seeping through it because the replication didn’t complete properly. That’s why replication spells are classed as advanced magic, boys. We’ll analyse it next week though, not today.”
“Right, fifteen minutes break for you two, and then Numerology. Steven and Bjarne, you’re welcome to sit in if you want, although neither of you need to, and I won’t involve you in the lesson even if you do. Your choice. I want you back for Spells and Charms though at quarter to eleven.”
* * *
When the boys finished potions at three thirty, they tumbled outside into the courtyard where a weak sun was struggling to make mid-October bearably warm. It was never too cold for flying though, and Tallion was still feeling guilty for snapping at his brother the previous weekend.
A few minutes later, the Pelotts were flying, along with the players, and Bjarne was finally getting in some more practise at ‘sweeping the sky’. The better they all got at the game, the harder they played, and the more tiring it became. By five o’clock they were all beginning to wilt, and Zak wasn’t the only one who was relieved when Bella Middleham called them in for a snack before they all went their separate ways for the rest of the weekend.
* * *
As the three wizards and Sam pushed into their form room on Monday morning, they were all chattering about the football at the weekend. The Netherdale under-thirteens had once again been successful, this time defeating the City of Ripon under-thirteens away at Ripon Grammar school. Tallion had ported to the match with his father, who’d worked out where to unobtrusively arrive the previous evening. The whole place was surrounded by shadow-wizards long before anyone arrived, and impairment charms and temporary wards were cast over the playing field as soon as Tallion and Sir Philip got there.
There was no way that anyone was going to give Antares Malchus chance to disrupt another junior league football match!
After the register Miss Hamilton stopped at Zak and Tallion’s table as she walked past on her way to the door.
“Remember boys, outside at lunchtime today please, and don’t try hiding in the library either, Mrs Rigg is on the lookout!”
“Yes miss,” said the two wizards going red. “Sorry miss.”
Tallion, at what other school would you get into trouble for actually doing your homework? This is crazy!
Tallion grinned.
It is a bit mad isn’t it! Here’s us wanting to work, and they won’t let us! Never mind, we’ll find a way to fit it all in. Maybe I’ll get Father to send the headmaster a note asking him to allow us to work during lunch?
No. Don’t do that. Somehow it would get out, and then we’d get no end of stick about it in the playground! We’ll just have to do it in the evenings and try to do our magical homework when we’re finished.
That’s easy enough for us, but what about Steven? He’s not trying to fit his homework around magic, he’s trying to fit it around the farm! If he doesn’t do his farm stuff in the evenings, then his dad won’t let him come up to the castle for magic lessons.
Ha! You think Father would let Steven’s dad stop him from learning magic? No chance!
You’ve got a point there… Steven doesn’t seem to feel that way just yet though, look at him!
Steven had of course overheard his form teacher’s comments, and was now trying to
get his head round the conflicting demands on his time! His expression gave away the workings of his mind so clearly that his two wizard friends didn’t need to hear the mild panic that was running through his thoughts to know what he was thinking.
“Hey!” said Zak. “We’ll work something out, we always do, don’t worry.”
“Aye right! We just need a few extra hours in each day, that’s all. No problem really…!”
“Extra hours…” muttered Tallion to himself, his mind starting to race off into the distance, “extra hours…”
Just then the bell rang for the start of their first lesson which dragged Tallion out of his reverie, but Zak could hear part of his mind still working away at the problem, and knew that a solution would come out sooner or later.
* * *
Monday turned out to be a particularly bad day for homework at Netherdale Academy. Maths didn’t go very well in the morning because there was a fire alarm. As a result they ended up getting all their missed classwork as homework in addition to the homework that Mr Cole, their very brainy maths teacher, had planned to give them.
English then saw them land their first substantial homework essay of the year. A minimum of four pages of creative writing based on one of the topics they’d discussed during class, and an illustration!
Their RE teacher wanted them to do their own research into the different religions in Nepal (why Nepal?) and produce two pages of sensible notes about it all.
Fortunately Monday afternoon’s ICT and Music lessons didn’t produce any homework, but they had enough without it! When the boys all got back to The Copse, having caught the bus up the dale for once because John had texted Zak to say he’d be late, they found three letters waiting for them from Mhonarr Castle. Their plans for homework and farm work were immediately put on hold until they’d all read them.