Zak Turner - A Twist In Time

by Noel Pogson

  He took his hands off the orb, but didn’t know what to do next. Which table was Leo? He heard cheering and clapping from in front of him, and saw the Leo boy prefect standing at the bottom of the steps with his right hand outstretched in welcome.

  Well, at least the Leo table was next to the Moncero table. He’d end up close to his two friends even if he wasn't with them.

  “Welcome to the house of the brave Steven. Hats off for sneaking into Mhonarr Castle too, you need to tell us all how you managed to do that! Come on then, let’s get you sitting down before you fall down.”

  The prefect ordered some of the students to shuffle along the benches so that they could sit next to the other first year boys. Steven ended up with Andor Tharsen on his left, and the boy quickly shook his hand, and introduced him to everyone, including Shaul Malchus, who barely glanced at the newcomer before turning away. Steven’s stomach lurched at the prospect of being in the same house as the boy whose father was trying to kill his best friends, and the brief flash of anger in his eyes registered with the prefect.

  “Do you know Shaul then Steven?” he asked quietly.

  Steven replied in a very low voice.

  “I never met him, but I know of him and what he and his family stand fer, and… other things.”

  He realised that Zak and Tallion wouldn’t want the details of the attacks on them spoken about. Fortunately Steven didn’t know, and neither did anyone else, that it was Shaul’s father himself who’d cast the Libra Mortis which almost killed Tallion at the football match. If he had known, his reaction, as he sat down less than ten feet away from the dark wizard’s son, might have been somewhat stronger!

  As Steven glanced round the table, feeling nervous and a bit panicky about where his mischievous adventure had led him this time, he suddenly spotted Sartrina smiling across at him from further up.

  Leo! Of course! That was Sartrina’s house! He wasn't alone after all! His spirit’s soared and he smiled at his girlfriend and winked at her making her blush. Now all he had to do was find his way home! His parents were expecting him back before nine, and he had a lot of fencing to build over the next few days!

  * * *

  “Well done Steven, handled like a true man!”

  The eleven-year-old jumped, and swung round in surprise as the headmaster clapped a hand down on his shoulder while they were still eating desert.

  “I knew you’d be a Leo. George, when you’ve finished your meal, and don’t hurry because I need to finish mine, please bring Steven to my study so that I can run through a few arrangements with him. Thank you.”

  “Yes sir,” replied the prefect jumping to his feet to address the headmaster. Steven followed suit.

  “Carry on, carry on,” said the headmaster waving his hand, and nearly giving Steven an accidental clip round the ear in the process. “No need for so much formality, enjoy, enjoy…”

  The headmaster repeated his invitation to Zak and Tallion, advising them that Sam or Arcturus would escort them, and then he disappeared back to the teachers table by a very roundabout route which took him past nearly all the other students in the school.

  “I reckon you’ll only get a detention Zak, nothing worse,” said Harry who was sitting next to him. It didn’t make much difference to the young wizard though, whose stomach was turning over at the prospect!

  * * *

  “Normally, as you are no doubt aware, punishments are handed out by heads-of-house for misdemeanours at school, which is why Professors McCathie and Pectus are with us. However, before they decide what action is appropriate, if any, I would like to point out that it isn’t actually possible to sneak into Mhonarr Castle. Gallant as your actions were to give your friend an opportunity to see your school, and to spend time his ‘other friend’ from the dale, the portal would not have allowed him through had I not permitted it, therefore I am complicit in your crime. No doubt your heads-of-house will take that into account shortly.”

  “Steven, I wanted you here with us anyway, despite your reluctance to come. A young wizard needs to learn magic, and spend time with other witches and wizards. Learning at Lofthouse Castle may be enough for your academic needs, but there are hidden depths in all of us that often show up only in new situations. I think others may have misjudged your abilities to date, only time will tell, but in order to find that out we need you here. Therefore you will not be travelling back to the dale tonight, but will be staying with us for the rest of the week, along with Zak and Tallion, and of course Sartrina.”

  Steven’s eyes went wide as multiple competing emotions and problems vied with each other in his mind. What would his parents say, how could he possibly cope with classes, he had no uniform or indeed any other clothes, he had no books or equipment, he simply wasn’t ready to start wizard school! He opened his mouth to say something, but the headmaster raised his hand.

  “I’m aware of all the problems that just raced through your mind, and all will be taken care of. Lord Middleham will provide assistance for your parents on the farm, and will explain to them how you were invited, at the last minute, to attend ‘holiday school’ with Zak and Tallion, and that you jumped at the chance. Indeed, he’s with them as we speak, explaining it, finding out what your dad needed you to do around the farm, and collecting your wand…”

  “Right, Professor McCathie, over to you as head of Moncero house, what action are you going to take against us three Moncero miscreants for smuggling Steven into the school?”

  It was very clear to Zak and Tallion that the headmaster had deliberately made it impossible for their head-of-house to punish them. The fixed look in her eye as she stared at him was both amusing and fearful!

  “I think the three of you should consider your actions very carefully, and resolve not to put other people into difficult situations by your words and actions,” came the measured if somewhat acerbic, response.

  “Indeed, I will arrange just such a session with the boys tomorrow evening where we can discuss how to ensure our actions bring only good to others. Please be here in my study at eight o’clock boys!”

  The deputy head was surprised at the unexpected response, and didn’t try to hide it. However, the headmaster turned calmly to the other professor present, and asked what action he was going to take against Steven for joining the school.

  Professor Pectus had already realised that he was going to be given a ‘no option’ option, and responded by stating that Steven had endured perhaps the most traumatic entrance to Mhonarr Castle of any student in living memory, and as such, further action was not required.

  “Splendid!” responded the headmaster. “If that’s all then, please return to your houses. Vincent, I’m sure you will ensure that Steven has everything he needs for tomorrow morning in class, and the week ahead. Good evening everyone.”

  * * *

  “See ya fellas,” grinned Steven to his long standing friends as they went their separate ways down the corridor.

  “See you tomorrow at breakfast!” called out Tallion as their friend waved before disappearing round the corner with his own head-of-house.

  “I need hardly point out to you two that I am most displeased with what you have done this afternoon, despite the headmaster apparently having made it all possible.”

  Professor McCathie was clearly not as indulgent as Professor Trell when it came to discipline within her house.

  “I only hope that you didn’t know he was helping you, and I expect better in future. We are leaders in this school, and for a couple of Monceros to be breaking the rules in such a dramatic manner is not acceptable!”

  Their potions teacher swept along the corridors and out into the courtyard heading for Moncero tower with a somewhat frustrated look on her face.

  “Oh, and welcome back both of you, enjoy your week!”

  * * *

  Monday morning found Steven safely in the care of Andor Tharsen and Jamie Styles, having been added to their dorm room. There were now twelve Leo first year boys, sp
lit into two six bed dorms. Steven had found, to his dismay, that he was now even sharing a dorm with Shaul Malchus! Fortunately the young Irish wizard never spoke to or went near his roommates, which made dorm life bearable if not a little stressful!

  The obvious friendship between Steven, Zak and Tallion had a magnetic effect between the other Moncero and Leo first year boys, and breakfast saw many of them exchange nods to each other as Steven was greeted by a number of the Monceros as they made their way past to their own table.

  The trip to the Banqueting Hall for breakfast had, predictably, not been without incident for Zak and Tallion. Accompanied by Sam, they’d run into Lesath Malchus, apparently by chance, as they’d joined the other students heading for the main entrance.

  “Gracing us with your presence then Middleham?” she’d sneered. “How long do we need to bow and scrape before you run off and hide in your castle again?”

  Tallion had turned to answer her, but then the Middleham inside him took over, and after looking down his nose at her, he simply ignored her, turning back to Sam and asking an apparently unrelated question about Balayage. It was a perfect upper class put down, and even though it made those around him smile, it stoked the antagonism between the two families.

  The rest of Monday passed excitingly, but uncomplicatedly, for the three boys. Steven, decked out in his new school robes, understandably had the most difficulty with his classes because he was so far behind everyone else. He didn’t suffer though, safe in the knowledge that his celebrity status for having ‘sneaked into the school’ would carry him through for a few days. It also gave him a perfect excuse for his lack of magical knowledge, and students from Leo and the other houses were falling over themselves to help him in class. The magical reticence, which had been such a feature of his behaviour in the dale, was nowhere to be seen!

  After classes finished at quarter past four, the three boys and Sartrina scooted up to the library for few minutes before dinner to swap stories and discuss the events of the previous evening. Steven was sitting with Sartrina, proudly watching her as she discussed their transfiguration homework with Tallion. He was fully intending to let his girlfriend help him with his own homework every evening!

  * * *

  Dinner came and went, followed by Balayage practise for the Monceros, which saw both Zak and Tallion joining their housemates to try out some competitive flying!

  “You look good in those robes!” said Harry, as Zak self-consciously walked out onto the pitch. “Are you going to see if you can play in the second-team match on Sunday then?”

  “I can’t. I’m playing football in Netherdale on Sunday, so we’ll not be here. Anyway, I wouldn’t feel up to playing a match so soon! I’ve never even watched a full match, or played in a team.”

  “Blimey, you’re a busy man! What football team do you play for?”

  “Netherdale under thirteens. We’ve won both our matches so far this season, so hopefully we’ll win again on Sunday to make it a hat-trick.”

  “Most people here don’t know the first thing about football, and they just look at you with a blank expression if you mention it! I’m glad Mum and Dad insisted that I went to non-magical primary school; at least I understand how some bits of the non-magical world work. Playing Balayage is great fun though. I’ve got my name down for a second team match, but I don’t know when I’ll be playing yet. We won last Sunday so they might not want first years playing this weekend so that they can try and get further ahead in the league. Our second-team’s only six points ahead of Leo!”

  “Who’s playing in the first-team game next Saturday morning? We’ll get chance to watch that one.”

  “Taurus, Lyra, and Draco, so not much interest for us there. Lyra have been a bit rubbish so far this year, so Taurus and Draco will probably both get good scores which is bad news for us.”

  Tallion walked out onto the pitch at that moment, together with Agenor and Ganvard, who were both a bit mad about Balayage, and had their names down for games too. The rules were that you could only be on the pitch during evening practise if you were on the team, or had your name down for a game. Zak and Tallion had both put their names down after dinner. If you just wanted a knock-about, then you had to do that during the free-use periods at the weekends, after the matches had finished.

  “Tallion, Zak, over here please, you too Harry, Agenor and Ganvard.”

  David Porteous, the Moncero prefect, was organising the training session, and was also a reserve player for the first team.

  “We’re going to split up by age groups as normal, and because the first team need to get in a good practise session, the fourth, fifth and sixth years will be playing against them for the first hour. Rather than sit around doing nothing though, the rest of us will be doing some broom agility training on the Sauteur field next door while we wait for our turn on here.

  The first, second, and third years therefore spent the next fifty minutes going through a series of training exercises which saw them learning and practising radical manoeuvres on their brooms. Emergency stops, sharp changes of direction, barrel rolling (which made all the first years crash), vertical climbing and descending, and tail swiping upwards, downwards, left and right.

  They also had a session of ‘playing chicken’, where they flew towards each other at full speed before taking evasive action at the last second. There were a couple of spectacular crashes by third years who refused to give way, and David’s medi-wizard skills were put to the test with a some cracked ribs, broken fingers, and a couple of twisted ankles, to say nothing of all the cuts, bruises, and grazes from the crash landings.

  For the last few minutes, he tried to teach them how to fly upside down, but with the exception of one third year, who managed to get right way up again without hitting the floor, the rest of them ended up in tangled heaps, picking up plenty more bruises!

  Most of the students were using school brooms, although a handful had brought their own. After the upside down flying, the brooms were in a bit of a state with dislodged and broken twigs, footrests askew, and one splintered handle.

  Now I understand why Father wouldn’t let us bring our Falcons!

  Yeah. I wouldn’t have wanted to crash mine into the ground like that! That was a bit extreme though, surely we won’t be doing that during normal flying lessons?

  “Right you lot, time for a bit of Balayage. We’ve only got half an hour, so we’ll just have ten minutes attack for each team. You five first years are team A, you four second years and Myles are team B, and the rest of you third years are team C. Team A is attacking first. Come on then, let’s get to the pitch, the others have just finished.”

  Zak and Tallion picked up Pelotts four and five, and flew with the other first years to the attackers starting position.

  “Right,” said Ganvard, “I’ve got number one and Agenor’s got number two. If we haven’t got our Pelotts into the pit within two minutes, then it’s a Pelott free-for-all and you just need to get your own Pelott in as best you can. After five minutes, we try and get ourselves into the pit, in order, but at eight minutes it’s also a free-for-all, just get yourself in as best you can manage.”

  “How do we know how much time has passed?” asked Zak hoping it wasn't a silly question.

  Ganvard look disbelievingly at Zak, and then grinned in understanding.

  “On the clock you loon, up there!”

  Zak and Tallion both looked where he was pointing and saw that there was a clock on the scoreboard at the end of the pitch. Zak went a bit pink, but was saved from further embarrassment as the whistle blew to start the game.

  Ganvard, it turned out, was a bit ferocious when it came to Balayage, and hurled himself, with his Pelott, straight at the wall of defenders, picking a couple of second years who he correctly guessed would dodge out of the way. His Pelott was in the pit within seconds, and Agenor tried to follow suit only to find his way blocked by some third years! He tried to swerve round them, but couldn’t manage so turned away for a
nother approach.

  He surreptitiously passed his Pelott to Ganvard in a slick move that they’d obviously practised, and for a few seconds the attention of the defenders was focussed on the wrong attacker, which allowed Ganvard to lob the number two Pelott over the heads of a couple of different second years, and into the pit.

  Harry realised he was on, and tried the same aggressive frontal attack on the second years, but got a face-full of twigs from a third year’s broom for his trouble, and dropped the Pelott. David blew his whistle for a foul, as Ganvard scooped up the Pelott and tossed it to Agenor who lobbed it over the distracted defenders’ heads straight into the pit.

  Three Pelotts were now safely in the pit in the right order, and Zak was flying straight towards a third year with the number four Pelott tucked under his arm.

  He had no idea why, but the memory of Cygnus’s move that they saw on orientation day came into his mind, and he decided to barrel roll under the third year in the same way. It was a case of confidence overcoming reality, because his five attempted barrel rolls on the Sauteur field had all ended up with him crashing to the ground! This time though, maybe because he had the image of Cygnus doing it in his mind, he performed a perfect roll underneath the stunned third year, and found himself dizzily right way up above the pit, where he quickly dumped his Pelott next to the other three.

  Tallion had heard his thoughts and knew what his soul mate was going to do.

  Vertical climb like Cygnus and catch mine! he called out telepathically, and Zak remembered how Cygnus had caught the next Pelott and slammed it into the pit. He looked up and saw that Tallion had already thrown his number five Pelott high in the air towards him, and all he had to do was go straight up on his broom and deflect it out of the air as it flew over his head. It sailed safely down into the pit to join the others. Unbelievably within two minutes, all five Pelotts were home, and the first years could now concentrate on getting themselves in.