by T. H. Hunter
“Yes, of course,” said Isabella, “the broom cupboards are near the East Tower.”
“Right,” I said. “We need half a dozen brooms, do you think you can get them without anyone noticing?”
“I think so,” said Isabella.
“Good,” I said. “Come to Barry’s office when you have them. We have to find that clearing as soon as possible.”
“But what about Julian?” Isabella said. “What if the MLE gets their hands on him, or worse, the necromancer?”
“Yes,” I agreed, “we’ll have to take certain precautions. Val, can you go to Julian’s room. We need to move his things.”
“But why?” asked Isabella, perplexed.
“Because you cannot plant evidence in an empty room,” I said. “Val, can you take charge of that?”
“Of course, Amy,” she said.
“If anyone asks, just say it’s on the Earl of Barrington’s authority and that Ross’s things have to be moved immediately.”
“Hey,” said Val, “why don’t we keep the room under observation. That way, if anyone tries to plant evidence, we’ll know who it is.”
“We could, yes,” I said. “It’s a long shot, though. We don’t know for certain whether it will happen at all.”
“I doubt they’d simply walk in,” said Barry. “I suspect they’d make sure they were alone before attempting such a thing.”
“Perhaps,” I said, “we could ask some of the students to keep their eyes open. They wouldn’t arouse suspicion in their own dormitory.”
“I’ll do that. But what will you do?” asked Val. “I hope you’re not considering anything dangerous without us, Amy, because I won’t allow it.”
“No,” I said, smiling. “I’ll talk to the headmistress. Deputy Harper is almost certain to contact the MLE right away without letting her know. If I can get her to intervene on Ross’s behalf, we can buy some time, perhaps even prevent his arrest by the MLE altogether.”
“Good thinking,” said Val, nodding her head. “Just leaves our favourite aristocrat to snooze in his office.”
“Actually, I could do with some sleep,” said Barry, groggily wiping his eyes.
“There’s no time,” I said. “Perhaps we can snatch a few hours later. I think we need more information on the ritual. We’re still poking in the dark in regard to necromancy.”
“Well,” said Barry, “we’ll probably remain mostly in the dark but I’ll do my best.”
“Great,” I said. “I’ll meet you all as soon as possible in Barry’s office. Isabella, you’d better tell Val where Julian’s room is. And we need a spare key, too.”
“It’s no problem,” said Isabella, “I will take care of it.”
***
It was almost midday by the time we had returned to the castle. The lack of sleep paired with the adrenaline seemed to create a strange state as though I had consumed ten cups of coffee. The seemingly endless flights of stairs I had to ascend to reach the headmistress’s office didn’t help, either. I’d be cursing all the way down if I she wasn’t in.
It turned out, however, that I was in luck.
“Come,” said a voice from with after I had knocked.
Once more, I entered Muriel Hall’s office. And yet, the last time almost seemed like a lifetime ago to me now. I had no time to appreciate the beauty of the desk or the view any longer. Time was our most valuable asset, and I didn’t want to squander it needlessly.
“Miss Sheridan, what a pleasant surprise,” she said, smiling. “I hadn’t expected you back so quickly.”
“Yes, well, there have been some new developments. Urgent ones, in fact.”
“Oh?” she said, beckoning me to sit down on one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“Yes,” I said, “you see, your deputy Mr. Harper, well, he has taken Julian Ross into his own custody. I think he wants to hand him over to the MLE.”
“Custody?” she echoed, bewilderment spreading across her entire face.
“Well, it’s a long story, but suffice it to say that Julian Ross is responsible for drawing the marks of the necromancer all over the school. He’s been doing it for weeks, apparently.”
“Ross did that?” she said, flabbergasted. “But… but whatever for?”
“He told Mr. Harper about his suspicions that necromancers are responsible for the abductions. I think there is good reason to believe that Ross is right about that. Mr. Harper, apparently, didn’t believe him, however, and sent him away.”
“I see,” she said. “Very peculiar behaviour by Harper, I must say. He should have sent him straight to me with that sort of information.”
“Indeed,” I said. “And I’m afraid to say that I think he’s acting independently right now, too.”
“That man has been getting out of hand,” she said. “But I’d never think that… well, what do you suggest, Miss Sheridan?”
“In my opinion, we have to stop the MLE from arresting Ross. At least for the moment. I realise this is a big favour, since his drawing the marks was already a criminal offense. He might himself even become a suspect for the kidnappings. And, whatever he has done, I don’t think him capable of that.”
“Well,” she said, “I certainly agree on that. I cannot deny that I’ve always had a soft spot for Ross’s antics, but I cannot possibly imagine him doing such a thing.”
She took a deep breath.
“Alright, Miss Sheridan,” she said. “I’ll get in touch with MLE headquarters right away. If Harper has sent for them, I’ll try to delay as long as possible, but I cannot promise you anything. They can be quite stubborn, you know. Especially in a case like this.”
“Of course,” I said. “Thank you, headmistress.”
“Not at all,” she said. “Where are Ross and Harper now, by the way?”
“We don’t know,” I said.
“I see,” she said. “Well, if you see Harper, I want him to release the boy at once. And he is to report to me immediately. Or to wait outside my office if I’m not back yet.”
“Yes, headmistress,” I said. “I will.”
***
Subsequently, I tried to track down Harper and Julian Ross. The likeliest place, of course, was the deputy’s office. After asking several passing students, it turned out that Harper’s office was at other end of the castle, closer to the West Tower in fact.
I wasn’t really expecting to talk any sense into Harper. But at least, if he was there, I’d be able to see whether Julian was alright. Also, I would convey the headmistress’s message. Seeing Harper’s sneer drop was reward in itself.
Perhaps it was my lack of sleep or the fact that we had traipsed through the woods for so long, but I managed to get lost twice on my way to the deputy’s office. At last, however, I had found the correct corridor. The staff common was also close by. In passing, I recognised Professor Olsen’s voice from within. He was talking to Esther, his assistant. He seemed to be rather on edge for some reason.
Suddenly, I ran into something soft and large. It was the quarterwarlock, Mr. Armbruster.
“So sorry, Mr. Armbruster,” I said, “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“No problem,” he said gruffly. “I, erm, have that list you asked for. Delivered it to the office a few hours ago.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I just need to speak to Mr. Harper right now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Mr. Harper?” Mr. Armbruster said, crossing his hands in front of his belly. “Why, he’s not there. Didn’t answer my knock. Someone said they saw him in the Great Hall not too long ago, though.”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “Thank you, I’ll try there.”
Mr. Armbruster shuffled down the hallway. I was just about to follow in his tracks when an idea occurred to me. There was a chance that Harper had left Julian Ross in his office. In any case, it wouldn’t hurt if I made sure he wasn’t there, I reasoned to myself. It was one place less to search for Julian later on, because I was still worried that Harper might si
mply take Julian and deliver him to the MLE if the headmistress managed to keep them from picking up Julian themselves.
Making sure that nobody from the staff room was able to see me, I inched over to the deputy headmaster’s office. The gold letters on the door were simple yet elegant.
As expected, the door was locked. But, owing to past experience, I had become quite good at unlocking spells.
“Vertere,” I whispered.
The door clicked open. Gently, I pushed it open. The sight that greeted me made me hold my left hand to my mouth to stop myself from yelling.
Slumped on his desk was the unmistakable figure of the deputy headmaster. Keeping my wand at the ready, I inched forward into the room, closing the door behind me.
There could be no doubt about Harper’s condition as I had seen its effects only too well in the past. He had been hit by the killing curse. There was nothing that could be done for him now.
I was sure that Julian had to be here somewhere. The office had one more door that led to another room, so I tried it. And there, lying on the ground, his legs and hands still bound by heavy ropes, was Julian Ross. For one horrible moment, I thought that he, too, had been murdered. But bending down, I noticed that Julian was still breathing, although he was unconscious. Turning around so that I could keep my eyes on the door in case the killer returned, I hastily untied Julian. He had a nasty wound at the base of his skull that was bleeding slightly. He needed medical attention immediately.
I levitated Julian out of the deputy’s office and into the hall, making sure to close the door behind me again. Whoever was responsible for the murder of the deputy headmaster, I had to focus on saving Julian first.
Luckily, the staff room door was closed now. As we reached the end of the hall, I suddenly heard moaning from in front of me. It was Julian, who seemed to be slowly coming to.
“Julian,” I whispered, “Julian, you’ll be alright. Tell me, who did this to you?”
“Arm…” he said. “Arm…”
“What’s with your arm?” I asked. “Does it hurt?”
“No,” he murmured.
He pointed vaguely to the wound at the back of his head.
“Armbruster,” he said.
“Armbruster did this?” I said. “Are you sure?”
He nodded his head.
“I can’t believe it,” I said.
And yet, it all seemed to make sense. As quarterwarlock, he had access to all areas of the castle. Nobody, in fact, would ever suspect him, whether he was in the dungeons or a students’ dormitory.
“I’ve got to get you to the infirmary,” I said. “As quickly as possible.”
Luckily, a group of students was just passing by. It turned out that the infirmary wasn’t as far away as I had feared. The nurse attended to him immediately, though I implored her to keep his whereabouts a secret, at least until I could return with more information.
As I raced back to Barry’s office, I thought only of how to trap Armbruster.
Chapter 9
Val and Barry were already back in the office, though Isabella hadn’t returned yet with the broomsticks. I quickly filled them in on what had happened.
“Armbruster knows he doesn’t have much breathing room,” I said, pacing up and down in front of Barry’s desk. “He must realise that it’s only a matter of time before someone will discover the deputy headmaster.”
“But where is he now?” asked Val.
“I think,” I said. “He will continue with whatever he was planning. For once, time is against him. He has to attempt the ritual again tonight.”
“I still don’t understand all this necromancy business,” said Val, frowning. “I mean, what are they trying to do precisely?”
“That,” said Barry heavily, “is no my metier, I suppose, though I cannot claim to be an expert.”
“Did you find out anything?” I asked.
“Well,” he said. “Not much more than Ross, I’m afraid. But at least we could what he said. The ritual he described is indeed sacrificial in nature. It is designed to resurrect the dead. I did, however, find out one additional thing, however. It appears that the act must take place at the final resting place of the dead person in question. The remains may not be moved under any circumstances, or the whole thing won’t work. In other words, Armbruster must return to the clearing in the woods if he wants to successfully complete the ritual. And it must be conducted at night.”
“We’ll be there,” I said.
But sleep deprivation was gradually catching up with me. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. Confronting a dangerous necromancer, I decided, certainly required a better state of mind.
“Perhaps,” I said slowly, “we should grab a few hours of sleep before we go. We’d still have more than enough time to find the clearing and get into position.”
Both Barry and Val were exhausted and thus agreed to my proposal. Isabella arrived a few minutes later with three brooms under each arm. She was greatly relieved that Julian, although hurt, was in safe hands. Though she wanted to go and see him immediately, I persuaded her to take a rest, too, however short it might be. We would need all the strength for our final encounter with Armbruster as we could muster. I made myself as comfortable as I could on one of the sofas and quickly slipped into an uneasy sleep.
***
A few hours later, I awoke to the dribble of rain hitting the window panes behind me. This was a very unwelcome development, since it would make the search a lot more difficult. So, I decided we had better set off sooner rather than later.
Barry was to ride on one broom with me, while Val went with Isabella. I wanted the reserve brooms just in case there were survivors. You never knew when they would come in handy.
I had never flown a broom in my brief period as a witch. As I stepped out onto the window sill of Barry’s office, I felt the apprehension growing within me, though Barry assured me that it was ‘rather easy’. With Bsrry perched firmly on the handle, and two spare brooms tied to the end, I placed the broom between my legs and kicked off of the ground.
Immediately, I zoomed forward, almost sending Barry flying. I was just about to steady the broom in time.
“Careful, Amanda,” he cried. “I don’t have nine lives in the air, remember that.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Just… getting the hang of this thing.”
“Well, at least we’ll have the trees to break our fall.”
“Can’t wait,” I said.
Isabella, however, was having no trouble at all since she had enjoyed several years of school training in flying brooms. We decided to follow the road through the woods, which was just about visible from above, and then branch out in each direction.
Several times, we spotted a clearing, though each time the three trees in the middle were missing. The minutes and finally hours passed by without any success. The afternoon had trickled by, and we were no closer to finding Armbruster. And flying through the soft but steady downpour, I was getting ever wetter and colder.
As the sun was beginning to set, a note of panic entered the equation.
“We’ve got to fly faster,” Barry said. “Cover more ground.”
“I’ doing my best,” I said. “It’s just that I’m not… hold on, do you see that clearing down there?”
“We’ve passed that one before,” Barry said dismissively.
“No, over there, on the other side.”
Barry craned his neck, while still retaining his balance on the broom.
“Fly a little closer,” he said.
And there, finally, was the clearing with the three trees in the middle. I hovered close to the spot, but making sure I couldn’t be seen from the clearing itself, and waved my left arm at Val and Isabella.
“Have you found something?” Isabella asked as she hovered next to me.
“Down there,” I said. “It’s the clearing alright. Three trees.”
“OK,” said Isabella. “So, what now?”
“We should dismoun
t a little distance away,” I said. “We don’t want to advertise our arrival too much.”
“Yeah,” said Val. “Also, the sooner we get off these things, the better.”
We landed a short distance away, carefully gliding between the treetops. We landed softly and relatively quietly, if you discounted Val’s muffled cry as she hit her toe on a tree trunk, that is.
With only a few yards left to the clearing, we hid our brooms beneath some leaves and waited for Armbruster to turn up.
As it turned out, we didn’t have to wait for long. As the sun had bathed the surrounding trees in a deep red, a hooded figure emerged from the other side of the woods, carrying what looked like a body over its shoulder. Though hooded, dressed in the same black robe that Julian Ross had described, there was no doubt in my mind that this had to be Armbruster, as the gait and size were exactly the same.
Armbruster placed the body on the altar. Next, he walked around it, as though he was looking for something specific. Then, he raised his wand, chanting mysterious strings of words that I didn’t recognise.
“We’d better move,” I said.
“We have time,” said Barry “The ritual takes twenty minutes, at the very least.”
Nevertheless, I was nervous that Armbruster might get too far. I quietly signalled to Isabella, the only other person in our party with a wand, to prepare. We had decided that we would approach him from a slight angle, though not wide enough that our spells might threaten to hit one another. Armbruster would be forced to concentrate his fire on one of us.
Val and Barry were to stay in the background until the coast was clear.
Slowly, we inched forward. We had reached the edge of the clearing, though Armbruster seemed impervious to our approach. He had his back turned to us, evidently preoccupied with preparations for the ritual.
It was probably the most favourable opportunity we’d get. Once more, I gave Isabella the sign for the final approach. Swiftly, we covered the yards of open ground. Armbruster still had his back turned to us.
“Good evening, Mr. Armbruster,” I said loudly, making sure that my wand pointed at him at all times.
