by D D Everest
Matilda put her head round the corner.
‘Master Rupert?’ she said. ‘Your visitors are here!’
Rupert swung his feet off the desk and sat bolt upright.
‘Archie!’ he cried. ‘Bramble, Thistle, Arabella. He leaped from his chair and shook each of them energetically by the hand. ‘I’m so glad to see you.’
Then he caught sight of the ancient receptionist hovering in the background.
‘Thank you, Matilda,’ he said. ‘You can get back to your knitting … er … I mean back to your work.’
The old woman seemed reluctant to go. ‘Should I let Mr Gloom know that you have visitors?’ she asked.
‘No, no, that won’t be necessary,’ said Rupert. ‘Thank you, Matilda. I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.’
‘But Mr Gloom gave strict instructions that he wanted to be kept informed about any visitors, after, well, you know what …’ Matilda said.
‘Yes, well, he’s only just got back from his trip. He’ll be at dinner now. It is treacle pudding, after all!’
Rupert flashed her his most charming smile. ‘And Matilda, make sure you get some this time,’ he said kindly. ‘Can’t have you missing out on pudding again!’
Matilda gave him a grateful look. ‘Thank you, Mr Rupert. I wish everyone was as thoughtful as you.’
She retreated back along the corridor.
Rupert undid his top button and loosened his collar. He beckoned his four visitors into the cramped office, pushing several piles of documents onto the threadbare carpet to make space.
‘Come in, come in,’ he said, smiling. ‘Sit down. Make yourselves comfortable. Don’t mind Matilda – she’s been here a long time, virtually part of the furniture.’
‘We can see that,’ said Thistle. ‘She must be a hundred if she’s a day.’
The four other members of the Alchemists’ Club shuffled awkwardly into the room.
Now that they came to look at him properly, they could see that Rupert was very dishevelled. Gone was the neat and tidy boy they remembered as an apprentice. His jacket hung limply on the back of his chair and his shirt was a disaster zone. It was creased, had two buttons missing and what looked like coffee stains all down the front. His shoes were scuffed and undone.
‘You look …’
‘Yes …?’ Rupert said.
‘Tired,’ Archie said, diplomatically.
‘Well … I’ve had a lot on,’ said Rupert. ‘I’ve been researching the properties of different magical creatures. Well, their blood actually. Motley Brown told Gloom there was a way to make azoth from the blood of the larger magical creatures, dragons and griffins and so on. That’s why I’m here. The supply of azoth is running very low, you see, so we need to find an alternative source.’
‘Griffin blood?’ said Archie, thinking of the bookend beasts. ‘That sounds dangerous.’
‘Yes,’ said Rupert, ‘that’s why we haven’t managed to get hold of any yet! Brown was here earlier today but he’s been unable to lay his hands on any so far.’
He ran his hand through his hair. ‘Anyway,’ he added, attempting a smile, ‘it’s good to see you.’
‘Is everything all right, Rupert?’ asked Bramble.
Rupert hesitated. ‘Well, erm … not really,’ he said resignedly. ‘There are some very odd things going on here and they are connected with the reading room. I’ll show you what I mean, but we’ll have to be quick or they’ll have finished their dinner. Come on, follow me.’
He led them out of his office and along a corridor with a thick red carpet until they reached some dark wooden doors.
‘It’s through here,’ he said, pushing the doors open. ‘Welcome to the Royal Society of Magic!’
It had the air of a gentleman’s club. After the shabbiness of The Inkwell, it was like stepping into another world.
They were in a high-ceilinged room, with an imposing green marble staircase running through the centre. The stairs led to a landing halfway up, with two smaller flights of stairs off to the left and right. Sweeping balustrades curved up and then round in a wide arc.
The carpets were purple with gold coronets woven into their pattern.
‘The king’s atrium,’ explained Rupert as he led them up the stairs. ‘It was built for King Charles II. He founded the Royal Society to further the understanding of magic. It was the king’s way of controlling magic after it had almost destroyed London in the Great Fire. The Royal Society’s mission is to promote excellence in magic and to encourage its use for the benefit of humankind,’ he added grandly.
‘The dining hall is on the other side of the building so we won’t be disturbed. Now, come on, the reading room is this way,’ he added, leading them up the small flight of stairs on the left-hand side.
They followed him along another corridor, which ended abruptly in a single door.
‘This is where Gloom went the other day when he disappeared,’ Rupert said.
‘But won’t it be locked?’ asked Bramble.
Rupert held up a key and smiled. ‘Yep, thought of that. I told Gloom I wanted to do some late-night research so he let me borrow his key.’
‘Well done,’ said Bramble, admiringly.
Rupert fitted the key in the lock and turned it. The door swung open and they stepped into a small, square room. There were no windows and the only door they could see was the one they had just entered by
The room resembled a very small library, with book-lined walls and two desks with overhead lights. Three large mirrors were set into the bookcases at even intervals, reflecting the light and making the room appear larger than it really was.
‘The queen’s reading room,’ announced Rupert. ‘It was Queen Victoria’s favourite room at the Royal Society. Apparently she spent hours in here.’
In the middle of the room, taking up far too much space, was a statue of a man holding out his hands as if in welcome. There was a silver ring on one of his fingers. ‘That’s Dawlish Hooke,’ said Rupert. ‘He was the first president of the Society. He was famous for making magical jewellery. He got the idea from Fabian Grey.’
‘And this is where Gloom disappeared?’ asked Archie.
‘Yep. I saw him let himself in with the key. I came in straight after him but the room was empty,’ said Rupert. ‘As you can see, it’s not a big room so there aren’t many places to hide. And there’s only one way in and out,’ he added, indicating the door. ‘So where did he go?’
‘Well, let’s see what the curiosity compass says,’ said Thistle, taking the magical instrument from his pocket and flipping it open. The needle immediately began to spin.
‘There’s some serious magical energy in here,’ said Thistle. ‘But where’s it coming from?’
He began to move around the room holding the compass in both hands, his eyes trained on it for any change. He made a slow circuit, pausing as he passed each of the mirrors. There was no change in the needle as he held the compass up to the first two mirrors. But when he reached the third, the needle began to spin madly.
‘It must be behind the mirror,’ said Archie.
Rupert ran his fingers along the sides of the mirror trying to get it to move but it wouldn’t budge. ‘Nope, there’s no door here,’ he said.
‘Hold on,’ said Archie. ‘I’ve just had an idea. If there’s a secret library, I think I know another way to find it.’
He spoke the delving spell Hawke had taught him.
‘Secret volumes
On hidden shelves
Books of magic
Reveal yourselves!’
For a moment nothing happened. Then just as he was beginning to think the spell hadn’t worked there was a sound like books sliding across a flat surface. Archie scanned the books on the shelves on either side of the mirror but he couldn’t see any change.
‘Look!’ cried Arabella, pointing at the mirror. ‘There, the books in the mirror have moved.’
Sure enough, when they looked at the reflection of the bookcase
s, they could see that several books had eased forward so that their spines stuck out proud on the shelves.
‘Where are they?’ asked Rupert.
‘They must be on the bookcase behind us,’ said Thistle, turning round to look.
But Archie had noticed something else. ‘Where are our reflections?’ he said.
‘Archie’s right,’ said Bramble. ‘Our reflections have disappeared. And the bookcases in the mirror aren’t the ones in the reading room.’
Now that they looked more closely, they could see that the bookcase in the mirror didn’t match any on their side. Where a moment before they could see the reflection of the room behind them, now when they looked into the mirror they could see a different room altogether.
‘It’s not a mirror we’re looking into – it’s a window!’ exclaimed Archie. ‘There’s another room behind it!’
Rupert reached forward. His hand touched solid glass. ‘So how do we get in?’
Archie glanced at the statue of Dawlish Hooke with the silver ring on his outstretched hand.
‘That’s odd,’ he said. ‘Statues don’t normally wear rings.’
‘I told you, Hooke was famous for his enchanted jewellery,’ said Rupert. ‘He made that ring for the king himself.’
Archie glanced at the gold ring on his own finger, the one that had belonged to Fabian Grey and contained his magic quill.
He examined the statue more carefully. By the look of the wear on Hooke’s finger the silver ring had been removed many times
‘I wonder,’ he said, reaching forward to pluck the ring from the statue. He slipped it on to his own finger next to Grey’s ring. Then approaching the mirror, he reached out his hand with the ring to touch the glass. It passed straight through.
‘It’s a permission wall!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s operated by the ring. Come on!’
18
The Hidden Library
Archie stepped through the mirror and found himself in the secret room on the other side. From where he was now he could see into the reading room he’d just left, where his friends were goggling at his sudden disappearance.
He passed the ring back through the mirror to Rupert who slipped it on to his finger and stepped through. One by one each of the others followed, taking it in turn to pass the ring to the next one until all five of them were safely on the other side of the mirror.
The room on this side was bigger than the one they had just left. The walls were lined with polished wooden panels. On a desk in the middle was a stack of ancient books.
‘What is this place?’ asked Thistle.
‘I think it’s the secret library that Gloom accidentally told Hawke about,’ said Archie.
‘I knew it!’ exclaimed Rupert, triumphantly.
‘Well done, Rupert,’ said Bramble. ‘So … I wonder what they’re keeping here that is so secret they didn’t even want the museum elders knowing about it?’
Archie was already scanning the spines of the books on the desk. ‘Listen to these titles,’ he said, picking up a book in each hand. ‘Darke Deedes and Broken Promises,’ he said, reading the first title. ‘And this one is called Curses to Kill and Maim.’
‘Charming!’ said Thistle. ‘And here’s another to warm your heart: Treachery and the Art of Betrayal.’
The others were looking at the book titles now. ‘They’re all dark magic,’ said Arabella. ‘Every single one of them.’
‘Yes,’ breathed Archie. ‘It’s a library of dark magic!’
He glanced at the title of another book that was open on the desk. It was called Powerful Blood Magic.
‘That’s odd,’ said Rupert, looking over his shoulder. ‘I’m researching magical bloods but Gloom didn’t mention anything about this book …’
Some pages were marked. Archie started to read.
Hare’s Blood: the blood of a hare can be used to make a potion that produces the symptoms of madness. The blood must be taken from a March hare on the night of the spring equinox and mixed with henbane, the plant known as White Dragon. When administered on a regular basis, the maddening potion destabilises the victim’s mind, so that they show the early signs of insanity.
There were more pages marked.
Snuffling Blood: the blood of snufflings can be used to make an invisibility potion …
Archie turned to the next marked page.
Dragon’s (Dracus) Blood: Although it has many useful applications, the most powerful property of the blood of a dragon is its ability to extinguish a magical flame. The blood must be taken from a freshly slain dragon and administered within twenty-four hours with the following quenching spell:
Blood of Dracus
Newly slain
Beast of darkness
Quench the Flame.
Archie remembered that Old Zeb had said that dragon’s blood was one of the only ways to put out a magical flame. His thoughts were interrupted by Thistle.
‘But who would want a library of dark magic?’
‘Greaders!’ said Bramble.
‘You’d be surprised how many people in the magical realm are interested in dark magic,’ agreed Arabella. ‘That includes my family. The Ripleys have their own hoard of dark magical books and artefacts at our house in Oxford. Not that I approve, of course,’ she added hastily.
‘Do you think Gloom is a Greader?’ asked Rupert.
Archie shook his head. ‘No. From what you said it looks like he knows about the secret library. But I think he only found out about it recently. He was the one who told Hawke about The Book of Night being kept here – he wouldn’t have done that if he was a Greader.’
‘But why didn’t he tell me about the blood magic book?’ said Rupert.
‘He may not know it’s here,’ said Archie. ‘It looks like someone’s been reading it very recently. You said that Gloom only just got back from a trip?’
‘Yes,’ said Rupert. ‘He got back this evening.’
‘So if it wasn’t Gloom, who was reading the book?’ asked Bramble.
‘We’ve had several visitors today,’ said Rupert, thoughtfully. ‘Uther Morgred was here earlier and Faustus Gaunt was here yesterday. They’re both fellows of the Society. Morgred was asking about security at the Royal Society. I don’t think he was very impressed with our password system.’
‘I wonder if Morgred knows about the dark library?’ said Bramble.
‘Maybe. Perhaps the books are locked away here by him to keep them out of the wrong hands?’ suggested Rupert.
‘Or maybe to get them into the wrong hands, if the Royal Society is full of Greaders!’ said Archie.
The five members of the Alchemists’ Club looked at each other. The full significance of their discovery was just starting to sink in.
They heard a sound coming from the direction of the mirror.
‘Shhhhhhhhh!’ hissed Rupert, putting his finger to his lips.
Holding their breath, they peered through the mirror. The door to the reading room had just opened and they could see the bald head of Orpheus Gloom.
Archie’s mind raced. If Gloom checked the statue he would see that the ring was missing. He would guess that someone had used it to get into the hidden library and they would be discovered.
Watching from their hiding place, the members of the Alchemists’ Club exchanged anxious glances. But just as they were beginning to fear the worst, they heard someone speak to Gloom.
‘How long have you known about the dark library, Orpheus?’ Archie recognised Uther Morgred’s cold voice.
‘Not long at all,’ replied Gloom defensively. ‘I only discovered it by accident a few weeks ago. I was appalled at the books it contains.’
‘Including The Book of Night?’ pressed Morgred.
‘Yes, yes,’ said Gloom. ‘I knew what it was immediately, of course. I’ve been a magic assessor for thirty years, after all, and it is the most infamous of all the seven,’ he added. ‘Though it was quite a shock, I can tell you, to find it here at the Royal Society.
To think it was right under our noses all this time!’
‘What did you do then?’
‘I reported it to Gideon Hawke in Lost Books and he arranged to have it collected. A book like that should be in the crypt at the Museum of Magical Miscellany, under lock and key with as many guarding spells as possible!’ declared Gloom hotly.
‘And Hawke didn’t think it important enough to collect it himself?’
‘I hadn’t thought about it that way,’ admitted Gloom. ‘But no, I suppose not, because he sent Wolfus Bone and Woodbine Foxe.’
Morgred sounded displeased. ‘Bone and Foxe! Woodbine Foxe doesn’t even work for the museum any more. He was expelled.’
On the other side of the mirror Archie felt Bramble and Thistle bristle.
‘Well, Gideon said he trusted them,’ Gloom said. ‘It wasn’t up to me.’
‘This is most unsatisfactory,’ said Morgred. ‘And what happened when they arrived?’
‘Well, the Greaders must have found out about the book being moved. They snatched it when Bone and Foxe came to collect it.’
Morgred sounded even more displeased. ‘This is a very serious breach of security.’
‘Yes, well, I can see that,’ stammered Gloom. ‘But you can’t seriously think that I am to blame? I informed Hawke as soon as I knew The Book of Night was here. I couldn’t have done any more. Could I?’
Gloom sounded frightened now. His bald head glistened with sweat.
The door closed revealing the sallow face of Gloom’s inquisitor. Morgred had closed the door so that he was shut in the room with Gloom. He leaned in close, his dark eyes searching Gloom’s.
‘I don’t know, Orpheus. Could you have done more?’
Gloom’s lip trembled. ‘No, Uther, I couldn’t. You must see that?’
‘Show me your palm,’ demanded Morgred.
‘You won’t find the Black Dragon on me, Uther,’ Gloom said, but his hand was shaking.
‘We’ve just discovered that the Greaders are using an invisibility potion to conceal the firemark,’ said Morgred, rubbing Gloom’s palm with his thumb. He inspected it closely.
