“Magic, my dear boy,” Colin replied. “You see we don’t waste things here when we don’t want them anymore, not like you humans do, no we put them into storage for further use at a time when we might need them again, so whole rooms like banqueting halls, dancing rooms, yoga rooms and other such rooms all get sealed up and placed into a magic time-lock until required again.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Jamie said, agreeing with the idea.
“So, how is this going to help us find the dark wizard?” Trixie asked.
“Ah well, watch again,” replied Colin before he then once more placed his finger on the map key and said,
“Show us any other rooms in or out of use.”
The map gave a little flash of light and just next to the collection of stored rooms appeared another room in bright red lines that gently flashed like an emergency light.
“There, as I thought so, a secret room hidden inside the Ministry itself which I believe the dark wizard is using, the cheeky rogue,” muttered Colin annoyed by the dark wizard’s arrogance.
“But why?” asked Trixie. “Why have a secret room inside the ministry?”
“Storage,” replied Colin bluntly.
“Storage?” Trixie said, still very confused.
“Yes, storage, you see it came to me earlier today, I was thinking about those files and very important reports that had gone missing, and the thing is, most people will be unaware that all important papers and files in the Ministry just cannot be destroyed like normal paper,” Colin said pausing to look at Marty who was busy setting fire to a file marked ‘Marty F Riley personnel record’, with a little lighter.
“Really? Not even fire?” Marty asked looking up.
“No, not even fire,” replied Colin before Marty disappointedly threw the file to the floor.
“So I figured what else could he do with them but store them, but it would have to be somewhere no one would find them, an unused room perhaps,” Colin said pointing to the red box. “And then I counted on the fact he may be smart, but I bet he didn’t know about this map,” he then grinned, pleased with his own ingenuity.
“Great, so we know where the missing files are, now can we get out of here please?” asked Trixie, aware of how long they had been in the library.
“No, no, now we know the room exists we need to go and find it,” replied Colin stubbornly.
“Really?” exclaimed Trixie concerrned at the thought of wandering around the Ministry at night, in the dark with the possibility of being caught at any moment for trespassing.
“Yes, really, and then when we find it we will have the proof we need to expose this dark menace,” Colin said, determined to stop the dark wizard.
“Okay,” sighed Trixie giving up on the hope of a quick and successful exit from the building.
“I’m sure we will be okay, as long as we are quick and quiet,” Colin said reassuringly.
“Hey, look at me!” Marty then chuckled as he did a little jig in and out of the 3D drawing.
“Now I’m in the map, now I’m out of the map, in the map and out of the map, in, out, in …”
“Right, let’s get moving shall we?” Colin said before tapping the key of the map and the 3D drawing immediately vanished as all the lines returned to the page, leaving Marty standing alone on the squiggly paper again.
“Ah spoilsport!” grumbled Marty.
After returning the map back to the correct file, like the responsible Magictasium citizens that they were, they then quietly made their way back through the library.
“So how are we going to find this secret room?” asked Trixie as they walked towards the other end of the library.
“I had a thought about that, and the entrance to the room must be up on the Council member’s floor,” replied Colin. “Somewhere near to where we witnessed the dark wizard entering”.
“And right under the council’s noses, he’s clever, very clever, maybe even super-clever,” Marty added.
“Yes, but we’re clevererer, I mean brighterer, no wait what’s the word I’m thinking of?” Colin said looking puzzled as he tried to think of the correct word.
“More intelligent?” offered Trixie.
“Yes, that’ll do,” Colin agreed. “We are more intelligenter. ”
When they reached the large wooden doors at the end of the library, Colin stopped and turned to face Jamie and Trixie with a serious look on his face.
“Okay, outside of this room is the visitors’ reception, and across to the left is the one and only door to the employees’ entrance, so we must be quick and we must be silent because to the right is the door to the wizard security room, which means there is a good possible chance of meeting a security wizard right out there!”
“This is a really stupid idea,” whispered Trixie disapprovingly.
“Yes, but it is our only chance of catching the dark wizard, so remember: quick and quiet,” replied Colin.
“Yeah, we must be invisible, like a ninja,” added Marty, now wearing a black ski mask.
“Yes, so stay with me at all times and only do what I tell you,” continued Colin.
“Okay!” replied Jamie and Trixie together quietly.
Colin then slowly and carefully turned the large black handle and with a little force, a smaller wooden door that was built into the large main door gently opened.
“Oh,” muttered Jamie, a little disappointed to see a normal-size door opening and not the whole large one. They then quietly stepped out into the large visitors’ reception room that they had previously visited, and stood quietly in the semi-darkness of the now empty room.
“Come on,” whispered Colin before he began to sneak as quietly as he could across the polished grey marble floor. Jamie and Trixie quickly followed him and after a few steps they had almost reached the employees’ door, when a noise suddenly made them freeze in their tracks. Behind them, by the big round reception desk, they could suddenly hear heavy footsteps approaching.
“What do we do?” whispered Trixie in horror.
“Stay perfectly still,” whispered Colin through gritted teeth, already standing like a statue.
Then, out the corner of his eye, Jamie could see two burly security wizards strolling around the large circular reception desk towards him. Dressed in dark grey uniforms and carrying large shiny steel wands, they strolled along casually chatting.
“Well, eventually, the wife had enough and so I had to get rid of the Black Shuck, which was a real shame because apart from the angry laser shooting eyes it really was a lovely dog,” said one of the security wizards.
“Ah, that is a shame!” replied the other, sympathising with his colleague.
“Yeah, between you and me, I should have probably got rid of the missus,” continued the first security wizard with a chuckle.
They then strolled on right past the little statuette group of intruders and headed for the employees’ door, then suddenly one of the wizards stopped.
“Wait a minute!” he said, dramatically pausing.
Trixie began to tremble, she knew they had been spotted, she knew they were done for, any second now they were going to get into some major, major big trouble.
“I left me mints in my locker,” said the security wizard patting his pocket.
“Come on then, lets go get them,” sighed the other security wizard before they turned around, and walked straight past the little group again and back around the reception desk out of sight.
“Unbelievable!” exclaimed Trixie in amazement that they had gotten away with it.
“I know, you should never forget your mints,” said Marty chewing on one of his own.
Quickly, the little group of catchers passed into the employees’ entrance room, which was also now very quiet and dimly lit, and then they immediately head
ed for the door which would take them back up to the high council floor. Moments later, they entered the plush corridor of the high council again and Colin stared at the row of bay windows ahead of them.
“Which one was it?” he then asked.
“I don’t know, they all look the same up here,” replied Trixie shrugging.
“Jamie?” he asked, hoping the young lad might know.
“Sorry,” replied Jamie with a shrug, also clueless.
“Right, we’ll have to check them all then,” sighed Colin. Then he stepped to the first bay lead window, turned around so his back was to the glass and then stared at the wooden panelled wall opposite him. After a moment he moved to the wooden panelled wall and quickly began patting it over with both of his hands.
“What are you doing?” asked Trixie, puzzled by her uncle’s strange behaviour.
“Looking for the secret door to the secret room that our dark wizard friend has installed, it must be here somewhere,” Colin replied as he continued patting the wooden panels.
“Nope, not this one,” he then muttered before heading for the next window along the corridor. He then stood once again in front of the glass window before moving to the opposite wall, where once again he began to pat it down, while the others just stood watching him.
“You know, you could help me,” he remarked, glancing up at them.
Jamie quickly rushed over to where Colin was stood and began to pat the wall next to him.
“I actually meant, why don’t you two go start on the next window,” sighed Colin.
“Oh right!” replied Jamie before heading with Trixie to the next one along the corridor.
The little group then patted down one section of the wall after another but still they were unable to find the secret entrance.
“I don’t think it’s here!” said Trixie frustrated after having checked a few wooden panelled areas along the corridor.
“Don’t give up yet, we’ll find it, just keep going,” replied Colin as he passed them to the next window.
“But there are too many!” she grumbled.
“Don’t forget the other side of the building as well,” added Marty, sitting back lazily in Colin’s top pocket.
“You’re not helping,” muttered Colin in reply.
They continued patting each wall directly in front of each window just as they had done before, until after a few minutes a loud angry voice suddenly interrupted them.
“Hey, you lot, what are you doing to that wall?” cried one of the security wizards staring at them in disbelief.
Looking up, they could see the two security wizards from the reception room, now marching quickly towards them along the corridor.
“Oh no!” exclaimed Trixie in horror, knowing now they were definitely done for and had been caught red-handed in the Ministry building.
“RUN!” cried Colin suddenly, before the little group of trespassers quickly bolted away up the corridor.
“Hey! COME BACK!” cried one of the security wizards before they gave chase.
“Not again, I’m too young to go to prison, I’m too young,” Marty cried, now hiding inside Colin’s pocket in fear.
“No one’s going to prison if we just keep running,” gasped Colin in reply, as he jogged furiously along the corridor following the others.
“We’ll be okay as long as they…” before Colin could finish his sentence an internal alarm began to sound, then flashing red lights dropped from the ceiling and the big bay windows began to seal themselves shut with big metal shutters that quickly covered the glass,“…don’t set off the emergency security shutdown,” he continued with a deep sigh.
“What do we do now?” cried Trixie in horror.
“Keep running!” replied Colin trying to hold up his long robes so he didn’t trip on them and holding onto his big old leather wizard’s hat as he ran.
Then little blue sparks began to explode around them.
“They’re shooting!” cried Jamie as the security wizards fired their metal wands at the fleeing group.
“Don’t let them hit you, it’s a stun spell and it’ll put you to sleep…” before Colin could finish his sentence a blast hit him in the back of the head instantly putting him to sleep and he immediately stopped running and stood snoring loudly.
“Wake up!” cried Trixie slapping his old snoring face.
“…instantly,” Colin said, suddenly coming to. “What… what happened?”
“Run!” screamed Trixie pulling his arm.
“Oh yes, fleeing!” exclaimed Colin remembering what was going on and then quickly setting off again.
Then something else shot past over their heads, and glancing back they all saw a huge shiny metal axe now sticking into the plush, carpeted floor just a metre behind them.
“What was that?” cried Trixie.
“Uh oh!” exclaimed Colin as he looked ahead and could see the old suits of armour that lined the corridor, suddenly beginning to wake up and move to block their way. “It would seem they have upgraded the security in the Ministry building,” he replied.
“What do we do now?” cried Trixie in terror.
“Keep moving, keep moving!” replied Colin, pushing her to move forwards, and they raced towards the next suit of armour, and as it raised its sword high into the air above its head they shot under its arms and on down the corridor.
“See, they might be deadly, but we’re as swift as a Minotaur,” chuckled Colin excitedly.
“Minotaur’s aren’t swift,” replied Trixie.
“Really? Then what am I thinking of?” asked Colin confused.
“Antelope,” said Jamie.
“Turtles,” suggested Marty.
“No, no something bigger…” replied Colin, trying to think of the creature he was really trying to think of.
“It really doesn’t matter right now!” snapped Trixie angrily.
“No, I suppose not,” muttered Colin as another blue spark shot over his head.
On they continued along the corridor as fast as they could, dodging and weaving between the little blue stun sparks of the chasing security wizards, and then ducking and jumping over the swords and axes of the suits of armour that swung wildly to stop them.
“This is madness!” cried Trixie, now very scared for her life.
“No, this is madness,” replied Colin throwing his arms up in the air and screaming like a little girl, before leaping perfectly like a ballerina over the next swinging sword.
“Yep, that’s definitely madness,” confirmed Marty from Colin’s top pocket. “Now please don’t do that again.”
Then after a few more metres of hard running, they finally reached the end of the corridor, and in doing so they had no choice but to turn left into the next one.
“In here!” cried Trixie, stopping to try a door but unfortunately only finding it locked.
“It’s no use, in an emergency situation all the doors are magically locked by Ministry protocol,” replied Colin, dragging her away. “Just keep moving.”
The security wizards quickly appeared around the corner huffing and puffing hard as they tried to keep up, but determined not to give up and being paid well to apprehend all intruders no matter how much fitter they might be, they were soon chasing the little group along the next corridor.
“How do we get out of here?” asked Trixie, as more blue sparks exploded around her.
Colin glanced up at the next window they were approaching, and realised that by good fortune they had just managed to get ahead of the shut-down process and it was still wide open.
“Like this!” he replied, suddenly scooping Trixie and Jamie up in his arms and then jumping out of the big window in one big leap. They all screamed in utter horror as they plummeted through the darkness towards the groun
d and as they tumbled through the air, Colin yelled out,
“Aim for the river!”
Then a second later Jamie and Trixie sploshed spectacularly into the cold wet water of the Dunpeeing River that ran conveniently along the side of the Ministry building. Unfortunately Colin fell short of the river and instead he crashed down into a wooden snack hut that stood nearby, the type that sells all kinds of delicious sweets and savoury snack goods for the hungry tourists. Up above, the security wizards stared out of the window in amazement at how the fugitives had just escaped.
“Well, aren’t you going to follow them?” asked the first security wizard looking out of the window, before the other wizard just stared back at him in wide-eyed disbelief.
Swimming back to the bank of the river, Jamie and Trixie hauled themselves out and stood for a moment soaking wet as they tried to catch their breath.
“That was incredible!” exclaimed Jamie, excited and relieved that they had survived the fall.
“Little help, please!” called a voice and looking down at the river’s edge they saw a very wet Marty struggling to climb out over the high bank. Trixie bent down and scooped him up, before then glancing around to find her uncle.
“Where’s Uncle Colin?” she asked, concerned for his wellbeing.
“I don’t know, I fell out of his pocket on the way down and didn’t see where he landed,” replied Marty, shivering.
Then a noise came from the half-demolished wooden snack hut, and Colin staggered out of the broken shed covered in sweets, dust and candyfloss.
“Unicorns!” he exclaimed suddenly. “That was the creature I was thinking of, it came to me as I was falling, yes, unicorns” he smiled, before popping a toffee in his mouth and then shaking himself free of the dust and other snacks. “Right, no time to dawdle, we need to get out of here,” he announced, quickly marching off.
The little fleeing group quickly strolled as fast as they could back around the building and then across the open square, and back towards where they had left Streak. As they then made their way back along the road they suddenly spotted blue flashing lights in the sky, approaching them quickly over the roofs of the houses.
“It’s the wizard police!” exclaimed Colin in horror. “Run!”
The Catchers Page 14
