“That’s a gold crown, I thought the Emperor’s crown was silver?” asked Jamie, a little confused.
“It is, this is making no sense at all,” replied Trixie, just as confused. “In fact, this is making about as much sense as a cookery book written by an ogre that’s been translated into Spanish, then into Chinese, turned into Egyptian hieroglyphs and then written backwards.”
“That really makes no sense,” agreed Jamie.
“Exactly!” cried Trixie in despair.
“Well, could Colin be wrong about this, maybe the dark wizard isn’t going to unleash his plan here?” asked Jamie, beginning to have strong doubts.
“I don’t know,” replied Trixie, really confused.
“Could this just be a normal carnival crowning ceremony at the end of a normal magic carnival parade?” Jamie asked.
“I don’t know, maybe, maybe this is just the carnival ceremony!” replied Trixie, beginning to doubt her uncle as well.
The two glamorous witch assistants stood by the throne holding the blue cushion, then the host picked the crown up and raised it high in the air before turning and holding it above Darren’s head, ready to crown him. The crowd fell silent as they waited for it to be placed, then slowly the host lowered it down, and everyone watched eagerly as Darren Farrenden was about to be crowned king of the carnival.
“Noooo…..!” cried Colin, suddenly leaping onto the stage and then shooting a white spark from his wand, which knocked the crown from the ceremony host’s hands and sent it flying away.
The crowd gasped in shock and disbelief at what they had just seen.
“What are you doing, Colin? What is the meaning of this?” roared Lord Teathorpe rising from his seat.
“It’s him, my lord, the dark wizard, the one that’s been secretly interfering with Ministry business,” replied Colin, pointing his wand firmly at Darren. “Your assistant is a dark wizard plotting to take over Magictasium!”
The crowd gasped again in horror and disbelief.
“My lord, this is total fudge cake nonsense of the lowest calibre!” protested Darren calmly before he tried to stand up.
“Sit down, you dark fiend!” ordered Colin, still pointing his wand at him angrily.
“My lord, please, he’s clearly a lunatic, I’m no dark wizard, I’m just your humble assistant,” exclaimed Darren nervously, protesting his innocence once more, before the crowd gasped in amazement again.
“Lunatic! Lunatic! I’ll give you lunatic!” roared Colin, raising his wand as if to strike him.
“STOP, COLIN!” shouted Lord Teathorpe, holding up his hand as the crowd gasped in disbelief once again. “Stop right there, we will have no acts of violence here today, thank you, this is supposed to be a time of happiness and celebration,” continued Lord Teathorpe, trying to sound upbeat and cheerful. Colin glared at Darren angrily and then reluctantly lowered his wand.
“Darren is my personal assistant and I would like to think, if he was a dark wizard, I might have noticed,” continued Lord Teathorpe. “After all, you are not accusing me of being stupid are you?”
Then Trixie quickly climbed onto the stage to try and help her uncle.
“But he is, he is a dark wizard,” she said defiantly. “He is a dark wizard and a naughty disgusting liar!” she added, glaring angrily at Darren for all the nice things he had said to her which clearly he didn’t mean, he was just trying to bamboozle her, or at least that’s what she thought.
The crowd gasped in horrified disbelief once again.
“Oh, stop that!” muttered Lord Teathorpe to the crowd, who then all sighed heavily in disappointment together, because there was nothing more fun in Magictasium than a crowd of people all saying the same thing together at the same time, or at least that’s what they all thought.
“Where’s the proof?” asked Darren, beginning to get annoyed by the accusations. “If I truly am a dark wizard, prove it!”
Trixie looked to her uncle, waiting for him to say something. Colin stood for a second, thinking carefully what to say next.
“The crown is the proof, Lord Teathorpe, take a close look at it,” Colin finally said, pointing to it on the stage floor a few feet away. Lord Teathorpe stepped towards it and then he bent down and picked it up before slowly carefully examining it.
“I think you’ll find it’s not quite the ordinary carnival crown it should be!” said Colin confidently.
Lord Teathorpe rolled it over in his hands and the spot where Colin had hit was now no longer gold, but instead it gleamed silver. Lord Teathorpe looked up in amazement and horror, as he realised the truth that Colin was showing him.
“It can’t be!” he gasped in disbelief. “It can’t be!”
Darren then suddenly leapt from the throne and with a flick of his fingers the crown shot from Lord Teathorpe’s hands and into his.
“It is, it is, and it’s all MINE!” he screamed wildly before he spun around and fired a green bolt of lightning from his hand, which hit Colin and sent him flying backwards across the stage.
“Nooo…!” screamed Trixie in horror as she watched her poor old uncle tumble across the wooden deck.
“DARK WIZARD! DARK WIZARD!” screamed someone from the crowd, and then everybody exploded into hysterical panic, wizards and witches immediately ran in all directions screaming in horror as they fled for their lives, as Darren fired several more bolts of lightning over their heads.
“Run! Run! RUN AWAY!” he cackled insanely. “Run for your lives!”
However, not every wizard and witch ran. Several, including Henry in his whale costume and a couple of members of the high council, bravely stood their ground and began to fight back. Quickly, they started to fire all kinds of spell shots from their wands at Darren to try and stop him, but Darren was already too powerful in dark magic and he easily defended the spells using just his hands in that open-handed jazz-hands kind of way all evil dark wizards did.
“Jazz hands! Jazz hands!” he muttered, blocking the spell shots. “Now kick and turn!” he then said, dancing his way back and forth across the stage.
“He’s too skilled!” cried Henry in despair.
“Yes, but what a mover!” replied Lord Teathorpe almost impressed by his former assistant’s style.
“You can’t stop me, I’m too powerful! Too strong! And soon I will be the ultimate, powerful, Emperor of Magictasium!” roared Darren, blocking another spell shot before doing a little spin on the spot.
“That’s a rubbish title,” shouted a teenage wizard hiding behind one of the green rubbish bins, before Darren then zapped him with a lightning bolt.
“Aaahh… Mummy!” cried the teenager, running away.
“Yes run, all of you, run, for I will be the Great Emperor Wizard of Magictasium!” he then shouted evilly. “Yes that’s a better title, I like that,” he muttered to himself.
At the far end of the stage, Trixie dashed to her uncle’s aid as colourful magic spells exploded around her.
“Uncle, Uncle, are you okay?” she asked as she knelt by his side.
Colin lay motionless for a moment and then blinked several times before sitting up.
“Wow! He really packs a wallop!” replied Colin rubbing his poor old bruised head.
“Don’t move, I’ll get some medical help,” said Trixie, about to go and find someone with first aid training.
“No you won’t, we have a dark wizard to deal with and no one’s going to stop me bringing him to justice,” Colin replied before slowly trying to get up onto his feet.
“A little help, please!” he then asked politely after a few attempts.
Trixie took hold of his arm and carefully helped him back up and then, for a second or two, Colin stood still, trying to find his centre of balance again.
“Okay!” he said after a fe
w seconds. “Round two, now where’s my wand?” he then asked, patting his pockets trying to find it.
“Here!” replied Trixie, picking it up off the floor for him. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked again, still a little concerned for his wellbeing.
“I’m fine thank you, Daisy” he replied before taking his wand off her and then marching towards the dark wizard once more.
“Daisy?” muttered Trixie, looking confused.
Darren was now huddled behind the throne as spell shots exploded around him. In his left hand he held the crown tightly as his right hand fired more bolts of lightning back at those who were trying to stop him.
“Cease your feeble attempts to stop me, put a halt to this pathetic resistance,” he ordered masterfully. “And I promise I shall make your punishments swift and merciful!” he cackled evilly.
“I’ll make your punishment swift and merciful!” replied Colin firing a green spell shot from his wand, which hit Darren straight in the ear.
“Aaaa…! Dwarf’s beard, that hurts!” cried Darren, rubbing his ear in pain.
“That got his attention,” grinned Colin excitedly.
Then Darren fired several green lightning bolts back at Colin, and Colin skilfully jiggled between them in a Latin-style mamba way.
“Now he definitely has moves,” Lord Teathorpe smiled as Henry nodded in agreement.
“Now my dear, we need to get that crown,” Colin said, glancing at Trixie, who was now stood beside him.
“Why? It’s just a crown, and no one here is going to honour the symbol it represents, even if he does put it on,” she replied.
“It’s not just a crown, it’s also a link to the Ministry’s magic reserves, and if he puts that crown on then he will become significantly more powerful than all of us and we may lose our chance to stop him. We need to relieve him of it now!” replied Colin in an urgent, dramatic tone.
“Oh great!” sighed Trixie sarcastically. “So how are we going to get it?”
“Distraction!” Colin replied with an excited gleam in his eye. “I will keep him busy with a few choice spells, and you sneak up behind him and grab the crown.”
“What? No way! No, no that’s a stupid plan, a really stupid plan!” she exclaimed shaking her head in terror at that idea.
“You have to, you’re our only hope, well actually I was hoping Marty would do it, but I think he’s hiding, the little so-and-so. You’re the only one left, you have to try, for the sake of Magictasium!” he pleaded with her.
Trixie sighed reluctantly. “Fine! But I want a bigger allowance.”
“Deal!” replied Colin in agreement.
“And the Magictasium potion and spells set, the twelve-book collection,” Trixie then said.
“I’ll think about it,” replied Colin.
“Oh, and my own broom, a Brushfire 200, in purple.”
“Umm… No!” replied Colin bluntly.
“Oh!” sighed Trixie, disappointed that she hadn’t thought of that demand first.
“Now go, go!” Colin said, encouraging her to get on with it. Then he moved towards the front of the stage, ready to divert Darren’s attention.
Trixie hunched down as low as she could before carefully moving to the big red curtain across the back of the stage. She then crept cautiously closer behind Darren, as the other wizards and witches continued to distract him with spell blasts as they pinned him in behind the golden throne.
“This is a really bad idea, a really bad idea,” she muttered to herself quietly as she got within a few metres of him.
Huddled down at the front of the stage, out of sight, was Jamie. From the moment the spell fighting began he had ducked out of sight in fear because firstly, spell fighting was dangerous and secondly, he was a young lad and didn’t really want to get hit by a spell that might give him cabbage ears or frogs’ legs, or worse. But now, he suddenly felt a need to see what was happening, and slowly he stood up, and peered over the stage.
“Watch yourself, kid!” said a big, red-bearded wizard stepping past him and pushing him down just in time for a magic spell to shoot over his head. Then, peering over again, Jamie could see the large throne that Darren was hiding behind, he then glanced around at all the wizards and witches around him trying to stop the dark wizard and part of him knew he should join in and help, but also part of him was just too petrified, and after all he was just a boy in a new, strange world and he barely knew how to use his wand, which meant he really wouldn’t be that much use, so on that logic he quickly huddled down again and continued to watch, hoping everything would just turn out all right.
Trixie, meanwhile, had now managed to sneak right up behind Darren and now she was just inches away from the big shiny crown. Nervously, she held out her hand towards it. Her heart pounded rapidly with excitement and her hand trembled slightly as she was about to get the upper hand on this dangerous, dark, handsome wizard.
“This is it!” she thought, taking a deep breath. “Now or never!”
Trixie then made a grab for the crown, but Darren suddenly spun around and, in the blink of an eye, he had caught hold of her, gripping her wrist tight.
“STOP!” he commanded with a roar as he pulled Trixie tightly in front of him and used her as a shield. “Stop right now!”
“TRIXIE!” cried Colin in horror.
Immediately, everybody ceased firing spells, except for one old wizard who accidently fired one last shot that then accidentally hit Trixie in the head and singed her hair slightly.
“Hey!” she growled angrily.
“Sorry! Sorry! So sorry!” the old wizard replied sheepishly before quickly lowering his wand.
“Now, unless you want to see her head as big as a pumpkin or her neck like spaghetti, or worse,” growled Darren menacingly, “you’d better give up this little fight right now and bow to me, your beloved ruler,” he grinned evilly.
“You fiend! Let her go, have you no decency?” growled Colin angrily.
“Umm… No!” replied Darren with a slight snigger. “I have charm, good looks and power, great and powerful power!”
Colin then pointed his wand at Darren again.
“Just give yourself up, because you’ll never get away with this,” he said firmly.
“I will too!” sneered Darren before sticking his tongue out at Colin. “And soon I will be Emperor of all that I survey and you will all call me master!” he grinned evilly once again.
“Never!” replied Colin defiantly.
“Yes, you will,” replied Darren.
“No, I won’t,” replied Colin.
“Yes, you will,” replied Darren angrily.
“No, I will not,” replied Colin, shouting back.
“You will, you will, you will!” screamed Darren before having a little temper tantrum right there in front of everyone.
“Wow!” muttered Colin in disbelief. “You don’t see a grown wizard do that every day.”
Then Darren stopped pounding his feet on the spot, took a deep breath and then raised the crown above his head.
“Now, kneel before your EMPEROR!” he roared before he lowered the crown towards his head.
“Nooo…!” cried Marty, suddenly leaping out from under the throne and grabbing Darren’s leg.
Darren screamed in a high-pitched voice.
“A mouse!” he cried out in shock, before he started to try and flick Marty off his leg in a one-legged, can-can-style motion.
Trixie immediately turned and grabbed the crown from Darren’s hand, but the dark wizard held her arm tightly and she was unable to get away.
“Give me that back!” he shouted angrily, hopping on one leg, as Marty clung to the other.
“No! Let me go, your hands are all clammy and sweaty,” shouted Trixie, trying to pull away.
Instantly, he magic-jumped from where he had been crouching at the front of the stage to right behind Trixie, and this time he didn’t feel sick afterwards.
“What? Where did you come from?” cried Darren, surprised to see him suddenly appear next to him.
Jamie didn’t reply, he just gave Darren a big shove backwards before pulling Trixie free from his grip.
“Hold on!” Jamie said before he clicked his fingers again, and he, Trixie and the crown disappeared from sight.
“Nooo!” cried Darren in that overdramatic, despairing way all bad guys do when they’re about to be beaten.
“Now!” shouted Colin and all the wizards and witches quickly began blasting him with spells again.
“No! Get off! Leave me alone!” cried Darren as he staggered backwards from the impact of the spell blasts.
“Time to leave!” exclaimed Marty, leaping off Darren’s leg and diving back under the throne.
All the wizard and witches continued to bombard Darren with magical spell after magical spell, knocking him left and right and back and forth, until Darren was soon staggering about like a man who had been on a very fast roundabout too long.
“I’ll take you, I’ll take you all on, you can’t stop me!” he slurred, staggering back and then around in a circle for a few steps until finally, he fell to his knees and slumped over in pain, and then with a low, painful groan, his face squashed down against the wooden floorboards of the stage and he was finished.
“I think we’re done here!” said Colin triumphantly lowering his wand, as did the others.
“We did it!” exclaimed Trixie excitedly appearing at the far end of the stage, where she and Jamie had magic-jumped.
“Yes!” cried Jamie excitedly, jumping for joy.
The Catchers Page 21
