As they walked on, the conversation shifted back to the Knights of the Fifth Order, and the dangers in the cave.

‘So, what happened to those people in the cave? The ones who attacked us.’ he asked as they made their way down to the shore of the large, misty, lake. At the centre of the large body, a heavily treed island stood mysterious and solitary. As the sun evaporated the fog, James was able to make out a little more of the dark isle.

James noticed Tyre slowly making his way back toward them, as Eligh answered his question.

‘Bloodstone arrested them, and carted them off to some jail in London,’ Eligh said angrily, ‘it’s too good for them, if you ask me!’ he added, kicking at the sporadic grass, their feet crunching on the lake shore rocks. 

James looked at his two friends; they both looked worried at mention of the Knights.

‘These blokes are the real deal, aren’t they?’ he questioned, now starting to worry, as he realized just how narrow of an escape they’d made. 

Eligh smirked dimly in reply. 

‘The magical people have basically been at war with the Fifth Order for hundreds and hundreds of years,’ Elizabeth said. 

They stepped over a piece of driftwood, and Eligh stopped, looking out over the lake; his shoulders clenched.

‘We never really started fighting back until the Abby,’ he said. 

Tyre was with them now, and had climbed up onto James’ shoulder.

‘Et wus a terrible year fur us majiks,’ he added, shuddering slightly. 

‘Long, long ago, us magical people were living all over the country, all over the world,’ Eligh explained as they made their way past a stream that was trickling into the lake. ‘Well, somewhere in Ireland, there was a small town set up. An escape. A safe haven, for people who were on the run.’ 

James heard Tyre whimper slightly and scoot closer to his head.

‘Anyways,’ Eligh continued, ‘somehow they were found by the Knights; and my Dad always figured they were sold out by someone. Of course no one has ever gotten inside to try and find out,’ he said, looking at the ground. 

James glanced at Elizabeth; she too looked uncomfortable, and he figured she had been told this story already. Tyre too seemed upset, as he was now hugging James around the face – as much as his short arms would let him. 

There was a thick silence between the friends, as if the rest of the story could not be told for its bleak nature. 

Finally, James could take the silence no more.

‘So what happened, did they get attacked?’ 

The look that James received from Eligh dispelled any notion as naive or tender as being attacked.

‘It was a massacre,’ Elizabeth whispered. 

More silence followed, which was only broken by a loud, tear-filled sob from Tyre. 

‘No, I mean, they were magic; they would have been able to…’ James tried to continue but Eligh shook his head.

‘It’s the darkest day on the calendar,’ he said. ‘Three hundred unarmed men, women, and children died that day.’ 

‘Eye canne evin thenk abu et,’ Tyre blubbered. 

James felt something leave him; an innocence that he’d long had, suddenly vanished. He knew the world had problems, but for some strange reason this hit him harder than he could have imagined. It felt, for some reason, a little too close to home. The friends walked in silence for a while, before moving on to brighter topics. Soon the conversation drifted back to school and what James had missed.

‘Sam Bartworth let out a giant rat,’ Eligh remembered, ‘it took three teachers an hour to catch it!’ 

James smiled at the story; he didn’t know the person involved, or, for that matter, the teachers, but the image of a giant rat scurrying around and teachers not being able to catch it seemed funny.

‘So, what do you have to do to catch up?’ Elizabeth asked James as they started to make their way back towards the magnificent building that was the Orphanage.

‘Not much I suppose,’ James began, remembering the conversation he had with Fletcher the night before. ‘Headmaster said I should get you two to give me an overview.’ 

‘That’s it?’ Eligh asked, stunned. ‘I missed twelve minutes of Mister Dewmin’s Defensive Charms class and he made me do an essay on the importance of punctuality!’ he complained, kicking at a tall weed as they passed and stepped onto the grass continuing back towards the Orphanage. 

The sun had done away with the fog by the time they arrived at the entrance to the Orphanage, but there was still a brisk coolness to the air. James wandered into the main hall; Elizabeth followed, as did Eligh. They made their way to a table on the east side and sat down, spending the better part of the next hour discussing the lessons that had been taught over the course of the past month. 

James thought that with a couple days study he would be back on track. 

They again ventured outside to quell the constant requests from Tyre to play a game of Flop and Stop, (this is quite similar to tag). 

It was dark by the time they headed back into the Orphanage; they were talking about several things at once as they climbed a steep set of stairs that connected with a main hallway, which in turn lead to the dormitories.

Tyre was carrying on about a certain kind of flower that made an excellent tea, and at the same time Elizabeth was talking about a few hilarious spells she had learned. Eligh was talking about rare breeds of magical animals, and how he wanted to, eventually, have a sanctuary. James was trying to listen to all the conversations, but found it more than a little difficult. 

They made their way into the Centaur Section’s reading room and found three chairs positioned closely together, upon which they sat down. James felt a piece of rolled up paper in his pocket, and pulled it out, remembering the note he had received from Fletcher.

‘What’s that?’ Eligh asked immediately; his curiosity was unrivalled even by James and Elizabeth. 

James shrugged, silent at first. ‘It’s a note from Headmaster Fletcher,’ he said, reading it over again.

‘He seems nice; mind you I’ve only talked to him a few times,’ Eligh remarked, trying to get a peek of the note over James’ shoulder.

‘Is the note a secret?’ Elizabeth asked as Eligh’s spying became more persistent.

‘No. I mean; I don’t think so,’ James said and handed the note to Elizabeth. He watched her read it through, her eyes widening in surprise just as James’ had. Elizabeth passed the note back to James who in turn passed it to Eligh so he could have a look.

‘What do you suppose it’s all about?’ Elizabeth asked in a hushed tone; there were other students about the reading room. 

‘I have a hunch,’ James said, thinking back to his conversation with Fletcher.

‘Sounds like a private lesson to me,’ Eligh said jealously, ‘that’s rare stuff,’ he finished, obviously deciding it was for the best, as he gave James another rough pat on the back. Elizabeth smiled, evidently thinking that this was funny.

‘What’s your hunch?’ she chuckled. 

James shook his head and scoffed. ‘I’m not positive,’ he admitted, ‘but it might have something to do with Horace.’ 

Elizabeth shook her head apprehensively. ‘I hope not. He’s not right, that one.’

James nodded in agreement. Eligh finally handed the note back to James, as he looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

‘Well you better go find out,’ he said pointing to the clock, ‘it’s almost eleven-thirty.’

James did a quick double-take, to make sure he wasn’t mistaken; but the clock was truly ticking ominously close to 11:30.

‘Where did the day go?’ Elizabeth asked, lazily.

Eligh shrugged, ‘We were having fun. You know what they say? Time flies…’

James jumped out of his chair, and felt the pockets of his pants for his wand; he pulled out the thin piece of wood and held it firmly in his hand. Elizabeth was standing now too, her wand held lazily at her side. James gave her a questioning look.

‘Why not be fashionably late?’ she asked in reply. 

James laughed, and Elizabeth stepped in front of him, leading the way out of the room.

Whatever awaited them was close now, and James couldn’t help but feel it would change everything.