Leo Perry and the Scrolls of the Druid

- CHAPTER TWELVE -

Answers At Last

'Here.' Henry handed Leo an old piece of parchment. 'I found it yesterday just before the feast. I had just finished my homework in the library and I found it lying on the floor by a bookshelf. At first I thought it was a page from a book but now I don't think so.'

Leo read the writing on the small piece of parchment. It was written in jet black ink with a very neat form.

Malocarr,

I have found some new information. You must be very careful. I was told by Simmons this morning that children had been out of their beds just last night. The old bat went on about them shouting things. She had nothing of interest to say, except that she thought she heard them say something about scrolls. Be watchful. If they get in your way, kill them, but make it look accidental. We don't need anyone to get suspicious.

As for the information about the scrolls, you can find it in a book called

'There's no more?' Leo asked. The words had stopped there. The piece of parchment was only half of the whole letter.

'I looked to see if there was anything else but there wasn't,' said Henry. 'I had to run or I would've been late for the feast.'

'This is so weird,' said Leo. 'They're talking about us. We were the kids out at night. It was Professor Simmons who found us. This person, whoever it was, was talking to her. That means the writer is a teacher. But who is Malocarr and why does he need to be careful?'

'I don't know, but if we don't go eat breakfast, we'll be late for Lillith's class.'

'You think that ditz would notice?' Leo asked with a smirk. He was so happy to be friends with Henry again.

When Leo sat down at the Loberon table, many people started congratulating him for making the Nittlemac team, again. He wished they wouldn't. He could see that Henry was upset even though he was beaming at Leo. Was it really that big a deal anyway?

That day was extremely boring. Leo sat through class after class of boring lectures and homework. His mind kept wandering off to the letter. It had been addressed to a man named Malocarr. The person who wrote it mentioned him and the girls and it said that if they got in Malocarr's way, he would kill them. Leo would have to tell the girls. He assumed Malocarr was looking for the same thing that the girls were, the scrolls.

Leo and Henry went to the library right after classes. They passed Britney Walken and Charlene Klairvoets, two fourth years from the Nittlemac team who waved. Leo looked away from Henry, every time someone congratulated him on making the team. He felt bad that he had made it and Henry hadn't. He felt almost guilty, even though Henry was being completely supportive. Still, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

When he and Henry entered the library they waved at Ms Aiken, the kindly old librarian. She flashed them a smile.

'So what should we look for first?' Leo asked after sitting down at one of the tables located in the west wing of the library, far away from anyone who could be listening.

'Well, these scrolls sound important, right?' Leo nodded at his friend, 'They must be some ancient writings with information of some importance. I'm guessing, also that if this person's someone who'd kill a bunch of kids this information must be bad. Probably something about the dark forces. They keep all those sorts of books looked up in the corner of the north wing. It's a restricted section.'

'So it's hopeless unless we get a teacher's permission?'

'Well kind of,' said Henry, a defeated look on his face. 'We can look through some of these other books. We might find something.' He didn't look very hopeful. Leo however wasn't about to give up.

'Well,' he said. 'Show me where you found the letter. We'll start with books from around there.'

'But I don't think-' Henry started.

'D'you have a better idea then?' Henry shook his head. 'Then just be quiet until you find something.' Henry looked like he was going to open his mouth to say something, but the serious look on Leo's face told him to follow his instructions.

They spent the next few hours the same way that they would spend the next several weeks. They searched through book after book after book and found nothing.

The strangest part was the books that they came across. Leo often got distracted with books like How to Make your Food Dance and Magical Activities for Days that have no Importance. There was still so much that Leo didn't know about his 'new' world.

'We can't find anything as it is,' said Henry. 'And you're reading these books about nothing.' Leo put an interesting looking book back on the shelf he had gotten it from.

Not much later they headed to the dining hall for dinner and sat down near the other first years.

'Where've you guys been?' asked Ryan as the food appeared on their plates.

'Er- in the library,' Leo said, looking quickly to Henry.

'Homework?' Tyler asked.

'Sure,' said Henry between mouthfuls of Shepherd's Pie. Leo looked quickly to Deirdre and Lizz. Deirdre was looking at him very mysteriously. The rest of dinner passed in silence except for the usual dinner small talk and a few more congratulations to everyone who made the Nittlemac team. Did it go on this long for the Quidditch players? Leo couldn't remember.

They were all half way through dessert when a tall, fairly young (considering most teachers were quite old) witch came over to the Loberon table.

'Mr Perry, Miss Killen and Miss Leclair,' she called. Leo, Deirdre and Lizz looked up from their hot fudge sundaes. The professor had long brown hair that hung around her shoulders. Leo knew her by sight but not by name. 'Your detention will be served tomorrow evening at seven o' clock. Report to the main foyer at that time.' The Professor walked away.

Leo had almost forgotten about his detention. By the looks on Deirdre and Lizz's faces so had they.

'Who was that?' Henry whispered.

'That was Professor Jubilee,' said Deirdre. 'She's the head of our clan. She really only comes around when someone's in deep trouble or if she needs to tell us all something.'

'She's really young,' said Henry.

'I heard it was her first year in this placement. Besides that, I think she teaches fifth and sixth year Transfiguration.'

'How do you know all these things?' asked Leo.

'I ask around,' said Deirdre quietly avoiding Leo's eyes. Leo had the feeling Deirdre had been caught out late before. He didn't doubt that it was because of Lizz either. Deirdre just didn't seem the type to be sneaking around at night and getting into trouble a lot. He decided he would talk to her. Maybe Lizz was forcing her to do these things.

The Loberon first years finished their dessert without any talking after that. Then they headed back to the living room.

Leo knew he wanted to talk to Deirdre sometime that night, but he didn't know how to without everyone noticing. Fortunately just such an opportunity arrived, but not of Leo's own accord.

He was walking quietly slightly behind the rest of the group. He was deep in thought and didn't notice much. Then he was grabbed by someone and yanked around a corner, without any of his friends noticing. He turned pulling out his wand, not sure what he was getting ready to do.

'Epingle!' he shouted as a lime green light came shooting from his wand.

'Oh wow!' said Deirdre's sarcastic voice. 'You've successfully turned me into a needle!'

'Oh, it's you. You . . . scared me.'

'Yeah, whatever. So what were you doing in the library?'

'Homework,' Leo said quietly.

'Yeah, that's what you said, but then I heard Henry say he had loads to do and hadn't even started. So if he hasn't started, what were you doing in the library?'

'Er-' he said looking at his feet.

'I knew it!' Deirdre cried. 'You were looking up stuff on the scrolls!'

'Well,' Leo started.

'I told Lizz!'

'You're hanging around with her too much. You keep cutting me off!'

'Sorry.'

'Hey, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Is Lizz making you do all this stuff? You know, like going out at night?'

'No!' she said in shock.

'All right,' he said quickly. 'You just don't seem the type and I just thought . . . ' he trailed off.

'No it was my idea first. I told Lizz about the scrolls when I read about them and then we decided to search for them. You know, for the adventure. It's so exciting.' This did not seem like the Deirdre he had gotten to know.

'Where did you read this? Can you tell me anything else?' Leo asked anxiously. Deirdre was finally opening up.

'Sorry, I can't,' she said. 'I promised Lizz I wouldn't.'

'But Henry and I found-'

'What? What did you find?'

'Nothing. Just be careful and don't go out again at night OK?'

'Why?'

'Just trust me.' He wondered if he should tell her about the letter, but decided not to until he talked it over with Henry first. 'Promise?'

She nodded, looking at him as if trying to read his mind.

On the way back to the living room she kept asking him to tell her but he refused. She dropped the subject as they approached the entrance.

'Hey Lance!' she said brightly to the coat of armor. Leo looked at her strangely and then he noticed that the coat of armor had waved to Deirdre.

'He's called Lance?' Leo asked as the coat of armor jumped aside and let them through to the living room. 'I didn't know that!'

'Did you ever think to ask?' Deirdre said pointedly.

'I never thought to. Wait, are you saying he can talk too?'

'Well yes, but he only talks to certain people.'

'Why?'

'Why should he? No one ever takes the time to talk to him. Did you know that he's guarded the Loberon living room for two-hundred years and the last person to talk to him was a boy in the late eighteen-hundreds.' They walked toward the back corner where the other first years were sitting.

'No.'

'Well now you do. So, show some gratitude!'

'And how did you know he can talk then?' Leo asked.

'Er- I . . . I heard him sneeze and absentmindedly said "Bless you". When he thanked me he struck up a conversation with me,' she said sheepishly.

'So, your getting all defensive when you only talked to him because you were accidentally polite?' Leo grinned.

'Shut up,' she said as they sat with the others. Leo sat on a couch across from the others and motioned for Henry to join him.

'Where did you get off to?' asked Henry. Leo watched as Deirdre and Lizz slid off to their dormitory.

'Deirdre stopped me she wanted to talk.'

'What about?'

'She knows what we were doing in the library.'

'How does she know?' he cried out loud. Leo had to remind him to lower his voice before continuing.

'She guessed.'

'And you couldn't lie?'

'No, she had good supportive evidence. It was actually your fault, but never mind that. They've found loads of information. She wouldn't tell me what but she did let on that they did have some. Obviously if this guy is willing to kill, these things are important, but I don't think the girls know how important they are. Deirdre said their search is for the adventure. I think we should tell them. I almost told her about the letter-'

'But you didn't? Right?'

'Of course not, but I think we should.'

'No, we'll keep searching.'

'But Henry, this is their lives. If they keep on-'

'Listen, they'll never work together with us anyway. You know Lizz. She'll probably beat Deirdre within and inch of her life for telling you what she did. We'll keep searching in the library. Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on them and they'll be fine,' he added.

'OK then,' said Leo reluctantly. Having Deirdre on their side wouldn't exactly be a bad thing, but Henry was right about Lizz.

The next night after classes he and Henry went to the library again. Henry searched for more information while Leo did his homework. He would have to finish before dinner because afterwards he would be going straight to his detention.

At five-thirty Leo headed to the living room to put his books away. Then, he and Henry headed down to the dining hall for dinner.

Dinner finished right at seven and Leo, Deirdre and Lizz all headed to the main foyer in low spirits. Leo didn't know what he would be doing, but hoped it wasn't anything too bad. He had heard stories of students who had been sent into the caves and never came back, but he was sure they were fictional.

'Hello,' Professor Jubilee greeted them. 'This evening, the three of you will be cleaning classrooms. For three hours you will be cleaning three classrooms.'

'Three hours?' Lizz complained.

'Well, there are three of you, would you rather I split you up, one classroom per student. All right then, Miss Lec-'

'No that's OK,' said Leo quickly. 'Three hours is fine.'

'Good,' she said. 'As soon as ten rolls around I want you to head back to the living room. If you are out anytime after quarter-past-ten, you will receive further punishment. Am I clear?' The three nodded. 'I know it's fun to go sneaking around the school at night, but rules are rules,' she added kindly before she walked away, giving them a list of three classrooms and gesturing to a broom closet, where they would find everything they needed to begin cleaning.

The first classroom was a charms classroom that looked like it hadn't been cleaned . . . well, ever. They had finished and the room looked spotless by eight-thirty. They didn't talk much. They all wanted to do a good job because they had done something wrong and had to make up for it, and they all knew it.

'We should hurry to the next one. It took us way too long to finish that one,' said Deirdre. The next classroom was Leo's Magic History class. They got started right away and were nearly finished when Leo started dusting the teacher's desk. He noticed that the left top shelf was open a bit and looked through the crack.

The Ancient Art of Druidy, a large book was sitting inside. Although this wasn't extraordinary for a Magic History class, Leo decided to take a look. However, when he opened the drawer a bit more he saw other things. There were two bags. One was labeled Oak Leaves and the other Mistletoe. There was another book called A Guide to Druidry, but that didn't interest Leo as much as the two envelopes sitting on top of it. They were addressed to Malocarr. So he was a teacher! Lizz seemed to see his surprised expression and came over to see what was going on.

'Oh my gosh!' she exclaimed.

'How are you three coming along?' said a voice. Leo and the two girls nearly jumped out of their skin. Professor Jubilee was standing in the doorway.

'Good,' said Leo, guiltily.

'Were fine, Professor, we're just about done and then we'll move onto the next one,' Deirdre said.

'OK. You've done good work, I was just down at the Charms classroom and I don't think I've ever seen it that clean.'

As soon as she had disappeared, Leo looked back down into the drawer. The letters were gone! Where had they gone? They must've fallen to the bottom when Lizz had shifted the books around. He was about to look for them when Deirdre called him.

'Aren't you coming?' she asked, standing in the doorway.

'W-what?' Leo asked.

'We're done. Blow out that torch and come on,' she said. Leo ran to catch up with the girls. The next classroom, needed nothing but a good sweep. They were done in no time. As Leo wiped a spotless black board with soapy water (just to say that he had) it struck him. The letters disappeared when Lizz had been searching the drawer.

'Hey,' he called across the room to where she was scrubbing a desk.

'What?' she said.

'You took them.' He walked toward her.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' she said airily.

'You took the letters. I wanted to read those. Can I see them?'

'No,' she said simply.

'Come on, we can work together.' He noticed one of the corners of an envelope poking out of her robe pocket. He reached out and snatched it. He opened it up and found half a page. It was the other half of the letter Henry had found! Before he got a chance to read it though, Lizz had snatched it back.

'Give it back!' Leo cried.

' No.'

'But we have the other half of that one!'

'So that's what you were going to say the other day,' said Deirdre who had been standing near by.

'Why do you even want those? You don't know who Malocarr is!' said Leo.

'And you do?' Lizz asked.

'Yeah and I'll tell you if you give those to me!'

'No. He's probably someone who can help you find the scrolls!'

'If being dead helps you.'

'What do you know?'

'More than you.'

'Listen, this guy knows a lot about druids obviously. The owner of the scrolls, Odin, was supposed to be a druid. We put two and two together. We find out who this guy is and he can help us! End of story. Leave us alone.'

'He won't help you, trust me.'

'Why not?'

'You give me those letters and I'll tell you.'

'I can't give you these letters until you speak up,' said Lizz.

'Fine, let me talk to Henry and then we can all work together.'

'Fine. Meet us in the Library at lunch tomorrow. Nobody'll be there then, so we can talk freely,' said Deirdre.

'OK,' agreed Leo.

'Now, it's almost ten, we should head back to the living room,' Deirdre reminded them.

'Odin was a druid!'

'What?'

'Odin, the owner of the scrolls was a druid. I found all sorts of druid books in a drawer yesterday, during my detention. There were letters to Malocarr in that drawer too,' Leo explained to Henry first thing in the morning.

'Wait a minute,' Henry said. 'Where are these letters and why don't you look happy?' He frowned.

'Er . . . Lizz took them before I had a chance to read them.' Leo continued telling Henry every detail of his detention.

'It was the other half?'

'Yep,' he said. 'They want to talk to us. They want a swap of information. By the sounds of it they have a lot, but ours is really important. Today at lunch go straight to the library.'

'What?' Henry looked shocked. 'We can't talk to them. They're practically the enemy.'

'No they aren't. I think we might be on the verge of working together. Just meet me there, OK?'

'Fine.'

The morning passed uneventfully. As soon as Professor Natwelle was done talking, Leo ran to the library with Deirdre and Lizz. They sat down at a table and waited for Henry to arrive. No one spoke. Finally Henry showed up.

'Sorry I'm late.' he said. 'I had to run back up to the dormitory and grab the letter. Evidence, you know?'

'Whatever,' said Lizz. 'Just tell us what it says.'

'Oh no!' said Leo. 'You've got much more information than us. You start.'

'No way!' Lizz started.

'Shut up, Lizz!' said Deirdre, sounding exasperated. Everyone turned and stared at her. 'Sorry, but we'll get nowhere if we argue the whole time.' Lizz gave her a nasty look but Leo knew that she agreed. Deirdre turned to Leo.

'OK here's what's been going on. As you know, I read about the scrolls. My dad wrote that it's an ancient legend, well more like a rumor, that Odin one of the first headmasters here, was a druid. Well, he descended from druids.

'The legend says that he possessed the last writings of the druids. They contained the most powerful magic that ever existed. This magic could be used for great goodness or great evil and ultimately destroy the world. Well Odin knew this and he hid these scrolls somewhere in the school. We've decided to search for the scrolls. We think that they're probably hidden in some secret room . . . somewhere.' Everyone sat silently.

'OK,' said Leo. 'Here's the scoop. Once I found out what you've been looking for we started researching the scrolls. We haven't found any information at all. Just that druids were seen as healers and priests. We also found out that oak leaves and mistletoe is very important in druidry. That's it. We did find half of a letter, though. It was to Malocarr and it said that he was searching for the scrolls. The person writing it told Malocarr to kill anyone in his way and he mentioned us. If you get caught at night searching for the scrolls by him, he'll kill you. That's why I warned you Deirdre. That's why you have to be careful. You guys have to realize you're mixed up in something more than a game.' Lizz looked pale, Deirdre looked frightened and Henry looked solemn.

'I-I didn't realize . . . ' said Deirdre.

'You just have to be careful,' said Henry. 'Now what about your letters?'

'We can't talk about them here,' said Lizz.

'Because it's too dangerous,' added Deirdre looking significantly at Henry than at Leo, for Henry looked like he was about to explode at Lizz.

'Fine. We'll talk in the living room. It's always noisy in there so we won't be overheard,' suggested Henry and they all agreed.

Leo and Henry left the library a few minutes after Deirdre and Lizz. Leo walked towards the Dining Hall feeling curious. He wondered what the letters Deirdre and Lizz had said. He also wondered how their next meeting would go. With this on his mind he ate a quick lunch and headed to his next class.