Guardians

"I believe you kids have some explaining to do," the guard said as he pushed me forward and then my friend into me. As we marched at a quickened pace, I was left to wonder how we were apprehended. We had taken everything into account; the plan had been perfect. Then a horrifying thought emerged in my panicked mind: the Brethren! If we didn't bring back the sword, what would happen to us, to Kari? What would happen to Lupin? Fortunately I wasn't able to dwell on these nightmarish thoughts because we had reached a tiny office at the end of the hall and had been shoved inside. A key was thrust into the lock outside and turned. Still watching us with heightened suspicion, the guard went into the opposite room and picked up something.

"I can't believe this," my friend sighed with frustration. He flopped onto a nearby chair, holding his head in his hands.

"I don't think it was our fault," I said slowly, trying to make sense of the thoughts that flickered and died in an instant. "He probably was just lucky, that's all."

"Well, we weren't lucky, that's for sure," he grumbled. "How are we going to get out of this mess?" Just then the "lucky" guard began to talk into the object he was holding (my friend thought it was a "fellytone," but then again, he was never really good at muggle studies), and the words drifted in through the door. Raising a finger to silence my friend, we listened intently to the gruff voice.

"Hello, Jane? This is George... Yeah, I know it's three in the morning. The alarm you put on that box went off, and, you won't believe this, but I caught two kids rummaging through it... They're right in my office. I hope you don't mind me using your telephone... ("Telephone? So that's what it's called")... You're coming over now?... All right, see you in a bit. Good-bye," he said, and he put the telephone down on the desk. We didn't dare to discuss what we had just heard because the guard, George, was now glaring at us, demeaning and mocking us at the same time.

"George?" a female voice called out from some distance minutes later.

"That must be Jane," I thought to myself. As she approached him, I was able to get a look at the voice at the other end of the telephone. The first feature I noticed was the intense sparkle in her clear blue eyes, despite the time of night. Instead of the anger I was expecting, she seemed to be rather amused by our capture. Her graying hair pulled back into a quick ponytail matched the silver trim on the hem of her blue robe. Suddenly her eye caught my own, and I was inclined to believe that the sparkle grew even more, if that were even possible.

"Let me talk with them," was all that I caught her saying in her conversation with George. He seemed reluctant to do so but consented in the end, so Jane finally stepped into the office, staring at both of us with a ghost of a grin on her face.

"So," she said at last, "how did you manage to get the box down? It was, after all, on the fifth shelf." There wasn't a good reply to answer that, so we simply said nothing at all.

"Did you get a ladder and bring it down by hand?" Jane asked, mostly to herself but loud enough for us to hear. I had the feeling she wanted us to hear her. "No, you wouldn't be able to do that. That box weighs about three, four hundred pounds... Maybe you used the forklift? Of course, it's stored right next to George's office, and the motor was still cool, I checked... Or maybe it was magic?"

I couldn't help myself; my horrified eyes gave me away. But was she a muggle? As in answer, she leaned in close.

"I would understand if you did that," she said, revealing my fear. "I'll have to ask you to empty your pockets now." Reluctantly we did so, and the light extinguisher found its way onto the table. Jane picked it up lightly.

"Nothing else?" she asked, but we shook our heads no. We had left our wands back at the Sky's house. "Well, this device explains how you got in. But how did you get the box down?"

"Please, ma'am, we used magic, but we can't tell you how we did it," I said at last, guilty and afraid of what she might force us to reveal. I added, "We can at least tell you that we didn't use wands."

"And we certainly couldn't use this," my friend remarked, hefting the Sword of Conundrum into view. A sudden spout of laughter radiated from Jane.

"Of course you wouldn't have been able to," she chuckled as she reached for something in her robes. "After all, this is the real Sword of Conundrum." With this revelation she lifted an exact replica of the sword that my friend held, right down to the last shred of torn leather on the hilt. My friend gazed in awe at the twin blades.

"No wonder it felt wrong..." he mumbled, a strange glint in his eyes.

"It felt wrong?" both Jane and I asked at the same time.

"Never mind," he replied quickly, revealing nothing to Jane or me. The result was a long stuffy silence, which was finally broken by Jane.

"So why were you after this sword?" she asked, scrutinizing each of us with her bright blue eyes. Jane had unknowingly provided me with a response, however.

"Probably the same reason why you made a copy of it," I smirked mischievously, eyes twinkling. She opened her mouth as to fire back with an equally witty remark, but evidently nothing had come to mind because she slumped back in her chair in defeat.

"You have me there," Jane half-smiled. "What do you propose we do, then?"

"We can ask each other questions, but all of us have to give truthful answers," my friend said, borrowing a page from Monsieur Evrémonde's book.

"Fair enough," she responded with a sly grin, "but since I'm older than both of you put together and more, I'll go first. Answer my last question: Why?"

"We were after the sword," I sighed, "because we were told to get it. I can't tell you who, though."

"And why not?" Jane asked, concerned. I was beginning to forget that we were on opposite sides; her infectious personality and those eyes that could see right through you made her seem trusting. "I can call the authorities, and you would be in trouble either way you choose. It would just depend on how much trouble, that's all."

"Of course, your 'authorities' aren't holding our friend hostage and forcing us to do their every bidding," my friend snapped back hotly. Jane caught his drift.

"I didn't know; I'm sorry," she responded sympathetically. Before she could think of another question, I needed to ask a few of my own.

"Why did you make a copy?" I inquired.

"In case something like this happened," she said. "You see, my job here is to research and protect everything you saw in those boxes. But the real reason why I'm here is to guard this sword." She paused for a moment and then continued, "Would you believe me if I told you that the sword I now hold in my hands... is one of the most powerful weapons of magic in wizard history?"

My jaw dropped.

"We... we knew it had some magic, but... we never thought... wow," my friend breathed.

"How is that possible?" I asked at last, still astonished by the disclosure. "You would think that it would be guarded by dragons or something."

"But who would want to steal this old, broken-up thing?" Jane said, tossing the sword lightly in her hands. "That's the best defense it has. Unless you knew what it really was, you could never tell by just looking at it."

"What if someone did know?" I pushed on. "Or just got lucky?"

"Well, luckily for us, the sword can only be used by certain people," she responded, refusing to elaborate. She continued before I could demand an explanation. "I still want to know how you got the box down in the first place." We looked at each other for assistance, but we figured we had nothing to lose by telling her.

"You see, it's a special ability that Rose has..."

"I don't need a wand to cast spells," I continued for my friend. At first Jane looked stunned, but she soon regained her composure.

"Aha," she answered softly. "And are there any other 'special abilities' that you're not telling me about?"

"Well..." my friend said somewhat reluctantly, and he continued to explain the Othersight to Jane. As he finished, Jane sat back in her chair, deep in thought. Finally she gave a reply, mostly to herself.

"Curious," she said quietly. "I wonder..."

"Excuse me," I asked gently, hoping that this time she wouldn't skirt around the issue, "but what's curious?" Her sparkling blue eyes scrutinized me as she answered the question at last.

"You two have quite unusual talents," Jane said. "Very rare, especially for wizards of your age. I was simply wondering..." She looked as if she were about to say more, but my friend interrupted her pause.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the Prophecy, would it?" he questioned. Evidently she was taken aback by his statement because her eyebrows arched high in surprise.

"How do you know about the Prophecy?" Jane asked hurriedly, clearly worried by the information. "Who told you?"

"We... can't tell you," he answered with a strained grimace.

"Then at least tell me this," she echoed. "Was it the same person who's holding your friend, who's forcing you to obey him?" I nodded. I wanted to tell her everything- about the Brethren, about Italy, about the other sword- but a stupid promise kept me from doing so.

"I have a feeling you know more about the Prophecy than we do," my friend continued to interrogate.

"All we know is that somehow we're connected with it," I added.

"I was hoping I wouldn't need to go through this- I could lose my job," Jane sighed. "But since you, and more importantly, your 'employer,' knows of its existence, I don't see any harm in helping you. I'll tell you as much as I can, but in order for you to understand, I first need to tell you a story."