Page 35 (2/2)

"Er, I need The Draxx Dragon Training Manual If you&039;ve got one"

"Wizard Waterproof, Wizard Fireproof, Wizard Advanced? Talking print orpictures? Deluxe or Econo or"

"Wizard Fireproof," interrupted Septimus "Please"

Beetle sucked his teeth "Hot that one"

"But you said"

"Well, of course in theory we&039;ve got &039;em But in practice we haven&039;t The Draxx is very rare, Sep Most of &039;eot eaten pretty quick Or burned Except for the Wizard Fireproof, I s&039;pose" Then, seeing Septimus&039;s look of disappoint as it&039;s you, I&039;ll let you into the Wild Book and Charm Store That&039;s where it will be if we have one You can have a look for yourself Follow e desk, and, glancing around to check no one had seen them, Beetle unlocked a tall narrow door concealed in the wooden paneling that lined the outer office Beetle pushed the door openwhich Septier to his lips "Gotta keep the noise down, Sep Not meant to be in here Don&039;t make any sudden movements, okay?"

Septimus nodded and followed Beetle into the Wild Book and Charht his breathhe felt as if he were back in the Forest, surrounded by wolverines all over again The Wild Book and Char It consisted of two long lines of towering parallel shelves fronted with iron bars, behind which the Wild Books were crowded together As Septi the narrow aisle he was followed by a chorus of lols, scratchings and rustlings, as the books jostled behind the rusty bars

"Excuse theup an assorted pile of ripped and teeth-marked Charms which had lumps of fur stuck to them and were covered in what looked to Septiht between the Charms from an Ahriman Aardvark Enchantment Guide and a Wolverine Hex Pamphlet Soether Not a pretty sight Now let me seeDinosaursDrosophilano, that&039;s too far Aha, Dragons should be here if we&039;ve got any You have a look and see what you can find I&039;ll just go and check no one&039;s looking for et suspicious" With that, Beetle scuttled off, leaving Septimus surrounded by fur, feathers and scales

Holding his nose tightly, partly to keep out the s on, Septi with Draxx written on it The books did not like being stared at They shifted about and one or two of the larger, rowls But was no sign of the Draxx, or anything to do with dragons at all

Septih the bars at a scaly book with no name on it when Beetle tapped hih!" yelped Septimus

"Shhh," hissed Beetle "Your brother&039;s here"

"What&039;s Nicko want? Did he say?"

"Not Nicko Simon"

The Hermetic Chamber

Siain?"

"He&039;s seeing Foxy&039;s dad As usual" Beetle sniffed disapprovingly "Thick as thieves, those two are Here, corabbed hold of Septi to the very end of the caged rows Beetle knelt down beside an air vent and iain, unnerved by a loud hiss froh, I hate snakes Gave me a shock, that did Here, Sep, you don&039;ton better anyway"

"Hear what, Beetle?" asked Septi in between him and the Zombie Snake Anti-Venom Formulae

Beetle pointed to an air vent in the wall "The Herh there," he explained "You knowOld Foxy&039;s room where they do all the secret stuff I&039;ets pretty whiffy in here soh Listen, Sep, you can hear everything"

Septimus knelt down beside Beetle and suddenly Sih as clearly as if he were standing next to hi you, there&039;s so with this Flyte Charm It&039;s totally unpredictable; frankly, I&039;m lucky to be here in one piece I nearly dropped my new assistant in the Quake Oozerateful little tyke right I offer hies his mind mid-Flyte"

"You&039;re not ers" Septi voice "The Art of Flyte is not a taxi service"

"Oh, don&039;t be so prissy, Hugh Sort it out, will you? I&039; Just beef it up a bit"

"Beef it up a bit?" Hugh Fox&039;s incredulous tones drifted through the air vent "This is the Lost Art of Flytethe most arcane Art of alland you come in here and tell me to beef it up This Charoldtaken froolden threads spun by the Spiders of Aurum, no lessso pure and soft that you hardly dare touch it"

"Oh for goodness&039; sake, Hugh" Siit Anyway, I&039;m not so sure that it really is the Flyte Charmit doesn&039;t do half of what you told h Fox spluttered his reply "I can assure you, Si this for years and it was exactly where I expected it to beConcealed with a Darke Unseen within the cover of this book" Septi emphatically "You have to show the Charm some respect, Simon, not beef it up"

"Look, Fox" Si "I&039;d advise you to show &039;s very nearly in place If all goes well you&039;ll have a new ExtraOrdinary Wizard to deal with A proper one And, even if I do say soArmy boy who can&039;t tell a cracked spell from an old sock"

"I&039;ve told you before, Siet involved in politics If you ask es There&039;s nothing wrong with the one we&039;ve got The lad&039;s all right too"

Simon&039;s voice became ice-cold "I wouldn&039;t say any more if I were you, Fox Don&039;t want to find yourself Consu terrified

"You heard Just get that Charm sorted This is serious I&039;ll be back in an hour and I expect it to be working"

"I&039;ll see what I can do," said Hugh Fox sullenly

"Just do it, Fox Anyway, you&039;ll be pleased to know it&039;s my last trip I have the final piecesee?"

There was a gasp fro holloas tapped and Sih Fox "I don&039;t care who that was, it&039;s not respectful"

"Don&039;t tell me what to do," Simon snarled "Anyway, you&039;ll find out who it wasissoon enough Now open the door, will you?"

There was a loud hiss and then silence

"Jumped-up little" The remainder of the Chief Hermetic Scribe&039;s opinion of Septimus&039;s eldest brother was drowned out by the loud thu slammed shut

"Did you hear that?" Septiot up and picked their way back between the Wild Books and Charms stacks "What does he mean, new ExtraOrdinary Wizard?"

"Look, Sep," said Beetle as they reached the door to the outer office "Everyone here thinks he&039;s a loony We get lots of those

Think they&039;re going to rule the world with a few Darke Spells"

"Maybe he is," said Septimus

Beetle did not reply Safely back in the front office, he turned to Septiet Old Foxy out of the way for a few et the Flyte Charm That&039;ll cramp his style a bit How about that?"

Beetle disappeared into the gloom of the Manuscriptoriu to Septimus "C&039; one of his turnshe&039;s gone to lie down Follow ure in the Manuscriptorium, and none of the scribes even looked up as he followed Beetle to the passage that led to the Chief Here was narrow and pitch-black, for it turned back on itself seven tiht froe Beetle and Septile candle The rooetting lodged in the corners and was sparsely furnished A large round table took up lass, taller than Septiainst the wall But Septimus noticed none of this when he walked in behind Beetlehis eyes were immediately fixed on what lay upon the table Not on the Flyte Charm, which was still attached to Simon&039;s belt and carelessly thron upon the table, but upon the thick book that lay beside it

"That&039;s Marcia&039;s book!" Septiasped

"Shh!" whispered Beetle

"But it is," Septimus whispered excitedly "She had it with her when Do Freeze DomDaniel took it and she hasn&039;t seen it since She&039;s been looking for it everywhere" He picked up the book "Lookthis is it, The Undoing of the Darkenesse"

Beetle looked confused "So how coot it?" he asked

"Well, he won&039;t have it for ht down to get her book back when I tell her where it is"

Beetle made a mental note to make himself scarce the moment he saw Marcia anywhere near the Manuscriptoriuet out of here," said Beetle, worried that Hugh Fox ht suddenly reappear

The Flyte Charold arrow It was smaller than Septimus had expected and old Its flights were oldthey were curiously bent and misshapen, and Septi trouble He reached out to pick it up and there was a sudden movement below his outstretched hand Simon&039;s belt twisted away, Transfor the back of its head, and coiled itself tightly around the Flyte Char to strike

"Aargh!" Beetle yelled in horror then immediately clapped his hand over his mouth to stifle the shout But it was too latesomeone in the Manuscriptorium had heard him

"Hello-ooo" A hesitant voice cae

"Is there anybody there?"

"Sep," said Beetle urgently "Sepwe&039;ve got to get out of here Coain

"It&039;s all right, Partridge," Beetle called out "The Extra-Ordinary&039;s Apprentice took a wrong turn I&039; him out now"

"Oh Good Was a bit worried there, Beetle Mr Fox told me to keep an eye on the Chae Be out in a moment No need to come in," Beetle called out cheerily, and then in a low voice, "Sep, just get athe snake, unwilling to let the Flyte Charh-pitched voice of Partridge suddenly echoed around the Chamber Septimus and Beetle stared at each other in panic

"What are you doing? Get out of e," came the irritated tones of the Chief Hermetic Scribe

"Oopser, sorry, sir," squeaked Partridge, "was that your foot?"

"Yes, it is et off it, will you?"

"Yes Yes, of course I will, Mr Fox, sir Sorry Sorry"

"For goodness&039; sake get back to your desk and stop saying sorry"

"Sorry I mean, yes, Mr Fox If I can just squeeze past please, if you don&039;t ive e to untangle hiain and flee to the safety of his desk, Beetle had pulled a large brass lever that was set into the wall A low hiss filled the room and this time it wasn&039;t the snake Underneath the table a concealed round trapdoor rose slowly from the floor and a chill breath of air came into the rooently Septihtly coiled around the Flyte Char mistaken the sound of the trapdoor for a rival snake But with the tread of Hugh Fox&039;s brisk footsteps co closer, Septih the trapdoor, closely followed by Beetle