Eleazar Goodenough
and the Mystery of the Scrying Inkwell
by Jerry Grimes
Chapter 12 - Late Night
Memories
Eleazar, Jolly and Darcy did not meet again until it was time
for bed and they all arrived at their shared dorm room at the
same time.
Hareek was inside the room waiting on the windowsill and came
fluttering up to them to see what goodies they had brought for
him. Jolly tossed him a piece of hot dog and Hareek snatched it
out of the air, roasted it with his breath and gobbled it up in
seconds. This was followed by a little burp and a smoke ring that
flew out of Hareek's nose, making the three boys laugh.
Then Jolly and Darcy went to their desks to study and do
homework, while Eleazar sat at his desk to prepare his next days
classes. Hareek visited each one in turn to be petted and fed,
then he, too, settled down in his favorite place on the
windowsill.
All was quiet for the next hour. Then, Eleazar turned out his
study light and got ready for bed. Next to turn in was Jolly, and
finally Darcy finished his work and crawled sleepily into his
bed. The three exhausted boys had just begun dozing off when
suddenly there was a crash against the window pane. Hareek
immediately began flying around, squeeking with fright.
Eleazar jumped out of bed and opened the window curtain.
Pressed against the glass was the giant eagle, flapping its huge
wings and clawing at the glass with its talons. Eleazar held up
his hand and his wand flew off the nightstand towards him, where
he caught it and was just about to use it to expel the giant bird
of prey when Darcy shouted," Stop! It's my father!"
Eleazar immediately closed the window curtains again and held
out his arm to Hareek, who flew to it, trembling and whimpering.
"Does he know you've changed rooms?" asked Eleazar.
Darcy looked down at the floor and sadly shook his head.
"I haven't had time to tell him," he said.
"So then he's at our window because he knows I'm in
here?" asked Eleazar.
Darcy, still looking at the floor, nodded.
"I won't hurt him, Darcy," said Eleazar. "You
have my word on that. For your sake, I won't hurt him, but I have
to make him go away. OK? If he wants to come into the castle, he
can use the front door like everyone else."
Darcy nodded again, and Eleazar waved his wand towards the
window. "Distractum," he said, and the noise at the
window stopped.
"What did you do?" asked Jolly.
"I just made him forget what he was doing at our
window," said Eleazar. "It wouldn't work on a real
eagle, but on an animagus, it's very effective."
"What's an animagus?" asked Jolly.
"My dad's an animagus," said Darcy. "Any
magician who can change himself into an animal is called an
animagus."
"Could I learn to do that?" asked Jolly.
"It's not something wizards usually learn in
school," said Eleazar. "If they are messing around with
the Powers of Darkness, sometimes they discover the animagus
inside them and then they must go to experienced wizards to learn
to control it. It can be a terrible power if they can't change
back into their human form and have to spend the rest of their
days as an animal. I wouldn't mess with it, Jolly."
"Rats," said Jolly. "I always wanted to be a
dog."
"The animal you turn into isn't always your
choice," said Eleazar. "What if you turned into a rat
instead of a dog?"
"I think my father wanted to be a vampire bat,"
said Darcy. "Instead he got stuck being an eagle."
"Did you ever see him changing into the eagle?"
asked Jolly.
Darcy nodded. "Lots of times. When he visits here, he
usually flies to my window and I let him in. Then he changes to
his human form and yells at me."
"What will he do if he finds out you're not in your
room?" asked Eleazar.
"Well, he won't dare yell at me," said Darcy.
"He's afraid of old Winkandnod. He doesn't want to get
caught inside the castle by Spellbinder and the rest of the
wizard professors. He'll probably just go away and then tomorrow,
he'll come in by the front door and make a lot of noise about my
changing rooms without notifying him."
"Then we'll deal with it tomorrow," said Eleazar.
"I suggest you let Hareek sleep near your bed, Darcy. That
way he'll wake you up if your father tries to pay us another
secret visit."
"He can sleep on my extra pillow," said Darcy,
patting it.
Hareek flew down from Eleazar's shoulder, landed on Darcy's
pillow and turned around three times before laying down to sleep.
They got back into their beds and kept silent a moment before
Jolly asked, "Why does your father always yell at you,
Darcy?"
"I can't tell you," said Darcy. "If I did,
he'd do more than just yell at me."
"I think it's because of me," said Eleazar,
"but you don't have to tell us, Darcy. I don't want you to
get in trouble with your father."
"That's right," said Jolly. "You've got real
friends now, Darcy. No one hurts our friends."
It was quiet for a few minutes. Then Darcy spoke again,
"I don't understand why he hates you so much, E.G. He
doesn't even know you."
"He might not know who I am," said Eleazar,"
but he might know who I was ... before."
"So who were you?" asked Jolly.
"I think I might have been his brother," said
Eleazar, quietly.
"My uncle?" asked Darcy, sitting up in bed
suddenly. "But my uncle is dead! He died six years
ago!"
"Well, Eleazar is five," said Jolly. "We all
know he is the boy who lived before. Maybe your uncle is inside
E.G."
"Was your uncle named Tory?" asked Eleazar.
Darcy nodded.
"I think my name was Tory Thurmond. I didn't have a
number after my name. But before I was Tory Thurmond, I was
someone else. This has been going on for a very long time,"
Eleazar said.
"I remember my uncle saying something like that,"
said Darcy. "I must have been about your age at the time, so
I didn't understand it. He said he had lots of memories inside
him. He and my father had been having an argument and he came
outside to cool off. He found me in my hiding place and sat with
me and we talked."
"Your hiding place?" asked Jolly.
"It was up in an old oak tree in the woods behind our
house," said Darcy. "Whenever my father yelled at me, I
went and climbed the tree to get away from the hurt."
"Oak trees can be very good friends when you need a
friend," said Eleazar.
"That's what he told me!" said Darcy! "It is
you, Uncle Tory!" Darcy jumped out of bed and ran to
Eleazar, giving him a hug. Then he jumped back. "I'm sorry
professor! I just got excited when I realized you might be my
uncle Tory."
"It's OK, Darcy," said Eleazar. "Your Uncle
Tory is very happy to see you again after all these years. You
were his favorite nephew and he always felt sorry that he
couldn't protect you from your father the way he wanted to."
"Do you... does he remember that night in the
tree?" asked Darcy, sitting on the edge of Eleazar's bed.
Jolly soon joined him there.
"He does and so do I now," said Eleazar. "I'm
not really your Uncle Tory, Darcy. I'm me, Eleazar Goodenough.
But I have many of your Uncle's memories, along with the memories
of many other Wizards who lived before him. Now that I know your
Uncle Tory is inside me, I can suddenly call upon his memories.
It seems as if he is trying to warn me about something or about
someone, but unless I ask him to remember certain events from his
life, I can't recall anything. The memories inside me can't tell
me anything unless I know enough to bring them forth."
"Ask him what he and Darcy's father were arguing about
that night," suggested Jolly. "That might tell us
something."
"They were arguing about Darcy," said Eleazar.
"Me?" asked Darcy, eyes widening.
Eleazar nodded. "Maybe you shouldn't know why. If your
uncle had wanted you to know, he could have said something to
when he found you up in the tree."
"How did Uncle Tory find me in the tree?" asked
Darcy.
"Your Uncle Tory was also an animagus," said
Eleazar. "But while your father could turn into an eagle,
your uncle could turn into a raven. When he flew over the tree,
he spotted you and flew down to join you."
"I was much younger then," said Darcy. "I
think I'd like to know what you ... I mean what Uncle Tory and my
father were saying about me that night."
"Your Uncle Tory wanted you to come and live with
him," said Eleazar. "He didn't like the way your father
treated you and wanted to protect you by taking you away from
him. Your father got very angry with him for even suggesting the
idea.
"Your uncle pleaded with him. Your father's eagle
personality had already caused trouble because he had recently
attacked another Wizard animagus whose animal form was a ground
hog. Your father was angry at the wizard for some reason or other
and made the eagle attack when the wizard was peacefully minding
his own business meeting with other wizards in an open field. The
other wizards were witnesses to the attack and they wanted to
send your father to prison, but fortunately the wizard was not
too badly harmed, just very frightened.
So your uncle pleaded with your father on the grounds that he
could not control his anger and that your father's eagle
personality might one day be used against you, his own son.
Instead your father threatened to send his eagle after your
uncle's raven, so your uncle flew off and ended up in your
tree."
"How did my uncle die?" asked Darcy.
"Your uncle doesn't know, or rather he has
no memory of the end. He remembers turning into his raven form
and following the train to the Academy Castle because he had a
meeting with Grand Wizard Winkandnod and Professor Spellbinder.
Suddenly it was all over and his spirit was being called forth
from his body. He felt himself rushing towards the ground and...
and...that's when he entered me! He found a repository for his
spirit just as he died! This is most extraordinary! I need to
discuss this with Professor Spellbinder tomorrow morning, but now
we'd better get some sleep."
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