Eleazar Goodenough
and the Mystery of the Scrying Inkwell
by Jerry Grimes
First Years' Wing on Midsummer's Eve - Memory Photo by Nicky
Bates, © 2003
Chapter 3 - Settling In
Grand Wizard Winkandnod handed
Eleazar a piece of glossy white paper with blue markings on the
back.
"A memory photograph?" asked Eleazar, recognizing the
paper from its special markings.
The Grand Wizard nodded. "While it's still fresh in your
mind," he said. "It will help us to identify your
inkwell when it turns up."
Eleazar held his hands palm down over the paper and remembered
his inkwell as he had last seen it upon his desk at home. The
image of the inkwell appeared on the paper.
"Looks kind of lonely," said Eleazar. He then managed
to remember a writing quill from his former life as a wizard, and
a blue background just for good measure.
"Very artistic," said
Professor Spellbinder. "Much better than just a plain
inkwell on a white background. I'll have copies made and
distributed at once."
After Grand Wizard Winkandnod and Professor Spellbinder had left
the three children alone in Eleazar's new room at the top of the
Academy, Eleazar had a chance to look around and notice how
gloomy and large the room seemed.
Jolly took a different view. "Look at the size of your
room!" he exclaimed in amazement. "Our rooms are little
prison cells compared to this! You could almost play Wizardball
in here!"
"I think I'd prefer a smaller room," said Eleazar.
"This one seems kind of creepy."
"I agree," said Carmen. "I would be lying awake at
night staring at all those gargoyles." She pointed at the
wooden gargoyles that seemed to be perched everywhere in the
upper corners of the room. "Did that one just move?"
"You're seeing things," said Jolly. "We'd better
get downstairs before all the good rooms are taken."
"I'll come with you," said Eleazar. "I don't want
to stay up here all alone."
"Be my guest," said Jolly, leading the way out of the
room and down the hallway towards the staircase. "You'll see
the difference between a Professor's room and the room of a lowly
First Year."
When they got down on the First Year floor, they discovered that
none of the rooms had yet been claimed because all of the First
Years were still out in the grand entrance hall receiving an
orientation lecture from Professor Grimes.
"Maybe I'd better go down and listen to the
orientation," said Eleazar.
"I've already been through it three times last summer,"
said Jolly. "I can show you where everything is myself, if
you want."
"O.K.," said Eleazar. "Which room is yours?"
"Since I'm the first one here, I'll take this first room
nearest the stairs. That way I can be first down to breakfast and
first back in my room at night." Jolly opened the door and
set his tiny suitcase on the dresser. It instantly expanded into
a full-sized suitcase that covered the top of the dresser.
Eleazar saw that it wasn't a very large room. It had a
double-decker bed, two dressers, two small closets, two study
desks and two chairs. Empty bookshelves lined the walls.
"Are the girls' rooms as small and bare as that?" asked
Carmen.
"Let's go and see," suggested Jolly. "We'll help
pick one out for you." Jolly led them back down the hall,
across the staircase and into the First Year girls' wing. He
opened the door of the room nearest the stairs and saw that it
was empty. "It's all yours if you want it," Jolly said
to Carmen.
"It is just as bare," said Carmen. "It's a good
thing I packed some window curtains and other things to brighten
up the room."
Jolly rolled his eyes. "Just like a girl!" he whispered
to Eleazar.
"I heard that," said Carmen. "I suppose that means
you won't be needing some nice colorful Wizardball pennants to
decorate the walls of your bare little room." She plopped
her suitcase down on the dresser, expanded it to its full size
and took out four brightly colored pennants, waving them on the
ends of their sticks at Jolly.
"Wow!" said Jolly, grabbing the pennants from her hand.
"The four major American teams! You've got the Northeast
Warlocks, the Southwest Shamen, the Northwest Witches, and the
Southeast Sorcerers!" As he named each team, he waved its
pennant for Eleazar to see.
"You're welcome," said Carmen, pointedly, turning back
to her suitcase so she could begin unpacking. "I hear the
other First Years coming up the staircase. You'd better get back
to your room and start unpacking."
"Thanks again, Carmen!" said Jolly, just as if he had
remembered to thank her the first time. He and Eleazar hurried
back down the hallway towards Jolly's room, but were stopped by
the prefect leading the line of boys to their side of the First
Year hall.
"You, there!" said the prefect. "How did you get
up here ahead of us?"
"They came down the stairs with me," said Professor
Spellbinder, who had just appeared behind them. "They were
guests of Grand Wizard Winkandnod."
"Oh," said the prefect. "That's all right, then.
All right, First Year boys take all the rooms on this side of the
staircase. Claim your room by being first to put your suitcase on
the dresser. Any disputes will be settled by me after all the
rooms have been taken."
The line of boys surged forward to claim their rooms. Darcy
Thurmond III, who was near the front of the line, pushed the
smaller and younger boys out of the way to get to the front and
then threw his suitcase into the very first room near the top of
the stairs… the same room that Jolly was in!
"I got my old room back!" shouted Darcy. "Hurry up
and claim the other bed!" he shouted at one of the boys who
had caused trouble on the train.
"I'm afraid that room is already taken," said Professor
Spellbinder. "If you took the time to look before you tossed
your suitcase inside, you'd see that there are already two
suitcases in that room."
"What?" yelled Darcy. He opened the door wide and
Eleazar and Jolly could see that Darcy's suitcase had landed on
top of Jolly's and that another suitcase was already occupying
the top of the second dresser.
"That's my suitcase!" whispered Eleazar to Jolly.
Professor Spellbinder winked at them. "I thought perhaps
you'd like to room with your friend until you get used to this
spooky old castle," whispered Spellbinder to Eleazar and
Jolly.
Darcy dragged his suitcase out of the room and tried to run to
the next room, but the prefect stopped him. "Hold it right
there, Darcy," said the prefect. "All room disputes are
settled when the last room has been taken. You'll have to take
whatever spaces are unclaimed by the others."
"That's not fair!" shouted Darcy. "Besides, he's a
professor!" He pointed accusingly at Eleazar. "What's
he doing down here with us First Years?"
"School policy says that a professor may occupy any room in
the Academy with good reason, and I think Professor Goodenough's
age is a good enough reason!" answered Professor
Spellbinder.
Darcy stomped down the hall towards the distant end. "I'll
have to take a room near the bathroom!" he snorted.
"Then you can be first in line for the showers,"
suggested Professor Spellbinder. That seemed to cheer Darcy up a
little until he remembered how he hated to take a shower and
resumed his slow stomping down the hall.
"Yes!" said Jolly, slapping Eleazar's palm with
enthusiasm. "We're going to be roommates!"
"Thanks, Professor Spellbinder," said Eleazar. "I
was afraid I was going to be stuck up there all alone on that top
floor."
"The only bad part is that we have to walk all the way down
to the end of the hall to get to the bathroom," said Jolly.
"Not quite," said Professor Spellbinder.
"Professors rate their own private bathrooms. I tucked yours
in between the two closets."
And it was true. Where there had been only two closet doors
before, now there was a new third door in between them. Jolly
opened the door and whistled. It led to a spacious private
bathroom complete with tub and shower. The bathroom was much
larger than the bedroom.
"Bigger on the inside than on the outside!" said
Eleazar, and both boys laughed. "Thanks again, Professor
Spellbinder."
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