Eleazar Goodenough
and the Mystery of the Scrying Inkwell

by Jerry Grimes

Chapter 4 - First Scry

The prefect stuck his head into Eleazar and Jolly's room and announced that they had free time to unpack and settle in until a four o'clock meeting of all First Years in the common room. "You're exempt, of course, Professor Goodenough!" the prefect was quick to add.

"Oh, no," said Eleazar. "I'll be there. When I'm not teaching class, treat me like any other First Year, please!"

When both boys had unpacked their bags, and Jolly had hung Carmen's Wizardball Pennants on the walls, Jolly announced that he was ready for some exploring.

"Not me," said Eleazar, "but you go right ahead. I need to do some serious scrying and see if I can locate my missing inkwell."

Jolly decided that sounded like more fun than exploring, since he had already spent most of the previous summer exploring the castle anyway. So he asked Eleazar how he intended to scry without his scrying inkwell.

"Scrying with ink is only one method," said Eleazar. "The word scry simply means to see, but with the mind instead of the eyes. The method that you use, whether crystal ball, drops of ink, tea leaves, a wad of gum and a string… those are just things to help your mind focus on what you are trying to see."

"A wad of gum and a string?" laughed Jolly. "You're pulling my leg, E.G.!"

"Not at all," said Eleazar. "In fact, that might be just the thing I need to find my missing inkwell. Do you have some chewing gum?"

Jolly indeed had lots of chewing gum stashed away in his "sweet box." He gave a piece to Eleazar and took one himself. The two boys chewed the gum until most of the flavor was gone. Then Eleazar pulled a loose thread out of one of his socks and held it up for Jolly to see.

"What now?" asked Jolly.

"Give me your gum," said Eleazar, taking his own well chewed gum wad from his mouth. He mushed both his and Jolly's wads together, then rolled them into a ball and stuck the ball on the end of the string.

"Of course!" said Jolly. "A pendulum!"

"Right," said Eleazar. "You can make a pendulum with almost any weight and string. A witch I used to know many years ago often used her necklace for scrying this way."

"What was her name?" asked Jolly.

Eleazar got a far-away look in his eyes for a moment. "I forget. Anyway, it was very, very long ago."

"You're spooky sometimes," said Jolly sensing Eleazar's somber mood.

"Thanks," said Eleazar. "You can use me as a Halloween decoration."

Jolly laughed and the mood was broken. He helped Eleazar clear a space on his desk, and then got him a sheet of paper. Holding the pendulum over the sheet of paper, Eleazar waited until the pendulum stopped swinging, then closed his eyes and concentrated on his missing inkwell. Jolly kept his eyes open and watched as the pendulum began to swing back and forth over the paper. Jolly used a pencil to draw a line on the paper showing in which direction the pendulum was swinging.

When Eleazar opened his eyes, Jolly said, "It appears to be swinging north to south. But how can you tell which direction to look, north or south?"

"Mark an N on the north end of the line and an S on the south end of the line and I'll show you," said Eleazar. When Jolly had done so, Eleazar held the pendulum over the S and waited. The pendulum did not move. Next, Eleazar held the pendulum over the N. This time the pendulum began to swing and soon orbited in a large circle around the letter N.

"North!" said Jolly. Then he began to think. "Gee, Eleazar, there's an awful lot of stuff to the north of us." He pointed north and he was pointing back at the main part of the castle.

"That's assuming that it is even hidden someplace in this castle," said Eleazar. "For all we know, it could be miles away from here."

"How to we narrow the search down?" asked Jolly.

"Do you have a map?" asked Eleazar.

Jolly shook his head.

"Never mind," said Eleazar. "Turn the paper over and make a big letter C on it."

"What's the C for?" asked Jolly as he drew it on the back of the sheet of paper.

"C is for castle, of course," said Eleazar. He held the pendulum over the letter C and in a few moments, the pendulum was swinging in a wide circle over the letter C.

"So we know it is hidden somewhere in this castle to the north of our room," said Eleazar. "Ready to go exploring now?"

To Chapter Five >>>

Look for a new FREE Chapter to be added each month until the book is complete.

© 2003, Imagineering Magic, All Rights Reserved. www.magicnook.com