William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I

When William was leaving the classroom, he noticed that everyone was looking at him differently. This made him feel like an exotic animal at the zoo. He could see resentment and at the same time curiosity in the eyes of other enrolees, and some of his classmates were giving him frightened looks. He was getting quite worried and scared himself because of all the inexplicable things that had been happening to him and he saw himself differently than before. Now he couldn’t say for sure that he knew himself as the back of his hand. On the contrary, he became more and more convinced that he was a complete mystery to himself. At moments like that, he wished more than ever to be in the company of close friends, with whom he could discuss everything, share his worries and fears. But beside El, he had barely talked to anyone. That was why he was eager to talk at least to him about what had happened. They left Pickwick’s house. Out in the backyard, William glanced at the ivy guard once more, but it was hanging limp by the entrance on the wall. He and El started walking towards ‘Dwarf and Centaur’.

“This Pickwick is such a grouch, I say!” El grumbled on the way, when they had almost reached the tavern. “It was the most humiliating experience in my life! So what if someone had touched his toad plant!”

“Come on, El, he isn’t that bad!” Well aware of the true reason for his friend’s indignation, William supported Pickwick. According to his first impressions, he really thought that the featherologist was a great wizard and a good teacher.

“He isn’t that bad as a featherologist, I agree! But he’s not in a complete agreement with his own personality! Why would he dig in our magic feathers and demonstrate things that are our personal concern?!”

“Do you mean that the ivy guard by the entrance of his own house doesn’t concern him?” William grinned.

El frowned.

“Do you think that was what he was trying to find out when he decided to check the last spell of our magic feathers? Do you think he wanted to know which spell we had used to enter the house?”

“I don’t know, perhaps…” William replied automatically, at the same time thinking about the protection spell that had burst out of his magic feather during Featherology. Whom was it protecting him from? And more importantly, WHOM it was supposed to be protecting?! He was trying to think straight, comparing all the facts he knew, but soon he realized that he had too little of them.

“That’s right!” El approved his own idea. “It had to be for finding out how we’d managed to get into the house! I haven’t thought about it. Yeah, the population of my negative feelings towards him is rapidly growing! I’m telling you, Will, that Pickwick fellow is one cunning bird! He’s been telling us that bird instincts are transferred to wizards through feathers! His feather has to be from a vulture!” he kept on grumbling. “He sees defenceless enrolees and attacks them like a vulture…”

El was still trying to prove that Professor Pickwick lived only to harm him, when they had already reached the tavern.

The ‘Dwarf and Centaur’ tavern seemed like a very nice establishment to William, from the moment he entered it, despite the fact that it wasn’t too big. It had old-fashioned décor. Wooden beams above, creaking wooden floor under their feet, partially covered with hey, which gave William a feeling that he was in a village stable. The only thing that fell out of place were low tables with low chairs, which were in abundance around here, despite the small size of the establishment. All of this was accompanied by the general noise, so that everyone had to raise their voices to be heard. Besides noisy patrons, a dwarf was playing a flute and another one next to him was singing:

Fill my drinking horn, cupbearer,

And let me taste the best!

At this hated silly hour, I wish

To put my grief to rest.

Let us recall our old beliefs

And all the powers they bore!

Let’s sing, our feathers bare,

Bring victory once more!

Pour me again, cupbearer!

Fill my drinking horn, old mate!

At this cold severe hour, I wish

To feel again just as great…

The careless dwarf was dancing, turning at his spot, and William couldn’t help smiling as he looked at him, feeling as if he was a part of a fairy-tale. In other words, the ‘Dwarf and Centaur’ tavern was much to his liking. They saw half of their Featherology class in here. When El saw them, he suggested immediately:

“Let’s go over there,” he pointed at the farthest table by the wall, hidden in the semi-darkness, “I don’t want to sit near them!” And he nodded at a group of girls, including the ones who were giggling at him when his feather started spitting the leaves of the ivy guard.

“Can’t forget Featherology, can you?” William laughed.

“Ah, come on, Will!”

The moment they sat down at the table suggested by El, a bearded dwarf came over, he was wearing a brown apron with an image of a hoof and a red beard.

“What will it be, wizards?”

“A new Featherology teacher!” El muttered.

But the bearded man didn’t hear him and added almost right away:

“Let me tell you, we’ve got an excellent Pegasus pie today and wonderful elf stew!” He looked at William in expectation, then turned his gaze to El.

“No, thanks! My stomach can’t handle Pegasus meat since childhood and elves could never make proper stew!” El replied knowingly, looking through the menu. “I’d like some rabbit with vegetables and a chocolate punch!”

“And what about you, sir?” the dwarf addressed William, who had been staring at him and his beard all this time.

“Oh, right!” he collected himself. “A cup of black coffee, please!”

“And bring a fresh issue of the ‘Informed Wizard’, too!” El added.

“It’ll be ready in one beard!” With that, the bearded dwarf turned around and headed to the kitchen.

“In one beard?” William gave El a puzzled look.

“Oh! You probably don’t know that dwarf beards grow half a foot every minute. So, they measure time in beards. They also use their beards to measure distance, length, height…” El started listing.

“Listen, El,” William interrupted him, “how are we going to pay? Are demit money accepted here?”

“Money?” El gave him a puzzled look

“Well, to pay for all this!”

“Buddy, wizards don’t use money!”

“At all?”

“At all!”

“Are you serious?” He couldn’t believe his ears. “You mean wizards get everything for free?”

“Well, you know, only birds shit down from the trees for free!” El leaned back in his chair, obviously very pleased with his fine humour.

“How are we going to pay?”

“As always, with the magic feather!”

“What?!”

“Well, they bring you the Payment Cup and you dip your magic feather into it. This way it leaves part of its magic powers in the Payment Cup and employees of the establishment take it, becoming younger at our expense.”

“So it means that we grow old by giving part of the feather’s powers? Pickwick told us that our link to the feather is a vicious circle. Then, each time we pay with our feather, we make it age and we age together with it?”

“Not at all! Our magic feathers have the ability to restore themselves. That’s why you never see wizards in any taverns or places of trade! Only beings that don’t have magic feathers work there. However,” El moved his brows, “sick wizards can also work, acquiring fresh powers this way. Not really work, more like resting, in other words!”

“But how can magic feathers restore themselves if they draw their energy in us, I don’t really get it…”

“Simple! You use it and that’s it. Like Pickwick said, it’s a vicious circle: you are for the feather and the feather is for you. I’ve known it since childhood. We draw powers in it and it draws powers in us. In other words, a beneficial collaboration!”

“Fascinating! And why can’t we just use money?”

“Because you’ll find very few magical beings who would trade their youth and longevity for some pieces of paper and metal.”

“It’s probably fun to live in the world where there are no poor and rich and everyone is equal!” William said with emotion.

“What makes you think everyone is equal? This isn’t so, buddy. Rich wizards are the ones who have great powers in the art of magic, because they can buy anything they want. Thanks to our magical energy, we are able to buy anything we need for life. One thing is really great, though, because each wizard has control over it. Do you want to get rich? Go ahead! Learn magic craft better than everyone, gain experience and power for your feather. There was one case when a wizard, unaware that his feather was wounded in a fight with another wizard, paid for his new house with the wounded feather, using up its last powers and his own at the same time.”

“What happened to him after that?” William asked vividly.

“Nothing good! He died instantly and guess where the funeral was held? In the backyard of the house he bought.”

“Oh… that’s tough luck.”

“We were told this story in our childhood, and since then I’ve been waving my feather from time to time, just in case, for preventive measures,” El laughed.

The same dwarf as before approached them at that moment, carrying a large tray in his hands, a newspaper tucked under his arm. As El had said, the dwarf’s beard, which had reached his belly before, was now reaching his knees, and the symbol of the tavern on the apron was completely lost from sight. El pulled out the newspaper from under the dwarf’s arm and started looking through it with interest.

“Here’s you rabbit with vegetables, chocolate punch and black coffee!” he set everything on the table and walked away quickly.

Meanwhile, El all but froze, staring at one of the pages in the ‘Informed Wizard’. He quickly scanned it a few times, then cried out, his eyes still on the newspaper:

“Will! They are beating the drums about the death of von Bulberg in here! Do you want to hear?”

“Is that so?” William took the cup of his hot coffee, made himself comfortable and gestured to show that he was listening attentively.

“On the night of 13 September, in the height of the Annual Enrolee Ball, the president of the International Federation of Wizards Quincy von Bulberg lost his life. His body was found in the gallery hall of his official residence in Alpurg. As the head of the Wizhunter Service Homer Allford says, the death was the result of an accident caused by an unsuccessful use of his magic feather as he was trying to cast a Painkilling Spell… Is that a joke?!” he gave William an indignant look.

He was no less shocked by what he had heard and said impatiently:

“Keep reading, El!”

“…Let us remind our readers that we have told before that the late president was suffering from regular strong cramps in his limbs, which, obviously, was the cause of the unsuccessful casting of the healing spell which, in its turn, had led to his magic feather getting out of control. Homer Allford and his deputy Marvin Gibbs… They’ve dragged my dad into this trash!” El cried out indignantly and continued reading right away: “Were the first ones to arrive to the crime scene and to determine the cause of death.” He threw the newspaper on the table in frustration and stared at William. “What is this bird rubbish?! How can they be telling all this nonsense when we have clearly see…”

“El!” William didn’t let him finish. “Don’t forget, we’re not alone here.” He took the discarded newspaper and continued reading: “It is believed that before his death, Quincy von Bulberg went to admire the living historical memorials in the Portrait Hall of Alpurg and, by a twist of fate, in that very place he is doomed to find his last retreat by becoming one of them.” William paused, raising his brows. “Couldn’t they have said it less cynically? After all, he was their president…”

“And ours too, Will” El corrected him. He was listening and, without wasting any time, was fiercely struggling with his rabbit. “Keep reading!”

“…We are told that in the nearest future, the date of the elections of the new president of the International Federation of Wizards will be announced. And meanwhile, the first deputy of the president Menestius Miner has become the acting president. He commented on the death of Quincy von Bulberg: “No doubt, this is an irreplaceable loss for the whole Wizard Community and we can be sure that it is a debt we cannot repay to Freiherr von Bulberg for his undoubted talent of a diplomat and his political legacy he… There’s a whole lot of rubbish about that political legacy of his…” William turned the page over and pointed at it immediately: “Look, El! It’s a photo of his blackened hand!”

El took the newspaper from William, glanced at the photo and raised his brows in indignation.

“How are they going to explain THAT?” Does it really look like the Painkilling Spell?!” He turned back to the photo in the newspaper and gave it a bit of thought. “Listen, Will, I think all of them together are doing all they can to hide what had happened there and I believe that we are well aware of the reason! Just think, there’s not a single word about coun…”he stumbled, then lowered his voice and continued: “about C.W.B.!”

“Yes, that’s rather weird!” William said thoughtfully.

“In any case,” El continued, “this reminds me of a conspiracy of sorts. They decided to keep the whole thing in silence and a secret from the Community. All in all, I suggest that we, as witnesses, should find answers to some questions ourselves!”

“What’s that for?” William asked.

“Have you forgotten? These events may be connected to your family and so, if the guilty aren’t found, they can harm you somehow! I have no idea how exactly, but they can!”

“You think it’s that serious?” William asked thoughtfully.

“Well it clearly smells of conspiracy! Do you remember what was said to Augustus that night? That nobody remembers C.W.B., so there’s nobody to fear them! This means that C.W.B. is so dangerous that the mere mention of it may lead to a lot of fuss or, more likely, to panic! Remember the reaction of such experienced wizards like van Velzen, Ortelius, and Balbus to the mention of those counts! They took their feathers and ran right away as soon as it was confirmed that C.W.B. had to do with that!”

“I think they were just scared!” William said.

“Exactly! And they are far from being cowards!” he waved his hands. “There are legends about them in the whole Wizard Community, Will! Every child knows their names! And believe me, each of them would easy deal with ten or even twenty opponents!”

“This means that those counts are really dangerous indeed, if your legendary wizards ran like cowards at the mere mention of them! But I’d like to remind you that unlike them, Fafner didn’t run, he stayed there.”

“Yes, but at the same time you can’t deny that even he paled visibly when he saw that!” he took the newspaper from the table and pointed at the blackened hand of von Bulberg.

“You’re right! Everyone present in that hall were beside themselves,” William agreed with him.

“Oh, I don’t like any of that, mate!” El said in a concerned voice, then added: “We weren’t any better, burning the only evidence!”

“As for that, I’d like to remind you that we didn’t have any other choice, we had to, as you say, take our feathers and run from Alpurg.”

“That’s true!” El agreed reluctantly.

There was a brief silence, both of them sitting deep in their thoughts, then, suddenly remembering about the upcoming repairs in his house, William was the first to break the silence.

“Hey, El,” he took a sip of his coffee, “I’ve just remembered… I’ve been meaning to tell you but kept forgetting…”

“What about?” El said, intrigued. He had finished his food and leaned back in his chair, enjoying his chocolate punch.

“After we had returned from Germany and I came home, it turned out that Mrs. Hoggart had found a gap in the wallpaper in my room. And I found something incredible in that gap.”

“Really? What?!” El looked intrigued.

And William told him everything in detail, after which he told him about the further plans of Hoggarts to start repairs soon.

“Well, first of all,” El took another sip of his chocolate punch, “don’t worry about the repairs! You can stay at my place until it’s done and that’s it!”

“Well, I don’t know, El! I’ve never been allowed to stay at a friend’s house for so long.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll deal with Mrs. H! All mothers like me, there’s nothing I can do about it!” El looked very pleased as he told William that, then he continued: “And secondly…” he seemed to be searching for words now, as his cautious tone indicated. “Tell me, Will… how long have you been living with them?”

“With Hoggarts? For as long as I can remember! Since I was seven, to be exact! Why?”

“Have they never seemed, well… how to say…” El still hesitated, “a bit weird, I guess?”

“You don’t mean they’re wizards, El?!” William understood where he was going, realizing that he had thought about this before.

“I’m glad that this simple thought hasn’t occurred to me alone!”

“Quit joking, El! Recently, my life has been changing so fast I’m starting to feel like I don’t belong in it, so…”

“Tell me,” El interrupted him, “how long have they been living in that house?”

“Well, I don’t know, a hundred years, at least! According to Mr. Hoggart, his great-grandfather was born in that house.”

“See? I’m telling you, they’re wizards!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Will, each wizard house has a family crest, which is usually etched onto one of the walls in the house. It’s a tradition, a very old one.”

“So what?”

“Well, the magic feather and the pointed hat you’ve told me about can be none other than their family crest.”

“But if they had known about it, they would have told me, don’t you think? Why would they hide who I really am? Because if they are really wizards, they would have understood that I’m one of them!” he was trying to find a proof that Hoggarts were quite an ordinary family.

“Perhaps they don’t know about it! But the fact that they hadn’t seen their own crest seems really weird indeed,” he added after a bit of silence. “Feather knows, Will! If you want, I can take a look at the image myself and tell you for sure!”

“That would be great!” William agreed.

“And I can also convince Mrs. H to let you stay with me during the repairs!”

“I don’t think you’ll succeed in that.”

“Leave that to me! And tell me this,” El’s face became very serious, “how did you manage to summon that protective cloud?”

“It wasn’t me, El! It’s my magic feather! It has lots of surprises, and I start to doubt if it’s safe to just be around it,” he took his magic feather out and pointed at the hairs. “They’ve been moving in a strange way today, stretching out and all that! I’ve never seen it act so strange before!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, back near the ivy guard, when I was looking at it, I suddenly felt my feather moving in my pocket in an unusual way. I took it out at once and the moment it was near the ivy guard, it started moving its hairs as if it had met an enemy. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but I swear I’ve noticed something really unpredictable and live in the feather’s behaviour!”

“Will, magic feathers are really alive! It’s time you’ve remembered that, mate. Don’t forget, they have once been a part of a bird, but even after parting with it, they don’t stop living, just swap owners. You say it has reacted predator-like to the ivy guard?”

“How else it would have let us in? Think!”

“Hm, that’s interesting!” El seemed to be thinking about something for a few moments, then said suddenly: “I’m surprised I haven’t asked it earlier! Which bird is your feather from?”

“I’m not sure myself,” he glanced at the feather again. “I think it’s a white raven. I’ve told you about Wellington’s reaction to my feather. He was the one to suppose that it was from a white raven, then he had doubts about its, not telling me anything useful about it.” He nodded at El’s orange feather. “Which bird has carried your feather?”

“Well…” El hesitated to give the answer, then blurted out: “Ruddy shelduck! It’s a ruddy shelduck’s feather! Speaking about feathers…” he stood up, “time to take our feathers and run! What do you say?”

“It’s a pretty bird!” William remarked, then put his feather back into his chest pocket and stood up, too. “Yes, let’s go, because if Mrs. Hoggart is already home, we won’t be able to examine the wall quickly!”

They walked up to the high counter, with a tall wizard behind it. He had a bare chest and long black hair. He had his back on them, but when he turned around, William could swear he had clearly heard the patter of hooves. El addressed him:

“The Сup, please!”

He took a large silver cup and placed it on the counter before them. El took his magic feather out, dipped it into the Payment Cup, and hid it in his pocket again. The liquid in the silver cup gradually turned from transparent to dark orange. William was watching it with great interest and he was going to do the same, but El stopped him:

“My treat!”

They left the tavern, William took his feathermap out and grabbed El’s elbow. The next moment they peregrined right into the backyard of number 13 in the Blackfriars Lane. As usual, Hoggarts weren’t at home this time of the day, and the two friends headed to William’s room.

“You’ve got a great place!” El remarked.

“Thanks! Why couldn’t we peregrine from the tavern, El?”

“You can’t peregrine from there! Not patrons who have already ordered. Otherwise, they wouldn’t pay for their food, and take their feathers and run after eating, without paying.”

Meanwhile they reached William’s room.

“Here’s my room!” he said when they entered.

El looked around and said:

“That’s some rearrangement!” He eyed the room where nearly all the furniture had been moved away from the walls. “Where’s the wall with the feather and the hat?”

William pointed at the wall opposite to the door. Ell walked around the wardrobe, which had been moved away from the wall, and approached the picture to take a closer look. He ran his hand over the barely visible picture, after which he said:

“I was right. There can be no doubts, Will. This is a wizard house.”

“Are you sure?” William still couldn’t believe that Hoggarts, whom he knew since his childhood and with whom he had been living under one roof, were wizards.

“Look!” El pointed at the image of the feather on the wall, then took out his feather and touched the image with it.

William came really close to the wall and was looking at it expectantly. Nothing was happening. El was standing and waiting silently for something to happen. Suddenly the picture started to show more clearly until it could be perfectly seen, including its lower part that consisted mostly of some words. El read them quickly:

“Remember us, for our feathers used to be a part of us and our honour,” he gave William a bewildered look. William read the words quickly and was standing rooted to the spot now. “It doesn’t sound like a demit saying, does it?” El seemed shocked himself.

“Do you think they know about their origins?” William gave El a worried look. He didn’t have any more doubts that Hoggarts were wizards.

El was pursing his lips as he kept staring at the words, then replied:

“It’s hard to say, mate!” He walked over to William’s desk, took a piece of paper and a pencil, wrote the words down, then put the piece of paper into his pocket. “I bet it’s a motto!”

“What motto?”

“Almost each wizard kin has their own motto, together with the crest it serves as a symbol of their kin. However,” he looked at the words on the wall again, “this one is rather weird.”

“It sounds as if they have been dishonoured and nobody remembers them now…” William was thinking aloud.

“I’ve got an idea! Let’s visit my grandpa Rog!”

“What’s that for?”

“He has a huge library in his house and it has the Book of Mottos. In my childhood, I liked learning about crests, mottos, and lineages of the noble wizards, and I often read it,” He frowned. “But I’ve never heard about Hoggarts! In any case, it’s worth searching! I’ve written down the words not to forget them. Well, what do you say?”

“Then it’s a great idea! Won’t your grandfather mind if we rummage in his library?”

“He won’t even know about it! We’ll tell him that we’ve come to pick my stuff I’ve left at his place, then we’ll go directly to the library. But we need to talk to Mrs. H first!”

“Yes, but she’s late, I think…” William didn’t even finish the sentence when the front door opened and there came Mrs. Hoggart’s voice.

“Willy, are you home?”

William and El came out into the hall to greet her, and Mrs. Hoggart felt at loss when she saw El.

“Hello, Mrs. Hoggart!” William kissed her cheek and pointed at El. “This is El, my…”

“Classmate!” El intervened. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. H! William has told me so many wonderful things about you and I told myself: “El, buddy! You just have to meet that charming woman!”

“Oh my, that’s so sweet of you!” Mrs. Hoggart looked abashed. “I’m glad to meet you too, dear! Willy’s friends visit us so rarely that I’m a bit surprised to see you! Let’s have something to eat! Are you hungry?”

“No, no, we’ve eaten! After school!” El refused, ignoring Will, who was standing next to him barely holding himself from laughing as he watched the scene. “But I won’t say no to some tea!”

The three of them went to the kitchen. Mrs. Hoggart made some tea, and over tea, El had no problems convincing her to allow William move to his place for the duration of repairs.

“Will and I are best friends, Mrs. H! My mum and dad know him well and they won’t mind if Will stays with us for a while! Besides, why should Mr. Hoggart trouble himself each morning by driving Will to school and back, when we can walk there in the morning together?”

“Well, I’m not sure, El…”

“Let me tell you this,” El continued, “you need to visit us some time, I’ll introduce you to my mum! She’s, of course, very strict to me, but she’s a real dear to the others!”

“You will introduce us some day!” Mrs. Hoggart agreed. “Willy, dear, if you like, you can stay with El while we make the repairs! I don’t think Edward will mind!”

William couldn’t keep wondering at how quickly and professionally El had managed to convince Mrs. Hoggart, considering the fact she saw him for the first time. He looked at El, who took a sip of his tea and gave him a wink, unnoticed by Mrs. Hoggart.

“Yes, sure,” he said quickly, “El’s parents are great, and they have a big house! And there won’t be any problems with school!”

“It’s settled, then!” At this, Mts. Hoggart stood up. “I need to deal with some documents I’ve brought from work, so have fun here! It’s been a pleasure meeting you, El!”

“Same here, Mrs. H!” They stood up as well. “You’ve definitely got the best tea in London and counties around it!”

“You’re welcome, dear!” Mrs. Hoggart smiled, then left the kitchen and headed to her room.

After that, William and El passed the living room and came out to the backyard.

“You’re a real master at convincing mums!” William wasn’t holding his laughter any longer.

“I’ve told you! It works every time! Let me tell you, Mrs. H is really a sweet woman and now I understand your doubts about them keeping secrets!”

“Yes, but those words…”

“Right!” El agreed, then added. “Shall we go to grandpa Rog after Featherology tomorrow?”

“Yes, we shall! Bye, El!”

“Bye, Will!” El said his goodbye, then took his feathermap out of his pocket and peregrined home.