The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 4: The Pendant of Light

Chapter 32: Death and Life

Chapter 32

     Star, Sam, Dan, Bria, and Sherman stood in the center of the cathedral chamber, in the midst of the Merlin statues, surrounded by the Embers of Easter. Their wands lay at their feet. Their hands were raised in surrender, kept near their faces with their elbows bent.

     Lazarus Easter laughed as he approached the group. “I must say that I am delightfully surprised to see you young people make it so far,” he said. “I was confident that you would get pass the Mirrored Stairwell. I wasn’t a hundred percent certain you would get beyond the Knight’s Chamber. And, I must admit, I was highly doubtful you would make it through the Dragon Chamber. Yet here you are; all of you intact. To have triumphed as you have, my goodness, the Ward Masters of Salem would be so proud of you if they could see what you young people have accomplished today. I agree, Graves, bravo to you children!” He clapped and laughed.

     “What is it you want from us?” Sherman asked.

     Easter stopped clapping and gave Sherman an annoyed look. “Straight to business, Mr. Locke,” Easter spoke. He grinned. “I suppose there’s no point in wasting time. I want the children to find Merlin’s wand for me. It is here, in this chamber. Long ago Merlin hid his wand in the cleverest of ways: Out in the open like this. He was always a clever sorcerer; always a step ahead of every other wizard in his time. But that matters not. His wand is the last piece I need in order to bring Morgan le Fay back from the Realm Beyond.”

     “I thought you needed all four wands to do that,” Star said. “You don’t have the one that belonged to Archelaus the Bronze.”

     “You mean this one?” Graves asked. She pulled a wand from behind her and showed it to the students. It was ornately carved, with a twist of ivy etched into the wood.

     “You recognize it, don’t you, Star?” Easter asked. “You have seen it many times over, I’m sure. The first time you really saw it was when we met in McCarthy’s in Witching Way. The second time you saw it was when you met Digger outside of Ollivander’s in Diagon Alley.” Graves handed the wand to Easter. Easter inspected it. “A truly remarkable work of art. An Ollivander wand, to be sure. Not an inferior piece of hasty craftsmanship like a Parris wand or a DeVine Wand. A skillfully crafted work of time-honed wand making. Cedar and Unicorn Hair. Around ten inches. Made by Geraint Ollivander, if I’m not mistaken. A relic of ancient wand lore that has stood the test of time.”

     “But how did you get it?” Star asked. “It fell with Digger when he died!”

     “Digger Bronze is not dead,” Easter spoke.

     The group looked at Easter with wide eyes.

     “We saw him die,” Sam said.

     “You saw someone die, but it was not Digger Bronze,” Easter revealed. “No, you have been in the company of one of my followers. You see, after he took the wand of Archelaus the Bronze to Ollivander and confirmed its authenticity, I had Digger kidnapped and brought to me. We shaved his head, curse him with a Sleeping Curse, and placed him in the long term ward at St. Mungo’s under a false identity. We used his hair to complete the Polyjuice Potion we needed in order to turn one of my own Embers into a fake Digger Bronze. You’ve been in his company for some time. He wasn’t the best of impersonators. He had a short temper. But he did his job well enough to fool even the Iron Bull and the professors at Hogwarts. He followed you everywhere you went. He eavesdropped on you every chance he got. He tried to retrieve the Pendant for me numerous times. He set the Acromantulas after you. He set the Graphorn on you as well. He let us know that your friends were heading for my island base among the Isles of Scilly and let us know you were coming here. He told us about the location of Merlin’s wand. After all these years, it was right here, under my very nose. All the while, I have been in possession of Archelaus the Bronze’s wand.”