The Magician's lecture 3/7

Abigail was nearly as excited as Jennifer Jane. She had read the history of witchcraft during her own apprenticeship but Saturday was going to be the first time she, or any of the other witches in the Home, had met a Magician. The Witches' Home was a bustle of activity during Saturday morning as every witch tidied her room. The apprentices polished the floors and cleaned the common rooms.

Magic wasn't allowed for this sort of work as the senior witches considered it good discipline for the younger ones. Most people thought this was a bit unfair as the seniors each had an apprentice allocated to do their share of the work for them, but then consoled themselves with the thought that one day they'd be seniors in their turn.

At last everything was ready and the whole household retired to their rooms and dormitories to change into their 'Sunday' best. Arrayed in their finery, cloaks glittering with badges of rank and merit where appropriate, the company filed into the Assembly Hall and sat in rows to await the arrival of the Magician.

Most of them were looking round at the back of the hall to see the great man walk in, but Abigail was fortunate enough to actually see him arrive. Without any fuss or palaver, the Magician suddenly appeared on the stage smiling quietly to himself and waited until everyone had seen him.

Abigail was very impressed, the means to travel instantaneously from place to place was kept in the forbidden book of spells. Witches were taught of it's existence but it was far too dangerous to use in normal circumstances, as there was always a possibility of emerging in the middle of a tree, or deep under ground, unless the user was extremely skilled and knew exactly where they were going.

Waiting until the last murmur of conversation died away, the Grand Dame of the Witches' Home made a short welcoming speech and the Magician got to his feet amid loud applause from his audience.

He outlined the history of magic much as the textbooks described. For thousands of years spell making had been random, using trial and error, passing down spells from parent to child and slowly making their way from one operator to another.

Then about five hundred years ago it was realised that much of the effort put into finding new spells was being duplicated. At this point the Order of Magicians was formed to rationalise the production of new spells and pass any useful information to the Guild members. Ten of the most powerful wizards of the day were chosen to become the first Magicians. Each Magician was to use a primary finger in every one of his spells and was responsible for recording the effect of each new movement.

"I am the twenty third 'Artie' since that time and today I'm going to test the effect of my two thousandth spell. If you will all kindly leave the Hall and assemble outside the castle drawbridge, I will demonstrate my latest creation."

The Magician disappeared and was already waiting outside as the residents of the whole Witches' Home filed out and formed in a half circle round him.

"In case of accidents I have written down the movements of this spell, so that should it prove dangerous it need never be repeated."

He turned away from his audience and faced the woods. Abigail was fortunate in being at one end of the semi-circle so she could still see his right hand as he extended his arm and wiggled his fingers in the most complicated movement she'd ever seen. The only part she could be sure of was a circular movement of his right thumb at the beginning of the sequence.

A loud rumble of thunder behind the crowd followed but nothing else seemed to happen. Strangely, the local giant who was taking visitors to his castle for a day trip was coming towards the group. He put down his carrying box for a moment and Jennifer Jane climbed out and ran towards them in a great hurry. Then the giant lifted his box and continued on his way just as the Magician turned round. As he faced the assembly a look of horror crossed his face and he started shaking in fright. Jennifer Jane ran up before Abigail could turn round to see what had happened to cause that expression.

Jennifer Jane looked nearly as frightened as the Magician as she panted out her news. "Abigail, the Witches' Home has disappeared!"