Leo and the Mysterious Looking Stone

by 3193th

Leo Baltimore and his friend, Aria Jewels, discover that they are wizards, and go to the T.O.M. There, their life is flipped upside down. It's finally here! After all the waiting! Leo and the Mysterious Looking Stone...

Leo

And the Mysterious Looking Stone

Book 2

By Nicholas Rovert

CHAPTER 1 – Opening Night

Just yesterday, Leo Baltimore thought that he was normal, until that morning his parents told him that he was a 'time-traveler' and he needed to go to a school called 'The T.O.M' The letters stood for 'Time Traveling,' 'Ordinary Knowledge,' and 'Magic.'

Professor Mackenzie, the school's head professor, escorted everyone into a large room. It had large, brown shelve aisles. The shelves were so tall that they reached the ceiling, which was also very tall.

At a large desk, there was a small, stubby lady that obviously needed to stand on a chair, just to be able to see over the desk. She was definetly shorter then Leo and Aria, probably by at least a foot.

"Alright, students," Professor Mackenzie yelled across the library, "on the far end of the library, you should find a table with all the books that you will need for the school year, I recommend that you buy one of each."

All of the students ran to a large, open space where a long, blue table sat in the middle of a yellow carpet. It was the same table from the parking lot.

"O.K, Monalale group will go first!" she said, and about fifty students quickly separated into a different group.

"Alright, Baltimore, Jewels, and Chambers, you can all go first!" she said, and Leo and Aria quickly ran over to the table, and began to browse all of the books on the stretched table. Someone who looked a lot like Leo followed them.

"Hi." The Leo look-a-like greeted, "my name is William T. Chambers."

"Oh, hi. My name is Leo Baltimore, and this is Aria Jewels" Leo said, nervously.

"No, not the daughter of Lord Jewels!" William gasped.

Aria stepped over, "What did you say about my father?" she asked.

Chambers dropped to his knees, "Oh please, I beg for forgiveness, Ms. Jewels! I have not heard the name in so long, it is an honor to meet you, my lady." William pleaded, as Aria turned bright red.

"Oh, don't worry. I have never met my father. I suspect that he is doing something rather stupid, up in 2030." Aria said, as she reached forward to shake Chambers' hand. William and Aria were both blushing.

"Well–er-maybe we should buy our books, now!" William blurted. Leo could tell that he would have done anything to change the subject, he already had the feeling that he wasn't going to be very fond of William Chambers.

"So… what does the 'T' stand for in your middle name?" Aria asked, as she picked up 'Wizards in Training' by Michael Frost.

"Timothy." William said, "it was one of my great grandfather's names. He was a good friend of the builders of the T.O.M, you know, Montgomery and Monalale." He said, trying to make it sound as interesting as possible.

"Wow, that's really cool! So, he would be in this book?" Aria said, as she pointed to 'The T.O.M. History' by Amanda Anderson.

"Well, he should. Why don't you get it, and find out?"

Aria stroked the book's spine, and flipped the book over, to the back cover. "You know, I will. Besides, it only cost five dollars." She said, as she pointed to a price sticker on the front cover, just under the title's name.

"Please hurry, you shouldn't be taking this long. Just choose one of everything, don't worry we have enough for everyone!" Professor Mackenzie said, but she didn't sound like they were listening to her, "You know, I'll send Jays and Marenevas in, while you're still browsing." She said, as she pushed to kids ahead.

Leo, Aria, and William quickly toppled books into their hands, they went down the long table and picked up one of each. Soft covers, hard covers, paperbacks, covers that picture's moved and titles sparkled and waved across the cover. There were books of all shapes and sizes.

Once everyone grabbed every book, they went to the library's desk, where the short and stubby lady sat.

"We would like to buy these books." Leo said, as the librarian pulled out a large cash register from underneath her desk.

"Hi, first graders. My name is Mrs. Cole." Said Mrs. Cole, "I see that you have got all twelve books, well don't worry! We have a discount for all of the first graders!" Mrs. Cole said, as she tugged the books from everyone's hands away from them, and straightened them into three, tall and neat piles.

"How much?" Aria asked, as she planted her hands down on the desk.

"Are you paying together or separately?" Mrs. Cole asked.

"Separately, so how much will that cost us?" William said.

Mrs. Cole tilted her glasses down to a small calculator. Although it was a magic school, they didn't seem to do much magic.

"The total comes to sixty-four dollars and twenty cents, for each of you." Mrs. Cole said.

Aria pulled out her checkbook, and Leo pulled out the lump in his pocket. His thumb leafed through the pages. He pulled out a one-hundred-dollar bill and handed it over to Mrs. Cole.

Mrs. Cole jumped out of her chair and went up onto her tiptoes to see over the desk. "Wow," Mrs. Cole said, "you've definetly got a lot of cash, there!" Leo smiled, "Ya, I guess my parents really trust me with that much money, but at the rate that the things at this school cost, I think I might need to ask them for more." Leo predicted.

"Don't you worry your little head, Baltimore. They've given you enough. You don't have to pay for anything here except for books and field trips, just like an ordinary school, that is what the 'O' in 'T.O.M' stands for!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Cole" William said.

"Well, you're very welcome Mr. William Chambers!" Mrs. Cole greeted.

All three of them walked back over to the stretched table, where there were about five students crowding around it, grabbing every book that could fit into their small, little hands. They all walked over to Professor Mackenzie.

"Professor, when will we have our first class?" Aria asked.

"Well, Jewels," It was getting really annoying, getting called by your last name, "tonight we have the Annual Opening Feast, all of the students will crowd into the Main Lobby and we will have dinner there, your classes will start tomorrow. But, that's why you need to buy all of your books, right now. You will be able to borrow books from the library, later in the year, free of charge." Professor Mackenzie explained.

"So, how are we to amuse ourselves, tonight." Leo asked.

"Oh," Mackenzie said, "you mean before the feast! Well, because you're in the Monalale group, you will go to your dormitories and there shall be some games set up for you, there. Then, at exactly 6:00, Head Monalale will lead you all to the Main Lobby. The feast will end at 7:30, and you will head back up to your dormitories. Lights out at 10:00, on the dot."

Once all of the Monalales were done buying their books, Head Monalale came to the Main Entrance of the library.

"Alright, my little wizards! It's time for you to see your dormitories!" she said, and she signaled everyone to follow her. They walked down a long hallway until they reached to french doors.

"Alright, you're in The Great Monalale Hall, through these doors is the Monalale Lobby. Only the Monalales are allowed to come in here!" she said, then she leaned against the door, and it swung open, almost knocking her down, onto the ground.

All of the kids rushed in! The room had red walls, orange curtains, and was surrounded with glass tables and black and yellow leather couches. There were two marble staircases leading up to the bedrooms. A few orange pillars blocked the staircases, so no one could get upstairs until after the feast. Leo guessed that whoever had blocked them wanted it to be a surprise.

Leo plopped himself down in a white, leather chair and Aria and William came to sit beside him.

"Can you believe that we're actually here?" Aria asked.

"No, I never would have thought that there was such thing as magic and time traveling! This place has definetly changed my mind." Leo said.

Everyone had a big, bright smile on his or her faces, almost like none of this was real.

After everyone played the games that were set up, Monalale came down to the Monalale dorm-entrance and ushered everyone out. They went down three long hallways that were covered with classrooms, past the library, and came out through a secret passageway, just in front of the Great Hall. They walked up the long hallway that the Great Hall was on, until they reached two sets of french doors. One door had 'IN' engraved on it, the other 'OUT.'

"First Grader Monalales! Come right this way, please!" Professor Mackenzie said. She shoved everyone through the narrow doors until they reached a long table that was put in the side of the room. Leo could see that some of the second and third graders were already sitting at the table. He could even see some of the higher-graders.

"Welcome! Hello, I am so happy to see all of your faces here, at our opening night feast!" Montgomery said, as he pinched everyone's cheeks, "You're definetly in for a treat, tonight! Chef Tums has cooked up the most buttery butter tarts for des…" Before Leo could find out just how good these butter-tarts were, and when they were having them, Mackenzie nudged him in the ribs, he bounced backwards and fell over, onto the ground. He quickly boosted himself up.

"I'm sorry, Madame Mackenzie," Professor Mackenzie was blushing, obviously no one called her 'Madame' anything very often, "Monalales, do not tell anyone that I told you that! Chef Tums will have a fit, she doesn't want any of the students to know what desert, but the main course…" he began, but Mackenzie nudged him again. "Yes, PROFESSOR Mackenzie, I saw that coming! Anyway, as you were!" he said, and left the Monalale table.

Suddenly, a Monalale from across the table got up, and came over and plopped himself in between Leo and Aria.

"Hi," he said, in a perky voice so strong, that Leo wanted to smack his mouth, "my name is Luke! You must be Leo and Aria?" he asked.

"Yes, and I'm also annoyed so could you get on with it, please?" Aria asked.

"Oh, right. Well, my father went to T.O.M. with your parents!" Luke said. "Sure, then what were their names?" Leo asked.

"Yours, well your parents names' were Victor and Erica!" he said, proudly. Aria got up off of her chair and tapped Luke on the shoulder.

"What are my parents names, Mr. 'Luke?'" Aria asked.

"Oh, everyone knows who your parents names are, well don't everyone but at least everyone at the T.O.M. Your dad was Lord Jewels, and his wife, also your mother's name was Mrs. Jewels."

"I know that my mom's name was Mrs. Jewels, I meant her first name."

"Well, everyone knows that, too. It was Tara."

Aria turned pale. "Why are you talking about my parents, anyway?" she asked, as she collapsed, back down onto her chair.

"Because I need you help!" Luke answered.

"Luke, if that is your real name… How are WE supposed to help YOU? We're only first graders and you – you're… I'm sorry, what were you again?" Leo asked.

"Second grader, one year BIG difference." Luke said, in the most sarcastic way possible.

"Are you mocking him?" Aria nagged.

"No!" Luke spat.

"Why don't you just back off?" William Chambers asked, "Do you think it's easy for Ms. Jewels, here to think about her dead parents that she never met? You think it's easy for Leo to trust you? Why don't you just leave the T.O.M?"

"I'll leave if I want to leave! No pushing' me around. As a matter of fact, you should all shut up right now, while you still can!" Luke said.

"Oh, is that a threat?" Leo asked.

"What are you babbling about, Luke?" Aria asked.

But, before Luke could answer Aria's question, Professor Mackenzie was right over there, at the Monalale table.

"What… is going on here?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, Luke here, has been threatening all of us!" Aria yelled, so that the entire school could hear.

"Ms. Jewels, please lower your voice!" Mackenzie demanded, Aria slouched down, into her chair.

"Now," Mackenzie said, "is this true, Taws?" Luke turned dark red.

"Wait," Leo, said, "Taws, where have I heard that last name before?" Leo asked.

"Mr. Baltimore, please think in your head. We're trying to solve a problem, here and you're making it harder then it needs to be!" Mackenzie yelled.

"No."

"Excuse me, Leo?"

"I'm not thinking aloud, I'm asking Aria!" he said, and with that, Aria shot up from her chair, "What, Leo?"

"Luke Taws" Leo said.

"His last name is Taws?" Aria asked.

"I know, isn't it so familiar?" Leo asked.

"They're mocking me!" Luke yelled, and grabbed his wand from his sock.

"What are you talking about, Luke?" Mackenzie asked.

"It's Manny's son!" Aria yelled, but before Professor Mackenzie could ask Aria a question, or demand her to keep her voice down, again, Luke Taws was waving his wand over his head. He muttered something under his breath, and he banished in mid-air.

CHAPTER 2 – Wing-Mail

"LUKE TAWS!" Professor Mackenzie yelled, "IF I COULD SEE YOU, RIGHT NOW – YOU WOULD BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" she said, then she looked over to Leo, Aria, and William.

"Mr. Baltimore," she addressed, "why must you turn the T.O.M. into some sort of joke school?" she asked.

"It was Luke! He was talking nuts about me and Aria's parents so we gave him smack back!" Leo looked as if he was about to burst, crying.

"I don't care about this 'smack.' Why didn't you just leave it alone, and tell me or one of the other professors. I'm sure that even Head Monalale and Head Montgomery would have been happy to help, too."

"Whatever." Aria commented, as she slouched back into her chair.

"Until you find out where Luke went, detention every night for all three of you!"

"But we did nothing! We were just standing up for…" But before anyone could hear what they were standing up for, Mackenzie smacked her hands together, some pink and purple sparks appeared, and she was gone.

"I guess that she didn't want to hear any smack." William joked, but no one had laughed, it was almost like no one had even heard of him.

"What are we supposed to do for this non-sense detention, anyway?" Aria asked.

Just as she finished her question, an envelope, attached to a pair of silver wings came flying through the open windows, and the envelope plopped into her hands.

"Oh, cool! You got Wing-Mail! On summer vacation, my older brothers and sisters got these all the time!" William said.

"How do I open it, Willie?" Aria asked.

"Oh, well," he said, blushing. He tugged the envelope away from her hands, "you have to tear off the wings, and stick a key into this keyhole!" he said.

Aria looked around on the floor and the table. "They didn't send us a key, William."

"Sure they did, it's attached to the string on the side of the envelope." He said, as he dangled a string in front of her face, it was so close that the key on the end of it, almost pocked her eye out.

William grabbed a pocketknife from his pocket, and slit the string off of the envelope. He dug the key on the end of it into the keyhole. The envelope flap sprung open.

Inside was a golden piece of paper, William pulled it out of the envelope and began to read,

"To:

Leo Baltimore

Aria Jewels

William Chambers

And Mary Sullivan

You're detention will begin tonight at Ten 'O Clock. Please bring an apron, which you can find in the bottom of the trunk in your dormitory room, for you will be painting my classroom.

Sincerely,

Professor Mackenzie

Head Professor

The School of Time Travel, Ordinary Knowledge, and Magic." William read.

"Wow, someone thinks a lot of themselves." Aria said.

"Who is Mary Sullivan?" Leo asked.

Just then, a girl from across the Monalale table jumped up, from her chair and skipped over to Leo, Aria, and William.

"I'm Mary Sullivan." She said. Mary had dark, brown hair with red highlights. Her hair was very long, and she had dark skin. She had a slight uni-brow and brown peach-fuzz.

"Oh, well you need to go to Mackenzie's room at Ten 'O Clock, tonight." William said.

"Who is Mackenzie?" Mary asked.

"Oh, I remember now. Some people get offended when we call a Professor by just her last name." William said.

"Ya, well I'd happen to be one of those people." Mary said.

"Sorry." William said.

The feast wasn't all that Leo had hoped it to be. The turkey was slightly burnt and tasted crispy. The mashed potatoes had large chunks of carrots and spinach. Also, the butter-tarts had raisins in the middle. Leo hated both raisins and grapes.

At Ten 'O Clock, they were all waiting in the Monalale dormitory lounge. Suddenly, another wing-mail envelope came flying through the orange french doors.

Leo grabbed it and tore the wings off. He pulled a golden piece of paper out, and began to read it.

"To:

Leo Baltimore

Aria Jewels

William Chambers

And Mary Sullivan

Please collect your paint-aprons from the trunk at the end of your beds. Your detention will begin in my office in five minutes. Paint brushes and paint buckets will be in my office.

I need to go to a T.O.M. meeting tonight, but another professor will be there to supervise.

Sincerely,

Professor Mackenzie

Head Professor

The School of Time Travel, Ordinary Knowledge, and Magic." Leo read.

"This is so not fair. Luke was the one who did all of the rule-breaking!" Aria said.

"Why are you even going to the detention with us, Sullivan?" William asked.

"Because I broke Professor Mackenzie's pen." Mary Sullivan replied, "and I don't like being called by my last name."

"You got it, Sullivan!" William said. Mary turned red from anger.

"It's Mary!"

Once the four had gathered their aprons, they headed down the Monalale Hall until they reached a door on the left, five down from the french doors that lead to the lobby.

The sign said Professor Mackenzie

Head Professor

Logic Room

Room 11

"Well," Aria exclaimed, "this is our detention room!"

"Wow, my second time getting a detention in just one month!" Leo thought aloud.

"Let's go!" Mary Sullivan said.

William stepped forward, and twisted the doorknob, the door swung open, to reveal two unexpected people.

CHAPTER 3 – Secrets

"Well, if it isn't Leo Baltimore and friends!" said one of the people.

"Manny," Leo said, "stop acting all, I'm mysterious! We know who you are!" Aria said, which revealed one of the people's names to William and Mary.

"Long time, no see, Leo!" Manny said.

"I told you to stop that!" Leo said, "Now, I've got some questions for you!"

"Sure, I love answering questions! What are they?" Manny asked, as he sat down onto his desk.

"When we first met, at the White Cross, you said that I didn't believe in so-mething, and that it 'might wear off,' what was all that about?" Leo asked.

"Well, you really should be getting started with the painting, but I'll answer them while you're doing that!" Manny said, as he picked up four paint- brushes and handed them to Leo, Aria, Mary, and William.

Once Leo started painting, Manny started to answer his question.

"You are the person that I would least expect to see here, at the T.O.M! But, I knew you would come some day. Especially sense I knew your parents." Manny said.

"Don't go, changing the question, just yet. You still haven't answered my other question! We'll get to that one, after." Leo said.

"Well, I never expected you to come here, just as I said before so I called you a non-believer for a reason, you know, the whole magic and time-travel thing. You've definetly touched a lot of things sense we were at the White Cross, that's what made your parents decide to let you come to the T.O.M, in the first place. They knew I was going to be here, no doubt! Your parents knew that you had met me, they knew that you even went to the White Cross Publishers! They would always use magic to see your point of view, especially when they knew that you were with Aria, they needed to keep an eye on what you were doing with her!" Manny said.

Leo glanced over to Aria, who was blushing and giggling madly, trying to keep her brush in her hand.

"So everything I touched, the chance of my parents telling me the truth got bigger?" Leo asked.

"Precisely, you're catchin' on, now!" Manny said, "well, not everything you touched. Just magic related things."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"An example of a magic related thing could be, your bed. Did you ever notice, Leo, that there is nothing holding your bed mattress off of the ground? Well, that's because it was charmed, when your parents bought you that bed, you were about five, they didn't have much money, so they didn't waste on something to hold your bed up! They just charmed it." Manny said.

"O.K, thanks for making that clear! But now, that other question! How did you know my parents?" Leo asked.

"Oh, that one doesn't need an explanation! We went to the T.O.M, together!" Manny said.

"I understand, now!" yelled Leo.

"Alright, good! Now get working on painting that wall!" Manny said, as he began to walk over to Professor Mackenzie's pet rat to feed it.

"Wait," Leo, said, "one last question?"

"Why not?"

"How come when we were at the White Cross, your office disappeared right when Aria and I left?" Leo asked.

"I don't work at the White Cross, I work at the T.O.M! No one else could see that office! Just you, Aria, and I! Sense you have the magic-blood, you were allowed to see it. Once you two left, the office thought that no one would need it, anymore so it was gone. While we were in that office, no one could hear us or see us! To them, it was just a photo copier, when you have magic in your blood, not everything is exactly what it seems!" Manny answered.

"Thanks, Manny!" Leo said.

"You're very welcome, Mr. Baltimore!" Manny said, as he pulled out the rat food and sprinkled it into a cage sitting on a desk. Once he was done he turned to them.

"O.K, guys! You've painted a half-a-wall! I think that's enough work, for tonight. Just remember that you have to keep painting until you find my son!" Manny said.

"Oh, Manny! I'm so sorry!" Leo said.

"Are you kidding? I already know where Luke is! I used that charm that your parents used on you! It's just Professor Mackenzie's way of saying, 'you're in trouble!'" Manny said.

Aria seemed to have been listening to Manny and Leo's entire conversation. "Where is he, Mr. Taws?" she blurted.

"Please, call me Manny! He's in your dormitory lounge!" Manny said.

"Thank you, Manny! So we don't have to serve detention?" Mary asked, her face still planted into the wall that she was painting. She was very tired.

"No!" Manny yelled.

"Yes!" Leo said, happily, and ran out the door, "thank you, Mr. Taws!" he yelled.

"Please, it's Manny!" he yelled back.

When Leo got back to the Monalale lounge, he basically re-acted the same conversation that had happened between him and Manny. Aria was acting as Manny, Leo as himself.

Once they were done, and Mary and William had stopped asking questions, Leo and William went upstairs to the boy's dormitory part of the house, where there was Mrs. Cole standing with a clipboard.

"Hello, Leo and William! Finally you're here! I had to wait here for a whole hour! You're both in Monalale Boys Room eighty-seven!" she said.

"Who else are we with?" William asked.

"I can't tell you that, but you'll find out when you get there!" she said, as she passed them a key, "third floor. There's an elevator at the end of this hall!" she said, as she pointed her thumb behind her.

"Goodnight, boys! Sleep well!" Mrs. Cole said, as she walked down, into the Monalale lobby.

"Let's go!" Leo said, and he began to run down the long hallway, until he reached a large elevator. He quickly pushed the 'up' button and the doors slid open.

Leo searched his finger through ten number-buttons until he found the number three, and pressed it.

The floor shot up, and the doors slid open, revealing their floor.

The hall had red walls, the same color as the walls in the Monalale lobby, and had brown, hardwood floors. They both tip-toed down the hard floor, they went past many doors, (that all looked the same, just with different numbers) five snack machines, two drink machines, one smoothie machine, and one janitor that was obviously very tired, and had collapsed onto the floor.

"Room eighty-five!" William yelled.

"Room eighty-six!" Leo yelled.

"Here it is!" William said, and pointed at a very boring and familiar door, that had the number '87' on a golden nameplate.

Leo shoved the key into the keyhole on the doorknob, and twisted it to see two bedrooms, (one with three beds, one with two) a kitchen, and two bathrooms. It was like a hotel room that Leo had been in, once.

In one room, held someone sleeping that looked familiar, and Luke Taws, the other room, (with three beds) held someone else who was familiar from the feast, and a bunk bed, which was obviously for Leo and William.

The boy from the single bed across the room shot up from his bed, "Hi! You guys must be Leo Baltimore and William Chambers! My name is Nick! Mario and I have been waiting to meet you for hours! Where were you?" Nick asked.

"Detention with Taws." Leo replied.

"So, Mario must be the boy who sleeps with Luke?" William asked.

"Ya, Luke is also Mr. Taws' son!" Nick said.

"So we've heard!" Leo said, "I've known Manny before we came to the T.O.M."

"Cool!" Nick said, "Leo! I've heard that you were friends with Aria! What is that like?"

"It's just like having a normal friend." Leo said.

"You don't mind that she's Lord Jewels' daughter?" Nick asked.

"Ya, I didn't even know until this morning." Leo said, "I don't mind."

"You are so brave!" Nick said.

Although Leo and William were desperate to go to sleep, Nick just kept asking questions, until he woke Mario up, and he came in to see what was going on.

"It is past midnight! Why are you still up, Nick?" Mario asked.

"It's our roommates! They arrived a few hours ago!" Nick said.

"Oh! You're Leo Baltimore and William Chambers! Hello! Nick and I have been waiting hours for you to come!" Mario said.

"Yes," William said, "Nick told us!"

"Did we wake you?" Leo asked Mario.

"No, no, no, of course not. It's Luke and his snoring. He's been keeping me up all night with that nonsense!" Mario said.

"Well, it is late and we have school tomorrow," William said, hoping that Nick and Mario would understand what he was saying.

"Oh, of course! I'll see you both in class, tomorrow morning!" Mario said, as he left the room.

"'Night." Nick greeted.

"Goodnight, Nick!" William said.

CHAPTER 4 – First Day of School

It's not that Leo and William didn't like Nick and Mario, but they seemed very pitched and hyper. Mario had many questions about Aria, and Nick would talk to them about his family, all the time. That's exactly what happened on the morning of the first day of school.

As usual, Mario was gloating about how Lord Jewels was so evil, and he should be happy because he had a daughter like Aria.

"Her hair is so luscious." He would say, every morning, "Lord Jewels was a lucky man."

Meanwhile, Nick was trying so desperately to entertain Leo and William.

"One time, my parents told everyone how I fought over a rubber-ducky with her when I was younger. The bad part was that it was in front of my crush."

Every time that Nick said something about his family and friends, it would get even more lame and boring.

Finally, there was an announcement announcing that the first day of classes would start.

"Attention, Monalale House!" came the voice of Head Monalale; "Classes begin today. I will now give you your schedule for this year!" she said, and Leo, William, Mario, and Nick all grabbed a paper and pen. Mario was feeling generous, so he grabbed an extra pen and paper and scribbled down a schedule for Luke.

"At Nine 'O Clock, Defense against the Dark Arts in Room Two with Profes-sor Black." She said, and they scribbled it down on a lined piece of paper, Mario going extra fast so that he could fit in time to make two schedules.

"At Ten 'O Clock, Language in Room Three with Professor Mackenzie." She said.

"Oh, I thought that we weren't having boring stuff like that, anymore!" Nick said.

"At Eleven 'O Clock, Lunch in Multi-Purpose Room." She said.

"At Twelve 'O Clock, break."

"One 'O Clock, Prediction and Green in Greenhouse with Professor Laung-e"

"Two 'O Clock, Math Arts with Professor Mackenzie in Room Twelve"

"Three, Science and Social Studies with Professor Anamora in Room Six."

"At four, The Basics with Professor Jenkins in Greenhouse." She said.

"And, Clubs at Five." She said, "Dinner at Six 'O Clock and lights out at Ten." She finished.

Nick ran into Mario and Luke's room to wake Luke.

"Thank you, we hope all of y'all have a great first day!" Monalale finished. "Luke!" Nick yelled, "Mario made your school schedule. Wake up!" Nick yelled. He began to shake Luke's arms.

"Alright, Alright! I'm up. Gosh." Luke said, rubbing his eyes.

"Who made my schedule?" he asked.

"Mario." Nick replied.

"Oh right, so what do we have first?" Luke asked.

"I think it's," Nick said, glancing at the paper, "Defense against the Dark Arts."

"What do we do there?" Luke asked, jumping out of his bed.

"It's with Professor Black. They teach us defense against the bad wizards and witches, there." Nick said.

"I meant the first-graders!" Luke said.

"Well, for now we'll just be learning the basics in each subject. You know, the do's and the don'ts, the textbooks." Nick said.

"Alright." Luke said, unbuttoning his pajama shirt. Nick quickly ran out of the room.

"Is he coming?" Mario asked.

"He's getting dressed." Nick replied.

"William, Leo, come on! Get dressed and brush your teeth! We've got a half an hour before nine." Mario said.

"O.K." Leo said, sadly. Slowly, and lazily, he got up from his chair and slouched over to the bathroom door. William grabbed his clothes from the cupboard, and slouched into the other room. Ten minutes later, they came out fully dressed, hair combed, and teeth glistening white. William saw Luke, slowly slouching to his bathroom.

"Taws." William said.

"Chambers." Luke said.

Luke continued slouching to his bathroom, clothes in hands. William quickly slouched down into a seat beside Leo.

"Well, Leo," William said, smiling, "Our first day!"

"This is going to be fun!" Leo said.

Suddenly, Nick was shoving food under their noses.

"Breakfast?"

"Thanks, Nick." Leo said.

"No thank you." William said.

"What? You have to eat something!" Nick said.

"No, I'm not hungry." William said.

With that, Nick pulled his arm back and walked away.

"William, you'll starve to death." Leo said.

"No, one meal won't make a difference." William claimed.

The bedroom door swung open; there stood Luke Taws.

"'Mornin', Luke." Mario greeted.

"Hi." Luke said hotly.

"Well, we better get to class." William said, shoving his books into a small side bag.

Everyone grabbed their backpacks, and shoved out the door.

"You know," Luke said, stopping in the middle of the hallway, "there's some rumors going around."

"What rumors?" Nick asked.

"Just that," Luke said, lowering his voice, "the third floor is haunted."

William's face went paler then usual.

"What? Rubbish." Mario said.

"Imagine it, Mario, the old paintings, wall paper, last night when that custodian fell over on his job."

They went on a sharp turn down a hallway, and there was the custodian, still half-dead, but surrounding him was Head Montgomery, and two police officers, also a yellow strip of paper connected with poles, blocking off the hallway.

"Hello, boys." Montgomery said.

"What happened?" Luke demanded.

"Well, there's a lot of rumors going around about the third floor being haunted."

"Yes, Luke was just telling us." Nick said.

"Well, police have decided that some of these rumors may be true." Montgomery said.

"Which ones?" Luke shoved, rubbing his hands together.

"It's haunted by more then ghosts." Montgomery replied.

"So, there is no ghosts?" Luke said.

"Yes, of course there's ghosts! I'm just saying that they're not the only thing." Montgomery replied.

"What is the other one?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you." Head Montgomery said, softly.

"Officer, can I tell these boys?" he asked, elbowing them in the ribs.

"Sure," he replied, "some people need to know what's going on in their dormitory house."

"Ok," Montgomery said.

"What is it, Professor?" Leo said, worriedly.

"Their blood drinkers."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Leo asked.

"I said blood drinkers. You may know them as, oh what's the word? Vanpires?"

"I think you mean vampires." Nick said.

William looked very blank.

"William, what are you thinking?" Leo asked.

"Nothing, let's get to class." William responded.

"You'll have to go back down the hallway to the service elevator, this half of the hallway is blocked from all students." Head Montgomery said.

"The Service Elevator is haunted!" Luke joked.

"Shut up." Montgomery said, and Luke turned red with fury.

"Come On," Leo said, turning around and walking down the hallway.

It was a long walk, it turned out that the hall was a lot longer then they thought it was, and they kept walking until finally they reached an old service elevator.

Instead of two buttons, there was a face made of metal, and it appeared to be sleeping, and snoring.

"Excuse me?" Mario said, waving his hand in front of the face.

"This is a Maldalusha." Nick said.

"A who?" Mario said.

"Maldalusha, a face that has been carved into a figure. They use it so that it looks cool." Nick said.

"How do we – ER – wake it up?" Luke asked.

"The only way to wake it up, is to shove your finger into it's mouth." Nick said.

"How about you do it, Chambers?" Luke asked, pushing him closer to the face.

"Are you scared, Taws?" William said, shoving Luke's hands off of his hands.

"I just don't want my finger bitten off, thank you very much." Luke replied.

"Fine" William, said, lifting his hands and sticking out his finger.

As it snored, it's mouth swung open and William quickly dug his finger into his mouth.

"Why did you wake me?" the Maldalusha asked, spitting.

"We need to go down to the first floor." Mario said.

"Down." The Maldalusha said, and the elevator doors slid open.

"Thanks…" Mario meant to say his name but he didn't know it.

"The name's Earl." The maldalusha said.

"Earl." Mario finished, and stepped into the door.

Still staring at Earl, Luke slowly shoved himself through the elevator doors, which closed just as he entered.

Luke was right, the service elevator really could be haunted. It looked just like it did in a scary movie that Leo had once watched.

After about thirty seconds, the elevator stopped dropping and landed at the bottom of the shaft. The doors didn't open.

"Why aren't the doors opening?" Mario asked, banging on the doors. Nick shoved his hand into his side-bag.

"Blimey," Nick said, "I forgot my wand, Luke?"

"What?" Luke mumbled, leaning against the wall.

"Do you have your wand?" Nick asked.

"Ya," Luke said, bending down and pulling out a brown wand from his sock, "I don't see how it will help us get out of here, though." Luke said.

Nick tapped twice on the center of the elevator doors, and swung his wand around the side of the doors.

"What are you doing, gluing the door closed?" Luke asked.

"Disonvation Service Elevator Lobby!" Nick yelled, there was a bright flash, and they were still standing in the elevator.

"What were you planning on doing?" Luke mumbled.

"I did it! I didn't plan it. Now, we just need to step through this door."

"Let me put this clearly for you: we – are – stuck – in – here." Luke said.

"Not really," Nick said. Slowly, he shoved his leg through the door, and it disappeared.

"How on earth did you do that?" Leo asked.

"It's simple, really. You just walk over to a door and say where you want to go, and you'll be able to walk through the door and get there as if you were just outside of the place." Nick said, and slipped the rest of his body through the elevator doors.

Leo, William, Luke, and Mario quickly shoved through the closed elevator door, almost as if it was a large painting of the door that couldn't rip.

"That was awesome!" Leo said, shoving over beside Nick.

"Where are we?" Luke asked, staring around the large room.

It looked like a small hotel lobby, with a concierge and a bellhop.

"Luke," Nick said, stepping away from the lobby, "do you remember how you said that the Monalale House was haunted?"

"Ya."

"This is the haunted part, where all of the ghosts are." Nick said, worriedly.

"How can you be so sure?" Leo asked.

"Look at this!" Nick said, and pointed at two figures sitting on a leather couch.

"A ghost." Leo said.

"What's that beside it?" Nick asked.

"It looks a lot like a human!" Mario said, hotly.

"No, it's more then a human." William said, "it's a vampire."

CHAPTER 5 – The Hidden Hotel of Secrets

Leo stared at William.

"How did you know that, William?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I can't tell you." William replied.

"William, can I talk to you privately?" Leo asked.

"Umm… Yes." William said, as Leo dragged him into the corner of the hotel.

"Can I see your side-bag?" Leo asked.

William swung his bag off of his shoulders and through it into Leo's open arms.

He dangled his hand around the bag, until he pulled out three different pairs of sunglasses.

"You don't like sunlight?" Leo asked.

"I have sensitive eyes." William replied.

"Every time that I look in your eyes, they change color."

"I have contacts." William said.

"Don't lie to me, Chambers." Leo said.

"You refuse to eat." Leo said.

"I'm on a special diet." William said.

Leo reached forward, and grabbed Leo's arm.

"Your skin is ice-cold and as white as snow." Leo said.

"I have blood problems." William said.

"Indeed, you do…" Leo said, "I know what you are." Leo said.

"What?" William shoved.

"You're a…" Leo said, suddenly everything turned into his point of view, instead of others. He could no longer see how others feel.

'I promised I wouldn't regret coming here, but I can't bring myself to the consequences that I've had, ever since I got here. I have a bad feeling about this place, I can smell it.

It's only my first year here, but I promised I wouldn't regret this. If I tell William, and I'm wrong, it may ruin our friendship and it just started yesterday. I've never become such close friends with someone, so quickly. It's almost like I've been brainwashed.

If I don't tell him, I may lose all of my senses.'

Leo swallowed an enormous gulp, and began to clear his throat. He stepped forward, and turned almost as pale as William, until his face was possibly green.

"You're a vampire." Leo finished.

What Leo expected to happen, didn't happen. William appeared to have a large grin on his face.

"You know?" William asked.

"Of course I knew!" Leo said.

"Please, you can't tell anyone, please!" William begged.

"Don't worry, just because I know a secret doesn't mean I'm going to blab to everyone else. You're my friend." Leo said.

"Thanks, man." William said.

Slowly, they walked back over to Nick, Mario, and Luke.

"So, where are we, William?" Leo asked.

"Okay, Okay, I'll tell you!" William said.

He signaled them into the corner that Leo and him had just been standing in. "A few years after Monalale and Montgomery built the T.O.M, Monalale died and Montgomery couldn't keep building it. They were the only wizards in the world, there was no such thing as wands, and they had to build the school by hand. Anyway, once Monalale died Montgomery had to sell it to a non-believer, and he made it a hotel. But, before Montgomery left, he blocked off most of the school, so the non-believer only knew that this part was here. That's why it looks like a hotel. Soon after the new owner discovered about magic, he quickly sold the hotel back to Montgomery, and he and his great grandsons never bothered demolishing the hotel, because there are ghosts and vampires living down here, they were too scared to demolish this place."

"Then why are we here?" Luke asked.

"Nick must have done the spell wrong." William asked.

"No way, I've done the disonvation spell so many times and I've never had a problem with it."

"Maybe the Service Elevator leads to the hotel?" Mario asked.

"Maybe, but I think that we should get to class, we only have five minutes." Leo said, glancing at his watch.

"But how do we get out of here?" Luke asked.

"There's only one way to get out of this hotel, the Mirror of Trans." William said hotly.

"What is the mirror of Trans?" Leo asked.

"It's a mirror, you step through it and your back at the T.O.M."

"Why don't you just use the disonvation spell?" Mario asked.

"Because, in the hotel part of the T.O.M, disonvation doesn't work." William answered.

"Why?" Nick yelled.

"I'll tell you later, for now we need to find the Mirror of Trans." William answered.

They walked slowly to the front desk of the small hotel lobby, to see a very pale, see-through man, who appeared to be floating.

"Hello?" William asked, clanking his hand on the bell.

"Um – Hello." The man mumbled.

"We're looking for the Mirror of Trans." William announced.

"The Mirror of Trans been gone for years." He said.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"You heard what I said the first time, didn't you?" the man asked.

"We know that you're a ghost and all, but…," Mario said, but before he could finish, the man was yelling at him.

"JUST BECAUSE I'M A GHOST DON'T MEAN I'M STUPID!" the ghost yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mario was suddenly feeling scared.

"What?" Luke asked, painfully.

"You heard what I said!" the ghost said.

"Please, is there any other way to get out of this hotel?"

"I really am not sure! After all, it's just like you said before, I'm a ghost!" the ghost said.

"Please, Mario was only kidding." William pleaded.

"Well, it definetly doesn't feel like it!" the ghost announced.

"Please," Leo said, "today is our first day at the T.O.M! We really don't want to miss it!"

"It's your first day?" the ghost repeated. "Why didn't you tell me ahead of time! Please, follow me. I remember my first day at the T.O.M! Monty and Mona Lisa's parents were the headmasters of the school, back then. They looked so much like their children! Every once in a while, they stop in and say hello, their parents. Great people, they are."

"I thought that their parents were dead?" Leo said.

"Well, they were! See in the magical world, if you die from something like cancer or pneumonia, magic can bring you back to life, with just a flash from your wand."

"But you see, if something like a murder occurs to someone, then magic isn't powerful enough to bring them to life, again. Although, I should probably is keeping my mouth shut? You'll probably learn about that stuff, today in the basics with Professor Jenkins."

They had stopped walking, at the end of a long hall.

"This is it, The Looking Stone Room." The ghost said.

"What's a looking stone?" Mario asked.

"Don't be telling me you don't know about the looking stone! It's similar to the Mirror of Trans, or even the disonvation spell." The ghost said.

"Why can't we use the disonvation spell, to get out of here?" Nick asked.

"Because, this part of the school isn't only a hotel, it's also a prison. We couldn't have any of the prisoners escaping, so we charmed the entire hotel so that no one could use the disonvation spell in the hotel."

The ghost pulled a key out of his pocket, and shoved it into the keyhole of the door.

He pushed the door, and it made a loud screeching noise.

"Welcome," he said, "to the Looking Stone Room."

CHAPTER 6 – The Looking Stone Room

The Looking Stone Room had great heaps of gold and jewels, and in the corner sat a golden linen mirror, and beside it was a wooden table, where a stone with a hole straight in the middle was carved.

"That's the Mirror of Trans?" Leo said, pointing at the golden mirror.

"Well, yes. It wasn't here, before, though! Oh well, at your age it's more suitable to use the Looking Stone." The ghost said.

"But isn't it fairly odd that the mirror is here now, but it has been gone for years?" Luke said.

"Yes, but I'll tell the manager, later on. He'll get to the bottom of it. Now please, hurry! I might loose my job if the manager finds out that I'm not at the front desk, working!"

"Too late, Jackson the Ghost." Said a voice from the door.

Standing in the doorway, was a very pale vampire. He wore torn, black clothing and red slippers, that were obviously too big for him, because he was shoving them onto his feet. His hair was very short, and as white as snow, he had it slicked back, with a small bun of hair attached to the back of his head.

"Is Jackson your name?" William asked.

But Jackson was looking so scared, that he shuttered and shook his head, yes. He muttered something under his breath.

"What was that, Jackson?" the vampire asked.

"Nothing, Mr. Anderson." Jackson said.

"You don't call me Mr. Anderson, Jackson. Everyone must call me 'Boss' got it?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Now, Jackson. Why are you not doing your duty?" Boss asked.

Luke snickered in the back.

"Silence!" Boss panted, and Luke went quiet.

"Boss, I was just helping these kids get back to school." Jackson cried, and pointed at Leo, Luke, Mario, and Nick.

"I see," Boss announced, "Please, Jackson. Get back to your duties. I'll escort these children to the T.O.M!" Boss said.

"Please, Boss. I think that they'd feel more comfortable if I were to,"

During this sentence, a large smile had appeared on Leo's face, but it was soon gone after the next comment from Boss.

"No! I will. That's one strike, Jackson!" Boss said.

Jackson turned around, waved his hand, and skipped out of the room.

"So," Boss said, walking slowly towards Leo. They quickly stepped back. "You think that you can turn my hotel into some sort of passageway back to your little magic school?"

"Please, Boss. Just tell us how we can get back to the T.O.M. and we will leave, straight away." Mario promised.

"Promise?" Boss asked.

"Yes." Mario said.

"Alright then," Boss said. "You can go get the looking stone!" he said, pointing his finger at Nick.

"What's the looking stone?" Nick asked.

"The stone sitting upon the wooden table." Boss said.

"Thanks." Nick commented, and trotted across the floor.

Nick searched around the gold room, until he found the wooden table, and trotted towards the looking stone.

"So, how does the looking stone work?" Luke asked, grabbing the looking stone from Nick's hands.

"You'll find out, soon enough." Boss said, and pulled the rock out of Luke's hands.

"Who would like to go first?" Boss asked, no one raised his or her hands.

"Please, don't be babies! It's really quite simple. For example, what is your next class?" Boss asked.

"I think it was Defense against the Dark Arts." Leo said.

"Great, that's room 2. All you have to do is imagine the inside of Room 2, and look through this hole in the rock. When you reach the rock away from your eye, you'll be in Room 2.

"That's cool!" Mario exclaimed.

"Yes, it's really quite simple." Boss smirked.

"But, if we've never been in Room 2, how are we supposed to imagine it?" Luke asked.

"Well, then imagine yourself in the Monalale Class Hall. Imagine being in that great long hallway, surrounded by classroom doors." Boss said.

"Okay, Boss." Luke said.

"Now, let me ask the question, who would like to go first?"

"Wait, if this is a prison for bad ghosts and vampires, then…" William said, nervously. But, Boss cut in on his question.

"That's right, it won't work for ghosts or vampires. Now, any other questions." But Boss wanted to get back to his job, so he quickly said. "Great, who wants to try it out first?"

Everyone's hands shot up, except for William's. He was in the back of the crowd, with a pale look on his face.

"Okay, William. You can go last." Boss said.

"Wait, I feel like I'm missing something, that's right! All of you will have to know the following spell, to get the looking stone back to the rest of us!" Boss said, and reached into his black, torn pockets and pulled out a wooden stick.

The stick was obviously a wand, but it looked as though it used to be painted, and there were black paint chips in certain spots along the wand. It had a white tip at the end, like any other wand.

Luke was staring at Boss's wand, with a look of disgust on his face. Insulted, Boss ignored Luke and changed his look of disgust to admiration.

"Yeah, it's a real beauty, ain't it? It's a 44 Horse Zero." Boss said.

"What?" Leo asked, confused at what Boss had just said.

"Right, it's your first day, of course. Every wand is different, all unique in their own way. They don't make wands like these, anymore. Not a single wand is the same, just like snowflakes." Boss said.

"How would you know what a wand's name is?" Mario asked.

"Well, you would have to be an expert on wands, just like I used to be, before I was manager at this ol' place. Those were the good days, before I was a vampire." Boss flash-blacked.

"Do you think that you could tell me what kind of wand I have?" Leo asked, pulling his wand out of his sock.

"You've got a…" Boss said, holding up the wand, "Wow, you've got a very rare wand! I'd say it was a 67 Millennium Twelve." Boss said, handing his wand back to Leo.

"Why are they so rare?" Leo asked.

"They don't make wands like these, anymore. I believe that this is the same one that Sir Montgomery has. I see why you're in the Montgomery house." Boss said.

"What? I'm not in the Montgomery House. I'm in Monalale." Leo said.

"Really? Oh well, it's just a wand." Boss said, as Leo snatched the wand from Boss' hand.

"So, can we get back to the school now, Boss? We have to be there in five minutes." Luke said, staring at his watch.

"Right, of course." Boss said.

"Remember, you said that I was going last?" William said.

"Oh, yes. Of course," Boss reminded himself, "then you," Boss pointed at Luke.

Luke wasn't paying attention to anything that Boss was saying, but fantasizing around the heaps of gold, when he heard his name he spun around and trotted towards Boss.

"Huh?" Luke asked, squinting at the stone.

"You're first up to use the Looking Stone." Boss informed.

Sighs came from Mario and Nick.

"Okay," Luke said, and blushed. He skipped towards Boss and snatched the stone from his hands.

"Remember; Concentrate." Boss said.

Luke looked through the stone, and imagined the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. He couldn't help himself, but to imagine the entire room black and red.

Suddenly, Luke banished.

"Wow, where'd he go?" Mario asked.

"Defense against the Dark Arts classroom." Boss muttered, "Okay, you next Leo."

Once everyone was done using the looking stone, Leo sat there alone in the class, with no William.

Leo didn't like William being a vampire. It made him feel uncomfortable around him. He hadn't seen Aria sense yesterday, and he needed someone to talk to.

Leo couldn't tell anyone, not even Aria. Leo had to promise William that he wouldn't tell a soul, and no doubt Aria had one.

Classes short, September zoomed by very fast, until it was finally the end of the first month at the T.O.M.

Living on top of a cloud, it was always very misty around the T.O.M. and Professor Jenkins had some nasty things planned outside of the greenhouse.

Still no William after a month, Leo and Aria met in the Monalale Lobby, every day before school.

They trotted of out into the mist, and sat down at an old, concrete picnic bench.

"What do you want to eat?" Aria asked, pulling her wand out of her pocket.

"I don't know, just cereal." Leo replied.

Aria waved her wand in the air, and dropped the tip of it onto the concrete table.

"Celaria." She shouted, and two bowls of cereal appeared in front of Leo and Aria.

"Blimey, I forgot the milk." Aria muttered, and pulled out her wand again.

"Milkaria." She said, and a large carton of milk appeared in-between the bowls of cereal.

"Spoons?" Leo suggested.

"Right, of course." Aria said, "Sponaria."

Two spoons plopped into both of their bowls.

Aria had always been better at Leo in magic, but she was much more forgettable then him.

Pouring milk into her bowl, she shoved her spoon into her bowl and pulled out five cereals, she shoved the spoon into her mouth.

"Hasn't showed up yet?" Aria asked.

"Who?" Leo asked.

"What do you mean 'who?' I mean William."

"No" Leo replied.

"Where is he anyway, I haven't seen him sense arrival." Aria said, glancing around the yard.

"Look, why do you care so much?" Leo yelled.

"Because, he's my friend and I know a lot about him." Aria said.

"Ya, because you hung out for five hours." Leo muttered.

"I knew him before we got here!" Aria shouted in her defense.

"What?"
"I'm sorry, Leo."

"No, tell me. How did you know William before we got here?"

"Leo, it's not time for you to know." Aria cried.

"Fine, then let me know when it is time." Leo said.

"Leo, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that…"

"No," "If you don't want to tell me I'm okay. I'll just wait."

"Are you sure?" Aria asked.

"Never been more sure." Leo implied.

"Well, we better get to Clubs." Aria said, and swung her side-bag over her shoulder and they both headed back towards the school.

CHAPTER 7 – De Riano

"Which one?" Nick asked, scrolling his finger down the list of clubs.

They were all standing in the T.O.M. lobby, looking at a bulletin board full of posts and papers about clubs. On these papers, showed two pictures of what you would do at the club, and flickered back and forth. Under these pictures, showed bold letters, of what the club's name was and a Try Me sign.

"Try Me? Do they want us to sign up for every club in the school?" Aria asked, staring at the Try Me signs.

"No," Nick said, "these are Triavles."

"What's a triavle?" Luke asked.

"Basically a Try Me sign in 3-D." Nick said, pulling his wand out of his sock.

"What are you going to do?" Mario asked.

"I'm going to set the triavle spell on these try me signs, and they'll come to life so that we can see who's teaching the club, and what we'll do in the club. Triavle!" Nick bellowed, and three shots of light came bursting out of the tip of his wand, and zoomed towards a try me sign on a poster labeled, 'Exavale'

"What does exavale mean?" Leo asked.

"I believe it has something to do with exams, Baltimore." Came a high voice from behind them.

Leo and Aria spun around at the same time to see Mary standing there.

"Mary?" Leo yelled. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"This is the T.O.M, is it not?" Mary asked.

"Of course it is, Mary. But…"

"But… nothing. I am a witch, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Mary; seriously. You're not a witch." Aria smirked.

"Jewels is jealous?" Mary teased.

"Prove that you're a witch." Leo yelled.

"Okay," she said. "Aria, your father's name is Lord Jewels, is it not?"

"Oh, please. Anyone could know that."

"Fine," she said, and pulled a wand out from her overalls, "Exanova!" she shouted.

A long, green blur rushed out of her wand, and the blur went straight to the floor, about a dozen tiles burst from the floor, and left a silver slide, rushing through the floor.

"What is that?" Mario asked, pointing at the slide that led to darkness.

"Why, it's a tunnel, one that leads to a hotel. Leo, you may have been down there once or twice, using a service elevator."

"Look, I don't care how you knew that. But, I have one question: How did you know just where to shoot your wand?" Leo asked.

"I just did, now stop blabbering and get down there."

"Aria, do you want to go with me?" Leo asked, shaking.

"Oh, is Baltimore scared?" Mary asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am." Leo smirked.

"Sure, Nick can come, too. We need brains." Aria said.

Nick ran towards them, "Okay!" he shouted.

They all grabbed each other's hands.

"Ready?" Leo asked.

"Ready." They both said.

"Okay, here we go…" Leo said, and jumped.

They both dangled behind her, falling, screaming, and sliding down the dark hole.

Finally, the ride ended and Leo and his friends landed on a concrete floor.

"Where are we?" Aria asked, rubbing her back.

Surrounding them, were large bars that showed they were trapped in this room.

"This is Mary's fault." Leo said, "if I get out of here I think I'll have to strangle her."

"Be careful, Leo. She probably gets life threats like that, all day. So annoying…" said a voice from the other side of the bars.

Leo quickly looked and saw William looking back at him.

His face was very pale (as usual) and he was wearing ripped clothing with many holes, his hair was messed up and looked like a weed. He had purple circles, surrounding his eyes, which showed that he had not slept for a few days.

"William, you're a mess!" Aria cried.

"Thanks for such a nice greeting, Aria." William said, sarcastically.

Ignoring William's response, she ran towards the bars and grabbed them, she began to swing back and forth.

"William, you have got to get us out of here!" she shouted.

"Wow, three seconds in De Riano and you're already annoyed." William said.

"What's De Riano?" Aria asked.

"Wow, you'd think that the beloved daughter of Lord Jewels would know something about De Riano!" William said.

"Look, I didn't even know that I was a witch until like a month ago so could you show some common sense and tell us what 'De Riano' is?"

"Okay, Aria. I suggest you all come over here, though." William said.

Plainly, Nick trotted over to Aria, followed by Leo. Nick was blushing.

"What's wrong, Nick?" Leo asked.

"I know I'm a top of the chain wizard and all that, but even I've never heard of De Riano." Nick replied.

"Don't worry, Nick, you don't have to know everything." Leo said.

"Is the bickering over?" William asked.

The room went to complete silence.

"Spectacular!" William said.

"So, what is De Riano?" Aria asked.

"Ya, I'm getting there." William said, "De Riano is basically a prison for bad wizards."

"Then why are we here? We never did anything bad." Leo said.

"Yes, but us, vampires need something to snack on. Or rather, someone." William said.

"Wait, you're a vampire?" Aria asked.

"Oh, Baltimore hasn't told you, yet?" William asked.

"No," Aria said, glancing back at Leo, "he hasn't."

"Aria, I'm sorry. I didn't think that William would want anyone to know." Leo said.

"Are you kidding? I have loved Aria sense I saw her on the first day of school. I saw her standing there at the book table, with you, Leo. You have no excuse for why you didn't tell her, Leo." William said.

"You're in love with me?" Aria asked, blushing.

"Yes, Aria. Do you love me?" William asked, blushing.

There was a small pause.

"Oh my Goodness," Aria said, "I am. I'm in love with William."

"Then, become a vampire, with me!" William said.

"No," Aria said.

"Sorry, Aria?" William said.

"No, I don't want to be a vampire. I have a life to live." Aria said.

"Surely, you're kidding?" William asked.

"I'm not kidding. I'm not leaving the school, not in my first year." Aria said.

William pulled his wand out of one of the holes on his gown.

He muttered, "Levanos!" and the cell bars began to lift.

"Stay away with him! He could injure us!" Nick shouted.

"Yes, indeed, he could." William said.

"William, what do you want from us?" Aria shouted.

"I want all of you to become vampires with me, so I can live a life with my true friends." William announced.

"Forget it, I'd never be your friend." Aria said.

Nick suddenly tip toed behind William, and began skipping out of the cell, Leo quickly followed him.

Leo looked at Aria, who was still being watched by William.

Leo pointed at a rock on the ground.

"Okay," Aria mouthed, and picked up the rock.

The rock was very heavy, but very small.

"Now, what do you want to do with that rock? Throw it at me?" William taunted.

Aria peered behind William, where she saw Leo who was shaking his head, 'yes.'

Aria threw the rock over her shoulder, and swung her arm towards William.

The rock went straight into William's face, and he toppled over.

The rock landed painfully on the dirty ground, and dust came flying from underneath, into Aria's face.

Covered in dust, Aria jumped over William and ran over to Nick and Leo.

"Thanks," she muttered, "Now, let's get out of this place!"

The three of them ran across a long hallway. The hallway had jail cells on the side, where vampires and ghosts sat on the other side of the bars.

Some of them were very disturbing. One vampire had blood surrounding his face, and his hair was a dark, dusty brown that looked similar to William's hair.

One ghost was perfectly clear, but he was fluorescent red and Leo guessed that this disturbing color was blood.

Still running, all three of them came to a stop at the end of the hallway, where they took a breath and breathed strongly.

They heard loud footsteps, coming from behind themselves.

Leo, Aria, and Nick quickly turned around to see that William was standing right behind them.

"What do you want, William?" Nick asked.

"Would you look at that, the quiet one is standing up for himself, how cute?" William said.

Nick leaned forward, looking like he was about to hurt William, but Leo pulled him by his shirt and said, "Just ignore him, Nick. He's not worth it."

Aria turned around, quickly and tried to push the door open, when she remembered that she was in a jail hall.

"Forgetful, eh, jewels?" William nagged.

"You are so full of it!" Aria shouted.

"What?"

"You just won't let that you're a vampire, and that you threatened all of us… you just won't let that sink in, will you?" Aria said.

"I'm a vampire, you know that?" William asked.

"See, there you go, again, threatening us. I'm not surprised that they threw you into this 'De Riano' place. You were supposed to be a friend." Aria exclaimed.

"Indeed, I was. Now, I am being a friend by asking my friends to spend the rest of their lives, with me." William announced.

"I wouldn't spend the rest of my life with you if somebody paid me. You threatened me any my friends, you're yelling at us, and you're a vampire!" Aria said.

"Don't you want to live your life with me?" William asked.

"Yes, of course I do. But," Aria hesitated, at first, and looked back at Leo and Nick, "I'd rather spend my life with someone that's – ER – human."

William looked as if he wanted to launch and kill Aria.

Suddenly, Leo felt a small weight appear in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and felt a small rock. He pulled it out, hiding it behind his hand so that William wouldn't see. In his hand, was the looking stone.

Leo elbowed Aria, and whispered 'I have the looking stone'

He passed it to her; she glanced down at it quickly, and passed it to Nick.

William was still talking about how he wanted them to become vampires, with him.

"-It's a wonderful life to live."

Nick reached the looking stone to his eye, and looked through it. He concentrated on the Monalale lobby, and suddenly he vanished.

William didn't seem to notice.

The looking stone lay on the floor where Nick had just stood, seconds before.

Aria quickly bent down, grabbed the looking stone and reached it to her eye.

William launched at her, but it was too late. Aria vanished.

"I can't believe this!" William growled, clutching the looking stone from the ground, before Leo could grab it.

Leo hesitated, he ran through the doors and into the familiar hotel lobby.

The lobby was empty, but Jackson and Boss stood at the counter.

"I need your help! There's a vampire in De Riano! He's trying to kill me and he's got the looking stone!"

Boss hesitated, and suddenly signaled for William to follow him. They ran through a hallway into they reached the room where the Mirror of Trans stood.

He burst through the doors and ran to the mirror.

Boss ran in, after him.

"Alright, here is how to work the Mirror of Trans. where do you want to go?" Boss asked.

"The Monalale lobby." Leo replied.

"Naturally, okay."

Boss reached to the cabinet and opened a glass door.

There stood three markers, floating inside the cabinet.

Boss pulled out his wand, and muttered, "Trans Marina."

Suddenly, the markers zoomed out of the cabinet and appeared right in front of Boss, they were still floating.

Boss grabbed the three markers.

"Leo, turn around." He said.

Leo took one glance at the Mirror of Trans, and turned around to face Boss.

Boss pulled a lid off of one of the markers, and reached forward. He wrote something on Leo's forehead. Leo turned around, and saw he standing in the Monalale lobby.

He was standing beside Aria and Nick. He had 'Monalale lobby' written on his forehead.

"Now what?" Leo asked.

Boss walked in front of the mirror, and wrote 'Leo Baltimore' at the top of the mirror in the second marker.

Nothing happened, the ink that read 'Leo Baltimore' vanished and Leo still stood in the same position.

He was still in the Mirror of Trans Room, though. He could feel Boss' cold breath on his bare neck.

"What next?" Leo asked.

"You must bring this marker with you," Boss said, handing him the third marker, "and you must never lose it. Now, step through the mirror."

Leo hesitated for a moment, but he reached his right hand to the mirror. His hand went through the mirror, and he fell forwards, into the Monalale lobby.

He lifted his head from the ground, and saw Aria and Nick, beaming, staring down at him. He was safe.

Chapter 8 – The Office of Visions and Sight

"Leo!" Aria shouted, and grabbed Leo's hand. She pulled him up, off the ground.

Leo didn't feel well. His head was throbbing and he felt like he had broken his arm when he had fallen through the Mirror of Trans.

He tugged his arm away from Aria, turned around, and vomited onto the floor.

"Oh my, he's ill!" Nick exclaimed.

Leo wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and turned back to Aria and William.

"You need to go to the doctor." Aria suggested.

"No, I'm fine." Leo said.

But he wasn't fine; he fainted onto the ground, into the depths of sleep…

He was in a large room. The walls were painted blue and there were glittering yellow lights. He was sitting at a desk. Across from him, there was a chair. The back of the chair was facing Leo.

There was someone sitting in the chair, he was talking to Leo.

"You killed my daughter." The man said.

"Please, sir, it was an accident!"

"Silence!"

Leo did not like this man.

"Sense you refuse to confess, I must do something that you don't want me to do." The man said.

"Please, my Lord. I wish you my greatest apologies." Leo pleaded.

"No one interrupts I! I'm sure you know what is going on here. A breed of magic is spreading through our time. It is very dark, and very powerful. Once again, you have betrayed me. I have not asked much of you because I knew that you would turn on me. If you take the following task, and you succeed, then you will live. If you don't, then you die. Understand?"

"Yes," Leo replied.

The chair spun around, and Lord Jewels' pale face was revealed.

"You have killed Aria, but I must give you a second chance. He wants me to." Lord Jewels said.

"I will take the task."

"Wonderful," Lord Jewels said.

Lord Jewels suddenly vanished, and he left Leo sitting in the chair across from his desk.

Leo woke up. He was sitting in his chair and Aria, Nick, and Mr. and Mrs. Baltimore were staring down at him.

"Hello, honey." Mrs. Baltimore said.

"Mom, dad."

"The doctor wants you to rest." Mr. Baltimore whispered, and pushed Leo's head back to the pillow.

"I need to speak to Professor Monalale." Leo said.

"Monalale is not here, right now. He had something important to do."

"Where's Head Montgomery?" Leo asked.

"In his office, why?" Nick asked.

Leo did not answer; he jumped up from his bed and shoved through his parents.

"Leo, you need to stay!" his mother called after him.

Leo ignored her. He was ignoring everyone, right now. He needed to speak to Montgomery.

Leo burst through the hospital doors and found himself in a long corridor. It was the Corridor of Offices. Surrounding him, were many doors. There was a different door for every professor.

Leo turned to the left, passed Professors Black, Launge, Anamora, and Jenkins' offices, and reached the end of the corridor.

There was a large, stone archway that read 'MONTGOMERY' in bold letters.

Leo limped through the arch and down a long hallway, finally he reached two oak, french doors that read 'Office'

Leo pushed open the doors and saw Head Montgomery sitting at a desk.

Montgomery's office was very large. It had beige walls and many wooden tables, scattered across the room. The walls were crammed with bookshelves that held books of all kind. On the wooden tables were pieces of glass, plastic, and many objects that Leo did not recognize.

Leo went around all the tables, until he reached Montgomery's desk.

Head Montgomery had a long, blonde beard and had no hair. He was wearing red robes and he had large glasses that were balanced on the end of his long, pointy nose.

"Hello, Mr. Baltimore. How can I be of your assistance, this lovely evening?"

"I need to tell you something, it's about Lord Jewels."

Shocked, Montgomery surveyed Leo through his round glasses, "I see. Please sit down, Leo."

Leo hesitated, mostly because there was no chair visible beside him.

"Oh, my apologies. I must have forgotten to get a chair, for you." Monty snapped his fingers, and a leather armchair appeared on the other side of his desk.

Leo sat down.

"So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Montgomery asked.

"I had a dream," Leo said, "that I was in Lord Jewels' office. He said that I had killed his daughter, Aria. Then he said that I had to do a task for him and if I didn't do well than he would kill me."

After a few moments of humming, Montgomery shook his head.

"Hmm… That's not normal. When did you have this dream?"

"Right after I used the Mirror of Trans." Leo said, "I was at De Riano. A Vampire named William was holding me and my friends hostage."

"Yes, you're friends must be Ms Jewels and Mr. Rovert?"

"Yes."

"And by William you mean Mr. William Chambers?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… this is different. I think that we should definetly do something about it, though."

Monty walked across the room, dodging all of the tables, until he reached a brick wall on the side of the room.

He appeared to be stroking the wall.

Suddenly, a doorknob appeared in the middle of the wall. Monty grabbed it, and twisted it.

A door swung open.

Head Montgomery walked through the doorframe. Leo began to jog to catch up with him.

Once they had both entered the room, the door slammed shut behind them.

At first, the room appeared to be complete blackness. There was a floor, Leo could feel, but there was no sign of any moving figures or walls in the room. It was complete darkness.

Suddenly, a shining light appeared in the blackness.

"Ah,"

Montgomery walked toward the light and grabbed it. Everything went dark, again.

Suddenly, the light appeared again in front of Leo. Montgomery stood in front of him, holding a light bulb.

"Do you know what this is, Leo?" Montgomery asked.

"Umm… I reckon a light bulb." Leo replied.

"Yes and No," Montgomery said, "this light bulb can make you go anywhere that you want. It doesn't matter where. Today, I have a good idea where we will be visiting."

"Where will we be going?" Leo asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Montgomery replied.

Monty pulled his wand out of his robe pocket, and tapped the light bulb with the tip.

Suddenly, a face appeared on the light bulb.

"Yes?" said the light bulb.

"Hello, Lisa. Mr. Baltimore and I will be needing to visit the Office of Visions and Sight." Montgomery said.

The light bulb, (apparently named Lisa) said, "Of course, let's see."

An arm reached out of the light bulb and the finger pressed the bottom of the light bulb, suddenly, a microphone shot out of the bottom of the light bulb.

"Head Montgomery and Leo Baltimore, The School of Time-Travel, Ordinary Knowledge, and Magic, Office of Visions and Sight." Lisa said.

The microphone spoke back, "I see. Well, Montgomery and Baltimore, please hold on to Lisa, here, very tightly."

Leo and Montgomery reached forward and clutched Lisa into their hands.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light that surrounded Leo and Montgomery. Leo squinted.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a small, skinny corridor.

Leo glanced behind him, there seemed to be no doors, behind him. The long corridor spread for a long time, and Leo could not see where it ended.

Leo turned around.

He was standing right in front of a brown, wooden door. There was a brass doorknob and a golden knocker.

"Where are we?" Leo asked.

Beside him stood Monty.

"We are just outside of the Office of Visions and Sight." Montgomery replied. "Now, Leo, when we enter there will be a woman sitting at a desk. I will tell her what has happened to you, and hopefully you will play along with me, and if she asks you any questions, whatsoever then you must answer them with all of your abilities. Now, I will give you the honors," and he pointed his finger at the knocker.

Leo grabbed the golden knocker, and slammed it on the door.

"Who is it?" said a woman's voice.

"I am Head Montgomery, escorting Mr. Leo Baltimore. We have urgent news for you."

"Can't it wait?" she asked.

"I think that you would like to know this, it involves Lord Jewels." Monty implied.

"Very well, please enter."

They stepped through the door and entered a large office.

Just as Monty had said, a woman was sitting at a stainless steal desk. She had short, blonde hair and was wearing jeweled spectacles. She was wearing a bright, pink, t – shirt.

"Hello, Michelle," Montgomery greeted.

"Good evening, Mr. Montgomery. What can I do for you?" Michelle asked.

"Well, Mr. Baltimore has had a vision." Montgomery said.

"Leo, can you explained what happened?" Michelle asked Leo.

Leo told Michelle every little detail that happened in his vision.

"I see, that's definetly not ordinary." Michelle said, "I think I know just what to do."

She stood up, and walked over to a very large, metal door.

"What's that?" Leo asked, pointing at the door.

"You'll see in a moment." Michelle replied.

She took out a wand, and stuck the tip of it into a hole at the side of the large door.

"Open," Michelle muttered.

Suddenly, the two sliding, metal doors slid open to reveal what appeared to be a car.

"What the-?"

"Leo, I'm sure you know that you are from the future, correct?" Michelle asked.

"Of course," said Leo.

"Naturally," Michelle said, "well, now you will be able to go to your real hometown. What you are looking at is a time machine."

Michelle walked towards the time machine, and swung open the car door.

She sat down in the driver's seat.

"Mr. Montgomery, you can have shotgun. Mr. Baltimore, please enter through the backdoor and sit in the back.

Leo noticed that the ceiling in the time-machine room was a glass solar panel.

Leo swung open the backdoor, and sat down. He began to glance around for a seatbelt.

"Where are the seatbelts?" Leo asked.

"Oh, don't worry. We won't be needing those." Michelle said.

Michelle pressed a few buttons on the car, until a loud noise erupted from the engine.

"Hold on!" Michelle yelled, and the time machine rose up, into the air.

It burst through the solar panel, and they appeared to be soaring through a vortex.

It seemed like hours that the time machine soared through the vortex, until finally they landed on the ground, in a future city.

There were hover mobiles soaring through the air, and many weird shaped buildings, but one of the buildings stood out the most. In the distance, stood a tall, blue building. There was a sign on the building that read, 'Magical and Time Travelling Industries'

"We're here!" Michelle announced.

Michelle stepped out of the car, and snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, a hover mobile soared through the air, and landed right in front of Leo, Michelle, and Montgomery.

"I think that we will need to visit the industries, today." Michelle said.

They all stepped into the car.

Almost immediately, the hover mobile lifted and they soared towards the large, blue building.

Chapter 9 – Dreams

The hover mobile arrived at the Magical and Time Travelling Industries.

"That should do," Michelle said, stepping out of the hover mobile and waving goodbye to it.

The hover mobile's lights flickered, and it soared off through the sky.

Leo, Montgomery, and Michelle stepped through the revolving door entrance of the building.

The room that they had stepped into was spectacular.

There were various fire works, exploding in the air and there were very high ceilings that led to a glass ceiling. Children and adults were running through the lobby. The walls changed color every few seconds.

Dodging all of the pedestrians, Leo, Monty, and Michelle made their way through the lobby to a large desk that stood near the walls.

There was a women with very short, brown hair at the desk. She had a pale, old face that was plastered with pimples, zits, and wrinkles of all kind.

"Hello, and welcome." Said the women; she had a very dull, boring voice that had no hint of expression, whatsoever.

"We're here to see Lord Jewels." Michelle said.

"Is this some kind of joke? I'm not laughing, if it is." The woman said.

"Umm… no. It's not a joke. We really need to speak to Lord Jewels.

The women began to guffaw, which eventually turned into a chuckle.

"Look, lady," Leo said, "We need to speak to Lord Jewels!"

"You think that I'm going to let you speak to the darkest sorcerer of all time? Ha! Besides, he's been in De Riano for years. He killed his own son."

"What?" Leo yelled.

"Oh, please, you didn't know that Lord Jewels had children? Well, he does. The boy's name was I think Nick, and the girl's name was…"

"Aria." Leo blurted.

"Yes, how did you know?" the women asked.

"I know her. And I know Nick, too."

"Rubbish, Nick Rovert Jewels has been dead for nearly thirty years."

"No, Nick Rovert? Please, I saw him a few hours ago."

"Leo, Nick Rovert Jewels died thirty years ago, Leo." But this time, the voice had not come from the women at the desk, but from Montgomery.

"What, he's your student? We just mentioned him in your office, a few hours ago!" Leo said.

"Leo, you have never met him. End of discussion."

Leo was furious. He knew that he had met Nick, before. How come him and Montgomery had just mentioned him in his office, and now he doesn't remember him, at all?

Leo thought about this all day. It had been a complete waste of time. Lord Jewels was locked up, in De Riano. But how come Leo had saw him in his vision, or had it been just a dream? He didn't understand.

Leo returned to the T.O.M, and continued studying all of his subjects. He discussed the matter of what happened to him at the Magical and Time Travelling Industries.

"That's completely unordinary," Aria had said.

But, Nick, seemed speechless.

"Nick, don't blame me! I'm not the one that doesn't even know you exist!" Leo had told him.

"Yes, I know."

They were all sitting in the Multi-Purpose Room, eating breakfast.

"Look, I don't think that we should be discussing this, right now. We're going to be late for Defense against the Dark Arts." Aria said.

"You're right, Aria." Leo said, and swung his backpack up onto his shoulder.

Once they arrived at the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, the door swung open and Professor Black told them all to come in.

Professor Black had long, black hair that was tied up into a ponytail at the back. He had side bangs that occasionally would fall into his eyes. He was very pale, and he had to be one of Leo's favorite teachers.

The Defense against the Dark Arts Classroom had three step levels. The walls were painted a gloomy color and there were golden tables with black table clothes. A silver chandelier dangled on the ceiling. On the lower floor, there was a large carpet so Professor Black could perform charms and spells, and Professor Black's desk stood at the back of the room. Behind the desk, stood a large chalkboard that took up most of the wall.

"Alright everyone, please take your seats." Professor Black said.

Leo, Aria, and Nick all sat at a table on the top floor.

The room went to silence as everyone found their seats.

"Thank you," Professor Black said, "now, today we are going to be practicing our shield charms. Does anyone know what a shield charm is?"

No one raised his or her hands, except for Nick. He began to jump up and down on his seat, his head bobbing through the air.

"Yes, Mr. Rovert?" Professor Black announced, pointing at Nick Rovert.

"A shield charm is a charm that will protect you from all counter-curses and charms. You can wear it for five minutes at a time, and you will stay safe no matter what happens." Nick replied, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Precisely, Mr. Rovert. Now, please pull out your book, 'Reading the Arts' by Joseph Chrysler."

Leo searched his side-bag, until her found a large, hard-covered book labeled, 'Reading the Arts'

The words were swimming across the page. They were in dark burgundy and black letters.

"Now, please flip to Page 224, Chapter 32: Shield Charms." Professor Black said.

Everyone flipped through the pages of their books, until they reached Page 224.

"Now, if someone could read aloud." Professor Black said.

Most of the people raised their hands, including Leo, Aria, and Nick.

"Hmm… Leo, please read starting at the beginning."

Leo read aloud:

"Shield Charms were invented by an ancient, magical scientist named Arnold Van. Arnold created the Shield Charm in the early 1600's.

The Shield Charm is a charm that will protect you from any magical force. There is no counter-curse of the Shield Charm, and it cannot be defeated.

Some say that the Shield Charm is like having an invisible bubble follow you around.

The only way to activate a Shield Charm is to use the spell, "Dextrosa."

When using the Shield Charm, you must have your wand in an upright position in front of your body at all times. You should not run or jog when using a Shield Charm, but rather walk or stride.

Arnold Van made an incredible discovery, and today, the Shield Charm is still very popular and very powerful."

"Thank you, Mr. Baltimore." Professor Black said, "and now, it is time for us to practice the Shield Charms. Just as Leo had said, you must always have your wand in a tense condition, right in front of you. Then you need to say, 'Dextrosa' now, you may be excited when first conjuring a Shield Charm, but you need to remember not to run or jog when using a Shield Charm, because the charm will run off, faster. Now, please line up single-file."

The class charged towards the front of the class, pushing and shoving who got in their way.

"Funny, whenever I say not to push and shove, everyone seems to do exactly as I don't say." Professor Black muttered to Leo, Aria, and Nick.

They began to laugh.

"Quiet, please!" Professor Black shouted.

The class turned to complete silence.

"Thank you," said Professor Black, "now, Meaghan, if you could go first"

A redheaded girl with medium-sized, curly hair stepped forward. She was wearing a black cardigan and short, jean caprice.

"Alright, Ms. Hart. Give it a try!"

Meaghan Hart stepped forward, and pulled her want out in front of her.

At first, she looked very scared and hesitated. But then, a look of shock appeared on her face.

"Meaghan, are you alright?" Professor Black asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Meaghan replied.

"Wonderful, now it's time for you to perform the Shield Charm."

"Right, I knew that."

Meaghan gulped, and closed her eyes for a moment.

Then she said, "Alright, Dextrosa."

At first, a large, clear bubbled appeared around Meaghan, and suddenly it disappeared.

"What happened?" Meaghan asked.

"Nothing happened. You are still wearing the Shield Charm. It is invisible so that if someone tries to attack you, it will simply bounce off of you and hit the attacker. For this next part, I will need a volunteer. Hmm… I think Ms. Aria Jewels will do well, for this."

Aria pulled her wand out of her pocket and walked towards, to the front of the classroom where Meaghan Hart and Professor Black stood.

"Now, Aria, I will need you to try to perform a mild curse onto Meaghan, here. I think that the ear-twitching charm should be suitable."

Aria pointed her wand at Meaghan and said, "Etalamora."

A blue light shot out of the tip of her wand, and went straight towards Meaghan. But, it simply bounced off of her, as if she was wearing an invisible trampoline, and zoomed back to Aria.

Aria' ears began to vibrate and twitch at an enormous pace. The class burst into an explosion of laughter, even Aria began to giggle.

"Alright, class, settle down!" Professor Black demanded.

The class slowly turned to silence.

"Now, Meaghan, do you know how to cancel a Shield Charm?" Professor Black asked.

"No," Meaghan replied.

"Alright, I wouldn't have expected that you would know that. Now, as you already know, you cannot stop a Shield Charm unless you are the one wearing it. What you must do is you need to hold your wand in the same position as when you make a Shield Charm and instead of saying 'Dextrosa' you must say 'Counter-Dextrosa'." Professor Black announced.

"Alright," Meaghan said, "Counter-Dextrosa."

A shield of plastic slid off of Meaghan's body and flied through the air. It began to form into a bubble, and suddenly, it burst.

"Very good, Ms. Hart. Most wizards and witches usually don't get it on their first try. Oh, it looks like time has made fools of us, again. Lunch!" Professor Black announced, and a swarm of kids dashed out of the door.

Like always, Language had been very dull. Professor Mackenzie had them practice writing certain wizard spells, and she announced at the end of the class that they were required to right a ten-paged essay on why language will help you to become a better wizard.

"Rubbish, is what it is." Aria said, "I don't see why in the world we would ever be needing to spell a magical-related term."

"Yes, it is fairly stupid, isn't it?" Nick said.

Leo, Aria, and Nick were all eating lunch in the Multi-Purpose Room. They were all huddled at a small table in the corner of the large room.

"Mm, tasty," Nick muttered, as a plate of butter tarts had appeared on the table.

"I'm still wondering why Bewitched didn't remember Nick." Aria said, biting into a butter tart.

"Well, we shouldn't be talking about it, right now," Nick said, "we should probably head to our dorms to start studying for Prediction and Green."

"Okay, guys," Leo said, "Go ahead, I'll be there in a second."

"Are you sure?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Aria and Nick looked at each other, shrugged, and turned around.

Once they were no longer in sight, Leo pulled the looking stone from his pocket.

He stuck his pinky finger through the hole in the rock, and he began to twitch violently.

He could not stay still, he tried to pull his finger from the rock, but the sides of the rock were slowly enclosing on his finger.

He tugged and pulled. Nothing happened.

"Help me!" he shouted, but it seemed as if all the people in the Multi-Purpose Room did not even see him.

He jumped up, from his chair and dodged through the door.

He ran through two long corridors, and ran down a large spiral staircase.

Finally, he reached the entrance to Head Montgomery's office.

He burst through the doors and ran through the curved, stone walls until he reached the door at the end of the corridor.

He banged his fist on the door.

"Please, come in," said Montgomery's voice.

Leo dashed through the doors and collapsed into the chair opposite from Montgomery.

Cutting the circulation off, Leo still could not get his finger out of the rock, which appeared to be shrinking.

"Hello, Leo," Montgomery greeted.

"Umm… Hello? Have you seen my finger, here?" Leo shouted, shoving his hand in front of Montgomery's old face.

"I see," Montgomery said, "but you really should stop coming to my office, I am not the Head of your House."

"Please, Montgomery! You need to do something before my finger falls off!" Leo gasped.

"Very well, I will get some ice." Montgomery said, standing up from his chair.

"What's that gonna do for my finger? It may freeze it, but, your just gonna let it fall off!" Leo cried.

Montgomery pulled a tray of ice from the air, and threw the contents at Leo.

The ice-cubes soared through the room, and smacked Leo on the face.

His nose bleeding, Leo stood up and kicked off the ice-cubes.

"What was the need for that, huh? What was the bloody…"

Montgomery shushed him.

"Excuse me? You just threw about thirty ice-cubes at my face! I think I'll decide who'll obey who!" Leo shouted.

"No, I think I will!" Montgomery yelled, "Please, be quiet, Mr. Baltimore."

Leo gave a cough of anger, and grasped his pinky finger, which was now turning a solid purple color.

"Please, Professor Monty! Help me!" Leo cried.

"I have repeatedly demanded you to be quiet!" Montgomery cried, and pointed his finger at him.

Leo's voice dropped to dead silence.

A loud ticking noise was coming from the brick wall, that had led to the luminous light bulb.

"What is that noise?" Leo asked.

"I am not sure, Mr. Baltimore, but I think that you should assist me." Monty replied.

He turned around and reached his arm out to Leo. Leo grabbed it, and Montgomery slowly led Leo to the brick wall.

Montgomery reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wand. He tapped his wand on the brick wall, and it opened.

Rather than being in a dark room with a shining light, something irresistible had appeared in the doorway.

A much older Leo Baltimore sat in an armchair. The walls were painted blue, and there were shining strobe lights surrounding the room. In front of Leo, sat a large desk, and a chair sat on the opposite side of the desk.

There was someone sitting in the chair, he was talking to Leo.

"You killed my daughter." The man said.

"Please, sir, it was an accident!"

"Silence!"

Leo did not like this man.

"Sense you refuse to confess, I must do something that you don't want me to do." The man said.

The real Leo glanced over at Monty, and muttered, "This is my dream."

"Please, my Lord. I wish you my greatest apologies." Leo pleaded.

"No one interrupts I! I'm sure you know what is going on here. A breed of magic is spreading through our time. It is very dark, and very powerful. Once again, you have betrayed me. I have not asked much of you because I knew that you would turn on me. If you take the following task, and you succeed, then you will live. If you don't, then you die. Understand?"

Monty looked over at Leo and said, "Yes, I'm sure it is your dream."

"Yes," Leo replied.

The chair spun around, and Lord Jewels' pale face was revealed.

"You have killed Aria, but I must give you a second chance. He wants me to." Lord Jewels said.

"I will take the task."

"Wonderful," Lord Jewels said.

Lord Jewels suddenly vanished, and he left Leo sitting in the chair across from his desk.

The older Leo stood from his armchair, and walked over to the mirror that was placed on the blue walls.

The older Leo walked over to the door, and stepped out of the doorframe.

Leo and Montgomery quickly followed him.

They walked down a long corridor, which the walls were plastered with posters and pictures of many kind.

A man with dark, black hair and pale skin walked into Leo.

"Hello," said William Chambers, slowly backing away from Leo.

"Hello," Leo said awkwardly.

"Well, umm… my name is William."

"My name is Leo."

"Wonderful, I will be seeing you later, than, Mr. Baltimore."

"As will I, umm… William."

Leo dodged William, and continued walking down the large corridor, until he reached the foyer of the large blue building.

Was it possible, Leo thought to himself, that Leo had just seen a much older William Chambers? It must have been, because the pale face was so hard not to recognize.

Chapter 10 – The End

It was not long before the cool, October weather had turned to November, and everyone had started preparing for none other, but Christmas. Leo wondered what his family and friends would purchase for him, but he wasn't thinking about this, very often. He was thinking about what would happen when he returned to his home for Christmas holidays…

He knew that during the two-week holiday, he would miss Aria and Nick, very much, and he couldn't help wondering how much his little sister, Emily, would be as to his loyal friends.

It was not long before November had led to the very middle of December, the 15th, and holidays begun on the 22nd.

With just a week left of the T.O.M, Leo began to spend much more time with Aria and Nicholas. Whether it was sledding, studying, or just chatting, it seemed like he was always spending time with them.

But sadly, the week came to an end, and finally, it was the twenty-second, time for them to return to their homes.

Finally, on the last day, the bell rang and all of the students burst through the front doors of the T.O.M, and onto the cushy, white cloud.

Waiting at the edge of the cloud, was the T.O.M. school bus.

The school boarded the double-decker bus.

Leo, Aria, and Nick found a seat on the top level of the bus, and sat down.

"I can't believe how fast the first four months went by." Nick said.

"Yeah, but we'll be back in January, so, it's okay." Aria said.

"Ya, but, what's going to happen when we graduate from the T.O.M?" Leo asked.

"Leo, don't worry, we've still got more than six years, here." Aria patted Leo's back.

"Yes, but six years can go by so fast." Leo appeared to have tears in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Leo, it's okay." Nick said.

Alas, the double-decker bus arrived at the bus stop, on Leo's street. They waved goodbye to Nick, and Leo and Aria hopped out of the bus.

They walked in the drifting snow to the end of the street, where they met Leo's house.

"I'll talk to you later," Leo said.

"Wait," Aria said, as she pulled her side-bag off of her shoulder. "I'll give you my phone number, so that we can call each other, later."

"Okay,"

Aria pulled a large piece of paper from her side-bag, and ripped of a corner of it.

She pulled out a black pen and wrote down her phone number.

She then handed it to Leo.

"Thanks," Leo said, "I'll call you soon."

Aria smiled, and kissed Leo on the cheek.

"I'll be waiting," and she walked away.

Leo smiled, and began to walk towards his house, ready to spend a Christmas Vacation with his family.

Leo and the Prison of Lost Words

Book 3

Released on on August 28, 2009.

Leo and the mystery of Victor Baltimore

Book 4

Released on on November 3, 2009.

Leo and the Book of Forgotten

Book 5

Released on on January 26, 2010

More Books Coming Soon