Alexandra almost ran into her classmates coming out of the Trace Office. Led by Anya, the eleven other Pruett School students were speaking in hushed voices until the hag plodded to a halt to stare at her wayward charge. Behind her, the other kids stopped and grew silent.
"Oh, there you are," said Alexandra. "Rachel told you I was going to the bathroom, right?"
Anya didn't even glance at either Rachel. Her brows lowered ominously and her eyes turned redder.
"You've been straying," she said.
"No, I haven't, honest," Alexandra said. "I just—"
Anya leaned forward and said in a deceptively sweet voice, "I can smell the lies curdling on your tongue." She sniffed, for emphasis.
"That's kind of creepy," Alexandra said, very conscious of the book bulging in her pocket.
Anya seized Alexandra's arm. Her grip was iron, but she didn't squeeze quite hard enough to hurt. Alexandra only resisted for a moment, and considered drawing her wand for a moment more, then just glared at the hag.
Behind all the other kids, Alexandra finally spotted Madam Erdglass's white head. The teacher made her way to the front and said, "Miss Quick… since you're so interested in dueling, I suppose you would like to see the Central Territory Junior Dueling Championship today."
Alexandra stopped struggling against Anya. "Yes, I would."
The other students brightened as well. Even Penny seemed interested.
"Well, stay with Anya. We wouldn't want you wandering anywhere else and getting into trouble." Madam Erdglass walked into the elevator. Anya followed, forcing Alexandra to keep up or be lifted by one arm and dragged along like a doll. The teacher and the hag waited for everyone else to crowd inside, until Alexandra was squeezed between the solid black-clad bulk of the hag and Freddy. The hag smelled like pumpkin spice and Bengay.
"So where'd you go?" Freddy asked in a whisper that was audible to everyone in the elevator.
"The bathroom," Alexandra whispered back, equally audibly.
"That was sure a long bathroom visit," Freddy said.
"Yeah," Alexandra said. "It got pretty messy."
Several of the other kids giggled. Helen watched nervously. Madam Erdglass, squeezed into the back of the elevator, might have been nodding off again. Anya directed the elevator back to the ground floor.
They proceeded across the lobby of the Territorial Headquarters Building and out onto the street. Alexandra's resentment and annoyance grew as Anya maintained her grip on her arm.
"I thought we're going to see the dueling championship," Silvia said.
"So we are," replied Anya.
"But this isn't the way to the wizarding part of Chicago," said Silvia, with great assurance. She fancied herself an expert on the Goblin Market, having been there twice.
"There are several wizarding parts of Chicago," said Anya. "You've only ever seen the part that children and Muggle-borns see."
Alexandra almost stopped at that to stare at the hag, except that Anya continued to drag her along. Anya went on: "We're going to the Quodpot stadium."
"Chicago doesn't have a Quodpot team," said Taylor.
"Chicago sucks," said Jamal.
"You suck!" Helen responded indignantly.
"Tsk," Anya said.
"Why does Chicago have a Quodpot stadium, then?" asked Chris.
"Just because it doesn't host a team doesn't mean it can't host games," Freddie said. "Also, it's Chicago, so it was probably part of some corrupt construction deal."
"My, you're a cynical one," said Anya.
Alexandra, meanwhile, realized that they were walking toward the baseball stadium where her sixth grade class had also gone after their field trip to the Central Territory Headquarters building.
Rachel Cohen realized this also. "That's not a wizard stadium. That's Wrigley Field!"
"So it is," said Anya.
"I thought you said we're going to see the dueling championship," said Alexandra. She couldn't imagine them holding the dueling championship in the middle of the baseball stadium — how many Muggle-Repelling and Obliviation spells would that take?
"So we are," said Anya.
Realizing that Anya enjoyed this condescending game, Alexandra kept her mouth shut until they reached the stadium. As before, none of the Muggles on the street noticed the huge woman with green skin, enormous teeth, and a wart-covered nose. There was no baseball game that day, so when they arrived at a locked gate, Alexandra thought the hag would have to wait for Madam Erdglass to cast a spell to unlock it. Instead, Anya said to Alexandra, "Since you're here, you can let us in. It's been charmed to open with the tap of a wand."
"I see," Alexandra said. "It must be awfully inconvenient, not having one yourself."
Anya's smile didn't waver, but for a moment, Alexandra saw rage burning in those wide, yellowish eyes, and knew she had hit a nerve. Perhaps foolishly, but then, it wasn't as if Anya was going to be her friend anyway.
"Go ahead and open the gate, dear," said Anya, the words coming through a smile that did not extend beyond two rows of teeth locked together.
Alexandra drew her basswood wand and tapped the gate. With a slight metallic ring, like coins jingling together, it flickered and vanished.
Anya moved forward, jerking Alexandra just a little harder than before, and the other students and Madam Erdglass followed.
The tunnel to the ballpark passed by a women's restroom. Anya changed course and pushed open the door, then held it open with one hand while still holding Alexandra with the other.
Helen and Rachel Cohen and Leah filed past, but Leah's twin stopped at the doorway, with Jamal and Chris halting behind him.
"We can't go in there," Taylor said. "That's the girls' room!"
"This is the way to the Quodpot stadium," said Anya.
"In a girls' restroom?" demanded Chris. "Why not a boys' restroom?"
"Then we couldn't use it," said Silvia, annoyed at being unable to enter herself because of the boys blocking the entrance.
Anya made an imperious gesture with her black-nailed hand. "This is not a potty break, children! Now come inside and stop being bratty."
Even Freddy, Pete, and Rachel Ing looked a little cowed as they followed the younger girls and boys into the restroom. Madam Erdglass entered last of all.
With the girls standing around amused and the boys folding their arms and looking uncomfortable, surrounded by sinks and stalls, Anya marched over to the farthest mirror, still dragging Alexandra across the floor with her, and pounded on it. When nothing happened, she turned to Alexandra again.
"How do you normally get around without a wand?" Alexandra asked.
"I manage," Anya said sweetly, and this time Alexandra could feel the bones of her wrist grinding together in Anya's grip.
Alexandra tapped the mirror with her wand. Suddenly all the mirrors — the entire wall on which the mirrors were mounted — turned dark, and then like wisps of smoke, the wall and everything on it dissolved.
They stood at the top of a tier of stone benches that surrounded a stadium at the bottom of a huge, concentric pit. The benches were not full, but several hundred witches and wizards sat on them, particularly at the lower levels. Alexandra recognized Quodpot equipment stacked up at either end of the field, but the grass had been cleared and then chalked with circular runic designs. Above, a black rubbery ceiling loomed over the stadium, lit by long glowing tubes that might have been fluorescent lights except that they sagged, bent, and rippled, like living organisms, or the luminescent digestive tract of some gigantic beast, eviscerated and invisible in the shadows above them.
"There's a Quodpot stadium… under Wrigley Field?" exclaimed Rachel Cohen.
"Cool!" said Chris.
They descended the stairs. As Alexandra's eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, she realized there was something vaguely familiar about this place. It was gloomy despite the artificial wizardly illumination, and had an oppressive, brooding air. The stone steps also looked ancient, as if worn smooth by many feet over a period of… how long? When was Wrigley Field built? How old was Chicago? Alexandra wasn't sure, but this Quodpot stadium reminded her of something.
"This place looks like it's missing an Aztec temple," said Freddy.
"There weren't any Aztecs in Illinois," said Penny. Alexandra was surprised to hear the gloomy goth girl speak up, but somehow not surprised that she knew about Aztecs.
The reference made her realize why this place was giving her an uneasy feeling. They might not have actually entered the Lands Below, but it was much like descending into the sub-basements beneath Charmbridge Academy, and she did not think the Generous Ones would be out of place here.
More than that, she now felt something that had not been present beneath the Territorial Headquarters Building: cracks in the world, like the one running through Larkin Mills, and those she'd seen in the Ozarks. They were at the nexus of several of those magical fissures. Alexandra could feel them radiating out into Chicago. Did one run to the Goblin Market? Did they touch the Chicago Wizardrail Station? She didn't remember feeling that when she and Julia had arrived in the station from the Ozarks, but she hadn't been looking for them, either.
There may have been no temples here, but the field at the bottom of the steps resembled an arena, and the dozen young men and women standing before the spectators, could have been gladiators come to die. As the Pruett School students approached, Alexandra saw standard dueling platforms erected between the runic outlines.
One of the competitors was Larry Albo.
He wore a fine cloak of green so dark it reflected color only where the light fell upon it directly, over emerald and blood red robes. He stood in a relaxed yet staged posture, silver-fingered hand dangling at his side, wand held loosely in the fingers of his other hand, listening to a wizard with an absurdly long black beard and mustache. The wizard was going over the rules of the competition, though all the competitors must have memorized them by now.
"Take your seats," Anya told her charges in a hushed voice. "I believe the duels are just about to start."
She finally let go of Alexandra's wrist, pushing her ahead. She stayed so close Alexandra had to keep moving lest the hag tread on her before she reached an empty spot on the third bench from the top row. She wound up seated between Anya and Freddy. Penny sat down on the other side of Anya. Everyone else arranged themselves successively further from the hag, except for Madam Erdglass, who sat on the bench behind them. Alexandra could practically feel the old witch's eyes on the back of her neck.
Judges and coaches joined the competitors on the field. Ms. Shirtliffe was there, and so was Mr. Grue, which surprised Alexandra since the Alchemy teacher had never been involved in the Dueling Club. Neither of the Charmbridge teachers seemed to notice Alexandra sitting with her day school classmates among the spectators.
"Are they going to have a full wizarding decathlon?" asked Rachel the elder.
"No, they only do duels to qualify," said Freddy.
"What's a full wizarding decathlon?" asked Chris.
"Hush," said Anya.
Alexandra knew the events of the Junior Wizarding Decathlon: Arithmancy, Alchemy, Apparition, Charms, Transfigurations, Divination, Brooms, Beasts, Mysteries, and Dueling. But each school selected its candidate by whatever means it saw fit, and the Territorial Championships selected only the best duelists to go on to the decathlon.
She thought it was dumb to send someone who might be a good duelist but terrible at everything else. She wondered if Larry had practiced all the other events. She doubted he had a fraction of her experience with Beasts and Mysteries.
One of the judges spoke to the spectators in a magically amplified voice, explaining the rules of the competition, which Alexandra mostly knew already from her interest in the Junior Wizarding Decathlon last year. The championship was conducted by simple single-elimination rounds. The first round would reduce the twelve competitors to six, the next to three, then one of the three remaining duelists would be randomly chosen to sit out the next duel and face the winner for the championship. Four rounds to decide who would represent Central Territory at the Confederation Junior Wizarding Decathlon.
Round one, with six duels at once, was the most spectacular. The nearest duel was between two boys, both of whom looked like Old Colonials, possibly Palatines. They conjured fire and lightning in a colorful lightshow that Alexandra recognized as displaying impressive power but almost no control. The way they tried to shock and awe each other was foolish. But she was trying to focus on the duel on the far side of the stadium, between Larry and a skinny witch wearing pants and a faded print blouse. She was probably Muggle-born or half-blooded, since she wasn't wearing traditional robes. Alexandra wondered how she'd made it to the finals, and how Larry would feel being defeated by someone of such obvious Muggle birth.
He wasn't. Larry Stunned her in less than three seconds. Alexandra was disappointed, and yet had the feeling she'd have been more disappointed if Larry had lost.
"I think that tall kid cheated," Jamal said, pointing at another match that had been going on while Alexandra watched Larry.
"How'd he cheat?" asked Chris.
"He couldn't with all those judges watching them," Rachel Cohen said.
Alexandra thought Rachel was probably right, but having managed to slip more than a few unauthorized charms past the eyes of authority figures herself, she watched carefully as the tall kid Jamal referred to, a gangly blond in faded orange and blue robes, took up position across from Larry for his next duel.
The three duels that made up the second round took a few seconds longer. Besides Larry and his opponent, there were two girls and two boys. One of the girls lost to a fat boy who battered against her Shield Charm with a storm of hexes until she grew impatient and tried to counterattack, then was hit by a much more precise curse that struck her exposed hand, turning it orange with inflamed pimples that quickly ran all the way up to her neck and face. She screamed in fury and discomfort, while the victor waved his wand to the hooting acclaim of friends in the stands.
The other girl, a pale witch with dark robes and a traditional pointed hat, defeated her adversary with a Transfiguration, which Alexandra didn't see used in duels very often.
"Eww," said Leah. "Did she turn his clothes into… bacon?"
"Can we learn that spell?" Chris asked.
She'd also turned her opponent into a piglike humanoid. It was injury added to insult; he shook a fist and shouted at her, which came out as a series of squeals. Even one of the judges had a hard time stifling his laughter. The defeated boy hobbled, cloven-footed, off the dueling platform to the healing station where the Transfiguration could be reversed.
Meanwhile, Larry was still exchanging hexes with his opponent, an Old Colonial in long, gold-trimmed black robes. The two of them seemed nearly evenly matched in basic wandwork. Larry had better finesse, Alexandra thought, but his speed was a shade less than the other boy's — she wondered if his silver-fingered hand slowed him down at all.
Then, just like that, he disrupted the timing of their exchange. Larry's opponent had made the mistake of falling into a pattern of hex, counterhex, as if they were taking turns, lured into that pattern by Larry's slight delay in reacting. When Larry broke it, he slipped a jinx right past the other duelist's guard, and before he could deflect it, he was on the ground, breathing heavily. Larry coolly turned away, and scanned the other two victors who would go into the final matches with him.
The fat boy and the girl who'd used the porcine curse on her opponent were all called before the chief referee, who flipped a coin. It stood on its edge. The girl walked a few paces away to sit out the next duel, while Larry faced the fat boy.
"Kind of puts them at a disadvantage, since she only has to win one more duel while her opponent has to win two," observed Pete.
Freddy shrugged. "Wizard rules aren't always fair," he said.
That's for sure, Alexandra thought. She heard whispering, and glanced to her right. Anya was leaning toward Penny. Chris was asking Madam Erdglass something, but Alexandra didn't hear if she answered.
The girl sitting out the first final match waved her wand over the stadium floor. A stone seat rose out of the ground. The girl sat on it as if taking her throne.
Before that summer, Alexandra would have been impressed; conjuring that much stone was a difficult feat, let alone shaping it with a single Transfiguration. After her adventures in the Ozarks, however, she knew more about transcending the limits of magic she'd learned in class. Perhaps she hadn't yet learned how to conjure a stone throne from the ground, but she'd made a mountain tremble with a stomp of her foot. What this girl could do, she could do.
Larry and his opponent squared off across the dueling platform nearest the Charmbridge spectators. Larry raised his wand in a sardonic salute, fist clenched near his forehead. His silver hand hung at his side, its fingers slowly curling and uncurling.
The other boy didn't react; he posed motionless, absolutely fixed on Larry's every motion and gesture.
When the referee signaled the start of the match, both remained locked in their starting stances, like statues.
Everyone else watched the duelists, but Alexandra watched their wands. She knew before either of them moved that Larry's opponent was going to break first. The boy's wrist snapped up, and the tip of his wand flicked in Larry's direction.
Larry was ready to deflect the jinx, and then he relied on superior timing — deflect, counterattack, deflect, counterattack — while his opponent, having lost control of the tempo, had more trouble defending than attacking. Larry pressed his small advantage relentlessly, and once again, Alexandra knew the end before it came. A bright yellow bolt flashed from Larry's wand and past the other boy's, striking the bigger boy square in the chest. All his limbs spasmed straight out from his body before he toppled backward. His hand remained clenched around his wand in an unbreakable grip, but he couldn't seem to do anything with it, or even to lift his head once he hit the ground.
"That guy's from Charmbridge, isn't he?" said Freddy. He looked over to Alexandra. "That's where you went, right?"
"Yes," Alexandra said.
"Do you know him?" asked Rachel Ing.
"Yes."
Everyone waited expectantly, but when Alexandra didn't tell them anything more, they turned their attention back to the field.
The girl in the pointed hat stood serenely opposite Larry. Alexandra wondered where she'd gone to school — had the judges said something about homeschooling?
Larry wasn't looking at his opponent. His eyes were on the audience in the stadium, and for a moment his gaze swept over the Pruett School students. Alexandra couldn't tell whether he'd seen or recognized her. Then his attention turned back to the dueling platform. Ms. Shirtliffe was on her feet to get a better view of the final duel, while Mr. Grue remained seated, arms folded and hands invisible beneath the overlong sleeves of his dark robes.
Larry had beaten most of his opponents with superior timing, Alexandra realized. He took their measure and disrupted their pattern, but his spells weren't particularly creative. Of course, one of Ms. Shirtliffe's first lessons had been that a well-timed Stunning Charm, the first offensive spell most young wizards learned, beat the elaborate and spectacular Earth and Sky Triple-Forked Lightning Spell (the spell every young duelist wanted to learn and few could actually cast) in almost all instances, because simple and fast was better than fancy and late.
The witch who now challenged Larry for the title of Central Territory Junior Dueling Champion had used fancy Transfigurations in most of her duels. If she didn't change her style, Alexandra thought, Larry would flatten her.
"Five pigeons says Miss Pointy Hat wins," said Freddy.
"I'll take that action," said Jamal.
"My money's on the girl," Pete said. "She got to sit out the last duel and study the tall kid."
"What do you think, Alexandra?" asked Rachel Ing. "He's your friend, isn't he?"
"No," Alexandra replied. "I said I know him. I didn't say we were friends."
Larry and his opponent bowed to one another. The judge held his wand out, stepped back out of the line of fire, and dropped his hand.
Larry lashed out with a spinning vortex of fire that swept down his arm and roared through the air. Alexandra was startled to see that he was holding his wand in his silver-fingered off-hand, and it glowed with a yellow-orange aura that seemed to reflect the heat Larry was projecting.
It was a spell just barely legal for dueling — if it caught his opponent unprepared to shield herself, she could be badly burned even if he wasn't using the full power of the curse. Members of the audience, including many of the Pruett School kids, sucked in startled breaths at such a ferocious spell being used in a duel that was supposed to be merely sporting.
The witch in the pointed hat stood unmoving. Flames licked at a blackened silhouette, tracing her outline in a brilliant corona of fire that didn't touch a hair on her head or one thread of her garments.
"A Flame-Freezing Charm," said Freddy. "Everyone knows that one."
"Can we learn it?" asked Chris.
Freddy was right, Alexandra thought. Larry's impressive attack was easily countered by anyone who knew the right charm, as he should have expected his final opponent would.
Her first few counterattacks were tentative — too tentative. Curses and jinxes which Larry countered easily, and retaliated with glass balls hurled at concussive velocity, boiling green goo that would blister and transform on contact, and a bolt of lightning that made Alexandra narrow her eyes in recognition.
"I want to learn that one, too," said Chris.
"Dayum," said Jamal. "I thought you aren't supposed to hurt each other in these duels?"
Indeed, the referee halted the exchange, and spoke severely to Larry. His opponent had gone entirely on the defensive, deflecting the glass balls and warding the blistering green slime with an effective Shield Charm, but the lightning almost overwhelmed her. She looked a little shaken.
With a warning to Larry, the duel resumed. Alexandra wondered if he'd lost control — his natural bullying tendencies getting the better of him — or if he'd been deliberately trying to intimidate his opponent.
"That was pretty scary," said Leah, apparently thinking along the same lines.
If the witch in the pointed hat was scared, she didn't show it. She continued to cast spells calmly, now throwing hexes to force Larry to defend himself. He wasn't able to regain the dominance of his initial assault, and red flashes of light, starbursts of yellow flame, and bilious green streams from both directions crossed the dueling platform, amidst cheering and roars from the now-excited crowd.
Alexandra remained still, willing herself not to root for either opponent, telling herself she was indifferent to the outcome — but when Larry suddenly struck the girl with a Stunning Charm, anticlimactically and so quickly that she was on her back before anyone realized the duel was over, what Alexandra felt was not indifference but wildly mixed emotions. She could not bring herself to cheer for Larry, but he was representing Charmbridge Academy, which was a source of bittersweet pride.
Larry raised a hand, which curled into a shining silver fist held high in the air, reflecting the hundred magical lights illuminating the stadium. His silver hand dazzled and gleamed. Ms. Shirtliffe led the applause, while the referee declared Larry Albo the winner of the Central Territory Junior Dueling Championship, and Central Territory's champion at the Junior Wizarding Decathlon in New Amsterdam in July.
"So he has like eight months to train for the Decathlon," said Taylor.
"He'll be toast," said Freddy. "He may be top dog in flyover country, but when he goes to the Confederation championships, he'll be facing the top students from New Amsterdam, Roanoke, Louisiana, and California."
Pete turned in his seat, with a belligerent expression. "Flyover country, huh? You figure us hicks couldn't possibly produce a real wizard because we're not from Nyew Yawk?" His sentence trailed off in an exaggerated Midwestern drawl.
"Chicago isn't a hick town," said Rachel Cohen.
"Neither is Columbus," said Silvia. "It's the largest city in Ohio!"
Freddy ignored the younger girls and shrugged at Pete. "Ask Alexandra. Charmbridge has a good academic reputation, but duelists and Quodpot teams? They suck."
"I could take you," Alexandra said.
"But you couldn't take him." Freddy pointed down at the field where Larry was shaking hands with his defeated opponents. "And he's going to face the best in the Confederation. Not just from the other Big Four schools, but the best from the smaller academies, from private covens, from home-schooled druids who have their own curriculum. I hear some Cultures have pretty wicked competitors too, like the Majokai and the Travelers."
"Yeah?" said Jamal. "Well pay up the five Pigeons you owe me."
Pete smirked as Freddy handed over the coins, though Pete had lost his own bet as well.
Alexandra, however, was no longer concerned with trying to rebut Freddy. Something else he'd said was of greater interest.
"Cultures can send their own champions?" she asked.
Freddy shrugged. "I think so. They're semi-autonomous, right? Not all of them do. No one from the Indian Territories goes. The weird pagan ones, and the Old Colonials, like the Ozarkers and the Plymouth Traditionalists, don't send anyone. Guess they think competing in a decathlon is too modern, or the Confederation is too wicked."
"I'll bet they do," Alexandra said thoughtfully.
She watched Larry strutting about like the king of the world, as if he'd never been in doubt about his victory, as if the champions of Baleswood, Blacksburg, New Amsterdam, and whoever the Majokai and the Radicalists and the Travelers might send against him would be no challenge at all.
We'll see about that, she thought, a plan forming in her mind.
Alexandra found three Storm King Mountains when she got home and searched online. One was in Colorado, one was in Washington, and one sat in the middle of the Hudson River, not far north of New York City — or as wizards called it, New Amsterdam.
She wrote to Anna, and while waiting for a reply, began studying the book she'd stolen from the Territorial Headquarters Building. The Auror Authority's Field Training Grimoire contained more spells in fewer pages than any textbook Alexandra had ever seen. Age Lines, Slow Lines, Wards and Alarums, Incarcerous and Body Freezing spells, counter-curses, anti-jinxes, first aid spells, and even instructions for the Patronus Charm! There were pages of offensive spells she'd never seen in wizard-duels. Some she knew already, but most were new. She also realized quickly that they were all very difficult. The Grimoire was just a basic primer, issued as part of Auror training. The introductory text warned against attempting any spells without appropriate instruction and supervision.
"Appropriate instruction and supervision" was something Alexandra knew she wasn't going to get at the Pruett School. She bookmarked a few pages for further study.
Anna's answer came back a few days later, in a letter carried by Jingwei.
"Storm King Mountain near New Amsterdam is the location of the Confederation's records repository. It's where they keep all the really old and important documents, and probably secret stuff too. What are you up to, Alex?"
She checked the Field Training Grimoire, and found a section on "cryptic communications," which described something like the Editing Ink Charm she and Anna were using to encrypt their letters. The Grimoire's version was far more sophisticated, and included counterspells. Alexandra realized with dismay that the "encryption" she and Anna had been using would be easily reversed by a trained Auror.
She wrote back: I'm not up to anything. Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless without telling you first.
She sent Jingwei back to Charmbridge carrying notes to all her friends. She scolded Charlie for hiding while the owl was present, then studied a map of the Confederation.
The disappearance of Roger Darby was a gnawing, unsettling mystery. Whatever Mr. Brown was up to had to be bad. Storm King Mountain, sitting on a bluff in the Hudson River, was where the Accounting Office had relocated the census records of Roger and two other children. Would she find answers there? Would she learn that Lila Hill and Forrest Fleming had disappeared as well? She suspected she would.
She couldn't just visit Storm King Mountain on her own. But the Junior Wizarding Decathlon was in New Amsterdam — just down the river. Unfortunately, she doubted she could talk Livia into sending everyone at the Pruett School there for a week-long field trip.
"Well," she said to Charlie, "I got myself to Dinétah. I'm sure I can get myself to New Amsterdam, somehow."
"Fly, fly," said Charlie.