Silver stared at the paper "What's the Order of-" "Not here, boy! We'll let you know once we're inside". Striker took the paper and burned it with a spell from his claw. There was a noise, Silver looked up, the two houses in front of him were moving. Splitting apart and then finally once there was a large enough gap a new house appeared between them, Number Twelve. Knuckles tapped the door wearing his shovel claw and Silver could hear the locks all undoing inside "In you go, Silver, but be careful. Don't touch anything". Silver stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others filing in behind him, Knuckles and Julie-Su carrying his trunk. Striker was standing on the top step and releasing the balls of light the gem had taken. Once Striker came in and closed the door gas lamps on the walls ignited on their own casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead, and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Silver heard something scuttling behind the baseboard. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents. There were hurried footsteps and the door at the end of the hall opened. Mari-An hurried towards them beaming though Silver noticed she was a bit thinner and paler than usual. She pulled Silver into a rib cracking hug "Oh, it's good to see you, dear. You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid". She looked at the others "He's just arrived. The meeting has just started".
They all made sounds of excitement and moved past Silver to enter the furthest room. Silver made a move to follow them but Mari-An held him back "No, Silver, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Razor and Coral are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting is over and then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall I don't want to wake anything up". Silver didn't understand "What do you mean wake-" "I'll explain later. I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting-I'll just show you where you're sleeping". Pressing her finger to her lips, she led him on tiptoes past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Silver supposed there must be another door, and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed Kraken's leg, they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Silver that the heads belonged to Marmolims. Silver's bewilderment deepened with every step he took. What on Mobius were they doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of wizards on Mobius "Mrs O'Hedge, why-?" "Razor and Coral will explain everything, dear, I've really got to dash". Once they reached the second landing, she pointed at one of the doors "You're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over". And she hurried off downstairs again. Silver crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob, which was shaped like a serpent's head, and opened the door. He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek and a pair of arms strangling his neck. Coral had thrown herself onto him nearly knocking him off his feet "Razor! Razor, he's here!" she yelled out the door. Silver noticed Crusher the Chao excitedly flying above him. Coral started talking at double speed "Are you okay? We heard about the Prelates. They can't expel you! They just can't! The law says that in life threatening situations-" "Let him breath, Coral" Razor said running through the door. Razor had grown over the summer just like Silver. Coral released Silver and now that his shoulders were free a familiar Flicky flew down and landed on one "Hi, Lily".
Razor chuckled "She was in a right state. We got your letters an hour ago and she kept pecking us. Silver noticed Razor had a plaster over one of his fingers. He didn't feel much sympathy though "Oh, yeah, sorry but I wanted answers, you know?" "We wanted to give them to you, mate. Coral was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Locke made us" "Oh, he did, did he?" Silver said with much contempt. The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight of his two best friends was extinguished as something icy flooded the pit of his stomach. All of a sudden, after yearning to see them for a solid month, he felt he would rather Razor and Coral left him alone. There was a strained silence in which Silver stroked Lily automatically, not looking at either of his friends. Coral started nervously fidgeting with her hands "He seemed to think it was best. Safer, you know" "Yeah, that didn't work out, did it?" "Well…No but that's why he's had people watching you". Silver felt a great jolt in his stomach, so everyone knew except him "Didn't do there job though. Had to look out for myself" "Locke was really angry when he found out. He showed up here to talk to Farrel. He was scary" "I'm glad Farrel left. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Locke would probably have left me at Penders Drive all summer!". Coral and Razor shared a glance "Aren't you worried about the Ministry?" "No!" Silver snapped defiantly. He gave a sigh and crossed his arms "Did Locke tell you why I had to be kept in the dark?". Razor and Coral shared another glance deciding who would be the one to answer. Razor lost "We told Locke we wanted to tell you what was going on. We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the Flickys might be intercepted" "Intercepted? What, he couldn't think of a single other way of talking to me?". Coral looked really guilty now "I said that to him but he just told us not to say anything" "Maybe he just doesn't trust me. Can't take care of myself" "Don't thick. Of course he doesn't think that" Razor said.
Silver's temper was rising "Then why have I been at my Aunt and Uncle's while you two get to join in everything that's going on here? How come you two are allowed to know everything that's going on-" "We haven't. Really. Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young". Before Silver knew it he was shouting "SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE PENDERS DRIVE FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND LOCKE KNOWS IT. WHO SAVED THE CHAOS DRIVE? WHO GOT RID OF SAM TUND!? WHO SAVED YOUR SKINS FROM THE PRELATES!?" he pointed at Coral. Every bitter and resentful thought that Silver had had in the past month was pouring out of him; his frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it: All the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. Lily took fright at the noise and soared off on top of the wardrobe again; Crusher twittered in alarm and zoomed up to join her. Silver continued his rant "WHO FOUGHT DRAGONS AND GILLMAN AND ALL THE OTHER DAMN STUFF FROM LAST YEAR!? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK!? AND WHO ESCAPED!? IT WAS ME!". Razor was staring at him with his mouth hanging open while Coral looked on the verge of tears. Silver scoffed "BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING!?". He paced trying to calm down but he just couldn't, he opened a door and everything had to come out now "FOUR WEEKS! FOUR WEEKS, I'VE BEEN STUCK THERE HAVING TO STEAL NEWSPAPERS TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!". Coral struggled to find something to say "Silver…We…We just…". She then burst into tears "Oh, we're so sorry! You're absolutely right, Silver, I'd be furious if it was me!". Razor gave a great sigh "We're sorry, we didn't know what to do". Silver kept pacing in silence until eventually saying "What is this place anyway?" "It's headquarters for the Order of Wisp" Razor answered at once. Coral nodded "It's a secret society. Locke's in charge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time".
Silver finally stopped pacing "Who's in it" "A lot of people. We've met a few but there's definitely more". There was more silence "Well!?" Silver said impatiently. Razor shrugged "What?" "Finitevus! What's going on? What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?" "We told you we haven't been to the meetings" Coral said. Razor saw the look on Silver's face "But we do know some stuff. Mighty and Ray have invented some spying stuff. Mum found some of them and went berserk but we got some details before she did. We know some of the Order are following known Nocturnus, keeping tabs on them, you know. Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order and some of them are standing guard over something. They're always talking about guard duty". Silver tried to speak calmly now "That was probably for me" "Oh yeah" Razor said with a look of dawning comprehension. Silver crossed his arms "So what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings? You said you'd been busy" "We have. We've been decontaminating the house. It's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing the drawing room later". Silver was about to ask more but Mighty and Ray appeared from nowhere on either side of him. Coral screamed "Will you two stop doing that?". Mighty and Ray ignored her and patted Silver's back "Hey, Silver, thought we heard you up here" "You shouldn't bottle up all that anger. Let it out, there's probably a few people fifty miles away wo didn't hear you". Silver wasn't in the mood for their jokes "You two passed your Chaos Control tests then?" "With distinction!" Mighty said proudly. Razor rolled his eyes "It would have taken ten seconds for you to walk down the stairs" "Time is money, little bro" Ray said. The door behind Silver opened and in came Blaze the Cat "Oh, hello, Silver" she said brightly. She frowned at Mighty and Ray "No use on the spybot. She's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door" "Are you sure?" "I've been throwing Ring Bombs at it for the past hour. They bounce off without even touching it". Mighty looked crestfallen "Shame. I would have liked to know what old Infinite's been up to".
Silver was so surprised he forgot that he was supposed to be angry "Infinite? He's here?" "Yeah, he's giving a report. Top secret" "Git" Rey added. Coral crossed her arms "Locke said he's on our side" "Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us" Razor said. Blaze nodded "Ash has been at the meetings. He doesn't like him either". Silver's thirst for information began to overpower his remaining anger "Ash is here? I thought he was in Sandopolis". Mighty smirked "He asked for a desk job so he could be closer to the Order. He says he misses the tombs but there are compensations" "What do you mean?". Rey grinned "Remember Mina Mongoose? She's got a job at Nameless to eemprove 'er Eeenglish and Ash has been giving her a lot of private lessons". Mighty sniggered "Rotor's in the Order too but he's still in Vesuvio, Locke wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Rotor's trying to make contacts on his days off" "Couldn't Hamlin do that?" Silver asked. At these words everyone else in the room exchanged dark looks "Whatever you do don't mention Hamlin in front of Mum and Dad" Razor said. Silver didn't understand "Why not?" "Because every time Hamlin's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying". Blaze nodded sadly "It's been horrible" "What happened?". Rey had an uncharacteristically ugly look in his face "Hamlin and Dad had a row. Never seen Dad so angry. It's usually Mum who shouts". Razor sighed "It was the first week back after term. Hamlin came home telling us all that he had been promoted". This surprised Silver, after Hamlin having the extremely large oversight of not noticing his boss had been put under the Imperious Curse the idea of him getting promoted seemed quite unlikely "You're kidding".
Ray nodded "Yeah, we were all surprised, because Hamlin got into a load of trouble about Puff, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Hamlin ought to have realized Puff was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Hamlin, Puff left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain" "So how come he got promoted?". Razor looked eager to keep this conversation going since Silver was no longer yelling "That's exactly what we wondered. He came home really pleased with himself. Even more pleased than usual if you can imagine that and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Max's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Soleanna, Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think. But he wasn't" "Why not?". They all looked surprised "Have you not heard?" "Well, nobody's told me anything all summer so how could I?". Mighty quickly answered before Silver could start his rant again "Well, Max has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Locke. His name's mud with the Ministry these days, see. They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back. Dad says Max has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Locke can clear out their desks. And trouble is, Max suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Locke, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession". Ray's ugly look was back "Dad suspected that Hamlin was given the position so he could spy on the family and Locke". Silver started to get the picture "I bet Hamlin didn't like that". Razor let out a hollow laugh "He went completely berserk. He said…Well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been…You know…Not had a lot of money, I mean".
Blaze was scowling now "Then he said Dad was an idiot to run around with Locke, that Locke was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that Hamlin knew where his loyalty lay, and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry, he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in Knothole now". Silver swore under his breath, he may not have been that fond of Hamlin, but he never imagined that he would say something like that to Rob. Razor could tell what he was thinking "Couldn't believe it either. Mum was in a right state. She went to try and talk to Hamlin, but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work, ignores him, I s'pose" "But he must know Finitevus is back. He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof" "Well, your name came up. He said the only proof was your word and that apparently wasn't good enough. He takes the Daily Prophet seriously, you see". Silver narrowed his eyes "What do you mean?". Coral and Razor shared a look "Haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?" "Yeah, why?". Coral looked very nervous now "Have you been reading it thoroughly?" "No, I just read the headlines. I wanted to see if Finitevus had done anything". They all flinched at the name and now all looked wearily at Silver "Well, they mention you about two or three times a weeks. Not big articles or anything. You just get mentioned occasionally in other stories like you're a running joke" "What'd you mean?" "It's really nasty. They're following up on what Breezie rolled". Silver rolled her eyes "Of course. What'd she say about me now?" "Oh, no, she's till not writing anything. She kept her promise…Not that she has any choice" Coral said very satisfied.
"So, what are they saying?" Silver asked impatiently. They all looked at each other deciding who was going to tell him. Finally, Coral answered "Well, you know Breezie wrote about you collapsing all over the place and complaining that your head hurt? Well, they've used that to make you look like you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something". She spoke quickly in a vain attempt to make it sound less bad "They keep slipping in snidtheir eyes don't glow or we'll be asked to worship him next'" "I don't want anyone-" "I know you don't, Silver. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Max is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going". Silver looked like he was ready to shout "I didn't ask…I didn't…MY PARENTS WERE KILLED! WHO WANTS TO BE FAMOUS FOR THAT!? DON'T THEY THINK I'D RATHER IT NEVER-" "We know, Silver" Blaze said earnestly. Silver covered his face and tried to calm down. Coral now looked outraged "And they're not planning to say a word about the Prelates attacking you. Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control Prelates. They aren't even going to report that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy yet. We thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off. We think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town. I mean, if you're expelled, obviously, you really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you".
Silver knew the subject would loop back around to the hearing, but he didn't want to think about it. Luckily Mari-An opened the door at that moment "Meeting's over. You can all come down now. Everyone's dying to see you, Silver. And who left all those rings at the door?" "Aquarius. She likes playing with them" Blaze quickly answered. Mari-An nodded "Oh, I thought it was Ghana he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall". Mighty, Ray and Blaze followed her out leaving the trio alone together. Coral and Razor looked worried Silver might started shouting at them again. The sight of them so nervous made Silver feel ashamed "Look-". Razor held up his hand to stop him and then Coral said "We knew you'd be upset, Silver. We really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try and persuade Locke" "Yeah, I know" Silver said grudgingly. He didn't want to talk about Locke. Every time he came up Silver's insides burned with anger "Who's Ghana?" "A Marmolim who lives in the house. Complete nutter" Razor answered. Coral frowned "He's not a nutter, Razor" "His life's ambitions is to have his head cut off and stuck up next to his ancestors" "It's not his fault. It's the wizards who gave him that ambition that are the nutters. And anyway Locke says we should be kinder to Ghana, he's been on his own for so long" "Yeah, yeah. Come on, I'm starving". They all left the room and went down the stairs. Silver just caught glimpse of Infinite's white hair as he shut the front door to leave "He's not staying for dinner, thank God" Razor said. Mari-An waited at the door "Keep your voices down when you come through and-". There was a loud crash and then "SU!" "Sorry, Marie, I tripped!". Suddenly there was a bloodcurdling screech. The curtains Silver passed earlier parted revealing a portrait of a rather unpleasant looking Chipmunk. Knuckles and Mari-An rushed forward to try and close the curtains but they didn't seem to want to move. The chipmunk kept reaching out as if trying to attack them "Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers". Julie-Su kept apologising as she helped Knuckles and Mari-An. Finally, they closed the curtains as the Chipmunk yelled "That boy brought you here! The Shame of my Flesh!". Once the curtains closed the voice stopped. Silver stared at it "What was that?". Knuckles breathed heavily "That was Elias' mother" "What?" "Yes, she never was a very pleasant woman". Silver's eyes widened and turned to the kitchen door. Standing there was Elias Acorn smiling at him "Hello, Silver" "Elias". Silver ran forward and hugged his godfather. The two laughed overjoyed to see the other one was okay.