The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (book series for 10 year olds .TXT) 📕

and shooting powerful bolts across the grass. He knew they would never have made it this far, if it hadn’t been for the two benevolent professors.

They paused by the entrance to the school, Alex glancing down to see that a golden line had been fitted across the doorway. Bending quickly, he let his anti-magic weave into the solid form of a knife, and cut the glowing ribbon of energy. It retaliated instantly, and tendrils of golden light snaked toward Alex, rising up to grasp at his throat. He felt the first cold tingles of it clawing at his neck, but the others jumped in, dispensing with the strangling threads, turning them into nothing more than golden dust. It made a difference from the old days, when the sight of such entities would have sent a shiver of fear through him. Now, they were simply par for the course, and he was ready for any more that might await them.

Leaving the shattered ends of the golden line, Alex and his friends stepped through into the echoing foyer of the manor, their footsteps seeming much too loud for Alex’s liking. Once he was sure nobody was coming to discover them, he beckoned for the others to press on.

He couldn’t shake the strange sensation of being back as they took to the hallways. The gray ivy littered the flagstones, draping the walls until there was barely any wall left to see. It had overtaken the place, more so than it ever had before. The group were careful not to get too close to the energy-sapping plants, picking their way across sparser sections.

Moving into one of the wider corridors, where Alex knew they might be vulnerable, they came across their first adversary. At the end of the hall stood another robed professor, though it was not Jun or Catherine, but his back was turned, and he appeared distracted by something farther up.

“With me,” Alex whispered, gesturing toward Demeter.

The ex-teacher nodded, following Alex quietly up the corridor toward the robed figure. In a preemptive strike, Alex lunged at the young man, smothering his mouth tightly with his hand and bringing him down to the ground. Demeter moved in, pressing his palms to the sides of the young man’s head, weaving strands of white magic into the professor’s skull until his eyes went blank, and Alex could hear the soft sound of snoring coming from the boy’s throat.

“Nice job,” Alex said, smiling anxiously.

“I try,” replied Demeter, resting the young man’s head gently down on the stone.

Moving on, it seemed the auburn-haired man was on something of a roll, as he worked his mind control on person after person. Occasionally, Vincent would get involved, if there was too much of a struggle, and Alex realized he and Demeter made quite the team as they dealt with the students they came across, quickly losing count of the number of individuals they had left sleeping in the hallways. It wasn’t ideal to leave them there, in case their slumbering bodies were discovered, but Alex knew they would waste too much time if they dragged each and every one into one of the side rooms that branched off from the corridors.

As they entered the focal point of the school, where the classrooms were, stealth grew trickier. Here, the students moved in pairs, though Aamir and Ellabell had formed quite the tag-team too, binding the passing students in a silencing shield, which kept them both quiet and immobile.

Creeping around a corner, Alex didn’t see the figure running toward them until it was too late. It seemed the sprinting boy hadn’t seen them either, and they collided. It was Billy Foer again, his eyes going wide as he saw the group before him. Alex realized they probably did look like quite the motley crew, but there was no time for a reunion. Alex reached for Billy. The boy struggled, opening his mouth to shout, but Ellabell quickly formed a gag around his mouth, silencing him. Alex felt almost guilty as he let tendrils of energy flow into the boy’s brain.

There were flashbacks of an idyllic home life, in which Billy was running with his dog across a sun-drenched beach. A family sat nearby, lounging on a picnic blanket, and one of them, an older boy, had just told a joke that had everyone in stitches. Alex settled on this image, feeding it to the forefront of Billy’s mind. However, it seemed the memory was slightly too jovial, leaving the boy a giggling wreck on the floor. It was a good thing that Ellabell had gagged him; otherwise, his laughter would have brought the whole school running.

“Sorry, Billy,” whispered Alex. “You always seem to end up on the wrong side of people’s spells.”

After dealing with another handful of students, this time hiding the evidence in the rooms that led off from the hallways, they reached the entrance to a familiar corridor. A golden line still buzzed across it, keeping the Head’s personal quarters private.

“Keep watch for anyone coming,” said Alex, bracing himself. Vincent and Demeter took a corridor each. Alex knelt beside the golden line. He conjured another glowing knife of raw anti-magic and pressed it firmly against the buzzing barrier. It was an act he had performed many times before, and he couldn’t help the rush of memories that came hurtling back. In his mind’s eye, he saw Aamir, telling them the Head knew about Finder, before his face contorted with pain. It wasn’t a pleasant memory, and Alex could see that Aamir shared some of his distress.

“Never thought we’d be doing this again, either,” Aamir said, as if answering Alex’s thoughts.

Alex smiled. “You’re telling me.”

With a loud fizz, the golden line broke apart, followed by the thunderous roar of something rushing toward them from the darkness of the corridor. It was a blockade of pure energy, bristling with strength as it picked up speed. Alex jumped up, the others joining him in a line as they wove their respective magics and