Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret by D D Everest Read Free Book Online

wildly to make gold and become rich. Sorcerers summoned dark spirits. It was a bad time and people who practised magic were put on trial for witchcraft. Some wondered whether magic itself could survive.
    ‘And then in the 1600s a promising English alchemist called Fabian Grey emerged, and the magical world believed that he might be the one to save magic. But Grey became intoxicated with his own power. In 1666, his reckless experiments started the Great Fire of London – the second great magical conflagration. And so the world’s magicians met in London and agreed that sucha disaster must never happen again. They formed the Magical League and introduced strict new lores on the use of magic.’
    Woodbine’s brow darkened. ‘But not everyone in the magical world agreed with the new lores. In secret there were some who still used magic for their own purposes. There still are. We call them Greaders – because they are greedy for the magic in the books.’
    A breeze blew into the room from an open window, making the flames from the candles bob and flicker. Woodbine dropped his voice to a whisper.
    ‘Above all else, the Greaders desire a small number of very powerful magical books. The Terrible Tomes are the seven most dangerous dark-magic books ever written. It is said that if the Greaders get their hands on just one of the Terrible Tomes they could destroy the world.’
    Archie was silent for a moment. His mind was racing.
    ‘So, is my book magical?’ he asked.
    ‘Almost certainly,’ said Loretta.
    ‘I knew there was something special about that book,’ he said. ‘But why would someone send me a magical book?’
    ‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ said Loretta.
    Archie stared at her uncomprehendingly.
    ‘You come from one of the families who looked after Alexander’s original collection. We all do – the Foxes, the Ripleys, Marjorie Gudge, even old Rusp. Magic books are in our blood. We are responsible for preserving the magic that remains. If someone wanted to keep a book safe they would send it to one of the Flame Keepers. That way they’d be sure it would be taken to the Aisle of White and returned to the museum.’
    Archie’s mouth fell open. ‘I see,’ he managed to stammer. ‘Why didn’t Gran tell me any of this before?’
    Loretta gave him a kindly smile. ‘Your father made her promise to keep you away from magic for your own safety.’
    ‘And with good reason,’ said Bramble. ‘Dark magic can be dangerous. I told you a boy was attacked recently, didn’t I? When the Greaders start coming to Oxford, you know there’s going to be trouble.’

11
Quill’s Chocolate House
    W hen Archie woke the next morning, the first thing he saw was Thistle’s grinning face.
    â€˜Come on sleeping beauty – wakey, wakey! Mum says breakfast’s on the table. Oh, and she asked me to give you this,’ he added, putting a shoebox down on the table next to Archie’s bed.
    â€˜It’s some of your dad’s old things. Mum’s been keeping them for you. But she says you’ll have to look at them later. Bramble wants to show you round the museum before you start your first day as an apprentice. You’d better get a move on.’
    Archie stared at his younger cousin. It was true then, he hadn’t dreamed it. He put the shoebox under his bed, dressed and raced down the stairs.
    *
    The sunshine radiated down onto the streets of Oxford. As Archie strolled along beside Bramble, he found himself whistling as he walked.
    â€˜The great thing about Oxford is that there’s so much history,’ confided Bramble. ‘The museum’s been here for centuries and most people don’t even know it exists.’
    Archie could see that Oxford, with its ancient buildings, gated courtyards and winding cobbled streets, was made for secrets.
    They turned left along a very wide road called Broad Street and Archie noticed two grand buildings on the right. The first was some sort of