Casey Hilb
Sixth Grade
Hawthorn Middle South

There’s a door, it’s always there, but it’s always locked. It’s near the greenhouse at Merlin’s Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The door must hold something so secret that could change the way we live.

The next day when I woke up I went to my dresser and my mouth dropped open! On my dresser was a velvet pillow with a sparkling gold key. “Emily! Look at this, over here,” I said. As my witch friend Emily tip-toed over, she said “what do you want?”
“Look at this,” I said. Emily stepped closer to the dresser this time.
“Oh my gosh”, she said in awe.” “It’s so beautiful, but what does it mean?” Emily exclaimed. As we walked over to the spring less plaid couch in our dorm room, we sank in and started to brain storm.

“Ah hah, I’ve got it”, I said. “The key, it’s for the door”.
“What door is it!? There is a million doors in the school”, shouted Emily.
“The door by the greenhouse”! I shouted back.
“Yes, yes! You’re right. Let’s go, Emily said excitedly.

When we got down to the greenhouse’s tall, wood door we stopped. “Let’s take in the moment”, I said.
“Let’s, replied Emily. As we cautiously crept up to the door, I fingered out the key. “Ready?” I asked Emily.
“Yeah, let’s do it”, Emily started to get a nervous look on her face.

I walked up to the door and curiously put the key in the brass knob. I turned the key and the door opened!! I was right, the key was the one! “Emily, the door… it’s it’s UNLOCKED, I screamed.

Emily rushed over and joined me in my venture through the door. It was dark outside, but when we stepped through the door we were blinded by a light and couldn’t see. For a few more minutes everything was still a haze. Once I could get a good look at what was around me, I realized I didn’t know where I was. I saw trees and plants I’d never seen in my “plant studies” class. I felt a leaf, it felt like scales with a light fuzzy feeling at the stem. I examined a tree, it was a waxy looking tree. On the branches there were sharp thorns. Was it a defense for animals not to be able to grip to the waxy trunk, and the painful thorns? But, I didn’t see any animals. “AHH, get over here right now!” shrieked Emily.

I ran so quickly I felt as if I was flying. When I approached Emily I saw her pointing at something. I looked, it was an over sized plant, it was a rare, giant fly trap. It was hissing and growling at us. The fly trap started reaching down at us. Emily and I ran away right before the vicious plant could get us!

“We’re safe now”, sighed Emily.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, who knows who or what we could ran into,” I said to Emily. We settled ourselves and carried on walking through what I guess I could call an “enchanted forest”. Emily spotted one animal that looked like a cross between a chameleon and a fox. It was a strange looking thing, medium sized.
I started to wonder if it was all a mistake that I got the key. Maybe Headmaster forgot it in my dorm when he checked on us last night. But, it was gently set so perfectly on that velvet pillow, like it was meant to be there. Was I chosen to have this key? The academy must use this forest for crossbreeding animals and plants. They must’ve locked it so nobody would find out what they were testing. If they didn’t want people to know, why do I have the key?

When Emily and I started walking, we stopped suddenly! “Do you hear that”, whispered Emily. “It sounds like footsteps, loud footsteps”, she said again. Suddenly we heard a loud, grouchy yelp. I turned around and screamed, “a forest ogre”!
“He’s about to fall” shouted Emily. I turned around and saw the ogre toppling down. I grabbed Emily’s sleeve and tugged her with me as I ran. We just made it without becoming squished! After we were sure that the ogre was completely unconscious, we walked over to him to see what made him yelp. As we were about to give up and think the ogre was just sleepy, we saw something sticking out of his back.

As Emily and I crept back over to the ogre, we noticed that it was a tranquilizer dart that made him go down. But, if we saw or heard no other life other than the plants, animals and us … how could the ogre have gotten tranquilized? “I don’t think we’re alone, I explained everything to Emily.
“We better get out of here”, chattered Emily.

As we arrived at the tall door, I reached in my pocket for the key, AND IT WAS GONE, all that was left was golden dust. “Emily! The key IT’S GONE”! I screamed. Then suddenly I remembered about the tranquilizer and went to a sudden hush. “Gone! What? We need to get out of here” replied Emily. “Do you have your wand”?
“Well …” I couldn’t finish saying the rest because I knew what Emily’s reaction would be. “Well, what?” Emily asked.
“Well, I have it but we can’t use it after academic hours … unless it’s an absolute emergency”, I explained to Emily.
“This is an absolute emergency” she yelled. “Just use it”!
“Okay, okay I’ll use it”, I gave in.

As I reached in my other pocket I grabbed out my wand, I waved my wand and shot magic at the door. Next thing you know KA-PLOP, “my wand it won’t work in here”, I exclaimed.
“This was our only chance of getting out of here” muttered Emily. “I know, I know”, I repeated myself. This was our only chance. Emily was right, what if we can’t ever get out of here? Headmaster and our fellow witches and wizards could never find us. We would be locked in and they would be locked out.

“This is terrible”, cried Emily.
“I know, and it was my stupid idea to venture in anyway”, I assured Emily. “True, you got us in this catastrophe, you’re getting us out”, Emily said proudly.
“Um, okay I’ll try”, I said very unsure.

I thought and thought and thought some more. “I got it! I got it!” I echoed.
“Got what? Got what?” Emily asked.
“We’ll use our pocket brooms to fly out”, I started to explain. “You see, the glass above us is very thin. It’s only there to protect the forest from the elements”, I continued on. “So, we’ll get our brooms at full speed and go through the glass”, I finally finished.

Emily stood there looking quite dumbfounded. “Wait, oh um… okay, that’s a great idea” answered Emily. “But, I don’t have my broom”.
“Okay, well I’ll crash through first then throw down the broom for you. We’ll need to use manual strength and power to get the broom started, since magic doesn’t work”, I explained to Emily. “Great idea”, answered Emily.

As I pulled out my pocket broom, did I mention my pockets hold a lot? I pressed a tiny button and POP my broom lengthened out to full size. I mounted my broom and started to push forward. I rounded the forest a few times until I gained full speed. I started towards the glass roof and CLASH! “Ouch, I complained. I easily went through the roof, but with a little pain. Shards of glass went flying down, Emily dodged them.

I got on the roof top and dismounted the broom. When I threw down the broom to Emily I slipped. The broom landed in Emily’s hand and I managed to hang on to the brim of the roof. “HELP”, I screamed to Emily. “I need a hand, I’m hanging”, I shouted.
“I’ll be right there”, replied Emily.

She quickly mounted the broom and instantly took off full speed through the hole in the roof. She burst through the hole and stuck out her hand “grab on” she ordered. I was putting my life in Emily’s hands. I quickly grabbed her hand and she took off. I struggled to get on the broom, but I made it. “You saved my life”, I praised Emily. “You are quite smooth with the broom too”, I added.
“No problem! Also, I took broom riding lessons”, she agreed on what I said.

Emily swooped down to the academy campus behind the main doors and we dismounted my broom. Emily pressed the tiny button and my broom retracted to its original size. “Here”, Emily handed me my pocket broom and I placed it in my pocket.

We were just in time for dinner, as we snuck in through the doors and blended in the dinner line, nobody seemed to notice. “Where have you been”, someone commented.
“What are you talking about, I have been here all day”, I commented back.

Though, we didn’t find out why I had the key, or where the tranquilizer dart in the ogre came from, we’ll still be on the hunt. We are going to solve the mystery of why I had the key in the first place.