Alchemy of Secrets

by Stephanie Garber

“To this day, no one knows who took it,” she continues. “But after it vanished, there were more stories of peculiar magics all over England. There were whispers of time stopping, of loved ones returning from the dead, of a young boy who could kill with his mere words. For one hundred years, there were stories of ordinary people receiving extraordinary magical gifts, until one day the stories stopped. The book that had been stolen reappeared at the Chained Library. Only now the volume was without chains, and it was completely hollowed out. The magical object inside was gone. All that remained was a slip of parchment with a series of numbers on it. I don’t usually share this next part with students, but let’s just say the time feels right.” The Professor begins to rattle off a list of numbers. It’s a long list. Finally you think she’s near the end, because she pauses and then she finishes with “One zero two zero two five.” You’re working on doing some math in your head when the person beside you says, “The numbers are dates. Months and years.” Someone else says, “The last one is this month.” The Professor’s expression is difficult to read with her giant sunglasses, but you think she sounds pleased as she says, “You’re both correct. The list is indeed a series of dates, and each of those dates has coincided with the reappearance of the object that was hidden inside the book.” “What was hidden?” asks the same student who first figured out the numbers were dates. The Professor ...