Magyk

Aunt Zelda digs the lead bullet out of the Boggart and bandages the wound. The children take the jars containing the Shield Bugs outside and stand guard. Boy 412 remembers his Young Army training and vigilantly waits for a sign of an approaching enemy. He’s the first to spot a canoe making its way through the marsh toward Aunt Zelda’s cabin. There are a few figures in the canoe, and Jenna recognizes the Hunter because he has “the concentrated look of a tiger stalking its prey” (370).

The canoe contains the Hunter, DomDaniel’s Apprentice, and a Magog. The Hunter plans to take Jenna to DomDaniel alive, kill Aunt Zelda and Nicko, and turn Boy 412 in to the Young Army for a bounty. The children release the Shield Bugs from their jars, which charge at the Hunter and the Apprentice. The Apprentice flees into the water in a panic, and all but one of the Shield Bugs drowns when they pursue him. Nicko urges Jenna to run, and Boy 412 drags the reluctant girl away from her brother. The Hunter pursues Jenna and Boy 412 across the marsh. When the man lunges at the Princess, Boy 412 shouts her name and propels them both into the tunnel he found.

Jenna is astonished that Boy 412 can speak because she has only ever heard him say his rank and number. He illuminates the tunnel with the ring, and Jenna determines that Boy 412 is Magykal because it doesn’t light up for her. As they pass through the passage with colorful pictures on the walls, Jenna says, “I’ve dreamed about them. They look really old. It’s like they’re telling a story” (387). The images depict the Wizard Tower, dragons, and a shipwreck. Jenna finds a “large egg-shaped green stone” (388) and gives it to Boy 412. He’s never received a present before, and he thanks her.

When Boy 412 peeks out of the trapdoor in Aunt Zelda’s cupboard, he sees the Hunter aiming his pistol at the kitchen door. He launches the last Shield Bug at the Hunter, but the man doesn’t react. Aunt Zelda explains that she used her Magyk to freeze the Hunter. Nicko drags the Apprentice into the cottage, and the Apprentice seizes Jenna, threatens her with a knife, and pulls her toward the canoe. Nicko saves her by tackling the Apprentice to the ground. The 10-year-old arrogantly declares, “I am Apprentice to DomDaniel, the Supreme Wizard and Necromancer. I am the seventh son of a seventh son” (398). To Aunt Zelda’s astonishment, he claims to be Septimus Heap.

Jenna explains to Boy 412 that Septimus is the Heaps’ deceased son. Aunt Zelda thinks that the Apprentice is lying because the seventh son of a seventh son should possess tremendous Magykal abilities, which the Apprentice clearly lacks. Boy 412 reflects on how much his life has changed since he met Jenna, realizes that the Heap family is extremely important to him, and resolves to never return to the Young Army, no matter what happens.

Aunt Zelda leads everyone to the duck pond, where she recites a scrying spell and asks the moon to show them the day Septimus was born. The narrative moves into the past. The Matron Midwife makes the infant appear dead by giving him a drop of black liquid and brings him to the Young Army nursery “where all the orphaned and unwanted boy children from the Castle will be raised” (407). The Matron Midwife’s own infant is there so that he can be watched while she’s working. A woman who works for DomDaniel comes to collect Septimus Heap.

In the present, the Apprentice grows irritated and breaks Aunt Zelda’s scrying spell.

The spell Aunt Zelda cast on the Hunter begins to wear off, so she takes his pistol and silver bullet. Holding them gives Jenna a “strange sense of power” (412). Aunt Zelda locks the weapon in her cupboard and finds a book of memory spells. Following her directions, Boy 412 erases the Hunter’s memories of his life and makes him believe that he’s a clown instead. Aunt Zelda gives the former Hunter some food and sends him in the direction of a traveling circus.

Aunt Zelda, Jenna, and Nicko believe that the Apprentice is Septimus after what they witnessed during the scrying. That night, the Apprentice sneaks out of the cottage and paddles away with the Magog in the canoe. In the morning, his absence is discovered. Jenna, Nicko, and Boy 412 follow him in another canoe, hoping to catch him before he can reveal their location. The children catch sight of DomDaniel’s ship, The Vengeance.

Jenna, Nicko, and Boy 412 hide in their canoe. Through a spyglass, they see the Apprentice and the Magog board DomDaniel’s ship. Alther finds the children and informs them that he suspects Marcia is on The Vengeance. Alther urges the children to sail to the Far Countries with Aunt Zelda. Silas, Sarah, and Simon are due to meet them at Blue Anchor Tavern on the Harbor in the morning. The rest of the Heap boys have decided to stay in the Forest. Jenna protests, “That’s running away […]. We want to stay. And fight” (439). Still, the ghost insists that this is the best way to keep her safe. The children pretend to agree to the plan, wait until Alther is out of sight, and then proceed toward The Vengeance.

The children use Magyk to make themselves invisible and unheard as they paddle toward DomDaniel’s ship. Nicko waits in the canoe while Jenna and Boy 412 board The Vengeance. The Necromancer has Marcia brought before him because he believes his Apprentice’s mission has been a success, and he’s furious when the boy reluctantly explains that the Hunter has become a clown and the Princess escaped capture. Boy 412 slips the golden ring to Marcia but brushes up against a sailor. As DomDaniel orders a frantic search of his vessel, the children paddle away in their canoe.