JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

       Zane adjusted the spectacles on the statue's face again. 'Well,' he called down, 'I can see through Roberts' eyes all right. The glasses work almost like a telescope. It's just that there isn't much to see. At least, not anything that's very helpful.'

       'What is it?' James demanded, nearly hopping with impatience.

       'Roberts seems to just be staring straight down the mall toward Administration Hall,' Zane replied, still peering through the back of the statue's head. 'He's looking right at the front doors, in fact. They're propped open, so I can see right through the main corridor. Hey! There's Albus and Lucy! Probably going to get an early dinner.'

       James shook his head. 'That can't be the secret entrance to the Nexus Curtain. We've been in there a hundred times.'

       'Well, that's what's in the eyes of Roberts,' Zane called back. 'Maybe we should go snoop around in there a little more. Who knows what might be—' He stopped suddenly and pressed himself harder against the back of the statue's head, frowning slightly.

       'What?' Ralph asked impatiently. 'What might be what?'

       'Hold on,' Zane said. 'Someone's opening up the doors on the other end of the main corridor now. I can see straight through the whole building. Cool.'

       James waited. He knew what was on the other end of the campus, behind Administration Hall. Victory Hill was the honorary home of every year's Clutchcudgel tournament winner. According to tradition, the night of the final match was marked by the magical March of the Houses, when the winning team's residence would magically arise from its cellar and circle the campus, coming to rest on the permanent foundation atop the hill near Pepperpock Down. Unfortunately, Zane himself had not witnessed a March of the Houses, nor had anyone else for the past ten years or so, since Team Werewolf had handily won the Clutchcudgel tournament for over a decade, thus holding onto that position of honor.

       'It's just Ares Mansion,' Zane called down. 'I can only see the base of it through the back of Administration Hall, up on Victory Hill. Man, I hate those guys.'

       'Is that it?' Ralph asked, exasperated.

       'That's it,' Zane replied. 'Just the foundation up on Victory Hill with that big mausoleum house of theirs sitting on top of it. The only part that's really visible is the cornerstone with that weird little 'U' engraved on it.'

       James frowned. 'Weird little 'U'?'

       'Yeah,' Zane sighed. 'On the cornerstone of the permanent foundation, there's just this odd symbol like a little letter 'U'. Nobody knows what it stands for. 'University' maybe? Or 'U are here'?'

       James narrowed his eyes very thoughtfully. 'Are you certain…,' he asked slowly, 'that it's a 'U'?'

       He peered up at Zane. The blonde boy looked down at him. Slowly, his eyebrows rose up onto his forehead as his eyes widened.

       Ralph's knees buckled slightly. In a strained voice, he said, 'This means you can get off my shoulders now, right?'

'What do you three want?' an older Werewolf boy called from the high portico of Ares Mansion as James, Zane and Ralph approached. James recognized the speaker as Clayton Altaire, the captain of the Werewolf Clutch team.

       'Oh, we're just here to bask in your glory for a minute,' Zane replied from the footpath that circled Victory Hill. 'Don't pay any attention to us.'

       Altaire scowled at them suspiciously. 'What's that you got in the bag, then?'

       'Oh, this?' James asked, his face reddening. He looked down at the black velvet bag in his right hand. 'It's nothing. Just, er…'

       'It's his Technomancy homework,' Ralph volunteered. 'Totally dangerous stuff. Strictly experimental magic. I wouldn't even look directly at it if I was you.'

       Altaire nodded skeptically toward Zane. 'I know you, Walker. If you're trying to prank us…'

       'Me?' Zane asked, his face a mask of wounded innocence. 'Never! Why, I'll have you know that this here is James Potter! His brother is Albus, one of your Werewolf brethren. We'd never do anything to cause any trouble for little ol' Al, would we fellas?' He looked back and forth between James and Ralph, who nodded silently.

       'Albus,' Altaire smirked. 'Yeah, our little Cornelius. I'll tell him you 'popped in for a chat'.' He turned and walked into the shadow of the doorway, chuckling to himself.

       'Yeah, you do that, stump-head,' Zane muttered, rolling his eyes. He turned to James. 'All right, come on. Let's see if it fits.'

       'I don't like having that thing out in broad daylight,' Ralph said, following closely as James and Zane angled toward the corner of Ares Mansion, passing a rather large bronze statue of a fiercely snarling werewolf with blank amber eyes embedded into its face. James knew that the statue had been a gift from an alumnus, erected some ten years ago. Albus had told him that the members of the Werewolf Clutchcudgel team ritualistically rubbed the statue's snarling muzzle on every game day as they made their way to Pepperpock Down. James shuddered as he passed before the glinting bronze figure, not liking that frozen, toothy growl.

       As the three approached the cornerstone of the house's permanent foundation, James saw that it was quite a large block of solid granite. At the very top of it, engraved right up to the edge, was a squat U- shape.

       'It'll only take a second, Ralph,' James said, feeling rather nervous himself. 'We just need to see if it's the same shape. If the horseshoe is the dimensional key, then this could be the keyhole. If it's not, then we'll just take it back and hide it under the Warping Willow again.'

       Ralph gulped. 'You mean if it fits, we're going to go through into the World Between the Worlds right now?'

       'Relax, Ralphinator,' Zane hissed impatiently. 'We're just going to see if it works. We'll come back later for our big entrance if all goes as planned.'

       Glancing around to assure no one was watching, James slipped the silver horseshoe from its bag. The three boys crowded around the cornerstone as he held it up next to the engraved shape.

       'Well,' Ralph said hesitantly, 'it fits… a little.'

       'The engraved shape's too short,' Zane said, shaking his head. 'The top part's cut off.'

       James peered at the horseshoe as he held it up against the engraved U-shape. 'The bottom bit fits perfectly,' he agreed. 'It's almost like the top half of the cornerstone is missing.'

       'That makes sense,' Zane said. 'None of the buildings are on their original foundations. Every time there's a new Clutchcudgel tournament winner, the houses swap around. I bet nobody even remembers which house was originally built on this foundation.'

       'So if we can figure out which house's cornerstone shows the top half of the horseshoe,' Ralph ventured, 'then we'll know where the entrance to the Nexus Curtain is, right?'

       'Maybe,' James said, slipping the horseshoe back into its velvet bag. 'But I have a feeling that the only way the dimensional key will work is if we get the right house onto the right foundation.'

       Zane shrugged optimistically. 'That's easy! Like Ralph said, we just need to find out which house has the