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voice, echoing what the Office had just said, he had the feeling that he would
know better than to speak up to the Accounting Office voice.
It had been true that the one word the Accounting Office had uttered then had
not been addressed to him. But all the same, he would remember it for the rest
of his life.
Nor had it been ineffective. The Dark Powers, for all their omnipotence, had
been immediate in delivering Angie back to him once that command had been
given. Yet here was Carolinus, who regularly treated the Accounting Office
voice as if it was some junior employee, and a half-witted one at that.
"Ah!" said Carolinus.
A leather-bound book big enough to make the first volume of theBritannica
look like a postage stamp appeared out of empty air and fell
downwards.Unbelievably, Carolinus caught it as lightly in the palm of one hand
as if it had been a feather. Jim was just close enough to read the slanted
writing in gold across the cover of the book.
Encyclopedie Necromantick.
"Complete with index. That's right," said Carolinus, balancing the volume in
his hand and gazing piercingly at it."Now you small down!
The huge volume began to shrink. It got smaller and smaller until it was the
size of a sugar cube until it was no more than the size of a very small
medicine tablet. He passed it over to Jim, who automatically braced his arm to
receive its weight and was surprised to find that he could hardly feel it in
the palm of his dragon's horny paw. He stared at it.
"Well," saidCarolinus, "don t just stand there. Swallow it!"
With some misgivings, Jim flicked out a long red dragon tongue, curled it
around the tiny pill-sized thing he was holding, drew it back into his mouth,
and swallowed.
It vanished down his throat without any feeling; but a moment later he felt
rather as if he had eaten an enormous meal.
"There you are," said Carolinus satisfiedly. "Everything a young magician
needs to know. In fact, everything any magician needs to know those who still
have to go by spells, of course. You've got the knowledge now, my boy. It's
just a matter of your learning how to use it. Practice, practice! That's the
answer.Practice!"
He rubbed his thin hands together.
"How how do I practice?" said Jim, still battling with the feeling of having
eaten two Christmas dinners at once.
"How do you do it?" said Carolinus. "I just told you. Practice! Look up the
spell you need in the index, find it in theEncyclopedie , and apply it. That's
what you do. Moreover, you keep on doing it until you have the
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wholeEncyclopedie by heart. Then, if you have the talent, you move up a step
to the point where needing to use such crutches is no longer necessary. Once
you've learned all the spells in thatEncyclopedie , you can construct your
own. Once you know a million spells you can construct a billion, a
trillion however many you want! Not that I think you'll ever reach that
point."
Jim agreed. Moreover, he felt as if he didn't particularly care to reach that
point.
"How long do I go on feeling like a stuffed goose?" he asked feebly.
"Oh, that," Carolinus waved a hand negligently. "That'll pass off in half an
hour or so. You just need to digest what you've swallowed."
He turned back toward the house.
"Well," he said over his shoulder, "that takes care of your matter. I can get
back to my orrery. Remember what I told you. Practice!Practice!"
"Wait!" yelped Jim.
Chapter Four
Carolinus stopped and turned. His white eyebrows were drawn together in a
frown and he was looking definitely dangerous.
"Now what?" he asked, enunciating the words slowly and ominously.
"I'm still in my dragon body," said Jim. "I need to get out of this. How do I
do it?"
"With Magic!" retorted Carolinus. "Why do you think I took you on as a pupil?
Why do you think I had you swallow theEncyclopedie ? You have the means, use
them!"
Jim made a flash examination of his mind. He could feel knowledge there, all
right; a lump as indigestible and unavailable as the weight heseem to feel in
his stomach.
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