How It All Goes Down
- In a jarring jump back to the realities of the modern world, Sophie realizes she can't get a signal anywhere in Hekate's house.
- Well, duh. Flamel tells them they're in the Yggdrasill, the World Tree. Of course you can't get a signal in Yggdrasill.
- The house is made of all-natural materials and has no energy sockets because it would drain magical power. (Check out the description of the inside of the tree (15.11) and "Symbols" for more.)
- Magic needs energy in order to work, Scatty explains, and so it takes energy whenever it can find it. She says that "if no other source of energy is available, it takes it from the life force of the magician who created it."
- That is why every time the magician uses magic, he is weakened.
- All right, now we want you get ready for your mind to be blown. Scatty is about to let us in on a little secret:
- She's a vampire. That's right. Michael Scott waited till Chapter 15 to tell us this. Thanks a lot, buddy.
- She, like all vampires, needs to be invited into a room to enter, which is why she's been awkwardly lingering in the doorway.
- Polite Sophie invites her in, though Josh is a bit frightened.
- Scatty continues to tell the twins that Hekate can have a phone and not be drained because of the tremendous amount of magic energy she generates.
- Most Elders have human servants: Flamel's master is the Codex, but no one knows who Dr. John Dee serves.
- Oh, and here's another magical history lesson, just for good measure:
- Torc clans are special because they can transform from beast to man and back again.
- The earliest humans worshiped the Torc clan as gods (which is why so many of the earliest gods have animal shapes, like the Egyptian goddess Bastet).
- But wait. Josh interrupts Scatty's lecture to ask a burning question: Does Scatty drink blood?
- Nope, Scatty tells us, though other vampires do. She tells them that all the myths and legends they've been taught all their lives have truth in them.
- Now that they've entered the Shadowrealm, the world of ghosts, the twins need to trust their instincts, follow their hearts, and trust no one except each other (not even her and Flamel).
- Dinner is about to be served.
- Scatty warns them about eating the food, because she can't.
- When they ask why (they're clearly frightened), she replies that she's a vegetarian.
- Snort.