The Tales from Avistrum series began in 2004 with The Medallion of Akpuch. There we learned about the dark witch Persephone, and her desire to raise an army of the dead using the mysterious Medallion. She sent Dementors to attack the school and wrest the Medallion from the faculty’s protection. She failed in this quest, and the Medallion was placed beyond her reach forever.
The story continued the next spring with Shadows of Persephone, where Persephone once again attacked the school. This time her plot began with the assassination of the Secretary of Magic, but her ultimate target was the school, where she could twist the students into an army of dark wizards and witches, loyal to her. We learned that Persephone was a powerful metamorphmagus, capable of transforming to look like anyone, without the help of Polyjuice Potion. She masqueraded as Professor Kobiyashi in her final showdown with the faculty. Persephone escaped without revealing her true form.
Eighteen months later, in Kings and Pawns, the fear of Persephone had forced radical action by the Department of Magic. The practice and teaching of Transfiguration was outlawed by the PRETEND (PRevention of Transfiguration Enhanced Deception) Act. Professor Kraven Bloodthorne had disappeared, and Persephone abducted Professor Grasella Moffatt. Persephone planned traps for the rest of the faculty, but they discovered her plans and switched places with one another using Polyjuice Potion. When she attempted to take the school by force after thinking she had eliminated all of the faculty, the tables were turned, and she was captured. The students and faculty used a memory charm to erase her memory completely, removing her as a threat forever.
The following year, in The Chalice of Khufu, an old enemy from Headmaster Dowling‘s past, Nikolai Matado, escaped from prison. Clark went undercover to foil his plans, but was captured and forced to reveal the location of Matado’s goal, the Chalice of Khufu, which gave its holder tremendous powers of mind control. The staff searched for the artifact to keep it safe from Matado, but he surprised them because he had Professor Aberfoyle under the Imperius Curse. The students foiled his plans, and Aberfoyle was able to use the residual link from the curse to read Matado’s mind and find the Headmaster. Matado was returned to prison, and the Chalice was hidden away once again.
Last year, in Echoes of Salem, Professor Dowling, along with Professors Aberfoyle and Deserand, were placed under a curse which caused them to forget their adult lives and return to childhood. A new ally, Muggle Congressman Simon Drake, joined with the wizarding government to help solve the disappearance of many wizards and witches, including several Avistrum faculty members. Some evidence pointed toward former Professor Bloodthorne as the perpetrator. Bloodthorne infiltrated the school, knocking out several faculty members and taking Robin Kayenta-Dowling hostage. The curse’s hold on Clark was temporarily released as his wife was threatened, and he attacked Bloodthorne, but the three professors were all knocked unconscious by the curse, as was Drake, hit by an errant stunning spell. Bloodthorne was somehow released from the Imperius Curse which controlled him, and helped divine the source of the curse, a group of amulets. When the students destroyed the amulets, the professors were saved, but at great cost – Persephone’s mind had been re-awakened as well. Bloodthorne, although welcomed back to the school, was taken into custody by the Department of Magic for questioning.
Bloodthorne was interrogated by Senator Oswald Kensington in the bowels of Alcatraz prison, then released until his trial, which took place from April 17-19, 2010. The trial was highly irregular, with Kensington leading the prosecution, and Dowling presenting Bloodthorne’s defense. The court refused to allow numerous pieces of evidence from the defense, while allowing a last-minute affidavit from Persephone without permitting Dowling to cross-examine her. Bloodthorne was convicted of charges relating to the destruction of Timmernak. Outraged by the injustice of the trial, Dowling aided Bloodthorne in escaping the courtroom, and the two of them fled. They are currently fugitives.
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