Gerhardt's Secrets: Book 2 of the Lily Black Saga

By Ethan Holiday

Lily Black is back for more adventures at Gerhardt. But this time, the stakes are higher, and Gerhardt holds more secrets than Lily could have imagined.... 

Lily Black has faced Sinestra's nefarious schemes before, but nothing could have prepared her fo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
• Release date: Sep 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9798822917651

Ethan Holiday

Ethan Holiday is a writer with an endless aspiration and a boundless imagination who loves creating fictional worlds and characters. He has previously written The Return of Sinestra, the first novel in the Lily Black Saga. Ethan deeply believes in the values of friendship and family that his books portray. He currently resides in Dexter, Michigan, where he was born and raised.

Book preview

CHAPTER I

Another Year

A bright blue spell exploded against Lily’s shield as she searched for an opening to retaliate against her attacker. So far, there hadn’t been any openings that Lily could use to her advantage, and that was seriously hindering her. She was outclassed and was doing everything she could to keep her defenses up. She couldn’t let herself lose this fight. She had to win. Blocking yet another curse, she tried in vain to find an opening so she could go on the offensive, but she wasn’t in a good position to see or exploit one. Her opponent was just too good to allow any weakness to penetrate her shield.

Sidestepping, Lily tripped over something—probably a root, since they were currently in Black Manor’s ridiculously large garden—and fell flat on her face, her wand flying clear out of her grip as she inhaled the rich, earthy notes of soil. Another failure—for the tenth time today and the sixty-third time this week. At the rate this was going, it didn’t feel as if Lily were improving at all, and by now she was sure she was covered head to toe in bruises. Bella, in the meantime, didn’t have a hair out of place, a speck of dirt on her black dress or corset, or even sweat on her brow. It was amazing and frustrating at the same time. Lifting her head off the dirt, Lily saw Aunt Bella standing in front of her with her wand in her hand.

Your footwork is what needs the most attention right now, Lily. You also need to be completely aware of your surroundings instead of blocking them out. Tunnel vision is a very quick way to end up dead in a real duel. Use the surroundings to your advantage when you duel; they’re there for other purposes than decoration. Think outside the box. That’s the entire reason we’re practicing in the garden today, and you aren’t doing that, Lily. You’re letting a valuable resource go to waste.

Well, it’s easier said than done when I’m being assaulted by an overwhelming number of spells, Lily complained, sitting there on the ground. There are no openings for me to do anything. I can only defend once you let off your first spell. How am I supposed to force you onto the defensive when I can’t even send anything off at you?

Thus the importance of practice, Bella gently chastised. Without practice, one cannot improve. If you don’t improve, then you won’t survive a duel. In real duels, it’s going to be that chaotic, Lily, sometimes maybe even more. There won’t be any ceremonial bows ahead of time, no getting into fair positions, and there definitely won’t be any rules in place for spells or curses that you can’t use. You need to be able to handle those conditions efficiently and expertly. You need to strike first and strike hard to keep your opponent on the defensive. If you let your opponent get the upper hand, then you have an uphill climb to get out of the mess you got yourself into. Most of the time, you will never be able to. But your wand work is greatly improving, Lily.

The compliment was nice, and deep down Lily did know she had improved leaps and bounds over the long summer of dueling practices, but the repeated losses were also taking their toll on her. She so badly wanted to do well and not make a complete and utter fool of herself every time she and Bella practiced. Bella sighed, obviously reading the look on Lily’s face and knowing what she was thinking. Clearly, she didn’t want to have that discussion with her again today.

I think we’ve done enough practicing for today. Come on, we need to finish packing our bags and head for Gerhardt this afternoon before I get lectured on being late, Bella said, already heading for the back porch of the manor. Lily scrambled to her feet and followed in a rush, confusion filling her face.

But Mom, school doesn’t start for another three days.

I’m aware it doesn’t. But I do need to get my classroom ready, and Sirius demanded that I help him this year since, and I quote, ‘Lily knows what to expect. She’s a big girl, and if I have to deal with Orion aiding me again this year, I’ll yank my hair out because he is more of a hindrance than he is a help to me!’

Lily laughed at how much Bella sounded like Sirius.

Well, we wouldn’t want that, Lily said, still giggling. Bella smirked back at her and handed her wand back to her with care before wrapping her arm around Lily’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair.

No, we don’t. So off you go and pack your things. We’ll eat lunch here quickly, then leave for school. I’m starving.

The next hour of Lily’s life was spent packing her suitcase and bag with everything that she’d need for the new school year. She’d already gone with Bella a week ago to Merlin Street and bought all her school supplies, including a beautiful all-black owl as her animal for transfiguration class. She’d named him Hugin, and already he was insanely loyal to her.

Owl mail service was one of the more mysterious things in the magical world, but because the letter or package was always delivered to its intended recipient, owl service was the most efficient and reliable form of mail transport. Lily had read that owls could traverse anywhere in the world via shadow travel, which was just as instantaneous as apparition. She didn’t necessarily need to let Hugin outside to deliver her messages if she didn’t want to. It was a selling point for Lily to get an owl as her pet, actually—to see how shadow traveling worked since so few people got the chance.

Setting Hugin in his cage downstairs with her suitcase and listening to his playful hoot, Lily scratched his chin for a moment before she entered the dining room, where a simple lunch had been prepared and laid out for the two women. Bella was already munching on some potato chips in her seat at the head of the table.

Since dueling burned a lot of energy, particularly when it was against someone who really wanted to win every single match, as both Lily and Bella did, they were both insanely hungry, and their food didn’t last long on the table. The servant elves offered to make more for them upon seeing the speed at which they had consumed the first round, but Bella gently waved them off, saying that they were fine with what they had. This was one of the things that Lily was beginning to hate about going to school. She would miss being able to talk to the servant elves whenever she wished throughout the day. For much of her childhood, they had been her only friends at the manor. They’d play with her, keep her company, and teach her some things about magic once her tutoring was over for the day. When she was bored beyond tears with her homework, they provided light in her days. But she had other friends now, and she could see them again after three months of being away for the summer. Despite how much she loved the elves, she wanted to see her friends more.

Grabbing their bags and Hugin’s cage, Lily and Bella apparated together to Gerhardt, once more appearing on the beautiful green in front of the grand mess. Returning to the school brought back recent memories for Lily, and not all of them were entirely peaceful or happy. The shadow of the previous year was hard to shake off, given how that year had ended. But this year was going to be different. No mysterious amulets or dark witches would get to her this time. She would be told what was going on, and she would be safe within the school. She was going to have a normal year, the way she so desperately deserved.

As they entered the entranceway to the grand mess, Lily veered off from Bella to the dorms to stake her claim to the dorm room on the second floor. Already, all the colors had been swapped from the previous year’s to this year’s, giving Lily a sense of home that she hadn’t been anticipating from the space. But that feeling wouldn’t be complete until her friends joined her in the common room, where they could talk and hang out over their homework. This brought up a problem that Lily had just realized. She was going to be alone at Gerhardt for three days (roughly) before the rest of the student populace showed up. What was she going to do for that amount of time? It was not as if she could really work ahead in her schoolwork because nothing had been assigned yet, and she didn’t feel like reading aimlessly in her textbooks. She had no idea what was going to be covered, and unlike Sierra, she wasn’t fond of aimless reading for the sake of knowledge.

She contemplated this quandary as she slowly unpacked all her things, placing them in their proper places to kill as much time as possible. She couldn’t exactly help Bella and Sirius get their classroom ready, nor could she realistically help any other teacher. They were protective of their rooms to a fault, and several of the classes contained, as a part of the curriculum, dangerous objects that wouldn’t be appropriate for her to try and mess with. PADMA, for instance, had cursed objects and herbology had dangerous plants that could quite literally kill without even trying. Ideally, Lily should have used this free time to train, but she had no partner to do so with. Bella would be busy with her classroom, Sirius would be unavailable to spar with her for the same reason, and no other teacher would be interested in doing so when they all had so much to prepare. Maybe one of them would finish early, but the odds were that none of them would finish early. They’d take their time and probably finish an hour before all the students arrived on the campus.

Staying in her dorm and common room was a solid option, but she found that she felt too confined and lonely by herself. She could deal with silence, but only up to a point. She needed another’s presence, at the very least, to be in for three days. Roaming the school grounds was absolutely not wise after the drama that had unfolded last year. If she did that, every single professor on campus would proceed to lecture her about how stupid a move like that was, even with the school wards in place. Lily’s choices were running low. Just as she put the last of her belongings away, a voice in the doorway made her smile.

I’ve heard of students begging their parents to send them to Gerhardt early, but this is absolutely ridiculous! Aunt Bella actually dragged you here early just so she could set up her classroom? That’s just cruel! Did you misbehave or something over the summer to earn this punishment?

Professor Nero! Lily smiled at her and bounded over to the purple-haired woman.

Nikki wasn’t in her professor’s robe and dress today. She was in bell-bottom jeans with sneakers, a tight white tank top, and, of course, her signature denim jacket. Her purple hair was up in a ponytail today, and a necklace that spelled her name was hanging around her neck. The contrast between this attire and her dresses was astounding. Nikki looked nothing like a professor. She looked like the twenty-three year old woman she was. It was nice to see this side of her for a change.

Lily, when we’re not in school or in class, how about you call me Nikki? It feels more natural, and we are family, Nikki suggested with a soft smile.

OK, Nikki, Lily said, giving her a hug, which the older woman eagerly accepted.

So what mischief are you planning for the next couple of days? I know that Black blood is eager to get into things. I want to be prepared.

I don’t know. I’m kinda at a loss, Lily confessed. I didn’t plan for this downtime, so I don’t know what to do until my friends arrive.

Mmm… Nikki pursed her lips. I could use a hand with some things for my classroom. I basically have the only class that you could help with at all without the chance of harm, except maybe history of magic or divination, but they don’t have a lot to prepare for. It’ll kill some of the time that you find yourself with if you’re interested. Plus you get to hang out with me.

I’ll take what I can get at this point, and you are a bonus, Lily said, following her cousin out of her room. But history of magic is equally dangerous. I can barely make it through the year with the normal deviation of goblin uprisings. If I have to listen to just goblin talk while helping Professor Prenell get his room ready, then that would be worse than any detention that could be thought up for a student.

Nikki laughed.

Should I pass that message along to Professor Orion? Professor Wright might not like having his duties slashed any more.

There aren’t a lot of detentions…are there?

Last year there were around sixty. Mostly from repeat students causing chaos, but Wright enjoys them. It gives him more time with students, and he can act like a Verona team captain again, barking orders. He’s great at dealing with detentions, though, so I don’t think he or the rest of the faculty mind. Lily nodded as they made their way to the transfiguration classroom.

So Nikki, how was your summer? Lily asked.

Finally Lily’s three days of isolation and purgatory ended because today was the first day of school, August 30. Lily still had around four hours before everyone began to show up, and she really wanted to spend a little personal time with Bella again before that. So Lily—freshly dressed in her school robe—went to find her aunt, greeting every professor that she met along the way. There was a buzz of excitement among the staff in anticipation of a brand-new school year and the incoming class of fresh students that they would be able to impart their knowledge of magic to.

Upon entering the PADMA classroom, Lily gazed at the neatness and order that the room had been thrust into and smirked in amusement. By the end of the week, it would look like organized chaos again, making all this work be for nothing. Looking up to the front, Lily saw that both Bella’s and Sirius’s offices were hidden and not their usual transparent today, which she wasn’t too surprised at. Given the amount of activity that would be happening in a handful of hours, the hidden offices would allow them a sense of privacy and much needed quietness. Knocking on Bella’s door with a smile, Lily entered only to find the office empty. Drat. Now she had no idea where she could find her aunt. Perhaps Sirius would have a clue.

Walking over and repeating the same process with his door, she was greeted with the same disappointing result. Empty. It seemed that luck had completely abandoned Lily today. She was about to leave and just loiter around in the grand mess, waiting for one of them to appear, but, by sheer chance, she saw a moving photograph on Sirius’s desk. Moving to his desk out of curiosity, she stared at the image before gently lifting it off the polished surface of the wooden desk.

In it were five people lounging on a blanket on the beach at Gerhardt, clearly in springtime, maybe right at the beginning of summer. Sirius was propped up on his right arm, wearing silver mirrored aviator sunglasses and an all-black fancy suit, with a suit coat folded under his right arm. Lying in front of him, side by side, laughing, were two women, Bella and then Lily’s mother, Callista; Bella’s head was lying on Sirius’s thigh. To their right was a woman with light brown hair and the most compassionate eyes that Lily had ever seen—you could feel the compassion she had for the world oozing out of them into your very soul; her left hand and wrist were bandaged up. Her legs were tangled with Bella’s as her head rested casually on Sirius’s calf. Clearly she’d sustained some sort of injury a day or so before the photograph was taken, and she had chosen not to magically heal it. Or it was serious enough that it still needed bandages even with magical healing.

The last person was on the left side of the photograph. Her legs were tangled with Callista’s, and she was fiddling with Sirius’s long hair and had a smirk plastered on her lips. She had black, wavy hair and was wearing form-fitting black clothes to show off her figure. She was almost catlike in how she was slouching, fiddling with his hair, and smirking. In the photo, Sirius apparently had had enough of her and swatted her hand away and made a clearly annoyed remark, making all the girls laugh. Bella reached her hand toward Sirius to get his attention and make him smile at her before the image repeated its actions all over again.

She isn’t here, Lily. She had to go talk with Professor Cockrane before all the students arrived. Lily jumped at hearing Sirius’s voice suddenly behind her and spun around to see him leaning against the doorframe, his shoulder length curled auburn hair glistening in the light, a knowing look in his eyes. Busted.

Oh. Uh, sorry about—

Relax, Lily, I understand. Sirius smirked at her. You see a picture of your mom, and you get curious. It’s only natural.

Lily blushed, ducked her head, and returned her gaze to the picture.

She looks happy.

Yes. That’s one of my favorite photographs of our friend group that we ever took, and believe me, we had taken a lot of pictures together over the years. My mother has several albums of just us kids together. I think that was the last time that I saw Callista and Bella so happy with each other without any tension. After that picture, the entire world changed for us. Callista was a sixth-year student, and the rest of us were in our seventh years—this photo was taken just before graduation, earlier in the day. Our grade decided to spend most of that day on the school’s beach relaxing now that all the hard work was over, Sirius remarked, stepping farther into his office.

Who’re these two?

This—he pointed to the brown-haired woman—is Andromeda Avalene. She’s the nicest person you’d ever meet, except maybe for her older brother Theo. And that—he pointed to the black-haired girl—is Cassiopeia Kane. Her wit was so fast, even Bella had a hard time coming up with comebacks sometimes. A true character.

Lily smiled. They look fun.

They were, Sirius murmured. All of us had worked so hard to make sure that you were safe from Sinestra, safe from the Hale family, that when Callista was killed that night, we were all plunged into devastating sorrow. Our group had been through so much and fought so hard, and then that happened. We all had our own ways to handle the loss of our friend—Bella with you, me supporting her and delving more into my own studies of ancient magic, even harder than ever before, and them…well, I haven’t spoken to them since that night when I told them what happened.

Lily looked at the photograph again, seeing their happiness and thinking of the pain that was waiting for them all not long after. She couldn’t help but be struck by how much the picture reminded her of herself and her friends. Almost as though history were repeating itself, in a way. Callista seemed to stare back at Lily from the photograph before they all laughed again, and she looked at her older sister, light dancing in her eyes. Setting the picture back down, Lily looked at Sirius, who was seemingly lost in thought,