Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

Teddy. “And someday the Diamond of Destiny will give the same strength and power to the next rightful ruler of Camelot.”
    â€œThat’s what Merlin must have meant when he said the future of Camelot depends on us,” said Annie.
    â€œIndeed,” said Teddy.
    â€œWait, wait,” said Jack. “I’m confused. What does the Diamond of Destiny have to do with invisible kids and dogs?”
    â€œAfter Arthur became king, Merlin gave the diamond to a noble family of Camelot,” said Teddy. “The name of the family was kept secret. As long as the family kept the diamond safe, they would have good fortune. But should they fail to protect it, they would fade from life.”
    â€œOh! So the family let the diamond get stolen,” said Annie. “And now they’ve all turned into ghosts!”
    â€œPrecisely,” said Teddy.
    â€œI wonder where the diamond was kept,” said Jack.
    â€œGood question,” said Teddy. “Certainly some special hiding place, perhaps in one of the towers.”
    â€œGuys, look!” said Annie. She pointed to the wall near the mirror.
    A long, heavy tapestry had been pulled aside to reveal a small door in the stone wall. The door was slowly swinging open.
    â€œThe ghost girl!” said Annie. “She’s showing us the diamond’s secret hiding place!”
    The three of them hurried to the stone wall and looked inside a tiny cabinet. The walls of the cabinet were made of gold and ivory. But the cabinet was empty.
    Annie looked around. “Ghost girl?” she said. “Who stole the Diamond of Destiny from its hiding place?”
    Letters began to appear on the mirror again.
    In the thick dust, the invisible finger wrote:

    â€œOh, no,” whispered Teddy. “Please, no.” Jack felt a fresh wave of fear. “Oh-no-please-no-
what
?” he said.
    â€œWait,” said Teddy, pointing at the mirror. The finger wrote one more word in the dust:

    â€œJust as I feared,” said Teddy in a hushed voice. “The Raven King!”

“ S o that’s why Merlin sent for those books!” said Teddy.
    â€œWhat books? Who’s the Raven King?” said Jack.
    â€œNow it all makes sense,” said Teddy.
    â€œWho’s the Raven King?” said Jack.
    â€œBut I wonder how he found the Diamond of Destiny,” said Teddy.
    â€œTeddy, who’s the Raven King?” Jack nearly shouted.
    â€œHe’s a terrifying creature who comes fromthe Otherworld,” said Teddy. “I read all about him in one of the books I brought Merlin from Morgan’s library. As a boy, the Raven King longed to be a bird so he could fly. He stole a spell from the Wizard of Winter, but he didn’t have the magic to make it work properly. So the spell only worked halfway. It made him half bird and half human.”
    â€œOh, man,” said Jack.
    â€œNow he commands a huge army of ravens who treat him as their king,” said Teddy.
    â€œWhy would he steal the Diamond of Destiny?” asked Annie.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Teddy, “but we must get it back! For the sake of Camelot’s future!”
    â€œAnd for these ghost kids, too,” said Annie, “and the ghost dog!”
    She looked around the room. “Don’t worry!” she called. “We’ll help all of you! We’ll get the Diamond of Destiny back!”
    â€œWe will?” asked Jack. “How? We don’t knowwhere this crazy raven man lives or anything.”
    â€œLook! More writing,” whispered Teddy. “She heard you.”
    Three more words slowly appeared in the mirror dust:

    Jack felt cold air whoosh by him again. The curtain covering the window moved aside. A patch of moonlight shone on the floor.
    Jack, Annie, and Teddy walked to the window and looked out. In the distance, a craggy mountain rose into the moonlit sky.
    â€œAh!” whispered Teddy. “So
there
dwells the Raven King! I had thought his nest was in the Otherworld.”
    â€œIt might as well be,” said Jack. “We’ll never be able to get to the top of that mountain.”
    â€œAye,” said Teddy, “no mere mortal can climb that steep rock.”
    â€œHow will we get the diamond back?” cried Annie.
    â€œI said
no mere mortal
,” said Teddy. “
I
am more than a mortal, remember? I’m a sorcerer.”
    â€œYeah, but your rhymes never work,” said