"Now that Cartaphilius has chosen to enter a long slumber, peace has finally returned to the little cottage west of London. But it's not long before a message arrives for Chise: an invitation to join the college, a society of alchemists. Deep beneath the British Library, the curtain rises on a new story set on a new stage. There human children learn, think and grow . . . but what of those who are inhuman?"--Back cover.