Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow

Simon and Baz call a truce and swear a magical oath not to harm one another until they discover the truth about Baz’s mother. Simon skips teatime to meet Baz in their room; the vampire has apples and bacon rolls because he knows Simon “can’t function unless [he’s] stuffing” himself (226). Baz is a bit mystified that Simon didn’t bring along Penny, his “smarter half” (227), but Simon hasn’t told her anything about the ghost. Baz compiles their limited knowledge on a purloined blackboard, including the date—August 12, 2002—of the day he was turned and his mother was killed.

Baz only remembers pieces of the day he was turned. He was five years old when vampires attacked the Watford’s faculty nursery. Baz was the only child bitten, and he remembers the blue flames his mother conjured to destroy the intruders. After he was bitten, he passed out from pain. When he awoke, his aunt and father were casting healing spells on him, and his mother was gone.

As Baz explains that vampires don’t normally attack mages, Simon wonders how Baz can talk about vampires as though he isn’t one. Simon shows his roommate an article written about the attack, which describes how Baz’s mother was bitten by a vampire and used the spell “Tyger, tyger, burning bright” (233) to immolate herself and her attacker.