The Iron Trial

The Iron Trial (2014) is a young adult fantasy novel by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Both Black and Clare are New York Times best-selling authors who have separately written multiple young adult novels. The Iron Trial is the first book in the Magisterium series and follows Callum “Call” Hunt, a 12-year-old boy who earns a place at a sinister magic school called the Magisterium. At the Magisterium, Call makes startling discoveries about his true identity and finds a sense of friendship and belonging for the first time. The Iron Trial won an RT Reviewers Choice Award and a Nutmeg Book Award and was a finalist for the Georgia’s Children’s Book Award.

This guide refers to the 2014 Scholastic e-book edition.

Plot Summary

The protagonist, Callum “Call” Hunt, is 12 years old. An outcast at regular school, Call has always known that he is the descendant of a powerful line of magicians. However, Call’s father, Alastair, believes that magic is evil because of the wars it causes. The book opens during one such conflict: the Third Mage War. Callum is only a baby at the time, but he survives a gruesome attack that results in a lifelong limp. Call’s mother is killed in this massacre. Whenever Alastair refers to the world of magic, which he has sworn off, it is to condemn it as violent and cruel.

One day, Call receives an invitation to the trial for the Magisterium, which is a school for young mages. Both his mother and his father attended the school, and it’s where they met. However, Call’s not sure about going to the school because he knows how dangerous magic can be. His father warns him that while he can’t refuse the invitation, he should try to fail the trial as decisively as possible to avoid being selected for the school. Students must attend if they are selected, as the Magisterium believes that untrained, powerful young mages pose a danger to society and themselves.

At first, Call deliberately tries to fail so that he can put magic behind him forever. However, even though he does not complete the tasks as instructed, Call shows exceptional magical power. He’s chosen by a mage called Master Rufus to be an apprentice. Call can’t believe he’s been selected. Alastair is angry and devastated.

Master Rufus selects two other students, Aaron and Tamara, and ushers them into the school. They are in their Iron Year, meaning their first year, along with a handful of other students training under other Master mages. The Magisterium is underground, so its location is always kept secret. When Call arrives, he shares a suite with Aaron and Tamara because apprentices are expected to be roommates. Call is nervous about sharing a room with anyone because he doesn’t have many friends back home. His limp made him self-conscious around kids his age. At the Magisterium, however, no one cares about his limp—it’s his magic that matters.

Master Rufus doesn’t train his apprentices the way the other mages do. His methods are strange and challenging. For example, he makes them separate individual grains of sand, which teaches them focus and determination. Call grows closer with Tamara and Aaron, especially when they defend Call against the taunts of Jasper, a jealous bully who is also in their year at the Magisterium.

Call sneaks into Master Rufus’s office one night and contacts his father through a magical device. Alastair warns Call that Call doesn’t understand what he is. In another confusing conversation, Drew, a fellow Iron Year student, asks Call, in an unbelieving tone, whether he knows who he is.

While defending his friends from aggressive, magical wolves, Aaron reveals that he is a Makar, a rare and powerful mage who can summon magic from nothing. The teachers plan to use him as a weapon against the Enemy of Death—a corrupt, powerful Makar. While they are in the woods, Call comes across a Chaos-ridden (magic-infused) wolf puppy and adopts him. He calls him Havoc. Tamara and Aaron are shocked and disturbed at first, but they soon agree to keep Call’s secret and keep Havoc safe.

Aaron disappears one night when he is walking Havoc. Tamara and Call go after him, following Havoc. They find Aaron dangling from the rafters in an abandoned bowling alley in the woods outside the Magisterium. Drew stands guard over Aaron. He reveals that he is a servant of the Enemy of Death.

Call distracts Drew while Tamara ascends the rafters and reaches Aaron. Drew is killed by a chaos elemental, which Drew releases from a glass container. A mage called Master Joseph appears. In the past, he taught the Enemy of Death, whose real name is Constantine Madden. He used Aaron as bait to bring Call to him; Master Joseph tells Call that Call is the Enemy of Death.

Call has no idea what Master Joseph is talking about, but the mage explains that Constantine took control of Call’s body during the war many years ago. Call is a Makar because Constantine is a Makar. Furthermore, the real Call’s soul is dead. Call believes Master Joseph and wants to tell Master Rufus, and his father, the truth; however, Master Joseph points out that they will bind Call’s magic if he admits to being the reincarnation of Constantine, and Call doesn’t want this.

Call doesn’t tell anyone his secret, but he’s determined to prove Master Joseph wrong. Master Joseph believes that Call will develop into a powerful and rebellious mage, like Constantine, and will eventually seek to defeat the Magisterium, including Call’s friend and fellow Makar, Aaron. Call wants to show himself that he is Call and that he can wield magic for good. He progresses through the Gate of Control with Aaron and Tamara, symbolizing his graduation from his Iron Year and preventing anyone from binding his magic.