Ladder

**Ladder** is a sentient magical object, referred to with the masculine pronouns "he", "him" and "his", who serves as an assistant to Professor Maxwell within the Library of Magic. Though appearing as an inanimate object at first glance, Ladder infact possesses the ablity to move on his own accord. Though he lacks the capability of speech, Ladder has been shown to use other methods to communicate.

According to fairy student Ruksy Tevala, Ladder is actually quite sensitive. Of the Maxwell School students, she is most considerate of his feelings. ("On the Beach")

## Biography

For one class, Professor Maxwell gives Ladder a list of books to collect, namely "Boyle's Beastiary", the third volume of "The Encyclopedia of Incantations and Spells" and "Little Book of Teacher's Jokes" to keep the students amused. ("A Magical Mishap")

Ladder approaches Maxwell when he brings Kyra to the library, but Maxwell dismissed him. Kyra was confused to see that Maxwell could talk to a ladder. Maxwell replies that Ladder would sulk if he did not. Looking into the human's unprecedented magical ability, Maxwell sends Ladder to Aisle 23. Upon receiving an alert of a random magical outbreak, which he recognised as the Throne of Kai Kavus, Maxwell sends Ladder to Aisle 14 to bring the relevant book. ("Magic in the Air")

When Peter adopts the persona of Romeo Montague following a mind wipe, Ruksy has Ladder look for a book covering character transference. ("All the World's a Stage")

Tracking down a book that can give Kyra wings, Lily declines Ladder's assistance as she already knew what she was looking for. ("Fairy for a Day")

While the Professor was absent, Imogen was reading a book while sitting on ladder when Lily asks her to move as she was in her way. When Imogen refuses, a tug of war starts between her and Lily as they repeatedly ask Ladder to move. Noticing this, Ruksy tells them to be careful as Ladder was sensitive. Nevertheless, Imogen and Lily soon resume fighting over Ladder, leading him to become confused and storm off. As Ladder was upset, Ruksy goes to comfort him.

While stranded on the beach, Kyra found that she had a new power which allowed her to look into the library. Trying to get Lily and Imogen's attention, Kyra found that they were unresponsive yet Ladder complied when she told him to move out of the way. While Ladder was incapable of speech, Kyra realizes that he could be used to deliver a message. Calling Ladder to Aisle 75, shelf 3 then to Aisle 26, Kyra soon found that she had the power to control Ladder's movement herself, allowing her to collect "Enchanted Dwellings", a book on houses, "The Lure of the Sands", "Signals", a book on ships, and "Boynton", a book on Edward Boynton, also known as "the Architect". This led her fellow students to deduce that she was located on a beach dimension at the Architect's house. ("On the Beach")

When Kyra brings Peter to the library, Ladder appears concerned. To Peter's surprise, Kyra spoke to Ladder, assuring him that Peter was a friend. Later, Ladder approaches both Ruksy and Kyra while they were searching for Peter. Though they disregarded Ladder at first, it transpired that Ladder was directing them to "Thrilling Tales from the Forbidden Forest", an enchanted child's book that pulled Peter into its story. ("A Fairy Tale")

Darra suggested that Ladder had developed a sense of humour after a stack of books appeared in Aisle 13. In reality, the stack was unconsciously built by Kyra as she dreamt of being in the library. Later, Maxwell had Ladder take "The Theory and Practice of Conjuring" to the restricted section. ("Aisle 13")

Having overheard Maxwell, Ruksy investigates the restricted section with Imogen and Lily. When Ladder blocks their path, Imogen uses a simple stun spell to incapacitate him, assuring the fairies that it would wear off in an hour or so. ("Forces of Attraction")

Seeking to prevent Kyra's Orb magic being removed, Imogen goes into the restricted section to take the Orb of Lemuria. Ladder attempts to block her, but moves aside when she recalls what happened last time. Ultimately, Imogen was warned off by Maxwell. However, a second Imogen arrives soon after, stuns Maxwell, and steals the Orb. Moving to help Maxwell, Ladder tries to stop her, but was scorched by her magic before she escaped. ("Accused")

The following day, Orla informed Maxwell's students that the Professor had been forced to stand down under suspicion of taking the Orb himself, with Lily predicting that Ladder would be devastated. Ladder enters the room, but quickly left after Orla glared at him. Noticing the scorch mark on Ladder, and observing that he was visibly scared of Orla, Ruksy deduced that Orla had assumed Imogen's form to steal the Orb. ("On the Case")

## Trivia

* Ladder is notably the final character to be seen at the very end of the Season 1 finale "End of the Road: Part 2"; he is seen rapidly creaking past just after Kyra "jumps" out of the Library.

## Appearances

* *The Bureau of Magical Things*
	+ Season 1
		- "A Magical Mishap"
		- "Magic in the Air"
		- "All the World's a Stage"
		- "Fairy for a Day"
		- "On the Beach"
		- "A Fairy Tale"
		- "Aisle 13"
		- "Forces of Attraction"
		- "Accused"
		- "On the Case"
		- "End of the Road: Part 2"

**Appearances: 11/20**