Magyk

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, emotional abuse, and child abuse.

Septimus Heap is the novel’s protagonist. The name Septimus means “seventh,” emphasizing his birth order as the seventh son of a seventh son, which gives him a remarkable aptitude for magic. For most of the story, he is known only as Boy 412. His namelessness underlines the Young Army’s brutal, dehumanizing methods in a way that develops the theme of The Struggle Between Good and Evil and adds to the urgency of the main character’s search for his identity. Throughout the story, the once-fearful 10-year-old finds his valor as he casts off the Young Army’s indoctrination and builds connections with the kindhearted Heaps. For example, he bravely boards The Vengeance to help Marcia: “‘Look, just because you’ve been in the Army doesn’t mean you can go storming ships and rescuing people.’ ‘It means you can try’” (441). Another of Boy 412’s prominent traits is self-doubt. His low estimation of his potential stems from his demeaning rank in the Young Army as “the lowest of the low, an Expendable” (99). As a result, he doubts his magical gifts for much of the story until he finally casts off “his old life, his old fears and his old name” (548).