Sparky’s Bad Spell Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  List of Characters

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Fun Games and Activities

  About the Author

  Copyright

  About the Book

  There’s trouble in the air!

  Sparky has been trying really hard to learn magic, but it’s not working. Now school inspectors are coming to Mrs Mothwick’s Magic Academy.

  Unless Sparky can master his magic tricks, he will get in BIG trouble – and the school will be shut down for ever. Wowzers!

  Luckily for Sparky, a mysterious witch offers to help him . . .

  For Coco and Ruby, who are about as magic as two people can get

  Meet the stars of

  Mrs Mothwick’s Magic Academy!

  Sparky

  Sparky is a fluffy, bouncy puppy with brown and white splodges. He is adventurous, playful and very brave, and loves his wizard, Carl. Mrs Mothwick’s Magic Academy has never allowed puppies in before, but Sparky is trying hard to prove that he can learn magic and be a good dog.

  Sox

  Sox is Sparky’s best friend. She is a sensible kitten with jet-black fur and white paws. She loves Sparky and does her best to keep him out of mischief.

  Trixie

  Trixie is a sleek black cat. She’s very good at magic but is a bit of a bully. She doesn’t like dogs, so Sparky had better watch out!

  Mrs Mothwick

  Mrs Mothwick is head of the Magic Academy. She has a thin, warty face and wears a tall black hat. Her familiar – her special animal friend with whom she has a magical bond – is a gruff vulture called Mr Carrion. She is proud of her Magic Academy, but she worries that her son, Carl, isn’t ready to be a wizard.

  Carl Mothwick

  Carl is a bit clumsy and scruffy. His shoelaces always seem to be untied, and he smells of mud and chewing gum. Even though he tries really hard, poor Carl just isn’t very good at magic. He never knows where his wand is, and even when he does find it, he can’t make it work the way the other trainees can. Carl is desperate to prove to everyone, including his mum, that he is a proper wizard like his dad.

  Mrs Cackleback

  Mrs Cackleback is the only witch ever to own a terrifying griffin as her familiar, but the less said about her and her wicked ways, the better . . .

  1

  Sparky stood beside his wizard, Carl, trying to keep still. He hadn’t been at Mrs Mothwick’s Magic Academy for long, but he’d already seen most of the training rooms and this one was his favourite. The wallpaper was dark crimson with a swirly gold pattern, and the windows stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Each one was draped with heavy, red velvet curtains. They smelled old.

  “Settle down now, please,” said the teacher, Mr Noble, peering over his rectangular glasses.

  All around Sparky, the familiars fidgeted nervously next to their owners – apart from an upside-down bat, who swung from his witch’s fingertip.

  Over the squawks and squeaks of the birds and animals, Mr Noble tried again: “Welcome to Beginners’ Magic Class.” He puffed out his plump, rosy cheeks. “It’s now time for you all to demonstrate your tricks.”

  Sparky’s tail wagged. He pawed Carl’s shoe, and the boy glanced down and gave him a wink.

  “Have you done your homework, Sox?” Sparky whispered to his best friend, who was sitting next to him.

  Sox was a black kitten with white paws that looked like socks. “Yes, we have a trick,” she replied, with one ear flattening a little. “But I’m not sure we’ve practised enough . . .”

  Sox’s witch, Sophie, bent down and her long hair flopped forward and tickled Sparky’s nose.

  “What’s Sparky saying to you?” Sophie whispered to Sox.

  “He wondered,” Sox replied, “whether we’d done our homework and—”

  “Sshhh!” came a hiss from behind them.

  Sparky turned to see Trixie glaring at them. Her witch, Amelia, flicked her perfect black ponytail snootily. Trixie’s perfect black tail swished in time.

  They turned to look at Mr Noble as he started speaking.

  “The purpose of the homework,” he said thoughtfully, “was to see how you familiars and witches and wizards work together. As we all know: A witch is not a witch without a familiar, and a familiar is not a familiar without a witch.”

  Every witch and wizard needed a familiar – an animal to help them do magic. Sparky was so happy that he was Carl’s familiar . . . even though he wasn’t much help when it came to magic! But he and Carl had been practising their trick all week. They definitely wouldn’t be bottom of the class this time.

  “By now,” Mr Noble continued, “I expect most of you are managing to communicate with each other with a few words.”

  Sparky’s ears drooped. He still hadn’t managed to say a single word that Carl could understand.

  “Joshua and Finley,” Mr Noble said to a wizard and his ferret familiar. “Why don’t you go first with your trick?”

  Finley stood on his back legs, looked at Joshua, and squeaked. “Dook-dook-dook!”

  Joshua shrugged, a worried expression on his face. He couldn’t understand what his familiar was saying.

  Some of the witches giggled.

  The ferret frowned in concentration and tried again. “Dook . . . din . . . s-s-spin!” he finally squeaked.

  Joshua flicked his wand towards his shoes, creating a cloud of glitter. Finley began running in a circle around his feet. The boy stood on his tiptoes. All the students leaned forward to watch as Joshua began to spin. He went faster and faster, until he and Finley were just a blur.

  “S-s-s-stop!” squeaked Finley.

  “Yes! Please stop!” Joshua shouted. Finley stopped running, and Joshua, looking very dizzy, slowly came to a halt. Everyone clapped as they staggered back to their places.

  “Very good,” Mr Noble said. “A slow start, Finley, but you got there in the end with your words. Well done.” He looked around the room. “Now let’s see Trixie and Amelia.”

  “Finally,” Trixie muttered as they pushed past Sparky.

  When everyone was quiet, Trixie purred: “Allow me to introduce Amelia, the great-great-granddaughter of Madame Marvella, inventor of a thousand potions.”

  Sparky’s heart did an extra beat when he saw how expert Trixie had become at talking to her witch.

  Amelia smiled. “Thank you. And allow me to introduce Trixie, one of seventeen generations of feline familiars.”

  “They’re so good at communicating,” Sparky whispered.

  “They’re so good at being showoffs!” Sox replied.

  Amelia flicked her wand and a golden orb of light floated into the air. Trixie twitched her shiny whiskers. A glittery spark appeared and shot towards the orb.

  There was a flash!

  Then,

  Bright green and gold fireworks began exploding above the heads of all the trainees and familiars. Three white mice, Harry, Larry and Sid, squealed and jumped into their wizards’ pockets to hide.

  “Thank you, Trixie and Amelia,” Mr Noble yelled above the noise. “That’s enough now.”

  Everyone clapped as Trixie and Amelia made their way back to their places, beaming smugly.

  “Ah, er . . . Sparky and Carl!” Mr Noble called.

  Sparky’s tummy flipped. This is it!

  At the front of the class, Carl took out his slightly bent wand. “Ready?” he asked Sparky.

&nb
sp; The pup shuffled on his paws and wagged his tail. “Yip!” he replied. I’m ready!

  “My wonderful puppy Sparky and I would like to show you our amazing tricks,” Carl said in a booming voice.

  All the trainees grew silent.

  Carl held his wand above Sparky’s head. “Sit!” he said.

  Sparky immediately sat on his bottom. He wagged his tail.

  “Play dead!” Carl said.

  Sparky rolled onto his back and let his tongue flop out of the side of his mouth. He heard someone sniggering.

  Carl fumbled in his pocket and brought out a red rubber ball. Sparky sat up straight and waited.

  “Fetch!” Carl yelled as he threw the ball across the room.

  Sparky was off like a dart. He caught the ball in his mouth mid-bounce, then scrambled back across the wooden floor and dropped it at Carl’s feet.

  Carl grinned, scooped up the ball, then turned to everyone watching. “Ta-da!”

  The whole room went silent for a moment. Then everyone erupted into laughter. Sparky’s tail drooped between his legs.

  “Quiet!” Mr Noble shouted. His face was usually kind, but now it looked very stern. “Everyone be quiet.”

  The class settled down again.

  “Carl,” Mr Noble said softly. “I can see that you and Sparky have a very strong bond.”

  Carl’s cheeks were bright red now. He stared at the floor.

  “It’s just . . .” Mr Noble paused. “We really need to start seeing you do some . . . magic.”

  Carl sighed.

  Sparky whined.

  Mrs Mothwick’s Magic Academy had never allowed a puppy in before. Everyone seemed to think puppies didn’t make good familiars. But Sparky really thought they’d done well this time. Now it seemed that poor Carl was going to get the lowest mark – again.

  All because Sparky wasn’t magical.

  2

  It was just after lunch time and Sparky and the rest of the class were outside in the thick wood beyond the school. A soft breeze billowed and the seeds from a nearby dandelion clock floated silently away.

  “I believe you all know about the dangers of the Deep Dark Wood?” Mrs Mothwick said to them.

  Some of the trainees muttered that they did, while Mrs Mothwick’s icy blue eyes rested on her son Carl and Sparky.

  “You must be very careful while we are out here. Stay near me and watch out for grabby trees and gulp pits,” Mrs Mothwick added.

  Sparky shivered. Grabby trees and gulp pits were the least of their worries. The last time he and Carl were in the Deep Dark Wood they were nearly caught by a griffin. Sparky could still remember the scent of the terrifying beast now – half lion, half eagle, a smell so strong it had made his nose hurt.

  “Yip! Arf-rrr!” Sparky said cheerily to Carl. At least it’s daylight this time!

  Sparky knew Carl couldn’t understand what he was saying, so he licked the boy twice on his hand.

  Carl’s face broke into a smile. “We’ll be OK, boy.”

  Sparky panted happily. We might not be able to speak to each other in words, he thought, but we communicate in our own way.

  Sparky looked around at the green, rocky landscape. A little way down the slope was a stream, and to either side were towering cliffs. Funny-looking plants grew out of them at strange angles.

  “Many magical plants grow in the wood. And most are to be found here, in Dead End Valley,” Mrs Mothwick told the group. “Gathering magical ingredients is a very important task, and requires good teamwork. Witches and wizards must work together with their familiars. Your task today is to find a Shift Root. It’s used for the powerful Shift Shape Spell, which can make people and animals change their appearance. It grows underground and smells like modelling clay. It can be discovered by using the Sniffy Spell, which you should all know.” She raised her hand. “You may begin.”

  The trainees and familiars scurried off in their pairs. Sparky could hear the young witches and wizards muttering the spell as they flicked their wands:

  Sparky looked at Carl, who was scratching his head with one hand and holding his bent wand with the other. “Naz-aboo! Naz-abay . . .! No, that’s not right,” Carl said. “Naz-ra-boo? No. Oh, what is it?”

  Sparky gave a “Yip!” If only he could tell Carl what the words were.

  Just then, a musty, earthy pong . . .

  Modelling clay! Sparky didn’t need the spell – he was already great at sniffing things out. He yipped and ran off towards a steep upward slope.

  “Wait!” Carl shouted, running after him.

  But Sparky was too busy snuffling the scent, his nose to the ground.

  They followed the stream until a waft of modelling clay made Sparky’s head flick sharply left.

  “Yip, yip!” Sparky said. This way!

  Sparky kept sniffing as they approached a wide, spooky-looking cave in the cliff face. The smell of modelling clay was getting stronger.

  “I’m not sure . . .” Carl said, looking warily into the blackness, but Sparky really wanted them to do well. He trotted in.

  Sparky waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark, then stepped forwards slowly. The smell of modelling clay was very strong now. Sparky’s nose led him to a dimly lit corner. On the ground was a long wooden spoon. Sparky gave the spoon a good sniff, then picked it up with his teeth and carried it over to where Carl was waiting at the cave entrance.

  “You found it, Sparky!” Carl cried. “Good dog!” Then he looked at the spoon and laughed. “This isn’t a Shift Root!”

  Sparky gave a grumbly growl. But it smells like one!

  Carl walked back out into the bright sunlight and turned the spoon in his hands. “It’s a cauldron spoon,” he said. “Like the ones we use in the Magic Lab. Except . . .”

  Sparky yipped in surprise.

  “Wowzers – we’d better show this to my mum!” said Carl, walking back down the slope towards Mrs Mothwick.

  “Goodness me. That was quick, Carl!” Mrs Mothwick said, a few moments later. “You’re the first ones back!”

  Amelia and Trixie were nearby, still searching for the Shift Root. “They must have cheated,” Amelia grumbled, glaring at Sparky.

  Mr Carrion frowned. “They didn’t use magic,” he said gruffly. “It’s not how we do things.”

  “Actually, we didn’t find the Shift Root,” said Carl. “But Sparky found this.”

  Mrs Mothwick took the spoon, and gasped as another wisp of smoke twirled off it and floated away.

  “Good work, Carl. Well sniffed, Sparky. Witches! Familiars!” Mrs Mothwick bellowed suddenly. “Class is finished!”

  “What?” Trixie hissed. “But we still haven’t found the Shift Root—”

  Mrs Mothwick ignored Trixie. “Follow Mr Carrion,” she ordered.

  The vulture opened one black wing and beckoned the class towards him.

  Mrs Mothwick quickly stashed the cauldron spoon inside the folds of her cloak and scurried away, a deep frown on her face.

  Sparky couldn’t work out what was so upsetting about a wooden spoon. Even though Mrs Mothwick had said “Good work,” he couldn’t help feeling like he’d messed up again.

  3

  Mrs Mothwick had asked Carl and Sparky to come and see her later that afternoon. The corridor leading to her office was long and narrow. Oil paintings of animals hung on the walls, with name plaques underneath. Sparky could see cats, rats, bats and squirrels – but not a single puppy. His tummy flipped at the thought of all the magic creatures that had been at the school before him. He didn’t feel like he would ever be magical enough to fit in.

  Carl was about to knock on Mrs Mothwick’s door when Sparky’s ears pricked. He could hear her speaking. Carl leaned in.

  “It reeks of wicked ways,” came Mrs Mothwick’s muffled voice.

  Sparky heard something wooden clatter on Mrs Mothwick’s desk. “I think she’s talking about the cauldron spoon,” he said, but of course Carl couldn’t understand him.

  Carl wh
ispered, “I think she’s talking about the cauldron spoon.”

  Behind the door, Mr Carrion spoke. “And then there was the griffin in the Deep Dark Wood.”

  “Mrs Cackleback is the only witch who’s ever been wicked enough to keep such a fierce familiar,” said Mrs Mothwick. “She’s close by – I’m sure of it.”

  Sparky gasped and looked at Carl. They had never met Mrs Cackleback, but she had a fearsome reputation for wicked ways.

  Carl took a deep breath, pursed his lips and knocked.

  “Enter!” Mrs Mothwick called.

  Inside, Mrs Mothwick had removed her hat and was sitting in a high-backed wooden chair, frowning. Mr Carrion perched on the corner of the desk, hunching so that his bald head just peeped above his folded black wings.

  “Sit down,” Mrs Mothwick said.

  Sparky sat straight down on his bottom, like a good dog. Carl sat on a leather stool.

  Mrs Mothwick peered down her nose. “We need to talk about your marks, Carl. And about Sparky.”

  Sparky’s tail wagged nervously. He hoped Mrs Mothwick was going to say how well they’d done in finding the strange spoon.

  “I’m afraid that you and Sparky just aren’t making enough progress.” She was frowning but she didn’t look cross – more disappointed, which felt worse. “Although you did very well in Dead End Valley today, you’re both failing every class. Spells, potions, broomstick-flying, familiar history – and as for communicating, well, Sparky is getting nowhere.”

  Sparky’s heart sank. He wasn’t born with magic like the rest of the animals and students here. He was trying his best, but clearly it wasn’t enough.

  “Mum, he’s working really, really hard,” Carl said quietly. “We both are.”

  “On Monday, members of the GRAND COUNCIL OF WIZARDRY AND WITCHINESS are coming to inspect the school,” said Mrs Mothwick. “I’ve given Sparky a chance but, as you know, most witches believe that if animals aren’t born with magic, they will never be able to learn it.”