by Disney Books
“You’re unbearable!” King said, slamming the teddy bear to the floor.
* * *
Luz sprinted through the marketplace, heading for the town square, where Amity was waiting for her.
“Hey, Amity!” Luz called out. “Luz is finally here!”
But before she could reach the square, her path was blocked by a couple of older teens.
“Hi, Luz!” the teens said in unison.
Surprised, Luz fell down.
“Edric! Emira!” Amity shouted. “Stop bothering her! Sorry, Luz. They insisted on coming for some reason.”
Amity reached down to help Luz get up.
“Because we wuv you, baby sister!” Emira said.
Amity pushed Emira away.
“In any case, here’s your book,” Amity said, passing the Azura book to an eager Luz.
“Sooooooo, what’d you think?” Luz asked.
“It was fine,” Amity replied coolly.
Luz opened the book and saw a page of loose-leaf paper inside. On it was a drawing of what looked like Amity with one of the characters from the Azura book. “So fine you drew yourself with Malingale, the mysterious soothsayer?”
Embarrassed, Amity held up a finger, and the piece of paper disintegrated.
Luz was excited that Amity had liked the book, and she suggested that maybe they could even start an Azura club at school when they were classmates.
Amity looked at Luz and raised an eyebrow. “When we’re what?”
Luz grinned broadly. “Surprise! I’m enrolling at Hexside!”
“Oh, sorry,” Amity said, “but to be in my class, you need to take a placement exam and prove that you’ve mastered two spells.”
Amity took Luz’s school pamphlet and showed her a page that said, in big, bold letters, Advanced Requirements: 2 Spell Minimum.
“Placement exam?” Luz said, surprised. “Spells?”
“Quit giving her a hard time, Mittens,” Emira said, looking at Amity.
“Yeah, of course she knows two spells,” Edric said. “Right, Luz?”
“Pfffff, yeah, of course I know two spells,” Luz said, and then she let out a nervous laugh that seemed to say, I do not know two spells.
“Because if you don’t, they’ll put you in the baby class,” Amity said.
Luz gulped.
Suddenly, Edric perked up. “Oooh, brain idea!” he said.
“What if we all trained together?” Emira suggested. “We could show off what we know!”
“Whaddya say, Luz?” Edric said.
Luz didn’t know how to respond, so she said, “Uh, actually, I have other training plans. In a very faraway place. That I have to go to right now. Bye!”
She ran away from the market, leaving Amity, Emira, and Edric behind.
EDA WAS IN the kitchen, standing in front of a bubbling cauldron. Next to her were a pile of vegetables and a cookbook entitled Bending Ingredients to Your Will.
“Eda!” Luz said as she darted into the kitchen. “Eda, Eda, Eda, you have to teach me a new spell right now!”
“Sorry, Luz,” Eda said, not looking up. “These vegetables won’t cook themselves—yet….”
The witch turned to her ingredients and picked up a potion. She poured the greenish-blue liquid on the vegetables. They began to vibrate, and soon little limbs sprouted from them.
“All right, everybody in the pot,” Eda said.
In response, the vegetables screamed and ran off.
“Why do I always think that’s going to work?” Eda said with a frown.
“But I need to know two spells to get into decent classes at Hexside!” Luz said. “I can make light glyphs. But at the end of the day, that’s the only spell I know!”
Putting her hands on her hips, Eda looked at Luz. “And whose fault is that?” Eda asked.
“Yours!” Luz answered.
Eda considered that, then laughed. “Yup! Got me there.”
“Just teach me a spell now!” Luz begged. “Any spell. It can be…the darkest evil.”
“Well, I have been researching my texts on wild magic,” Eda said. “But I’m much too busy right now.”
She closed the cookbook and tossed it into the cauldron.
“C’mon, Eda! You’re the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!” Luz implored. “How would it look if your apprentice got thrown into the baby class?”
“Weaponizing my pride,” Eda said, stroking her chin. “Well, in that case, this looks like a job for magic boot camp!”
The kitchen door flew open, revealing King, holding his teddy bear. “Did someone say ‘boot camp’? I agree to run it!” King offered. “We’ll rise at dawn! You’ll carry me on your back as I yell hateful things about your performance!”
Eda told King that he couldn’t be a part of the boot camp. She didn’t want Luz to lose focus and go all weird when King did something adorable.
“I am not adorable,” King protested, clutching his teddy bear while stamping his foot on the kitchen floor.
Luz gasped and, in a cutesy voice, said, “Aw, he stamped his wittle foot!”
King screeched as he threw his hands in the air and left the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.
Eda told Luz that they were going to go somewhere special to learn—a place where magical energy just flowed. “You’ll have to follow my teachings exactly,” Eda said.
“Yes!” Luz shouted.
* * *
Eda took Luz to a place called the Knee. It was bitterly cold, and the ground was covered in snow.
Walking next to Eda and wearing a heavy parka, Luz looked around at the changing landscape as they advanced along a winding snow-covered trail. Eda headed up a hill, and Luz followed. When they finally reached the top, Luz saw them: the crumbled remains of the Knee.
“The earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic, drawn to its natural power,” Eda explained.
“It’s beautiful,” Luz said, taking in the ancient ruins of centuries-old buildings.
“Though it’s not without its dangers,” Eda quickly added.
Eda tilted her head at something nearby. Luz swiveled and saw a huge furry creature.
“The Slitherbeast. Don’t worry: if you don’t mess with him, he won’t mess with you,” Eda said nonchalantly.
Then Eda walked right past the Slitherbeast. As a test, Luz walked past the creature, sticking out her tongue. The Slitherbeast looked up, and Luz hurried, following Eda. The two approached the ruins, heading upward until they had made it to the top of the Knee.
“Here’s where we’ll set up shop!” Eda said.
With a grin, Luz said, “I’ll definitely learn my second spell here! Gorgeous views, magic in the air! And best of all, we’re completely alone!”
“Watch out!” Eda warned as a burst of magical energy headed their way. Eda just managed to tackle Luz to the ground behind some ruins. Then the witch looked over them and held out her staff, as if ready for combat.
“Sorry, whoever’s over there!” came a voice.
Luz recognized it immediately. It was Amity! Luz peeked over the ruins and saw Amity with Emira and Edric.
“Forget teaching me a spell,” Luz gasped. “Just make me disappear.”
“Well, okay, but I’ve got a sixty–forty record of making you reappear,” Eda said. “Ohhh, you meant—Never mind.”
“Hey! Luz! Hey, it’s us!” Edric called out.
Looking at them over the ruins, Luz put on her best smile and said, “Heeeeeeey, guuuuuuys!”
Confused, Eda said, “Who are they?”
“Be cool. If they know I haven’t mastered two spells, they’ll think I belong in the baby class!” Luz said hurriedly.
Amity walked over to Luz and said, “What’s that about the baby class?”
“Only that it’s for babies, and Luz here clearly isn’t a baby,” Eda said. Then she turned to Luz, said, “Nailed it,” and walked away, whistling.
Chuckling nervously, Luz asked Amity what she
and her siblings were doing there.
“I’m here to train,” Amity said. “I’m trying to beat Ed and Em’s highest score on the exam.”
“Mittens!” Emira said, walking up behind Amity. “That’s impossible!”
Edric faced Luz and gave Amity some serious side-eye. “She still needs to use a training wand to learn new spells,” he said.
“So what are you working on?” Edric asked Luz. “Something powerful?”
“Yep, powerful spells,” she said nervously. “I’m working on one that’s so crazy! Eda’s a pretty incredible teacher.”
A moment later, Eda reappeared, carrying a basket full of snowballs. “Luz! I shall now teach you how to identify different types of snow—by taste!”
Then she took a snowball from the basket and held it up in front of Luz. “Go on. Eat the snow.”
She pushed the snowball right into Luz’s face.
“Is this some kind of special magic?” Emira asked.
Amity cleared her throat. “I don’t think the owl lady wants to show us any of her powerful spells,” she said.
By then Eda had filled her own mouth with snowballs. She shivered, pointing at her cheeks. Then she swallowed and said, “Brain freeze! Brain freeze!”
Getting ready to leave, Emira said, “See ya ’round, human. Good luck with your, uh…training.”
Edric picked up some snow and tried to lick it. Before he could, Emira smacked the snow out of his hand and pulled him along.
Soon Amity and her siblings were out of sight.
“Eda! Can you please take this seriously?” Luz said.
“You need to take me seriously!” Eda said, raising her voice. “Go taste snow without my guidance, see where it gets you!”
Luz’s shoulders slumped, and she stared at the ground.
Eda could see that Luz was frustrated, but she told her young apprentice not to worry. “If you listen to me, soon you’ll be doing stuff like that!” she said.
The witch pointed across the way, where Amity was practicing with her training wand. She had a spell book open in front of her. Luz watched as Amity conjured a fireball that seared a nearby tree. The battery meter on the wand in Amity’s hand went down a little.
“And it won’t be with some wack training wand,” Eda said. “It’ll be the real deal. But you have to trust me, okay?”
With a deep breath, Luz nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”
“We’ve covered snow,” Eda said, “so now it’s on to smelling moss.”
Eda shoved two bits of moss into her nostrils. “Now, the trick is ya really gotta get it up in there,” she said, her voice sounding all nasally.
Luz sighed.
KING SAT ON the stoop outside the Owl House, holding on to his teddy bear. Francois, the stuffed bunny, was with him, too.
“This is ludicrous!” King moaned. “I once led armies! I can lead a dang boot camp! But I have no recruits!”
Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and he looked at his stuffed animals. Standing up, he said, “Or do I?”
“Yep!” Hooty chimed in. “It’s your faithful pal Hooty, reporting for duty! Up at dawn, takin’ orders all day long!”
“Ugh, no,” King replied. “You are too desperate.”
King ran into the Owl House. A few moments later, he returned, his arms full of stuffed animals. He took great care in putting them down, side by side.
“Roll call!” he shouted. “New guy! Aloysius Turtle! Chip! Beefy Bob! Francois…”
King looked at Francois and pulled him back from the group, giving him a hug. “You’re perfect already,” he said. “As for the rest of you, I’m only sayin’ this once, so listen up!”
Then King turned to face his new recruits, staring them in their blank stuffed-animal eyes. At once, all the energy seemed to fade from his small body. “Aw, it’s no fun if they don’t tremble,” King whined.
That was when he noticed a bunch of vegetables with little arms and legs run by, carrying some kitchen implements, which they tossed into the river.
“Ahh, okay, all right, yep, an idea’s happening,” King said.
* * *
The sun was setting as Luz’s training at the Knee continued. Eda, sipping from a cup of hot cocoa, sat at a magical campfire by a cozy-looking tent. Luz trudged through the snow, looking like she’d been hard at work all day.
Luz told Eda she’d identified the smells of three different rocks, sorted all the twigs from big to small, and found Eda’s glove…and hand. She pulled out the glove and hand from her jacket and gave them to Eda.
“I was wondering where that thing went!” Eda said.
“So what now?” Luz asked. She looked past Eda and saw Amity, Edric, and Emira. They were busy practicing, and by the looks of it, they were working on some pretty cool fighting maneuvers.
Amity waved just as Edric cast a spell to sink his little sister in the snow. Luz giggled and looked back at Eda.
“Hey,” Eda said. “I know my lessons seem weird, but this is what wild magic is all about—making a connection with nature! The earliest witches understood that. Human witches need to understand it, too. You want to learn a second spell?”
“With all my heart,” Luz answered.
“Then you have to learn from the Island,” Eda said.
The witch led Luz to a rock that jutted out, just outside their camp.
Eda sat Luz down on the rock. “Now, look,” she said. Luz blinked and saw the Island stretching out before her. It was a stunning sight, to be sure.
“And think about what the Island is trying to tell you,” Eda continued.
Then Eda walked back to the fire, leaving Luz to sit on the rock by herself.
After a deep breath, Luz said, “All right, Luz. Look! Look with everything you’ve got.”
Luz looked, and she looked some more. She looked so hard she thought her face muscles were going to give out.
“Focus!” Luz said.
She made a puppet with her right hand. “Focus? On what?” she made it say. “On how you’ll be stuck in the baby class?”
“No! Don’t think like that!” Luz exclaimed.
“Face it,” she replied with her left hand. “You’ll never get a second spell following Eda’s lessons.”
“Silence, hands!” Luz said.
Before she could continue her conversation with her hands, Luz heard a loud boom. She turned to see Amity in the distance, still holding her wand, with her spell book open. There was a scorched column in front of her, smoking from a recent fireball spell.
“Amity, dinner’s ready!” Emira said from their campfire.
Luz watched as Amity put her spell book and her training wand in the doorway of their tent and went to sit with her siblings.
“If I want to be in the same class as Amity, I’m gonna need to learn magic like Amity,” Luz said to herself.
“Great work, Luz,” she replied with her left hand.
“Shhh!” Luz said. “I don’t need your validation.”
* * *
The stuffed animals were now lined up on the kitchen counter, an impressive fluffy army. King glanced at an open cookbook and picked up a magic potion. It was the same magic potion Eda had used to bring the vegetables to life.
“Military discipline, cooking…I truly am a demon for all seasons!” King said. “Just a dash of Eda’s secret sauce and I’m the creator of life!”
He poured the greenish-blue potion on his stuffed animals and watched as they slowly stirred.
“Yes, yes, yes!” King shouted. “My loyal recruits! Welcome to boot camp! You sure need it! Look at you! Raggedy, pathetic, chewed on. You’ve got a button hanging off of your eye. Pathetic! But I will mold you worms into…slightly better kinds of worms!”
King paused for a moment, glaring at the stuffed animals. Then he continued. “Your first mission: gimme snacks! Your commander is hungry, so pick it up!”
The toys shuffled off in search of snacks, and King noticed that the teddy bear was going
not toward the kitchen but the other way.
“Hey, Private Ding-dong!” King called out. “Snacks are thataway.”
As the teddy bear switched directions and walked away from him, King told the recruit that he had better shape up now that he was in King’s boot camp. The teddy bear’s eyes flashed red.
* * *
Amity and her siblings had walked away from their camp, so Luz was able to sneak past them. She made it to the opening of their tent, then paused.
Working up her courage, Luz opened the curtain and took the training wand and the spell book.
She found a quiet spot to look at Amity’s book. Excited, Luz turned to a page that contained instructions to create a fireball, complete with all the magical motions she needed to make with the training wand.
Luz couldn’t wait to try the spell, so she picked up the wand and pointed it away from her. She did her best to copy the movements, creating a spell circle. A moment later, a small fireball shot out from the wand, and Luz filled with pride.
“I did magic! I did magic!” she said. “Without drawing anything! This thing is the coolest!”
Luz was ready to try again when she heard someone say, “Hold it right there!”
She turned around to see Eda standing there. “What are you doing with that?” Eda demanded.
Luz grasped the training wand tightly. “I’m doing magic! What would you have me do? Eat more snow? Lick a rock?”
