I set the newly found ‘Magic for Beginners’ on the table with a little too much triumph, and Elise looked up from her own book with her eyebrows raised.
“That was fast. What did you find?”
“Fate!” I grinned, flipping through pages full of spells. The first dozen were simple—just a few finger motions and a single word of command, often not even spoken aloud. It sounded almost too good to be true. “Look at these! This one can tie someone’s shoelaces from across the room! This has to be a joke!”
Elise leaned closer, studying the nearest page with a frown.
“Estella, these are… erm, actually they look like real spells, but for pranks? Where did you find this?”
“Over there, between the shelves,” I said, pointing behind me. “Why? What does this one do?”
She grimaced. “Changes the taste of
