Through the Looking Back Glass
Cedric was pacing just outside the castle. Sofia and Madeline emerged from inside, and walked over to him.
"Mr Cedric!" Sofia called. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Think you can help us with this school assignment?" Madeline held up a scroll. "We need to do a magic spell that will shrink a watermelon down to the size of a grape."
"A shrinking spell?" Cedric mused, not looking at them. "Right, right..."
"Not just any shrinking spell." Sofia declared. "This one uses Dwindle Dust, and our teachers say it's so powerful, we can only use it with help from a sorcerer."
"Meaning you." Madeline added.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Cedric nodded. "Dwindle the teachers, shrink a sorcerer..."
"Mr. Cedric, are you okay?" Sofia frowned.
"No, I am not okay!" Cedric yelled. "My sister is coming for a visit!"
"Oh, how fun!" Madeline declared.
"No, Madeline." Cedric scowled. "Not fun at all."
A carriage rolled up to the steps. Callista, Cedric's niece, was the first to exit.
"Sofia! Madeline! Uncle Ceddy!" She cheered, rushing over to them. "My three favorite people!"
"Hi, Callista." Sofia smiled.
"How are you?" Madeline added.
"Where is your mother?" Cedric asked Callista. "Oh, did she perhaps decide to stay home after all?" He smiled hopefully.
"Not to worry, dear brother." Cordelia emerged from the carriage. "I made it safe and sound. You, on the other hand, look like you've just walked through a windstorm. Have you forgotten how to cast a simple ironing spell."
"I know five of them!" Cedric growled.
"Well, perhaps you should practice them." Cordelia smirked. "I can help you, if you like?
"I do not need to practice." Cedric retorted.
"Don't be embarrassed, Cedric." Cordelia sneered. "I know you find most spells rather tricky to pull off."
"That is not-" Cedric started.
"How long will you be staying with us, miss Cordelia?" Sofia interrupted.
"A few days?" Madeline asked.
"Oh, no, no, no." Cordellia shook her head. "It'll take quite some time for our castle's renovations."
"Which means we're goung to be here weeks!" Callista hugged the girls. "Maybe even months!"
"It'll be just like the old days." Cordelia told Cedric.
"Mummy and uncle Ceddy grew up here in the castle." Callista revealed to the girls.
"Yes, back when your grandfather was king, and our father Goodwin was the Royal Sorcerer." Cordelia nodded. "You know, I never saw him bungle one spell."
"Are you trying to say that I bungle spells, dear sister?" Cedric growled.
"Maybe we can help with your luggage?" Sofia offered.
"I'll take care of it." Cedric took out his wand. "Unloadium!"
A single case floated off the carriage, but Cordelia returned it with her own wand.
"Don't trouble yourself, Cedric." She declared. "We have some rather delicate items- magic mirrors and such -and I don't want them dropped or broken."
"No, wait!" Cedric urged. "I know an excellent spell that will unpack your bags!"
"But I know a better one!" Cordelia smirked.
Cordelia: Wanna see some luggage fly?
I've got a spell for that
It will zoom around the room
Just like an acrobat
Feel free to cheer and gush
I've got the magic touch
Cedric: Though you may know some spells and charms
You're not the only one
Cordelia: Why don't I unload the bags?
Cedric: Hold on, I'm nearly done
Why must you always rush
My brilliant magic touch
Cordelia: Wave your wand
Chant your charms
Just do it far from me
You might cause harm
Set off alarms
With faulty sorcery
Magic is not to be taken lightly
Lest you conjure things quite unsightly
Take it from someone who knows
Best leave the magic to the pros
Cedric: I'm the Royal Sorcerer and I demand respect
Cordelia: Let's be real, with you in charge
The place will end up wrecked
I'm certain of this much
You have no magic touch
Cedric: She always wants to put me down
Even right before the King
With all her taunts
When she's around
They all think I can't do a thing
Cordelia: Magic is not to be taken lightly
Lest you conjure things quite unsightly
Take it from someone who knows
Cedric: You're the reason for all my woes
Cordelia: My talent just grows and grows
So leave the magic to the pros
Cordelia moved some of the luggage into one of the castle's guest rooms.
"Now settle into your room, Callista, and I'll see everyone everone for dinner." Cordelia announced, stopping to magically light the fireplace before leaving. "This will be just like old times."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Cedric groaned.
"What do you mean?" Madeline asked.
"My own sister thinks I can't cast the simplest of magic spells." Cedric sighed. "And now that she's living here, she'll be telling me so every day! Oh, just like when we were children! Soon enough, she'll be taking over my workshop and meddling in my work, telling me I'm not chewing my food thoroughly enough, or combing my hair the right way..."
With a shudder, Cedric left the room.
"Poor uncle Ceddy." Callista sighed. "I wish mummy wasn't so hard on him."
"It just doesn't seem fair." Sofia frowned.
"Sure, Mr. Cedric sometimes messes things up, but we've seen him do a lot of great magic." Madeline declared.
"Not in front of my mum, he doesn't." Callista shrugged.
"...That's it!" Sofia said suddenly. "We should tell your mother about all the incredible magic we've seen Mr. Cedric do!"
"Yeah, then she'll have to be nice to him!" Madeline agreed. "Good thinking, Sof!"
"It's worth a try." Callista admitted.
They walked out into the hallway.
"Mummy's room is just down here." Callista pointed.
They reached the room, and opened the door. Inside, they found Cordelia looking in a mirror, her hair green and spiky, with her former hairstyle a wig on a bust. Cordelia turned, and gasped in shock at their apearance.
"What are you girls doing, lurking around like that?" Cordelia put her wig on. "Can't a sorceress get a little privacy?
"...Yes, of course." Sofia said awkwardly.
"Sorry!" Madeline cringed, as she and Sofia dragged Callista out of the room, closing the door behind them.
As they stood outside, frozen in shock, Roland walked by.
"Is everything alright, girls?" He asked.
"We were just trying to tell Miss Cordelia about Mr. Cedric." Sofia announced.
"We saw her... hair." Madeline gulped.
"Ooh, that." Roland frowned. "I... think I can explain."
Roland led them all to a room with a portrait on the wall, which portrayed a younger Cedric and Cordelia
"This is such a nice picture." Callista smiled. "Mummy's hair is so long."
"And Mr. Cedric looks so happy." Sofia observed.
"Well, he and Cordelia were very close back then." Roland revealed.
"My mummy and uncle Ceddy?!" Callista gasped.
"They were practically inseperable." Roland smiled.
"If they used to be close, maybe they can be close again." Madeline declared.
"I don't think that's possible, Madeline." Roland frowned. "Not after... the incident."
"What 'incident'?" Callista asked.
"Well, it happened many years ago." Roland declared. "Not long after this portrait was painted."It was the day of Cordelia's Sorcereress Ball."
"Sorcereress Ball?" Sofia asked.
"That's a super-fancy part on a sorceress' tenth birthday!" Callista explained.
"The Ball was just beginning." Roland recalled. "And young Cordelia was about to make her big entrance, when, all of a sudden-"
"Excuse me, your majesty." Baileywick suddenly appeared.
"Don't tell me." Roland groaned. "The Elf situation again?"
"I'm afraid so." Baileywick nodded. "You're needed right away in the throne room."
"I'm sorry, girls." Roland apologized. "We'll have to finish our talk later."
"But dad, what was 'the incident'?" Madeline called after him as he walked away.
"Now how are we gonna find out what happened?" Sofia sighed.
"I know how we can find out!" Callista smiled. "We can use my Looking Back Glass!"
They returned to Callista's room, standing before a full-length red framed mirror.
"Mummy gave it to me for my birthday." Callista declared. "It's loaded with magic!"
"What does it do?" Madeline asked.
"For starters, it can show you things that happened a long, long time ago." Callista revealed.
"Like your mother's Sorceress Ball!" Madeline smiled.
The Looking Back Glass glowed, and showed an image from the Ball.
"Here it is!" Sofia gasped.
"And that's not all." Callista declared. "Take my hands."
Sofia and Madeline both took a hand.
"Entabo Reflecto!" Callista chanted. She leapt into the image, bringing Sofia and Madeline with her. "It's mummy's Ball! All those years ago!"
"it looks like every sorcerer and royal in the land is here." Madeline looked around. "There's Mr. Cedric's father, Goodwin the Great!"
"And there's our grandfather, King Roland the First!" Sofia smiled. "We never met him!"
"And-" Madeline froze as she looked upon a young boy standing by Roland the First. "That's our dad. Only... he's a kid!"
"Wow, he looks younger than us." Sofia noted. "Dad, over here!"
"He can't hear you, Sofia." Callista told her. "No-one can. That's the way the Looking Back Glass works. We get to see everything. But no-one can see us."
"Wait, something's happening." Madeline declared.
"Maybe it's... 'the incident'." Callista mused.
A young girl in a crown bounced across the dance floor on a pogo stick.
"It's our aunt Tilly." Sofia realized. "Look how young she is!"
"This party is whiz-bang!" Tilly cheered.
"That is not the kind of behavior we expect from our future queen." Roland the First scolded her.
Tilly kept bouncing, unfazed.
"'Future queen'?" Madeline frowned. "But aunt Tilly never became queen..."
"There's mummy and uncle Ceddy!" Callista pointed. "Let's go!"
The girls followed the young Cedric and Cordelia through a set of curtains. Cordelia was looking through some potions.
"I need something to make my dress glow!" She told Cedric. "Or sparkle. Or glow and sparkle!"
"Will this help?" Cedric held up a green bottle.
"It might, Ceddy." Cordelia nodded.
Cordelia took the bottle, and Cedric removed the glass stopper.
"Attiro Recocco!" Cordelia chanted, pouring the contents of the bottle on herself.
Cordelia was engulfed in a cloud of pink smoke. When it faded, she was wearing a new dress.
"You look smashing, Cordy!" Cedric smiled.
"Smashing enough to make a big entrance at the Ball?" Cordelia frowned.
"I think so." Cedric assured her.
"Well, I don't." Cordelia declared. "Not yet, at least." She poured the contents of a blue bottle on her head. "Tresses Upduo!" Her hair changed to an elegant bun. "Now we're getting somewhere!"
A fanfare rang through the air.
"The trumpets, Cordy!" Cedric gasped. "It's time for you to go out there!"
"I... I can't!" Cordelia yelped. "Oh, Ceddy, what if my grand entrance isn't grand enough? Maybe we should just cancel the Ball!"
"You can't do that, Cordy!" Cedric shook his head. "You've been waiting for it all year!"
"I'm not going out there until I can really wow everyone!" Cordelia insisted.
Cedric thought for a moment.
"I know the perfect spell, Cordy!" He announced, picking up a large jar of blue liquid. "I can use Smoke Serum to create a huge blast of colorful smoke, just as you step out. It'll be the grandest entrance anyone's ever seen!"
"But you can't cast a spell like that, Ceddy." Cordelia frowned. "You're too young!"
"I can do it!" Cedric insisted. "I truly can. Watch!" He poured soem of the liquid on his head, and splashed on Cordelia. "Explosio Sublimo!"
A cloud of smoke flew up around Cordelia.
"This is marvelous!" She squealed, hugging her brother. "Cedric, you're a genius. And the best brother a sorceress could ask for."
"Okay, I'm ready... I think." As Cordelia made to leave, she bumped into the drawers with the potions on them. "Oops. Still a little nervous."
"Don't worry, Cordelia." Cedric assured her. "This will be one Sorceress Ball no-one will ever forget!"
As Cordelia walked out of the room, Cedric poured some of the Smoke Serum bottle's contents onto his hand, and threw it at Cordelia.
"Explosio Sublimo!" He chanted.
A cloud of white smoke enveloped Cordelia. When the smoke cleared, Cordelia's hair was short, grey, and spiky.
"Thank you, thank you!" She bowed. "Yes, the look is quite fabulous, isn't it?"
The crowd looked at her, horrified.
"So that's what happened to mummy's hair!" Callista gasped.
"Cordelia, your hair!" Cedric hissed.
Cordelia felt her hair, then looked in a mirror, seeing what had happened.
"No, no, it can't be!" Cordelia screamed. "This is all your fault!" She turned and yelled at Cedric.
"Uh... I have no idea how that happened!" Cedric cringed. "But I can fix it! Unduo Immediato!"
Cordelia's hair turned the same green shade it was in the present.
"Stop! You're making it worse!" Cordelia yelled. She ran into her father's arms and started crying.
"Oh, he's a bit of a bungler, after all." One woman said of Cedric.
"Not much of a sorcerer, is he?" Another frowned.
"Not at all like his father." A third woman declared.
"No! Stop saying those things!" Cedric yelled, as the crowd started laughing. "Stop laughing! It's not true! Oh, Merlin's mushrooms!"
"I think that was 'the incident'." Sofia frowned.
"Outo Reflecto!" Callista chanted, returning them to her room.
"I can't believe what I just saw!" Madeline gasped.
"Believe it, Madeline."
The girls turned to see Cedric standing in front of them.
"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia gasped. "Did you see-?"
"Everything." Cedric nodded. "I saw everything. My life was never the same after that day. Everyone in the kingdom: Cordelia, my father, your father... from that day on, they all thought of me as... Cedric the bungler. And the worst part is, it was not my fault."
"What do you mean?" Madeline asked.
"You saw!" Cedric pointed at the mirror. "I was able to do the magic smoke spell perfectly the first time I tried it! It's simple. You just sprinkle the Smoke Serum, and say the right words. There's no way I could have messed it up!"
"But what happened to Miss Cordelia's hair?" Sofia frowned.
"Oh, it doesn't matter!" Cedric groaned. "Everyone will always believe it's my fault! That horrible day has haunt me my entire life." He turned to Callista. "Just as it's haunted your mother. No-one could ever fix her hair, you know. Not even our father."
"Poor mummy." Callista sighed.
"Well, we don't think you're a bungler." Madeline smiled. "Right, Sof?"
"Right." Sofia nodded. "You're a great sorcerer. That's why we asked you for help with our homework."
"Well, I think it's high time we tackle that assignment, girls." Cedric smiled.
Cedric led them to his workshop.
"Here we are- whoa!" He gasped as they entered.
Cordelia was using her wand to move all of Cedric's potions around.
"What are you doing in here?" Cedric frowned.
"Just tidying up your messy workshop, Cedric." Cordelia answered, making the bottles fly into drawers.
"Those are my eyes of newt!" Cedric grabbed a jar. "Where are you putting them?"
"In with your other newt parts." Cordelia answered. "You, silly brother, had them with your eyes of dragon!"
"Of course I did!" Cedric scowled. "Eyes go with eyes!"
"Newt goes with newt." Cordelia retorted.
"That's ridiculous!" Cedric shot back.
"What's ridiculous is how disorganized you keep this place!" Cordelia frowned. "It's no wonder you have such trouble casting spells!"
"...Cordelia, I cast plenty of spells." Cedric declared. "In fact, I was just about to help Sofia and Madeline with a very important spell for their royal homework, so I kindly ask that you keep out of our way. Sofia, Madeline, if you please?"
The girls both a watermelon and their homework scroll on a stand.
"Okay, we need to shrink a watermelon down to the size of a grape." Madeline announced.
"First ingredient: grape seeds." Callista read.
"Yes, yes, yes." Cedric walked over to some shelves. "I keep them right over here- Cordelia! Where have you put my seeds?!"
"I placed them tidily in that drawer." Cordelia pointed.
Cedric walked over to a drawer and opened it. A swarm of insects crawled all over him.
"Not that drawer!" Cordelia shook her head. "That's where I put your Creepy Critters!"
Cedric used his wand to zap the creatures, making them fly back into the drawer.
"Cordelia, your 'tidying' is causing nothing but trouble!" He snarled. "I can't find what I need to help the Princesses with their homework!"
"Oh, I think I have a solution!" Cordelia declared. "I will be happy to help you, girls!"
"No, thank you." Sofia said politely. "We already asked Mr. Cedric."
"I don't mind at all!" Cordelia shrugged. "And this way, you don't have to worry about Cedric botching things!" She whispered.
"I heard that, Cordelia!" Cedric scowled. "And I shall be the one helping Sofia and Madeline!"
"Nonsense, I'll do it!" Cordelia waved her wand, causing a jar to fly out of a drawer.
"Here are the grape seeds." She opened the jar and flung its contents on the watermelon.
"Grape seeds!" Cedric did the same.
"But that's twice as much as it needs!" Callista protested.
"I'll get the unicorn hair." Cedric declared.
"I've already got it!" Cordelia floated over some.
Both siblings started taking lengths of hair.
"Stop, both of you, please!" Madeline yelled.
"Oh, please get the Dwindle Dust?" Cordelia asked. "I'd be happy to!"
"Oh, not before I do!" Cedric growled.
They both waved their wands, summoning the container of Dwindle Dust, then started covering the watermelon with it.
"Wait!" Sofia yelled. "Dwindle Dust is very powerful!"
Both Cedric and Corelia grabbed the container and turned it upside down, showering the watermelon with Dwindle Dust.
"And now for the magic words!" Cedric growled.
"Reduco Extremis!" Cedric and Cordelia said at the same time.
A flash of light erupted from their wands. When it cleared, the watermelon was still the same size.
"It didn't shrink." Madeline frowned.
"Well, something must have gone wrong." Cedric mused.
"Well, of course it did." Cordelia sneered. "Because you're here!"
"That's it!" Cedric yelled. "I am through with your insults, Cordelia, and I am through with you! I am leaving!"
Cedric made to leave the workshop, but hit his head on the doorframe.
"Ow!" He yelped. "What did you do to my door?"
"I didn't do a thing!" Cordelia scowled.
"I walk through here every day without hitting my head." Cedric declared.
Suddenly, there was a red glow, and the entire workshop shrank slightly.
"No, Mr. Cedric, I think the door is shrinking!" Sofia declared.
"And the scroll!" Callista pointed out. "It used to be larger, didn't it?"
"Merlin's mushrooms!" Cedric and Cordelia gasped together.
"Something went wrong with your spell!" Cordelia realized. "Instead of shrinking your watermelon..."
"It's shrinking the castle and everything in it!" Cedric yelped.
The room shrunk a little more.
"Oh no!" Madeline gasped.
"Even us?!" Callista asked.
"No, Callista." Cedric declared. "Dwindle Dust doesn't affect people. It's everything else that will get very, very tiny!"
"Until the entire castle is the size of a grape!" Cordelia added.
"Can you fix it?" Sofia asked.
"Of course." Cedric nodded. "I know a counter-charm!"
"Oh, don't be silly." Cordelia scoffed. "I'll have to fix this myself."
"Please, somebody fix the castle before it's too late!" Madeline pleaded.
"I intend to!" Cedric raised his wand.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Cordelia lowered it.
"They'll never fix the castle if they don't stop fighting!" Callista groaned.
"Trust me, I can do it!" Cedric insisted.
"The last time I trusted you, you did... this!" Cordelia removed her wig.
"For the millionth time, that was not my fault." Cedric spat. "I said the magic words perfectly! Something else must have gone wrong with that purple Smoke Serum, but I am not to blame!"
"Did he say 'purple Smoke Serum'?" Sofia asked. "I thought it was white."
"That's how I remember it, too." Madeline nodded.
"It started off purple, I'm sure of it." Callista declared.
"Maybe something did happen to the Smoke Serum." Sofia declared.
"And maybe the 'incident' wasn't Mr. Cedric's fault after all!" Madeline surmised.
"Just admit you messed up that smoke spell, just like you messed up this shrinking spell, Cedric!" Cordelia yelled.
"Well, if we want them to stop fighting and fix the castle..." Callista frowned.
"We'd better go find out." Sofia nodded.
"Father and mother always bought you brand new wands, and lucky me, I was left with your hand-me-downs!" Cedric yelled at Cordelia, while the girls rushed out of the workshop.
As the girls headed towards Callista's room, the castle shrunk again. Once they reached the room, they saw that the Looking Back Glass had also been affected.
"Oh no, the mirror!" Madeline gasped.
"It's half its size!" Callista declared.
"Well, as long as it still works." Sofia shrugged. "Show us that Sorceress Ball again!"
"Entabo Reflecto!" Callista chanted.
They returned to the scene from before, arriving just after Cedric showed off the Smoke Serum.
"This is marvelous!" Cordelia hugged her brother. "Cedric, you're a genius."
"There, see?" Callista pointed at the Smoke Serum jar. "The magic Smoke Serum is purple!"
"But I don't think it stays that way." Madeline frowned. "Keep watching."
"He's putting it down." Callista noted, as the scene continued.
"Alright, I'm ready." Cordelia said again. "I think." Once again, she bumped into the drawers. "Oops. Still a little nervous."
As the girls watched, the hair potion fell over, the contents pouring into the Smoke Serum bottle.
"Look! She spilled her fancy hair potion into the Smoke Serum bottle!" Sofia pointed.
"And they didn't see it happen!" Callista added.
"And that's why it went wrong!" Madeline frowned.
"Don't worry, Cordelia." Cedric assured his sister. "This will be one Sorceress Ball no-one will ever forget!"
"No, mummy!" Callista yelled. "Don't go out there!"
"She can't hear you, remember?" Sofia reminded her.
"At least, this Cordelia can't." Madeline declared. "We've got to go back!"
"Outo Reflecto!" Callista chanted.
They exited the Looking Back Glass, and saw everything was even smaller.
"Things have shrunk even more!" Callista gasped.
"We've got to hurry!" Sofia urged.
Picking up the Looking Back Glass, they raced back to the workshop.
"The ceiling is getting lower!" Callista yelled.
"And the walls are getting closer!" Sofia noted. "Keep going!"
As they climbed up the steps to the workshop, they found themselves with less and less room to move.
"Hurry, or we won't make it through that door!" Madeline instructed.
As they squeezed through the door, Cedric and Cordelia were still arguing.
"Just admit you messed up that smoke spell like you messed up the shrinking spell!" Cordelia demanded. "I could stop the shrinking if you would just stay out of my space!"
"Believe me, I'd like nothing more!" Cedric scowled.
"You both have to see something, right away!" Sofia declared, holding up the Looking Back Glass.
"Show us right before uncle Ceddy cast his magic smoke spell!" Callista instructed.
"I'd rather not watch myself get humiliate- Ooh, look how beautiful my hair was!" Cordelia cooed.
"Alright, I'm ready." Past Cordelia said. "I think."
"Watch the Smoke Serum carefully." Madeline declared.
"Oops. Still a little nervous." Young Cordelia declared.
Cedric and Cordelia watched as the hair potion spilled into the Smoke Serum.
"I bumped the table..." Cordelia gasped.
"And mixed the potions!" Cedric gaped.
"And that's why the magic potion changed my hair." Cordelia realized. "It was... my fault the spell went wrong. I was the bungler!"
"And you blamed me all these years..." Cedric sighed.
"Mr. Cedric didn't mess up that spell." Sofia smiled. "He's a great sorcerer, who has an idea how to stop this castle from shrinking."
"Don't you, Mr. Cedric?" Madeline asked.
"I do." Cedric nodded.
"Then do it, Ceddy." Cordelia urged. "I believe in you."
"Do you really mean that?" Cedric asked.
"Yes, I do." Cordelia smiled.
The room shrunk a little more.
"Mr. Cedric, we have to hurry!" Sofia cringed.
"Well, you can only stop Dwindle Dust with more Dwindle Dust!" Cedric declared.
"We still have some." Cordelia nodded. "Second drawer on the left!"
"Allow me, Cordy." Cedric nodded. He tried to get to the drawer, but had no room to move. "I can't quite reach it!" He ran a finger over the tiny drawer, to no avail. "It's too small, and my fingers are too big!"
Callista climbed over the others, and opened the drawer herself, extracting the tiny Dwindle Dust container.
"Got it!" She smiled.
"Good girl." Cordelia nodded. "Now, hand the Dwindle Dust to your uncle!"
Callista gave Cedric the container, and removed the top.
"From Dwindle Dust to mighty brew, undo this spell we never meant to do!" Cedric said as he spread the dust.
There was a flash of light, and everything returned to its normal size.
"You did it, Cedric!" Cordelia cheered.
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Cedric grinned.
"Of course you did." Madeline agreed.
"You know, you're a pretty great sorcerer." Sofia smiled.
"Which I should have seen all along." Cordelia admitted.
"Cedric!" Roland entered the workshop. "What have you done to the castle?"
"Actually, I can explain, your majesty." Cordelia declared. "I caused the castle to shrink, and Cedric fixed it."
"Oh, that is... not what I was expecting to hear." Roland said, surprised. "Uh... thank you, Cedric."
"You shouldn't assume everything is his fault, you know." Cordelia told him.
"Well, that's strange to hear, coming from you." Roland pointed out.
"Well, I learned something today." Cordelia admitted.
"Yes!" Madeline nodded. "Mr. Cedric didn't really cause the incident!"
"Hmm?" Roland mused.
"It's true." Cordelia nodded. "I did."
"And Cordy, now that we know which two potions caused the spell to go wrong, we can finally fix your hair!" Cedric announced.
"Can we? Can we really?" Cordelia gasped.
"I believe so." Cedric drew his wand.
"Oh, Ceddy, hurry!" Cordelia took off her wig.
"Mixed up potions, mistaken brew, grow my sister's hair anew!" Cedric chanted.
In a flash of light, Cordelia's original hair returned.
"It's back!" She squealed. "Oh, my lovely hair is back!"
"Well done, Cedric!" Roland smiled.
"Thank you, sir." Cedric nodded. "And Sofia, Madeline, I believe we still have some homework to do."
"Great!" Sofia beamed.
"But maybe this time we can try it outside?" Madeline suggested.
"I think that would be a very good idea, princess." Cedric agreed. "Come along, everyone."
They all left the workshop, Cedric and Cordelia arm in arm.