Whizardy Witch and The Magic Mirror Whizardy Witch is always whizzing around. She is the fastest witch in the Land of Magic. “Zoomedy zoom, let’s go broom,” she squeals, making her broom- stick go faster. Whiz, and off she whizzes. One day, Whizardy Witch was on her way to visit her cousin Whizby when she noticed an old woman acting a little strangely as she was walking slowly across the meadows below. The woman glanced up at her and waved to attract her atten- tion. Whiz slowed her broomstick and flew down to see if the old woman needed any assistance. “Hello!” the old woman said pleas- antly. “Thank you for flying down. I wonder if you could help me please.” Whiz was always ready and willing to help whenever she could. “What would you like me to do?” she wondered. “I have lost a pretty little mirror,” continued the old woman. “It is golden in colour and only about the size of my hand, but it is very pre- cious to me and I can’t find it anywhere.” “Do you think it is somewhere nearby?” Whiz asked a little puzzled. “I had it a few moments ago and now it is gone. It must be lying here in this thick grass, but I can- not see from the ground. Perhaps you could look from your broomstick?” Whiz nodded and flew up above the old woman’s head. She care- fully zig-zagged back and forth trying desperately to see the miss- ing mirror. After many attempts Whiz flew back to the old woman whilst shaking her head. The task seemed hopeless. “Perhaps a searching spell or a calling spell would help,” suggested Whiz. The old woman shook her head slowly, “The mirror is a magic mir- ror and cannot be found using any spell.” “Do you think it is hiding from you?” Whiz wondered. “Perhaps it is using its magic to stay hidden?” The old woman sighed sadly, and tears appeared in her eyes, “The mirror belonged to my grand- mother and mother before me. I hope it would not want to hide from me as it is so precious to my family.” “Could it have been stolen then?” Whiz struggled to understand. “Did you meet anyone else before the mirror was missing?” The old woman thought for a mo- ment then shook her head again, “The only person I have seen is you and perhaps a few birds. But that is all.” Whiz suddenly had an idea, “You didn’t see a large old crow, by any chance, did you?” The old woman half nodded, “Yes I think so, well I heard a crow caw- ing more than I saw it.” “Ah,” said Whiz knowingly. “That may be the answer to this riddle. There is a clever old crow around here, who most people call Pick- Pocket because he is very quick at snatching shiny things that catch his eye.” “Do you think he may have stolen my mirror?” the old woman wondered. Whiz nodded and smiled, “I don’t know for sure. You keep looking here, just in case, and I will go and pay Pick-Pocket a visit to see if he is the guilty party. I will be back shortly.” The old woman thanked her as Whiz called to her broom and whizzed off towards the dark forest at the far side of the meadows. A few minutes later she arrived at a small clearing and looked down onto a great big old oak tree. Amongst the branches stood a massive nest constructed of thou- sands of woven leaves and twigs. Sitting inside, on top of piles of looted jewellery and glittery treas- ures, perched a large black crow with a bright green beak. “Have you just taken a mirror from an old woman in the meadows?” Whiz asked accusingly. The old crow ignored her and rudely placed its head under its wing. “Did you hear me,” demanded Whizardy Witch more forcefully. “Go away, and leave me alone,” a muffled voice sounded from under the wing feathers. “You will not like it if I put a truth spell on you Pick-Pocket,” Whiz warned menacingly. The old crow shifted his head so one eye peeped over the edge of his large wing. Whizardy Witch looked very sternly at him. “And what if I did,” he said glibly. “Finders keepers I say!” “If you have that mirror, I want it back. You had no right to steal it. It has been in that old woman’s fam- ily for generations and it does not belong to you.” “I didn’t steal anything,” the old crow argued. “Found a pretty little trinket lying in the meadow grass, I did. I found it and I am keeping it. I don’t know who had before me, but it is mine now and you can go away young witch and leave me alone.” Whiz was infuriated at the cheek of this old crow. She reached inside her satchel and pulled out two bright red leaves pointing them menacingly at its head, “This is your last chance Pick-Pocket. Give me back the mirror or you will re- gret this for a long time to come.” The old crow stood up slowly to his full height and confronted Whizardy Witch confidently, “Your magic will not work here young witch. You see, this little mirror is immensely powerful, and your threats are meaningless to me.” He waved the mirror, with one of his feet, at Whizardy Witch and she suddenly felt very weak and un- steady. Her broomstick wobbled unnervingly as the magic mirror af- fected them both. “It is you who will go away and you who will regret it if you do not.” The old crow cawed sickeningly as he waved the mirror triumphantly. Whiz frantically drove broomstick down towards the ground and struggled to fly away from the powerful mirror’s magic. After a few minutes, the affects began to wear off. “Let’s go and find that old lady again,” she called to broomstick. Together, they spluttered off to the meadows where the old woman was still hunting hopefully. “I know where it is,” shouted Whiz as she approached. The old woman’s face dropped when she realised Whizardy Witch did not have her mirror with her. “That old crow has it, but I couldn’t get it from him. The magic was too powerful for me.” The old woman nodded. “That could be a problem,” she shrugged. “If the mirror has al- lowed the crow to command it then it may not want to come back to me.” Whiz was even more puzzled, “You mean the mirror can choose who it wants to be with? I thought you said it had been in your family for generations.” The old woman explained that the mirror was a gift from a mighty wizard from a country far from the Land of Magic. This was in payment for a great debt owed to their fam- ily. However, the gift came with one condition, the mirror had to want to stay with the family. It was free to leave whenever it chose. “If it has now chosen another keeper then my possession is broken,” the old woman said tearfully. Whiz thought hard for a few mo- ments then had an idea. “The only way to find out for sure is for you to go and ask,” she said knowingly. “If the mirror wants to stay with that old Pick-Pocket crow then there is nothing, I can do about it. But if it wants to be with you then there is no way he is keeping it.” Whiz helped the old woman to sit on her broomstick and together they flew over to the oak tree in the forest. The woman looked up into the branches above and pleaded to her mirror, “Magic mirror friend of mine, precious oath you made to bind, come here now and be with me, in my hands we both will see.” For a few fleeting moments it seemed nothing would happen then suddenly the crows nest shook violently as the mirror forced its way through the tangle of twigs and branches. In a flash it settled happily in the old woman’s grasp leaving the crow above cawing loudly in protest. “You had better remain silent,” threatened Whizardy Witch holding her two red leaves again in her hand and pointing them firmly at the crow. “This time there will be no magic to protect you from my spell.” The crow reluctantly slinked back into his tatty nest grumbling and cawing angrily. The old woman’s face was a picture of happiness as she was reunited with her precious possession, “Thank you, young Whizardy Witch, I think you must be the kindest most helpful witch in all the Land of Magic.” *** And that is the story of Whizardy Witch and the Magic Mirror.