Wizardmatch

by Lauren Magaziner

  When Lennie finished, Poppop squinted at her. “There is much to consider. On the one hand, you saved everyone. But on the other hand, you brought danger to our doorstep. But on the other hand, you didn’t know you were bringing danger to our doorstep. But on the other hand, you knew you were doing wrong. But on the other hand, you didn’t seem to know what right was—”

  “This is making my head spin,” Ellington groaned.

  “My head only spins when I turn it three hundred and sixty degrees,” Bo said airily. “It’s my special talent. Besides turning things into birds.”

  “What I don’t understand is why,” Poppop continued. “What would make you want to join Humphrey in the first place?”

  Lennie took a deep breath. Here it comes, she thought. This was the moment she was working up to—the thing that was really on her mind. And though it was difficult to say out loud, she swallowed down her fear and drummed up her courage. “I was there. During your meeting with Mom, when you told her to choose Michael over me. I heard . . . I heard you say that I don’t have the Prime Wizard look. And that . . . and that I’m too different.” Lennie had to blink to hold back tears. Her family shook their heads and gave Poppop disapproving looks. Poppop flushed.

  “You heard all that?” he said. “I am horror struck! More horror than struck.” He paused, sighing. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  Lennie’s tears started to shake loose, so she stared down at her feet.

  “Lennie,” Poppop said, and she looked up into his hazel eyes again. “I was insensitive! Tactless! Thoughtless! A complete cad! I am truly and deeply sorry. And I do love you very much—I love all of my grandchildren very much,” he said, looking around at all the Pomporromp grandkids. “From now on, I’m going to work very hard to make sure you all get the love, attention, and respect you deserve.”

  Though it didn’t erase all the hurt he caused, her whole chest felt lighter. And she realized—Poppop wasn’t the only one who owed an apology.

  Lennie shuffled her feet. “I want to say—I’m sorry to all of you. Sabotaging Wizardmatch wasn’t the right thing to do. I hope you can forgive me.” It felt uncomfortable to apologize, like using a muscle she hardly ever flexed. But strangely, it felt good, too.

  She looked around at each of the families, hoping they knew how much she meant it. The silence was charged.

  But then Ellington inched closer and threw her arms around Lennie, and the whole family thawed.

  “Lennie, we forgive you,” Uncle Bob said.

  “We love you!” Aunt Macy said.

  Lennie melted in relief. As she looked up across the borderlands, toward the castle, she wondered if Uncle Humphrey deserved some of that same forgiveness, too.

  “What’s going to happen to Uncle Humphrey?”

  “OFF WITH HIS HEAD!” Mortimer cried.

  “If you can forgive me, maybe you can forgive him, too,” Lennie said.

  “Forgive!” Mortimer said. “I’m going to freeze him in a moat! How’s that for forgiveness?”

  “He’s kidding!” Estella said.

  “I AM NOT!” her poppop shouted. “I have never been, nor will ever be, a goat. But perhaps,” he said, drawing out a very long and very dramatic pause, “I should call my sister Winifred and apologize. After all these years, maybe we can put the past behind us. And . . . I shall probably leave Humphrey in the jam for a week. Then I’ll dig him out and try to make amends.”

  “I thought magic doesn’t work on the Jelly Floor!” Lennie said.

  “It doesn’t,” Poppop said. “But a spoon and a stomach work perfectly well. I’ve had to eat my way out of that blasted place before. I’m sure I’ll do it again.”

  Lennie smiled, but there was something still gnawing at her. Even though she’d gotten Poppop to apologize for the hurtful things he said, she didn’t actually change Wizardmatch. She didn’t stop the system. It had hurt Uncle Humphrey, it had hurt her, and if she didn’t do something about it, Wizardmatch would probably hurt someone else in the future.

  “I know you have to pick a Prime Wizard now,” Lennie said carefully.

  “Yes!” Poppop said with a giddy squeal. “Whoever—whomever?—I pick is going to be a very lucky Pomporromp!”

  “I just need to say something first.”

  Poppop looked surprised, but he did not interrupt.

  “The thing is . . . Wizardmatch is unfair to everyone,” Lennie said, remembering how she and Uncle Humphrey had talked about this very thing. “At the end of the day, you’re just going to pick your favorite, not the most talented or deserving. And the thing is: There’s no reason why people over fifteen can’t try for the title.”

  “Exactly!” shouted Jonathan, and Emma grinned.

  Gaining confidence, Lennie continued. “Did you even notice that three girls were eliminated first, right off the bat, no matter how they performed? And that the only girls in the competition are from families who had no eligible boys to choose from? And why do you think that is? All the past Prime Wizards have been boys! And the next one will probably be a boy, too. It’s a pattern that you just can’t break from!” she said loudly.

  “And I . . . I know you said I didn’t have the Prime Wizard look. And I just have to wonder . . . if I wasn’t both a girl and half-Filipino, maybe you would have given me a more serious shot. All I want is to have the same chance as everyone else—”

  “Life is inherently unfair,” Mortimer said, stroking his beard. “But I see your point.”

  “You do?” Lennie said.

  “Indeed. And I must say! I never understood how you felt . . . until now.” He paused. “To this effect, I am ready to select a Prime Wizard. One that breaks this so-called pattern. One that has impressed me beyond all reason. A young lady.”

  Lennie’s heart began to beat wildly.

  “Victoria de Applegrove!” Mortimer cried. “You are the next Prime Wizard!”

  “YAY!” Aunt Macy cheered. But she was the only one.

  “Victoria?!” came a few cranky voices.

  “Seriously?”

  Could someone be both surprised and not surprised in the same breath? Lennie wondered.

  Mortimer de Pomporromp twirled his beard. “She’s been very impressive to me, and I can just tell that she is wise beyond her years. Well, wise beyond her nine months. Besides, her name already has the word victor in it.”

  “More importantly,” Estella added, “Victoria made it through all three of the Wizardmatch rounds. With her force-field powers, the three-headed shark didn’t bite her, and the ghouls couldn’t touch her. And her shield was the only power that held up against Humphrey de Cobblespork’s magic.”

  Mortimer clapped his hands. “Yes, yes, congratulations, Victoria. You are the worthiest wizard of us all. You’ll do great!”

  Victoria drooled.

  “But I was so close to becoming Prime Wizard!” whined Julien.

  “So close, and yet SO VERY FAR,” Poppop Pomporromp said.

  “The rest of you can PET ME!” Fluffles suggested.

  “And come back to visit us soon,” Estella said.

  “Yes! From now on, family is always welcome at the estate. And,” Poppop added, “you and your family can all go back to exactly the way you were, like none of this ever happened.”

  That, Lennie knew, was impossible. There was no going back. Lennie turned to Michael, knowing that he was different, too. They’d weathered the worst sibling rivalry and come out the other side stronger.

  Lennie pulled him into a tight hug, and he—for once—melted into her embrace without fidgeting.

  Michael broke away first. “For a second, I really thought he was going to pick you! He should have picked you.”

  “No, he should have picked you,” she said. “You were so good during the competition!”

  Michael beamed.

>   “Are you kids okay?” their mom said. “Are . . . are we all okay?”

  It was hard. Lennie was still so angry. She wasn’t okay . . . Not by a long shot. But she was going to try to be. Lennie knew there was nothing left but to forgive Mom and Poppop and move on. Being angry forever was too painful. And she didn’t want to end up like Uncle Humphrey.

  “I’m not ready yet,” Lennie said to her mom. “But I will be. I . . . I just need more time.”

  Her mom nodded. “I understand.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Lennie said, and her mom kissed her forehead.

  “So what now?” Michael said to her. “What about our magic?”

  “Uncle Humphrey said he spent years training to expand his powers, so I thought you and I could—”

  “YES! YES! YES!” he said, and he flashed his gap-toothed grin.

  “It won’t be easy, you know. It will be really difficult. And slow going.”

  “So?” Michael said. “I’m not afraid of hard work. I bet I can learn magic faster than you!”

  “Cannot!”

  “Can, too!”

  “Cannot!”

  “Can, too!”

  “Well, whoever learns faster has to promise to teach the other what they learned. From now on, we’re on the same side . . . always.”

  “Deal!” he said, and they invisibly high-fived. Of course, he missed her hand and smacked her glasses.

  “OW!” Lennie howled, massaging the bridge of her nose.

  “We’re going to be so strong! LIKE AN ELEPHANT! LIKE A HERD OF THEM!” Michael said, flexing his muscles. Then he began popping invisible and uninvisible again, his tongue sticking out in the silliest of expressions.

  Lennie laughed, and for the first time in weeks, she felt hopeful. So what if she didn’t get unlimited powers handed to her, with a single wave of a magical staff? She could earn her magic. She was ready to break her back, bust her hump, and sweat rivers. Anything worth having was worth working for, and she understood that in a way her poppop never would. It was the one thing Uncle Humphrey got right.

  And, she thought as she looked at Michael—her brother, her blood, her sometimes rival, her greatest friend—the best part is we’re doing it together.

  Acknowledgments

  I am grateful to a handful of extraordinary wizards who gave this book a bit of their own spark and razzle-dazzle!

  Thanks to the Penguins with powers: Stacey Friedberg, Lauri Hornik (the Prime Wizard of Dial Books), Namrata Tripathi, Katie Quinn, Rosanne Lauer, Vanessa Robles, and the marketing and sales teams.

  Thanks to the wizards of art: Natalie Andrewson, Dana Li, Theresa Evangelista, and Mina Chung.

  Thanks to those who lent their editorial superpowers to this book: Anu Ohioma, Jewel Benton, Shaina Verma, Kathrene Faith Binag, and Caitlin Whalen.

  Thanks to the Writers House wizards: Brianne Johnson and Allie Levick.

  Big hugs and chocolate pudding to my big, fun, loving family. Aunts, uncles, and cousins: forever and always, family comes first. (P.S. I know who will play Uncle Randy in the movie.) Special shout out to my bubbie, Florence Gold, the ultimate matriarch of the family, who rules over us all with warmth and spaghetti sauce. With fond memories of my super poppop, Sidney Gold, who was far kinder and more progressive than Poppop Pomporromp . . . but who really did stick his dentures out at me.

  To the Magaziners—Robin, Neal, and Michael—you are way better than the families I write. You three are my superpower.

  Lastly, thank you to all the powerful women role models in my life, both imaginary and real. Most especially: Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is persistently strong and gracious and unwavering in the face of outrageous sexism. Thank you for inspiring this story. Your wizard power is an epic shimmy that stuns everyone in proximity for twenty seconds.

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