A Modern Wizard

• Jessica Moore, Grade 5, Invermay Primary School
• Short Story
• 2001

Finalist in the 'Zapped! 2001' competition

Oscar Van Quick-spell was working hard trying to make potion no. 652 from the Wizards potion handbook. He slowly added the ingredients to the cauldron and stirred. One bat’s wing. Five grubs. Two hours off a clock. Two hundred and twenty nine ants. Now a drop of princess tears.
“Why do I have to work in this dusty old castle?” thought Oscar. “I have been the Grand Master Makawish’s apprentice for two hundred years now and still I can’t get the hang of this magic stuff.” The castle was a depressing place to work. Little had changed in the last five hundred years since the Grand Master was a mere apprentice himself. The things that were in fashion back then were now considered to be from ancient history.
“I’m a modern kind of guy.” Moaned Oscar. “Look at this room. Cobwebs in all the corners and dust all over the bookshelves. The draughts are so cold they chill me to the bone.” That started Oscar off on his favourite daydream of a modern wizard factory with bright cupboards and central heating.
“Oh no! Did I put in one drop or two?” Oscar stirred cautiously. BANG! Although Oscar wanted bright colours, the red, green and orange smoke wasn’t what he had in mind.
“What have you done now?” roared Grand Master Makawish. Oscar’s knees knocked together and his hands began shaking. When the Grand Master shouted the whole castle shook like a bowl of jelly. “I don’t know what you mean.” Bluffed Oscar. “I followed the instructions exactly as they are in the book.”
“Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. I wasn’t born yesterday. Not only did you put in two drops of Princess’s tears but you didn’t count your ants properly. Even my one hundred year old son can do this recipe and he hasn’t even started wizard preschool yet.”
“Oh well” said Oscar. “I just don’t know what happens to me. My mind starts to drift off and before I know it I start thinking about modern things. I dream of no dust and perhaps less cobwebs everywhere. You could even wear rainbow-coloured robes Grand Master.
Just think, no black with gold stars”
“Rainbow colours? Rainbow colours?” thundered the Grand Wizard. Oscar was blown back three feet and a stack of books tumbled to the floor in a dusty crash. “Black with gold stars has been a wizard’s uniform for thousands of years. When Grand Master Havadream perfected the spell to change a puddle into the Pacific Ocean what did he wear? Black and gold of course. When Grand Master Trikortreat made Mt Everest out of a grain of sand what did he wear? Black and gold of course. This is what makes us special.
If we wore rainbow coloured clothes people would thing that we were clowns or dancers.
No, we are wizards and don’t you forget it.”
“No Master.” Said an apologetic Oscar with his fingers crossed behind his back. “If the Grand Master finds out about my rainbow coloured underwear and my purple hair under my wizard’s hat I think he might faint.”