Two cousins develop an unlikely friendship as they are transported into a magical wizard world, where they must plot against the king in order to solve an old family mystery. It's bad enough that Max, who is in fourth grade, has a weird cousin who thinks he is a wizard; when his cousin, Sam, transfers to his school, things seem to have gone from bad to worse. But then Sam shows Max a magic wand and lets him try it-and it works! Max might just be a wizard himself. After the boys visit their greatgrandmother and find out the true story behind their family's gift for magic, they receive a key which opens an old box they find in her attic. As soon as Max turns the key, the boys are transported to Wizard World, where they must take a series of tests to be accepted into the Wizard Academy. What could possibly go wrong? Max and Sam are about to find out. In this action-packed tale of magic and friendship, two cousins embark on an unforgettable adventure in a magical world where they discover their talents and a surprising friendship as they plot against the Wizard King in order to solve a family mystery.

THE MAGIC COMES BACK

A Max and Sam AdventureBy Deborah Graham

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Deborah Graham
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4758-8

Contents

Chapter One The Wand..........................................1Chapter Two The Magic Doesn't Work............................7Chapter Three The Key.........................................11Chapter Four The Final Game of the Season.....................17Chapter Five The Wizard Trainer...............................21Chapter Six The Fire Test.....................................25Chapter Seven The Wind Test...................................29Chapter Eight The Water Test..................................33Chapter Nine The Missing Wand.................................39Chapter Ten The Diary.........................................43Chapter Eleven The Plan.......................................47Chapter Twelve The Wizard King................................53

Chapter One

The Wand

* * *

"You don't understand. It's bad enough to have a weird cousin who thinks he's a wizard, but having a weird cousin who thinks he's a wizard transfer to your school is like beyond bad—it's horrible," Max whined as he started stuffing his mouth full of his mom's famous chocolate chip muffins before he even sat down. The chocolate chips were still warm and gooey.

"Come on, sweetie, it can't be all that bad," Max's mom said as she tousled his already messy hair with her hand. She smelled like chocolate.

Max protested, "No, I'm serious—you have no idea how bad it is. Sam walks around at recess with his nose shoved in his stupid wizard books, muttering spells. All the kids make fun of him. It's so embarrassing to be related to him. I wish he had never moved to Toronto."

His mom looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "If the kids are picking on him at school, I hope you stand up for him," she said, with that tone that made Max feel all squeamish inside, like he had done something wrong even if he hadn't. Her usually happy blue eyes looked troubled.

"I do, Mom, but I just wish he was normal. Having Sam at my school is enough to make me hate grade four. Pleeeease, Mom, don't make me play with Sam today. It's Saturday. It's bad enough that I have to see him on a school day. Besides, it's the last game of the hockey season today. If we don't make it to the play-offs, this is my last chance to score a goal this year."

Max looked up at his mom with his big brown eyes. He knew she was a softie when he opened them wide and looked up at her. This time it wasn't working.

His mom started clearing the dishes as she said in a tone that Max knew was final, "Sam is family, and he hasn't really made friends here yet. I expect you to be nice to him. He'll be here any minute."

The doorbell rang. "Promise to be nice?" she said as she kissed him on the top of the head.

"I will. I promise," Max said as he rolled his eyes and slowly trudged to the door to let Sam in. Max couldn't help noticing that Sam's red hair, which was normally combed perfectly flat, was a bit messy and his shirt, which was normally tucked in, was a bit untucked. He was sort of dancing on his toes, and it looked like he was hiding something behind his back.

"Hi, Sam," Max said. "What do you want to do today?" Max crossed his fingers behind his back, silently hoping Sam would say something like road hockey or one of Max's new video games—anything but wizard stuff.

Instead, Sam looked mysterious and whispered, "I have something to show you. Let's go to the backyard, where your mom won't see."

Max followed Sam to the backyard, a tiny bit curious about what Sam wanted to show him.

Sam turned to Max and said, "I sent away for a magic wand from this really cool wizard company, and it arrived this morning. I haven't opened it yet. I saved it to show you."

Max tried not to roll his eyes, remembering his promise to be nice. He looked at the package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. There were strange symbols on the package—triangles inside circles and stars inside half circles. They looked familiar to Max, and his hands tingled, but he had no idea why.

Sam ripped off the brown paper and pulled the magic wand out of the box. He posed like a magician and held it up in the air.

"That's so lame," said Max, forgetting about his promise to be nice.

It didn't matter, though, because Sam didn't seem to notice in his excitement over the wand.

"Let's try it out!" Sam said as he looked around the backyard. He pointed the magic wand at a small wilted sunflower that was next to the garage.

Sam looked at Max and then back at the flower and said,

"Abracadabra, flower so small; Grow real quick to ten feet tall."

Nothing happened. Max was not surprised. Sam looked disappointed. He handed the wand to Max and said, "Here, you try."

Max rolled his eyes but decided to be a good sport and go along with it. He pointed the wand at the sunflower and said,

"Abracadabra, flower so small; Grow real quick to ten feet tall."

There was as park and a puff of smoke, and the sunflower was suddenly as high as the top of the garage.

"No way!" said Max.

"I don't believe it!" said Sam.

Max looked at Sam. "Is this some kind of prank?"

Sam shook his head with his eyes wide open and said, "Let me try," as he grabbed the wand back from Max. He looked around the backyard again. He saw a bubblegum wrapper in the middle of the lawn. He pointed the wand at it and said,

"Bubblegum wrapper, Turn into a firecracker."

Again, nothing happened. Sam gave the wand to Max, and Max pointed it at the wrapper and said,

"Bubblegum wrapper, Turn into a firecracker."

With a spark and a puff of smoke, the bubblegum wrapper exploded into a little firecracker. Once again, Max and Sam could not believe their eyes.

This had to be some kind of joke. Max turned to Sam and asked, "What the heck is going on?"

Sam said very slowly, "I'm not sure, but I am beginning to wonder if you are a real wizard."

Max looked at him like he was crazy. "Come on, Sam, for real, what's going on?"

Sam asked, "Have you ever heard anything about our great-great-grandpa being a wizard?"

Max shook his head, still looking at Sam like he was crazy.

Sam hesitated and then asked, "Has Nana ever asked you if your hands tingled?"

"Yeah, why?" said Max, suddenly wondering why his hands had just tingled.

"Well, she asked me the first day I moved here when she saw me unpacking my wizard books, and I said no. She looked sort of disappointed and told me it was a sign that someone has magic in them. Are your hands tingling now?"

"Not really," said Max. Now he wasn't sure whether he had felt his hands tingle or not.

Sam went on, "Last summer, when I was visiting Nana, I went up to her attic, and I saw an old black-and-white photo of our great-great-grandpa, and he was wearing a wizard hat. Ever since then, I've wondered if he was a wizard. I wanted to ask Nana, but I was afraid she'd be offended. After all, he was her father."

"He was probably just wearing a costume."

"I knew that's what you would say. That's why I never told you. But I thought now, maybe you'd believe me." Max didn't know what to believe. This day was getting stranger and stranger.

Chapter Two

The Magic Doesn't Work

* * *

Max and Sam were staring at where the bubblegum wrapper had been when Max's mom came outside. She had her long blond hair put up in a messy ponytail, and she had a bit of white flour...