Billy Wizard Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: New Boys

  Chapter 2: Weirdo

  Chapter 3: Wizards Like Chocolate Cake

  Chapter 4: Vanishing Rick

  Chapter 5: Zapped!

  Chapter 6: New Friends

  Also from Young Corgi Books

  Copyright

  About the Book

  What do you do if your new friend says he’s a wizard?

  It’s Joe’s first day at his new school – and he’s not the only new boy. But Billy says he’s not really a boy – he’s a wizard! Joe is pretty sure Billy is making it up. Then something very surprising happens at playtime, and Joe can’t help wondering …

  A very entertaining story about starting at a new school, from a highly acclaimed author/illustrator.

  Young Corgi books are perfect for building reading confidence.

  For my son, Adam

  Chapter 1

  New Boys

  “YOU’LL BE FINE, sweetheart,” said Joe’s mother as they reached the gates of his new school. The playground was full of chattering children and their chattering parents.

  “I know,” said Joe grumpily. He wished his mum would stop making a fuss.

  But even so, he did start to feel just a little bit nervous. After all, when he and his mum and dad had looked round the school, the children had been in assembly. It had almost been like looking round an empty school.

  Now the children were all grouped in huddles, talking and laughing.

  Every now and then one of them would look across at Joe and then turn back to his or her friends and talk and laugh some more.

  Joe looked up at his mother and she did her best to smile. She didn’t know anyone either and the other parents were looking at her just like the children were looking at him. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  “I hope Dad’s getting on all right,” she said. “It’s his first day too.”

  Joe didn’t say anything. He was cross with his dad. All this was his dad’s fault. His dad’s new job was the whole reason why they had moved to Little Hartley in the first place.

  Once upon time the word “new” had seemed like a good word – new book, new bike, new car. Not now.

  Now everything was new: new house, new job, new school and no friends. If Joe could have waved a magic wand, he would have turned everything back to how it was when they lived in Gaston. Everything had been fine then.

  At that moment, one of the children waved at him, smiled and shouted, “Hi!” and Joe smiled and waved and was about to shout, “Hi!” back when he realized the boy wasn’t waving to him at all but to someone behind him, and Joe pretended to scratch his head instead of wave and he could feel his ears going red. Then suddenly a teacher nearby rang a hand bell and Joe and his mum nearly jumped out of their skins.

  “Well … bye bye, sweetheart,” said his mother. “Have a lovely day.”

  “Bye, Mum,” said Joe.

  All the other children knew exactly what to do. They got into different queues and waited for their teachers to come out and lead them into the classrooms. The teacher they had met when they looked round the school – Miss Parker – smiled at Joe and waved him over and he nervously joined the end of the queue.

  He looked round at his mother and remembered that she was starting a new job too. He wanted to shout, “Good luck!” but thought he had better not. She blew him a kiss and Joe followed the children through the doors into his new classroom.

  Inside, all the other children bustled about, hanging their coats on their pegs and putting their book bags in one plastic basket and their playtime snacks in another. Joe just stood there looking lost until the classroom assistant, Mrs Michaels, came over and helped him.

  Mrs Michaels showed him a coat peg he could use and he put his book bag with the others. Mum had given him a banana for his snack and had drawn a smiley face on the skin. Joe smiled but put it in the basket smiley face down, just in case the other children thought it was silly. You couldn’t be too careful.

  Mrs Michaels showed him through into the classroom and Joe sat down on the carpet in front of Miss Parker as she looked through some papers on her lap and got ready to read the register. A boy nearby stared at Joe until Joe looked back, and then the boy looked away and pretended he had not been staring at Joe at all.

  “Good morning, class,” said Miss Parker suddenly.

  “Good morning, Miss Parker!” boomed the children.

  Joe tried to join in but was a little behind the others so that when everyone else had gone quiet, there was just Joe mumbling “… Miss Parker” all on his own. There were giggles and Joe tried to stop his ears going red again.

  “Now then, class,” said Miss Parker, clapping her hands together, “I wonder if any of you can remember what it was like when you first started school?” A boy nearby put his hand up. “Yes, Thomas?” she asked.

  “Miss, miss, I saw a fire engine on the way to school today, miss. I reckon there must have been a fire somewhere ’cos it had its lights on and everything,” he said excitedly.

  “Did it, Thomas?” she said with a smile. “Well, I’m sure that was very exciting, but can anyone remember their first day at school?”

  The boy who had been staring at Joe put his hand up.

  “Neil,” said Miss Parker. “What can you remember?”

  “It was scary, miss,” he said. “And I didn’t know anybody.” A couple of the girls giggled and the boy called Neil went a little red in the face.

  “That’s enough, Molly,” said Miss Parker, frowning at the most giggly of the girls. “It was scary. Yes, Neil. Starting school can be very scary, can’t it? And not knowing anybody can be a bit frightening too.” Everyone nodded.

  “Well, then,” she went on, “I want you all to close your eyes and have a little think about what it might be like if today was your first day at school and you didn’t know anyone.”

  Everyone closed their eyes. Joe wasn’t sure if he was meant to close his eyes. This was his first day, so he didn’t have to imagine it. A boy with curly hair picked his nose.

  “OK,” said Miss Parker. “Now I want you all to hold onto that thought of what it feels like to start a new school, because as you may already have noticed we have two new children in the class today …”

  Two? thought Joe, and he looked around trying to guess who the other new boy or girl was.

  “So let’s give our new classmates a big welcome,” said Miss Parker, “and make them feel at home. Joe” – she beckoned him towards her – “and you, Billy. Up you come and let everyone see you. Come on now. No one’s going to eat you.”

  Joe felt his ears going red again as he got to his feet and walked over to stand next to Miss Parker. The boy called Billy had been sitting right at the back and took a little longer to get there. He was about Joe’s height, but skinnier with a mop of blond hair. He looked miserable.

  The morning passed quicker than Joe had expected and all of a sudden it was playtime. Not knowing anyone in his class did not seem to matter when they were listening to a story or drawing a picture, but now, as he looked out on a playground full of children, Joe’s heart sank once more.

  He scanned the playground. He had to find the cool kids. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally end up making friends with the losers. These first few minutes might decide who he was going to play with for the next few years.

  The children were all rushing about in groups, intent on whatever game they were playing. Joe just stood by the wall and watched. Eventually one of the boys from his class – the one called Neil – came over.

  “Do you want to play?” he asked.
/>   “Don’t know,” said Joe suspiciously. Neil was the one who had said he had been scared on his first day. Joe remembered how the girls had giggled. You had to be so careful. “What are you playing?”

  “Dog, Cat, Monkey,” he said.

  “Cat, Mouse, what?” said Joe, frowning.

  “Didn’t they play Dog, Cat, Monkey at your old school?”

  “No, they did not!” exclaimed Joe.

  “What did they play then?” asked Neil.

  “Loads of stuff,” said Joe. “Loads of really cool stuff.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like … like … er … like …” began Joe, but the truth of it was that he could not remember a single game from his old school. Neil smiled and walked off. Joe muttered to himself and was still muttering when he realized there was someone standing next to him. It was Billy – the other new boy.

  “Hi,” said Billy.

  “Hi,” said Joe.

  “What a dump,” said Billy.

  “Yeah,” said Joe. “They tried to get you to play Dog, Mouse, Turkey yet?”

  “You mean Dog, Cat, Monkey?” said Billy. “No. I love that game, don’t you?” Joe muttered something under his breath. “Games like that almost make me forget about the spell and who I really am. For a while, anyway.”

  “The spell?” asked Joe. “Who you really are?”

  Billy glanced nervously about and stepped a little closer. Joe stepped a little back.

  “Look,” said Billy. “I shouldn’t tell you this. It’s against the rules, if you know what I mean.”

  “Not really, no.”

  “It’s just that I’m not really a boy,” said Billy.

  “You’re a girl?” asked Joe.

  “No, you idiot,” said Billy. “I’m a man. A grown-up.”

  Joe squinted at him suspiciously. “Well, you certainly look like a boy.” “Well of course!” said Billy. “What kind of spell would it be if I didn’t? Agatha may be an crazy old witch, but she knows her stuff.”

  “A witch?” Joe started to back off again.

  “Haven’t you been listening?” said Billy with a sigh. “She caught me off guard. You’d think an old wizard like me would know better, but there you are.”

  “A wizard?” said Joe.

  “Will you stop repeating everything I say?” said Billy. “It’s simple enough. I’m a wizard and I’ve been turned into a boy by a witch. What’s the matter with you?”

  “What’s the matter with me?” said Joe.

  Just then a teacher rang the bell right next to Joe, and he nearly jumped out of his skin again. But at least he could get away from Billy. He almost ran into the classroom. This is great, he thought. The only person who wants to talk to me is completely crazy.

  It was going to be a long day.

  Chapter 2

  Weirdo

  “SO,” SAID JOE’S mother when she picked him up from school. “How was your first day?”

  “OK,” he muttered.

  “Did you make any friends?” she asked.

  “Not really,” he said. “Did you?”

  His mother laughed. “No, not really,” she said. “We’ll both have to do better tomorrow.”

  Joe tried to smile, but it was like his face had forgotten how.

  “It’s nice to be able to walk home from school, isn’t it?” said his mum.

  “I suppose so,” said Joe. “But what if it rains?”

  “Then we’ll bring an umbrella, silly.” Joe shrugged.

  When they got home, Joe watched TV for a while, but there was nothing on that he liked. He went to his bedroom and lay on his bed and flicked through a book his gran had sent him through the post. A few pages in he came across a full-page illustration showing a wizard in long robes and a purple pointy hat all covered with stars and moons.

  He had a wand and there were sparks of magic streaming out of it. Joe thought of Billy at school and smiled.

  “Crazy,” he said to himself.

  It would be cool to be a wizard though. If something was not how you liked it, you could just change it – shazam! You would never have to put up with anything you didn’t like ever again. He could magic himself up a couple of really cool friends. It would be great.

  Joe’s father came home from work later. Joe listened to him go on and on about his new job and how great it was and how it was the best thing he had ever done. The people in his office were great and the job was really interesting and he was getting paid more money too. He asked Joe how his first day had been.

  “I don’t know,” muttered Joe.

  “Well, what did you do?”

  “Can’t remember,” said Joe.

  “Not even one teeny-weeny thing?” asked his dad with a smile.

  “No,” said Joe sternly.

  “Come on, Joe,” said his dad. “Don’t be like that.”

  But Joe was like that for the rest of the evening. He was like that through dinner and right through to bedtime. He hardly spoke a word until he said “Good night” to his mum after she had read a chapter from the book his gran had sent.

  “Try to cheer up, sweetheart,” she said. “And try not to give Dad such a hard time. It’s not easy for him either, you know.”

  “Hmmph!” said Joe. “He’s having a great time. You heard him.”

  Joe’s mum smiled. “He doesn’t want us to worry. But I’ve known Dad a lot longer than you, you know. He had a difficult day today. I can tell. He’s very shy, your dad.”

  “Shy?” said Joe. “Dad?”

  “Yes. Shy,” said his mum. “As a mouse. You never see him when he has to talk to people he doesn’t know. He gets so nervous. You wouldn’t recognize him. Now off to sleep and let’s see if you can’t wake up in a better mood.”

  “OK,” said Joe. “I’ll try.”

  But all Joe could think of was all the things they had left behind in Gaston and how different everything was here and how he hated it. Joe and his dad sometimes used to get a video out of the video shop and buy fish and chips. They would never find fish and chips like those. They were the best fish and chips in the whole world.

  Joe snuggled into Fred Bear, his teddy, and tried to think nice thoughts about school the next day. Laura Patterson, who lived a few doors down from him in Gaston, said he was too old to have a teddy, but his mum said you were never too old to have a teddy and anyway, what did Laura Patterson know about anything?

  Joe liked to talk to Fred before he went to sleep and it made him feel better to have someone to tell his troubles to. He seemed to talk to Fred more than ever these days. In fact, just to be on the safe side, he decided to go and get Floppy Pig, Monster, Furry Tiger and Dog as well.

  Joe piled them up along the pillow, leaving a gap for his head, and snuggled down again with Floppy Pig flopping over his ear. Furry Tiger tickled his nose as he tried to think of good things, but the only thing he could think of that made him smile was Billy.

  “Crazy,” whispered Joe to himself and fell asleep.

  The following day Joe’s dad was leaving for work just as Joe came downstairs for his breakfast.

  “Good luck at school today,” said his father, ruffling his hair.

  “Yeah,” mumbled Joe.

  “Bye,” shouted his father in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Bye,” his mother shouted back. “Have a good day.”

  “Thanks.” Joe’s dad opened the front door and walked over to his car. Joe watched quietly as he drove away.

  Joe ate his breakfast and got washed and dressed and brushed his teeth, and then he and his mother walked down the road to school. When they walked into the playground, Neil from his class smiled and said, “Hi.”

  “Oh, hi,” said Joe.

  Then Billy walked up to him, looking around suspiciously as usual. “Joe, Joe,” he said, “I’ve got to talk to you. Speak to you later, yeah?”

  “Yeah, sure,” said Joe.

  Billy’s mother called Billy over and was smoothing down his ha
ir. Joe smiled. Some wizard, he thought.

  “I thought you said you hadn’t spoken to anyone,” said Joe’s mother.

  “Well, I hadn’t really,” said Joe. “Just … just … Neil … and that boy over there – Billy. He’s a bit weird. He thinks he’s a wizard.”

  “A wizard?” She smiled. “I’m sure he’s just having a game with you. Anyway, I knew you’d make friends.”

  Mrs Michaels rang the bell and Joe and his mum jumped in fright.

  “I do wish they wouldn’t do that,” said his mother. “Have a lovely day.”

  “Yeah,” said Joe.

  “Love you,” said his mother, giving him a kiss. The girl from his class called Molly saw them and giggled.

  “Yeah.” Joe could feel his ears going red again.

  He trooped into class with the rest of the children. It was not so bad this time, because he now knew where to put his book bag and his snack. He hung his coat up on the peg that now said JOE, opposite one that was now labelled BILLY.

  The morning went reasonably well. They had the end of a story about a flying horse and then they had to write one of their own and do a picture to go with it. Joe liked writing and he was good at drawing, so he began to relax a little and almost enjoy himself.

  But at playtime he stood in his place by the wall, wishing he had not been so snooty about Neil’s offer of playing Dog, Cat, Monkey. It looked fun. He sighed and gazed down at his shoes. Maybe it was not too late to change his mind. He could always ask to join in.

  When he looked up again, a football was flying straight towards his face. In blind panic and without even thinking, he put his hands up to meet it and caught the football in mid air, a couple of centimetres from his nose. When he lowered the ball, Billy was standing right next to him.

  “Good catch,” he said.

  “Er … yeah. I suppose,” said Joe, staring at him. Someone whistled and he could see a group of children waving at him to throw them the ball. He tossed it back. He hated football. “What did you want to talk to me about?”