Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE,

Ruby dorm's hands had just met In a high five when the door rattled violently and the chair wedged under the handle fell over. The girls sprang apart as Sam came in. Sienna scowled at him. "Are you spying on us?" Sam blinked. "Spying on you? Why would I do that? No, I came to ask if you want to play a game of crossnet– Topaz versus Ruby." Lyra gave him a suspicious look. "Hmm." Sam raised his eyebrows. "Why? What do you have to hide?" "Nothing," she said quickly. "Absolutely nothing," agreed Ivy, shaking her head. Sam gave them a quizzical look and then shrugged. "OK. Well, the rest of Topaz are setting up at the crossnet pitch if you want to play." "We're actually a bit busy right now," said Lyra. "Doing what?" Sam said, looking around the empty classroom. "We're… um… helping Ivy with her extra homework," Evie said. "But I suppose we could play crossnet now if we helped Ivy after dinner," said Sienna, giving the others an eager look. Ivy nodded eagerly. "Yes, let's play now." Essays were boring and could wait until later. "Cool!" said Sam. "See you at the crossnet pitch. Don't be long." The girls collected their unicorns from the stables and rode to meet the boys, Sienna instructing everyone on team tactics. In crossnet two teams of riders had to gallop up and down the pitch, throwing a ball between teammates using sticks with nets on the end before shooting at the goals at either end. Lyra joined Nawaz at the centre of the pitch, ready to start the match. "Let's agree before we start– no magic allowed!" Nawaz nodded. "It wouldn't be fair seeing as not everyone's unicorns have found their magic yet." Sam and Flash looked disappointed. Flash's ability to pause time for a

few seconds was very useful in crossnet! Sienna got the ball first and she charged up the pitch on Sparkle, quickly scoring the first goal. "One to us!" she shouted, waving her stick. "Go, Ruby!" Everyone went back to their places and the game restarted. The teams hurtled up and down the pitch, dodging the opposition and passing the ball, clocking up goals until the score was six all. "The next goal decides who wins the match," said Sam. "I need a new stick, though; the net's breaking on this one." He cantered to the side and took another stick from the storage bag. When they started again, Lyra threw the ball to Sienna, who passed it to Ivy. She caught it deftly and urged Flame on. "Hang on tight, Ivy! We're going to score the winning goal," Flame whinnied, thundering back down the pitch, but, just as Ivy was about to shoot, Sam and Flash appeared. Sam whacked his stick into Ivy's, knocking the ball free. Suddenly Sam had the ball and was galloping away. "No!" Flame exclaimed, outraged. He stamped both feet angrily. Sam flung the ball towards the goal but it fell short. "What just happened?" he spluttered, looking at his stick in surprise. Before he could react, Lyra was on to the ball, scooping it up in her net and galloping back down the pitch towards the boys' goal. Sienna, Evie and Ivy all whooped and cheered as she scored.

"We won!" cried Sienna. "Ruby dorm is the best!" "No, you're not, you cheated." Sam held out his crossnet stick, which was much shorter than anyone else's. "Come on, own up. Who did this to my stick?" The girls looked at each other blankly. "It wasn't this tiny before. Someone must have shrunk it," Sam insisted. "Who can do shrinking magic?" Sienna started to giggle. "You doughnut! No one can. You probably grabbed a broken one when you swapped it." Sam gave in and grinned good-naturedly. "All right, you won. It was a good game." "Yeah. It was great," said Sienna. "Congratulations, you lot," said Nawaz. "Enjoy your victory cos next time we're taking you down," vowed

Archie. "Ha! In your dreams!" gloated Sienna. Talking and laughing, everyone helped put the equipment away before returning to the stables to settle their unicorns for the night. Ivy filled Flame's hay net then brushed him over. She chucked the brush on the floor so she could give him a goodbye hug. "I'll see you later," she whispered into his mane. "We're going to come back at midnight when everyone's asleep." "I can't wait!" said Flame. He stamped a hoof and pink and green sparkles shot into the air. Ivy caught the scent of something sweet and gasped. "Flame! That's the smell of magic. You must have found your power!" "But what is it?" said Flame, puzzled. Ivy and Flame glanced around. Suddenly Ivy burst out laughing. "Look at the grooming brush. It's the size of a doll's toy!" "I must have shrinking magic," breathed Flame.

Ivy's eyes widened. "Remember Sam's crossnet stick? I bet that was you. And–" she realised something else– "my cookie yesterday. It shrank, didn't it? We blamed the three-horned deer but it could have been magic." "I've found my powers, Ivy!" said Flame In excitement. "This is so exciting! My uncle has shrinking magic too." "Do you think you can make things bigger as well?" Ivy said, picking up the tiny brush. "This isn't much use this size!" Flame nodded. "Of course! My uncle can return things to their original size but not make them bigger than they were." "Have a try," said Ivy. "Actually… wait. Let me put it down first in case you shrink me or something," she added with a grin. "I won't make a mistake!" said Flame confidently. He barely waited for Ivy to put the brush down before he stamped his hooves. Sparks flew up and as they hit the brush it changed back to its original size. "See! Told you!" he said triumphantly. "That's amazing," said Ivy, beaming. "What's going on in here?" Lyra appeared in the doorway carrying a