Free The Boggart by Susan Cooper

lapped it from the other, or dropping spiky unexpected objects into her cat bed just as she prepared to lie down.
    Polly didn’t know what to make of him; her life had never contained an invisible nuisance before. Whenever she sensed that he was near her she would crouch warily in a corner, with her ears pricked. The family began to notice this after a while, and decided with regret that their cat, though lovable, must also be a little crazy.
    After the sheltered life he had led for so long in Castle Keep, the Boggart was at first baffled by the Volnik house. In Scotland he had never encountered anything electrical except the lights, telephone and radio in the Camerons’ shop, since the MacDevon had always flatly refused to have electricity in the castle. The first time the Boggart saw Maggie switching on the television set, to produce a bright flickering image of a small world inside a box, he was astounded. Clearly Maggie, like himself, could work magic.
    This was confirmed when he saw Maggie in the kitchen, with a magical whirring whisk that beat eggs all on its own at her command, and a magic kettle that boiled water without being set on the stove. Even when she cleaned her teeth in the bathroom, she had a toothbrush whose bristles magically buzzed up and down while her hand remained still. Maggie Volnik, the Boggart decided, must be a witch. It took him several days to realize that everyone else around him was capable of the same magic simply by pressing a switch that brought electric current out of a wire.
    After that, electricity became a challenge. The Boggart had to see whether this amazing strange power could be mastered by his own magic. Sure enough, it could. After a little practice, he could hover behind Maggie in the kitchen and make her electric beater stop and go backward, producing some gratifying splashing and shrieks. He could make the lights flicker as if a bulb were about to burn out, or make the telephone ring even though nobody was calling. Soon he found he could also change the channel on the screen of the television set. The day he first tried was a Saturday. Jessup was watching a hockey game, and Emily was sitting at the table drawing a map of Greece for her homework.
    Jessup howled suddenly. “Em! Put it back!”
    Emily looked up. “Put what back?”
    â€œThe game! C’mon, it’s the third period!”
    â€œAre you crazy? I haven’t done a thing.”
    â€œOh big joke, I know you’ve got the remote. Come on , I was watching the Maple Leafs and the Bruins and now I’ve got some old woman making a cake.”
    Jessup dived at the television set, without noticing the remote control lying peacefully at its side, and he clicked the knob — and found the cooking program facing him on every channel he turned to. He swung vengefully around and launched himself at Emily, who threw her book at him in self-defense.
    â€œI don’t have the remote control!” she yelled.
    The Boggart chuckled joyously, and small Polly the cat hissed at him from underneath an armchair. He took care not to repeat the same trick often. Instead he tried others, like turning the television set off — without touching the switch — at the climax of a thriller, or turning it on in the middle of the night. Robert called in a television repairman, who charged him fifty dollars and told him there was nothing wrong with the set.
    Robert was not seen often at home at the moment, since he was not only running his theater but directing its next production, Cymbeline. Maggie was coping with the arrival of her second shipment of furniture from Castle Keep, Emily was organizing a recycling drive at school, and Jessup was neglecting his computer and the Gang of Five for the sake of hockey practice. They all met at brisk intervals for breakfast and dinner.
    One breakfast time, Emily was filling lunch boxes. “Jess? You want peanut butter and jelly again?”
    â€œOf