Free Fairy School Drop-out by Meredith Badger

Chapter One
    I f you happened to look through the kitchen window of 27 Raspberry Drive at 7:50 last Friday morning, you would have seen something so totally normal you wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Mrs Knottleweed-Eversprightly was rushing around, trying to find her toolbox before she flew off to work. Mr Knottleweed-Eversprightly was there too, making sandwiches at the kitchen bench. Kara, the baby, was in her high chair, drooling as usual. And Kara’s big sister Elly was eating her muesli and reading a comic book before she headed off for school. It was, in fact, all very dull. You might have even yawned a bit before you went on your way because the scene in the kitchen was so boring. Maybe you would’ve told yourself that you should really stop staring in other people’s windows, because you never saw anything interesting anyway.
    But if you had been a bit more patient and had stayed looking in the window a little longer, you would’ve seen something very strange start to happen. Not the sort of thing that happens in the average household at breakfast time at all. At 7:55, Elly’s muesli bowl began to quiver. Two minutes later it started rocking from side to side. At exactly 8 o’clock, the muesli bowl hopped across the table seven times, splashing milk around as it did. Elly tried to pin it down with her spoon but the bowl kept sliding out of the way. Then at 8:01, the bowl floated up into the air.
    â€˜Stop that!’ Elly said crossly, trying to grab it. ‘Come back here immediately.’
    But the muesli bowl continued floating higher and higher until it was positioned directly above her head. Elly had a feeling she knew what was coming next but there was nothing she could do except squeeze her eyes shut. Sure enough, the bowl tipped upside down and Elly found herself covered in sultanas and oats, with a river of cold milk flowing down the back of her neck.
    Kara laughed and banged her spoon on her highchair. Elly removed a bran flake from her ear and glared at her baby sister.
    â€˜You did that on purpose,’ she said. ‘Everyone else might think you’re cute and innocent but I know better. You’re too smart for your own good.’
    Kara did what any baby would do. She drooled some more. But this wasn’t ordinary drool. Kara’s drool sparkled like it was filled with tiny crystals.
    Mrs Knottleweed-Eversprightly rushed into the room.
    â€˜Elly, have you seen my ...’ she started, but stopped short when she saw her breakfastcovered daughter.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ she asked crossly. ‘There’s no time for messing around. You have to leave for school in a minute.’
    â€˜It wasn’t me, mum,’ explained Elly. ‘It was Kara.’
    Mrs Knottleweed-Eversprightly shook her head sadly. ‘Oh, Elly.’
    Elly knew what her mum was thinking. ‘But it’s true!’ she protested. ‘Why won’t anyone ever believe me that Kara knows magic? We’re fairies after all, aren’t we? We’re supposed to do stuff like that.’ It made Elly grumpy that no-one ever believed her. To make matters worse she could feel a cold, mushy bran flake sliding down her back.
    Elly’s mum sighed. ‘Kara’s far too young to know any magic.’
    â€˜Well, it wasn’t me,’ grumbled Elly, but there was no point arguing. The most annoying part was that Elly knew there was no way she could’ve made the bowl rise like that, even though she was much older than Kara and was already going to one of the best fairy academies in Fairydom. In fact, Elly had already been to three of the best fairy academies in Fairydom – but unfortunately, she’d also been expelled from two of them. Both times it had been because of things she’d done accidentally, although no-one believed her. That was the problem with coming from a famous fairy family – everyone assumed that you knew exactly