I know what I have to do. This is my big shot. My chance to prove once and for all that I am not destined to be a sidekick. I am destined to be a leader. A hero. A winner!

Carlos paced the length of his dorm room. Back and forth. Back and forth. His roommate, Jay, was at the gym, lifting weights. Carlos was alone—alone with his thoughts.

And Dude.

“Woof!” Dude barked. He was clearly getting bored with all the pacing.

“Shhh,” Carlos commanded.

Dude groaned and curled up on the bed. Carlos could almost swear he saw Dude roll his eyes.

“This is serious,” Carlos explained to his scruffy brown dog. “I need to figure out a way to ensure that Fairy Godmother chooses me as a team captain for the scavenger hunt tomorrow. This might be my one and only chance to prove to everyone that I’m a leader!”

“Woof!” Dude replied.

Carlos smiled at the dog. “Thanks, buddy. I know you think of me as a leader. But what about Fairy Godmother? If she doesn’t think of me that way, then I can kiss my chances of becoming a team captain good-bye.”

Dude sighed and rested his head on his paws. Carlos scratched him between the ears. Carlos was running out of ideas. He’d already asked Jane if maybe she could talk to her mother and try to convince Fairy Godmother to pick Carlos as a captain, but Jane had adamantly shaken her head.

“Sorry,” Jane had replied. “My mother doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do. Especially when it comes to something as serious and competitive as the annual Auradon Prep Scavenger Hunt.”

So that option was out. But Carlos was getting desperate. And he was running out of time. The teams were going to be announced the next morning, and it was already eight o’clock at night. Carlos didn’t want to leave this to chance. What if Fairy Godmother didn’t see him as a leader, either? What if she saw him the way everyone else at the school seemed to see him: as just the nice guy who helped everyone out?

Carlos wondered if he should try to talk to Fairy Godmother himself, appeal to her, put his best foot forward. Maybe if he went to her office and tried to convince her of his leadership skills, she might—

“Woof!” Dude interrupted, jumping up from the bed and running to the door. “Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Carlos got up and opened the door. Usually when Dude barked at the door, it meant someone was coming, but no one was there.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Dude continued to bark.

“What’s the matter with you?” Carlos asked. “There’s no one there.”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” came Dude’s response.

“Dude,” Carlos complained. “Stop.”

“Woof! Woof! Woo—”

“Sit!” Carlos commanded, and Dude dutifully stopped barking and sat down on the floor. Carlos smiled. “Good boy.” Then Carlos chuckled and sat down next to his dog. “Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one around here who really takes me seriously.”

Dude looked up at Carlos and seemed almost to smile.

“Roll over!” Carlos said.

Dude rolled over, and Carlos rubbed his belly and sighed. “If only everyone else around here listened to me like you do.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Carlos was struck with a strange memory—a memory from the Isle of the Lost. It was kind of hazy and muddled, like most of his memories from the Isle. He’d tried to block all those out a long time ago.

But now he suddenly saw his mother’s face, heard his mother’s voice.

If you ever want anyone to do what you say, you’re going to need help….

Then he heard his mother’s loud cackle, and Carlos flinched. The memory of that laugh still terrified him.

But it did give Carlos an idea.

He jumped up from the floor and ran to his closet. He pulled down the giant duffel bag he’d used to pack all his things when he first came from the Isle.

He knew that memory he’d just had. He knew it was from the day he came to Auradon. He had been packing up all his things and his mother had come into his room and…

Whoever wears the collar gives the commands….

Carlos stuck his hand into the giant duffel, feeling around until his fingers brushed against something soft and worn and leathery. He had never even unpacked it. It fact, he’d forgotten all about it until that moment, mostly because he hadn’t taken it seriously. He’d never thought it would actually work. His mother had been getting more and more delusional, and she oftentimes stretched the truth.

But now, as Carlos pulled his hand out of the duffel to reveal the small red dog collar with the bone-shaped metal tag dangling from it, he had to wonder.

Could his mother be right?

Was the little dog collar really magic?