Uma had worked at the Fish and Chips Shoppe her entire life, from when she was so little she could barely see above the counter, until she was old enough to wear an apron, carry a tray, and take an order. She recognized most of their regulars, and when new customers walked in, Uma always paid attention. So when the Sorcerer’s Intern entered on Gil’s arm, Uma spotted her right away.

She and Harry were whispering by the counter when they arrived. Uma nodded to Gil, who waved back and signaled for Uma to come over. She shook her head. She wanted Gil to talk to Sophie for a little bit, soften her up before Uma went in for the kill.

Harry slunk away and Uma went back to work, slamming down trays and yelling at patrons who dared not to tip, pointing to the sign—TIP OR ELSE!—that hung by the exit. After an hour, Gil sidled up to the counter that Harry was leaning on and Uma was wiping with a rag. “Are you ready to talk to her yet?” he asked Uma, a desperate tone in his voice.

“Why, are you out of conversation?” Uma asked.

“Almost! We’ve been sitting over there forever. I did what you said. She thinks we’re on a date. Keeps asking me about my hobbies and whether I enjoy long walks on the beach. I’ve seen a lot of pictures of her cats,” he groaned. “I told her you wanted to chat now.”

“Fine. Harry, stay close in case I need you.” Uma squared her hat on her head and walked over to the table, to where a young woman in a red wizard’s robe was seated, sipping bilge and snacking on a side of fried clams. “Hi, Sophie?”

“Hey, Uma,” said Sophie. “These are great! What do you guys put on them?” she said, motioning to the plate of clams and wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“You don’t want to know,” said Uma frankly. “I mean…Cook has a fabulous recipe.” She realized that buttering up the clams, so to speak, was the way to get what she wanted from this girl. “Did you guys have a nice dinner?”

“We did,” said Sophie. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Come back again,” said Uma. “On Fridays we have the weekend special.” The weekend special was everything that didn’t sell over the week, but Uma didn’t say that.

“Okay, I will,” said Sophie. “I don’t really get to go out too much.”

“The sorcerer keeps you busy?”

“Yeah, there’s always papers to grade and research on his experiments. But I have nights and weekends off. It’s just a bit far from where we live.”

“I see,” said Uma. “I heard you’re not from here, like we are.”

“Yeah, I’m not. My family’s from Eden, actually,” said Sophie. “We live in the middle of the forest.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. It’s so green back home and so…well…not green here.” Sophie shrugged.

“You don’t have to say,” said Uma. “We know what the Isle is like.” She whistled to a server. “Bring us two pints of the best swill.”

“Oh wow,” said Sophie.

“My pleasure,” said Uma. “Gil is handsome, isn’t he?”

Sophie’s eyes flicked to Gil, who raised his bilge glass to her with a goofy smile. “Yeah, I guess, if you like brawny.”

“Who doesn’t?” said Uma.

Sophie giggled self-consciously. “Belle, I guess. Although she married Beast.”

Uma decided it was time to get down to business. “Anyway, you have a second?”

Sophie nodded and put away her napkin. “Gil said you had something magical for me,” she said, in a professional tone.

“He did?” Uma was confused for a moment until she remembered it had been her idea to tell Sophie that she had something for her. “Oh, right, I do.”

“You really have it?” Sophie asked, her neck tensing at the question. Whatever it was that she thought Uma had, it was clear it was incredibly important to her.

Like Gil, Uma decided the best answer was a definitive “Yes. I have it.”

“Oh, thank wizards!” said Sophie, smiling in relief. “I’ve been looking for it everywhere! Where’d you find it?”

“Around,” said Uma vaguely.

“I mean, I can’t believe the shop gave me a witch’s hat back!” Sophie grumbled.

“Right…”

“I just took it there because the brim was fraying,” said Sophie. “I should have just fixed it myself. I’m sure they sold the sorcerer’s hat to someone else.”

“The hat! You’re looking for the sorcerer’s hat!” said Uma.

Sophie was suddenly not as friendly. She frowned. “Yeah, and you said you had it.”

“Pointy blue one? With all those stars and moons on it? What’s so special about it?” asked Uma. She would never understand the ways of wizards.

“Nothing!” said Sophie abruptly.

“Nothing?” said Uma suspiciously.

“The professor doesn’t like to be without it,” Sophie finally admitted. “He’s a little sensitive about his bald spot.”

Uma raised an eyebrow. “That can’t be all it is.”

“Fine! Whoever wears the hat is able to use his power, except there’s no magic on the Isle, thankfully,” said Sophie. “But I still need to get it back. So, out with it. Do you have it or not?”

Uma slammed a palm on the table. “Of course I have it! And it can be yours if—”

“What do you mean if?” asked Sophie.

“If you give me something in return,” said Uma with a wicked smile. “Can’t get something for nothing, you know. Ursula’s rule. And you’re on our turf now.”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want for it?”

“Tell me where Yen Sid keeps my mother’s necklace,” said Uma.

“You want Ursula’s necklace?” asked Sophie.

“Are you deaf? Yes, I want her necklace—the seashell one!” growled Uma.

“But it’s broken; what would you need it for…?” said Sophie.

“I don’t care, I want it. It was my mother’s, and I want it back,” said Uma. “Sentimental value, shall we say.”

“You? Sentimental? As if!”

“It was my mother’s!” said Uma. “It’s rightfully mine.”

Sophie stuck her nose in the air. “Be that as it may, it’s the property of the kingdom now. It belongs in the museum,” she said in a superior tone. “The only reason it’s still on the Isle is—”

“The embargo,” said Uma. “I know.”

“I’m not telling you where it is,” said Sophie.

“Fine, then no hat,” said Uma.

“You don’t have it,” said Sophie.

Uma grunted in frustration and motioned for backup.

“Sophie,” said Harry, stepping up to the table from the shadows. “You’re surrounded. There are many of us and only one of you, and you don’t have any magic at your disposal. You’re going to lose. We don’t want to hurt you. But we could.”

She trembled. “I’m not afraid.”

Uma glared at her. “You should be.”

“Okay, so if I tell you where the necklace is, you’ll give me the sorcerer’s hat back,” said Sophie.

“Precisely.” Harry smiled and nonchalantly wiped his hook on the front of his shirt, so she could see how sharp it was.

“I can’t tell you where it is,” said Sophie. “I just can’t.”

“Why not? I’ll give you whatever you desire,” said Uma, trying a different tack.

“How? There’s no magic on the island, and last I checked you’re not Ursula, and I don’t need to sell you my voice for a pair of legs.”

“Not interested in princes, are you?” said Uma.

“Princes are boring. Have you even met Chad Charming? That’s all you need to know,” said Sophie.

“There are other things a girl might want. I don’t need magic to help you,” said Uma. “Tell me, there’s got to be something you need that you can’t have. A way out of your internship? A better apartment down at the Knob? Maybe even another date with Gil? Pirates over princes every time, am I right?”

Sophie shook her head. Uma and Harry exchanged a look and left the table—Uma ostensibly to serve other customers; Harry had no excuse but followed Uma anyway. “She won’t budge,” said Uma.

“You’re losing your touch,” said Harry.

“Oh, stuff it,” said Uma. “You couldn’t get her to spill either.”

Harry shrugged. “The Uma I know could talk the hat off a wizard.”

“If only we had the sorcerer’s hat,” said Uma. “Or if we could come up with something else she wants that I can give her.”

“Or else?” said Harry, holding up his hook with a wicked grin.

“If it comes down to that, yes. But hold on.”

Uma returned to the table empty-handed. “I don’t think you have it,” said Sophie, taking a last sip of her drink and gathering her things.

“Are you sure?” Uma smiled mysteriously.

Sophie hesitated, considering the odds. “I’m pretty sure….” She crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to have come to a decision. “We’re done here,” she said, getting up. “Tell Gil next time he should take me to the Slop Shop instead.”

“Wait, where are you going?” roared Uma.

“Home,” said Sophie. “I don’t need anything from you but the sorcerer’s hat, and you don’t have it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because. I’ve looked everywhere and so has Professor Yen Sid. If we can’t find it, no one can.” She regarded Uma with hostility. “Just admit you don’t have it already!”

“But I do!” said Uma.

“Prove it!” said Sophie.

“I will!” said Uma hotly, annoyed to be questioned. She stood from the table, her mind racing. Sophie mentioned losing it in a hat shop, which rang a bell….Why? Where had she seen a hat like the sorcerer’s? She knew she’d spotted it somewhere….But where?

Then she remembered.

“Gil!” she said, finding him throwing darts at the poster of King Ben on the wall. “Do you have those hats you bought from the shop the other day?”

“I do!” said Gil with a big smile. “But you said they didn’t look good on me.”

“I don’t need you to wear them, I need you to bring them back here.”

Gil ran off and came back carrying a big sack. “This one?” he said, showing her his white cowboy hat. “Or this one?” He held up a black top hat.

“No, the pointy one,” said Uma impatiently.

Gil reached into the bag once more and before he could say anything, Uma had already grabbed it out of his hand.

Uma ran back to the table, holding the pointy velvet hat aloft. “Is this what you’re looking for?” she asked Sophie triumphantly.

“Where on earth did you find it?” said Sophie, shocked and happy.

“Bought it at the hat shop, of course,” said Uma, dangling the hat with the tips of her fingers and walking dangerously close to the open flame in the center of the room. “Now tell me where Yen Sid is hiding my mother’s necklace. Or I’ll throw it into the fire.”