It was, of course, Astrid who had pulled Poppy outside.

‘If you think I’m going to let you steal back that genie bottle, you can think again,’ Astrid snapped, pushing her bag firmly onto her shoulder. ‘Especially now I’m ready to make my next wish.’

Poppy looked at her sister nervously. She hated to think what Astrid would wish for now!

‘Maybe you should wait a bit before making your next wish, Astrid?’ she suggested.

But Astrid shook her head. ‘I’m not waiting,’ she insisted. ‘I’m totally sick of all these people following me around. I can’t even go to the toilet without them trailing along! I’m sick of them taking photos of me all the time – especially as they won’t get rid of the bad ones. But most of all I’m sick of them not actually listening to me!’

‘Really?’ said Poppy, pretending to look surprised. ‘They don’t listen to you?’

Astrid shook her head gloomily. ‘I know. It’s unbelievable. I thought they’d all be fascinated to hear my thoughts and stuff. But whenever I try to talk they just cheer right over the top of me. It’s so annoying. You know what I wish? I wish that no-one knew who I was anymore.’

‘Wish granted!’ Poppy grinned, promptly starting her wish routine before Astrid could change her mind. This time Poppy ended it by twinkling her fingers. It felt like a pretty good move, but there was no puff of smoke.

‘I hereby grant Astrid’s wish,’ she said dramatically. ‘No-one will know who she is anymore!’

Poppy tried to act like she was sure this wish was going to work. But inside she felt very jittery. The last wish seemed to have worked, but it might also have been a total fluke!

‘I don’t feel any different,’ said Astrid flatly. ‘It hasn’t worked.’

‘Look!’ said Poppy. ‘Everyone is coming out of the assembly.’

Sure enough, the crowd had started filing out of the hall, looking as though they weren’t at all sure why they’d been in assembly in the first place. And they walked right by Astrid without paying her the slightest bit of attention.

One girl had an ‘I ♥ Astrid!’ banner in her hand. She turned to a boy and said, ‘Do you know why I’m carrying this banner?’

‘No,’ replied the boy. ‘And I have no idea why I’m wearing this T-shirt either. Who is Astrid, anyway?’

Astrid beamed. ‘I’m not famous anymore!’ she said delightedly.

Then Ms Kelly walked past. She stopped beside Poppy and Astrid.

‘Hurry to class please, Poppy,’ she said. ‘We have wasted a lot of time today on an assembly for someone that no-one seems to know.’ Then she looked at Astrid. ‘Are you a new girl? You should report to the front office.’

Astrid winked at Poppy. ‘Ms Kelly, it’s me, Astrid,’ she said. ‘I was in your class last year, remember?’

‘You certainly were not!’ responded Ms Kelly indignantly. ‘I’ve never seen you before.’

‘Astrid is in Miss Kennedy’s class,’ said Poppy, grabbing Astrid by the arm. ‘I’ll take her there.’

Astrid didn’t seem at all bothered by suddenly being completely unknown. ‘This is going to be so fun!’ she giggled. ‘It’s almost like being invisible. If Miss Kennedy can’t remember who I am, then I guess she’ll forget that I’m supposed to be on yard duty today.’

It definitely looked like this next wish had worked. But Poppy suspected that it probably wasn’t perfect either. I wonder if this wish only works at school, like the last one?

She soon had a chance to find out. Astrid’s friend, Nicole, had just been dropped off out the front of school. She saw Astrid and waved.

‘Hey, Astrid!’ Nicole called. ‘I had to go to the dentist this morning. Have I missed much?’

Astrid laughed. ‘Wait till I tell you!’

But as Nicole stepped in through the school gates, she frowned and shook her head. Then she looked around, slightly dazed. ‘Hi, Poppy,’ she said. ‘Who’s your friend? Is she new?’

‘Nic, it’s me!’ giggled Astrid.

Nicole shrugged. ‘Sorry, I don’t know who you are,’ she replied politely.

‘But we’ve been best friends since grade one!’ said Astrid, looking a little anxious all of a sudden.

‘No,’ said Nicole, walking off briskly. ‘I’ve never met you.’

Astrid went very pale. It was like she’d only just realised exactly what she’d wished for. ‘I’ve got to go,’ she muttered, hurrying off after Nicole.

Wow, thought Poppy, watching her go. Normies do make terrible wishes!

Astrid’s second wish made things at school go back to normal – for Poppy at least. It felt like any other ordinary school day, except that she had lots more things than usual to think about.

She sneaked her Genie Culture and History book onto her lap during class so that she could study it when Ms Kelly wasn’t watching. But even when she got a moment to read a few lines, the words seemed to make no sense. At the end of an hour, she’d barely finished a page. And she couldn’t remember what it had been about!

I may as well read it backwards! thought Poppy crossly. She flipped the book upside down and the words suddenly made a lot more sense. Even better, the book suddenly seemed a lot quicker to read. Half an hour into her English class, Poppy had finished reading three thick chapters.

I’m not sure what’s going on here, thought Poppy happily, but I wish all my textbooks were like this.

When the bell rang for the end of the day, Astrid was waiting for Poppy out the front of her classroom, looking really annoyed.

‘This wish has turned out even worse than the last one,’ she complained. ‘It doesn’t matter how many times I tell people who I am, a minute later they’ve forgotten again. I had to enrol as a new student fifty times today!’

‘So, are you ready to make your third wish?’ asked Poppy hopefully. Once Astrid had made her third wish, she would have to return the bottle.

‘Yes,’ snapped Astrid. ‘I wish that I’d never found that stupid bottle in the first place!’

Poppy nodded, trying not to grin. She couldn’t have come up with a better wish herself. But would she be able to grant it? She wanted it to work properly this time. Properly and completely.

‘OK, I’ll grant your final wish,’ Poppy said.

Twist, snake hands, side step. Poppy paused. What was that missing move? It had to be something really obvious. Something she’d done a thousand times before …

There was one move she hadn’t tried. But surely it was just way too ridiculous! Then again, it couldn’t hurt to try. Cautiously, Poppy touched her nose with her tongue.

The effect was instantaneous. Whoomph! A cloud of silvery smoke puffed up around her feet. Poppy nearly burst out laughing. She’d finally found it! The missing move.

Astrid raised an eyebrow suspiciously. ‘What are you up to?’ she said. But even as she spoke, a vague expression came over Astrid’s face.

Then a moment later, she grinned at Poppy in her old, familiar, annoying way. ‘Hi Poppy,’ she said, like she’d just seen her. ‘Did you find out what your special talent was today? Don’t tell me you don’t have one, because no-one could be that ordinary!’

Poppy rolled her eyes, pretending to look annoyed. But secretly she was overjoyed. The final wish had worked! Now there was just one more thing to do.

‘Hey Astrid, let me carry your bag home for you,’ Poppy said sugary-sweetly. ‘It would be my honour.’

‘Sure thing!’ said Astrid, swinging the bag right into Poppy’s arms.

The bag was really heavy, but Poppy didn’t mind. The instant Astrid’s back was turned, Poppy quietly unzipped the bag, took out her genie bottle and safely stashed it away in her own backpack.