“Hee hee hee,” giggled Tilly the fairy.
“Ha ha ha!” chuckled Hal the elf.
“HO HO HO!” Norris the gnome bellowed.
Grace glanced at Olivia. “Are they laughing at Cosmo?” she whispered.
But Olivia’s shoulders trembled. She was giggling too!
She pointed to Cosmo. The unicorn’s ears quivered as he tossed his head back, giving a great snort of laughter.
“Cosmo’s spell worked,” Olivia said, in between chuckles.
Mossfly was still scowling. But then his shoulders started to shake and his belly jiggled. “Ha! Hee!” he chortled. He threw himself to the ground, thumping it with his fist. “A-hoo-hoo!”
Grace giggled. “The spell’s even worked on Mossfly!”
All the other groups and Miss Rosamund hurried over.
“What’s going on?” asked a pixie. “Did someone make a joke?”
Miss Rosamund’s eyes twinkled. “Perhaps Cosmo can explain.”
The unicorn’s crooked horn shimmered with colour. He coughed, clearing his throat, then spoke in the loudest voice the girls had heard him use. “My tummy tingles and I think I could float up into the sky,” he said. “I must have found my magical gift, Miss Rosamund. It’s making people laugh.”
“That’s wonderful news!” Miss Rosamund cried.
She hurried over to her desk, where “MY MAGICAL GIFT” still hung in pink letters in the air. Holding her wand as a pencil once more, she wrote underneath, ‘Cosmo’s spell: gold star’.
Then she waved her wand again and a golden star appeared beside the words. Cosmo’s blue eyes widened. “I’ve never had a gold star before!”
“I think Cuddle deserves a star as well,” Miss Rosamund said with a smile.
“Miaow!” Cuddle hopped across to Miss Rosamund, jumping into her arms. She held the little kitten in the crook of her plump arm, stroking the white fur on Cuddle’s tummy.
“You really are the cutest kitten,” Miss Rosamund said. She waved her wand, and a tiny silver star appeared on Cuddle’s collar, dangling next to her bell. “There’s a star for you, too, for all your help today.”
Mossfly stepped in front of the girls and the unicorn.
“Er, Cosmo,” the troll began. He was tapping the spidery tip of his wand against his palm, as if he were nervous. “I’m sorry I called you those names,” he said. “I’m going to try to be nicer from now on.”
“That’s all right, Mossfly,” Cosmo replied.
Olivia handed the troll her plastic purple wand. “I think it suits you better than that horrible spider wand,” she said.
Mossfly gave a lopsided grin.
He sat on one of the cushions, waving his new wand.
“It’s not like we need wands anyway,” Olivia said with a sigh. “We can’t do magic.”
“Oh yes, you can,” Miss Rosamund said, stepping beside them. Cuddle was still in her arms, pink sparkles shimmering round both of them. She nodded towards Cosmo. “Just look at him.”
The unicorn was surrounded by the other magical creatures, his horn shining with colour.
“What do you call a unicorn without a horn?” Cosmo asked Hal the elf. “A u-no-horn!”
Hal doubled up with laughter, almost letting go of his balloon.
Miss Rosamund smiled at the girls. “Before Cosmo met you and Cuddle, he was shy and lonely. You’ve made him happy,” she said. “You two have the greatest magical gift of all – the gift of friendship.”
