Page 52 of Magical Mischief

“Well, I, for one, think it was a brilliant move, Maeve,” Stella announced, crossing her arms triumphantly. She winked at me. “Absolutely brilliant.”

She tilted her head back and peered up at the starry sky, where my father’s enormous bulldog muzzle hovered. One giant, inquisitive eye blinked at Stella with dopey curiosity. She flicked a tiny wave as if waving to someone on a second-story balcony.”

“Truly brilliant,” she repeated, whispering.

“At least we have him back,” I said.

I shook my head and approached Dad, who sniffed the ground with an earthquake-like rumble.

Each exhaled breath ruffled my coat and sent snow fluttering.

I scratched his large paw, and he let out a low, thunderous snort, which made the cottage quake.

Miora opened the front door and gasped before quickly shutting it.

Keegan laughed and walked over to my dad and scratched his leg.

“Maeve, I don’t suppose you’ve been teasing and have the reversal spell handy?” he asked quietly, trying to keep a straight face but failing as the corner of his lips twitched upward.

“Keegan, I appreciate your undying loyalty, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m not the incredible witch everyone hoped for.” I laughed and shrugged. “I actually don’t have a reversal spell. In fact, I didn’t even know its name until you said it just now. But a reversal spell does make logical sense for a name.”

Twobble paced near my dad. “We can’t have a dog the size of a clock tower forever. Think of the property damage alone.”

Karvey peered with one eye over the roofline and looked as if he was trying not to laugh at me.

“To be fair, I didn’t expect my dad to be bigger than the hotel. I might have overdone the incantation just a little, but the magic running through me felt so charged, and I guess, I’m still learning how to be restrained.”

Twobble, hearing that, let out a dramatic groan. “Overdone it? Miss, you launched him into the realm of giants.Overdone is an understatement. You do realize that giants are a species unto themselves, right?”

“Well, they don’t usually have four legs and a wrinkly face, though.” Nova eyed Twobble. “It’s best we get Frank down to size.”

My dad snuffled in response and inadvertently blew a gust of dog-breath that made Nova’s hair whip around her face. She wrinkled her nose but smiled gently up at him.

“Dad,” I murmured. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.” I patted his paw—well, the part of his paw that was close enough to me.

He responded with an affectionate rumble that rattled the porch steps.

I turned to the others. “Let’s go inside.”

Keegan let out a short laugh. “I did not see this coming.”

Bella led the way into the cottage, and it was hard not to notice a faint tremor run through the walls every time my dad shifted his weight or let out a breath.

The moment we were safely inside and out of earshot, Twobble cleared his throat.

“So, first things first. Do we plan to shrink the dog, or will he remain Stonewick’s new tourist attraction?”

Bella crossed her arms and glanced at me. “I can create a spell to hide him temporarily if we really need to. But that’s a short-term solution.”

Nova pressed a hand to her chin, tapping lightly.

“The book sprites might know of a second spell. Usually, if you find a size-increasing incantation in one volume, there’s asize-reversal in another. They like to keep them separated so no one is too powerful at once.”

“Heaven forbid I learn too much at one sitting, but that sounds like our best plan.” I brightened at that suggestion.

Keegan leaned against the mantel and ran a hand through his hair.

“So the short answer is that we have no clue how long Frank will be jumbo-sized.”