The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents by Nicki Pau Preto

Author:Nicki Pau Preto [Pau Preto, Nicki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2024-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

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• • •

Of course, Vin’s life at Last Hope wasn’t all about lessons.

When she wasn’t studying with the headmistress, she ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room with her friends, and lunch next to Gilly’s fountain in the back garden. She was apparently attempting to create an environment that might support a water sprite.

“Needs more gunk,” Gilly announced one afternoon, withdrawing her muddy hands from the pool with a frown.

“Gunk?” Vin asked. “Is that a, uh, technical term?”

Before Gilly could answer, Theo chimed in, crouching at the lip of the fountain to peer down at the murky pool. “And how are you planning to get a sprite here, anyway?”

“That is a part of phase two. We are currently still in phase one,” Gilly said crossly.

After wiping her hands and making a note in her book—Vin could only assume it read “more gunk”—Gilly and Theo joined Vin and Araminta on the stonework path.

“Is this part of a school assignment?” Vin asked as Gilly settled down next to her.

“No…” said Gilly.

“Extra credit?” Vin prompted.

Gilly’s freckled cheeks flushed. “No.”

“Then…”

“This obsession is entirely her own,” Theo said, smirking at her.

“I just like to…push the magical envelope, so to speak.”

“You like to be the best, you mean,” Araminta translated. Gilly shot her an angry look, and Araminta raised her hands in surrender. “I get it.”

“No, you don’t. Your parents are basically obsessed with you.”

“Their perfect firstborn child,” Theo drawled.

“They are not obsessed with me,” she argued, shooting a look at Theo.

“They’re just disappointed in me,” he said, his smile slipping somewhat.

“Well, I’m disappointed in them,” Araminta said. “I mean, what kind of parents raise two delinquents?”

The corner of Theo’s mouth twitched. “They’re still trying to get over the fact that we’re going to school in America,” he said, the humor returning to his face. “I’m thinking about putting on a southern twang—just to give them a fright.”

“Well, I’d take obsession or disappointment; anything’s better than being the first, accidental child, quickly ignored in favor of your younger, cuter siblings,” Gilly said. “Even getting expelled and sent to delinquent school wasn’t enough to make them pay attention to me.”

“Hey, same here,” Vin said, nudging Gilly with her shoulder. “Actually, I’m not sure they even know where I am, but that is very much on purpose. There are some perks to being ignored.”

“Can’t argue that,” said Theo as he cast his gaze toward the terrace. A pair of Casters were currently enlarging some of the seasonal pumpkins and gourds Winston and Mr. Hart had strewn about the property, stacking them into what could only be called a pumpkin-man…until the spell refused to stop, the middle pumpkin growing as large as a car before it started rolling down the hillside after them.

With the last warmth of fall fading away in recent weeks, most students had decided to eat lunch indoors, but Vin and her friends stubbornly persisted, thanks, in part, to a certain malevolent fire sprite inside a mason jar.

Despite pretending to hate them all,

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