He marched onto one of the indoor courts. The other goblins trailed after him, grumbling to one another.

Kirsty, Rachel, and Brittany peeked through the open doors as the goblins began shooting at one of the hoops with the magic basketball.

“They’re scoring almost every time,” Rachel whispered. “Even from three-point range!”

The goblins were so confident that they began doing silly tricks. They tried turning their backs to the hoop and shooting over their shoulders or from between their legs. Sometimes they missed, but most of the time they still managed to make basket after basket.

Brittany sniffed as the ball swooshed through the hoop yet again. “It’s my magic basketball that’s doing all the work,” she said angrily. “Those goblins wouldn’t be any good without it.”

“Oh!” Kirsty gasped suddenly. “Brittany, you’ve given me an idea. I think I know how we can get your magic basketball back!”

Chapter 4 - Magic in the Air

“What do we have to do, Kirsty?” Rachel asked.

“Brittany, can you use your wand to make a new basketball?” Kirsty asked. “One that sparkles like it’s magic?”

Brittany nodded. “Sure,” she replied. “But it won’t really have magical powers. It’ll just be an ordinary basketball.”

“That’s okay,” Kirsty replied. “But can you also use your magic to make the goblins’ hoop repel any basketball that’s thrown at it?”

This time, Brittany frowned. “I can do that with a simple wave of my wand,” she said slowly. “But the spell won’t last for very long because my magic basketball is so powerful. It will eventually overcome any repelling magic I put on the hoop.”

“Well, my plan shouldn’t take too long to start working,” said Kirsty. “We just need to convince the goblins that the real magic basketball isn’t very magical anymore, and that we have a new, improved basketball that’s full of magic! Then they might trade with us.”

Rachel looked confused. “But the goblins will only want our ball if they see us scoring lots of baskets with it,” she pointed out.

“Exactly,” Kirsty agreed.

“But how is that going to work?” Rachel asked, looking even more puzzled. “Brittany just said that the other basketball won’t really be magic at all. And the goblins will only believe it’s magical if it goes in the hoop every time!”

Kirsty grinned at her. “That’s where you come in, Rachel,” she explained. “You’ll have to use your fabulous shooting skills to persuade the goblins that we really do have a magic basketball!”

Rachel gulped. “You mean I have to get the ball through the hoop every time?”

“That’s the plan,” Kirsty replied. “Do you think you can do it, Rachel?”

“I don’t know.” Rachel looked a little anxious. “I probably won’t be very good at shooting today because the magic basketball isn’t in its proper place.”