“Is that why they have cats?” the squirmy boy asked.

“Yes, now does anyone here have a cat?” John asked.

A few children raised their hands. “I do! I do!” some shouted.

“That’s wonderful news,” he said, nodding with approval. “And do you take good care of them?”

A chorus of ardent yeses were shouted.

“I don’t mean just petting them and playing with them,” John said with playful gravity. “I mean, do you help your mommies and daddies feed them and change out their litter?”

A less enthusiastic affirmation was mumbled.

“Well I think we probably need to do a better job, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” said the cat owners.

“And I’m also talking to you all who have dogs? Are you guys scooping the poop?”

The crowd dissolved into giggles and “eewws.”

“It’s one of the best ways to get your witch magic,” he said with a shrug.

One shy little girl in the back of the group, twisted her blonde curls around her fist and raised her hand.

“Yes, honey?”

Her face crumpled up as she struggled to articulate her anxiety. “But what if you have a rabbit. Can you be magic then?”

John crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I didn’t know that any of you had pet rabbits... This changes everything.”

The girl’s expression was stricken with fear. The other children looked between her and John, waiting for judgement.

“My dear, what is your name?”

“Katie,” she said in a small voice.

Victoria’s brows knit in worry. This Katie seemed extremely anxious at the thought of talking more than was necessary. Her face turned red and her fist continued to twist her hair. Even the mothers managed to look up from their magazines and phones to gaze upon the interaction. “Katie, my dear, could you come up here and talk to us about your rabbit?”

Katie was surprised. She hesitated, but picked herself up from the floor and walked through the group of children to meet John. He promptly picked her up by the armpits and plopped her on his knee. Katie loosened the grip on her hair as she looked up at John’s face. “What do you want to know?” she asked in a small voice.

“First, could you tell everyone what your rabbit’s name is?”

“Her name is Coco.”

John nodded, thoroughly impressed. “Boys and girls, I forgot to tell you how important and magical rabbits are.”

A murmur ran through the group and Katie’s eyes widened into two shiny blue orbs. “They are?”

He glanced down at her with a sage expression. “Oh yeah. You see, bunnies are so quiet you wouldn’t know how magical they are. They don’t bark and they don’t meow, because they’re trying to find new ways to cast spells.”

“What kind of spells?” Katie asked in a hushed voice.