Tedros blanched as Merlin turned to Agatha. “As for you, my girl (or my boy, since we may as well be accurate) you must find a way to break into the School for Old all on your own, as difficult as it might be. Tedros’ sword is hidden somewhere in that castle and it is your duty to steal it back. Remember, we cannot destroy Sophie’s ring nor kill the School Master without that sword—” Merlin’s eyes thinned. “Agatha?”

She was still glaring sullenly at her girl-faced prince.

“Agatha, my spies will be here any second and we can’t have you pouting over your assignment like a spoiled cat,” said Merlin.

Agatha noticed Tedros’ gloating grin. She shoved down her disappointment, determined not to give him the satisfaction. “Look, I’ll find the sword, but you still haven’t told us who these spies even ar—”

But now she and Tedros saw three ravens flapping out of green fog over the bay, one thin, one fat, and one albino-white. All three were hopeless flyers, with the albino zagging off-track, the fat one snarfing chocolate worms, and the thin one screeching a signal to dive before all three birds crashed into each other and plummeted like failed parachutes into a bush behind the gates.

“I can’t find the uniforms!” Anadil’s voice croaked from inside the bush. “I left them right here—”

“Dot’s sitting on ’em,” Hester’s voice grouched.

“Was wondering why the ground’s so soft,” Dot’s voice wisped.

“Unmogrify on three,” said Hester. “One . . . two—”

“With you watching?” Dot gasped.

“As if we want to see you naked, you idiot!” Hester yelled. “Three!”

A burst of red, green, and blue light exploded from the bush as it rocked side to side, with flashes of skin through leaves.

“I think this officially makes us a coven,” Hester’s voice grumped.

“Has someone got my underpants?” Dot clucked.

“Let no one question my allegiance to Evil because there is nothing more Evil than what I’m seeing right now,” snarled Anadil.

All at once, the three witches stood up in the bush, covered in pine needles and fully dressed in Evil’s uniforms. Through the spiked gates, they saw Edgar and Essa blinking at them.

“I take that back,” said Anadil.

“You’re the spies?” Tedros blurted in his deep voice (Merlin frowned). “But I thought you were Evil!”

“And I thought you were a boy. Things aren’t so black and white are they?” Hester huffed. “Merlin, fairy patrol will be here in two minutes. We need to break them in now.”

“Where’s the wand then?” said the wizard, grimacing at Hester through the gate.

Hester stared at Anadil and the two black rats peeking out of her pockets. “The wand isn’t here, yet?”

Anadil went a shade whiter (if that was possible). So did the rats. “H-h-he was s-s-supposed to arrive before us—”

“One minute until fairy patrol,” Dot warned, listening to jangling chinks in the distance.

“And now we have an even worse problem,” said Agatha, big boy eyes narrowed across the bay.