You might think that witches would travel everywhere by broomstick. And indeed there was a time, even as recently as Great Aunt Chloe’s girlhood, when it was more or less safe to fly by broom, unseen on a dark night. But those days are gone. You wouldn’t get far before air traffic control spotted you on the radar. Alarms would sound and the words UFO would flash on computer screens at the Defence Ministry. Who could say what sort of incident might happen next?

 

And so now I have explained all that, you can understand why Katie and her mum were hanging around at the railway station. They went into the newspaper shop, and Katie’s mum bought one of those glossy women’s magazines.

 

When eventually they were seated on the train, and they were slowly rattling past the backs of suburban houses, Katie’s mum thumbed through the magazine.

 

“Oh well, I’m not really interested in the latest royal baby,” she said and she handed it to Katie.

 

Katie looked at the contents page. Among all the features about celebrity diets, relationships and beauty treatments, there was one that caught her eye.

 

The Magic Personality – how to cast your personality like a spell, and charm everyone you meet, and win instant popularity.

 

“Hmm, that looks intriguing,” thought Katie and she turned to page 45 to read on.

 

It’s not everyday you meet a girl or a guy who wins you over with a single smile. But it can happen anywhere, any time. It might be a waitress, it might be a film star, it might be that man standing on the other side of the room – each of these special people has a magnetic attraction. You feel it instantly. They speak one sentence and you melt. They make you feel like you are the only person in their life.

 

We all love to meet that person, the one who possesses the magical personality. But how much better to BE that person? Yes, you too can possess a magical personality in these 7 easy steps.

 

Of course Katie realised that the article wasn’t about real magic. People who aren’t witches use the word “magic” very loosely. Still Katie wanted to know what tips they were offering. She read on.

 

1. Be Warm –

It’s ok to smile, so long as you retain your innate superiority.

 

2. Be Confident –

It doesn’t matter how you feel inside, walk into the room like you own it.

 

3. Be Witty –

You don’t have to be super-intelligent, or even that funny, just be quick and confident with a reply.

 

4. Dress snappily –

It’s not so much what you wear, it’s how you wear it. Dress with attitude.

 

5. Learn to Dance –

Everyone’s eyes are on the dancing queen.

 

6. Master Small Talk –

You can chat forever about the weather, but never talk about anything serious, because you might say something that irks somebody.

 

7. Be Busy – Even if you aren’t –

Sure you are tucked up in bed with a cup of hot cocoa, but let people believe your diary is chock-a-block with hot dates and important functions.

 

The train went clackety clack and Katie looked around the carriage at the passengers fiddling with their mobile phones, plugged into their earbuds listening to music, reading magazines, or staring into space. Not one of them seemed to possess that Magical Personality. It was a rare quality indeed.

 

She thought of her class at school. Isis was certainly popular – but not universally liked by any means. She dressed well, could dance beautifully, and was quite busy. But come to think of it, even Isis did not obey all the rules. Once you got to know her, she didn’t seem like an innately superior being. She had a really funny and quite dangerous sense of humour, and she and Katie could talk for hours about anything and everything. Yes, thought Katie, if Isis really wants to go to the top and become a Hollywood superstar, she’ll have to be more careful about what she says and to whom.

 

Then Katie began to ponder – could she be that popular person? She was anything but popular now. Lots of people thought she was weird and stayed away from her. Worse, they said nasty things behind her back and spread ugly rumours about her magic. Sometimes she hated being a witch! If only she could just be ordinary and popular. Life would be so much more pleasant and easy.

 

Their destination was Great Aunt Chloe’s country cottage. All the time they were there, it rained. Katie went into the conservatory and looked through the glass doors and a the bedraggled flowers in the garden. Then she went up to the spare room where she was staying. A large bookshelf full of spells covered one wall. She ran her finger over the spine until she found one that looked promising. It was about “Personality Spells.” She read the introduction. It warned that altering personality is a powerful and dangerous area of magic that is best performed under the guidance of a qualified specialist, and the book was intended as coursework for students in their third year of studying witchcraft at University.

 

“Oh, they always say that,” thought Katie. “They are just covering their backs incase somebody does something stupid and sues them.”

 

She spent the whole afternoon engrossed in the book and making notes in her magic pocket books. When she came down for tea her mum asked:

 

“What have you been up to darling?”

 

“Oh just thumbing through Great Aunt Chloe’s magic books. She has some really good ones.”

 

“The best way to spend a rainy afternoon,” agreed Great Aunt Chloe.

 

For the next few days, Katie thought about little else but how to create her magic personality. She worked on her spell. Her ideal self would be warm, but not too warm, incase people thought she was trying too hard to make people like her. She definitely wanted bags of confidence – that would make her feel great. As for intelligence – perhaps she needed a little less than she had already, because very smart people aren’t usually that popular. She knew she needed a lot of extra dress sense because, although she liked her clothes, people were always niggling her about the way she looked. And yes, she had to admit, she was the worst dancer! She tossed lots of rhythm and coordination into the spell.

 

Skill at Small Talk was a difficult one to conjure up – but eventually she found the solution – she took the Profundity Spell and reversed it . And as for “the appearance of being busy” she mixed in plenty of “bluff.”

 

Back home, she continued to work for a whole week on her mega spell for her new self. Her mum thought she was working hard on a school project, but really she was writing down all the ingredients and the precise quantities that she was going to use. Late one night, she sneaked down into the kitchen to mix them, and then took the result back up to her bedroom.

 

“Wow! I’m going to be so popular,” she thought as she looked at the glass of purple mixture on her dressing room table.

 

She lifted it up and said “cheers” to her old self in the mirror and knocked it back. It tasted awful, but she felt great! Even Solomon her cat seemed to notice an instant change. He jumped up onto her lap and purred, which he hardly ever did.

 

When Katie got dressed in the morning, she spent just a few seconds longer than usual, adjusting her tie in the mirror.

 

“Yes, that’s a good knot,” she thought. “I’ll just put it at a slight angle.” And then: “No I won’t wear that enamel hairclip with a cat face on it, this one is more funky.”

 

There was something just a little bit different about her as she walked across the playground. A positive energy sprung her step. Most of the other kids looked half sleepy as they shambled into the cloakroom, but Katie slipped out of her coat sleeves elegantly and hung up her coat on the hook like she meant it to stay there. She could feel the difference already – but did anyone else notice?

 

And that was the first part of Katie’s Magical Personality. In the next part, events take quite a dramatic turn – so listen out for Part Two of the story coming soon on Storynory.com.

 

For now, from me, Natasha