The first wizard in a family without magic, a lesson everyone hates and a cup that refuses to be mended.
When Dani Roldán’s letter from the High Tower School arrived, his mother, who was a baker, read it three times looking for the catch. His father, a plumber, just said: “If they fix things with magic, they can teach me.” There had never been a wizard in the whole family. Not one witch. Not even a strange uncle.
That was why Dani didn’t understand his classmates. They moaned about everything: the broomsticks, which were heavy; the books, which were enormous; and, above all, Spell Theory, which Gonzalo said was “the most boring thing in the history of magic”. Dani, on the other hand, thought it was the coolest thing in the world. He had read the Theory book twice; the second time out loud, to his father, who took notes.
That Thursday was the mending exam. Mistress Ubalda reminded them of the book’s three rules: the mending spell doesn’t invent anything, so all the pieces must be there; you have to name the object for what it is, not for what it looks like; and nothing can be mended by magic if it was broken on purpose.
Then she took out a white cup, raised it above her head and, staring at it, opened her hand. The cup smashed into pieces on the floor. The teacher picked them up one by one, counted them out loud and placed them on her desk. “Seven. None missing. You have ten minutes.”
Iris tried first: “Cup, be a cup again!” Nothing. Gonzalo tried twice, louder each time. Nothing. The pieces didn’t even tremble. “It’s faulty,” Gonzalo complained. “Or magic just doesn’t work on Thursdays.”
Dani didn’t take out his wand. He stared at the seven pieces, and then at the teacher, who was smiling slightly. He picked up his pen and wrote a single sentence on the exam paper.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Why couldn’t anyone mend the cup with magic? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Because one of the pieces was missing, and the mending spell can’t invent what isn’t there.
- b) Because Iris and Gonzalo named it wrongly, and you had to call it what it was, not what it looked like.
- ✓c) Because the teacher had broken it on purpose, and what’s broken on purpose can’t be mended by magic.
- d) Because there was a student from a family without magic in the class, and that weakened everyone else’s spells.
Which clue proves it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: c). Exactly. The exam wasn’t about casting the spell, but about realising it was impossible.
Key clue: “She raised it above her head and opened her hand while staring at it: she didn’t drop it, she let go on purpose.” That’s the key: the cup didn’t fall by accident. And the third rule says that what’s broken on purpose can’t be mended by magic.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the events in the order they happened. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 3 Mistress Ubalda goes over the three mending rules.
- 6 Dani writes a single sentence on the exam.
- 2 Dani reads the Theory book out loud to his father.
- 5 Iris and Gonzalo try the spell without success.
- 1 Dani’s letter from the High Tower School arrives.
- 4 The teacher lets go of the cup and counts the pieces.
Correct order:
- Dani’s letter from the High Tower School arrives.
- Dani reads the Theory book out loud to his father.
- Mistress Ubalda goes over the three mending rules.
- The teacher lets go of the cup and counts the pieces.
- Iris and Gonzalo try the spell without success.
- Dani writes a single sentence on the exam.
First the letter arrives; then, at school, Dani reads the Theory twice. On exam day, the teacher goes over the rules before breaking the cup, and only then do Iris and Gonzalo try and Dani write.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which continuation fits everything we know? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) The teacher reads Dani’s sentence, “It can’t be done: you broke it on purpose”, gives him the highest mark and lets him take the pieces.
- b) Dani finally takes out his wand, says “Cup, be a cup again” very carefully, and the seven pieces join together instantly.
- c) The teacher finds an eighth piece under her desk, puts it with the others, and then Iris’s spell works.
- d) Gonzalo repeats the spell the following Thursday, more calmly, and the cup is mended, because the problem was the day.
Answer: a). It fits the third rule and the teacher’s smile: the exam was about noticing.
- b) What’s broken on purpose can’t be mended by magic, however well the spell is said.
- c) The teacher counted seven and said none were missing. Besides, the cup was broken on purpose.
- d) “Magic doesn’t work on Thursdays” is Gonzalo complaining, not a rule. And what’s broken on purpose can’t be mended by magic.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the story. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) Dani’s mother was a baker.The first paragraph says so.
- ✗b) Dani was the third wizard in his family.He was the first: there had never been a wizard in his family.
- c) To mend something by magic, all the pieces must be there.It’s the book’s first rule.
- ✗d) The cup broke into twelve pieces.It was seven, and the teacher counted them out loud.
- e) Gonzalo thought Spell Theory was boring.“The most boring thing in the history of magic”, he said.
- ✗f) Dani tried the spell three times with his wand.Dani didn’t even take out his wand: he wrote a sentence.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows the classroom while Dani looks at the pieces?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: The seven pieces on the desk, the teacher in front and Dani with his classmates.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
Dani’s sentence said: “It can’t be done: you broke it on purpose.” Mistress Ubalda read it out loud and gave him the highest mark in the class. “In ten years,” she said, “only three students have noticed. All three had read the Theory.”
At the end of the lesson, she let him take the pieces home. That night, in the kitchen, his father glued them together one by one with a plumber’s patience, without a drop of magic. “Some things get fixed another way,” he said.
On Monday, the cup was on the teacher’s desk, with seven fine scars. And Gonzalo quietly asked Dani if he could borrow his Theory notes.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.