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A Tale of Witchcraft... is a children's fiction novel. It is the prequel of The Land of Stories series, written by Chris Colfer. The book was published on October 6, 2020 by Little, Brown and Company (a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.), New York.
Publisher's Summary[]
Brystal and her friends have saved the world from the evil Snow Queen and secured worldwide acceptance for the magical community. However, when a mysterious new witch arrives at the academy, the celebrations are cut short. As the witch begins recruiting fairies into her rival school of witchcraft, it becomes clear she has dark intentions. And soon Brystal's friend Lucy becomes embroiled in an ominous plot against mankind.
Elsewhere, the fragile peace is on the brink of shattering. Outrage has spread throughout the kingdoms in opposition to the legalization of magic. And, a dangerous and centuries-old clan known as the Righteous Brotherhood has resurfaced, with one goal in mind: to exterminate all magical life forever . . . starting with Brystal . . .
Dedications & Acknowledgements[]
Dedications[]
To all the mental health professionals, advocates, and pioneers. Thank you for spreading the light. And to all the essential workers who recently redefined the word heroism.
Acknowledgements[]
I'd like to thank Rob Weisbach, Derek Kroeger, Alla Plotkin, Rachel Karten, and Heather Manzutto for being part of my team. Everyone at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, especially Alvina Ling, Megan Tigley, Ruqayyah Daud, Nikki Garcia, Siena Koncsol, Stefanie Hoffman, Shawn Foster, Danielle Cantarella, Jackie Engel, Emilie Polster, Marisa Russell, Janelle DeLuise, Hannah Koerner, Jen Graham, Sasha Illingworth, Angelie Yap, Virginia Lawther, and Chandra Wohleber. A special thank-you to Jerry Maybrook, for helping me with the audiobook. And, of course, to all my friends, family, and readers who aren't afraid to be a little witchy every now and then.
Main Plot[]
Plot by Chapter[]
Prologue: A Righteous Return[]
A secret clan known as ‘The Righteous Brotherhood’ or also as the 333 meet in a fortress in the Southern Kingdom to talk about something that’s threatening their Righteous philosophy and talk about a plan to kill the leader of this new threat: Brystal Evergreen, also known as ‘Fairy Godmother’
Chapter 1: Dam Damage[]
The recently formed Fairy Council appears in a public event in the Western Kingdom to fix the Dam damage before the Dam day. Then, Lucy thinks people want a magic spectacle and breaks again the dam. Luckily, Brystal and the rest of the council fix it again before it could cause any more damage. Later, in a parade dedicated to the Fairy Godmother, Brystal starts hearing a voice in her head that only focuses on the bad stuff.
Chapter 2: Happiness[]
Lucy gets suspended from the Fairy Council because of what happened in the Dam. Even when she tries to convince Brystal to put her back on, Brystal refuses, even when Brystal’s new negative thoughts are at Lucy’s side. Just when Brystal needed some time alone, everyone starts requesting things from her. Finally, she ends up raising her voice, which left the others very surprised. Then, she talks with Pip about happiness and receives an invitation to her brother Barrie’s wedding.
Chapter 3: A Righteous Introduction[]
Brystal attends her brother’s wedding and meets her family after a year. There, she meets Seven, a prince who would make her forget about problems and she would like. Then, the Righteous Brotherhood attacks the wedding, making Brystal know about them and pretending to scare her.
Chapter 4: A Bewitching Offer[]
The Council talks about the brotherhood’s appearance and they get some unexpected visitors in the territory. They are witches who tried to convince some fairies to join their academy. Finally, Pip joins them, leaving Brystal upset.
Chapter 5: Warmth From a Cold Heart[]
After Pip’s departure, Brystal starts to feel lonely and helpless and goes on a trip to the Northern Mountains hoping to talk with Madame Weatherberry, who tells her how she could get happiness back and warns her about the 333. Then, we discover Lucy was following Brystal, who ends telling Lucy the truth about Madame Weatherberry, which causes a heated argument between the two. Finally, Lucy runs out of there hoping not to see or talk anymore to Brystal.
Chapter 6: The Ravencrest School of Witchcraft[]
Lucy finds the Ravencrest school and decides to join for a few days and is received by Mistress Mara. There, she finds her new witch friends, Beebee, Hareiet, Sprout, Stitches, and Pip. They talk to introduce themselves to Lucy.
Chapter 7: A Mischievous Little Creature[]
Lucy meets Old Billie while looking for a softer bed and she guides her to Mistress Mara’s study, which was forbidden for students. There, she’s discovered by Hareiet and later, by Mistress Mara. Lucy tells her about her specialty for trouble and the Mistress believes her and curses Hareiet to turn into a lynx for 100 years to punish her.
Chapter 8: Jinxes and Hexes[]
The witches start to learn some abilities: jinxes and hexes. Lucy and Pip are having their examinations done, but after Lucy learns that witchcraft provokes physical changes, she cheats through her exams, although failing to in the last exam. Lucy then accidentally eavesdrops on a conversation between a mysterious individual called the Horned One talking to Mistress Mara. Lucy listens to them and hears their plan to kill the Fairy Godmother (Brystal) and decides to stay there and find out more about the plan.
Chapter 9: Potions and Curses[]
The next exam is to prepare a potion. Because of Lucy's lack of knowledge, she fails to make the correct potion and lies to the Mistress, who suspiciously lets her go. The last exam is about curses. Pip curses the Edgars, the owners of the Bootstrap Correctional Facility, and Lucy curses the Binkelle Sisters, seven ballerinas who had bullied her and fat shamed her when Lucy was still in show business.
Chapter 10: Tea With the Prince[]
Brystal finds out Lucy went to Ravencrest and is devastated, continuing to have some of the worst and most somber days of her life thanks to her disturbing thoughts. She didn’t eat or drink and was depleted of every motivation. She was horribly depressed. Then, she receives a letter from Seven inviting her for tea, the only thing that made Brystal smile in a long time and she accepts. She had a great day with Seven until they saw a clansman going to the Righteous Brotherhood’s fortress and decide to follow him.
Chapter 11: The Enrollment Ceremony[]
The witches celebrate a ceremony to commemorate they had passed the exams and to make Lucy and Pip pledge their allegiance to the Oath of Witchcraft. Both collapse on the ground and Lucy saw Mistress Mara put a spell on them.
Chapter 12: The Meeting[]
When Brystal and Seven followed the clansman, they reach a fortress. They get in and listened to the Righteous King expose part of his plan. Seven convinces Brystal the Righteous King is his uncle Maximus. Then, they go to the Champion castle and find King Champion XIV dead. They’re discovered by Maximus, who thinks Brystal killed the King, and finally, she escapes.
Chapter 13: The Morning After[]
Lucy wakes up and talks with Mistress Mara about her new necklace and her new appearance. She has a new necklace that can change her appearance at will to hide the effects of witchcraft.
Chapter 14: The Surrender[]
Brystal is living the darkest hour of her life. Her thoughts were convincing her to surrender to the Brotherhood until she found herself longing to surrender. Brystal talks to Emerelda and tells her that if she died, she would be the new Fairy Godmother. Emerelda thought Brystal needed some rest and left her. Then, Brystal leaves her wand and writes a letter to Emerelda to inform her about all her recent discoveries, and finally, she surrenders to the brotherhood.
Chapter 15: The Shadow Beast[]
Emerelda finds out Brystal has left. Lucy comes back from Ravencrest and meets the Fairy Council. They find out Lucy is cursed and after a lot of trial and error, they break the curse and free the shadow beast Lucy had inside her. Finally, they decide to go to Ravencrest before Mistress Mara uses the beast.
Chapter 16: The Righteous Reveal[]
Brystal is taken to the fortress and discovers the Righteous King was Seven, not Maximus. They throw a bloodstone net at Brystal and it is killing her as Mistress Mara revived all the deceased clansman buried beneath the fortress. Seven kills Mistress Mara right before the bloodstone net kills Brystal.
Chapter 17: Familiar Faces[]
The council meets the witches in Ravencrest and found Brystal’s jack-o’-lantern, which meant Brystal had been cursed. Then Emerelda remembered Brystal’s letter and read it to the others. Finally, they decide to go and fight the brotherhood. They weren’t losing Brystal without a fight.
Chapter 18: A Deal With Death[]
Brystal was in the space between life and the other side and there, Mistress Mara, regretting what she’s done, gave Brystal the necessary information including how to break the curse she was under that was causing her negative thoughts. It is revealed that Mistress Mara is Death’s daughter. She convinces Death to send Brystal back to life but, as a condition, she had to look for the Immortal and kill her.
The Immortal is someone enlisted by Death centuries ago to help him find and kill his daughter so they could be together again. She said she would do it in return for immortality. The Immortal never fulfilled her half of the deal and Death deeply regrets what he did.
Chapter 19: The Mind Itself[]
The Council and the witches arrive at the fortress to save Brystal. Lucy and Brystal apologize to each other for what happened in the Snow Queen’s cavern and they all go back to the Fairy territory. Finally, Brystal defeats the curse and decides what to do after the fight.