Review Detail

Hocus and Pocus and the oldest and youngest of a slightly magical litter of puppies that a young witch finds and turns in to the local rescue. Because they are adorable puppies, it seems likely that they will be adopted quickly, but the two don't want to be adopted separately like their siblings Double, Trouble, and Toil. They come up with a plan to use their wiles to dissuade people from adopting only one of them, as well as their magical powers. Hocus can see two minutes into the future, and Pocus can make peoples' anxiety go away in a magical bubble. When months ago by and they are still not adopted, they change their tactic and hope to convince people to adopt them together. When the young witch who found them, Jinx, who uses she/her prounouns, comes to the shelter to look at another animal, they find out about her Spell for Home, and hope to use it for themselves. They stow away in her bags, brave a ride on her broom, and end up in her castle. They meet her three apprentices, including Archer (he/him), Ofelia (she/her) and Tam (they/them). The castle is very big and has lots of equipment and material in it, and the apprentices are very busy, so it doesn't take long for disaster to occur. Hocus and Pocus end up at the shelter again, and need to reassess. Luckily, Jinx has noticed that the Spell for Home on their behalf has turned blue, and she apologizes for not recognizing sooner that they would be a perfect fit for her. It turns out that they might be HIGHLY magical, and they will be back in another adventure, The Dragon Next Door, in the spring of 2025.