Neil Patrick Harris - The Magic Misfits 2

First published in Great Britain 2018

by Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Published by arrangement with Little, Brown and company,

a division of Hachette Book Group inc., New York, New York, USA

Text and inside illustrations © 2018 Neil Patrick Harris

Story illustrations by Lissy Marlin

How-to illustrations by Kyle Hilton

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

First e-book edition 2018

ISBN 978 1 4052 9063 0

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1840 0

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

To Harper and Gideon,

because the latter was listed first

in the previous book

and the former was far from pleased.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain 2018 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Published by arrangement with Little, Brown and company, a division of Hachette Book Group inc., New York, New York, USA Text and inside illustrations © 2018 Neil Patrick Harris Story illustrations by Lissy Marlin How-to illustrations by Kyle Hilton The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted First e-book edition 2018 ISBN 978 1 4052 9063 0 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1840 0 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet. Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

Dedication To Harper and Gideon, because the latter was listed first in the previous book and the former was far from pleased.

WELCOME BACK!

ONE—the first one, the second time. Because this is the second book

TWO—the second second one

THREE—the first one after the second

FOUR—not the third

FIVE—this is how many fingers I have on my right hand. Not really important here, though

SIX—if you multiply the 2nd chapter by the 3rd, you’d get this one

SEVEN—this one is after that one

EIGHT—this one is before the next one

NINE—is anyone still reading these?

TEN—this is the number of all my fingers! Again, not really relevant

ELEVEN—or 2 in Roman numerals, but that’s confusing

TWELVE—there are this many royals in a deck of cards

THIRTEEN—number of cards in a suit

FOURTEEN—you’ll find this one on page 134

FIFTEEN—why isn’t it five-teen? I’ve always wondered

SIXTEEN—again, are you still reading these?

SEVENTEEN—lots of e’s in seventeen

EIGHTEEN—when you say this out loud, sometimes people think you are saying eighty

NINETEEN—can you imagine if there were eighty chapters?

TWENTY—that would be about fifty chapters too many

TWENTY-ONE—this is the official adult chapter

TWENTY-TWO—a number so nice, they named it twice

TWENTY-THREE—yeesh, did we have this many chapters last time?

TWENTY-FOUR—this just seems excessive

TWENTY-FIVE—uuuughhhhhh

TWENTY-SIX—oh wait—this one is cool. Twenty-six is the number of red cards in a deck. So that’s cool

TWENTY-SEVEN—or twenty-seven, if you count the joker

TWENTY-EIGHT—wait, is the joker red?

TWENTY-NINE—I looked it up – sometimes

THIRTY!—the last chapter! Made it. Whew. Now turn the page already!

NOTHING TO SEE HERE...

A PROMISE TO RETURN

WHAT’S MORSE CODE?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Back series promotional page

Yes, you … the one with the awesome hair and this book in your hands!

Who else would I be talking to?

You’ve returned! How nice to see you again! It’s been too long. If I know you at all, I’ll bet you’re seeking an escape from the ordinary and looking for more adventure, more puzzles, more em-ay-gee-eye-see . Well, look no further. I have another story to tell you… Have I ever!

I hope you remember everything we discussed in the last book. It will make it easier to hop back in…

Need a refresher? No problem!

Let’s begin with our delightful cast. Do you recall the boy with fast fingers? The orphan, Carter Locke, was a wiz with card tricks and could make things vanish – and reappear too! Though truthfully, he didn’t believe in real magic until he hopped on a train to the town of Mineral Wells, where wonders appeared around every corner – from the buzzing circus tents of the fairgrounds to the magnificent auditorium way up in the hills at the Grand Oak Resort.