In tonight's bedtime story for kids, we're joining the Jupiter Twins at the Leora Academy, where their dorm's house elf, Kranky, is being, well, crankier than ever! They decide to get together and figure out the cause of his grumpiness- and it turns out to be something quite unexpected! Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Luke Prendergast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. We are bursting at the seams here in
00:00:25
Speaker 1: the Cocoa Club and we definitely need an upgrade to
00:00:28
Speaker 1: our clubhouse soon. Thanks to all of you new joiners,
00:00:31
Speaker 1: I can barely close the front door. Tonight, we are
00:00:35
Speaker 1: officially welcoming Freddie, who will be six on October the
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Speaker 1: first Whoo, and Caroline and Everett from Buffalo who love
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Hector and Sonny and the Jupiter Twins, so I think
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Speaker 1: you're going to be smiling very soon. And also welcome
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Speaker 1: to Will and Fay from Massachusetts, USA, and Emerson who's
00:00:55
Speaker 1: just turned eight and gave some pocket money towards her subscription.
00:00:59
Speaker 1: Way to go, Emason, I hope you had a lovely
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Speaker 1: birthday celebration, and everyone enjoy your unlocked stories and keep
00:01:06
Speaker 1: telling us you're fantastically imaginative story ideas. Please, we love
00:01:10
Speaker 1: turning them into bedtime stories for you. In tonight's story,
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Speaker 1: we return to see the Jupiter Twins. It's been a
00:01:17
Speaker 1: while this time. They're preparing to go home for half term,
00:01:22
Speaker 1: but there's a magical creature making it extra difficult for
00:01:26
Speaker 1: them Cranky the House Elf, as they try to stop
00:01:31
Speaker 1: his plans of ruining their packing. The Jupiter Twins eventually
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Speaker 1: realize the reason for his mischief, and it changes their
00:01:39
Speaker 1: point of view entirely. Now, before I get started, make
00:01:44
Speaker 1: sure you're as cozy and comfy as possible in bed.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Do whatever your body needs to feel relaxed. Perhaps stretch, wriggle,
00:01:55
Speaker 1: point your toes, scrunch up your face, shrug your shoulder,
00:02:01
Speaker 1: and then when you're ready, let everything just relax and
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Speaker 1: dissolve into the mattress beneath you. That's right, breed gently
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Speaker 1: in and out, and let all your muscles go as soft,
00:02:16
Speaker 1: smooth and still as possible, lovely. I think it's time
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Speaker 1: to head over to the Leora Academy and find out
00:02:27
Speaker 1: for ourselves just what is going on. This is Jupiter Twins,
00:02:33
Speaker 1: Cranky the House Elf by Luke Prendergast. The fact was
00:02:45
Speaker 1: that it took more than just teachers to run the
00:02:48
Speaker 1: Leura Academy of Magic. As Professor Greenfingers sat in the
00:02:53
Speaker 1: greenhouses teaching plant magic, as Professor Twinkles gazed at the
00:02:58
Speaker 1: stars in her strology tower, and as doctor Strongheart stood
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Speaker 1: at the front of the lab, teaching cure of magical maladies,
00:03:08
Speaker 1: all the while. Throughout the school, other magical beings were
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Speaker 1: hard at work. The Stone Lions, for instance, who study
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Speaker 1: either side of the broad staircase that led up to
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Speaker 1: Leora Academy, guarded the premises and kept the students safe.
00:03:27
Speaker 1: A small army of pixies, who knew more than any
00:03:31
Speaker 1: other creatures in this world or any other about the
00:03:34
Speaker 1: mysterious workings of nature, tended to the gardens and woodland
00:03:39
Speaker 1: trees on the school grounds, and a huge team of
00:03:43
Speaker 1: househoves were busy throughout the building making sure rooms were clean,
00:03:49
Speaker 1: tables were cleared, and delicious meals were served for breakfast, lunch,
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Speaker 1: and dinner. Lily and Jake Jupiter were very grateful for
00:03:59
Speaker 1: all the hard work these creatures put in to make
00:04:02
Speaker 1: their time at the our Academy so enjoyable. They always
00:04:07
Speaker 1: made sure to thank the stone Lions whenever they passed
00:04:10
Speaker 1: them and compliment them on how shiny they looked, And
00:04:15
Speaker 1: they always went to thank the chefs for the delicious
00:04:18
Speaker 1: meals and tell the pixies how lush and beautiful the
00:04:23
Speaker 1: gardens were. But they had to admit that there was
00:04:28
Speaker 1: one creature they had a hard time being grateful towards
00:04:32
Speaker 1: all the time, Cranky, the grumpy house elf. Unfortunately for them,
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Cranky was the house elf in charge of overseeing the
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Speaker 1: Jupiter Twins' dormitory and corridor, and when they said he
00:04:48
Speaker 1: was grumpy, they weren't kidding. He was seriously very grumpy.
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Speaker 1: Cranky grumbled about the tiniest speck of dust or loose
00:05:01
Speaker 1: thread of fabric he might find on the floor. He
00:05:05
Speaker 1: stumped in at the earliest hours of the morning, before
00:05:09
Speaker 1: the sun was even up, and slammed the doors so
00:05:13
Speaker 1: loudly the twin's ears rang for the rest of the day,
00:05:18
Speaker 1: and they were pretty sure he plucked leaves off of
00:05:22
Speaker 1: Jake's magical healing cabbage plant when they weren't looking. Jake
00:05:27
Speaker 1: and Lily always tried to be friendly to him, giving
00:05:32
Speaker 1: him big, beaming smiles whenever they saw him and asking
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Speaker 1: him how he was and how his day was going,
00:05:40
Speaker 1: But Cranky would only scowl at them or ask them,
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Speaker 1: in his extremely grouchy way, how they thought his day
00:05:50
Speaker 1: was going, given as he spent it following around cleaning
00:05:55
Speaker 1: up after a bunch of pesky kids, or else he
00:06:00
Speaker 1: would just shoot them a cold glare and then disappear,
00:06:05
Speaker 1: for that was one of the magic skills that house
00:06:07
Speaker 1: elves possessed. They could just vanish into thin air. Other
00:06:12
Speaker 1: students at the Leura Academy were very close to the
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Speaker 1: house ELFs who looked after them, sharing cups of hot
00:06:19
Speaker 1: chocolate with them in the evening, sitting cross legged on
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Speaker 1: their beds, chatting and laughing and joking, and even exchanging
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Speaker 1: gifts on birthdays and at Christmases. But not the Jupiter twins.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: It seemed that with Cranky, they'd simply drawn the short straw.
00:06:41
Speaker 1: They didn't see how it would ever be possible to
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Speaker 1: crack his tough exterior. They just had to accept it.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: They'd never be friends. Soon enough, the end of the
00:06:56
Speaker 1: first half of the school year arrived, glasses were finished,
00:07:01
Speaker 1: magical tests had been completed, and the students of the
00:07:05
Speaker 1: Aura Academy had enjoyed their goodbye feast in the Great
00:07:09
Speaker 1: Dining Hall. Their beloved Headmistress, Doctor Howard, had stood at
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Speaker 1: the front of the hall, dressed in sky blue robes
00:07:20
Speaker 1: and given a speech congratulating them all on their hard
00:07:25
Speaker 1: work and wishing them an enjoyable weeks break at home
00:07:29
Speaker 1: with their families. The students had broken into applause, filled
00:07:36
Speaker 1: up their stomachs with delicious food, and headed off to
00:07:40
Speaker 1: their dormitories to pack their suitcases. Their parents would be
00:07:45
Speaker 1: arriving to pick them up the very next morning, and
00:07:49
Speaker 1: of course, not a single one of them was packed
00:07:53
Speaker 1: early and ready to go just like the others. Jake
00:07:58
Speaker 1: and Lily Jupiter returned to their dormitories too. They pulled
00:08:02
Speaker 1: their brass and leather trunks out from beneath their beds,
00:08:07
Speaker 1: threw them open, and began to pack. Their clothes and
00:08:12
Speaker 1: robes were folded and placed neatly within, alongside stacks of
00:08:18
Speaker 1: magical textbooks and a couple of treasured family photographs. Jake
00:08:25
Speaker 1: packed all of his broomstick flying memorabilia, the posters of
00:08:30
Speaker 1: famous flyers and trophies he'd one in school competitions, and
00:08:36
Speaker 1: Lily made sure she'd packed the special food to feed
00:08:40
Speaker 1: her pet talking slug, and as they packed, they spoke
00:08:45
Speaker 1: about how excited they were to be heading back home.
00:08:50
Speaker 1: They couldn't wait for their mum's delicious homemade hot cross
00:08:55
Speaker 1: buns and seeing all their old friends from home wait
00:09:00
Speaker 1: to play in the park. And have sleepovers and all
00:09:05
Speaker 1: in all have a well deserved relaxing break from all
00:09:10
Speaker 1: the hard schoolwork they'd been doing. Then Lily suddenly remembered
00:09:17
Speaker 1: that she had lent a very special book of magical
00:09:21
Speaker 1: folk tales to a friend down the corridor. She needed
00:09:25
Speaker 1: to go fetch it so that she could read the
00:09:28
Speaker 1: tails over the break. So she scurried off and came
00:09:32
Speaker 1: back with the big, dusty volume pressed to her chest.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: She walked across the room, ready to pack the book away,
00:09:42
Speaker 1: looked down at her leather trunk, and with a startled chock,
00:09:47
Speaker 1: discovered it was empty. Everything she had packed in it
00:09:52
Speaker 1: was taken out there. It all was thrown in a
00:09:56
Speaker 1: heap on her bed. Lily turned around and stared at Jake,
00:10:03
Speaker 1: who was sitting on his own bed folding a fur
00:10:06
Speaker 1: lined cloak, could as though nothing in the world had happened.
00:10:12
Speaker 1: In fact, it looked to Lily like he was trying
00:10:16
Speaker 1: a little too hard to act nonchalant. In fact, it
00:10:22
Speaker 1: made him look pretty suspicious. If you asked her, Jake,
00:10:28
Speaker 1: she said, what was the point of doing that? Jake
00:10:34
Speaker 1: didn't even look up doing what he asked this, she said,
00:10:42
Speaker 1: her little exasperated now pointing at the pile of her
00:10:47
Speaker 1: unpacked belongings lying on her bed. Why would you unpack
00:10:53
Speaker 1: my whole suitcase? Is it some kind of a joke now?
00:10:59
Speaker 1: Jake looked over at her with an expression of the
00:11:02
Speaker 1: fuddlement clouding his face. Wow, Lily thought to herself. He
00:11:09
Speaker 1: was a pretty good actor. She'd give him that. What
00:11:14
Speaker 1: do you mean I've unpacked your whole suitcase, Jake asked,
00:11:20
Speaker 1: I've been sitting here the whole time. Then, how Lily asked,
00:11:27
Speaker 1: is all my staff now lying on my bed? Come on, Jake,
00:11:33
Speaker 1: I know you did it. Jake hopped off his bed
00:11:36
Speaker 1: and came over to see what Lily was talking about.
00:11:41
Speaker 1: He peered into her leather trunk and had to admit
00:11:45
Speaker 1: that it was indeed empty. All her stuff was on
00:11:50
Speaker 1: her bed, But it hadn't been him. Who did it?
00:11:55
Speaker 1: I promise, Lily, he told her, I have done anything
00:12:01
Speaker 1: with your stuff. Then, how do you suggest it happened?
00:12:07
Speaker 1: She asked? Maybe you think it emptied itself by magic.
00:12:14
Speaker 1: Jake shook his head in resignation. I don't even know
00:12:19
Speaker 1: a spell that could do that, he said, and as
00:12:23
Speaker 1: she turned around and went back to his own packing
00:12:28
Speaker 1: Lily got set on refolding her clothes and putting them
00:12:32
Speaker 1: back into her suitcase. Why Jake wouldn't fess up, She
00:12:37
Speaker 1: just didn't know. It wasn't like him to play a
00:12:41
Speaker 1: practical trick and then not even own up to it
00:12:45
Speaker 1: and have a laugh about it. It was, she thought,
00:12:50
Speaker 1: rather out of character. Just as she was having these thoughts,
00:12:56
Speaker 1: there came a groan from the other side of the room, Oh, Lily,
00:13:02
Speaker 1: Jake said, I said, I didn't unpack your trunk. You
00:13:06
Speaker 1: didn't have to get me back like this. Lily looked
00:13:11
Speaker 1: over and saw that all of Jake's belongings, which had
00:13:16
Speaker 1: just a few moments ago been neatly folded in his
00:13:19
Speaker 1: own trunk, were now scattered all over the bed, and
00:13:26
Speaker 1: he was looking at her with accusation in his eyes. Jake,
00:13:31
Speaker 1: she said, putting both hands on her hips, that wasn't me.
00:13:37
Speaker 1: You've seen that. I've been over here the whole time.
00:13:42
Speaker 1: If this is some elaborate trick you're playing on me,
00:13:46
Speaker 1: you should just quit it now. Why would I place
00:13:51
Speaker 1: a trick on you that involves unpacking my own trunk,
00:13:57
Speaker 1: he asked her. Sounds like that would be more like
00:14:01
Speaker 1: playing a trick on myself, who were better than me
00:14:05
Speaker 1: at magic. I bet you know a spell that could
00:14:09
Speaker 1: have unpacked my trunk while I wasn't looking well. I don't,
00:14:16
Speaker 1: Lily said, and even if I did, I wouldn't use it,
00:14:23
Speaker 1: Unlike you. I don't play silly tricks like that. And
00:14:29
Speaker 1: so the Jupiter twins, who usually got on in such
00:14:33
Speaker 1: perfect harmony, fell into bickering, each of them accusing the
00:14:39
Speaker 1: other of playing a dastardly trick upon them. So absorbed
00:14:45
Speaker 1: in their quarreling were they that at first neither of
00:14:50
Speaker 1: them noticed the strangest thing starting to happen. But then
00:14:56
Speaker 1: Jake caught sight of it out of the corner of
00:14:59
Speaker 1: his eye and held up a hand to stop Lily speaking. Look,
00:15:07
Speaker 1: he whispered, pointing behind her. She turned and saw that
00:15:14
Speaker 1: the t shirts which she had just diligently refolded and
00:15:20
Speaker 1: repacked into her trunk, were unfolding themselves, floating up into
00:15:27
Speaker 1: the air, and tossing themselves back into a heap on
00:15:32
Speaker 1: her bed. Do you think it's a ghost, Jake whispered,
00:15:39
Speaker 1: Or maybe our belongings have been bewitched, Lily ventured, Or maybe,
00:15:49
Speaker 1: said Jake, they're not our belongings. At all. Maybe they're
00:15:55
Speaker 1: little people who've been transfigured into clothes and books and whatnot,
00:16:02
Speaker 1: and now they're trying to flee being trapped inside the trunk.
00:16:08
Speaker 1: That sounded a little ludicrous to them both, and they
00:16:12
Speaker 1: stood there stroking their chins, wondering what could be causing
00:16:18
Speaker 1: Lily's stuff to be acting in such a peculiar way.
00:16:23
Speaker 1: When there was a little flicker in the air, like
00:16:26
Speaker 1: a glitch, and for the briefest second, a familiar house
00:16:33
Speaker 1: Off featured figure appeared before them, before promptly disappearing again.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: Oh no, Lily exclaimed, it's not a ghost or a
00:16:47
Speaker 1: strange bewitchment at all. It's Cranky. He's the one who's
00:16:54
Speaker 1: emptying all our stuff out of our trunks. And with that,
00:17:00
Speaker 1: the Jupiter twins started chasing the invisible creature around the room.
00:17:07
Speaker 1: Wherever they saw one of their possessions begin to levitate.
00:17:12
Speaker 1: They knew that Cranky was behind it, and they leapt
00:17:16
Speaker 1: upon the spot, trying to catch him, but they never could.
00:17:21
Speaker 1: He always slipped right out of their grasp. Then finally,
00:17:28
Speaker 1: the house Off grabbed hold of a whole bunch of
00:17:32
Speaker 1: their clothes, jumped out of the door, and ran down
00:17:36
Speaker 1: the corridor. Lily and Jake watched, panting a little, as
00:17:43
Speaker 1: their clothes seemed to fly away from them of their
00:17:46
Speaker 1: own accord and disappear out of sight. So it was
00:17:54
Speaker 1: Cranky all along, said Lily. I'm sorry for ever suspecting
00:18:01
Speaker 1: you of playing a trick on me. Jake, Oh that's
00:18:05
Speaker 1: all right, replied her brother with a little grin. It
00:18:10
Speaker 1: is the kind of thing I'd do, but this time
00:18:15
Speaker 1: it wasn't me. Now, how are we going to get
00:18:19
Speaker 1: our things back? I guess, said Lily. We have to
00:18:25
Speaker 1: go find Cranky. Jake nodded and then frowned. But how
00:18:32
Speaker 1: he asked? Do we find an invisible creature who doesn't
00:18:37
Speaker 1: want to be found? With this question still hovering over
00:18:42
Speaker 1: them like a mischievous imp, the Jupiter twins headed down
00:18:47
Speaker 1: the corridor to search for Cranky. They kept their eyes
00:18:52
Speaker 1: pealed for any clothes that seemed to be flying around unaided.
00:18:58
Speaker 1: That would be the sign that Cranky was around. But
00:19:03
Speaker 1: it wasn't Cranky that the Jupiter twins found first. In fact,
00:19:09
Speaker 1: it was doctor Howard, their head teacher. Hello, Lily, Hello Jake,
00:19:16
Speaker 1: she said, pausing outside her office door. What are you
00:19:21
Speaker 1: two doing? Wandering around the corridors. At this time, shouldn't
00:19:28
Speaker 1: you be packing up your trunks and preparing to head
00:19:32
Speaker 1: home to your family tomorrow? And Lily and Jake, feeling
00:19:37
Speaker 1: rather relieved to have bumped into their head teacher who
00:19:41
Speaker 1: they were sure would be able to help them out
00:19:44
Speaker 1: with their predicament, told her the whole story. How Cranky
00:19:50
Speaker 1: the house elf seemed dead set on sabotaging their attempts
00:19:55
Speaker 1: to pack this because he's just so grumpy, Jake explained,
00:20:02
Speaker 1: and wants to make life difficult for everyone. So Dr Howard, please,
00:20:10
Speaker 1: could you help us and order Cranky to give us
00:20:13
Speaker 1: back our things. At that, Doctor Howard gave a gentle chuckle.
00:20:21
Speaker 1: She took off her glasses and looked down at the
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Jupiter twins with her watery, kindly green eyes. Now, she said,
00:20:34
Speaker 1: I'm not sure I can order Cranky to do anything
00:20:38
Speaker 1: at all. This seems to be something you have to
00:20:43
Speaker 1: resolve between yourselves. But I can offer one small piece
00:20:50
Speaker 1: of advice. It seems to me that nobody is ever
00:20:55
Speaker 1: grumpy because they want to be. So Usually we're grumpy
00:21:02
Speaker 1: because there's something going on under the surface, don't you agree,
00:21:09
Speaker 1: So when you do find Cranky, which I'm sure you will.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: I recommend you show a little sympathy and try to
00:21:19
Speaker 1: see what's going on beneath the surface, rather than simply
00:21:24
Speaker 1: being irritated with him. When Doctor Howard finished speaking, she
00:21:31
Speaker 1: gave a big yawn and promptly wished the Jupiter twins
00:21:35
Speaker 1: good night, disappearing into her office. Lily and Jake continued
00:21:43
Speaker 1: down the corridor, both thinking privately that doctor Howard's advice
00:21:51
Speaker 1: sounded as ever rather wise indeed, showing some sympathy towards Cranky.
00:22:01
Speaker 1: They wouldn't have thought of it themselves, but they could
00:22:05
Speaker 1: see right away that it was the right idea. Soon
00:22:10
Speaker 1: they spotted a house elf up ahead, but it wasn't Cranky.
00:22:15
Speaker 1: It was a friendly, young house elf named Mary, who
00:22:19
Speaker 1: waved at the twins and gave them a hug. Lily
00:22:23
Speaker 1: told Mary they were looking for Cranky, and Mary told
00:22:28
Speaker 1: them she knew just where he'd be. He's probably in
00:22:33
Speaker 1: the kitchen, she said, warming his feet by the fire.
00:22:39
Speaker 1: It's his favorite place to be. Lily and Jake had
00:22:44
Speaker 1: never imagined Cranky doing anything as cozy as warming his
00:22:50
Speaker 1: feet by the fire, but they followed Mary down to
00:22:54
Speaker 1: the kitchen and When she swung open the door, there
00:22:59
Speaker 1: was Rank, just like she said he'd be. He had
00:23:04
Speaker 1: his big houself feet pointed towards the fire toasting his souls,
00:23:12
Speaker 1: while beside him sat the pile of Lily and Jake's clothes.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: When Cranky saw the Jupiter twins come into the kitchen,
00:23:23
Speaker 1: his eyes went wide and he half jumped up, as
00:23:28
Speaker 1: they're ready to flee once again. But Jake put up
00:23:33
Speaker 1: a peaceful hand and said, way, Cranky, don't disappear. We're
00:23:39
Speaker 1: not mad. We only want to talk to you. Cranky
00:23:44
Speaker 1: sat back down, though he still had his eyes narrowed
00:23:48
Speaker 1: at them suspiciously. Jake and Lily went over to him
00:23:55
Speaker 1: to wear. The warm glow of the fire warmed their
00:23:59
Speaker 1: hands lit up their cheeks. Cranky Jake said, we just
00:24:06
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you. Is there a reason you were
00:24:11
Speaker 1: unpacking our trunks and taking our clothes? Not any reason
00:24:18
Speaker 1: you pesky kids would ever understand, he muttered, But Cranky
00:24:25
Speaker 1: Lily said gently, if you explain to us, maybe we
00:24:31
Speaker 1: could try to understand. We're all ears. Try us. Cranky
00:24:39
Speaker 1: stared into the flickering flames, which made shadows twirl and
00:24:45
Speaker 1: dance all over his face. He looked deep in contemplation,
00:24:53
Speaker 1: but at last he sighed and said, it's not fair
00:25:00
Speaker 1: the you kids get to go home. Jake frowned. That
00:25:07
Speaker 1: wasn't what he'd expected Cranky to say. What do you mean,
00:25:13
Speaker 1: he asked. What I mean, Cranky said, is that every
00:25:20
Speaker 1: half term you get to pack up your stuff and
00:25:24
Speaker 1: go home to see your family, and you and Lily
00:25:28
Speaker 1: sit in your room talking about all the relaxing things
00:25:34
Speaker 1: you get to do, how you get to eat your
00:25:38
Speaker 1: mum's hot Cross buns, how you get to hang out
00:25:42
Speaker 1: with your friends, and to be honest, all that talk
00:25:48
Speaker 1: makes me a bit well, it makes me a bit cranky.
00:25:53
Speaker 1: What I would do for a little break, What I
00:25:58
Speaker 1: would do to be able to pack my things and
00:26:03
Speaker 1: go away for a week. I'm not really sure what
00:26:07
Speaker 1: a hot Cross bunny is, but I sure would like
00:26:10
Speaker 1: to try one. But Nope, all Cranky does is work, work, work,
00:26:19
Speaker 1: No break for Cranky and no holiday for Cranky either,
00:26:25
Speaker 1: because there's nowhere for Cranky to go. So when I
00:26:31
Speaker 1: saw you packing your stuff into your trunks earlier, it
00:26:36
Speaker 1: made me think about how boring it's going to be
00:26:40
Speaker 1: around here, working away, even when you pesky kids are
00:26:46
Speaker 1: gone and so well, and Cranky pointed at the pile
00:26:52
Speaker 1: of clothes. As Lily had listened to Cranky speak, a
00:26:58
Speaker 1: peculiar feeling was moving through her heart. It was like
00:27:05
Speaker 1: the flames of the fire were sending their warmth into
00:27:10
Speaker 1: her very core. Because with each word Crankie said, Lily
00:27:18
Speaker 1: began to understand him better, and quite frankly, she sympathized
00:27:26
Speaker 1: how tedious it must be to have to work all
00:27:31
Speaker 1: the time. And even though your academy was a beautiful
00:27:38
Speaker 1: place to live and a really fun school to go to,
00:27:42
Speaker 1: she didn't think she'd be happy having to be here
00:27:47
Speaker 1: all the time, with nowhere else to go and no
00:27:52
Speaker 1: break to be had. No, she understood what Cranky was
00:27:58
Speaker 1: saying too. If she were in his position, she'd be
00:28:04
Speaker 1: pretty grumpy too. She held out a hand and the
00:28:11
Speaker 1: house elf slipped his cool palm into hers. Thanks for
00:28:18
Speaker 1: explaining that to us, Cranky, she said, you're right. Everyone
00:28:25
Speaker 1: deserves a break and a hot cross bun too, and
00:28:31
Speaker 1: we want to help you if you're ready to give
00:28:35
Speaker 1: us back our things. I've come up with a little plan.
00:28:42
Speaker 1: Do you want to hear it? Cranky? The house elf
00:28:46
Speaker 1: looked into Lily's eyes, with the same orange flames flickering
00:28:53
Speaker 1: in both. He nodded, yes, please, he said. The next morning,
00:29:02
Speaker 1: when Lily and Jake, Jupiter's mum arrived to take them
00:29:06
Speaker 1: home from the Leora Academy, the twins who had stood
00:29:11
Speaker 1: ready in their dormitory with their brass and leather trunks
00:29:16
Speaker 1: packed and locked, but they weren't the only ones there.
00:29:22
Speaker 1: Stood beside them was Cranky. The house up, and he
00:29:28
Speaker 1: had a fully packed bag with him too. What's going
00:29:34
Speaker 1: on here, then, the twins mother asked, looking from Lily
00:29:40
Speaker 1: to Jake to Cranky and back again. Who's this, mum
00:29:47
Speaker 1: said Jake. Please meet our friend Cranky. Nice to meet you,
00:29:55
Speaker 1: said their mum with a smile. Cranky works at the academy, me,
00:30:00
Speaker 1: Lily explained, but he sure is in need of a holiday,
00:30:06
Speaker 1: so we were wondering if he can come home with
00:30:10
Speaker 1: us with a break. Please can he? Mom? Pretty please?
00:30:16
Speaker 1: The Jupiter Twins' mom only had to think about it
00:30:21
Speaker 1: a few moments. Of course, he can. Any friend of
00:30:26
Speaker 1: yours is always welcoming our home. Come on, Cranky, off
00:30:33
Speaker 1: we go. Let's get you home. I've got a tray
00:30:38
Speaker 1: of freshly cooked hot cross buns just waiting to be eaten.
00:30:47
Speaker 1: And with that, the four of them, Jake and Lily, you,
00:30:53
Speaker 1: their mom, and their new friend, Cranky, left Leura Academy
00:30:59
Speaker 1: and traveled back together to the Jupiter house. Cranky, as
00:31:06
Speaker 1: it turned out, loved hot cross buns, and he loved sleepovers,
00:31:14
Speaker 1: and he loved playing in the park too. There was
00:31:19
Speaker 1: the first break he had enjoyed in a long long time,
00:31:25
Speaker 1: with long lions in the mornings and lazy, fun filled days,
00:31:33
Speaker 1: And when they all returned to Leora Academy, Cranky felt
00:31:39
Speaker 1: very refreshed. Indeed, and the Jupiter Twins did too. Cranky
00:31:47
Speaker 1: became one of their closest friends in the whole school,
00:31:52
Speaker 1: waking them up when the sun rose with cups of
00:31:55
Speaker 1: tea and popping over to hear how they the days
00:32:00
Speaker 1: had gone. Once their lessons were all finished, and Cranky
00:32:06
Speaker 1: came back home with the Jupiter Twins for the Christmas break,
00:32:11
Speaker 1: and then for spring and summer too. He was always
00:32:17
Speaker 1: after that a welcome guest in the Jupiter household. Just
00:32:24
Speaker 1: as Jake and Lily's mom had said, he smiled and
00:32:29
Speaker 1: laughed and was a pleasure to be around, and Jake
00:32:35
Speaker 1: and Lily had to admit, even though he was still
00:32:40
Speaker 1: called Cranky the house elf, they couldn't describe him as
00:32:45
Speaker 1: grumpy anymore, or at least not very often. N