Hatching Magic

"Hatching Magic" is a 2003 novel by Ann Downer. The sequel to "Hatching Magic" is The Dragon of Never-Was, which was recently published in 2006.

In Chapter One, the setting is 13th century England in a castle, where a king's wizard, Gideon, and his wyvern Wycca live. Wycca is about to lay an egg, so she roams the castle grounds for a safe nest. She finally comes to a melon patch in which a wormhole through time, or "bolt-hole," is hidden amongst the plants. She falls into the magical hole, which lands her in 2002 Boston. When it is time for dinner, Wycca does not return, which worries Gideon. He goes out to find the wyvern when he suddenly notices the melon patch with the scale of Wycca near it. Now Gideon knows that Wycca has gone through the bolt-hole. So he quickly packs supplies, his two-headed and intelligent snake, Ouroboros, and his intelligent biddable fire, Ignus. He goes through the hole and also lands in modern Boston.

In Chapter Two, a ten-year old girl in modern Boston named Theodora Oglethorpe, who is fascinated by magic, dragons, and a trading card game called Wizards & Wyverns, begs her dad, Andy, to let her go with him to Laos. He refuses, excusing that she is not yet skilled enough. She complains, but her father does not relent. She is left in the care of her housekeeper, Mikko.