Warning: It is strongly suggested that you read the story based on this essay before you read this addendum, because it basically gives the story away.

Magic can greatly enhance a fantasy story, simply because of what you can do with it. The author is not confined to being realistic when writing about magic, because with magic, almost anything goes. Each author can invent his or her own brand of magic for the story. In my story, magic allows for inherently wacky things to happen, while the characters are more realistic: two siblings who fight and argue a lot, yet have to work together to achieve a goal.

Often when magic is used in a book, the setting is not earth. When not confined to earthly laws, a writer can make up their own kingdom, too. In the town of this story, magic is well known, yet controversial. Even though I didn't explore it much in this story, this is an important issue - how fair is it to use magic, and how much power should you be allowed to have? This is why no one in the town had any wands. It would make them immensely more powerful, and they, especially the adults, would be attempted to take advantage of it. This is what Herzeleid did, and it obviously did not turn out well, for him or the townspeople.

The other aspect in an imaginary setting is that the author can use different and odd names. The majority in this story have no real significance and are in fact products of my imagination, but it is interesting to note that “Manches Herzeleid” means “many miseries” in German. Also, because of the significance of the four elements and how they are associated with magic, I decided to use them, in the form of cursed dragons. Just for a little irony, the dragons representing the four elements were given chemical element names.

Because I used magic in my story, I had the chance to invent a truly weird situation that could potentially be funny for the reader. There is really no end to these strange situations when dealing with magic, which is why they make such great stories. I mean, who ever heard of an ice-breathing dragon? It's rather refreshing to read about something inherently wacky that you've never considered before.

The magic and fantasy elements in this story are also used to subtly promote morals and values. Besides the question of power, which I mentioned above, I can present a new idea in my story other than the usual “knight bravely saves town from dragon by slaying it.” In this story, it is not a brave knight but kids who save the day, and only the kids can realize that your first choice shouldn't be to kill the dragon, but to reason with it. Because, otherwise, it may just turn out that you've got the wrong creature that's evil.