Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci is a collection of four fantasy stories by the British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published by Collins in 2000.
He manages to steal the money to buy transfer to another world where his modest powers do operate —but one more like ours, with greater reliance on machinery and less on magic than 12A.
The decrepit enchanter confirms the unusual nature of Tonino's magic before his penultimate life visibly departs, leaving him entirely mortal.
Returning to the railway station by horse-drawn hackney, the boys are kidnapped; the trip is a long one, their intellect dulls, they are delivered to a small old man who describes them as "two apprentices from the poorhouse".
As the hours pass, they discover that the old man has intercepted the souls of seven former Chrestomancis upon their decease and eagerly awaits that of Gabriel de Witt.
She is also the daughter of Christopher Chant's schoolboy friend Oneir, who appeals to the Chrestomanci for assistance when Carol stops at 99 dreams and specialists can find nothing wrong.