Der Zauberlehrling (2017)

The desperately poor Valentin is determined to become a magician. As it happens, the master magician Ambrosius is looking for an apprentice. Valentin is sure he is exactly right for the job. At the test, he does indeed show extraordinary talent, but Katrina outwits him. She has already eliminated the other applicants with a trick, and is now the only competitor besides Valentin. As a result, it is not he but Katrina who gets the coveted position as the magician’s assistant. Valentin instead finds work at the town pharmacy and becomes an apprentice to the old master Zacharias, who had trained Ambrosius. Zacharias has not performed magic since his attempt to restore the sight of a blind girl caused her to turn to stone; she now stands as a stone statue in the marketplace. After that, Zacharias completely renounced magic and teaches his apprentice only the arts of herbs and healing. The only friend he has left is a magic broom that can move by itself. Valentin teaches himself magic and one day, for fun, sends the broom to fetch water. When he tries to force it to stop, the broom breaks in two. Enraged, Zacharias throws him out. In the marketplace, Valentin meets Katrina. She tells him that the petrified girl is her sister Clara, and that she would do anything to bring Clara back to life. The young man offers to help her. Valentin and Katrina seek out Zacharias together. At first he reacts gruffly, but changes his mind when he learns that Katrina is Clara’s sister. Using a book they have brought with them, the three discover that, at the time Clara was enchanted, Ambrosius seized his chance to incapacitate Zacharias and take his position at the royal court. Reluctantly, Zacharias tells the young people that there is a magic flower capable of undoing any spell. He himself had already asked for the flower for that purpose, but its strict guardian refused him, since his own overconfidence had caused the mishap. He would suffer the same fate if he went near her again. The two young people must enter the guardian’s world through a magic gate. Zacharias waits on the lakeshore for their return. But when he sees Ambrosius in a rowboat on the lake, he realizes he must protect Katrina and Valentin from him. By now, the two are standing before the guardian, who first demands that Katrina become a flower in exchange. Valentin says that if she is to become a flower, he wants to be one too. The guardian is so moved that she lets them take the magic flower without payment, if they can find it—which they do. But on their way back, Ambrosius demands the flower for himself so he can enchant the queen to serve his purposes. Zacharias appears. He manages to return the flower to the young people before he himself is turned to stone. But Ambrosius breaks free of his grasp and takes the flower back. When Katrina and Valentin wake up, they find themselves at the bottom of a deep well shaft. Using the broom spell, they have water poured into the shaft until they can climb out. Meanwhile, Ambrosius uses the flower to cast a love spell on the queen, in order to secure the kingdom and power for himself. Katrina and Valentin appear and accuse Ambrosius of treachery. Valentin turns Ambrosius’s petrification spell back on him, and Ambrosius turns to stone. As soon as Katrina places the magic flower in her petrified sister’s hand, Clara comes back to life, which also breaks the spell cast on Zacharias. The queen is overjoyed to have her old friend back and appoints him Grand Master Magician. Katrina and Valentin embrace and seal their happiness with a kiss. Clara also places the magic flower in the hand of the petrified Ambrosius, but he crumbles to dust, which the magic broom sweeps up.