If you’re homesick for Harry Potter and especially the magical plants – Devil’s Snare and Gillyweed – the new adventure from first-time author Samantha Birch will suit you nicely. CAT DRAGON is meant for young adults or young at heart who enjoy lighter fantasy, the kind in which ‘certain death’ can generally be avoided, and which doesn’t come with too many spectres.    A twenty-year-old witch, Aloysia Papplewick, lives in Tangleroot Valley, tending magical plants, making cures, and caring for annual talking pumpkins which link to her ancestors. That’s quite a lot all by itself, but the magical system in the world depends on the good graces of giant, stalking creatures called Guardians, one of which benefits each locality. Aloysia has a best friend, Ivy Longcaster, who is about to be a mother. Ivy's cheeky brother, named Hollis, got the job of escorting, or Shepherding, the Guardian, to make sure it stays well and people aren’t harmed when it meanders through a district. Abruptly, Hollis returns, and the Guardian is stumbling around the valley looking really sick.    Aloysia previously thought her biggest challenge was finding her familiar. Witches are supposed to bond with cat-dragons. As a botanist, maybe she stays in one place too much to find the right one. She rescues a kitten-dragon from a pet shop and hopes the love she feels for the winged furry ball will be enough. However, if the magical Guardian can’t be revived, all the magic it provided may fade. That might include the cat- dragons.   I could feel a magical Quest coming on, and sure enough, with too few provisions, Hollis and Aloysia head off to the mountains to look for rare spell ingredients (while fighting off a romance). On the way, they encounter people who may be allies, treasure hunters or mercenary thugs. It’s hard to tell at first.   The benefit of the story is the plants, as ethnobotany and magicobotany are frequently required. I did get tired of plants named with capital letters, like Prattling Pumpkins. Odd discordant bits from modern life appear, like photographs and a device called a yammerphone – works like a mini gramophone – but I particularly like the marauding lichenthrope. Full marks for invention to Samantha Birch in CAT DRAGON. My cats get up to enough mischief; goodness knows what they would do if they had wings. Maybe that’s the reason there are so few birds, apart from the talking crow.