New Year's Eve: The secret magical councilor Professor Dr. Beelzebub Irrwitzer has not yet fulfilled his quota of evil deeds in the year that is almost over and is afraid of the consequences. The consequences are not long in coming and appear in the form of the diabolical bailiff Maledictus Made: if Irrwitzer fails to fulfill his contractual obligations by midnight sharp, he will be seized. His aunt Tyrannja Vamperl is also threatened with this fate and so the money witch and laboratory wizard join forces. Together they brew the satanic-archaic-lying-hellish wish punch, which has the power to grant all wishes. And the special thing about this drink is that it turns all good wishes into their opposite. So they both hope to pull their heads out of the noose after all and make up for their shortcomings unnoticed by the whole world.
But the two of them have not reckoned with their pets. Because Maurizio di Mauro the cat lives with Irrwitzer and Tyrannja has a precocious raven called Jakoba Krakel fluttering into her house. Both are on a secret mission to find out for the High Council of Animals where all the evil on earth comes from. Naturally, they find out about the witch and the wizard. Thus begins a race against time and the salvation of the world lies in the paws and wings of Maurizio di Mauro and Jakoba Krakel.
Michael Ende's popular story tells of solidarity and friendship and is full of adventure and magic.