The fairy appears first at the beginning of the story to grant the children one wish, when Hulda wishes for the fairies wand, she is stripped of her magical powers and can no longer grant wishes. She becomes dim and soon disappears, but before she goes away for good she asks that the child keep good care of the wand for one day she may be able tor return for it. When the fairy comes back in the middle of the story she finds out that the wand has been traded to the evil gnome who dressed up like a poor peddler and tricked Hulda into trading it to him for one of his bracelets. Hulda thought the fairy was dead so she gave the wand away, when in fact the fairy tells Hulda she was in Africa far away from Europe because the gnomes can only come up in Europe, she was staying away so that she was not kept as a slave of the gnome. Once Hulda returns the wand to the fairy at the end of the story she is not seen or heard of again.