Carter Locke

"'I guess you could say....I make things Vanish.'"-Carter Locke, The Magic Misfits

Carter Locke is the protagonist in the first Magic Misfits book. He is a member (and unofficial secretary) of the Magic Misfits magic club and specializes in sleight-of-hand and vanishing magic.

Appearance
Carter Locke is blue eyed boy with light skin and rosy cheeks. He has messy blonde hair that has an ahoge sticking up, He is thin and wears a white long-sleeved button-up dress shirt, with a messy collar. He wears black suspenders and black pants that puff up once they hit his black lace up boots. He has a brown cross bag, and is said to be the Shortest of the Misfits, Second to Ridley.

Early Life
Carter was born to magician Lyle Locke. However, after his parents died, he grew up on the streets with his no-good uncle. His sleight-of-hand tricks drew crowds of people, and along with his uncle's shell game, they would empty the pockets of the passers-by which Carter detested. His uncle was also shown to be abusive in the first book and fourth book, slamming Carter into the wall on the night of his escape, picking Carter up by his collar in an ally when Carter refused to help scam people. It is also said that Carter flinched away from him when his Uncle greeted him on the front steps of the boarding house they were staying in, saying that his uncle’s silence was “scarier to Carter than wherever his uncle screamed at him,” and so on. One night, Carter ran away and hopped onto a freight train and ended up in the town of Mineral Wells, where unbeknownst to him lived his cousin, which he finds out at the end of the first book and whom he moves in with.

The Magic Misfits (Book 1)
Carter snuck into a travelling circus, where he was asked to join up (which he declined). He met Mr. Vernon for the first time, staring in awe as the man did a minor trick with a coin. He later meets Mr. Vernon's adopted daughter, Leila, an escape artist, hanging from a straitjacket from the celling in Mr. Vernon's Magic Shop and later on, her friends, Theo Stein-Meyer, an accomplished violinist/levitator and Ridley Larsen, a girl with a wheelchair and a head full of facts. The quartet figure out B. B. Bosso (owner of the travelling circus) is up to no good and while searching his room, recruit performing twins Izzy and Olly to distract him. The six devise a plan to expose Bosso at a show and Carter leads Bosso on a wild goose chase right into the hands of police. Unfortunately, several "frown clowns", as Carter nicknames them, getaway. Mr. Vernon tells Carter who he is and Carter joins the Vernon family (consisting of Mr. Vernon, his husband The Other Mr. Vernon, Leila, and the parrot in the magic shop, Presto). The six, after hearing about Mr. Vernon's magic club, the Emerald Ring, form their own club, The Magic Misfits, using the moniker B. B. Bosso (a former member of the Emerald Ring) gave them.

The Second Story
Carter's skills have shown to grow as he can now shoot cards like weapons. He and Leila have formed a bit of a sibling relationship, acting caring for each other. He alerts Leila of the Frown Clown hoax and assists with dealing with the stress of possibly having to move and finding out the real identity of her parents. He also tames Bosso's monkey (now named Change-O).

The Minor Third
In book 3, he and his friends perform in the Mineral Wells Talent Show, but drops his cards during his act. He and the Misfits are later disqualified because Theo came to help them at the end. He, along with Leila, follow Theo and watch their magic shop explode before being chased by Kalagen. He and the Vernons move into a suite in the Grand Oak Resort. After the Misfits "break up", Carter and Leila send and recieve messages to the other Misfits via Theo's doves.

Mr. Vernon
Carter appears to consider him as a mix of mentor and father figure. Mr. Vernon is implied to be the one who leaves Carter a blanket and spare change when he sleeps in the park overnight.

The Other Mr. Vernon
Carter also seems to have a good relationship with him and enjoys his cooking. Carter is fond of The Other Mr. Vernon's shortbread cookies, as is his monkey.

Leila Vernon
Mr. Vernon's cousin, Lyle Locke, was Carter's father, and the two were like brothers. Leila and Carter seem to carry on this relationship, as Theo notes in the third book, "they have become almost like siblings.”

Presto
Carter seems to find Mr. Vernon's pet bird a mixture of irritating, hysterical, and smart.

Change-O
Carter adopted B. B. Bosso's former pet after it attempted to raid the Vernon Magic Shop (by luring it with shortbread cookies) and renamed it Change-O.

Ridley Larsen
Carter and Ridley have a good relationship, both being sort of natural leaders (Carter leading the Bosso Trap and Ridley acting as the leader of the Magic Misfits). When they first met, Ridley was extremely suspicious of Carter, and didn't trust him, but they find a number of things in common such as being alone and eventually form a strong bond.

Izzy and Olly
Carter, like the other Misfits, find Izzy and Olly's' routines to be a mix of funny and eye-roll worthy.

Uncle Sly
Carter has shown that he despises and fears this man, Sly 'Raised' Carter (He did a horrid Job. #UncleSlyHateClub) And abused him. This abuse included: Verbal Abuse, Mental Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Physical Abuse. Sly often manipulated Carter often using the: "I Raised you." excuse or the "This is how you repay me for everything I've done for you?" Excuse. He often puts on a show around others acting like he loves Carter, this can be seen in chapter 2 of the First Magic Misfits Book when he is about to threaten Carter when a Police Man Walks by, so instead of hurting him he hugs him and even calls him: "Little Ball of Sunshine". But he drops that Act once the officer is out of sight. He also seemed to have starved Carter, and even caused lasting effects. Carter will sometimes sleep on the floor still due to the way he once lived. Carter has shown to have PTSD from experiences with Uncle Sly.

Uncle Sly on multiple Occasions has blamed Carter for the latter's poor Mental Health.

Quotes
''“How many times have I told you? I don’t steal.”- Carter, to Uncle Sly in Chapter 2 of Magic Misfits 1.''

"But Watching you All it Seems cool."- Carter Locke

Trivia

 * Carter keeps shortbread cookies in his pockets, something he picked up during his time on the streets.
 * As seen in the third book, Carter has picked up a few more advanced vanishing tricks in addition to his usual sleight-of-hand.
 * Throughout the series, Carter was proved to be incredibly resilient and was calm under pressure and danger (with the exception of the realization at the end of book 4; that sent Carter into a similar state to shock)
 * Many of the things Carter experiences after he runs away from his “Uncle” are similar symptoms to PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it can be inferred that Carter may have some mental health issues and trauma after his experiences with missing or dead parents, an abusive guardian for years, and all that happened in the books, especially the last two.
 * Carter is the 2nd shortest misfit, with Ridley being the first due to her being in a wheel-Chair