Hugo loves elves, but is teased by his peers. Hugo decides to go against his feelings and force himself to grow up. But when his family is on Christmas vacation, he discovers that elves live at the hotel. Hugo struggles internally not to help the elf girl Sne, who has lost her elf parents. Sne wants to go home, but she can't get the reindeer to fly because she has never learned magic.

William's father is dead and his mother is mentally ill, so he lives with his uncle Nils. Nils is on early retirement, making money by buying things cheap and selling them high. He has also accumulated a large debt and city's gangsters are on him, demanding that he pays it full. William sets out to pay off the debt of his uncle - and perhaps his courage might impress Viola too, a girl from his class.