"And where do you think that you are going, Mildred Hubble?" A stern female voice sounded from behind the young witch. Mildred slowly turned around and stood facing Miss Hardbroom; arms tightly crossed as always. The student quietly looked up to see the strict Potions teacher's ever so non-indulgent expression. She didn't look particularly happy... And well, whenever HB was unhappy... Mildred opened her mouth a couple of times promising, but no sound came out, thus she decided that it would be wise to just close her mouth and remain silent. "Well?" the stern Deputy Head pressed.
"I'm sorry, Miss Hardbroom," the first year's student started, mumbling. "I really had to go t-to the bathroom…"
"That's most definitely one of the most pathetic and see-through excuses I have ever heard!" HB exclaimed, rolling her glinting dark eyes impatiently. "And I have heard it a lot, too."
"It's true, Miss Hardbroom!" Mildred brought out, looking up indignantly at her most un-favorite teacher at Cackle's Academy, as if she felt highly resentful that Miss Hardbroom would not believe her on her word now she was actually speaking the truth.
"Oh, don't you give me that innocent look," HB scolded. "That doesn't work with me, Mildred Hubble. Well, what if I should decide to believe you, which I do not, and you were just going to the bathroom at this impossible hour in the middle of the night, then why, let me ask you, do you practically always have to make such noise, even when you simply go to the bathroom?"
"Miss Hardbroom, I'm not making any noise!" Mildred protested, then thought maybe it would be good for herself if she would just keep her mouth shut. HB didn't accept protest from anyone, and especially not from a student. Everything always had to be her way, and if it didn't… well, then…
"And back to your bedroom, now," HB said, trying to keep her anger inside and not take the student with the ears and drag her back to her room herself.
"But–" "Now!"
"Yes, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred whispered, hanging her head and turning around towards the stairs again. "I hate her," Mildred whispered to herself as she started climbing them and made her way back to the bedroom. She simply hated how HB always tended to pop up at times she really shouldn't; how she seemed to follow Mildred invisibly and appear whenever she could catch her student on doing something wrong, as in going out of bed in the middle of the night. Gosh, did that woman even sleep? Mildred started pondering about HB having a conspiracy against her.
What Mildred didn't think about, was that HB had perhaps heard her. However, in contrary to what we would have all expected from her, HB didn't start shouting or anything. She just became particularly quiet. She did things by the rules, and therefore she knew students must hate or at least dislike her, but hearing it said out aloud was a whole other thing. It brought something loose inside her.
Mildred on her end crept up in bed again, next to Tabby. HB slowly vanished and returned to her room as well, sighing and sitting down on the bed, eyes staring off at some unknown point in the distance; seeing it, but not really looking at it. Was she really that bad of a teacher? Even though any other human being would suspect her of not having feelings, she did. Actually, from that particular moment HB would change, and no one would ever guess what had lead to that, not even Mildred or Amelia Cackle, the Headmistress. She would simply ignore the questions, and try be kinder. Of course, it did not always show so well, but she at least tried, and what perhaps was even more important, students at Cackle's Academy would even start liking her. Grades went up almost instantly, and wasn't this what the stern Hardbroom had always strived for?