AN Welcome to my first fanfiction for The Worst Witch! I used to be obsessed with this show and I recently rekindled that obsession. Sorry if any of the characters featured in the original TWW seem OOC.

The school song rang clear throughout the crisp, foggy air as girls flew over Walker's Gate and into the courtyard of Cackle's Academy. Friends chatted with one another, discussing the happenings of their summer holidays and talking about the new spells they had discovered and experimented with. Some of the kinder teachers welcomed their students back.

The new girls still hadn't entered the school. Most of them were waiting outside, queueing impatiently, but a few hadn't turned up yet. One girl heard a couple of others laughing at how they might not even make it to the school before the other girls entered, and then the gate would close on them.

"-And they'll have to sleep in the woods all night and walk all the way back to get the bus home!" one particularly stuck up girl laughed. The girl who heard her spun around.

"Shut up, will you? I'm sick of hearing your voice! Just because the others aren't here yet! It's not like they were given a map or anything to help them find their way."

"Then why couldn't they just fly here?"
"Because they haven't learn to yet? That's why we're here."
The mean girl shot the other one a nasty look.

"You didn't have any trouble, I see. May I ask how you learned?"

The girl straightened up.

"My sister taught me."

"And who is your sister?"

"Mildred Hubble."

The girl scoffed.

"Mildred Hubble? My sister, Harriet Goodcharm, was in her year. Told me how she was always causing trouble and never got anything right. Bet you'll be just like her. Useless."

The worst witch's younger sister turned around and didn't talk to the girl again.


Thankfully, the last few girls managed to join the line before the gate opened. When it did, the girls began to walk in, hearing quite a chilly song being sung to them – or, more rather, threatened to them – from the girls who were crowding around them. They felt rather intimidated.

After the girls had gathered in the courtyard, a woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She wore completely black clothing, which matched with her strikingly pale complexion. She had black hair tied up into a bun. She look very strict.

"Miss Hardbroom," the Hubble girl whispered. The woman heard her.

"Yes. That is my name? And what, might I ask, is yours?"

The girl was terrified.

"I-I-Isabella, Miss."

Miss Hardbroom looked on the register that she was holding in her hands and, once she found Isabella's full name, opened her eyes wide and gasped.

"Welcome to the school, Isabella," the headteacher smiled at her. She had been with Miss Hardbroom when she appeared. She had short grey hair and was rather plump. She looked like she would be kind.

"New girls, you are to stay outside!" Miss Hardbroom shouted, sternly. "Everyone else, get in!"

Once everyone else had filed inside, Miss Hardbroom ordered the new girls into line. She registered them. Olivia Attallwood, Felicity Goodcharm, Kaitlin Kavensworth...all of the names sounded the same to Isabella. Some people snickered on hearing Hubble, probably due to hearing stories from older siblings about Mildred. This infuriated Isabella.

After the register was done, Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle talked about the school a bit and then let the girls go inside and see their rooms. Isabella had been placed next to a girl called Astrid Atherfew.

The room itself was dismal, just like Mildred had described. Iron bed, hard mattress, no window pane. There weren't any bats hanging upside down, like Mildred said there could possibly be. Cold air blew in, making Isabelle shiver. Tired, she saw her grey, dull nightgown laid on the bed. She immediately got out of her clothes and put on the nightgown and, although it didn't make her any warmer, crawled beneath the bed covers. She was just drifting off to sleep when a knock came at the door.

"Hello? Can I come in? I'm Astrid. My room's next door."

Isabella got out of bed and opened the door. Astrid was a girl with a very pale complexion and strikingly black hair that fell to the beginning of her rib cage. She had a kind smile and looked very friendly.

"I'm Isabella," the younger Hubble sister held out her hand. "Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, I daren't. We should be in bed and I only wanted to come and say hello. Miss Hardbroom will be -"

A voice from nowhere spoke.

"-Checking on you right this instant!" Miss Hardbroom materialised next to Astrid. "Astrid Atherfew, go to bed now! Isabella Hubble, I do not care for what your sister has told you! You are not permitted to go wandering the castle at night as you wish! To bed, both of you, now!"

With that, the woman disappeared.

Astrid darted into her room and Isabella into her bed.


The next morning, Isabella's class sat in the Potions laboratory, waiting for their form mistress. Everyone knew it would be Miss Hardbroom, because she taught Potions. They were watching her desk, expecting her to appear any moment before their eyes.

"And what are we all staring at, girls?" a sharp voice suddenly rang behind them, making them all jump. A few girls gasped and one girl screamed. Miss Hardbroom seemed slightly pleased with the result, though she instantly threw away the quiver on the edge of her lip.

She sat down and stared at the girls, as if trying to weed them out and pick out their personalities.

"Good morning, girls."

"Good morning, Miss Hardbroom."

Miss Hardbroom smiled at the clear, sharp response she had earned. It wasn't a slow, chorus type reply, like the one she might be used to. Quick and speedy, that's how she liked it.

"As you have probably already guessed, if any of you have any brains in you -," here she gave a stern glance at Isabella. "- I am to be your form mistress for the coming year. Now, the first thing I wish to do is to provide you each with a copy of the Witches' Code, which you will all find very useful in taking the time read. I will now choose someone to hand them out."

The woman placed a large pile of books on her desk and eyed the crowd of girls. In the end, her sight landed on Isabella.

"You."

Isabella confidently stood up and picked up the books. She handed them out and sat down, smiling at Miss Hardbroom. The woman seemed utterly shocked, having expected the girl to trip or try and magic the books to everyone and then having them burst into flames.

"Thank you," she said, very hastily, and stood up. She kept on looking at Isabella, most likely expecting her to open the book. Isabella kept her hand on her knees. "You may open the books now, girls!"

The pupils obeyed and opened their books, flipping through pages, their eyes widening with each turn.

"As you may see, there are many rules that you have to abide by to be a successful and respectable witch. However, you will find that they are not as hard to follow as you may think."
Astrid, who was sitting next to Isabella, leaned closer to her.

"That's what she says," she whispered. "There are more rules in here than there are spells!"

"QUIET!" Miss Hardbroom shouted at Astrid. "Now, girls, I must tell you that your Broomstick Basic Aptitude Test is coming up in two weeks. You may find that it is not important but, should you fail this test, you will be going straight home. Is that clear? Good. Now, to prepare, you are to assemble in the courtyard at exactly thirty minutes past the thirteenth hour for your first flying lesson."


As instructed, the girls gathered in the courtyard, along with their broomsticks. They were chattering excitedly and Felicity Goodcharm, the mean girl from the day before, had already begun hovering. Isabella knew she could but thought that she might be told off for it, should she be caught.

Suddenly, one of the girls shouted and pointed towards the sky. A black figure was flying down with a very pretty touch of elegance. Miss Hardbroom landed in front of the girls and stood.

"Good afternoon, everyone!"

The class said it back.

"Now, flying a broom is not nearly as easy as it seems. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, determination, practice and carefulness." She stared at Isabella here, obviously thinking of the times that both Mildred and Hettie, Isabella's cousin, had crashed into the school bins. "Now, before we begin. Has anyone ever had any experience with flying?"

Astrid, Felicity and Isabella raised their hands.

"Only two of you?"

Isabella knew that Miss Hardbroom was choosing to ignore her, so she decided to do something about it. She tapped her broom and said "Hover". Then, she sat on it and flew a bit higher, so that everyone could see.

"ISABELLA HUBBLE!" Miss Hardbroom shrieked, shocking Isabella so much that she fell to the ground, her broom trailing after her. "How dare you show off like that? I shan't stand for it! I knew from the second I saw your name that we had gone too far this time. Get inside, now! I'll see you in the staffroom after dinner!"

"But, Miss, I was only -" the girl tried to defend herself.

"NOW!"

Isabella ran inside, feeling tears streaming down her face.


As Isabella stuffed some clothes into her bag, a knock came at the door.

"Go away!" she shouted.

"It's me, Astrid. Can I come in?"

"No! Go away! I don't want to speak to you! I'll probably turn you into a toad or something!"

"I have your broomstick."

Isabella rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine."

The door creaked open and Astrid walked in with Isabella's broomstick in her hand. It hadn't broken, despite falling to the ground. Isabella supposed she hadn't been too high. Luckily. She took the broomstick back, thanking the girl.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked, looking round Isabella and seeing the bag, overflowing with clothes. "You aren't running away already, are you? It's the first day! Look, I know HB can be pretty tiresome but you'll get used to it. There's no point giving up now!"

Isabella shrugged.

"Yes, there is. HB didn't even me a chance, Astrid! She never will, just because I have the stupid Hubble name! My sister never got things right, my cousin never did, and now she doesn't think I will! But she doesn't know how hard I've worked. I've been learning spells since my cousin finished school. I've spent countless hours learning to ride a broom so I wouldn't mess up when it came to today, and now look what I've done!"

Astrid sat down next to Isabella on her bed.

"What can you do, then?"

Isabella smiled and pointed her hands at the candle on her bedside table.

"Miaznum Vaporum, Efferium Futoom!" she said, and the candle vanished in a puff of smoke. Astrid opened her mouth in awe.

"Cool! Can you bring it back?"

Isabella nodded.

"Criento, Crimano, Vaporum Puffero!"

The candle was back on the bedside table again, the last etches of pink smoke fading from its surroundings.


"So, Isabella Hubble, what do you have to say for yourself?" Miss Hardbroom asked as Isabella sheepishly walked into the staffroom.

Isabella stared at the ground.

"That I'm very sorry that -"

"HB will never give me a chance, just because I've got the stupid Hubble name!"

A sudden spark ignited in Isabella.

"I have come to say, Miss Hardbroom, that I am very sorry that you fail to recognise the fact that I am Isabella Hubble. I do not bear the names of either Mildred or Henrietta and I am my own individual person. I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses. I have my skills, I have my failures. I am a human being, and therefore I deserve a chance to prove what I can do. So, for that reason, Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle: Objectus Inertus, Areatus Convertus!" Isabella pointed her arms towards a vase that stood on a shelf. It instantly turned into a magnificent, brightly coloured bird. It flew around the room, not hitting anything or knocking anything over or ruining anything at all.

"Isabella! Well done!" Miss Cackle smiled at the girl. "We don't teach that until second year! I trust you can change it back?"

Isabella nodded.

"Reversus Revolvus, Returnus Resolvus, Illio, Allio, Transfutato Temporus!"

Miss Cackle clapped as Isabella put the vase back in its place.

"Maybe you'll have to teach Spells Class from now on!" she laughed politely.

Miss Hardbroom glared at Isabella.

"All that being very well, Miss Cackle, but Isabella still needs to be punished for her stupid performance in Broomstick Flying yesterday! I do not know what you were thinking, girl! You could have seriously injured yourself and possibly some of your other classmates!"

"I wouldn't have, Miss. I've flown before. You know I have, you saw me raise my hand. I was only trying to show you what I can do. I know it was quite an idiotic move but I wanted to get across my point."

"Which is?"

"It's that I'm not going to mess up like Mildred and Hettie did. I want to set an example for everyone else. I want to learn more about magic and how to use it proficiently and effectively. I want to...be the best witch in the entire school!"

AN: Okay, I know the ending was slightly cringey, but oh well! I have a lot of ideas for this fanfiction and, if this story turns out popular, I will continue all the way to Isabella's fifth and final year at Cackle's Academy :)