Authors Note: Here is a little one-shot that I wrote earlier on. It is set in the days after the "Alarms and Diversions" episode from Mildred's second year. My best wishes go to the lovely LongVodka and Araminatas World who have been nothing but helpful and encouraging!
Please review and make my day!
Night had fallen over the steep turrets of Overblow Castle, casting the dark shadows over the narrow, winding corridors that were insufficiently lit by the guttering flames from the collection of torches that hung in the wrought iron brackets attached to the crumbling paintwork. Hundreds of bats swooped out of the glassless windows in unison, setting off on their nightly hunt, their high-pitched squeaks and frantic flapping of their many sinuous wings echoing in the empty night sky. Nothing was stirring.
Except for the handful of misbehaving students tiptoeing down the long corridors to Mildred Hubble's room.
Far away in the West wing of the castle, Constance Hardbroom was experiencing the alien feeling of tiredness sweep over her as she loosened her ebony hair from its restricting bun, allowing it to fall in a dark mane of curls that framed her alabaster face, the dancing candle light highlighting the dark shadows that had formed underneath her almond eyes. Tonight was her recuperation night from her lifeline that was the Wide Awake Potion- one had to abstain from taking the substance for one night a month otherwise the overwhelming toxic quantities of potion invaded one's bloodstream.
"You can only outrun sleep for so long..." she reassured herself gently as she looked back at the gaunt face of the haunted woman that returned her gaze in the elaborately framed mirror on her dressing table. She raised her shaking hand to the icy glass, tracing her bony index finger down the surface, unflinching at the temperature, watching intently as the exhausted-looking doppelganger echoed her actions.
She sighed and retrieved the glass vial that containing the Cleansing potion that would remove the poisonous build up of the Guarana-seed powder, Yaupon Holly berries and Yerba leaves picked at dawn, the key substances in the Wide Awake Potion, from her system, rendering her unconscious for an uncharacteristically long six hours of dreamless sleep. Oblivious to anything that was going on.
She walked back slowly to sit on the purple satin duvet of her bed, taking her time to savour the last final waking moments that she had left. Two minutes to midnight. She eyed the pale blue solution nervously- surrendering the iron control she held over her mind and body was not something that she undertook lightly, only experiencing first hand the agonising qualities of potion intoxication, fighting for her life in a convulsing, sweating heap after ignoring the stern warnings issued to her was enough to make her concede and fight her addiction to the miraculous substance that blunted the sharp edge of her emotional torment, removed the majority of the excruciating pain that she was constantly fighting, for just one night. She placed the corked vial between her dark lips, preparing a spell to remove the stopper before the potion became contaminated by the impurities in the air around her. She breathed in deeply as the bell in the clock tower struck twelve, its monotone sound jarring against the stillness of the night, marking the arrival of the witching hour when spells were at their most potent. Constance released a shower of amber sparks from her extended bony fingers, dissolving the potion's protective cover into nothingness, the familiar surroundings of her room slipping into a sedated haze as the numbing concoction met with the exposed taste buds on her tongue.
"Sleep well..." she whispered to herself, her quiet, steady voice sounding like it had been submerged in water as it lapped distortedly around her ears, her muscles relaxing completely, surrendering to the potion that was now flooding through her veins, purging away the impurities, mopping up the lethal residues of the Wide Awake Potion, slowing her metabolism to almost a dead stop as it coursed through her fragile body. She was fighting to no avail against the welcoming warmth of the waves that were rocking her gently to her awaiting slumber, her limbs becoming impossibly heavy, almost as if they had been cast in lead, anchoring her to the protective tenderness of the goose-feather eiderdown that sheltered her slender form, caressing her in its silky embrace as her eyelids fluttered and closed, offering no resistance to the slumber that was overtaking her. At peace with herself for a few precious hours, the tortured memories allowed to slip past into oblivion as she savoured the feeling of finally not having a worry in the world, safe in the comforting thought that nothing could harm her for those few precious hours as sleep took her in its arms and cradled her gently as she rested.
xxx
"Millie, are you awake?" murmured Maud, knocking softly on the door of her best friend, "Enid's here as well, can we come in?"
"Go away! You'll get into trouble! I'm not supposed to talk to anyone!" came Mildred's urgent reply.
Enid leant forward, "Don't be stupid Millie, there's nobody awake, let us in!"
"What about HB?" questioned Mildred, "she's on dorm duty tonight!"
"Don't worry about her, we saw her go off to the West Tower about ten minutes ago!" whispered Maud, the light from the flickering candle flame glinting in the reflection from her round glasses.
"Come on Millie!" insisted Enid.
Mildred sighed and climbed out of her narrow bed, shivering in her thin cotton nightshirt as the icy draught whipped underneath the door, chilling her warm skin, opening the door to reveal the sight of her best friends gathered closely outside her door, huddled in a collection of cloaks and shawls in a bid to shut out the biting cold of Cackles Academy.
A handwritten notice in Miss Hardbroom's sloping italics was placed directly in the centre of the door.
Do Not Enter- Solitary Confinement
She stood to one side and allowed them to sneak inside quickly.
"You know that I'm supposed to be left on my own!" she muttered, not showing annoyance as she was overwhelmed by the risk that her friends were prepared to take to come and see her in her lonely imprisonment.
"Like we were going to leave you here!" said Enid, rolling her dark eyes as she was in the habit of doing when Mildred was being at her most selfless, "Live a little Millie!"
She reached inside her cloak, producing a brown paper bag which she passed to Mildred with an evil grin on her face, "Look what we got from Mrs Cosie..."
Mildred gaped as she looked at the heavenly mixture of cakes and pastries that were crammed into the bag.
"But you didn't-"
"Sneaked out this evening and got them!" giggled Maud, unaccustomed to breaking rules; she had found the midnight mission to Cosies an exhilarating experience.
"How's about a little midnight feast?" smiled Enid, looking at her still astonished friend.
"How did you get past HB with those!" whispered Mildred, regaining her voice.
"Our beloved form mistress seems to be a little off colour," remarked Enid sweetly, "She looked awful this evening at supper, nearly fell flat on her face at one point! So I doubt she would have noticed a couple of empty beds on her dorm inspection tonight, besides, Fen and Gris cast the replication spell on us- we left living copies in our rooms!"
"You two are the limit!" smiled Mildred as she relented and accepted a Danish pastry, "Still, she wasn't looking so off-colour when she was shouting at me this morning..."
xxx
Following the installation of Frank Blossom's emergency alarm system, the school had been on red-alert in case the screeching wall of sound had rung out, declaring whatever unfolding crisis had chosen to appear next.
Ethel Hallow had been plotting ever since the installation of the system as to how she could turn it to her advantage, implicate her arch-rival and hopefully get her expelled. Memories of the already infamous incident of HB and the fire bucket had spurred her on to create her next plan to rid the academy of her nemesis Mildred Hubble. She had waited patiently until the wave of adoration for Mildred's heroics in saving her wretched younger sister had passed, knowing that Miss Cackle would be likely to dismiss any incident involving Mildred as a result of her actions that night. Until now.
She tiptoed out of her bed, knowing full well that even Miss Drill wouldn't be up this early, and found the trigger switch for the school's alarm system. Her small hand closed on the leaver, an evil smile lighting up her face. Pandemonium was about to break out.
In the split second it took to push down the switch, chaos descended as screaming girls appeared from all corners of the academy, roused from their beds by the hellish clash of cymbals and the unrelenting blaring of the sirens. She caught Drusilla's eye and nodded slightly. The flame-haired witch crashed into Mildred Hubble with planned accuracy, pushing her to the floor, separating her from her gang of friends, seizing her arms and dragging her towards Ethel.
"What the-" Mildred had been manoeuvred into position before she knew anything about it, her hand clasped around the wooden lever, her feet planted to the floorboards by a quick Freezing spell muttered by Ethel.
Framed.
Their wicked actions had been masked by the mayhem that had broken out as the young witches tried to escape from the imaginary threat that was pursuing them. Ethel threw an evil smirk over her shoulder at Mildred as she and Drusilla joined the back of the scrabble to escape from the dormitory corridor.
Constance Hardbroom stood directly in the centre of the courtyard, her arms folded across her bony chest, reciting the length roll-call of girl's names by heart, listening intently for the mumbled replies that were dotted around the assembled crowd. Amelia stood patiently by her deputy's side, marvelling as she always did at Constance's ability to retain complete control even in the most taxing of situations. She cast a look to her left and sighed. Miss Bat was lying in a trembling heap on the cobbles, attended to by a concerned Miss Drill. Davina was reduced to a state of nervous exhaustion every single time that infernal din broke out.
"Ruby Cherrytree,"
"Present, Miss Hardbroom!"
"Ethel Hallow,"
"Present, Miss Hardbroom!"
"Mildred Hubble,"
Silence.
"Mildred Hubble?" repeated Constance irritably, frowning at the lack of a response.
Silence again.
"Has anyone seen Mildred" enquired Amelia gently.
"She was following us, Miss" said Jadu Wali, looking around for her absent friend.
"But she is not here now?" questioned Amelia thoughtfully.
"Evidently not, Headmistress" Constance's ringing tones announced. "An interesting development, as it seems that there is not an impending disaster looming above the castle, a situation which can lead us to deduce that the alarm was set off deliberately, no doubt?"
Amelia paused to consider this leap of logic. Not Mildred again, surely?
"Well..."
A chorus of voices broke out from the crowd, protesting Mildred's innocence.
"Quiet girls!"
Constance turned to Amelia, knowing full well what all of her finely honed instincts were screaming at her. Mildred Hubble had to be responsible.
"Headmistress, a moment of your time?"
xxx
Mildred was desperately trying to free herself, still certain that she was about to be trapped in whatever disaster had broken out. She tried wrenching her hobnailed boots away from the ancient wooden timbers, yelling out in panic, her legs trembling as adrenaline was coursing through her. She screamed even louder when a tall thin figure in black suddenly materialised next to her.
"Well, well, well, Mildred Hubble. Up to your old tricks again- this time caught at the scene!" demanded an enraged Miss Hardbroom, "What is the meaning of this? This alarm is designed for emergency situations only, not for use as a means of a practical joke for disrupting the entire castles sleep at this unearthly hour!"
Mildred gulped. There was nothing more terrifying than the sight of her form tutor in full flow. She seemed to grow even more in addition to her already impressive height, her hazel eyes flashing with rage, her voice dripping with anger.
"Please Miss Hardbroom, this really isn't my fault-" she began fruitlessly.
"Mildred Hubble, how many times have I heard that sentence fall from your lips in the past term?" Miss Hardbroom said, her low tones trembling with suppressed fury, "You will spend the rest of the day, in your room, revising for the potions test that your year will be taking tomorrow, whilst Miss Cackle and I decide what should be done with you," she paused and leant closer, "And I expect perfection!"
She twitched her fingers, breaking the spell and marched a protesting Mildred off to her room.
Xxx
Mildred smiled as she licked the jam that was oozing from the sugary doughnut that she was eating from her sticky fingers. At least Maud and Enid knew that she hadn't done it.
"G-getting a b-bit c-cold in here isn't it?" shivered Maud, her teeth chattering together violently as she clutched her woolly shawl tightly around her.
"T-typical C-cackle's tradition" replied Mildred.
Enid smiled brightly at her complaining friends. "W-what about a little spell to w-warm things up a bit?" she asked, flexing her casting fingers.
"M-magic is n-not to be used f-for s-selfish or t-trivial ends!" chanted Mildred and Maud in unison.
"Yes, b-but what harm could it do?" questioned Enid, "It's f-freezing in h-here!"
Mildred and Maud exchanged a look. "Surely it c-couldn't hurt?" pondered Mildred, rubbing her hands together in a vain attempt to maintain the blood flow.
Maud tutted exasperatedly, but relented. The three witches formed a circle and began to chant.
"Veni, Veni, flamus inferno, conflagratio erruptus!"
A blazing ball of fire burst into life, floating in mid-air between the three witches.
"Perfect!" said Enid triumphantly, "no problems at all-"
The girls screamed as the fireball exploded, throwing them back against the unforgiving stone wall, choking on the thick black smoke emitting from Mildred's bed that was now on fire.
"The Foster's effect!" gasped Maud, staring in fear at the fireball that was rapidly multiplying.
"Quickly!" Mildred shrieked, grabbing her friends and bundling them out of the room.
A scene of complete horror was waiting for them.
The cursed fire was raging throughout the castle, the ancient timbers catching light and burning ferociously, a wall of intense heat hit them full on as they attempted to escape, forcing them to the floor that was littered with falling debris from the unstable roof above them. The crash of a multitude of doors opening echoed through the air, like a hellish symphony of percussion as hundreds of girls fought to escape from the fiery nightmare that they had awoken to. Screams punctuated the filthy air that hung with cloying, heavy, acrid smoke that was billowing from all corners of the castle. Girls ran in all directions, desperately seeking shelter from the blazing inferno. Frank Blossom's contraption began wailing its delayed warning as somebody stumbled to the activation switch, adding to the ear-splitting din that was already present in the terrified atmosphere.
Imogen Drill ran frantically towards the dormitories, her heart pounding in her chest as she smelt the unmistakable smell of burning timber. The girls' lives were in severe danger. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain calm. "Just get them out of there!" she thought determinedly to herself. She cleared the final flight of stairs in three long leaps and blew her whistle that had been banging against her heaving chest, summoning the girls to her.
"This way!" she shouted above the thunderous rumble as another massive beam from the roof came crashing down, nearly landing on top of Ruby Cherrytree, sending a cloud of masonry dust into the smoky air. A crowd of traumatised students fought to reach their PE mistress, trusting her implicitly to get them out alive.
Amelia Cackle now came running into view, clutching her sides as a stitch tore through her, reminding her agonisingly that she had not exercised that much in a long time. Tears ran down her face as she witnessed the destruction of her pride and joy, her school, her home. Her fear for her pupils, her extended family, overtook her, forcing her to carry on and help evacuate the dormitory corridors.
Davina Bat clutched frantically onto Amelia's arm, terrified out of her wits at the sight of the horrific scene that was unfolding in front of her, her eyes crazed and staring, a near hysterical laugh emitting from her as she witness the destruction that was taking place.
"Save me Amelia!" she begged, her small glasses slipping sideways off her nose.
"Come on Davina!" roared Amelia, finally reaching the first of the dormitory corridors, practically dragging the frail chanting teacher in her wake. "You've got to help us get the girls out of here!"
Girls were streaming past them, running for their lives to reach the main stairs before they erupted in a blaze of fire, fresh cuts and bruises forming on their skin that was stained with the collection of dust, soot and dirt that was collecting in the dark smoke, choking as the toxic smoke invaded their young lungs mercilessly.
"Miss Cackle!"
Imogen Drill jogged over, mopping frantically at a gash that was bleeding profusely in her arm, droplets of her dark, garnet-red blood falling on the smoking floor beneath her.
"Imogen, you're bleeding-"
"I t-think they're all out of the r-rooms!" she choked in reply before collapsing in an exhausted heap at Amelia's feet.
"To the courtyard at once!" shouted Amelia, as Davina came to her senses and summoned a floating stretcher to bear the limp figure of the PE mistress.
They evacuated, just before another explosion came from the dormitory corridor, throwing large chunks of rubble everywhere, unaware that there was still one person unaccounted for. The person who was usually the tower of strength in any threatening situation, never once loosing her perfect composure. The woman who was so strong that nobody had even considered the remote possibility of her being in danger.
Constance Hardbroom didn't even stir from her deep slumber as the flames began to lick pitilessly at the heavy timber of the door to her chamber, eroding the wood away to black ashes as it fought to claim its first victim of the night.
xxx
The pupils and staff stood in utter disbelief, watching the tongues of bright orange flames eating away at the ancient castle, explosions showering them with glass as the fire reached the classrooms, gutting anything in its terrorizing path of destruction.
Amelia was frantically checking off the names of her students, her heart in her mouth as she waited for each choked response, a wave of dread passing through her each time there was a delay before the answer came. Weak-kneed in relief, she nearly sank to the cobbles as the realisation that all of her beloved students were safe. Then her blood ran cold.
Where was Constance? The solid, dependable young woman who she treasured like a daughter, the pillar of reason and power, the staunch traditionalist who took any blow that was thrown at her in her lengthy stride.
Tears welled in her light-blue eyes as she scanned the cluster of people in front of her, desperately seeking the one woman who she thought would have been guaranteed to escape unharmed.
The revelation hit her with the power of an earthquake, a knife to the gut.
Constance was missing.
"Constance!" she screamed, her throat constricting in grief-stricken panic, she felt the world swaying before her as she fought to take oxygen into her closing lungs, "CONSTANCE!"
xxx
Enid Nightshade was watching her headmistress in terrified realisation.
"Oh my God, I caused this to happen..." she wept, her shaking hands frantically sweeping her dark hair from her face, salty tears carving a clear channel of white skin through the dirt and soot that had caked her face. She had never been on the best of terms with her strict form tutor, but like the others, was secretly in awe of the powerful witch.
"We all did, Enid" gasped Maud, staring at the magical inferno that was engulfing the building in front of her. Cackles always seemed to be the epitome of safety, the shelter from the storm that was raging outside. Now it was falling around them.
"Miss Hardbroom's trapped, we've got to help her, we put her in this danger!" resolved a frantic Mildred, looking up at the blazing West wing.
Maud and Enid looked back at her silently. Re-entering the building meant almost certain death, but they had placed the lives of the entire school at risk that evening, and nobody else was going to pay the price for their foolish actions.
"Come on..." whispered Enid.
Seizing the first broomsticks that came to hand from the broomshed, they ran past their fellow students towards the blazing castle.
"Stop girls, come back here!" screamed Imogen Drill, petrified at the sight of the three young girls sprinting back towards the building.
xxx
The girls mounted their broomsticks and rose steadily into the air, rocketing upwards towards the blazing West wing where the staff chambers were located. They fixed each other with a look of steely determination, praying silently that they were not too late.
Another explosion detonated from in front of them blasting the elderly glass out of the windows, heading for them in a devastating, angry shower of glistening shards, causing them to dive instinctively before their skin was shredded. A raging barricade of intense, white-hot heat escaped into the icy night sky, causing them to recoil in pain, throbbing blisters forming on their exposed arms.
"Third room from the end!" shouted Enid, after rapidly flying the length of the castle wall to try to ascertain the exact location of Miss Hardbroom's room. The three witches closed in on the room, spying the immobile body of Constance Hardbroom lying perfectly still upon the comfortable double bed. Overcome by smoke? Passed out? Or worse?
Mildred and Maud hovered nervously outside the window as Enid smashed the glass with a well-aimed hex, flying through and landing next to the stricken body of her form-tutor.
"Miss Hardbroom!" she shouted, coughing as she inhaled the black, poisonous smoke that was billowing from under the door, hysterically shaking her by her narrow shoulders, "Miss Hardbroom you have to wake up! Wake up, please! Speak to me!"
Constance's freezing body lolled from side to side, offering no resistance to Enid's frantic actions, lying like a giant rag doll upon the satin sheets.
It was at this point that the flames finally ate through the heavy door, the incinerating blast of air pushing Enid against the wall. She grabbed the limp arm of the unconscious woman and dragged her in a most undignified manner to the window, lifting her almost-weightless, prone body over the jagged shards of glass to the awaiting stretcher that had been conjured by her friends, wincing in pain as the shattered glass tore deep wounds in her bleeding, bare feet, embedding itself into her flesh.
Chased by the vicious flames, she put her own agonising pain to one side and mounted her broomstick, flying out of the window to rejoin her friends, assisting them in bringing their precious cargo safely down to earth.
xxx
The witches swarmed around the motionless body of the potions teacher, checking for a pulse, searching for any signs of life that may have been hiding underneath the frozen, pallid skin, Amelia pushing her way through the crowd to cradle the lifeless body in her arms, her tears pooling onto the face of the woman whom she had neglected in her hour of need, the unbreakable Constance lying in a wrecked heap in her arms.
"N-no, not you, Constance", she sobbed bitterly as the first rays of the morning sunlight spread across the landscape, signalling the end of the fateful night.
The clock in the South tower tolled six heavy strokes.
"N-not you," Amelia breathed as grief overcame her, gently combing little wisps of hair from Constance's face with her shaking fingers, desperately trying to reassure herself that this nightmarish situation wasn't unfolding in front of her very eyes.
The rich, yellow light of the dawn stretched slowly across the weathered cobbles, lifting the deathly shadows of night, replacing them with the optimistic light of the new day, signalling a new beginning as it wound its weary path from East to West.
Amelia caught her breath as the long, dark eyelashes that covered Constance's eyes began to flutter, reacting to the light that was hitting the sensitive retinas beneath. She took a deep, steadying gasp as the almond eyes opened once more, focusing on the beauty of the dawn that stretched out in front of her.
"Amelia?" Constance enquired gently, confused as to her whereabouts.
Amelia had no answer to give. She buried her tear-stained face into the shoulder of the woman who she thought had been lost forever.
Constance sat up, staring in disbelief at the smoking ruins of Overblow Castle; her eye's seeking out the destroyed, lofty turret that she inhabited. Somebody had saved her life tonight.
Her eye fell upon a group of three young witches who were still clutching battered broomsticks to their chests, surveying her in a mixture of anxiety and utter relief.
"Are you alright, Miss Hardbroom?" enquired Enid Nightshade softly, wearing a look of worried concern. She took a step towards her, flinching as copious amounts of blood spurted from her ruined foot, leaving a little bloody trail behind her. She extended a shaking hand towards her form tutor.
Constance gaped as she remembered the frantic voice that had invaded her consciousness, pleading with her to wake.
"Enid?" she questioned weakly at last, wracking her memory for further detail.
"They saved you, Constance," whispered Amelia, "Mildred, Maud and Enid risked their lives to rescue you".
She looked back at her previously hated pupils with a new found respect.
Saved from her drugged oblivion, from a certain death by the band of miscreants who she spent most of her time chastising, who had risked life and limb to rescue her.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and smiled back at them, a rare but glorious smile that lit up her tired face, knowing that despite their many flaws, that these witches possessed the bravery and compassion that meant that they would go far in life.
Little did she know that they were also the instigators of the fire...