Author's Note:
Dear readers
As updates to Fire and Ice usually take me more than a month to complete (mostly because chapters that are longer than 10K take forever to write and to edit), I decided to keep you guys occupied with a small story whose chapters will be updated much quicker than the chapters of the aforementioned fiction.
This tiny (compared to Fire and Ice) story will be following our favourite characters from Cackle's during their last two weeks before graduation. I know that in the books the girls graduate after their 5th year, but I decided to follow the format of the TV-series and, as such, the girls will graduate after their 4th year.
This story takes into account all that happens during the third season of the TV-series apart from two instances: Mrs Tapioca and Frank Blossom are still the cook and gardener, respectively. Also, I am pleased to announce that after her one-year-long absence from the academy the beloved Miss Bat has returned. I like Lavinia Crochet but I have more fun writing Miss Bat, so I hope you won't mind.
Now, this is quite uncharted territory for me because I have never attempted to write something this light-hearted before. My stories are usually quite dark and somewhat violent, so I hope this will turn out alright and that you will enjoy reading it.
Yours,
Lemondrop
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the wonderful world of Worst Witch. All the characters and settings belong to the lovely Jill Murphy.
Before we leave
Chapter 1: Maud Studied
Sunday, 7th of July 2002
Sitting at her small wooden desk, Maud Moonshine tried to recite, for the umpteenth time the twelve potion uses of Bindweed and was satisfied that she knew them perfectly. Ever since Miss Hardbroom had mentioned earlier that week that there was a great chance that questions on Bindweed would appear in their Potions Higher Witch Certificate, Maud had dedicated more than five days to research and memorize all that was humanly possible on the plant. At that point, one day before her dreaded last exam, she was fairly sure that she had covered and learned the entire material and a certain uncharacteristic feeling of confidence seemed to overwhelm her. Yes, Maud was positive that she would do good- no, not good- brilliant, on her Potions Exam the following day. She looked at the small clock on her dresser and smiled at seeing that it was only nine fifteen in the afternoon. She still had time for a quick cram session before going to bed and Maud quickly gathered her notes from her bed and unceremoniously dumped them on her desk. She deftly extracted one of the sheets of paper at random from the monumental pile and started to test herself on what she knew about the potion described on the sheet.
"The twelve ingredients of invisibility potion were…."
Suddenly Maud stopped, not because she didn't know how to follow but because she realized how ridiculous what she was doing was. She knew the material and she knew that she knew the material. So why did she feel the need to check herself again? Maybe, as Enid had so graciously put it that very morning, she was indeed turning into a veritable bookworm. It wasn't that she was obsessed with studying or with grades and, as far as potions were concerned, she didn't even like the subject that much. So why did she need to study so hard? She didn't exactly have a straight answer for that question. In fact, if she really thought about it, she had no good reason to be so obsessed with studying for her potions exam. Her parents weren't putting any pressure on her, she had no siblings to compete with and her chosen university degree was Spells not potions.
Maud suddenly decided to get changed into her nightwear before starting her last revision session. Even if they were in their fourth year, and technically had almost two weeks of school left, they still had the same curfew as the other girls did: ten twenty pm, or as Miss Hardbroom put it on a regular basis ten twenty Sharp. Quite frankly, Maud had always found the time of the curfew ridiculous. Why ten twenty and not ten? Or better, ten thirty? Plus, the fact that sixteen and seventeen year old girls were sent to bed at the same time as twelve year-olds was quite demeaning and did nothing to make them feel like adults. She wondered for a second if there was any chance to talk to Miss Cackle about it and ask her to change the curfew situations for generations to come. As she took out her red sash and hanged it next to her travelling cloak she fought the urge to laugh. Why should she care about the curfew? She only had two more weeks of having a curfew and after that, when she went to university, she would be free to go to sleep at whatever time she chose. Two weeks of curfew left. Two weeks of Cackle's left.
A sudden wave of nostalgia overcame her as she took off her uniform and carefully put it next to her sash, using her palms to smooth out the creases from her skirt. She was glad that she was leaving Cackle's and was moving on with her life. No one would have pegged Maud as an adventuress -or maybe, considering the fact that she was best friends with Mildred Hubble, they would- but she was quite excited to start a new chapter in her life. That didn't mean that a part of her wouldn't miss the academy that had been her alma mater. She would miss her friends and the crazy adventures they went on, she would miss Miss Bat's insane chanting lessons and Miss Drill's extra-curricular activities. She would miss Miss Cackle's spells lessons and she would miss Barney. In fact, if she really thought about it, she would even miss HB and her strict, rigid ways. Not too much, but she would miss her.
After she slipped into her nightdress, which was a couple of inches too short, Maud looked at her reflection in the mirror in her closet as she released her hair from her twin ponytails. As president and deputy president of the student body, Mildred and Jadu had fought tooth and nail for the girls to be allowed to have mirrors in their rooms. Despite the fierce opposition they had encountered, which took the form of HB who believed that the girls having mirrors in their rooms would encourage vanity, Miss Cackle had been understanding to their wishes and had finally granted them their request. Maud looked at herself and smiled slightly. She had grown slightly taller during the past year and her face had lost its baby fat. Although she wasn't vain she did think that she looked quite nice, her body, as her family's ginger-haired eighteen-year-old gardener had put it during the previous summer, having curves in all the right places. Of course, she wasn't as pretty as Enid with her petite pixie-like body or an exotic beauty like Ruby who had changed her trademark hairstyle and now sported a short cut. She was just Maud. Not too ugly, not too pretty Maud. And quite frankly, she was satisfied with that.
As she closed the door of her small wooden dresses and went back to her paper-filled desk, her initial musings came back to the fore. If she was satisfied with just being Maud, why had she worked so hard for the potions exam? With her introspective nature she could see one very compelling reason behind her dedication to a subject she didn't really enjoy. For the past four years during almost each and every Potions lesson she had been shouted at. Now, considering that she usually was Millie's partner, that wasn't much of a surprise. Mildred, regardless of how kind hearted she was or how talented at drawing she was, was bad at potions. Very bad. And, considering that their teacher was more volatile than an erupting volcano, she got shouted at. A lot. Consequently, because Maud was too loyal to let Millie face Miss Hardbroom's wrath alone, she was usually admonished as well. In fact, Maud had heard variations of the phrase: "Maud Moonshine, why did you let her put ingredient X in the potion Y?" more times than she could count and, frankly, cared to remember. Of course, that had been before the woman had given up on her as well and probably started to believe that she was as incompetent as Mildred. Strangely enough, although she voiced her displeasure almost every potions lesson, Miss Hardbroom had never taken the time, or, as Maud suspected, had the patience, to actually explain to Mildred why a certain ingredient shouldn't be put in a certain potion.
Because of her friend's dreadful performance in potions, Maud had spent half of her potions lessons trying, and failing horribly most of the times, to correct or at least hide how bad the potion was, rather than actually trying to learn the subject. Although her grades in other subjects were over the average, in potions she had the second lowest grade in her class. Now, as mentioned before, she wasn't too concerned with grades and wouldn't have bothered that much only for a grade. She actually wanted to prove a point. After a particular vicious bout of shouting at the beginning of the semester, she had decided to prove to Miss Hardbroom that she had yelled at her, chastised her and made her feel uncomfortable for four years, for nothing. To Maud's mind, a good teacher tried to make even the worst of her students understand the subject. A good teacher tries to inspire their students to learn the subject because they find it interesting not because they are afraid of the instructor. In that respect, although HB was a brilliant woman and an extremely powerful witch, the student believed that she failed as a teacher.
As such, three months before her HWC Potions exam Maud had embarked on her crusade and was surprised to find out how much she didn't know. It had been terrifying, for Maud was used to do her best when she put her mind to it and with the amount of material that she had to cover she wasn't exactly certain that she would be able to. It was then that her determination to prove her teacher wrong had converted into a sheer wish to actually pass the exam. At some point during the past three months, she had realized that she had missed a lot along the years and while Miss Hardbroom was too blame for not inspiring her to study, she also had to put the blame on herself. After all, she had been the one who had allowed the woman to put her down and smother her desire to study the subject. So she had calmly started to learn what she didn't know and revise what she did. She had gone as far as to politely ask Millie to find another potions partner and although her friend was a little miffed at the demand, she complied with her request. At that particular point in time, Maud could proudly say that she knew all that there was to know about potions. Which didn't mean that she was less nervous about the following day's exam. She really wanted to do well, not for Miss Hardbroom but for herself.
"Lights out!" a sharp voice resounded from the doorway and Maud was so startled that she almost fell from her chair when she turned to see the straight, tall figure of her form tutor.
"A few more minutes, Miss Hardbroom? I have yet to revise the…." Maud's nervous babble suddenly stopped at the raised eyebrow of her teacher.
"Lights out, Maud Moonshine!" HB repeated, her voice rising slightly and the girl couldn't help but feel somewhat panicked.
"But I still have to read about Aconite and the exam is tomorrow and I'm not sure that…" she replied quickly in a pleading voice, a huge wave of remorse at having wasted the past hours hitting her full force.
Miss Hardbroom sighed softly and gracefully took a step inside the room. After more than fifteen years of being a teacher she had more than enough experience to know when a student was nervous. She had watched Maud's performance in her subject improve immensely during the past three months or so and she could say, although she would never admit it to anyone, that she was quite impressed with the girl. For a moment she wondered if she should say something to her, if she should acknowledge her efforts in some way and Constance almost decided against it. She was unaccustomed to offer praises. Girls received praises from all the other staff members so, more often than not, she refrained from offering compliments too easily. She refused to coddle her students for one simple reason: she wanted to prepare them for the harsh life outside the castle walls. Being strict and harsh with them might not have been the best way to do that and it certainly did not make her popular, but it was the only way in which she knew how to teach them this valuable lesson. As a teacher she had a moral obligation to not only teach them potions, which she was aware that in the grand scheme of their lives didn't mean much, but to also prepare them for life. Yet, seeing the girl as nervous as she was she decided that it might be more beneficial to offer a kind word than admonish her.
"Maud Moonshine, for the past few months you have I have watched you do nothing but study. You are a hard-working, smart girl and I am more than certain that you will manage to pass your exam with flying colours. Now, pray do not make me repeat myself and go to bed…" the deputy said in a much softer voice than the one she usually employed when interacting with her students and Maud strangely felt much calmer than before.
"Yes, Miss Hardbroom" she replied meekly, climbing into her bed and drawing the covers up to her chin. "Miss?" she followed as her teacher turned and was ready to exit her room. Miss Hardbroom once again turned on her heels and faced the girl who was now half hidden by her white bed spreads "Thank you… for what you said…it helped…" she stuttered in a soft voice and for a moment she thought that she sounded more like Millie than herself.
"You are welcome, Maud" the deputy replied, extinguished Maud's candle with a flick of her wrist and left the room without adding anything else, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.
As her teacher left her room, the student started to avidly watch her clock. It would take Miss Hardbroom almost half an hour to make her rounds and after that she would be free to light her candle and start revising again. Maud had been sincere when she had said that HB's words helped. They did give her a certain amount of confidence. The problem was that, after years of being put down almost each and every potions lesson they weren't enough. As kind and well-intended as her form tutor's words had been they were too little, too late. Fumbling in the dark Maud was easily able to find the small Wide-Awake potion flask Enid had stole for her from the potions cupboard. She took a small sip and grimaced at the bitter taste of the potion. She smiled in satisfaction at the way in which her body seemed much more energized than before and wished with impatience that HB would finish her rounds already. After all, she had a busy night ahead of her.
AN: So this is the first chapter of this small fanfiction. I promised myself that I would not write more than 2k per chapter in this fiction. I, of course, failed. I hope you have enjoyed it and I will be happy to read your comments in either your reviews or your PM's.
Next Chapter: Enid Worried