Mildred made her way to the great hall with her friends, though they had lifted her spirits somewhat, she was still dreading seeing the rest of her class mates. They had arrived in reasonable time so there were a lot of people still there. Mildred took a deep breath and entered the room, the air buzzing with conversation. As she took her first steps across the room heads began to turn and by the time she reached the queue for breakfast an uncomfortable hush had fallen over the hall. She could feel the eyes of the rest of the school girls boring into the back of her head. Mildred began to rock uncomfortably from side to side. Enid noticed her friend becoming agitated and leaned back to squeeze her hand. Suddenly the hall was filled with flapping and clouds of feathers. Turning around, Mildred grinned as Fenny and Gris winked at her and several chickens ran across the table. Within seconds Miss Hardbroom had appeared and was doling out punishments to the offenders and righting the now feathered pupils.
"Well, that stopped them staring." Whispered Gris, as she and her partner in crime were frog marched away by a red faced Miss Hardbroom.
After grabbing a bowl of cold porridge Mildred and her friends tried to find a table bereft of feathers. They found Maud sitting at one end of a table in deep conversation with Ethel and Drusilla.
"Hi Maud, could we sit with you?" Enid asked their bespectacled friend.
"Bog off Nightshade, we're talking." Drusilla sneered turning back to Maud. Enid looked to Maud with outrage, but she just shrugged and continued talking to the other two.
"Come on Mildred, we aren't wanted here." Said Enid with a huff as they walked off.
"Listen Maud, all we're saying is that Hubble Bubble has clearly shown her true colours and maybe you should find some more respectable friends." Ethel said pragmatically.
Maud furrowed her brow, "I don't know, I don't think she meant to do it..."
"Come on." Said Drusilla. "She didn't do her homework, so she threw a tantrum and blasted you across the room to convince HB that she couldn't control it."
"Well maybe, but Mildred would never be that selfish." Maud rationalised.
"If you think that's a risk worth taking, then you don't need us." Said Ethel getting up to leave.
"No, wait" said Maud, grabbing Ethel's arm.
The day passed ridiculously slowly for Mildred. Several times she could have sworn that the hands of the clock were moving backwards. She could barely concentrate on her lessons, nearly taking a basketball to the face in P.E. She was dreading her 'talk' with Miss Hardbroom, it was clear that she would be thrown out for good this time and her form tutor was dragging the process out to torture her further. However, the day's lessons eventually came to an end and she found herself slouched outside the potions classroom. Everyone who passed stared and started whispering, making Mildred begin to quake with fear and wring her hands.
"Ah Mildred," said Miss Hardbroom, rounding the corner, "you're already here."
The formidable woman strode to the door and went in, gesturing for Mildred to follow. She quickly crossed the room and took a seat behind her desk.
"Please, take a seat Mildred."
Mildred hastily picked up the nearest stool and brought it to the front of the classroom and sat down.
"Are you alright Mildred?" The teacher asked awkwardly, noticing the agitated demeanour of her pupil, who was still wringing her hands and staring unblinkingly at the floor.
"I'm so sorry Miss Hardbroom, I didn't mean to behave like that yesterday I..." Miss Hardbroom quickly cut her off.
"Mildred, you aren't in trouble. We, the staff and I, are worried about you." She paused feeling extremely uncomfortable at having to have a conversation about the emotional problems with a pupil. Mildred's head shot up, surprise and relief filling her face.
"I wanted you to tell me what happened yesterday from your point of view, if you can?"
"Yes." Mildred said bluntly, leaving Miss Hardbroom looking slightly confused.
"Erm, do go on then."
Mildred quickly explained how she had awoken late and rushed to breakfast, eliciting a slight eye roll from her teacher, and then how she made her way to class, where the incident had happened.
"So, nothing unusual happened?"
"No, not that I can think of Miss."
"Before it happened, how were you... Feeling?" Miss Hardbroom asked practically forcing the words from her lips. Mildred considered this for a moment, how had she been feeling? She didn't think there were words that could describe how she had felt in the fateful moments before the episode.
"I was um... Stressed, I couldn't concentrate and I didn't know what I was doing."
"Hmmm," Miss Hardbroom considered, "and what did it feel like when 'it' was happening?"
"Everything was too loud and bright and I couldn't make it stop and I didn't know what was happening and..."
"Okay Mildred" her teacher cut her off again, noticing the girl's knuckles becoming white. The potion's mistress sighed, it was clear that the event had been extremely unpleasant for the girl, but she had known that the day before. This conversation hadn't got her any closer to finding a cause for her pupil's distress and had in fact made her worry for the girl increase rather than decrease. As if admitting defeat, Miss Hardbroom took a deep breath.
"I think you need to see a doctor Mildred."
