Chapter 9: if i could make a wish, even a glance would be enough


Constance cast the spell, and watched as Imogen and Mildred faded from her view. She desperately hoped she had made the right decision. She stayed in the room a little longer, to make sure everything was okay, even though she really had no way of knowing if it was.

She took a deep breath and left and made her way to Miss Cackle's office.

"It is done, Miss Cackle," she said solemnly.

"Are they safe?"

"There is no way of knowing until we reverse the spell."

"Let's hope that the spell will be enough to hide them from Broomhead. She is due here in an hour, how are the rest of the preparations going?" Miss Cackle asked, attempting to change the subject a little.

"Fenella and Griselda are securing the remaining files as we speak, with that I think we are as prepared as we can be, Miss Cackle," Constance replied.

"Good."

"It's weird isn't it, Miss Drill?" Mildred asked, running her hand clear through the table, "It's like we're ghosts."

Imogen laughed, "I thought witches didn't believe in ghosts?"

"You know what I mean," Mildred replied.

"I do," Imogen answered, "you're right though, it does make you feel like one."

"I wonder how Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle are going?"

"Shall we go and see, we can still walk around can't we?"

"I think so, yeah, but shouldn't we stay here until Miss Hardbroom comes to bring us back?"

"I don't know about you Mildred, but I can't imagine myself standing in this room until the inspection is all said and done, not knowing if everyone else is all right?"

"Good point."

"We just need to make sure we're back in time for Const-for Miss Hardbroom to bring us back," Imogen reasoned.

Mildred noticed her teacher's correction, "It's okay Miss Drill, you can call her by her name, that's who she is to you. Plus I saw you kissing her, I think out of anyone you can call her that around me."

Imogen blushed slightly, with the more pressing issue of them not being able to interact with the world around them she had forgotten about the kissing incident earlier, "Thank you Mildred, I appreciate that. Now, shall we go and see how everyone else is doing?"

"Yes, let's, I suppose we can just walk through the walls?" Mildred said, putting her hand up to the stone wall, watching it disappear into it, "Extreme!" She exclaimed stepping through the wall.


Constance looked around the room, her room, she supposed it was now. It seemed to her that Broomhead had shoved her in the darkest, furthest corner of the school. She half wondered why she hadn't just thrown her in the dungeons for all eternity. She sighed, and placed her belongings on the bed. She sat down next to them, it was as she had expected: no effort had been placed on the mattress, it was worse than the one she had before. She wondered how Imogen was faring, 'hopefully better than I am,' she thought, though she knew it would not be true. They were both being punished, neither of them was getting let off easily.

Broomhead had given her a schedule she had to follow, and it consisted of either being in her room, the library, or whatever class she was supposed to be in, in addition to her one-on-one lessons. She had also made her wear a magical watch, which would ensure she was in the place she should be at any given time. She was a prompt person, and didn't like to be late, but this was going too far. Broomhead's obsession with saving time and using it efficiently was maddening.

She moved her belongings onto the floor and laid down on the bed. Rest would become a precious commodity from now on, so she decided she would do her best to relax.

***
Imogen sat on her bed, looking around her: this room had once been theirs, a sanctuary away from the stresses of the school, now it had become a reminder of what she had lost. In every corner of the room she saw parts of Constance; she looked at the empty space that her desk had occupied, she remembered countless hours of her sitting there studying well into the night; Wide-Awake Potions scattered around her books. She looked over to where her bed used to be, not that she used it all that much, Constance wasn't big on sleeping. She looked over to find the mostly empty bookshelf, Constance's books took up the large majority of it, with piles of books sitting on the top shelf also. Imogen smiled at the memory of Constance trying to make them all fit, she had given up in frustration and decided that 'the stupid bookcase' was the wrong size, and whoever made it should have done a better job, because 'didn't they know that students needed a lot of books and surely this was not enough'. Sitting alone in what used to be their space, she realised how much she missed having moments like that with Constance. She wasn't sure where they had put her, or if she ever would.


Imogen and Mildred made their way, passing through a few students along the way, "That is too weird!" Mildred exclaimed as a first year girl walked right through her.

"Let's try and avoid that, shall we?" Imogen suggested.

Mildred nodded, "Where do you think they'll be Miss Drill?"

"The staff-room most likely," she replied, "over this way."

They walked over to the staff room, which was occupied by Miss Cackle, Miss Bat, Miss Hardbroom, Fenella, and Griselda, "Everyone's in there Miss Drill, should we join them?"

Imogen nodded, "Yes, let's. I want to know what they're talking about."

"Are you sure everything is secure?"

"Yes Miss Hardbroom, we double checked everything," Fenella replied.

"Good, let us hope it is enough," Constance said, with that they were met with a loud knock on the castle's doors.

"It had better be, I think she's here," Miss Bat said, desperately wanting to hide in the stationery cupboard.

"Show time, ladies," Miss Cackle said, she took a deep breath and put on her best I'm-pleased-to-see-you face, as she left the room she was face-to-face with the woman they had been preparing for.

"Miss Cackle, I presume."

"Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Broomhead is it?"

"Yes."

"I trust you had a pleasant trip here?"

"No, I did not. The directions you gave me were haphazard at best."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"I do not have time for chit-chat Miss Cackle, I am here to do a job, so I must get started immediately."

"Yes, of course, follow me," Miss Cackle replied.

Mistress Broomhead quickly overtook Miss Cackle and headed straight for Miss Cackle's office.

"Well, I must say I am surprised to see you here Constance, ending up at a school like this, I expected better of you. I would have thought you would be teaching at a respectable establishment such as Weirdsister College. You were such a promising student, and now look at you! Here, with this pathetic bunch!"

"How nice it is to see you again, Mistress Broomhead," Constance replied, as if it was an automated response. She immediately felt like she was seventeen again.

"I wish I could say the pleasure is mine, Constance, but I fail to see how that could be the case."

"Yes Mistress Broomhead," Constance replied.

"Now, where are your records kept? I assume you keep records? Even an establishment such as this surely could manage such a simple task?"

"Over here Mistress Broomhead, we have prepared them for your arrival," Constance said, gesturing towards the table where they had laid out everything.

"I suppose this will do, now all of you may leave, I have work to do," Constance felt like she could nearly breathe at the prospect of being able to leave the room, and started walking towards the door, "not you Constance, I am not done with you yet."

It could never be that easy, "Yes Mistress Broomhead," she replied, turning around and walking back to the desk.


"Wow, I never thought I'd see someone more terrifying than Miss Hardbroom," Mildred pointed out.

"Miss Hardbroom," Imogen began, "Sorry, I mean Constance, isn't really that bad once you get to know her, Mildred," Imogen replied, though she understood where she was coming from.

Mildred smiled, "It must be nice to see her that way, Miss, to look at her and not be afraid that she'll yell at you."

"It took some time for her to warm up to me too, Mildred, don't feel bad. You should know though that she only wants the best for you and the other girls."

"I'll try to remember that the next time she yells at me for not tying up my shoelaces," Mildred said, trying to imagine the scenario.

"I have to say, I agree with her on that Mildred," Imogen said, "now let's go into Miss Cackle's office so we can hear what they're saying."

Mildred nodded.

Imogen's anger was now outweighing her nervousness, "Did you heard what she said?! She called us pathetic!" She went to run over to confront Broomhead herself.

"It's no use Miss Drill, she can't hear or see you, remember," Mildred reasoned.

"Good point," Imogen replied, "doesn't mean I'm okay with what she just said though."

"And you shouldn't be, what an awful thing to say!" Mildred said, still listening to Broomhead's berating, "She was Miss Hardbroom's teacher wasn't she?"

Imogen looked at Mildred, "She was, yes. Mildred, I am about to tell you something that none of the other girls know about."

"So Miss Hardbroom had a Miss Hardbroom, wow," Mildred answered, sort of understanding now why her fearsome Potions teacher was the way she was, "Oh, it's not some secret about you and Miss Hardbroom is it?" Mildred asked, imagining the worst.

Imogen almost laughed, "No Mildred, nothing like that, it's the reason Miss Hardbroom sent me here with you, why she wanted to protect me as well as you."

Mildred breathed a sigh of relief, she was glad it had nothing to do with Miss Hardbroom and Miss Drill's private lives.

"We went to school together, Constance and I, we were both taught by Mistress Broomhead," Imogen explained.

"But that means-"

"Yes, Mildred, it does. I used to be a witch."