Telling the truth.
Maud Spellbody hurried towards the mirror room, constantly looking over her shoulders - she'd gotten Enid, the only friend she had left of the trio that had had Mildred, and still would if they could find a way to deal with Agatha Cackle, to see if she could distract Agatha and Miss Gullet from finding out about her heading to the mirror room so she could contact Mildred, but that didn't mean one of them could simply leave to patrol the rest of the school. Maud didn't care about that, though she knew if they found her here, they would punish her, but it would be worth it if she could speak to Mildred.
She needed to get in touch with her, explain to her what had happened. Hopefully Mildred would have figured it out by now, and hopefully she would have begun working on a plan to get rid of Agatha. It wasn't fair, she reflected, that a girl, a fellow student, would have to be the one to stop Agatha when others should have done it. Maud understood Mildred's stance on the matter, she really did, but what she didn't like was Mildred being so reckless. But Maud wanted to hear things from her, like why the hell she'd left the school in the first place and what she'd found out. Mildred had left the school on her broomstick, and she hadn't had it when she'd gotten back to the castle, so what had happened?
How had things become such a mess? Only two days ago, Maud had been worried about the end of year exams, Mildred had been worried about them as well, but then she was frightened Agatha would come back. Maybe Mildred was right to be worried, and as frustrating as Mildred could be for Maud, she did know her friend had a good point - if Agatha took over then life would become a living hell for everyone; anyone who resorted to potions that bent the mind, and causing girls to nearly plummet to their deaths weren't the best choices for a headmistress.
But Maud couldn't get that part out of her head, that part where Agatha was the elder sister and not Ada. How had that happened? Why would Miss Cackle lie so blatantly to everyone? Did the woman who seemed so caring and kind to everyone in the school, and gave second chances to everyone, hide something inside her, a greedy individual who didn't care about the Witches' code? If so then Maud would be really disappointed since Miss Cackle was someone she respected, but if Agatha was telling the truth, and Maud had no reason to trust her after everything that had happened during the past year, then Ada Cackle was as much a liar as her twin. Agatha was just more honest about her stance. It was obvious to Maud that Agatha had only recently found out the truth about the birth order, otherwise she would have been the headmistress long ago and Ada would have been forgotten long ago herself in a prison cell, or else she would have found proof to back up her claims long ago to run the academy. And as an experienced witch herself, Agatha would know where to look for that proof.
Like all young witches Maud knew the Witches code only too well, so did Enid; it was one of those things every witch grew up with. The rules on inheritance were very clear, it was a rule that had existed for centuries, and had never been changed - rules and laws were changed everyday, and there were parts of the Witches' code that had been reworded and expanded as the centuries had passed as the Great Wizards made adjustments they believed to be appropriate, but that had never been altered. The eldest was the one who inherited the family legacy, it had always seemed like a necessary evil. That was the reason why Ethel Hallow was such a bitch towards Esme, but for many people it wasn't anything to worry about because it made no real difference to them since they could make their own lives, form their own careers.
It was only witches who wanted more out of life that made a big deal out of it, but they could not hope to change the code, not without bringing the Great Wizard down on them. As the custodian of the code, the Great Wizard had to protect it, but he could also rewrite the code. Maud knew it would never happen, and for an only child like herself it wasn't a big deal, and besides she had gathered enough about the Hallow family to know Ethel didn't feel loved. When Maud had kids of her own, she swore she wouldn't make the same mistakes as the Hallows and have another Ethel Hallow running around.
Maud wondered if Miss Cackle had truly lied, she did not seem like the type to ruin her sister's life, but she didn't know the ins and outs of her headmistress's life and personality to know for sure. What made it more incriminating was Agatha and Miss Gullet's tale of how Miss Cackle had simply run away as soon as they became aware of the truth of the birth order.
Right now that wasn't important.
She had to speak to Mildred. She couldn't bear the thought of not setting the record straight with her best friend. Maud didn't want to think that Mildred would not want to speak to her after she'd practically brought HB down on her, but it was for Mildred's safety. There was really no telling what Agatha would've done to her if she hadn't; Mildred might have the Old Religion on her side, but was Mildred really powerful enough to fight two experienced witches off?
The mirror room door was closed, roped off with a sign reading OUT OF ORDER, a blatant lie of Agatha's to stop anyone contacting their families and their contacts. Maud spared it only a thought as she unhooked one end of it so she could pass, wryly realising just how much Mildred had rubbed off on her since in the past she'd never have had the broomstick to go past a sign like this, doubting that Agatha would be incredibly stupid to keep all the students in the school locked up, she was mad but not stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Great Wizard. But then since Maud had no idea what Agatha was trying to achieve in the future, she couldn't exactly tell what would happen later on.
Keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the corridor as her hand rummaged around in her pocket to take out the card with Julie Hubble's mirror number on it, Maud opened the door, wincing as it creaked on its hinges, and quickly closed it. She didn't know how long she had before either Gullet or Agatha came along this way, and she cursed herself for not re-fixing the sign so they wouldn't be suspicious, but it was too late now.
Maud flashed the card against the mirror and sat down in the chair.
It took a minute for the image on the mirror to coalesce into a dreamy, ghostly image of Mildred before it cleared up showing her and her mother Julie in their small flat's kitchen. It looked like Mildred was drying the dishes her mother was handing over to her. Maud hid a smile at the sight of her friend, she might have Enid still, but it was good to see her other best friend dressed in that simple shirt with a blue 74 stamped on it and that yellow hoodie.
"Please pick up, Millie," Maud pleaded. "Please."
Mildred looked up from her work, noticing her, and Maud had to fight the urge to grin that Mildred had noticed her at last. "Please," she said again, studying Mildred's face, hoping to see a smile on her face, hoping to see forgiveness on her face for bringing HB to the gate, betraying her, getting her expelled.
But Mildred didn't look happy to see her, in fact there was little expression on her face at all. Maud noticed that Julie had noticed her as well, but was looking at her daughter, wondering what she was going to do; Maud hoped that Julie had softened Mildred's probable upset enough for her friend to want to talk to her, but what Mildred did next shot that hope down in flames.
Mildred raised her hand, and Maud had felt as if her insides were turning to ice, recognising the hand gesture for what it was at once since she'd used it herself once or twice, and flicked it. "Vanished be," she whispered.
Maud almost broke down sobbing when the call connection collapsed.
In her flat Mildred felt torn - while it felt good to let Maud know just how badly she'd pushed her (Mildred), it wasn't her way to cause people hurt. But she could not get out of her mind the feeling of hurt and surprise that Maud would summon HB like that, especially after seeing for herself the kind of outcome that could've come out of that mess with the forgetting powder. Mildred sighed and pushed that out of her mind and focused on drying the washing.
After she'd finished drying the bowl she'd been drying when she'd noticed Maud's face in the window, Mildred turned around and took her plate her mother handed to her.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" Julie asked.
"She got me expelled," Mildred whispered in reply. There was nothing else to say in her mind, and it did upset her. The problem was she didn't feel angry about it, not like she had when the Great Wizard opened his big fat gob in the hall and revealed her study of the Old Religion and doubled up on the pressure.
No, she was feeling more hurt than anger, but that didn't mean she didn't feel anger - oh no, once she'd gotten over the shock, she had felt her insides cook and boil over with frothing anger. The problem was Mildred had no idea what would have happened if she had taken that call from Maud, she had cut the connection off because if she'd accepted it and spoken to her, then she could have lost her temper as soon as Maud spoke. Maud didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve Mildred losing her temper, something she never really did because it wasn't her and Maud knew it. But what surprised her the most was that Maud even bothered getting in touch in the first place.
"Well, perhaps she wants to say sorry," Julie said optimistically.
Mildred finished drying the plate and lightly clinked it back on the table. "It's a bit late for that," she replied, moving slightly to stand in the centre of the room, looking out of the window at the far end where the castle stood. She didn't both hiding her hurt about being expelled, and she knew there was no point since her mother knew how much she'd wanted to be a witch. She still could be a witch, she was still the future High Priestess.
Thinking of the Old Religion reminded her of her dad.
Did Merlin know about her being kicked out of Cackles? What would he do about it? Would he visit her, or would he just stay wherever he was? She was so out of she didn't notice her mother coming over to her until she was by her side. "It'll get easier, luv, I promise," Julie whispered.
Mildred looked up into her mother's face, and decided she would need to tell her mother about Merlin and the truth about their relationship, the only problem was how her mother would react.
Later on Mildred was sitting next to her mother on the couch, exhausted after her impromptu exercise with the computer dance mat. She had the feeling she had been using her magic to give her a quick boost of energy. Leaning back for a moment, she decided now was as good a time as any.
"Mum, do you remember how I kept pestering you, thinking that you were the one to give me my powers?" Mildred said, deciding that the basics was more important than rushing into telling her mum about Merlin.
Julie looked at her quizzically, wondering what that had to do with anything; she had been more amused than annoyed her daughter had thought she was a witch herself, and she'd wondered how on Earth she'd do that, and hide something so big from Mildred, who hadn't thought about the flaw in her idea. Mildred had problems with magic, and adapting to their culture which had so many loopholes Julie was surprised they were sane, so if she had problems adapting to magic, then how could she (Julie) handle it?
"Yeah," Julie replied slowly.
Mildred took a deep breath. "I was wrong, it wasn't you. It was my father."
Julie gasped. "Mildred-"
"I met him, mum, it was a while back, and he wanted to keep it as a surprise. He wants to see us during the summer," Mildred babbled.
"Mildred-" Julie said with grinding teeth. She was angry that Mildred had kept this from her.
"Merlin."
Julie blinked "What?"
"Merlin is my father, mum," Mildred said.
Julie closed her eyes and rubbed her aching temples. "Mildred, I think you'd better explain clearly, because you are not making a shred of sense."
Mildred sighed. "What do you know about Merlin, the wizard who helped King Arthur?"
Still bemused Julie answered, "Not a lot," she admitted, "there are so many stories, so many takes, its hard to keep track, but I know the basics - Merlin guided King Arthur in Camelot, and was with him until Arthur died."
"More or less true; Merlin was actually more of a bodyguard to Arthur, because at the time there was a lot of hatred towards the Old Religion, I'll get to that in a moment, but basically Merlin couldn't tell Arthur he had magic, since in those days the policy towards magical users was basically to kill them," Mildred was grim faced. "In those days, witches and wizards weren't common, there were sorcerers instead."
"What's the difference?"
"A witch or wizard is someone born with their powers, sorcerers have to devote their lives to learning magic and practicing it. Merlin was one of the first wizards born with their powers, and because of the fear in the country towards magic. It wasn't always like that, where sorcerers and druids feared for their lives." Mildred grimaced. "And then there was that disaster with Nimueh."
Julie's eyes crinkled. "I've heard of her, but I'm betting you're going to tell me everything I've heard about her is wrong?"
"Yes. Nimueh was a sorceress, a high priestess, and a very powerful one. It's a long story, but basically Uther Pendragon, the king of Camelot, was having problems with conceiving a child with his wife, Ygraine. So he turned to magic for help. I don't know for sure what was in her mind, whether she saw the opportunity to bring royalty closer to magic, but she had to warn the king of the dangers. When you conduct that kind of magic, to give a life then you have to take a life, but Uther didn't understand the meaning behind that, and so they went ahead and Arthur was later born. But because of her husband's lack of understanding, it was Ygraine that paid the price."
Julie knew what that meant. "She died."
"Yeah," Mildred replied grimly. "Ygraine died, and Uther blamed not only himself, he had a bigger and better scapegoat. Magic itself. Uther started a massive purge against magic. There had been dozens of attacks against magic over the centuries throughout the Old Religions turbulent history, but that was small fry compared to what the king of Camelot did. He was methodical and patient, and he also enlisted the aid of sorcerers in his quest to wipe out magic, but they didn't realise what was going on until it was too late. By that time thousands of people, including children, were rounded up and killed, as were magical creatures like dragons."
Julie took a deep breath. "While this story is horrible, Mildred, you're forgetting this is the 21st century, and besides I want to know how Merlin can be your dad."
"I was just giving you an idea of how horrible the Great Purge was, mum, its important to know the basics of what really happened. Merlin was forced to hide his powers when he arrived in Camelot, and with so many sorcerers being killed it's not a surprise, and there were dozens of sorcerers who were attacking Camelot out of revenge for what had happened over a decade before he arrived. Merlin made dozens of mistakes, mum, one of them was to allow Morgana to become an enemy."
"So, she was really evil?"
"I like to think of her more as a tragic figure, more of someone who was betrayed and deceived, and too gullible to know any better, but considering the fact Morgana was a witch herself and Uther's ward, that was bad enough. She had to watch as dozens of people were murdered, and when her powers appeared, she knew Uther would have her killed, so she was easy prey for her half sister, who kidnapped her, and brainwashed her and taught her magic. Eventually she fought Merlin, and after her sister died she became the High Priestess of the Old Religion, which made her more dangerous than ever. Merlin was told by a surviving dragon she was destined to be evil, but it could have been avoided."
Julie looked at her daughter thoughtfully. "Mildred, what is a High Priestess? What's the Old Religion? How did you find out about all this?"
Mildred gave her a wry smile. "After Agatha came back, I received a magic book. It was very old, battered, but well cared for. There were spells inside it, and I began trying them out. They were spells I found easy to use, and I was given a letter by the owner, who said he'd been watching over me my whole life - I know, it scared the living daylights out of me - and it said I was born with the power of the Old Religion. The Craft, the magic modern witches and wizards use, was derived from the Old Religion, and there are very few people who can perform more than a few spells."
Mildred looked down at her hands. "I studied that book, practiced dozens of spells; I even wore myself out once or twice experimenting with the spells, but I learnt a lot, but I was still struggling with the Craft spells." Mildred shook her head, chuckled a little. "The main issue I had with the spells was I didn't know, I couldn't have known because surprise, surprise no one had bothered to tell me that witches and wizards shape the spells the way they feel it should be. If they had, maybe I wouldn't have done so badly."
Julie wrapped an arm around Mildred's shoulder, comforting her despite her curiosity, confusion and wonder about what all this had to do with the man who had fathered her only child. "It's not your fault the teachers couldn't do their jobs, luv," Julie whispered.
"I know, mum," Mildred replied, then she felt compelled to tell the rest of the story. "The teachers found out about what I was doing after they saw my eyes turn gold when I stopped Ethel Hallow from destroying my homework."
"Your eyes turned gold?!" Julie repeated.
"Yeah," Mildred replied, knowing her mother would find that hard to believe, but it had to be said since her mother could see her practicing her powers. "It happens only when I cast a spell. It's harmless. Anyway, the teachers saw my eyes turn gold, so they became suspicious and they notified the Great Wizard."
The snort that came out of Mildred told Julie of how she really felt about that. "He had everyone assemble in the Great Hall, and he announced it to the world I was going to become the High Priestess of the Old Religion, the first one in a millennium after Morgana Pendragon."
"Morgana Pendragon, I thought she was called Morgana Le Fey? I wondered when you talked about Morgana before, how she'd worried about being caught using magic, and I'd wondered what you'd meant. And how can you be the High Priestess?"
"Morgana was Uther's ward, so she was quite close. I don't know if it was someone making up the name, so don't ask. As for me being the High Priestess, its because Merlin is my father. He's still alive, mum. I think his magic is so powerful its kept him alive all these years, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, when he met you- you know the rest."
Julie looked away and rubbed her forehead. "This is too much to take in, its not easy to accept. Merlin is your father, you inherited his magic, and you're going to be this High Priestess, and I had a fling with Merlin!"
Mildred held back the giggle that was threatening to escape. Her mother sounded so melodramatic it was hard not to smile. Unfortunately Julie's glare told her that her amusement was far from discreet.
"Where's Merlin now?"
Mildred was glad she didn't know where her dad was, if the almost casual tone was anything to go by, it was clear her mother's intentions were far from amicable. "I don't know, honestly I don't. All I know is Merlin has been watching over us for years, and besides from what he told me it was he was stopped from coming to see us. He almost died trying to see us, mum. He was even thinking of asking you to marry him."
Julie stopped, her anger abating. She had always felt anger and resentment towards Mildred's father for just leaving her when she was pregnant and she had long since stopped thinking about him, but when Mildred began attending Cackles Academy, she had thought about him more often knowing that he could be the one who'd given Mildred her magic.
But she hadn't expected him to be the most famous wizard in history. She wondered how it would've worked out, being married to Merlin. Sure, they'd have their ups and downs, but what married couple didn't, but at least she would have been prepared for the magic part.
Another thing she hadn't expected was hearing how he'd almost died trying to see them, and it showed when she asked, "Is he okay?"
"He is now, but when it happened it felt like he was dying," Mildred answered, not going to repeat what she had heard from her father, but decided to at least give her another clue how bad things had been, "his magic was almost torn out."
Julie had no idea how that would feel for a wizard, but she imagined it must have been beyond her comprehension of pain. "What's he going to do?" she asked.
"Merlin promised he was going to see us," Mildred replied.
Julie was open minded at the best of times, but she wondered if her daughter was being a bit too naive and gullible here. While she wanted to confront Merlin, she hoped he wasn't going to use his magic as an excuse for not seeing her. She wondered why Merlin's magic would be torn out just by seeing her and Mildred, and she'd been truly hurt he'd left her with a baby. She loved Mildred, one of the best things that had happened to her, but raising Mildred had taught Julie many lessons. She just wasn't sure if she could pick up with where she'd left off with Merlin, and if she was honest she was unsure if she even wanted to.
Only time would tell.
"Mildred got expelled," Maud said, repeating herself for the dozenth time. How many times could she say the same thing, and Agatha would stop?
The bespectacled young witch was scared out of her wits as she sat in the chair in front of the Head's desk. After leaving the Mirror room and failing to speak to Mildred, Maud had left for her room where she could think, but after assembly where Miss Gullet, acting like the Major Domo of an arrogant, spoilt Queen, declared Agatha to be the new Headmistress of the Academy; Maud didn't see the point behind that since Agatha had made it clear she was in charge, as Miss Drill had quickly discovered when Agatha had transformed her into a snail.
Agatha held back the urge to curse the girl, and transform her into a snail like she had Miss Drill to punish the other witch. While transforming Maud Spellbody was attractive, Agatha didn't want to cast spells against the students unless she had no choice in the matter. She had promised herself to be a firmer disciplinarian than her sister Ada ever was. But Agatha knew the difference between being harsh and being extreme. She knew of a witch known as Broomhead who had been under the investigation of the Educational office for years, after rumours of her beating and tormenting her students had lost her powers when an undercover witch managed to get evidence back to the Great Wizard.
Broomhead had been sentenced to life imprisonment with no powers, and forced to clean the most filthy places in their community. Agatha had no intention of following in her footsteps - she might be the legitimate heiress to the Headmistress position of the Academy which had been in the family for centuries, but the Great Wizard could take it from her at any moment, and if she caused harm to a student then the punishment would be severe. Broomhead's punishment was still an example to witch teachers who pushed the boundaries between what was traditionally acceptable and what was extreme.
But Maud Spellbody was trying her patience - Agatha had hoped the girl would be cooperative since she knew the girl was intelligent and a rule abiding goody twoshoes, but the girl was pushing the limits of her patience. It seemed that Mildred's personality had rubbed off on her.
"Tell us where she is," Agatha pressed, standing so close behind Maud the girl could smell her hot breath even without turning her head, "or I'll turn you into a dung beetle."
Miss Gullet snickered.
Maud wasn't sure what was worse, being threatened with being transformed into an insect, or the other things this woman could do to her, but what was bad was having to be in Agatha's presence - where Miss Cackle was nice, warm, friendly though she could become hard in a second if you got on the wrong side of her, Agatha was harsh and cold full stop.
Miss Gullet was just an idiot - there was no doubt she was brilliant at magic, no doubt at all. It was just a shame she was extremely dense about other things.
Maud heard Agatha move so she was standing over her. "Or a head louse."
Not giving Maud time to think about the prospect of becoming a head louse, and being disgusted at being forced to constantly take refuge in someone's hair, Agatha stepped slowly to whisper above Maud's ear. "Or…..a toilet brush."
Miss Gullet snickered again, finding the prospect so disgustingly funny she couldn't help but laugh.
Maud gulped loudly, not just at the thought of something worse than a head louse, or a dung beetle, though she felt she would have preferred a head louse; at least she would not be rolling around in the excrement of other people, either as a dung beetle or a toilet brush, though sucking blood and itching people's scalps wasn't attractive either, but at least she'd be protected unless someone combed for nits.
Maud hadn't expected Agatha or Miss Gullet to come down on her so quickly to find out where Mildred lived. They both knew Mildred had been expelled for being out of bounds, but the pair of them had been busy getting ready to announce the change of leadership in the school so it was too late to stop Miss Hardbroom from expelling Mildred. Maud hoped the potions mistress wasn't going to suffer for that decision, but she doubted anything would come of it - Miss Hardbroom was one of the most respected members of staff at Cackles, and she was the only person to calm the other teachers down.
But she'd been wrong. She had hoped Agatha and Miss Gullet would be too busy to pay any attention to her or Enid as they tried to think of a way to stop the two witches, but they had called her to the office, and there was no way she could have avoided those summons. When she'd arrived at the door Maud had almost expected the two adult witches to interrogate her, using magic to force the answers out of her, but she'd been wrong.
Instead Agatha had been almost cordial towards her, clearly trying to be friendly and relaxed; it might have worked if Maud hadn't known what kind of person Agatha really was. And that was when the questions started. Where was Mildred Hubble? Where did Mildred Hubble live? What was Mildred planning? Things like that, and now Maud had told Agatha that Mildred had been expelled. No, she didn't knew where Mildred lived, and she didn't know what Mildred was planning. In fact she was unsure if Mildred even knew Agatha had taken the school.
The second answer was more or less the truth. Maud had crashed into Mildred's balcony, but she hadn't exactly stopped to get an idea of which block of flats the Hubbles lived in, and she was glad she hadn't now. She had been so excited and terrified at the same time when she'd made that crash she hadn't bothered noticing the details of the place. Besides, the Spellbody family lived a fairer distance from the school than Mildred and Julie did, so Maud didn't exactly know the area that well.
Alarms started to go off when they all heard a sound signifying magical transportation, and Maud clapped her hands over her ears in reflex at how loud the sound was. Squinting her eyes and holding back the urge to slam her own hands to her ears at the sound, and just flicked her fingers cursing both Hardbroom and Gullet at the same time.
Once she was aware the sound had died down, Maud gratefully lowered her hands. "What was that?" she asked.
Ignoring the girl Agatha turned to Miss Hardbroom. "Naughty, naughty," she chided, taking a sadistic pleasure in scolding the arrogant Miss Hardbroom like a child, "you used unauthorised magic. I didn't authorise the use of transportation spells."
"Sorry, force of habit," Hardbroom said nonchalantly as Agatha walked back over the desk, and she glided over to where Maud was sitting, "I was looking for Maud."
Maud waited until Miss Hardbroom was standing next to the chair. "They were going to turn me into a toilet brush," she told the teacher, hoping she'd stop the two lunatic witches from going that far. She kept one of her eyes fixed firmly on Agatha, who was rifling through the paperwork on the desk. She wondered if the interrogation was over, but she wasn't going to chance it.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Miss Hardbroom said smoothly even as Miss Gullet walked closer, and the potions mistress kept an eye on her former colleague. "Maud is a good girl, who respects authority," she went on, bending down to Maud's level. When she made eye contact with the girl, Miss Hardbroom let her eyes move, trying to tell Maud to look past her towards the painting hanging on the wall. It took a moment and a bit of persistence, but Maud followed her potion teacher's eyes and looked past her shoulder. The girl's widening eyes and her gulp of fear told Miss Hardbroom that Maud had gotten the message only too well.
"You will set an example for the others," Miss Hardbroom went on, hoping that Maud got this message - to try to keep their heads down, but still find a way to get rid of Agatha. "Won't you?" she pressed.
"Yes," Maud said, nodding though her eyes were still wide with fear, and Miss Hardbroom stood up, hoping that with this new information the truth of what had happened to Ada got out. Maud turned to speak directly to Agatha's back. "I'm sorry, Miss Cackle."
"That's alright, dear," Agatha glanced over her shoulder, waving a hand dismissively, "run along now."
Maud stood up and walked out slowly, not taking her eyes off the portrait, eyes wide with fear as she took in the moving eyes in Ada's picture, wondering if Ada could hear her. But any ideas she had of trying to help her were put on hold when Miss Gullet hissed irritably at her, waving for her to get out.
Maud did just that. She had to set the record straight with the others. It took her a while to find Enid, and she told her about the picture. But Enid didn't believe her. "But that picture's always been there," Enid said.
"But it never moved before," Maud was grim as they both walked up the stairs, stopping when they reached the top.
"So, Miss Cackle-"
"Didn't run away," Esmerelda Hallow finished and both girls watched as the older Hallow sister walked up the stairs towards them, "Agatha trapped her in the portrait. I saw it," she added grimly before she sighed. "I followed Ethel to the office, saw her open a panel and remove a scroll. It was one of the Cackle sisters's birth scroll, giving the birth order of the twins and revealing that Agatha's the older twin. It must have been there for years, but I don't know how Ethel could have known about it."
"What happened then?"
"Ethel said something about someone lying to her, Agatha, all her life, and then she opened the window and I saw Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle on a broomstick. I thought it was Miss Hardbroom at the time. But Miss Cackle… she tricked me into transferring my magic to her, and then the real Miss Cackle came in, and that's when I realised I was tricked. And the witch I thought was HB turned out to be Miss Gullet."
Maud looked around. There were too many people coming and going, and someone was bound to overhear and it could even get back to Miss Gullet or to Agatha. "Come on, we'd better find a place that's quiet," she told the two girls and they left the stairway to hurry to one of the bedrooms. They came to Mildred's room, and despite hesitating on the threshold Maud opened the door. The room felt sort of empty without its occupant's presence in the school, and Maud smiled a little as she took in the drawings and paintings on the wall.
Maud's smile widened as she stroked Tabby, tickling his ears as he leaned into her touch. "This is the best room to have some privacy," she told the other two girls, smiling as she noticed Esme's curiosity as she wandered over to the drawings to take a closer look. "Hopefully Agatha and Miss Gullet won't realise we're here," she added.
Enid walked over to the bed and found the book of the Old Religion. There was a coloured piece of paper in the book marking where Mildred had gotten to in the volume. She opened the book and flicked through the old pages. "I wish we could use some of these spells," she said.
"Don't try it," Esmerelda warned. "That form of magic is so old we'd never be able to handle it."
"Yeah," Enid replied regretfully, then she started to shake her head as she went over the current mess happening around her. "You know what Esme, I've been thinking about what you said about that panel and how Ethel found the scroll so easily. I don't understand how Ethel even knew the scroll was even in that part of Miss Cackle's office. Unless she'd seen the scroll in Miss Cackle's hand-"
"No," Maud interrupted, her face set and serious. "Miss Cackle wouldn't be stupid enough to hold something like that in public. She couldn't even trust Miss Hardbroom with something like that. Everyone knows HB is a stickler for the code, she'd have had no alternative but to contact the Great wizard about the breach."
"You know what," Esme said slowly, "ever since Ethel and Mildred went back in time with the mists, I've strolled by my sisters room, listening to her go on to Drusilla about Mildred finding a scroll and showing it to Miss Cackle. Both of them looked grave and grim according to Ethel, and she's been obsessed with learning more about it ever since."
Enid looked over at Maud. "It makes sense. Ethel changed her appearance so she'd look and sound like you, Maud, and she tried to blackmail Mildred into telling her what she was hiding."
"Sounds like Mildred found the birth scroll," Esme remarked, making a face at how nosy her sister was, "Ethel saw her, became suspicious, and when she had the chance to find out what the scroll was she took it." Esme shook her head bitterly. "My sister never did know when to keep her nose to herself."
"Before she was transported home by HB, Mildred and Miss Cackle met quite a few times," Maud said, "right in the middle of the revision period. So she must have known, and Miss Cackle swore her to secrecy."
"Mildred's a good choice to keep that kind of secret," Enid observed. "She wasn't born in our world, the Witches' code is new to her, so it wouldn't exactly bind her and force her to tell someone in a position to have Miss Cackle thrown out, not like if it was one of us."
Neither Maud or Esme could refute that. The Witches' code made it very clear the punishment for any witch who went against tradition, or any other accomplice or accessory was severe. It was one of the most punishing parts of the code there was, and if Maud, Enid, or Esmerelda were discovered to not only know about the birth order of the Cackle twins, but had covered it up as well, they would be publicly punished. Their families would be shamed. It was the ultimate nightmare of a family. The Spellbody's, Hallows, and the Nightshades would never recover from it, or be trusted with anything ever again.
Even Enid knew better than to push that part of the code, knowing even her rich and glamorously famous parents wouldn't survive the punishment either if she flouted it and believed she could get away with it; even Enid knew her limits and what was allowed, and while her attitude bordered on reckless and casual, she wasn't stupid enough to do something like that.
But Mildred didn't have a magical family as far as they knew besides Merlin but there was a chance Julie Hubble had ancestors who were magical, so she was still safe from the punishment but that could change once the Great Wizard was sure about what to say or do, but her status as the future High Priestess of the Old Religion could make the Witches' code meaningless to Mildred. The Old Religion not only predated the Craft, it predated the Witches's code, so Mildred could be immune to the repercussions of the law.
"Speaking of Mildred, did you manage to get through to her on the Mirror?" Enid asked Maud, remembering she should've asked, but with the assembly and seeing Gullet make a fool of herself and Maud being called away she hadn't had the chance.
Maud sagged. "Yeah I got through, and Mildred was there with her mum, but she cut the call without accepting it."
"She's gotta be mad at you for getting HB to send her home," Enid observed.
Maud glared at her.
Esme looked confused and so Maud and Enid filled her in on what had happened. Esmerelda chuckled. "Mildred….that girl seems to live to find trouble, doesn't she?" she shook her head. "I just wish my sister wouldn't keep ranting and raving about her being this troublesome menace, but when they came back through the Mists of Time, she seemed really grateful towards Mildred for helping her get Nightstar back."
"Ethel's a contradiction," Maud commented moving to take a look at the book of magic in Enid's hands. Her friend looked up at her, and smiled. Maud smiled back.
The two noticed Esme's thoughtful look. "Do you know what I don't get?" she asked, deciding to let out something that had been troubling her for weeks now. "I don't understand why Mildred is suddenly this High Priestess, or why Merlin personally came here to see her. When Merlin arrived, he took Mildred onto the grounds and they spoke together. Mildred became angry with him and stormed off, but she calmed down quickly. I think Merlin told her something so important she lost her temper," Esmerelda told them, "I was watching with a few of my friends."
"What do you think they were talking about?" Enid asked, playing along.
Esmerelda shrugged. "I don't know. They were too far away to make any sense."
Maud nodded thoughtfully, she and Enid both knew what Esme was talking about and played along. "She did seem a bit cagey afterwards, like she was hiding more secrets," she said, sharing a look with Enid about not spilling the beans that Mildred was Merlin's daughter. "But I'll never forget what happened when she lost her temper in the Great Hall."
"Neither will I," Enid shuddered, images of the broken glass from the windows showering everyone in the hall like crystal glass.
Maud closed her eyes, shuddering herself at the reminder of the fear written all over Mildred's face. Mildred was her best friend, so it was terrifying that Mildred would automatically think she'd be killed for having a magical talent.
"Still for a girl as mild mannered as Mildred Hubble to lose her temper like that, and worry about being hunted down and killed for having that magical talent…..it must have been scary for her," Esmerelda said sympathetically.
"I wish we knew how to use the magic in that book," Maud whispered, looking down at the worn leather book. "We could use it now."
"There is hope," Esme said. "I've just remembered, the Great Wizard should be here soon."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Enid whispered, "if anyone can stop her, he can."
All three girls looked happy with the prospect, so why didn't they feel positive about it?
The cat's meow startled Mildred who was busy pottering around the flat - she had nothing better to do now she was out of the Academy, so now she was trying to find something meaningful to do while her mother was out at work. Mildred looked around and saw a familiar cat by the window.
"Tabby!" Mildred rushed to her cat and picked the animal up, letting Tabby purr against her chest. "How did you get here?"
Tabby had been left behind at the academy, and when HB had sent her away the woman had neglected to transport Tabby as well. Mildred felt ashamed that she had been so messed up thinking about her own problems she hadn't paid any attention to her cat.
As she made a fuss over Tabby she noticed a thin blue thread running down from the cat's neck. It was a ribbon and as Mildred lifted it up she saw its end tied around a small scroll of paper. It was wrapped around a small vial. "What's this?" Mildred asked Tabby before she grinned, "A message…..from Ethel?"
Mildred walked into the flat, carrying Tabby with her and sat down on the couch and unrolled the scroll.
It read, "Hello Mildred. I know you probably didn't expect me sending you a letter with your cat, but lets call it a peace offering. I know how much Tabby means to you, so I felt it was a better way to tell you what's going on. You see, Agatha and Miss Gullet have taken over the Academy. I showed Agatha the birth scroll - you might not have told me what it was you were hiding, but it was wrong. I showed Agatha the scroll after she and Miss Gullet tricked Esmerelda into donating her magic to Agatha. At the time it was the only way I felt I could be noticed. Agatha has trapped Miss Cackle in the painting in the headmistress's office, and I think she's dealt with the Great Wizard himself - don't ask me how, it shouldn't be possible since Agatha took Esme's power; not that that stopped Miss Gullet from turning my sister into a trophy with her face on it. Yeah, my sister and I have our….differences, but she is my sister.
"You're the only person who can help, Mildred - I'm close enough to Agatha and Miss Gullet to know that Miss Gullet cast a spell that detects unauthorised spells, spells like transportation spells, and it binds everyone who was in the castle at the time, and since you weren't in the castle at the time, you're immune to the effects. Mildred, I know we've had our differences, but please, help us. I don't know how far Agatha is going to go.
"Let me tell you a story - Mistress Broomhead was a powerful teacher at a prestigious school, and she was a traditionalist, she was the epitome of a powerful witch - strong, knowledgeable in the code, potions and spells. But she was scum. Mildred, you're new to our world, so you don't know about our teaching traditions. Some of them were strict, severe. There were times students had to be physically punished, sometimes a teacher would force a student to drink a toxic potion and then cure them to teach a lesson they wouldn't forget. But they had their limits, think Hardbroom times by 3, and you have a picture. Many of those teachers were renowned as the best because they got the best results. Not Broomhead.
"Broomhead is a throwback to those traditions - it took time for them to be done away with, though some traditions still remain. Those traditions are define magical learning, but there's a difference between Broomhead and those old teachers - they knew their limits, what they could and could not do, and they had their restraints that they followed as strictly as the code itself. Broomhead is a psychopath, she actively enjoyed inflicting pain, and she humiliated her students. She was arrogant, too - she believed she held all the cards and believed she'd get away with her crimes. The story goes the Great Wizard himself heard of the rumours, the stories, and he sent an undercover witch to investigate. Let's just say she was lucky to get out alive, and she was a powerful and experienced witch herself. The Great Wizard was furious according to the story, and he made sure Broomhead paid the price. He removed her magic, Mildred, had her sentenced to life imprisonment and forced to clean out the filthier parts of the our world. There's no chance she'll get her magic back. From what I've heard, the woman was cowering in a whimpering heap before the Great Wizard. A far cry from the arrogant, bigoted, monster she had been before.
"You're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Mildred, the Great Wizard's gone missing, but I know he was here at the Academy. I saw him arrive myself, and it wouldn't surprise me if Agatha has become so heady on power she thinks she's invincible. There's no telling what she'll do next. There's invisibility potion that I've brewed for you. Knock on the school doors, and I'll let you in.
Hope to see you soon,
Ethel Hallow."
Mildred reread the message twice. The story about Broomhead had been surprising to her at first, but as she got through it she could see Ethel's point - the idea of Agatha becoming so power crazed to the point where she felt as though she could not be beaten after taking on the Great Wizard - she might not know how powerful the man was, but it was clear he was experienced when it came to magic - then Mildred shuddered.
She stood up and walked around before looking at her cat. "What can I do, Tabby?" she asked, pleased she was again speaking to her beloved familiar. "I've got to stop her, I could have stopped her in the woods. If I had maybe this mess wouldn't have happened, and Esme might not have lost her powers," Mildred stopped her bitter self recrimination.
She looked around the kitchen for inspiration, and her eyes lit up when she spotted the map. It might not be a broomstick fitting for a witch, but it would do.
Getting to the school on the mop was no different to flying on a broomstick - granted, the mop wasn't designed to fly a witch anywhere, but it did the job perfectly - and Mildred found herself enjoying the flight. She was surprised that she was able to fly right into the castle grounds, doing it without being seen by anyone was the hard part, but she was glad no alarms started blaring. After landing, Mildred took out the vial containing the invisibility potion and downed the lot.
She passed a few of the other girls silently as she walked up the steps to the door. "Come on, Ethel," she hissed, hoping the younger of the Hallow sisters was on the other side already.
The door opened and Ethel came out, Mildred noticed the head of year sash in purple rimmed in gold, identical to the one Esmerelda wore around her waist, but where Esme had earned it with hard work and honesty Ethel had earned it by doing Agatha a favour, but Mildred didn't see the point in telling Ethel that. At the moment the two had a truce, it wasn't worthwhile to have a fight.
"You need to be invited in, remember?" At least some things were consistent, even with the school being slowly turned into a prison camp, Agatha and Miss Gullet taking control, teachers trapped in portraits and wizards going missing, Ethel Hallow would still be so incredibly bossy.
"Well, go on, then," Mildred said, not in the mood to play games with Ethel, but willing to be patient with her for now.
Ethel looked like she'd been told to swallow five lemons and a lime before having to eat a wasp nest whole. "I never thought I'd say this, but," she bowed, "well met, and welcome, Mildred Hubble." She stepped aside to let Mildred pass.
"Well met," Mildred returned graciously, waiting until Ethel had closed the door before she asked questions. "How have things been?"
"Not good, I don't think it's a good idea for you to speak, not until we get to the office," Ethel said and the two girls rushed to the Headmistress's office, though they had to be careful since Agatha might make up some rule that stopped students from running through the corridors.
"It's in here," Ethel whispered as she opened the door, gesturing for Mildred to come in.
Mildred looked around the office walls for the portrait in question, but she couldn't see it. "Where?" she asked as she closed the door.
"There," Ethel pointed to a blank section of the wall, but it wasn't there. "It's….gone?"
Ethel walked around the room, her back was to Mildred so the invisible witch wasn't able to see her features. "Ethel, please tell this wasn't one of your tricks," Mildred said warningly. If it was then she would be really disappointed…. "Was this whole thing a setup?"
"No, I promise," Ethel said, turning around.
"Mildred? Is that you?" Mildred and Ethel turned to look up the stairs leading to the small reading area in the office. Maud was standing on the top of the stairs, looking bemused but happy. Mildred was happy as well, she was still a bit hurt by her best friend's 'betrayal' but she wondered if there was more to the story than she'd believed, but there'd be plenty of time for that later.
"Maud," Mildred greeted, glancing up the stairs when she saw the flash of movement and a hint of yellow, and found herself looking at Enid on the upper floor.
Maud had a massive grin on her face as she looked around the room for her. "Where are you?"
Ethel gestured to a spot right in front of Maud, and Mildred chuckled despite her best friend not seeing it. "Here, I'm invisible," Mildred said.
"I can see that," Maud replied as she stepped closer before she corrected herself for her rather silly reply, "well, I can't - I-oh, I mean- Oh, come over here, you silly slug!"
It felt good for Mildred to hug Maud again - even if the last time had only been a couple of days ago. Maud let go of her, looking sad. "I'm sorry, Mildred," she said, her voice full of regret, "I'm sorry I got you expelled, but Agatha had taken over the school and Miss Hardbroom and I were afraid about what would happen to you."
Mildred was touched, really, but she had seen a flaw in the plan. "I know, but you could've told me," she said quietly, "you scared me."
"I'm sorry," Maud went, "I was just trying to keep you safe."
Mildred smiled - Maud might not see the smile, but she would hear it when she spoke - and said, "I know."
"More importantly," Ethel's strident voice interrupted the moment, "what are you two doing here?"
While she was a little miffed that her reunion with her friends was interrupted, Mildred had to admit Ethel had a point. "Yeah, why are you two here?" she echoed Ethel's question.
"Well," Maud began, "we thought," she walked back up the stairs to the library level, Ethel following after her but Mildred stayed where she was, confused, "that if we could get the painting out of the school, maybe we could find someone to -"
The door opened, interrupting Maud, and Miss Gullet came into the office. The ex Spells Science teacher took one look at the blank wall and glared at the three young witches.
"This….isn't what it looks like," Ethel said.
"Trying to steal school property, eh?" Miss Gullet asked.
"I-I didn't, it wasn't me," Ethel got out, but a glare from Enid and Maud stopped her from saying anything else, but Miss Gullet didn't seem keen or too bothered to listen to her.
"Well, that's just too bad," Miss Gullet said with a sickly sweet smirk on her face as she clicked her fingers and the door closed and she walked softly into the room towards the desk, "I think you've all seen a bit too much."
"What are you going to do, expel us?" Enid asked, imitating Miss Gullet's voice towards the end, but she looked down when she noticed the horrified looks on Maud and Ethel's faces.
Mildred noticed the sickly sweet smirk on Miss Gullet's face was still there, but there was a more innocent tinge. "Of course not," she said, sounding hurt as if Enid's question had torn a hole in her heart. "I'd hate you to miss the end of term-"
"Wáce ierlic!" Mildred shouted, and even when she was invisible she could feel the familiar rush of the Old Religion magic surging through her, and hit Miss Gullet in the back, and the disgraced teacher was thrown really hard into a stone wall, and she was knocked unconscious. Maud blew out a breath at seeing the woman being sent into a wall.
"That was close," she said, sure that Miss Gullet was about to transform them all into something. "Millie, you're becoming visible again."
Mildred looked down at her hands, seeing that her hands had a more ghostly quality to them as the invisibility spell wore off. "Well, nice while it lasted," she commented before looking up at her friends and Ethel. "What were you saying before she came in, about the portrait?"
Maud blinked, then she said, "As I was saying before Miss Gullet interrupted me, we were hoping to get out of the school, take the portrait and find someone to get Miss Cackle out."
Mildred had walked over and bent down so she could get a good look at the portrait, and she felt ill looking at the moving eyes of the second Cackle twin. "Who can get her out?"
Maud sagged. "I don't know, but there's got to be someone as powerful as the Great Wizard out there."
"Speaking of the Great Wizard, where is he?" Ethel asked.
Maud shook her head, "We don't know. We know he's still here."
"He can't help us," Mildred decided. She was out of her depth as she tried to think of a way to get rid of Agatha, and as she tried not too her mind went back to the letter Ethel had sent her with Tabby and the invisibility potion; try as hard as she might, she wanted Agatha to push the limits and become uncontrollable so everyone could see what kind of woman she was.
The only problem was time. They had to act now.
Unfortunately, Miss Gullet had been waking up, but the first thing she'd heard was the sound of voices and not wanting to alert them to her return to the land of the awake she hadn't let out any sound. The stunning curse hadn't been too strong but it had knocked her out for a few minutes, and then she realised there was an addition. Mildred was back. Holding back the instinctive urge to scream or grunt with pain, Miss Gullet pushed herself up. Seeing movement, Mildred cried out, "Look out."
But Miss Gullet sent Mildred away with a strong wave of magic, slamming her into a wall and giving the little brat a dose of her own medicine, but she grinned maliciously as she turned the girls into cakes and levitated them onto a platter. Miss Gullet looked down at Mildred's prone body - the girl was groaning, and she wanted nothing more than to turn her into a cake and see one of the girls chew on her…..
The door opened and Miss Hardbroom came inside, but she stopped when she took in the scene. Miss Gullet was standing holding a platter with three cakes on them and Mildred was at her feet, but the former teacher had her fingers poised to cast a spell, but the moment Miss Gullet saw her she froze, but grinned innocently before she used a transportation spell. Once the former teacher had left, Miss Hardbroom rushed over to Mildred who was just beginning to sit up, wincing at the pain in her head.
"Mildred Hubble, what are you doing back here?" she demanded.
Mildred sighed and she launched into a rushed explanation of what had happened - how Tabby had been sent to her flat with the note and the invisibility potion from Ethel, how she'd arrived and was brought to the headmistress's office and found Enid and Maud trying to find a way to smuggle the portrait out of the office so someone could get it out for someone to reverse the spell because the alarm spell cast of the school had made it impossible for them to reverse.
"Cakes?!" Miss Hardbroom repeated in horror as she was filled in about what those cakes were on that platter Miss Gullet had taken.
"Yes, we have to stop her before someone eats them-" Mildred had just picked herself up and was rushing for the door, but Miss Hardbroom raised a finger. "Stop that. Only Miss Cackle can help them now, and only you can help Miss Cackle."
Agatha and Miss Gullet shared a smug look behind Miss Drill's back, amazed by how easy it was to fool them. Agatha only needed to spare a close look at the tops of the cakes to see the faces on them, and she sent a pleased look towards Gullet; while the former Spells science teacher was clueless in some avenues, she was very good at what she did and she had a wide repertoire of spells. Soon the school would be down a few students. But Miss Gullet leaned in. "We need to talk."
Mildred walked dejectedly through the corridors of the Academy ten minutes later. The first High Priestess of the Old Religion in a thousand years and she was just not powerful enough to release Miss Cackle from the painting. Miss Hardbroom said it wasn't her fault, that a witch's power only increased as time went by. Mildred wished she had a deeper connection to her magic, but she was still a novice unlike her father. Merlin would probably have managed to get Miss Cackle out, no problem, but he was more experienced than she was.
Now she was being sent out of the Academy.
Again.
Mildred knew Miss Hardbroom was just trying to keep her safe, but she felt responsible for what was happening - she wished she had never found that birth scroll, that she had just kept it hidden in the office, alternatively she wished she had told Miss Cackle to just burn the damn thing and forget about it, though she knew Ada wouldn't have done it. She also wished she hadn't gone in the forest only to see her broomstick being disintegrated.
But as she walked by the doors that led into the Great Hall, Mildred saw Miss Gullet holding the platter of cakes and she realised she could still make a difference.
"No!" she screamed as Felicity and Drusilla took a cake each. "Don't eat those cakes!"
Agatha glared at her savagely. "Mildred Hubble!"
Mildred raised her hands just as the alarm blared. Everyone clapped their hands to their ears even as red light flashed through the hall like an actual alarm….. It was quickly shut off.
"Miss Hardbroom. In the office," Miss Gullet ground out, and she and Agatha glared at Mildred with pure hatred in their eyes. "We'll deal with you later," Agatha said before she and Miss Gullet both flicked their fingers and they disappeared with their own transportation spells.
Miss Hardbroom knew her little attempt to free Ada from the portrait would end in failure. The alarm spell cast by her former colleague was very strong, and since she like all the other teachers had been in the school at the time of the casting meant no one could cast it without alerting Agatha. That was the reason why she'd hoped Mildred could take her out of the picture because if the girl could take her out there might be a way to stop Agatha and Miss Gullet before they went too far.
Miss Hardbroom hated the fact she'd been forced by Agatha to subdue the Great Wizard - Hecate was a powerful witch, and she knew she could hold her own against most people, but the Great Wizard was not one of them, but with the threat of the annihilation spell over the school - Hecate couldn't believe how far Agatha was willing to go to keep the school, and it made her feel sick - she'd had no choice but to work with Agatha and Miss Gullet in subduing the unfortunate man so then Agatha could transform him into a balloon; Hecate still shivered at the bad joke Agatha had made when she'd let him go in the cupboard.
It was surprising Mildred hadn't managed to take Miss Cackle out of the portrait since she had so much magical power, but Miss Hardbroom quickly realised that despite her potential, despite all the power she had shown over the last few months, Mildred was still subject to the basic laws of magic, and she probably wouldn't reach the level needed to get Ada out until she was at least 16, maybe a few years older.
While it was disappointing, it wasn't all that surprising to Hecate. It was a means of ensuring that the magician didn't become overloaded with power
They could not wait. Ada needed to be freed now, though how she'd manage to defeat the power-mad Agatha was any one's clue, before the power mad twin sister had her powers removed after her first takeover of the school, they'd been evenly matched when it came to magical power, but even with Esmerelda's magic now inside her Agatha could only do so much, it was only her experience with magic that made her such a threat.
After saying the incantation, Hecate only had to hold out her arms as Ada started to leave the portrait, and she hoped she had enough time….
"No!" Mildred cried and rushed to Felicity's side as the other girl was about to take a great big chunk out of the cake she was holding.
Felicity stiffened, and said annoyed, "Mildred, I was going to eat that."
"Well don't," Mildred snapped, not taking an eye off the cake as she wondered who it was - Ethel? Maud? Enid? - then decided it didn't really matter; she was too busy trying to work out how to turn them back, and she was trying to work out a decent spell powerful enough to reverse what Gullet had done. "Those aren't cakes," she sighed, "they're your friends. Miss Gullet transformed Enid, Ethel and Maud into cakes, and you were about to eat them. Look around yourselves," Mildred said to the room at large, gesturing to the tables covered with fizzy pop, crisps and cakes, "they've given you junk food. Is that what you really want, to be made so fat and indolent, lazy, that you don't care about becoming what you came here to become - witches?" Mildred took the cake from Felicity's unresisting fingers and held it up, careful not to crush or damage it. "See this, this is one of us, a student at this school? Agatha and Miss Gullet are sick in their heads. They have taken this school, cast an alarm spell over it to stop any of us from calling for help, and they've also captured the Great Wizard. What do you think will come next? Use your imaginations."
Mildred took the three cakes and put them back on a platter, trying to work out the right spell. As she looked closely she could see the faces set on the tops of the cakes, and she felt physically sick looking at them, particularly when she heard a scream that sounded dimly like Maud.
She looked up when she felt Miss Drill stand near her.
"Any ideas?" It did upset Mildred that she was even asking for help since she was meant to be this all powerful, great witch, but Mildred was still learning how to use Craft spells to go with the Old Religion, and she wished she knew Old Religion spells that dealt with this kind of problem.
"Don't tell me, I know this one," Miss Drill muttered.
"So have I," Mildred looked up, "I've heard it." She cursed her inability to navigate the numerous rhymes of the Craft spells, wishing that she could just stick to the Old Religion, but she had to admit being able to make your own spells the way you wanted them to be work appealed to her own creativity.
"Each to her own, let the truth be shown," one of the cakes said in a squeaky voice.
Mildred stood up straight. "Each to her own, let the truth be shown!" she cried and she grinned as she felt the familiar rush of magic course through her, and she grinned when the cakes transformed back in Maud, Enid and Ethel. All three of them had their arms crossed over their chests, like they were trying to squash themselves into a more compact form - that made sense, given how small the cakes they'd been transformed into were.
"I nearly ate you," Felicity gasped.
At that moment Miss Gullet and Agatha reappeared in the Great Hall, looking smug, and Mildred felt her heart clench as she wondered just what they had done to Miss Hardbroom. But their expressions changed to shock when they saw the three un-caked girls standing on top of the table amid all the muck the girls had been eating for the last hour.
Maud had heard everything when she'd been a cake, knew the others had as well, but there were a few more things she knew and she wanted to set the record straight. "She turned us into cakes," she pointed at Miss Gullet, who glared at her, but Maud didn't care. She pointed at Agatha. "And she trapped Miss Cackle in the painting."
"And turned the Great Wizard into a balloon, don't forget that," Agatha smiled back, clearly not bothering with concealing the truth, though she did hide the anger she felt towards Mildred Hubble for again getting in her way. Agatha walked through the hall, Miss Gullet trailing after her like a dog.
"My methods are a tad unorthodox, but the Witch's code says I am Headmistress, and there's nothing any of you can do about it," she said smugly, confident that she would at last have her way and claim the school.
Deep inside Agatha disliked the lengths she was forced to go to keep control now she had usurped her sister's place - Agatha couldn't believe her sister of all people would go to such lengths to keep the school, breaking the code in such a manner, and for so many years without getting caught - but she had spent years in her sister's shadow ever since that day when she had failed to steal her sister's magic, and now she had the school Agatha was willing to take on anybody to make sure she didn't lose it. Yes, the annihilation spell was a tad extreme, but she needed to be. She didn't want to lose Cackles, not to Ada, not to the Great Wizard, not to Miss Hardbroom.
And certainly not to this brat in front of her!
When Agatha had realised Mildred Hubble possessed the rare gift of being able to harness and wield the Old Religion to a very high level she had wanted to have that power, but the girl had seen through her, though she still didn't know even though she'd had enough time to try to work it out for herself, so in the end she'd had to use Esmerelda Hallow's magic, freely given - it was amazing how many gullible students there were in the school, it wasn't perfect since the girl's magic was still maturing, but it would have to do.
"Yes, there is," Mona Spellbody's granddaughter whispered; it was amazing how similar the two were, not to mention annoying. Agatha looked at her challengingly, knowing that what was going come out of her mouth was not going to be good, in fact she had a good idea what Maud Spellbody was going to say.
Swallowing sightly - the girl really did need to work on her people skills if she was going to succeed - Maud asked the hall aloud, "Hands up those here who want Agatha in charge."
Agatha sighed under her breath when she saw that only Gullet had her hand shot in the air. That made sense because the stupid woman was desperate to get back in the school herself, but Agatha looked around the hall wondering if another student would raise her hand, but it never happened.
"And hands up who wants to get Miss Cackle back," Mildred looked around the hall.
Agatha almost growled to herself in frustration when she saw everyone's hands shoot up in the air.
"If you don't leave, we all will," Enid Nightshade said.
It shouldn't have come to this, Agatha thought sadly. But they had sealed their fates…..
But bluffing and arguing came naturally to the corrupt Cackle twin sister. "You can't," she sneered at the girls, but her focus was on Maud, Enid, Ethel and Mildred. Those four girls had ruined her plans this time.
"Without us, you have nothing to be headmistress of," Maud said logically.
Agatha nodded, pretending to be sulky but truthfully she knew that these girls would use the argument against her anyway. "Alright," she said amiably, and she waved her hand over herself summoning her cloak and witch's hat, she had an appearance to live up to. She had forgotten how good it felt to have such young magic within herself, but she had no intention to wait for Esmerelda's magic to grow. It had taken long enough before anyway.
"Well, I'll be on my way then."
Mildred was surprised and she didn't hesitate to show it. "Y-you're actually going?" she asked. Agatha wasn't surprised by her amazement; the girl had learnt that she was persistent, so it was hardly a surprise the girl was shocked she had decided to give up. Oh, how little you know me, Mildred…..
"I always dreamed of running this place," Agatha said wistfully, looking around the hall and remembering all the times she and her sister had gotten up to mischief here before it all went wrong, "but a school consists of people, not bricks and mortar," she walked over to the wall behind her, "so it doesn't really matter if I do this."
Agatha's cloak swirled as she planted her hands on the wall - she really did not want to do this, but she had no choice; besides if she couldn't have the school, no one else could - and chanted in a loud, clear voice, "Bricks and stone, beams and slate, all must fall….ANNIHILATE!"
Every one of the little brats in the hall started screaming as massive cracks appeared in the stone walls that had endured for a thousand years, the magic that had been supporting the school was beginning to break down. From above, dust began to fall like a gentle rainfall as the roof itself cracked and started raining down debris.
Mildred helped down Maud and started trying to think of a way to stop this, but she quickly gave up since she was way out of her league on this one. A massive block fell from above and smashed one of the tables.
"Hold it fast," Miss Drill cried, running towards the wall and slamming her own hands, glowing blue with magic, "hold it fast."
Mildred guessed what she was doing, but she didn't think it would work for long, but she still had to know how long they had before the school collapsed around like a deck of cards. "How long have we got?"
Miss Drill had her eyes closed from the strain of concentrating. "Not long. When my strength runs out, the whole place falls, just get out of here Mildred," she snapped, but Mildred knew she was too busy to answer questions.
"UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, MILDRED HUBBLE!" Agatha's call made Mildred look up. Agatha and Miss Gullet were standing on the balcony overlooking the hall, seeming like two despot rulers who were looking down on their kingdom of slaves. It wasn't their attitude that annoyed Mildred, not it was the fact that while all the other girls ran out of the hall, screaming in terror as they tried to stop themselves from being squashed by the falling masonry, and this insane witch was more interested in telling her that they would meet again, sounding like a really, really, really bad cartoon villain (was that how Agatha Cackle saw her?! Mildred hoped not), and that made Mildred angrier than before.
Chain lightning streaked through the hall, and despite Gullet's memory of the experience the first time round she was unprepared for it. But when the light cleared, there was no sign of the two evil witches.
The rush through the collapsing corridors was a nightmare for the girls - Mildred saw Ethel break away from the main group as they tried to get outdoors, shouting "Esmerelda" but there was nothing Mildred could do for her, and she quickly caught up with Maud and Enid, hoping she wasn't too selfish that at least they'd gotten out all right, but they'd had to dive to the soft grass in the courtyard to avoid the worst of the blast.
Mildred groaned as she sat up and looked up at the school. The whole place was cracking and falling to pieces, but Mildred caught sight of a figure on the roof, a woman wearing witch's robes.
Agatha. Mildred was amazed the woman had survived the chain lightning attack, but since they'd both vanished Mildred had no idea until now if they'd just transported out at the last minute or what.
She was saying something, but with the noise coming from the collapsing school it was hard for Mildred to hear what she was saying, but she didn't care one bit. This woman was responsible for causing so much pain, and here she was trying to destroy everything she wanted to have on a platter.
And Mildred knew that if she'd been given the chance then perhaps she could have used the Old Religion, but she didn't know any spells that could stop what Agatha was doing. Mildred felt responsible for all this mess - she had found the birth scroll, showed it to Ada Cackle and reduced her to a nervous wreck, and believed Agatha had taken over again when she hadn't….. she couldn't do anything.
But there was something they could do, all the girls from Cackles Academy.
"We aren't many," Mildred muttered to herself as she stood up, gazing up at the collapsing school all around them, "we are one."
"We aren't many, we are one," Maud and Enid said as they both took hold of her hands, taking up the chant. Mildred noticed and smiled at them, but she didn't really take her eyes off Agatha. She just kept chanting, becoming aware of the chant growing in pitch as the other girls took up the chant. The girls of Cackles Academy felt the magic of the Craft surging through them as the spell they were summoning to hopefully stop Agatha and repair the damage to their school, and they felt the power flowing through them like a surge of electricity, growing stronger the longer they chanted.
Maud and Enid glanced at their best friend and saw that Mildred's eyes were closed but she still chanted, and when the girl opened them again neither of them were too surprised to see that her eyes were gold and leaking power. "AGATHA'S SPELL SHALL BE UNDONE!" Mildred shouted, and the other girls followed through with her spell. "AGATHA'S SPELL SHALL BE UNDONE!"
The girls felt the power of the spell, much more than what they'd expected, surge through them as they finished the spell. It was a massive surge of magic, but its effects were clearly seen when they saw the cracks on the walls repair themselves and heal. Agatha and Miss Gullet cried out in surprise as they were engulfed in the magic that suddenly held them as the school repaired itself. Inside the school, all of the chunks of stone and brick, dust and slate drifted back up to where they had been before they sealed again like they had never been there before.
Ethel and Miss Drill came running out. Ethel was carrying a golden trophy, once the girl was out on the grass she turned around and held the trophy up to her shoulder, almost like she was hugging it. Mildred wasn't really surprised when she saw the trophy transform into Esmerelda. The older girl looked down at her resorted self with relief before she hugged Ethel in delight. Mildred chuckled - for all her jealousy and anger towards Esme, it was obvious that deep down she loved her older sister.
In the headmistress's office, the portrait showing Miss Hardbroom and Ada Cackle shimmered and warped with magic and the two teachers left the portrait and were free again. Outside in the courtyard the girls were standing waiting for the gold haze around the school to fade away, before the formerly trapped teachers suddenly appeared in a golden light.
"Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred smiled at them.
Near the office, in the cupboard where all the confiscated items were locked up in, the balloon the Great Wizard had been transformed into popped and a very annoyed Great Wizard appeared in the room. He had spent the last few hours trying to undo the spell on his own and was aware of the castle falling around him, when he'd felt the surge of the spell and now he was free. The school was repaired. He waved his hands and used a transportation spell to leave the room and reappeared in the courtyard, and took in the girls standing in a wide circle, their hands joined and realised they had been the ones to break the annihilation spell.
The Wizard saw Mildred Hubble in the circle, easy to spot with her yellow hoodie - he didn't know what had happened there, but it seemed it had been resolved - and made a mental note to find out what the girl had done. But for now he wanted to speak to Miss Hardbroom. He walked over to her, and she looked at him, her eyes bright with regret. Ada looked up at him with a sad expression, she had known what was happening inside her school and she had watched with horror as Agatha interrogated and threatened Maud and later perused the books for the spell that would destroy the school their family had been building and running for centuries.
"I am truly sorry your greatness," Hecate whispered, waiting for the Wizard's verdict.
"Well, I suppose there's no real harm done." The Wizard conceded after a moment's thought, realising that if she hadn't then Agatha would probably have destroyed the school much earlier than she'd planned.