Once again Constance found herself in the imposing darkness of Mistress Broomhead's office. Without her nightly dose of potion, Constance felt exceptionally alert. The quiet night had a new sharp edge to it, and every soft scuffle and routine creak of the college building felt amplified – jarring against Constance's newly piercing senses. She was keenly aware of the scraping of wood and rustling of papers as she opened the locked desk drawer and once again removed the invisible panel.
There, just as she had left them were the three dark green folders, stacked one on top of the other. Constance removed the first, and after confirming it contained the previously discovered experiment notes, she laid it aside and focused on the remaining two folders. They contained letters. The first set were addressed to Mistress Broomhead, written in sprawling green ink. The handwriting had the confidence of someone who believed their words of so much interest that the reader would endeavour to understand them no matter how illegible they were. The papers still held a dim residue of the author's magic and as she held them in her slim hands, Constance could feel their personality seeping through to her fingers. Arrogance, the kind that came through a combination of fierce, rarely challenged intelligence and a secure, unthreatened position of authority. The letters were signed only with two, swirled initials – SP. The writer had omitted the conventional sender's address which would usually head such academic correspondence. But by flicking through the stack of papers, Constance found one or two envelopes which had been stamped Endor College.
The second folder also contained papers, but Constance could tell by the silver-grey tone of the writing and slight lilac tint on the paper that these were the product of a duplication spell. She instantly recognised Mistress Broomhead's cursive script and, just like their counterpart, each letter was initialled with the letters HB. Knowing Mistress Broomhead's strong desire for order and organisation, as well as her insuperable need for control, it came as no surprise to Constance that she would keep a copy of her own correspondence.
Constance made a quick judgement that Mistress Broomhead's side of the correspondence was more likely to give her the answers she needed. The first letter was dated September 1980, two years before Constance had come to the college.
Thank you for your letter. I agree, I think our philosophical and research interests are very similar. So much magic is squandered on those who will never use it to their full potential. Our colleges have the right to be selective, but so many witches have a mediocre at best magical talent and will never be able to make full use of their powers. Those who are old, and frail have no need for the magic that remains. And now we are seeing witches in our schools and colleges who do not come from witching families, without that tradition how could they possibly make good use of their power? But, as you say, if we could find away of removing that magic from those who have little need of it and donating it to those who are experimenting on the very edges of what is possible, think of the advances we could make. I have given your proposal some thought, and the path forward seems clear to me.
Firstly, your experiments removing magic from weaker witches seem theoretically sound, but I have been thinking about the problems you say you have with them being unable to endure the spell long enough for it to be completed. I think the spell needs to be developed and refined on an ideal test case first; a young witch with powerful magic who is able to withstand the magical and physical exertion of the spell while we refine it. I have been running a selective tutor programme here at the college for some years and I believe if we can develop the appropriate tests and measures, I will be able to find us a good candidate.
Secondly, in relation to my own current research work. While magical extraction will lead to benefits to the witching community, the spell itself involves a transfer of magic where one witch gains power and another loses it. For that reason, we will undoubtedly be hindered by the doctor foster effect. I have been working on this problem for some time, and I believe that theoretically it is possible to break the effect. It is a question of power – the magic of two powerful witches pooled as one, could defy the effect. The unanswered question though is what the impact would be on the witch whose magic is taken? It is a much longer-term project that could take some time.
This is why it is vital we find the right test case. Find a strong enough young witch and they can serve both purposes…
Constance could not quite believe what she was reading. Mistress Broomhead, was proposing taking magic away from witches that she regarded as not talented or useful enough to use it. The idea was quite sickening to Constance. She could remember clearly the sensation of feeling her magic just a few hours before. A witch's magic was as intangible as their emotions, just as life sparked deep within them, so too did their magic. Yet Mistress seemed to view it as a commodity which could be taken and used elsewhere. She described magic as if it was a fuel to be burned by whoever needed it when Constance knew it was the fire itself. If you took away a witch's magic what would remain? It was a part of them that could not be so callously extracted like a tooth or a lock of hair. She began to deftly turn the pages between her slender fingers, seeking answers with a growing sense of urgency. She found the first reference to herself on the third letter, dated September 1982.
I have completed the screening of the three possibilities and have settled on CH. She has a strong, young magic which will really allow us to test the possibilities of our work to their utmost. She also has a convenient background – mother died at an early age, abandoned by her father who no one has heard from in some time and raised by an elderly aunt, now also deceased. As a result, she is of no consequence to anyone and her childhood experiences will hopefully bring a fragility that makes her malleable to our needs…
Constance paused, staring down at the page in front of her. The one phrase "she is of no consequence to anyone" seemed to loom off paper and into her mind. The phrase echoed over and over like a taunting whisper and Constance could feel her pulse quicken. She was tempted to simply drop the papers where they fell and read no more but having come this far, she felt she must see her task through to the end. So, with shaking hand, she turned to the next letters.
June 1982
…progress appears to be stabilised, although I have had to make some significant adjustments to the strength of the spell. Perhaps because of her young age and what I perceived to be fragility; I find that I had quite underestimated the power of her magic which is substantially stronger than I had first thought. This is positive as it really allows us to confirm just how much magic we can take and also means we have a heavy reserve to draw on when the time comes. However, this is complicated by CH's rebellious will. This is becoming a problematic obstacle which the spell is not supressing as expected. She has recently become fixed on the notion of travelling during the Summer; I cannot allow this as it will interrupt the headway I have made on the magic transference, thus far. Inconveniently, the spell alone does not seem enough to attain her submission, so I am intending to take a more direct action. I will not say more here but it should be enough to weaken her for the next few months.
April 1984
I have said in my previous letters that while the progress has been relatively steady, I have been constantly coming up with the problem of CH fighting the spell. I am entirely certain that she has not guessed about the spell I am using. But she can sense it subconsciously and she is becoming increasingly erratic and difficult to control. This is where I need to seek your advice – I think we may need to develop a catalyst to help the spell along. What I have in mind is the rudiments of a sleeping draft but which, unlike the normal draft, is not impenetrable to magic, meaning I can retain control while she is asleep. I attach my current potion formula, your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
June 1985
…it has become necessary today to begin with the potion. Ironically, this was driven by CH deliberately taking a large dose of sleeping draft. She lost consciousness for almost 24 hours and as it was an impenetrable draft, I feared I had lost the connection with her magic. When she came to however, the bond was still there, and I appear to be able to proceed with our work as normal. Nonetheless, I have administered the potion without delay. It is too great a risk to our progress thus far to continue without it.
With each letter she read, Constance had a growing sensation of watching herself through a window. Each struggle and event of her time at the college thrown into a new relief and she saw the events through Mistress Broomhead's eyes. Like a sinister puppeteer, orchestrating Constance's daily life in ways she had not even imagined. Eventually, Constance came to the final letter, which was dated just a few days before.
In short, the meeting to request funding was unsuccessful. The representatives from the Great Wizard's office entirely failed to see the scope or benefit of our work. Morgause Chant had the effrontery to suggest that my, and I quote, "thirst for expanding the theoretical frontiers had clouded my sense of justice and equality" and even threatened that if we continued our work in this area she would be forced to take action. She also seems to have developed an inconvenient interest in CH and appeared most anxious to confirm that CH was not assisting in our research work in this area. I answered, not untruthfully, that CH had no knowledge of our research programme, which appeared to placate her.
This most frustrating encounter means we are no closer to securing the funds we need. The ingredients and equipment to continue the Dr Foster experiments are costly. However, I think I may have identified a solution. CH will turn 21 in a few months' time and will at this time inherit the trust left to her in her Great Aunt's will. The amount is not vast. It is a shame that her father is declared only missing and not dead, because his Amazonian commission from the government must have left him quite a rich man. But I digress, the trust from CH's great aunt will be more than enough in the short term. So, I am going to increase the dose of both potion and spell. I hope that by her 21s birthday I will have gained sufficient control to get her to sign the money across to me.
Constance gathered the papers and returned the folders to the drawer unseeingly. The "convenient" childhood that Mistress Broomhead described, had meant Constance had developed an unemotional outlook on life from a young age. So, when the sharp pain had begun in Constance's chest as she was reading the letters, she initially wondered if it had a physical cause. But now, she realised that the pain she felt was an emotional one. Constance had never been under any illusion that Mistress Broomhead cared for her, her tutor's daily actions made it clear to Constance that she was often viewed as a mere frustration. However, Constance could not help but admit that deep down she had thought that Mistress Broomhead choosing her, pushing her to achieve her potential and recognising Constance's talent had at the very least been built on some respect. That Mistress Broomhead could see in Constance something that should be nurtured. But now, reading her tutor's matter of fact letters, Constance realised that to Mistress Broomhead she was nothing more than an experiment. The ideal test case that could provide her with the magic and money she needed to pursue her work.
Constance could feel tears welling at the back of her throat and forced herself to breathe deeply. Never once, in all her time with Mistress Broomhead had she succumbed to tears and she certainly wouldn't permit herself to start now. She needed to tread carefully and plan her next move. Before leaving the office, she cast a spell over the papers in the drawer. A spell she had learned from the Almanac to "know what is being said behind your back". Now at least she would know if Mistress Broomhead mentioned her in any more letters. Constance now found herself in a game that she hadn't realised she was playing but which she knew it was imperative that she should win.
