As I mentioned before, I am writing more chapters than originally planned. There will be 25 in total and the last one is optional for those wishing to see Imogen and Constance acknowledge their feelings for each other. They will be uploaded once done and unfortunately I can't go any faster than I am. I expect the last one to be Sunday with a bit of luck.
After a chilled Sunday Imogen and Mildred were reluctant to enter their final week of tuition. The tone set by the previous week had left them with an aversion to certain words, including discipline, diligence, organisation, and precision.
They decided to walk into the Great Hall together at ten minutes to ten in an effort to show their solidarity, and if they were being honest, cushion the blow of what was to come.
"Good morning, ladies," Miss Hardbroom said with an even tone as she watched them walk in.
"Good morning," they replied.
"It is lovely to see you both here early," Miss Hardbroom continued. "I am going to set you going with a tracking potion Miss Drill, I have left written instructions to accompany your potion book. Mildred and I will be doing a session by the lake this morning."
"Oh alright," Miss Drill replied, a little surprised by the change.
"I will return before lunch to give you a chance to use the potion you have made. You have two cauldrons set up on your station so you can use the remaining time to create necessary sleeping potion supplies," Miss Hardbroom finished.
"I see," Miss Drill said, observing the stations and glancing the instructions.
"Mildred if you could walk to the lake it will give me enough time to make sure Miss Drill is happy with what she is doing," Miss Hardbroom requested crisply.
Mildred frowned and then managed a reluctant, "Yes, Miss."
"It is a little soon to start frowning about walking, Mildred, off you go!" Miss Hardbroom said in a snappy tone.
Mildred made her way out of the Great Hall, finding that whole exchange quite bizarre. She walked at a leisurely pace wondering what they might be doing by the lake. Once she got past the school gates she apparated herself the rest of the way. She observed a very still lake and collected some flat stones so she could try and skim the smooth surface.
As usual the most she got was two bounces and the last always gave a distinct plop as it was enveloped by the water. She was just about to sit on a tree stump when Miss Hardbroom appeared.
"Ah good you are here," her teacher stated.
"What are we doing here?" Mildred asked.
"Mildred I nearly always fight with my gloves on. I want to explain something to you and I think the best way to illustrate it would be to show you the true nature and level of my power," Miss Hardbroom said.
"What do you mean?" Mildred asked, she was curious and baffled at the same time.
"We are going to work on our magical routines together this week. I am going to show you the extended version of mine so that you can see what type of things I drill regularly," Miss Hardbroom said, eyeing her student to gauge her reaction.
"Okay," Mildred said suspiciously. She was no longer very fond of the word drill. HB liked to drill everything it seemed.
"Sometimes the most direct path is not the wisest," HB said carefully.
"You talk in way too many riddles these days," Mildred said with a frown.
"And you talk back too much these days, neither of us has it as we wish," a disgruntled Hardbroom stated. "What I mean is that this demonstration will not teach you very much besides how powerful I am. But, I want you to realise something. The battles we have faced were never on our terms. My assailant knew me particularly well which made her particularly cautious and well prepared with her attacks. If I were to choose to fight without limitations or be forced to fight by a foe that was not aware of my magical proficiency then my success is very likely. I am not saying this to brag. I am explaining that I hide my abilities in their truest form from The Council. I chose Cackles to remain out of sight where my magic could be more freely expressed. You and I have a bond. We are more powerful than we appear. Mistress Broomstick sensed that in me and honed it. She would have used it to her own ends had I not renounced her tuition the first chance I got. I want you to be free in the magical world to become the witch you want to be. But, I also want you to entertain the thought that your magic might scare some Council members, college tutors, friends, or acquaintances. So concealing aspects may protect you and give you a greater level of freedom," HB finished and was happy that the words she had rehearsed most of the weekend had come out as she intended.
"You want me to hide some of my magic?" Mildred asked, cutting to the core of the matter as she so often managed to do.
"Yes...but I will not force you to do anything you are not comfortable with. On the outside I am very much a rule abiding witch and I uphold most of the Witch's code with diligence and pride." Miss Hardbroom asserted.
"I know that!" Mildred said and very nearly rolled her eyes but thankfully managed to stop herself. "But, you are suggesting I break one...of the rules...aren't you?"
"For heaven's sake child. Do I really have to spell it out anymore than I have?" HB said impatiently. It was fairly obvious what she was suggesting and why.
"No, not really. I just wanted you to say out loud that you want me to break a rule in the Witch's code…" Mildred said with an amused expression.
"I see," HB said in her icy tone.
"Well if I am going to break rules I think I should at least know which ones I am breaking," Mildred said as she started to enjoy the moment.
"Mildred Hubble, I do not think there is a single situation these days where you will give me a moment's break!" Miss Hardbroom retorted.
"I had an excellent teacher…" Mildred said with a soft chuckle.
Miss Hardbroom glowered and Mildred held her own. The dynamic had shifted.
"Fine!" Miss Hardbroom said fiercely, "Code 22 - I will be open with The Council about my witching talents and power levels to ensure harmony and transparency across the whole witching community. I, as your tutor, your protector and your, your… f...riend would like you to disobey code 22 to ensure you are not victimised or targeted by The Council or any witch that deems you a liability, or a threat, to our community. I trust Glendar but her protection can only reach so far and she is aware of the risks as well."
"Well you should have said. If you think it is a good idea then who am I to ignore the advice of a friend" Mildred said with ease but she added a warm smile to the end of the sentence.
"You really are quite unbearable these days Mildred" Miss Hardbroom said with an eye roll and a short smirk.
"I'm unbearable!" Mildred said with exclamation.
"Oh yes yes, I am an ogre who made your life a misery. Honestly, Mildred, you sound like a broken record" Miss Hardbroom said as she got her flow back.
Mildred giggled. The way HB was nonchalantly referring to herself as an ogre and jousting with her verbally made her feel quite elated. She really was feeling more like an annoying friend than a tutor these days. She might actually miss her quite a bit.
"Miss...when I am...erm, when I leave," Mildred hesitated.
"Spit it out girl," Miss Hardbroom snapped.
"Can I still come and visit you...sometimes," Mildred asked quietly.
"Yes of course provided it is either out of term time or on a weekend. As Miss Cackle said, you are welcome to visit the school whenever you wish," Miss Hardbroom said in a softer tone.
Mildred nodded and looked appeased.
"Now, let me show you one of my drills. You know my core magic is energy. You might not have detected that Mistress Broomhead persistently used energy shields on that roof. At times she absorbed my magic. It would be rare to face anyone so well equipped. I practice my accuracy and my reactions by sparring. Theory without practice has very little value. Let me demonstrate," Miss Hardbroom said as she saw Mildred's mind beginning to wonder.
Miss Hardbroom threw a protective sphere around Mildred and then turned to face the lake. She threw a wider sphere around the whole area they occupied. Mildred saw it glow green and then disappear.
"That is a protective shield to make sure nobody can enter this area until I am done," the deputy explained. "When I pour these two potions and cast the spell we will be joined by a dark witch and wizard. They are clones and I have taken a shield potion for protection. My aim is very simple. I do not wish to bind or immobilise them. I wish to avoid their attacks, provide counter attacks and spar with them. This is to test reactions, speed, choice of defence, rather than ending the battle," she said and suddenly Mildred was fascinated and eager to watch her battle two dark forces.
Miss Hardbroom poured the two potions onto separate objects that Mildred couldn't quite make out and cast a silent spell. A mist emerged from her hands and seeped over the area. She stepped back and looked like she was going into some sort of battle stance with her hands raised. Her concentration was acute and Mildred wondered why she had never seen that stance and intensity before.
Out of the mist emerged a striking witch with long blonde hair on a broom. She zipped up quickly into the air surveying where she was. Then came a stocky wizard who appeared to be walking on water. He had a tall elaborate staff that was jewel encrusted. His hair was short and brown, he was a young wizard and not at all like the Masters Mildred was familiar with. There was a glint in his blue eyes that made him quite enigmatic.
"Friend or foe, witch?" He asked HB in an arrogant slur.
"Most definitely foe," Miss Hardbroom replied crisply.
"She looks uptight," the blonde witch shouted down.
HB glared at her.
"She looks feisty," the wizard corrected, "I think I like her."
Miss Hardbroom looked confused by that statement.
"I'd like to make her my pet, actually. Are you claimed, witch?" The wizard asked HB.
"I cannot be claimed," Miss Hardbroom replied with an acid tone.
"Of course not," the wizard grinned broadly. "Not until you are beaten down." He stepped forward as he raised his staff.
HB apparated away as a bolt of magic from the witch and a wave from the wizard's staff consumed her position. She fired two shots at the witch before apparating again.
The witch zoomed towards her on her broom. She wove up and down in the air avoiding magical strikes and returning her own.
Miss Hardbroom must have thrown two shots to every one received. She shielded, parried and vanished away from attacks. The witch grew frustrated and wound more power into her spells and magical strikes. Mildred could sense a reckless quality to her movements now. HB on the other hand was mechanical. She didn't respond emotionally. Her shields were instinctive and only came into visibility at the final moment, conserving energy and magic.
The wizard moved nimbly and conjured more long-term attacks. He brought in mists to camouflage his whereabouts, mobilised plants to extend his reach and give Miss Hardbroom something to think about while he distorted the weather and attacked with lightning strikes.
The pace of the battle was indescribable. Miss Hardbroom conjured tornados, storms, tsunamis and earthquakes to dislodge the wizards meticulously planned out attacks. She was starting to disrupt his methodical approach by distracting him, a technique Mildred understood well.
Miss Hardbroom fought them both as though she understood them. It had been mere minutes before she seemed to anticipate their actions. Strong winds finally threw the witch off her broom so she was forced to attack from ground level. Constance called her broom to her, how she did that Mildred didn't know. In one graceful move she held her right arm out and skipped onto it, looping it up into the skies.
She scattered her magic far and wide, creating bombs from above. Mildred had never seen Miss Hardbroom's magic take so many shapes as it either dropped on, flew at, or was channeled at her foes. She moved swiftly and registered every attack that was returned with either a parry, a swerve, or a shield. Mildred saw her apparate on her broom and emerge stood in front of the witch and wizard.
The strikes intensified and Miss Hardbroom looked vulnerable. She was too close. And yet she walked forward towards them. She used both arms to shield the magical strikes that came towards her. Concentrating hard she channeled them into the ground or deflected them into the air. It was an awe inspiring display of sheer concentration and reactivity. She created large bangs behind her foes to distract them and made the ground shudder to rock their balance. Their substantial dark attacks were not enough against a very prepared HB. How she was that prepared Mildred wasn't sure.
Finally, Constance dropped to one knee and thrust her glowing hand into the ground. She sent shockwaves through it and glowed a powerful green as the earth caved in under the wizard and witch's feet. She took her arms wide and brought them in with a bang. Poof, her enemies were gone.
Mildred gawped at her teacher as she emerged from the war zone with her typical upright posture and unblemished black dress in one piece.
"How?" Mildred asked, entirely astonished.
"You have seen me battle before Mildred. Well, this was with lethal force in every strike and total confidence in my abilities. It is very difficult to fight anyone when your desire is not to kill them. You must never harness that level of magic until you have no other option. When you do, it will be draining if you have never accessed that level before. I am proficient in that state. It would take me minutes to dispose of a dark threat. I play with my foes now so that I can neutralise any threat in two or three spells should that need arise. After the first attack on this school I sought permission to train in this manner. Though I have never fought like that, killing any witch is an ethical consideration, when I do fight, my actions are lighter and easier," Miss Hardbroom explained.
"So even if you don't need it you train like that to keep your magic very sharp," Mildred summarised.
"Exactly, Mildred. It lets me feel it's fullest potential. When I started it exposed weaknesses and vulnerabilities that I needed to work on," Miss Hardbroom explained, and was pleased Mildred understood what she was teaching her. "This is a safe space for you to showcase your talents and let loose. It will help you conceal them in social settings," she said and stared at Mildred, gauging the girl's response.
"You want me to spar?" Mildred said elated.
"I do," Miss Hardbroom said proudly. "I realised that I must give you a safe space to really push your powers and let you connect to what is already very much awake in you. I cannot expect you to hide your magic from yourself or from others if I cannot guarantee you can progress and nurture your talent in a way it deserves."
"Will I fight clones? When do I start? Will I spar you?" Mildred asked. She was an equal mix of terror and excitement.
"All in time Mildred. You need to learn your limits and establish control before you spar me with full use of your magic. We will start with clones and you can have your first session this week. You will not be doing them on your own for a few years, is that understood?" Miss Hardbroom said with a stricter tone.
"Yes, Miss," Mildred said and she didn't mind that one bit. "Miss, how did you move so fast?"
"Practice. I anticipate attacks. That is why sparring is essential. Well I think it is for us. Most witches have not faced the threats we have. But, dark magic does live on the periphery of our world so I believe very much in being…" Miss Hardbroom was saying as she established her flow.
"Prepared," Mildred finished the sentence and added an eye roll, "Yeah I know."
"I am tempted to give you lines for that eye roll, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said sternly.
"If you got lines for all of your eye rolls you would never stop writing…" Mildred trailed off as a withering glare chilled her to her bones.
Miss Hardbroom stepped forward and plucked a strand of hair from Mildred's head.
"Ouch," the girl said with an annoyed expression.
"I need it for the tracking potion and it felt like an opportune moment to retrieve it," Miss Hardbroom said with a smirk. "Now I would like you to walk into the woods, as deep as you can. Miss Drill will come and find you."
Miss Hardbroom waved her hand, shooing the girl away and encouraging her to march off into the woods.
"Oh hurry up Mildred, If I was trying to get you lost I would have taken a far more direct approach," she added.
Mildred walked into the woods thinking about the trips to Cosies they had, the time she stumbled across Agatha as she was running away, and the disastrous Halloween display where she took out the Great Wizard with her jinxed broom. The woods contained some decidedly bitter sweet memories.
Miss Hardbroom has reappeared in the Great Hall in front of Miss Drill who dropped an empty beaker as her colleague materialised right in front of her. The beaker smashed on the ground.
"Miss Drill, you ought to be more careful," the deputy noted.
Miss Drill scowled at her. "If I ever find a potion that gives you a bell, I want you to know that I won't hesitate in using it on you," she said in annoyance.
"I will look forward to that then," Miss Hardbroom said with a dark look. "Right we are going to use your tracking potion to find Mildred. You can use the potion in two ways. Put a drop on something you own then if you ever lose it you can be reunited with it. Or, put a drop on something that represents something or someone lost and the potion will reunite you with them. In this case we will put a drop on this strand of Mildred's hair," she said holding the hair up, "and then follow the magical trail until we reach her. I know she is somewhere in the woods so I will apparate you nearby to save time."
Miss Drill was still annoyed but she was won over by her fascination.
Miss Hardbroom restored the beaker by rewinding the fall and putting it back into one piece.
They put a drop of the potion on the strand of hair. It glowed blue and then the light shot out like an orb floating ahead of them.
"Good you have made a successful tracking potion there, Imogen," Constance said.
"I thought we used our surnames when in the classroom?" Imogen said sarcastically.
Miss Hardbroom huffed and then transported them outside to the edge of the woods. The orb appeared again ahead of Miss Drill and waited for her to follow.
They followed the orb and found Mildred inside of the woods. Once the orb reached her it dissipated into the air.
"That was easy!" Miss Drill said, quite enamoured with the process.
"Good, now Mildred, I would like you to transport you and Imo...hm Miss Drill, back to the Great Hall, please," Miss Hardbroom said, getting cross with herself. She vanished.
"That's twice she has called me Imogen," the PE teacher sniggered.
"Really, that's funny," Mildred replied, thinking about all the times she had reprimanded Miss Drill for it.
"Yes she is definitely more distracted today I think," Miss Drill said thoughtfully.
"I think she is trying to teach without being too HB like?" Mildred pondered.
"Well she can try a little harder yet," Miss Drill said with a laugh.
"TODAY Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said as she appeared before them, scaring the wits out of them, and then vanished once more.
"Oops," Miss Drill said like a naughty school girl.
Mildred transported them both back to the Great Hall. She felt drained when she got back. Just for a moment her head was a little dazed.
"Take it easy Mildred. Sit for a moment," Miss Hardbroom requested. "As Imogen didn't have any magical power, the task is harder. How did it feel?"
"There was a bit of resistance but not too bad," Mildred said. She had noticed her teachers weight but it wasn't that hard to achieve what she wanted.
"Good. For the rest of the week we will work on your magical routine and test what your drawings can do like we have before. For one hour each morning you will go over spells and I will trust you to study the witches code each evening with Miss Drill," Miss Hardbroom said clearly but it was definitely a much more appealing schedule than the previous week.
"Yes, Miss," Mildred said with a smile.
"Miss Drill, you will be making potions for your level 1 and 2 assessment which will both be held on Friday. I have written a list and would like you to put a mark next to any you are less confident with. You may tick any you feel very confident with. I believe you will be ready but we can assess that on Thursday," Miss Hardbroom said with precision.
"Okay," Miss Drill said, suddenly a little daunted by the prospect.
"Ms Fox has agreed to secondary mark it Imogen. You will have your results on Friday," she said with what appeared to be a mingle of pride and perhaps excitement for her colleague.
"If I pass, will I be..." Miss Drill began.
"A witch? You are a witch now Imogen. A potion witch may not be the traditional description of a witch but you should take great pride in mastering one of our most valued disciplines. Any person studying witching practices is classed as a witch in fact, so informally you have been one of our ranks for quite some time now," Miss Hardbroom said with sensitivity because she knew what it meant to her colleague.
Mildred smiled happily at her friend.
"Oh and Mildred, you will of course be learning the fireworks chant. I think that might finish this weeks studying off quite nicely. I assume you will want to return home on the Saturday, joining us Friday evening?" Miss Hardbroom asked hoping her student would share one last night with them.
"I told mum I would be back on the Sunday. Just so my last day at Cackle's wasn't a study day," Mildred said awkwardly, feeling self-conscious.
"She wants to spend time with us Constance," Imogen teased.
Miss Hardbroom looked like she was about to tell Imogen that she should address her with her full name and then changed her mind. That was probably very wise.
"We would be grateful to have you an extra day, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said, which even Imogen was surprised at. No sarcasm, no witty comeback, just a kind response with genuine feeling.
"You are turning into a very nice person, Constance," Imogen said with a smile.
"I wish I could say the same for you," came the anticipated reply from a frosty HB.