A Cause for Concern

Disclaimer: I do not own the Worst Witch or Weirdsister College series or any characters associated with them. No money is being made from this story.

Chapter 21: The Fight

Mildred woke to the sound of bells and clock chimes ringing out across the city of Cambridge, and for a moment she thought she was back in her old student dorm room at Weirdsister College. For three years of her life she had been accustomed to waking to that sound. Although she had done her teacher training in Cambridge, the Weirdsister Teacher Training School was a more modern and better-soundproofed building and outside noises rarely penetrated.

Then Mildred remembered where she was and the events of yesterday, and she sat up abruptly in bed. After a quick glance at her hand to assure herself the ring was still there and her engagement to Ben had not been a dream, she looked around her. Pale daylight was streaming in through the window in Ben's room and she judged it must be about half past seven. The other side of the bed was unoccupied although it was still warm, and she wondered where Ben had gone.

Mildred couldn't help smiling as she recalled the previous night. Ben had been amazingly passionate and she couldn't ever remember them having such a wonderful night together. He might not hold what had happened with Nick Hobbes against her, but it was obvious he wanted to prove he was a better lover. Mildred's smile widened. Based on last night's performance she certainly wasn't going to argue.

The door opened and Ben came in carrying a tray and wearing only a pair of boxers, which Mildred thought was a thoroughly charming sight.

"I thought I'd make us some breakfast," Ben told her.

"Wonderful!" Mildred said smiling

Ben laid the tray on the floor, then got back into bed and the couple exchanged a brief kiss. Picking up the tray he placed it rather precariously across their laps and Mildred enthusiastically started digging into scrambled eggs on toast.

"Have you thought about when we have the wedding?" Ben asked.

"No, not really." Mildred looked at her fiancee in surprise. "There's no hurry, is there?"

"No, but I was thinking the summer would be a good time," Ben told her. "I'm hoping to have some idea about a job by then and it'll be the school holidays."

Mildred nodded. Although she wasn't in any rush to get married the summer seemed an ideal time.

"Also as I'm a postgraduate student at King's we might be able to book the Chapel!"

"Really?" Mildred said in surprise.

"Yeah. I can't guarantee it but there's a good chance."

Mildred grinned at him. "That would be wonderful!"

Mildred had actually been to the King's Chapel quite a few times. The last occasion had been at Easter when Ben had taken her to a performance of Bach's Saint John Passion with the Chapel Choir and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields from London, and although Mildred didn't know a lot about classical music she had enjoyed the experience enormously. She didn't really have any strong feelings one way or the other about religion, but was still thrilled by the thought of getting married in such a beautiful and historic building. She thought it very appropriate, as the King's Chapel was something of an emblem of the city of Cambridge, a place that had played such an important part in her life.

"You don't mind a religious ceremony?" Ben asked.

"Of course not," Mildred assured him. "As long as it's the modern service and not the traditional one."

Ben chuckled. "Oh so you're not going to promise to obey me then?"

"No I am not!" Mildred told him indignantly. "Don't push your luck, Ben!"

Lifting the breakfast tray, Ben put it back on the floor then pulled Mildred towards him.

"It doesn't matter anyway. We both know I can persuade you to do anything!"

"Oh can you really?" Mildred asked sceptically. "And just what were you thinking of persuading me to do?"

"Well I thought you might give work a miss today and stay in bed with me!"

Mildred laughed but shook her head. "That sounds very temping but I don't think so!"

"Maybe I can change your mind," Ben suggested, leaning forward and kissing her neck.

"Ouch!" Mildred pulled out of her fiancee's embrace and rubbed her cheek. "When did you last shave, Ben?"

The young man shrugged. "A couple of days ago. I didn't bring any shaving stuff with me when I came to Cackle's."

"Well you need to," Mildred told him. "Being scratched by your stubble isn't much of a turn on for a girl."

"I was wondering if I should grow a beard."

"Oh please don't!" Mildred begged him. "I'm really not that keen on beards!"

She ran a finger along the young man's cheek, feeling the harsh stubble then caught sight of the time on her watch.

"Bloody hell!"

Mildred leapt out of bed and started frantically gathering up her clothes.

"Millie, what's wrong?" Ben asked, looking worried.

"Have you seen the time Ben?" Mildred asked, now in a complete panic. "I've got a class with my First Years in twenty minutes!"

"So you're going to just vanish and leave me?" Ben complained.

"I have to," Mildred told him. "But if you're lucky I might come back tonight."

"Promise?"

Mildred smiled mischievously. "As long as you promise to shave!"

"Oh all right!" Ben grumbled. "Don't I at least get a goodbye kiss?"

Mildred just blew him a kiss. "That'll have to do you for now."

"Oh charming!" Ben muttered, rolling his eyes.

Laughing, Mildred vanished in a flicker of light and reappeared in her room. Dumping her used clothes on a chair she grabbed a bathrobe and made a mad dash for the showers. One quick shower later she returned to her room and managed to dress and do her hair and make up in record time. Finally ready to face the day, Mildred folded her arms and vanished.

She materialised in the Spells classroom just as the First Years were entering. After sitting down behind the teacher's desk and taking the roll call, she was about to begin another discussion on the Witches Code when Gloria Beltane raised her hand.

"What is it, Gloria?" Mildred asked.

"Is it true Miss?"

Mildred was puzzled by the question. "Is what true?"

"Is it true you're getting married?"

Mildred sighed, wondering how they had found out about her engagement. She had only told the staff, so one of the teachers must have said something. Most likely it had been Miss Crotchet, in which case the news would probably be all over the school by now.

"Yes it is true I'm engaged," Mildred admitted.

Gloria looked a bit upset. "So you're going to leave Cackle's?"

"Of course not!" Mildred reassured her. "I won't be getting married until the summer at the earliest and even after the wedding I'm not leaving Cackle's. I'm afraid you lot are probably stuck with me for the rest of your time here!"

Mildred was quite touched to see that most of the girls looked relieved at this news.

"What's it like being in love, Miss?" Donna Witherwight asked.

Mildred chuckled. "I'm sure you'll all find out eventually."

"Oh it's so romantic!" Edith Crawley said dreamily.

Some of the other girls nodded in agreement, but Cynthia Hazelmere turned and looked contemptuously at Edith.

"Well you'd better make the most of watching at second hand creepy crawlie, because it's the closest to the real thing you're going to get. No one would ever look at you twice!"

Annabel Toadflax laughed, but most of the First Years glared at Cynthia balefully.

"That will be quite enough of that, Cynthia." Mildred said sternly. "Any further remarks like that and you'll find yourself in detention."

Cynthia shrugged, not looking especially concerned.

Mildred wanted to get off the subject of her engagement and start discussing the Witches Code as she had planned, but the girls kept bombarding her with questions about her forthcoming wedding. Resigning herself to the situation, Mildred answered them as honestly as she could although she was careful to steer the conversation away from anything too intimate.

As their form tutor it was actually part of her duties to give them a talk about sex and relationships once a term, but she didn't want to get into that thorny topic right now, not when her own personal life was so much in the spotlight. Mildred remembered only too well being on the receiving end of such lectures as a schoolgirl. Of course it had been Miss Hardbroom who had given them and like her classmates she had reacted to these talks with a mixture of cringing embarrassment about the subject and scorn that the Potions teacher, who seemed to despise the male sex on principle, could actually tell her anything helpful. In retrospect though, Mildred had to admit the advice she had been given was sound, even if she hadn't always been wise enough to follow it.

Although the session with her form group had not gone to plan Mildred hoped her other lessons would be more normal, but they proved to be a disappointment as well. For the first period she had Spells with the Second Years then in the second History with the Third Years, and in each class the girls were already buzzing with the news of her engagement. By the end of the morning Mildred was more than a little frustrated, feeling that she'd actually got little real teaching done. It was her turn to supervise lunch in the Great Hall, so after a hastily eaten sandwich she made her way there and soon found herself set on by the Fourth Years, who were as eager as the rest of the school to ask about her forthcoming wedding and gush over her engagement ring.

When she walked back into the Spells classroom for a Spells lesson with the First Years, Mildred was absolutely fuming and determined to regain control of things. The fact that she was starting to get indigestion from eating too quickly was doing nothing to improve her mood. The First Year girls started arriving a minute or so later and she noticed that Edith seemed rather upset and was glaring at Cynthia, who looked very pleased with herself.

"All right you lot," Mildred said as the girls took their seats. "I've decided we will start this afternoon with a test!"

There were immediate groans of dismay from the First Years.

"But Miss," Gloria Beltane protested. "You said we would revise then do the test after half term."

"I did say that," Mildred admitted. "But I've changed my mind. You will do a test today then revise until half term and do another test afterwards. After completing the test today we will begin revising immediately. And during that revision there will be no mention of weddings, engagements, romance or anything of that sort. Is that clearly understood?"

The First Years sighed but nodded reluctantly. They seemed to recognise that their form teacher's tolerance had been exhausted.

"Very well!" Raising her hands, Mildred gestured towards the class and question papers appeared in front of each girl. "You have thirty minutes. Begin!"

As the girls started writing, Mildred took her seat behind the teacher's desk and sighed. She did feel a bit guilty for being so harsh with them, but after spending all morning answering questions about her personal life had really needed to reassert her authority. Mildred reflected a bit ruefully that there were downsides to teaching only girls and even found herself wondering if there might be any wizard schools progressive enough to consider hiring a witch as a spells teacher.

When the half hour was up, Mildred told the girls to stop writing and asked Gloria to collect the papers. When Gloria had put them on her desk, Mildred was about to write a list of revision topics on the blackboard when she noticed Cynthia Hazelmere had raised her hand.

"What is it, Cynthia?" Mildred asked impatiently.

What about your promise Miss?"

Mildred was puzzled. "My promise?"

Cynthia nodded. "You promised you'd show us your special drawing magic!"

There were murmurs of agreement from the other girls and Mildred sighed. She remembered now that she had made that promise in their last spells lesson, although she was rather surprised Cynthia had reminded her. Reluctantly, Mildred realised that she was going to have to follow through with that. It wasn't what she had planned, but at least they wouldn't be discussing her personal life.

"Oh all right," she agreed. "What do you want me to draw then?"

Mildred was again surprised when it was Cynthia who answered.

"How about a unicorn, Miss?"

Most of the other girls took up the suggestion eagerly, begging her to draw a unicorn and bring it to life. Mildred thought quickly. The drawings she animated sometimes had a tendency to take on a life and purpose of their own, and although a unicorn might seem innocuous it could be a very dangerous magical creature. There should be no risk though as long as she stayed close by to keep it under control.

"All right," she agreed at last.

Taking a piece of blank paper and a pencil, Mildred quickly drew a picture of a unicorn. When she held the paper in front of her a ghostly trail of pale white light sped from it and a second later a white unicorn was standing in the classroom, shaking its mane and neighing softly.

There were gasps from the First Year girls but they remained in their seats, looking rather nervous as well as thrilled.

"It's all right," Mildred assured them. "You can touch him. Just be gentle and don't make any sudden movements."

The girls all crowded round the unicorn and started petting it with expressions of delight on their faces.

"Oh he's so beautiful," Edith said. "It must be wonderful to be able to do this Miss!"

"Well I don't see what's really so great about it," Cynthia Hazelmere said scornfully. Although she had suggested this demonstration she was standing back, apart from the other girls petting the unicorn, with a disdainful look on her face. "Seems pretty useless to me!"

"You're just jealous because you can't do this," Edith retorted. "I wish I could!"

Cynthia looked at Edith with contempt. "You can't even do ordinary magic, creepy crawlie!"

Moving away from the other girls, Edith glared at Cynthia furiously. "I can do anything you can do!"

"Oh really?" Cynthia replied. "Well try this!"

She pointed at Edith and a bolt of red light shot from her hand, striking Edith on the shoulder. The girl cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder and staggering back against a nearby desk.

"Cynthia, what are you doing?" Mildred shouted.

Mildred knew she had to stop this at once but she couldn't leave the unicorn unattended. She raised the paper again and the unicorn vanished in a blur of light. But before she could do anything further Edith threw herself at Cynthia, her arms flailing, raining a hail of furious punches on the dark haired girl. Cynthia fell back against one of the desks, raising her arms to ward off the blows but seemed too astonished by Edith's retaliation to do anything more.

Mildred rushed across the room and dragged Edith away.

"Edith, stop it!" She ordered. "What's gotten into the pair of you?"

"It's her fault!" The lanky haired girl panted. "She been picking on me all day and now she goes and attacks me with magic!"

"Well you shouldn't be so pathetic!" Cynthia sneered. She had now recovered her composure and appeared none the worse for the battering she'd received.

"That's quite enough, both of you!" Mildred said, then turned to the other First Years.

"Class dismissed! The rest of you go to your rooms and occupy yourselves quietly for the rest of the period. Cynthia and Edith, you will both come with me to Miss Cackle's office right now!"

A few minutes later all three of them were in Miss Cackle's office and a minute later they were joined by Miss Hardbroom, who had left her Fourth Year Potions class.

"Violence of any sort is not acceptable at Cackle's," the Headmistress said sternly, after Mildred had explained the situation. "Whether that violence is magical or just brute force."

"It wasn't really Edith's fault, Miss Cackle," Mildred said. "Cynthia is the one who made an unprovoked attack, and she's been picking on Edith all day."

"Even so Miss Hubble, that does not excuse Edith's behaviour," Miss Cackle replied. "She should have left you to deal with the issue instead of taking matters into her own hands."

Mildred did not reply, but inwardly she groaned at the words. It was so typical of the smug self-satisfied platitudes teachers usually trotted out in this type of situation, and she couldn't help wondering if Miss Cackle even remembered her own schooldays. Mildred knew from bitter personal experience just how hard it was for even a sympathetic teacher to rein in a clever and determined bully.

"Cynthia and Edith, you will both assist with the washing up after supper until the end of the week," Miss Cackle told the pair.

"And you will both be in detention with Miss Drill instead of attending the Halloween Celebration," Miss Hardbroom added.

"Oh but Miss Hardbroom!" Edith protested.

"That's enough, Edith," the Potions teacher retorted. "There will be no discussion."

Edith bowed her head, looking thoroughly miserable. But when Mildred glanced at Cynthia she clearly saw the slight smile on the girl's face just for an instant before she schooled her features into impassivity.

With dismay, Mildred suddenly realised that Cynthia had planned this entire situation, and it took her only a second to realise why. Halloween was when she had agreed to hand the Staff of Nargoth over to Broomhead, and she needed a plausible reason not to go with the rest of the school to the Celebration. What better excuse than being in detention. That was why she had started harassing Edith again today and probably the reason, or at least one reason, she had started picking on Edith to begin with. She was obviously very cunning and had planned this right from the start.

"You may both go," Miss Cackle told the two First Years. "And I do not want to hear of anymore trouble from either of you!"

"Yes Miss Cackle!" The two girls turned and quickly left the room.

"If you'll excuse me Miss Cackle, I need to get back to my Fourth Years," Constance Hardbroom said hurriedly.

She walked briskly to the door and after giving the Headmistress an apologetic smile Mildred followed her. This was her chance to tell Constance what was going on.

"Constance!" Mildred called out.

"What is it, Mildred?" Miss Hardbroom asked, looking rather impatient. "I have to get back to my class then I have another practise session with the Second Years for the display."

"There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Mildred, Halloween is only the day after tomorrow," the Potions teacher reminded her. "Can't it wait until then?"

"Well…" Mildred began. She intended to say it couldn't wait but was not given the chance.

"We will talk after Halloween, Mildred. I promise!"

After giving her young colleague a brief pat on the shoulder, Constance Hardbroom vanished in a flicker of light.

"Well a fat lot of use that was!" Mildred muttered angrily.

Although she was sympathetic to the stress Constance was suffering in preparing the Halloween display, Mildred couldn't help resenting being brushed off so casually. Obviously she would have to stop Cynthia and Broomhead's plans without the Potion teacher's help. It was unfortunate, but Mildred was still confident she could manage. Cynthia might be very cunning and unusually gifted for her age, but at the end of the day she was still just a schoolgirl. How difficult could dealing with her actually be?