Tea was important at Miss Grimwood's. Normally, Miss Grimwood always stopped for tea in the afternoon while the Ghouls were upstairs or out in the garden. This was when she wrote letters or dealt with bills or correspondence. The Ghouls had, naturally, learned the art of tea, hosting guests, making polite conversation.
So Shaggy and Scooby supposed they should have been less surprised when what they had supposed would be a brief break for tea quickly turned into an event for the school. The Ghouls, having sensed something going on, had all turned up to try and find out what was happening and to be introduced.
"When you said you were teaching at a Ghoul School, I must have misheard you," Daphne said, holding her steaming cup of Toadstool Tea after the introductions had been taken care of. "I thought you had said Girl's School."
"Yeah, that's like, how we wound up here," Shaggy told her. He and Scooby, with the additional help of Flim-Flam and Scrappy, were devouring slices of crab apple crumb cake. "It kinda grows on you after awhile."
Vincent had been sipping his own cup of tea in silence. Now he spoke. "Helewise, do you still have your books on crystal balls?"
"Of course I do!" Miss Grimwood replied, and it was at this moment that Shaggy and Scooby realized that they had never heard Miss Grimwood's first name. "They're all up in the library."
"You have books on how to fix a magic crystal?" Scrappy asked.
"I haven't used them in years, but I think that I have a book up there about it," Miss Grimwood told him.
"I should have looked there first," Scrappy said.
"You could have looked but I don't think it would have helped you much, Scrappy. I think that my book on the matter is in Latin. And if you don't have any magic, you won't be able to use the spell anyway," Miss Grimwood told him. She looked at Vincent. "But you've just used magic to transport yourself here, and the day is wearing on. Why don't you spend the night here and work on fixing the crystal in the morning?"
"Asmodeus is still out there?" Vincent suggested dryly.
"If he can track you down that quickly Vincent, you may have larger problems," Miss Grimwood pointed out.
Vincent seemed to be considering it. While his magic would keep him going, the kids would need a chance to rest. "Oh, very well. Tomorrow, then." He would have to put a protection spell over the house, though he was sure that Helewise had her own spells on the place.
"It's nice of you to let us spend the night here," Daphne said.
"Think nothing of it, my dear," Miss Grimwood waved her words away. "I'm always glad to – Girls!" Her voice sharpened drastically. "Don't touch that Chest!"
The Grimwood Ghouls, having drifted away from the conversation, had turned their attention to the Chest of Demons. The Chest was resting against the wall, and Phantasma had been trying to open the Chest with no luck. When their headmistress raised her voice at them, all of the ghouls backed away from it.
"We're sorry, Miss Grimwood," Tanis said, sounding sufficiently reprimanded.
"Why don't you go out into the garden until it's time for dinner?" Miss Grimwood suggested.
"Alright," Sibella said, and the ghouls drifted towards the door of the room, Goonie grabbing Phantasma and tugging her along as they went.
Miss Grimwood set her teacup down on the table. "Shaggy, why don't you show Flim-Flam to one of the guest rooms? And Daphne, my dear, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to yours."
Vincent was already sweeping out of the room, heading deeper into the house.
"Where's Vince going?" Flim-Flam asked once the warlock was out of earshot.
"Probably the kitchen," Miss Grimwood said, matter-of-factly as she led the way out of the parlor. "I think he needs to relax. But follow me. I'm sure you'll want to freshen up after your day."
"Has it really only been one day?" Daphne asked as they followed Miss Grimwood. Out the window, they could see twilight falling.
"Rlooks like it," Scooby said. It had been halfway through the day when Vincent had showed up the first time.
"Let's just go take a break," Shaggy suggested.
(-)
Shaggy and Scooby needed considerably less timer than their friends to freshen up and to get back downstairs, as they knew their way around the house. They took the back stairs down to the first floor, which brought them right out by the kitchen.
Miss Grimwood was in the doorway. "Are you sure that you don't need anything?" Whatever Vincent said in reply, neither Shaggy nor Scooby could hear it. "You don't have to do this. I know this is how you relax, but it's also a lot of work." There was another pause, apparently for Vincent to answer. "Alright then. I'm going to supervise the girls. Let me know if you need anything." If she saw Scooby and Shaggy, Miss Grimwood made no comment about it as she walked off. The pair hurried down and into the kitchen. It smelled good in there, and they wanted to find out what was cooking.
Vincent had his cape off and hanging up on a hook on the wall. Matches was underfoot, but Vincent seemed to have no trouble with the fact, expertly maneuvering around the dragon. The warlock stopped by a cauldron that was bubbling over an open fire. He tasted the contents. "More eye of newt," he decided.
"Eye of newt coming up," Scrappy, standing on the counter, dug through one of the upper cupboards until he came out with the right jar.
"Like, need any help, Mr. V?" Shaggy offered.
"I am beset by helpers already," Vincent noted as he poured some of the eye of newt into his palm until it looked like he had enough. Then he dumped it into the pot and handed the jar back to Scrappy. He went over the counter and started chopping up some green vegetable. Shaggy couldn't tell exactly what it was. "But there is a chore you can do for me, if you're interested in helping."
"Rwe are, rwe are!" Scooby assured him.
"Very well then," Vincent set the knife down and retrieved a large stack of dirty dishes. "You can wash these. Matches will get you as much hot water as you need," he deposited the stack in Shaggy's arms.
"I'm sure he will," Shaggy managed, looking at the large stack he was now holding. "Come on Scoob. I guess we better get started. At least we know dinner's going to be good tonight."
"Ryeah," Scooby agreed. Vincent didn't bother to notice commentary, instead going back to chopping up vegetables.
Miss Grimwood met Daphne coming down the front staircase as she was getting ready to ascend. "And how are things with you, my dear?" Miss Grimwood asked.
"As well as can be expected, I suppose, given everything that's happened so far today," Daphne said. "Thank you for letting us stay here."
Miss Grimwood waved her hand as though to wave the words away. "You're more than welcome. I'm about to go supervise the girls in their assignments. Would you care to accompany me? I can hardly believe the new term is underway already!"
"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but, I was looking for the others," Daphne told her. Flim-Flam had been exploring the upper floors of the house when she had come down, but she hadn't seen Shaggy or the dogs since they had gone upstairs.
"Shaggy and Scooby, are, I believe, assisting Vincent in the kitchen. At least that's where I saw them going a few minutes ago. Scrappy has been helping Vincent locate what he needs in there. Let's leave the cooking to the men and go check on the girls, shall we?"
"Alright," Daphne agreed, and followed the good-natured older woman back up the stairs.
(-)
The remains of the day passed by quickly after that, with Daphne assisting in supervising the writing of reports and Miss Grimwood with the assignments in general, until it was time to eat. Miss Grimwood had looked like she was about to bubble over with excitement when they went into the dining room for dinner, something that hadn't made any sense to Daphne until Miss Grimwood had announced that at dinner tonight the girls were going to learn how to behave at formal dinners.
Vincent, upon hearing this as he took his seat at the table, had raised an eyebrow. "Will you also be providing examples of how not to behave at formal dinners?" He had asked, casting a look at Shaggy and Scooby, who laughed nervously. The octopus butler came into the room, loaded down with bowls of soup for the first course. Everything had gone as smoothly as could be expected. Even Flim-Flam had been following along during the four courses as Miss Grimwood explained decorum in dining.
Now the sun had long since set, and the girls had gone to bed. Curfew was 10 o'clock for the older girls. Tanis was usually asleep long before then, and had to be woken up to be sent to bed, though sometimes Sibella or Godzina would take her and put her to bed when the other girls finished whatever it was they were doing, a game, or reading, or talking in the sitting room upstairs.
Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy followed this routine as well, a habit they had picked up from the time spent at Miss Grimwood's and that they only violated on weekends and school holidays. Flim-Flam had followed Scrappy's lead, and Daphne had turned in at the same time, claiming exhaustion.
Miss Grimwood was making one final walk through the house. Usually it was the responsibility of the octopus butler to lock the door, bank the fires, and make sure everything was safe for the evening. Tonight, she wanted to do it herself, and make sure that her protection spell on the house was still holding.
She checked all the doors and windows on the ground floor, Matches trailing along behind her as she did. The kitchen fire was out. The fire in the main hall was banked up for the evening. In the parlor, though, the fire was still going, and someone was still up. In the glow of light from the flames, she could make out who was there.
"You seem deep in thought," Miss Grimwood said as she came into the room. Matches wandered around her and made himself comfortable by the fire, kicking at the rug to fluff it up to his liking before laying down. "Tonight's dinner was excellent. I don't think I said thank you yet."
Vincent was looking at the fire, his hands wrapped around a rapidly cooling cup of tea. "You don't need to."
"Politeness dictates that I do," Miss Grimwood said jauntily. She sat down on the chair next to Vincent's. "What's wrong?"
"A great many things," he replied without looking at her.
"Which one is the biggest problem right now?"
He considered it. "I've had to do things that I don't know how to explain to the kids." It had stung more than he wanted to admit that Scooby and Shaggy had been so afraid of him this afternoon. Their memories had disappeared, so that was to be expected, but that didn't make it any easier. Especially given the circumstances of how those memories were lost.
Miss Grimwood smiled as she interrupted his reverie. "The kids, huh?"
Vincent made a non-committal sound.
She didn't give him a chance to explain the comment, instead pressing on. "There are eight girls in this building, none of whom are related to each other, but all of whom are sisters," Miss Grimwood went on. "There are two types of family, as you well know, the family you have, and the family you choose. Family tends to to be understanding. Maybe you should try telling them. It's usually the best way."
"I've always hated Asmodeus," Vincent told her. "Ever since I first understood who he was and what he did. The last time the 13 ghosts were released was an accident as well, but the cost to put them all back was so high."
"You need to tell them that, too," Miss Grimwood said.
"How can I?" Vincent asked. "How do I tell them that..." he trailed off. He was looking at the fire, but Miss Grimwood knew he wasn't seeing the flames.
Miss Grimwood got to her feet. "I'm going to turn in," she told him. "Good night."
"Good night," he replied absently.
The witch paused on her way out the door. "Matches, are you sleeping down here tonight?"
"Yeah," the dragon huffed. Miss Grimwood went out of the room.
Vincent was left to stare into the dying flames, the silence of the room broken only occasionally by Matches' snuffling as he slept.
(-)
Outside Miss Grimwood's School, a pair of ghosts were looking down at the building with frowns on their faces.
"What are we waiting for, Weerd? The protection spell around this place has more holes in it than Swiss cheese!" Bogel said.
"What we're waiting on is for Van Ghoul to go to bed," Weerd said firmly. "The Chest is in the same room he's in!"
"And that dragon looks kinda mean too," Bogel noted.
"Never mind the dragon. It's the warlock we've got to worry about," Weerd said.
"I don't think he's going to be going to bed anytime soon," Bogel said, looking down at the faint light coming through the window.
"Then we'll wait him out! And then we'll snatch the Chest!" Weerd announced. "We can't fail Asmodeus now! He'll never forgive us."
Bogel looked at the window again, but decided not to say anything else. In his private estimation, it was going to be a long night.
[A/N:] We never get to hear what Miss Grimwood's name is which I think is a darn shame, so I went with Helewise for her here. Even warlocks need hobbies, so I've given Vincent the hobby of cooking here. Vincent Price was said to be an excellent cook, so why not? "Let the men handle the cooking" might sound weird, but in my family, the best cooks are men, so letting the men handle the cooking is always a good idea. The Ghouls School girls, by the way, include the three new students introduced at the end of the movie. Mary is the alien, Goonie is the daughter of the swamp monster, and Godzina is the daughter of Godzilla.