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 25: Aftermath

"Thanks for coming with me, Ben!"

Mildred smiled a little uncertainly at her fiancée. They were standing just outside Miss Cackle's office, near the main staircase.

Over a week had passed since Halloween night and Mildred's defeat and capture of Ethel Hallow. At Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom's insistence, Mildred had taken half term off, staying with Ben in Cambridge. Of course she had been present as the main witness at Ethel's trial by the Witches Guild. That had turned out much as expected; Ethel had been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Since then Mildred had thought hard about everything that had happened and come to a momentous decision. She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but she had come here on the Sunday afternoon before the end of the half term break to sort everything out.

"That's all right," Ben replied. "You sure you want to go through with this, Millie?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Mildred glanced at the sealed envelope she was holding. "Well I suppose there's no point in delaying."

After giving Ben a quick kiss, she stepped forward and knocked on the Headmistress's office.

"Come in!" Miss Cackle's voice came from inside.

Mildred opened the door and stepped into the Principal's office. She was a little surprised to see Constance Hardbroom there already with Miss Cackle, but decided it was just as well.

"Ah Mildred!" Miss Cackle smiled at her Spells teacher. "I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow morning."

"I know," Mildred replied. "But I need to give you this."

She handed the envelope to Miss Cackle, who took it looking rather puzzled.

"What is this, Mildred?"

Mildred took a deep breath. "My resignation!"

The two older women stared at her in shock. It was several seconds before Miss Cackle managed to speak.

"Mildred, why on earth are you resigning?"

"I feel I have no choice," Mildred replied. "I thought things would be different, but it seems I'm just as much a magnet for trouble as ever. The school will be better off without me."

"Mildred what happened was not your fault," Miss Cackle insisted. "No one blames you for what Ethel did."

"I blame myself," Mildred told them. "I should have realised Cynthia wasn't who she seemed to be much earlier, and I should certainly have told the two of you what I suspected."

"You did try to tell me." Miss Hardbroom spoke for the first time. "But I was so preoccupied in preparing for the Halloween display I refused to listen. This tragedy is really my fault rather than yours."

Mildred shook her head. "You're not in the least to blame, Constance."

"Oh but I am!" The Potions teacher insisted. There was a look of guilt and self-reproach on her face that Mildred had never imagined she would see from her former teacher. "For years I insisted on trying to change you Mildred, because of minor faults such as clumsiness and being easily distracted that you would grow out of on your own eventually. And all that time I overlooked the much more serious flaws in Ethel's character. She was the one I should have been trying to change. If I had been stricter with her then perhaps four lives would not have been wasted."

"Four lives?" Mildred queried.

"The fourth is Ethel herself," Miss Hardbroom replied sadly. "She will almost certainly spend the rest of her life as a prisoner. Some of the Guild healers told me they hoped it might be possible to rehabilitate her but I doubt very much they will have any success with that."

Mildred nodded slowly, thinking the same. She was sure Ethel's envy and resentment, and the sense of entitlement that underlay them, were too firmly entrenched for any treatment to affect.

"I am equally to blame," Miss Cackle admitted. "Some of the misdeeds Ethel was responsible for at school would have resulted in expulsion if she had been any other pupil. But I was lenient with her because her father was the Chair of Governors."

"And now he's resigned," Mildred muttered guiltily.

"He had no choice after what his daughter attempted to do. His position as Chair of Governors was untenable."

"But won't that cause problems for the school?" Mildred asked anxiously.

Miss Cackle shrugged. "Not as much as it would have done once. Fortunately the school is no longer financially dependent on Mister Hallow, thanks to Amanda Honeydew's generosity seven years ago."

Mildred couldn't hold back a wry smile at the mention of the former lead singer of the Spell Girls, the musical sensation of late nineties magical Britain she had been a devoted fan of in her early teens. The group had broken up in her second year at college, which had prompted her to listen to one of their recordings again for the first time since coming to Weirdsister. Cas, being from Canada and not familiar with the group except by reputation, has poured scorn on all the songs, deriding them as crass and banal and rather to her surprise Mildred had agreed with her friend. At the ripe old age of eighteen she could no longer fathom why she had been so taken with the Spell Girls a few years previously.

"Mildred, I understand why you feel guilty for what has happened," Miss Hardbroom said. "But neither Miss Cackle nor I hold you in any way responsible, nor do we regret our decision to appoint you as Spells teacher."

"Certainly not!" Miss Cackle agreed. "The work you have done with the Fourth Years in preparing them for their Higher Certificates has been outstanding. And the rapport you have managed to establish with the First Years as their form tutor is also remarkable. I was intending to rely on you to handle the difficult problem of settling Cynthia into the school when she arrives tomorrow."

"Cynthia?" Mildred exclaimed in surprise.

Miss Cackle nodded. "The real Cynthia Hazelmere was discovered in Broomhead's cottage, under a spell of stasis. Despite everything Cynthia is still eager to be at Cackles but I fear it's inevitable she will have a difficult time at first. After what's happened the other girls will probably be rather wary of her to begin with."

"And you think I will be able to help with that?" Mildred asked sceptically.

"I cannot imagine anyone else being able to deal with it half as well!" Miss Cackle told her earnestly.

Mildred couldn't help but be flattered by that.

"You're really making resigning very difficult," she said with a shaky laugh.

"I'm very pleased to hear it!" Miss Cackle replied with a smile. "But the easiest way of resolving that difficulty is simply not to resign."

Mildred bit her lip, thinking furiously. She had offered her resignation out of conscience, feeling responsible for the tragedy of what had happened to Ethel and the fact that the school had again come within a hairsbreadth of disaster when she was on the scene. The truth though was that she didn't really want to leave. But she couldn't help wondering how Ben would react if she changed her mind. He had been very noncommittal, assuring her he would support whatever decision she made, but remaining at Cackles would certainly make life when they married more complicated. Mildred realised though that would be true no matter what witch academy she taught at, at least if it was a boarding school as most of them were.

"All right," she agreed at last. "I'll stay."

"Wonderful!" Miss Cackle looked down at the unopened letter in her hand. "We can dispose of this then!"

She tore the letter into shreds and scattered them, and the fragments vanished in a brief flash of flame.

"Well I'm glad that's settled." Miss Hardbroom said. "Now if the two of you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

Folding her arms, she vanished in a flicker of light.

Mildred stared at the spot where the Potions teacher had been, rather startled by her abrupt departure. Then her attention was called back to Miss Cackle when the Headmistress addressed her.

"Mildred, I wonder if you could do me a favour."

"Of course, if I can," Mildred replied.

"I would like you to find Constance and speak to her," Miss Cackle said hesitantly. "I fear this business with Ethel has had a profound effect on her. For the first time since I have known Constance Hardbroom, her confidence in herself as a teacher seems to have been shaken. I have tried to speak to her about it, but she refuses to confide in me."

"And you think she's going to confide in me?" Mildred asked doubtfully.

"I suspect she might, considering the part you have played in all this. And I think the two of you have developed quite a close relationship over the last few months."

"I suppose we have," Mildred agreed. "Well I don't know if I can make any difference Miss Cackle, but I'll try my best."

"Thank you, Mildred."

After giving the Headmistress a quick smile Mildred vanished, reappearing in the Staff Room. Miss Drill and Miss Crotchet were there but not Miss Hardbroom, so after exchanging a few words with her colleagues Mildred vanished again.

In quick succession she visited the Potions Laboratory and the other classrooms but there was still no sign of her. Mildred even tried the dungeons, remembering how Constance had hidden herself away there at the end of her second year at Cackles. But once again she drew a blank. Even if the Potions teacher was invisible or partially dematerialised Mildred would still have sensed her presence. There was only one place left to try.

Mildred rematerialised in the teacher's corridor, only a few places down from her own room. She stared for a moment at the closed door in front of her then knocked boldly.

There was no reply but Mildred knew Constance was inside as she could detect her magical signature, even through the locked door. She knocked again.

"Constance, I know you're in there." Mildred raised her voice just enough to be heard inside the room. "If you don't open the door willingly and let me in I'll break it down!"

For a few seconds there was no response and Mildred wondered if she actually would have to force her way in, but then there was a click and the door swung open.

"Come in then if you must!"

Mildred stepped inside hesitantly. She had never been in Miss Hardbroom's room before and looked around her quickly, noticing both the similarities and differences to her own. In terms of its size and furnishings this room was almost identical, but there the similarities ended. The walls were completely bare, in contrast to those in her own room which were covered with posters of her favourite rock bands. In fact the room gave no hint of any real personality apart from the dressing table, which like that of any other woman held a panoply of cosmetics, toiletries and other personal grooming items. But unlike Mildred's own dressing table, which was more than a little haphazard, everything was arranged neatly, with almost mathematical precision. Mildred couldn't help thinking the display was typical of the Potions teacher, suggesting both femininity and ruthless self-discipline.

Miss Hardbroom was sitting on her bed, fully dressed and as stiff and upright as a poker. She looked up at her young colleague but her face remained impassive.

"I suppose Miss Cackle sent you after me?"

Mildred nodded but did not speak.

"She's been pestering me for days," Miss Hardbroom sighed. "But I have no wish to discuss my personal issues with her."

"I suppose you don't want to talk about them with me either then?"

"I fear I will be given no choice!" The Potions teacher smiled wryly. "Unlike Amelia Cackle, you are not a witch I can really evade!"

"I suppose I ought to take that as a compliment," Mildred replied. "So what is bothering you, Constance?"

"Oh nothing much, Mildred. Only the realisation that my entire career as a teacher has been wasted!"

"That's absurd!" Mildred exclaimed. "You get some of the best results of any Potions teacher in the country!"

Constance Hardbroom shook her head.

"I'm not talking about exam results, Mildred. Education should be about more than just academic attainment. You need only look at how Ethel turned out, and I fear there may have been more pupils like her. I was so focused on her academic achievements that I refused to really acknowledge the less pleasant aspects of her character. And with you I was so frustrated by your clumsiness and distraction in lessons I overlooked your very real virtues. I'm sorry Mildred. I made your time at Cackles far harder than it should have been and I truly regret that."

Mildred stared open mouthed at her old form tutor, experiencing a confused mixture of emotions she could never have described. She could hardly believe that Constance Hardbroom had actually apologised to her.

"I appreciate that Constance, I really do," Mildred said at last. "But I think you're being too hard on yourself. Sure there are things I wish had been different but I have a lot of good memories too. You saved my life several times. I know you were the one who stopped Ethel sending those letters home in Third Year and if it wasn't for you I would never have passed my Potions certificate and never have gotten to Weidsister."

The older witch did not reply and Mildred sat down on the bed next to her, putting an arm round her shoulders.

"I agree there were things you could have done differently, but you ought to see that as an opportunity. It's a chance to learn from your mistakes and become an even better teacher than you already are."

"That's easy for you to say, Mildred." Miss Hardbroom sighed. "You're only twenty two but I'm fifty years old, far too old to change my ways now."

"That's bollocks!" Mildred retorted forcefully, and the older woman's eyebrows rose in surprise. Mildred very seldom resorted to profanity. "Fifty isn't that old, and anyway I refuse to believe someone as clever and gifted as you can't change if she really wants to, no matter what date is on her birth certificate!"

"And you think change will be easy, do you?"

"No," Mildred admitted. "But nothing worth doing ever is. And I don't really think you need to change that much. You'll always be a much stricter teacher than I am and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. You just need to be a bit more discerning with the sort of issues you're strict about. But Constance, did you mean it that you regret making things difficult for me as a pupil here?"

"Yes Mildred, I did."

"Then if you want to make up for that you'll try to learn from your mistakes instead of just giving up and despairing. You'll become the teacher I know you can be!"

"Emotional blackmail!" The Potions teacher muttered under her breath.

Mildred shrugged. "I'm not above resorting to that."

Miss Hardbroom looked searchingly at her young colleague for a moment.

"Mildred, even after all these years you can still sometimes be just as exasperating as when I first met you!"

Mildred grinned at her. "Well I'm glad I haven't lost my touch!"

Constance Hardbroom made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a snort. She looked away, remaining silent for nearly a minute before speaking again.

"I will try Mildred, but please do not expect too much of me."

"I not expecting anything," Mildred told her. "You don't need to satisfy me Constance, you need to satisfy yourself that you won't repeat the mistake you made with Ethel, or at least that you're less likely to."

Miss Hardbroom nodded and a silence fell between then that lasted for a couple of minutes. Then she abruptly stood up and Mildred was startled by the sudden change. All trace of doubt and uncertainty had vanished and the woman that stood in front of her was once again the assured and confident Deputy Headmistress of Cackle's Academy.

"Well lessons will resume tomorrow and there is much to prepare. I need to speak to Lavinia and Imogen."

"I'll walk down with you to the Staff Room," Mildred said, also rising to her feet.

The two teachers left Miss Hardbroom's room and walked together along the corridor.

"I am relieved you decided to stay at Cackle's, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said as they made their way down the stairs. "But how will your young man react?"

Mildred felt a little anxious about that herself, but tried to be optimistic. "I'm sure Ben will cope."

The Potions teacher was about to reply, but as the two of them walked towards the Staff Room two girls came running around the corner and collided with her. They were both Second Years, Emma Whittle and Susan Henbane, and looked like they were about to collapse with fright when they recognised just who they had run into. Miss Hardbroom opened her mouth to deliver a scathing rebuke, but as Mildred watched she visibly checked herself and then spoke in a much calmer tone.

"And what do you girls think you are doing?"

"We were playing hide and seek, Miss!" Emma Whittle stammered.

"Indeed?" Constance Hardbroom replied. "A somewhat juvenile pastime for witches your age, I would have thought. But be that as it may, perhaps in future you should exercise rather more care with your recreational activities, before you hurt yourselves or someone else."

"Yes Miss Hardbroom," the two girls chorused.

The Potions teacher nodded. "Off with you then!"

The two girls hastily departed, scarcely able to believe their luck in escaping the dreaded HB without a punishment.

Miss Hardbroom directed a rather uncertain glance at her younger colleague but Mildred was careful to keep her expression impassive. She instinctively knew that expressing any sort of approval for the Potion teacher's actions would be a mistake. This was something Constance needed to work out for herself, without interference from anyone else.

"Well, I'd better go and have a word with Ben, he'll be wondering what's happened to me," Mildred said. "I'll see you tomorrow Constance."

Miss Hardbroom nodded and opened the Staff Room door, disappearing inside without speaking. Mildred made her way down the stairs feeling a bit apprehensive about how Ben would react to the news she was not leaving Cackles after all.

He was sitting on one of the seats by the stairs, the ones usually occupied by pupils about to be called into Miss Cackle's office on some disciplinary matter, but got to his feet when he heard her coming down.

"You took your time!"

To Mildred's surprise Ben didn't seem upset. In fact he was smiling.

"Ben," she said hesitantly. "There's something I need to tell you."

Her fiancée just grinned at her. "You're not leaving Cackle's after all, are you?"

"You knew?" Mildred gasped in surprise.

The young man shrugged. "I didn't know for certain but I guessed. You didn't really want to resign Millie. I was pretty sure they'd talk you out of it."

Mildred was astonished by how calmly Ben was taking this. She had expected him to be upset.

"You don't mind?" She asked hesitantly.

Ben shook his head. "I told you Millie, I'd never expect you to give up teaching, and things would be difficult no matter what school you were teaching at. Besides, I have some good news I haven't told you yet."

"What is it?" Mildred asked eagerly

Ben grinned triumphantly. "I've been offered a job!"

"Ben, that's wonderful!" Mildred exclaimed. "But how? You haven't finished your research degree yet."

"The job's conditional on getting my Doctorate," Ben explained. "But I don't expect any problem with that. The really important thing though is that it's with an engineering firm that's based less than twenty miles from here, easily within driving distance. I was thinking we could maybe rent or buy a cottage in the village."

Mildred considered this possibility, her mind racing with excitement. Although she was the First Year's form tutor, it wasn't strictly necessary for her to live at the school, at least not all the time. It might be an unusual situation but she was sure Miss Cackle would be accommodating. It would still be tough but at least they would have some sort of married life after their wedding.

"That's why you applied for that particular job, isn't it?" She asked softly.

Ben shrugged. "Well it was one of the reasons."

"Thank you!" Mildred whispered, then leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Ben pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and Mildred wrapped her arms round his neck. When they finally drew apart they were both panting.

"You know, I really love your new look, Millie," Ben told her softly.

Mildred flushed slightly as she disentangled herself from him. She had spent the previous evening shopping in Toronto with her friend Cas Crowfeather and had ended up purchasing an entire new wardrobe, along with new make up and jewellery. Cas had convinced her it was time she adopted a more sophisticated style and today was her first attempt at that, wearing under a winter jacket a dark green dress that was both stylish and rather revealing. She had been a little nervous about making such a change but was relieved Ben seemed to appreciate it.

"I'm glad you like it!"

"You look gorgeous!" Ben assured her. "And that dress is really sexy. I can't wait to take it off you!"

Mildred rolled her eyes. "Typical! I get some fancy new clothes and all you can think about is getting me out of them!"

"Well I don't necessarily have to get you out of them for what I have in mind!" Ben replied, with a rather salacious grin. "Not completely anyway!"

Mildred giggled. "As interesting as that sounds it's going to have to wait a bit. There's something I want to show you before we go back to Cambridge."

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"I want to take you to my favourite place when I was a schoolgirl," Mildred told him. "Cosie's tearooms."

"A café?" Ben asked, and Mildred nodded. "What's it like?"

"Well it's very different from Misery's," She replied with a laugh. "Very old world and traditional, but with the best cream cakes this side of heaven!"

"Better than sex?" Ben inquired with a smirk.

Mildred looked rather thoughtful as she pondered that question.

"Well maybe not better, but as good!"

Ben chuckled. "All right then, let's go.

He put his arm around Mildred's waist and the two of them walked towards the entrance.

"But just so you know Millie, when we do get back to Cambridge I plan to thoroughly ravish you while you're wearing that dress!"

Mildred just laughed. "Promises, promises!"

But as they stepped out into the courtyard they stopped abruptly at the sight of the dark clad figure entering through Walker's Gate. They both recognised him at once.

"Hobbes!" Mildred shouted angrily. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hello Millie!" The young wizard glanced quickly at Ben. "I thought you two had broken up?"

"Not that it's any of your business Hobbes, but we happen to be engaged now!" Mildred replied coldly.

"Really?" He looked mockingly at Ben. "Sure you're up to handling her, Stemson? She's a real wildcat between the sheets!"

"You filthy bastard!" Ben snarled. "If it wasn't for that blasted magic of yours I'd…"

"You'd what?" Nick Hobbes interrupted with a sneer. "Don't flatter yourself Stemson. Even without magic I could still take you apart!"

"Oh yeah?" Ben growled. "Well why don't you just try it?"

"That's enough!" Mildred stood in front of Ben to stop him launching himself at the wizard. "There's not going to be any fights here and if you two don't calm down I'll turn you both into frogs. Honestly, men!"

She turned back to Hobbes.

"What do you want here, Hobbes. I thought I made it clear you were to stay away from me?"

Nick Hobbes shrugged. "I need to talk to you, Millie."

"Well you obviously are talking to me, so what exactly do you want?"

"I want an eyewitness account from you of the Staff of Nargoth's destruction. I know from the reports of Ethel's trial that you destroyed it but they were rather sketchy on the details." Hobbes explained. "I need it for my book."

"And why should I help you with that?" Mildred asked coldly.

"You teach magical history Millie, and I know it was one of your favourite subjects at college. I would have thought you'd appreciate the importance of proper historical records."

Mildred sighed. The last thing she wanted was to see Hobbes again, but he had put things in a way that made it difficult for her to refuse.

"All right," she agreed reluctantly. "But not now. Come here tomorrow after lessons have finished, at about five, and I'll tell you what happened. Now please leave before I do something we'll both regret!"

Hobbes nodded and walked away, giving Ben a contemptuous look. Just before he vanished through Walker's Gate he looked back at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Millie!" He said with a grin.

Mildred stood rigidly, staring at the spot where Hobbes had been and feeling utterly dismayed. When he had grinned at her she had felt an unmistakable surge of desire and now felt completely disgusted with herself. She had hoped that one time with him would get him out of her system but now it seemed that single taste of forbidden fruit had not been enough. Despite being engaged to Ben she still wanted Hobbes.

"Ben, maybe you should be there tomorrow when I see Hobbes." Mildred said quietly.

"You still fancy him, don't you?"

Mildred nodded miserably. "I'm sorry Ben. I'm engaged to you but I'm still lusting after another guy. What kind of depraved creature does that make me?"

To Mildred's surprise Ben started laughing. "Millie, you're hardly depraved for fancying someone besides me. You expect too much of yourself you know. Just because we're engaged doesn't mean we won't sometimes fancy other people. The day I went for my interview I saw a rather beautiful girl on the train and found myself thinking I wouldn't mind getting her into bed."

Mildred was a little bemused by that admission.

"Ben, are you trying to reassure me or to make me jealous?"

"No need to be jealous!" Ben chuckled. "It's not something I'd ever do. Just because you're attracted to someone doesn't mean you have to act on it. If everyone acted on every fleeting sexual whim the world would be one giant orgy!"

"I suppose that's true," Mildred admitted. "But Hobbes isn't just some random stranger I had a momentary lustful thought about. I know him and I know what he's like. He's selfish, cunning and ruthless. And what worries me is maybe I like that, maybe there's a part of me deep down that's really turned on by guys like that."

"Maybe there is," Ben agreed with a shrug. "But so what? We all have aspects of our character we're not especially proud of, but we don't have to be controlled by them. Millie, I'm sure deep down part of me will always be uneasy about magic, but it doesn't affect the way I feel about you and it won't affect how I treat you or your friends because I won't let it. It's the choices you make, and the principles you live by that guide them that decides who you really are, not whatever dark fears or desires lurk in your subconscious."

Mildred stared at her fiancée in amazement. Ben was a very intelligent and thoughtful young man, but he was not really given to making speeches so he must have been thinking about this for some time. And she suddenly realised he was right, just because she was attracted to Hobbes didn't mean she had to let that control her. Mildred remembered telling Constance that her age was no barrier to changing and realised this was really the same thing. It was tempting to think yourself the helpless victim of forces beyond your control, whether it was your age or circumstances or even your subconscious impulses, but that could so easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Overcoming such obstacles might seldom be easy but it was always possible. In the end, you were a free person, able to make your own choices and shape your own destiny and it was Ben's words that made her realise this. Mildred was now more certain than ever she had given her heart to the right man.

"You're an amazing guy Ben, do you know that?"

Her fiancée blushed and shuffled his feet, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Come on," he said at last. "Let's go and stuff ourselves with those cream cakes!"

Smiling, Mildred took Ben's arm and wrapped it around her waist. Their arms around each other, the young couple made their way across the courtyard and through Walkers Gate, not talking but quietly content in each other's company, a fitting start to the life they were to share together.

A/N Sorry again for the long delay, but this took much longer than expected. Nearly at the end now, there's only the epilogue to come.