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 26: Epilogue
The bells in Saint Stephen's tower rent the air in joyous cacophony as a newly married young couple emerged from the West Door of the King's College Chapel in Cambridge. Ben Stemson and Mildred Hubble paused, staring in astonishment at the sight that greeted them. The ribbon-bestrewn car that would take them the short distance to Weirdsister College, where the Great Hall had been put at their disposal for the reception, was awaiting them as expected. What they had not expected was the two lines of Cackles girls in their uniforms, holding up broomsticks to form an archway for them to walk under.
Mildred swallowed hard, to try and rid herself of the lump that had somehow formed in her throat. "I'm sure Constance is behind this!"
"Won't people think it strange though?" Ben asked. "Seeing girls in old fashioned school uniforms holding up broomsticks?"
"Perception spell," Mildred explained, smiling at her new husband who she thought looked amazingly handsome in his light grey morning suit. "People who don't know about magic will just see girls in bridesmaids dresses holding up bouquets, or something like that."
Ben nodded in understanding. "Clever!"
They stepped forward, Mildred gathering up the long skirts of her white wedding dress and she suddenly realised the girls were actually no longer Cackle's pupils. They were all this year's Fourth Years who had now graduated from the school. Even the former Head Girl Jenny Samhain was there, wearing the badge she had surrendered on the last day of the academic year. Mildred supposed the new Head Girl had allowed her predecessor to borrow it for this occasion. Mildred had become especially close to the Fourth Years in preparing them for their Higher Certificates and couldn't help feeling deeply touched they had made this gesture in support of her. She would miss them next year, although she was looking forward to meeting the new First Years.
A couple of hours later Mildred was looking round the Great Hall of Weirdsister College at all the assembled guests. Aside from her friends and family as well as Ben's, most of them were Cackle's pupils. Some of the girls had been unable to attend as they were holidaying with their families but more than half the school was there.
All the usual formalities of a wedding reception had been observed. The cake had been cut and Ben's Best Man Tim Wraithwight as well as Cas Crowfeather, who was Mildred's Maid of Honour, had made their speeches. Now everyone was talking while they sipped champagne and helped themselves to seconds from the buffet lunch that had been provided.
Most of the girls were engrossed in stuffing themselves with as much food as possible and Mildred reflected wryly that it at least kept them occupied. During the service in Chapel many of them were obviously trying desperately not to giggle at the sight of Miss Hardbroom in a pastel coloured summer dress and flowery hat.
She couldn't help smiling at two First Years who were laughing and chattering as they ate. If someone had told her nine months ago that Edith Crawley and Cynthia Hazelmere would become close friends she would have scoffed at the notion. Of course this was the real Cynthia and not Ethel's impersonation of her. As Miss Cackle had predicted the girl had found it far from easy settling into the school. Most of the other girls had been very wary and Annabel Toadlfax had refused even to speak to her, instead attaching herself to Gloria Beltane and Donna Witherwight. Mildred had tried to think of a way to include Cynthia but in the end any intervention from her had proven unnecessary. It was Edith who had been the first to really talk to the girl and a close friendship had quickly developed between them. It was a development that surprised Mildred but there was no denying it had been good for them both. Cynthia had someone to help her settle into the Academy and Edith had finally found a real friend, something the girl had desperately needed. There had been a noticeable improvement in her schoolwork, both from being happier generally and from the help that Cynthia provided. Although Mildred was relieved that the real Cynthia was not in any sense a prodigy, she was certainly a very able pupil.
Mildred's attention drifted over to the next table where her old school friends were seated. Maud, Ruby and Jadu had not really changed too much although they looked older and more sophisticated. Mildred was pleased to see though that Enid had grown out of her Goth phase and was now wearing more conventional clothes and make up. She had seen them all yesterday evening at the club where Cas had taken her for her hen night, but things had been a little awkward between them after so long apart and Mildred felt a sudden impulse to try and repair that breach in their friendship.
"I'm going to talk to Enid and the others," Mildred told Ben. "I won't be long."
"Okay Millie." Ben replied agreeably.
They exchanged a quick kiss and Mildred stood up, as Cas gave her arm a brief squeeze.
"Good luck, Millie!"
She approached her old friends a little diffidently; suddenly nervous about how they would react.
"Hi guys!" Mildred greeted them as she slid into an empty seat.
"Hi Millie!" Maud, Ruby and Jadu looked pleased to see her but Enid's reaction was rather cooler.
"Hello Mildred."
Mildred sighed. "I suppose you're still mad at me for choosing Cas as my Maid of Honour instead of you?"
"I guess I am a bit," Enid admitted. "And I'm the one who should have organised your hen night, not her."
"Enid, Cas knows Cambridge a lot better than you," Mildred explained patiently. "Anyway, if you had arranged things I'm sure I'd be totally wrecked today!"
"I think we all would!" Maud agreed with a laugh.
Enid still looked slightly aggrieved but Mildred has a sudden idea about how to pacify her.
"Look you guys, I really regret the way we've lost touch over the last few years," she began.
"It's all right, Millie," Jadu said with a shrug. "We know you've been really busy, what with teacher training then your new job."
"Well anyway I was thinking we should all meet up and have a girls night out once I get back from my honeymoon," Mildred suggested. "We could meet up here in Cambridge. Why don't you arrange it, Enid?"
"Yeah, that would be good," Enid agreed, looking rather happier. "Maybe we could get those strippers we saw at that club last night. Those guys were really something!"
Mildred laughed. "They were rather tasty!"
"Well I don't know," Maud said with a smirk. "Maybe we should keep you away from temptation Millie, now that you're a respectable married woman."
"Who are you calling respectable?" Mildred protested in mock indignation. "Just because I'm married doesn't mean I can't enjoy looking!"
The other four young women laughed and Mildred suddenly found herself blinking back tears. Despite all the time that had passed the easy camaraderie between the five of them was still there. She hadn't actually realised until now just how much she had missed her old friends.
"So anyway, how about the first Saturday in September, the day after I get back." Mildred suggested. "That will give me the next day to recover from the hangover I'm sure Enid will leave me with before school starts on the Monday!"
Ruby grinned. "Sounds good to me!"
"Me too," Maud agreed. "But don't worry about that for now, Millie. You've got your honeymoon to think about first."
Jadu smirked. "I'm sure Millie and Ben won't be doing anything they haven't done before!"
"Well not for a while actually," Mildred admitted. "What with all the preparations for today, and my parents and Ben's mother conspiring to keep us decently apart before the wedding, we haven't had a chance to be alone in about four weeks."
"Four weeks?" Enid looked horrified. "Blimey, I couldn't manage without sex for four weeks!"
Ruby sniggered. "You couldn't manage without sex for four days!"
Mildred laughed along with Maud and Jadu, but Enid just shrugged and made no attempt to deny Ruby's words.
"What can I say? I live my life for pleasure, I'm a total hedonist!"
"You're a total pain in the behind as well," Ruby told her friend with a grin, then ducked when Enid threatened to throw a sausage roll at her.
"Hey, no food fights!" Mildred told them. "It's been really great talking to you guys again, but I've got to go for a while. I want a word with Constance."
"Constance?" Maud exclaimed in surprise. "Are you and HB on first name terms now?"
"Well yeah, I guess we are." Mildred admitted. "We're colleagues now after all, not pupil and teacher. And she's not as bad as she used to be."
"I don't believe it!" Enid shook her head in bewilderment. "Is HB actually going soft in her old age?"
"Oh I wouldn't say soft exactly." Mildred replied. "What happened with Ethel was rather a shock to her and made her reassess things. She's a bit more tolerant than she used to be of high spirits from the girls and not quite so quick to hand out punishments for trivial things. In class though she's just as strict and uncompromising as always. You know Miss Hardbroom, she thinks learning witchcraft is a serious business, not a suitable occasion for jokes or levity."
"You know I'm actually relieved to hear that," Jadu admitted with a grin. "If Miss Hardbroom had really gone soft I think I'd start worrying the end of the world was nigh!"
Mildred laughed along with the others then got to her feet.
"I'll see you guys later."
They smiled and nodded. Mildred walked away, looking for Miss Hardbroom but saw no trace of her. Various people she knew were gathered into different groups conversing. Mildred saw her parents talking with Ben's mother and old Professor Shakeshaft with Miss Cackle, who looked rather bemused. Mildred chuckled to herself; conversing with someone who was over eight hundred years old and made no real attempt to hide it was enough to confuse anyone. But of the Potions teacher there was no sign.
"Millie!"
Mildred turned around at the sound of her name to find herself facing the new College Principal, her old tutor Jenny Wendle. She looked a little older than when Mildred had last seen her, with a few more wrinkles and the first hints of grey in her dark hair. Being Principal of Weirdsister College was obviously no easy job, but her smile was as bright and as infectious as ever.
"Hello Professor Wendle." Mildred said, a little diffidently.
"It's Jenny, remember." The older witch said firmly. "I'm not your tutor any more, Millie!"
"Sorry," Mildred apologised. "Thank you for letting us use the Great Hall for the reception."
"It was my pleasure. I trust everything has been to your satisfaction?"
"Everything has been wonderful," Mildred assured her. "The only thing I might wish was different was if Professor Thunderblast could be here."
"I know." Jenny Wendle's smile faded abruptly. "I don't think a day goes by when I don't miss her. It often feels like an impossible job, trying to fill her shoes. I can't help wondering sometimes if there's any sort of afterlife where she could still be looking down on us all."
Mildred was silent for a moment. Her mind had flown back to Halloween Night, over eight months ago and she remembered the souls released when the Staff of Nargoth had been destroyed, vanishing into the vastness of the universe. She didn't know if they could still observe this mortal world but it was clear they still existed somewhere. Of course Hecketty Broomhead had obviously gone to a very different destination, but Mildred had no fears of Alicia Thunderblast suffering a similar fate.
"I'm sure there is," Mildred said quietly.
Jenny Wendle smiled softly. "Congratulations Millie. I always knew you and Ben would end up together. I'm sure you'll be very happy."
"Thank you, Jenny."
Mildred turned away from her old college tutor and looked around the Great Hall again. There was still no sign of Constance. Mildred thought for a moment. The Potions teacher was not a particularly gregarious person and probably had found so much socialising to be rather wearing. Mildred was certain she would not have left without speaking to her so probably she had taken the opportunity to look round the College. Mildred left the Great Hall in search of her.
She made her way through the familiar candle lit corridors, visiting the Library, the Potions Lab and even the Lecture Theatre, as well as other places. There was still no sign of Constance but everywhere she went brought a flood of nostalgic memories. She remembered lectures and practical classes, sometimes intensely interesting and at other times mind numbingly boring. There were memories of long hours spent studying in the Library and other times just hanging out with her friends or with Cas in their dorm. Some of those memories were rather more traumatic, from the stone gargoyle Nick Hobbes had brought to life near the beginning of her First Year to that final terrifying battle with the Whisperer just a week before graduation. But whether exciting or boring, pleasant or frightening, there was no denying it was her experiences here that had made her the witch she was today.
There had still been no sign of Miss Hardbroom and Mildred didn't see her until she ventured into the College's East Cloister. Through the delicately carved stone pillars she saw the Potions teacher standing in the Inner Courtyard, looking at the enchanted tree that produced a different fruit each month of the year. As Mildred walked towards her the air was filled with the pungent aroma of ripe lemons. Miss Hardbroom turned around at the sound of her footsteps on the cobblestones. It was very odd seeing her in a pale yellow summer dress with matching hat, but unlike her pupils Mildred felt no desire to laugh. She knew what an enormous concession it had been for Constance to put aside her traditional witch's black, even for one day. There was a brief silence before the older witch spoke.
"I envy you the three years you spent here Mildred, I really do!"
"Didn't you come to Weirdsister?" Mildred asked in surprise.
"No, although I did my teacher training here in Cambridge." Her smile was a little bitter. "I took my undergraduate degree at the college run by Broomhead. As I'm sure you can imagine, my experience of college was far less happy than yours."
Mildred thought it would probably be best to change the subject.
"I wanted to thank you for that little surprise you had waiting for me outside the Chapel," Mildred said. "I really appreciated it."
"It seemed appropriate." Constance Hardbroom replied. "And the Fourth Years were very eager to do it."
"I'm really going to miss them next year," Mildred said.
"Of course you will," the older witch agreed. "As I will. I miss all our girls when they finally leave."
"Even me?" Mildred asked in surprise.
"Yes, as unbelievable as it might sound," the Potions teacher admitted. "I doubt the feeling was reciprocated however. I expect you were delighted to be finally free of me!"
"I was sometimes, but at other times I did miss you and Cackles," Mildred confessed and then laughed. "And I didn't get completely free of you even here. On the night of my induction into the College it was an image of you that popped out at me, when I faced the All Seeing Eye at the Gate of Humility."
"How very appropriate!" Miss Hardbroom smirked at her. "I trust I gave you a good telling off?"
Mildred laughed again. "Of course! Told me I was rushing into things without thinking, as usual. Then when I said I was old enough to make my own decisions I got told I needed to learn to live with them."
"Admirable advice. I hope you took it to heart?"
"Well I tried!" Mildred admitted. "I didn't always succeed I'm afraid. But my most recent decision, to marry Ben, well that's something I have thought through very thoroughly and something I have no doubts I can happily live with."
"I'm very pleased to hear it!" Constance Hardbroom smiled gently. "Congratulations, Mildred. I hope you and your young man will be very happy together."
She stepped forward and the two witches, so different in age and outlook, but so similar in other ways, hugged fiercely.
"And where are you going for your honeymoon?" Miss Hardbroom inquired, releasing Mildred from her embrace.
"Europe, well a sort of grand tour of European countries, especially France and Germany." Mildred replied with a rather mischievous grin. "Ben is a huge wine buff and I suspect he's hoping to visit some of the more famous vineyards in those countries. He just doesn't know yet I've caught on to his little scheme!"
"Well you don't seem to mind." The Potions teacher observed.
"Oh I don't," Mildred assured her. "I don't care where we go really, as long as we're together. And I'm sure it will be interesting. I just hope we're both not totally plastered when we finally get back to England!"
"I trust not indeed! Remember the new school year starts the first Monday in September."
"I know," Mildred nodded. "And I must say I'm really pleased you and Miss Cackle decided I should continue with my present form group when they advance to Second Year."
"You have established a very close rapport with the First Years so it would be foolish not to continue that." As surprising as it was Mildred couldn't help noticing that her old teacher was regarding her with obvious pride. "You have done extremely well in your first year as a teacher Mildred, but there is still a great deal of work for you to do at Cackles."
Mildred smiled at the woman who had been the bane of her existence as a schoolgirl, but who was now her colleague and her friend.
"I can't wait!"
The End
A/N I've finally done it, I've completed another multi-chapter story! Thank you to everyone who had favourited or reviewed for your support and please let me know what you think of the completed story. Overall I'm quite pleased with it. In fact oddly enough the only thing I'm not too happy with is the title! I tried to think of a better title than 'A Cause for Concern' but couldn't come up with one. I had planned to work the present title into the story somehow but never got round to it. But if anyone has a good suggestion for an alternative I'd be willing to consider changing it, even now.
I do have another story about Mildred planned, although it will not be in the same universe as this one and she will be a bit older, about 24 or 25. Although it will be primarily centred on Weirdsister College instead of Cackles I'm going to post it as a WW story, as Constance Hardbroom will be the other main character and there will be prominent roles for other WW characters including Enid Nightshade and Charlie Blossom. The provisional title is 'Neutral Magic.' Nothing has been written yet but I do have a fairly detailed plot outline so I hope to post the first chapter before too long.