Hecate stood austerely in front of the class. Her pale face held a stern expression. Beside her, Pippa was spotless, not a speck of buttercream in sight. The blonde witch tried to emulate the strict nature of her girlfriend, but even her best attempt came across as warm and open.
The potions teacher stared at the first years in front of her. It always surprised her how much the young witches grew up in their first year. Before her, the girls were no longer the spellbound children from selection day, instead they were the young witches that represented the future of the craft. "Now girls, there will be a written section and a practical section to your examination this afternoon," she paused for effect.
Ethel's hand shot into the air. "Yes, Ethel Hallow." Hecate said, irritation tainting her tone.
"Miss Hardbroom, I haven't heard of any other years having to do two parts to their potion exam. Why can't we just do the written exam like everyone else?" Ethel complained.
"What, prey tell, would be character building about that?" Hecate sneered. "This examination is designed to test not only your potions knowledge, but also your abilities in potion making. Your written examination will cover all of the aspects of potion making that you have covered in lessons this year. This will be followed by the practical examination. I have selected suitably challenging potions. To ensure that no one is found to be copying their classmate, you will each be allocated a different level five potion, and you will be awarded higher marks if you manage to brew it from memory." Hecate waved her hand nonchalantly, and exam papers and pens appeared in front of the girls. "You may begin."
Mildred opened the paper with bated breath. She wanted to prove to Miss Hardbroom just how much she had learned from her. The first question read:
Name and describe the function of the ingredients found in a classic sleeping draught.
Mildred breathed a sigh of relief, she could easily answer that. She set to work, adding details about each ingredient.
Another question asked for labelled sketches of the ingredients in a beauty potion, she drew detailed images of the ingredients used and labelled them. The next question asked for the correct incantation for a weather spell. Mildred smiled, remember the Spelling Bee, and wrote her answer. She raced through the paper, expecting to be caught out by a difficult question. Instead, she was surprised to find she had covered almost everything in the exam. She excitedly wrote her answers, adding in extra details she had covered in her detentions with Miss Hardbroom, or had read in textbooks during her late night revision.
Hecate walked up the aisle between the desks, she noticed that most of the girls seemed to be struggling to answer the questions. Of course, there were the usual students, like Ethel Hallow, who regurgitated the contents of their potions textbooks back onto the page, but most of the girls seemed suitably challenged. She walked past Mildred and was delighted to see the number of pages the girl had filled with her spidery writing.
Hecate glanced at Pippa. The blonde witch was standing at the front of the classroom. She was supposed to be assisting with invigilating, but every time Hecate looked at her, she found the witch's brown eyes met her own. They smiled at one another.
The only sounds in the room were the scratching sounds of pens drawing out answers, and the flutter of pages being turned. Mildred flipped over her exam paper. The back page consisted of two questions. The first asked:
What is the responsibility of a witch when brewing potions?
Mildred's heart sank, she had never read anything about the responsibilities of a witch. The student eagerly tried to recall if anything had been mentioned in her detentions or lessons, but to her frustration, she couldn't remember any mention of it. She decided to leave that question until last, and instead focus on the second question which asked:
List the possible potions that could be brewed in the practical examination.
She thought of the rosemary from the broomstick exam and thought of all of the level five potions that incorporated rosemary. She recalled that Miss Hardbroom had said that each student would have to brew a different potion. Mildred counted her classmates. Fifteen including her. So that meant at least fifteen different potions. She scribbled down the numbers in a list and tried to remember potion names and ingredients. Satisfied she had adequately answered that question, she turned her focus to the previous question, still at a loss of how to answer it.
"You have five minutes remaining." Hecate called out, not looking up from the timepiece around her neck. She returned to the front of the classroom and stood at Pippa's side. Hecate's hands fiddled agitatedly with the pendant, the last five minutes of the exam always felt like an age to her.
The girls rushed to add last minute details into their answers. In what seemed like seconds to them, the exam was over and their papers had magically relocated themselves to a neat pile on the potions teacher's desk.
"You may have a thirty minute break, after which, I expect to see you all at your desks for the practical examination. Do not be late." Hecate told her first years. They sprung from their seats at once and scuttled out of the door.
When the girls were settled into their seats, Hecate drew their attention to a cauldron containing the sprigs of rosemary each with one of fifteen potion names written on neatly cut out strips of paper wrapped around the stem.
"You will each retrieve your rosemary. There will be no swapping of potions once you have read them, and there will be no opportunity to alter the magic that will be expected of you once the potion has been brewed." She carried the cauldron around the desks to allow each student to be reunited with their herbs.
Felicity carefully unfolded her paper and groaned. Written in her teacher's familiar rigid handwriting, it read:
Strength Potion - You must be able to lift a stone taken from the castle wall.
"Strength potions aren't very fashionable, Miss Hardbroom. Are you sure I can't swap with someone else? Like maybe Drusilla?" she complained.
A stern stare from the potions teacher told her that this was not an option.
Enid ripped open her paper and frowned at its contents.
Grow Legs Potion - You must make a potato grow a minimum of four legs. They school record is twelve legs.
Ethel was next, and received:
Silencing Potion - You must brew a potion to silence every noise you make for twenty four hours.
"I have to be silent for a whole day? Miss Hardbroom, that's not fair! Can't I give my potion to a frog?"
Whilst the potion assignments were typically random, Hecate had specifically assigned the silencing potion to Ethel after her attempted sabotage of Mildred's grade. The spiteful student had certainly fallen from grace in the deputy head's opinion. "As I made clear earlier, there will be no debate around your potion assignment, Miss Hallow. It will do you good to learn to listen to others, rather than talk over them."
Ethel scowled.
Stony faced, Hecate turned and offered the cauldron to Maud. The head of first year pushed her glasses up her nose and ceremoniously took her rosemary sprig.
Finding Potion - You must find a lost desk lamp in this classroom.
She smiled, finding potions were something you frequently practiced when you were friends with Enid and Mildred.
Hecate walked along the desks, students picked their potions. She finally arrived in front of Mildred. The girl gulped nervously, and took her rosemary from the cauldron.
Portal Potion - You must open two portals, one at each side of the classroom, and step through them.
Mildred stared at her teacher with wide eyes. A portal potion had only briefly been touched upon in lessons, but the first years had never had a chance to brew one. She had read about them in her revision, and they seemed no more complex than any other level five potion, but Mildred would have preferred to pick a potion she knew she could brew. Still, at least this was an opportunity to brew this potion. Mildred knew that Ethel would be seething to have not been given a new potion to brew. Hecate gave Mildred an encouraging nod, and returned to Pippa's side at the front of the classroom. She clicked her fingers and clean cauldrons appeared in front of the girls.
"You have access to the full range of base herbs and a selection of specialist ingredients. You may or may not need to use all of them. The potions textbooks are on the shelf, however you will lose marks if you use them. You have forty five minutes, you may begin."
"Out of my way! I need that." Ethel jostled her way to the front of the class and pried a jar of salamander scales from Drusilla's hands. "Sorry Drusilla, it's just you know how important it is that I come top of the class, and, well, you know that it's not like you would ever get a good grade anyway." She turned back towards her desk, and flicked Drusilla in the face with her ponytail.
"Silence girls! No conferring." Miss Hardbroom commanded.
Enid ran straight to the potions textbooks. She didn't care about coming top of the class, but she did care about passing. It made sense to her to get the potion right, rather than risk getting zero percent for not managing to brew the correct potion at all.
While the other girls settled back into their desks and began preparing the ingredients for their potions. Mildred remained at the ingredients bench, a concentrated look on her face. She brushed her hand gently over daffodil stems, feeling for their energy.
In one of her detentions, she had asked her teacher how she selected the best ingredients. Miss Hardbroom had gladly obliged and shown her, despite the fact that it was magic way beyond Mildred's years. The girl had shown a natural aptitude for selecting well balanced ingredients, and Hecate had been left wondering what other untapped talents Mildred might have.
Mildred plucked a stem from the centre of the pile, and added it to her small collection of ingredients. She followed the same approach to select her remaining herbs and hurried back to her desk, tripping up the steps as she went.
Hecate made eye contact with Pippa and raised her eyebrows, trying hard to keep her face serious. Some things about Mildred would never change.
Both teachers wandered around the room, watching the potion preparation and making notes. Hecate cringed as she watched a student carelessly tear the rosemary leaves off of the stem and throw them into her cauldron. She hoped at least some of the girls had better understanding of the ingredients.
By the end of the forty five minutes, the room had transformed into a colourful mess. A rainbow of glowing cauldrons lit the benches in front of the exhausted looking first years.
"Your time is up, first years. Stop stirring." Hecate addressed the room. "Now we will see how successful you have been in proving your potion making skills."
The tall witch waved her hand and a large grey stone from the castle wall appeared in the centre of the room. It glistened with the magical traces of Hecate's summoning spell. "Felicity Foxglove, you may demonstrate your strength potion."
Felicity carried her cauldron to her teacher's bench and softly set it down. She stared at it for a moment, as if looking at it would mean she wouldn't have to perform the strength spell. Then, remembering that Miss Pentangle was in the room, she carefully ladled its pink contents into a pewter mug and took a sip. The young witch glanced at the blonde teacher to see if she was watching. Satisfied that she was paying attention, Felicity resolved to perform the spell.
She turned to face the large stone and recited "Rosehip wild, and bumble bees, give me the strength of Hercules." She took a step towards the stone and placed her hands under its cool, rough edge. Effortlessly, she scooped it up as if it were a large balloon. She grinned triumphantly "I did it!" Immediately she turned back to face Miss Pentangle, looking for her approval. Pippa smiled warmly at the jubilant girl.
Felicity dropped the stone to the ground, forgetting its weight. A large crack spread out across the classroom floor and up the stairs, causing the rest of the girls to scream.
"Thank you, Miss Foxglove, that will be sufficient." Hecate vanished the stone and fixing the floor in one wave of her hand. She indicated for the subdued girl to return to her desk.
Hecate surveyed the room. For once in her teaching career, she looked beyond the cauldrons and at her students' faces. Mildred looked like she was going to be sick, Drusilla looked on the verge of tears, in fact, most of the students looked incredibly worried. Hecate wondered if this was down to usual examination nerves, or whether she had become so fearsome to her students, she was perhaps more frightening than the exam. She called upon each student one by one, many students left the centre of the classroom downcast and humiliated from their failed potion attempts. There were a few acceptable potions attempts, but nothing stood out to Hecate at the standard she expected.
At the back of the classroom, there was one student who didn't seem so concerned. Enid appeared to be daydreaming.
"Enid Nightshade," Hecate's curt voice made Enid jump out of her chair.
"Yes, Miss Hardbroom?" Enid asked, scrambling to look like she was paying attention.
"This is your opportunity to showcase your potions prowess. Please bring your cauldron to the front of the room." Hecate motioned at the table, on which a potato sat. "Remember, your potato must grow a minimum of four legs."
Enid abruptly placed her cauldron on the table, causing the blue liquid to slosh out and over the potato. Shrugging with her usual charm, Enid laughed nervously and joked "I guess at least I don't have to put the potion on the potato now?"
Hecate pursed her lips.
Enid quickly regained composure. "Uh, tail of mouse and spiders eggs, please potato, grow some legs?"
The potato rocked gently from side to side before settling, still without legs. Exasperated, Enid shouted "Posion ivy collected on a whim, you must sprout at least four limbs!"
The potato began to rock again. Four leafy legs sprouted from one side of it, causing it to lose balance and roll over the side of the table onto the floor. Enid rushed to pick up the potato.
Hecate's eyebrows almost met her bun. "Are you finished, Enid?"
Enid shrugged, and presented the lopsided spud. "It has four legs, so I guess that's a pass right?"
"I expect better from my first years," Hecate sneered, vanishing the offending root vegetable with a look. "Miss Hallow, if you would be so kind as to bring your potion to the front next. Perhaps you can restore some faith in the future of the craft."
Ethel looked innocently at her teacher to appeal the spell choice one last time. Hecate simply motioned at the front of the classroom. With a scowl on her face, Ethel carried her potion to the table. She aggressively pushed her shoulder against Enid as she passed her, causing her classmate to almost over balance.
She placed her pale orange potion on the table, drank it from a small teaspoon, and quickly chanted "Broomstick cleaned with elbow grease, for the next twenty four hours there will be peace."
Hecate felt smug, it was often discussed among the teachers how much the know it all student liked to talk and she was pleased to have found a way to teach her to listen. "Thank you Ethel, now please read aloud this passage from the Potions Encyclopaedia to demonstrate your silence." She passed Ethel a large book open to a page on the magical uses of frogspawn.
Ethel's face immediately went red, remembering her frogspawn faux pas in front of Zac Hawthorn from Pentangle's. She turned to her potions teacher with her face indignant. Hecate nodded at the page. Defeated, Ethel tried to speak the first sentence. No audible sound came out of her mouth.
"Thank you Ethel, that was an exemplary example of a silencing spell. You may return to your seat."
Surprised at the rare compliment, Ethel ran back to her seat smiling.
"Maud Spellbody, it is your turn to show us what you have learned this year. Somewhere in this classroom, I have concealed a desk lamp. You must use your potion to find it."
Maud took a deep breath and straightened her back. She gently ladled some of her bright green potion into a pewter tankard and took a sip. She cleared her throat and bellowed "Fire dry, algae damp, reveal to me now this forgotten lamp."
Immediately, a chartreuse glow illuminated the location of the concealed lamp. A stone in a column supporting the heavy ceilings disappeared, showing a tasseled table lamp within. She reached into the column and held the lamp up in front of her. "It was hidden behind a concealment spell!" she cried.
"Congratulations Maud, a textbook example of a finding spell. Thank you."
Maud practically skipped back to her seat in glee. Enid leaned forward and patted her friend on the back, smiling at her success.
Hecate looked at the classroom of tired looking girls. One full cauldron remained. "And last, but perhaps, no longer least. Mildred Hubble, bring your cauldron to the front of the classroom."
Mildred was trembling, she picked up her cauldron, and slowly walked to the front of the classroom. She desperately didn't want to spill it, and knowing Ethel's penchant for tripping her, she decided to take the long route around the desks to the front of the classroom.
"Any time today Mildred." Hecate quipped.
Mildred finally reached the table and placed her cauldron carefully in the centre. She froze, unable to find the confidence to even ladle her potion. Her face was pale and she looked as anxious as she had at breakfast when she had expressed concern for her future as a witch.
"Go on Millie! You can do it!" Enid shouted from the back of the classroom.
Whilst Hecate would usually punish such an inappropriate outburst, Enid had shouted exactly what she was thinking.
Mildred slowly filled her ladle, watching the steam swirl and curl downwards. It had always mesmerised her that magical steam seemed to go down, rather than up. She tentatively sipped the lavender coloured liquid, and looked at her feet. "Uh-um I..." Her voice wobbled and broke as she tried to enunciate the spell. She glanced embarrassed through her eyelashes at her usually formidable teacher. Although she couldn't be certain, it seemed that Miss Hardbroom was silently willing her to succeed.
Mildred cleared her throat, tossed her plaits behind her shoulders and tried again, mustering as much confidence and power as she could. "Lemon balm and lavender bloom, open two portals, one each end of the room."
She waited with bated breath.
Two piercingly bright rings of light appeared, small at first, before growing to a few metres in height. The light emitted from the ebbed and flowed like a tide.
Mildred stood tall. The young witch exuded a new confidence in front of her peers. "I did it! I did it!" She cried.
Hecate used all of her best efforts to not smile. "You have indeed produced two portals." Mildred's face fell. "Now it is time for you to test their connection Mildred. Step through."
Mildred gulped. Gingerly she walked towards the nearest portal. She reached out her hand and gently pushed it through the glowing magical window. She grinned when she saw her hand appear through the portal at the other side of the room. Mildred paced a few steps back, and hurtling forward at full speed jumped into the portal.
Before the end of her last plait could enter the first portal, Mildred charged through the second. The girl waved her arms, flying towards a towering bookshelf laden with ancient tomes and jars of ingredients.
Hecate curled her fingers into a fist and Mildred was suspended in the air mid fall.
The formidable teacher opened her hand again, allowing Mildred to fall directly onto the ground, instead of into the ingredients shelf. The other students stifled their laughter at Mildred laying crumpled on the floor. "I may usually be able to repair most damage you cause, Mildred, but I cannot as easily replace some of my ingredients."
Mildred looked at her teacher apologetically. "Sorry Miss Hardbroom."
Hecate snapped her fingers, vanishing the portals. "Fortunately, no harm was done." She turned to address the room. "Thank you, first years, you have each shown shown somewhat adequate potion making ability today." Several woebegone girls visibly cheered up at this. causing Hecate to smile slightly. "I am sure that you would like to have some free time to rest before dinner. You may take your things and leave."
The chatter of the first years rose in volume as they began to leave and talk about the exams. Hecate watched them go, relieved that they didn't look too deflated.
"Miss Hardbroom," a small voice behind Hecate startled her.
"Yes," she drawled, she didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"I-I just wanted to say uh thank you. For turning my detentions into a positive experience and taking a chance on my learning." Mildred shifted from one foot to another, clutching her backpack. "I really hope I do pass my exams. I've decided that even if I don't get a high enough grade for you to tutor me next year, I still hopefully get to have you as a teacher, and that's good enough." She looked up at the tall woman. "I wanted to give you this, as a thank you, if that's alright? I haven't seen any of the other girls give teachers gifts before so I don't know if it's against the witches code or anything, but I just wanted to say thanks." Mildred blushed as she handed her teacher a rolled up piece of paper tied in a lopsided bow by an amethyst ribbon.
Hecate gingerly took the scroll as if it were more fragile than the rare ingredients she had saved moments ago. "Thank you, Mildred."
"Could you wait until I'm gone until you open it?" Mildred asked.
Hecate nodded.
"Thanks Miss Hardbroom, and thank you Miss Pentangle for being so positive today. See you at dinner!" Mildred scurried out of the classroom, clumsily banging the door behind her.
"Well Hecate, are you going to open it?"
I took Hecate a moment to draw her eyes away from the scroll in her hands and register what Pippa was saying.
"I- what if it's a joke, Pipsqueak?" Hecate trembled. "No student has ever thanked me for teaching them, what if it's just an end of term prank?" She turned the paper roll between her fingers like a baton.
Pippa put her arm around Hecate's waist. "My darling, I don't think Mildred is the type to be so cruel. Why don't you open it and see?"
Delicately, Hecate undid the bow. She took a deep breath and unrolled the paper.
She gasped.
Inside was a portrait of the striking teacher. It differed greatly from the harshly outlined drawing of a strict Miss Hardbroom that Mildred had exchanged with Maud via maglet at the beginning to the year. Instead, this detailed drawing depicted a passionate and knowledgeable witch, sharing her wisdom with an engaged class. At the bottom a scrawled message read:
Thank you for making potions so magical! Mildred H
Hecate blinked away the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes. "It's me," was all she could choke out before the teardrops fell thick and fast.
"It is you. You at your best." Pippa smiled.
Knowing that that last thing Hecate would want is for the focus to be on her, Pippa picked up an exam paper and flicked through it. She looked at her girlfriend with admiration. "Goodness Hecate, you cover so much with your first years. I wouldn't even know where to begin with brewing some of these potions, let alone teaching them. I would even need a reminder before brewing some of the potions from their practical exam."
Hecate felt her heart swell with pride. She had spent years curating her first year syllabus, ensuring it gave a broad, but technically sound base for the girls to progress their potion making skills off. "It's not like you to be so humble, Pippa. Maybe I will have to give you a private potions lesson while you are staying at Cackle's." She rolled the portrait up carefully, not wanting to crease the precious artwork. With a silent spell, she transferred the gift to her chambers to be framed and hung up later.
Pippa waved her hand, locking the door with a spell. "We have a few hours until dinner, what can we brew in that time?"
Hecate's eyes opened wide and doe-like. "Are you serious?" She tried to hide her enthusiasm.
Pippa nodded. "Of course Hecate dear. Why wouldn't I be?"
Hecate could think of many reasons. Years of being teased for being bookish had not been kind to her confidence. She shook off the memories and straightened her back. "No reason at all. Pippa. I have been working on one particular potion for a while, I would very much like to show it to you."
Pippa nodded keenly. "I'd love to see it!"
Hecate quickly gathered ingredients and began showing Pippa how she determined which ingredients had the best magical potency. A different energy seemed to radiate from Hecate as she spoke. Instead of being very calculated with her words, she spoke with more sincerity, changing between topics excitedly. Her voice rose and fell with her excitement and Pippa listened intently. She noticed how her girlfriend seemed to become more animated as she talked, almost as if she was becoming more comfortable to express herself. Yet again, Pippa felt a tinge of sadness for the person Hecate could have been, had she not been outcast by her peers at such a young age.
"So what does this potion do, Hiccup?"
Hecate smiled. "I'm surprised you haven't guessed already, Pipsqueak. You always had a talent for combining ingredients." She gently took Pippa's soft hands in her own and showed her how to get the most scales from snakeskin by scraping it against the bark of a hickory tree. Together they added the scales into a warm cauldron with the other ingredients and Pippa diligently stirred them until they dissolved into a pale grey liquid.
As the potion bubbled merrily, Hecate carefully delivered an incantation. "Animals grow, take your form softly, float up into the air become high and lofty."
Pippa tilted her head to see the cauldron better, wondering what the potion would do.
Hecate took her hand again and gently stroked it with her thumb. "This potion should cause the bubbles to become small animals as they rise to the surface. Any moment now, some should appear."
Both witches peered into the cauldron, hardly daring to blink in case they missed them.
Gradually, the tiny fizz of the simmering potion began to swell and grow. They slowly joined together with other neighbouring bubbles, merging to form shapes akin to balloon animals. Gently, the little bubble animals freed themselves from the potion and danced into the steam above.
Bubble ducks, pigs, bats and cats frolicked out of the cauldron in a parade to rival any zoo.
Pippa gasped at the beauty of a bubble giraffe as it floated out of the cauldron and into the air. It bowed its long neck towards her and galloped mischievously towards her outstretched hand. Just before it reached her, it burst into iridescent water droplets which showered onto her palm. Her mouth opened in wonderment.
"Hiccup, how on earth did you think of this? It's perfect." Pippa whispered, worried that if she spoke to loudly all of the bubbles would pop.
Hecate smiled at her girlfriend's admiration. "It came to me when I was in the bath, I was trying to think of a way to make bath time more interesting. Bubble animals seemed like a harmless way to introduce some... fun." She stumbled over the last word as if it were unfamiliar and uncomfortable to say. "It is such a simple potion, but it serves no function. I have been trying to find a way to teach it for years. Alas, it does not particularly align with the syllabus we teach at Cackle's. You are the first witch apart from me to ever see it in action."
Pippa goggled at her girlfriend. "Oh Hiccup! I can see so many uses for this potion. So many parents of young witches and wizards could benefit from making bath time more exciting! It could be used to teach children the names of animals, and even show them how delicate animals can be. It would be a great potion to teach students how fun and versatile potion making can be. I would certainly love to be surrounded by bubble animals in the bath too, it's just so inspiring!" Pippa smiled at her humble girlfriend. "If you are struggling to find a way to fit it into your lesson plans, why don't you teach it at a potions club? Or as a fun end of term activity? You could teach it tomorrow after I have taught a modern witching workshop!"
She reached out to a tiny bubble mouse and popped it with her little finger. The glittering liquid splashed back into the cauldron. "If we ever have children, I know they would love this just as much as I do!" She faltered, wondering if she had been perhaps a little too hopeful with her last statement.
Hecate quirked an eyebrow at her girlfriend. "I didn't know you wanted children, Pippa." she said, stirring the potion and sending another zoo's worth of bubble animals soaring into the classroom.
Pippa's breath caught. "As a matter of fact, I do." She hung her head, hiding behind a curtain of her hair. At least Hecate wouldn't be able to see the hurt on her face when she gave the opposite in response.
Surprised at her suddenly dispirited stature, the brunette witch scooped Pippa into her arms. She kissed Pippa's forehead gently, and smiled at the perfect lipstick imprint of her lips that remained. Hecate licked her thumb and carefully wiped it away. "Pipsqueak, I do too - one day." she whispered into her hair. "However, a future home full of little Pippa Pentangles and Hecate Hardbrooms would be quite the handful. I also think we have several other matters to deal with first."
Pippa nodded, "I think you would make a great mother, Hecate. You are just wonderful with the girls. Especially Mildred." She was trying hard to contain the warmth she felt in her heart. Instead it bubbled up inside her, spilling out of her in the form of the words "I love you, Hiccup."
Hecate froze. The last time anyone had told her they loved her was her great aunt Hyacinth before she had even enrolled at Cackle's. She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes. "I-I I love you too, Pipsqueak."