Chapter 5

Constance was awakened once again by the gentle mewling of her cat Morgana who had settled upon her young mistress's chest. Constance opened her eyes and once Morgana was certain her mistress was not going to fall asleep again, she leapt nimbly to the floor. Constance looked up at her bedroom clock and sat up in dismay. It was half past seven, she had overslept by an hour and the hallways outside her room were busy with the chatter and movement of her fellow students. She forced herself out of bed, attempting to gather the books needed for her 8 o'clock potions lab and dress at the same time. She paused on her way out to gently stroke her cat beneath the chin

"Thank you Morgana" she whispered before fleeing the room.

Her late night lesson had left her with aching limbs and a slow brain and so, despite Morgana's timely intervention, she arrived at the foot of the stairs just as the entrance hall clock halted at five minutes to eight. Abandoning all hopes of breakfast, she turned on her heel and made her way to Miss Fairwind's first floor potions laboratory.

Despite skipping breakfast she was the last to arrive, just as Miss Fairwind was about to shut the classroom door. This was the signal to latecomers that they had missed the chance to enter the class. Constance began to stutter an apology but Miss Fairwind bustled her in to the classroom saying "not to worry Constance, just in time! Take a seat now, quickly" Miss Fairwind could not have been more than 25. She was a small, almost elfin woman with piercing blue eyes and an unruly bob of jet black curls. Assigned to teach the first and second year potions classes that Mistress Broomhead had no time for, she was a talented potion maker and born teacher. Her classes universally adored her.

Constance slipped into the only remaining seat, at a cauldron with Catherine Widdershins. Catherine was a friendly and amicable witch who at four weeks into the term had already gained a reputation as the most accident prone witch in the college. Every spell and potion Catherine touched seemed to turn to disaster and for that reason, despite her good nature, she was the least desirable cauldron partner in the first year undergraduate class. Miss Fairwind directed them to page 17 in their potions book – a preservation potion and invited them to collect their ingredients from the front bench.

Five minutes into the lesson, Constance had already had to use an extinguishing spell on Catherine's sleeve which had caught fire when she let it trail beneath the cauldron as she reached for some dock leaves. Constance had already had cause to use the spell the previous week. Her Friday evening tutorial had once again involved conjuring a light, this while time reciting a list of spells and their incantations. Constance had arrived for the tutorial two minutes late according to Mistress Broomhead and so in order to "improve Constance's sense of urgency", Constance had been ordered to perform both tasks whilst stood on the tiled hearth – uncomfortably close to the fire blazing in the grate. Once the recitation had finished, which Mistress Broomhead made her repeat twice because she had mispronounced the incantation required for a summoning spell the first time, Mistress Broomhead had flicked her wrist causing a small tongue of flame to leap from the fire and set the hem of Constance's long skirt on fire. She had quickly called out the extinguishing spell to douse the flames. Mistress Broomhead had claimed she was testing Constance's ability to recall the incantations under duress. Constance supposed on this occasion she should be grateful for Mistress Broomhead's memorable lessons. Even her sleep deprived brain was able to recall the incantation quickly enough to save Catherine before any damage was done.

By half way through the lesson, Constance's head had filled with a gentle buzzing noise and her thoughts were moving at the pace of a very reluctant snail. Through gentle direction and correction from Constance, she and Catherine had added all their ingredients to their cauldron and were now allowing it to simmer for the allotted twenty minutes; the potion requiring nothing more than to be stirred eight times anticlockwise at the end of the brewing time. Constance let her chin rest on her hands and soothed by the simmering of the potion and the murmuring chatter of her class she soon let her eye lids close.

She was awoken by a loud bang and the smell of acrid smoke assaulting her nostrils. Dark grey smoke was streaming from their cauldron where Catherine stood, ladle in hand, looking decidedly guilty. Miss Fairwind appeared in front of their bench coughing slightly as she magically waved away the worst of the billowing smoke.

"Ladies!" she exclaimed "Please tell me after carefully weighing all those ingredients and allowing it to brew for twenty minutes you didn't stir it clockwise!"

Catherine glanced sideways at an exasperated Constance before turning back to Miss Fairwind.

"I'm sorry, Miss. It was my fault. I stirred it clockwise. You'd think being called Widdershins I would know which way was anti-clockwise by know wouldn't you!"

Miss Fairwind made a noise half way between a sigh and a laugh.

"But Constance" she said, turning towards her "why didn't you stop her!"

"I…I wasn't paying attention" Constance admitted.

Miss Fairwind rolled her eyes in exasperation, but Constance was relieved to see that she was also smiling.

"No harm done I suppose" she said, disappearing the girls' congealed potion with a light wave of her hand. "Right, everyone else please put your completed potions into your labelled flasks and place them on my desk for assessment. You two, hang on a minute at the end and I'll log this in your Tutor Records"

Constance felt an instant sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She reached into her bag and pulled out the small, slim black book with the college logo on the cover. Tutor Records were an important part of the college's system, having been introduced around a decade earlier when the Witch and Wizards Higher Education Board (WWHEB) had decreed colleges were not keeping good enough records of their students' progress. The book contained two sections; one titled "Achievements" where particularly notable or extraordinary achievements in the classroom were recorded and the other titled "Areas for improvement" where areas in which witches were struggling or underperforming along with any misdemeanours were recorded. Unlike Mistress Broomhead, most tutors did not run their tutorials according to a rigid programme of study. Instead they let their students' guide each session allowing them to identify areas from the week's learning that they would like to revisit or discuss. The tutor records were an important part of this providing a clear idea of where students needed most assistance as well as where penalties for rule breaking should be imposed.

So far Constance had racked up a considerable list of achievements, seemingly to the disinterest of Mistress Broomhead. Achievements, just like areas for improvement, were meant to be signed off by a student's personal tutor. Several of the staff had gently admonished Constance when adding new entries for not getting the previous achievements signed off. Constance had attempted just once to mention this to Mistress Broomhead, but her tutor had merely fixed her with a steely stare and said

"When there is something in there that I need to read Constance Hardbroom, I will know. Until then kindly do not try to tell me how to tutor my students"

Constance now merely muttered something about Mistress Broomhead signing them all off at the end of each term to any questioning staff who frequently rolled their eyes but knew better than to question the formidable witch's ways.

Until now though, the areas for improvement section had remained blank. As she approached Miss Fairwind's desk, she was felt certain that Mistress Broomhead was sure to know this evening that the Tutor Record contained something worth reading. Miss Fairwind completed Catherine's book first, writing "Needs to practice Preservation Potion" in her neat, cursive script.

"There are a lot of potions for practice in here now Catherine" Miss Fairwind gently chided

"Oh I know, Miss. I am completely hopeless aren't I?" Catherine replied cheerfully "but Mistress Merriweather says one day it will all just fall into place"

"Yes, well that may be Catherine. But I think a little concentration in the potions lab might just hurry things along!"

"I'll try, I promise. Thanks Miss" Catherine replied taking the small book from her teacher's hand before wandering away to her next class.

Miss Fairwind reached for Constance' book, leaning over to write out the same neat phrase.

"What happened Constance?" she asked, giving her fountain pen a slight shake before putting it to the paper "you are usually such a precise potion maker"

"I didn't really get much sleep" Constance replied softly

"Oh dear! Not studying too late I hope?"

"Something like that" she answered

"You really show great promise as a potion maker Constance. I must say, I am quite jealous of whoever your tutor is" Miss Fairwind gestured to the open Tutor Record before her.

"It's Mistress Broomhead" Constance replied even more softly

Miss Fairwind looked up at her sharply before returning her gaze in shock to the rapidly drying ink on the page before her.

"Oh you silly girl" she exclaimed "Why didn't you tell me before I…" she gestured to the recently written sentence and sighed as the black ink momentarily flashed a brilliant purple before returning to its original colour. "Well, it looks like it is too late now. I wonder what spell she has gone for this year… of course!"

She picked up the small book in both hands and passed it to Constance. Constance gasped in shock. The book looked exactly the same slim volume as it always had but it now weighed roughly the equivalent of two potions text books.

"In order to strive for perfection Constance, you must feel the weight of your mistakes" Miss Fairwind recited in such a good impersonation of Mistress Broomhead that Constance looked up at her startled.

"Listen, Constance" Miss Fairwind continued in her own voice, lowering her tone as her blue eyes met Constance's dark ones "this is very important. If you ever need help, you can trust me. I… I'll try and do what I can"

Before Constance had time to reply, Miss Fairwind folded her arms and vanished. But as she did so, the left sleeve of her dress slipped back to reveal her wrist and Constance saw all too clearly that it was encased in a thin, silver band.

[Author's note: Chapter 6 is on the way very soon. In the meantime, I would really value your feedback on the story so far! 30/04/17]