In retrospect, sending Mildred, a normal perfectly extremely ordinary human girl to Cackles might not have been a good idea.
Mind, Mildred and her parents had only accidentally discovered Mildred wasn't really 'normal' at all. But a Witch.
A normal perfectly extremely ordinary human witch; But a witch all the same.
A Witch whose powers had come out of nowhere and along with her normal clumsiness were causing accidental havoc in the small comprehensive. To the point Mildred's parents were advised by the head and a doctor that getting her a magical education would be more beneficial then her current year seven sats scores. And to the heath and welfare of both playground foundations and a local bullies medical records too.
With both parents and the rest of the family being without magic, Homeschooling was out. And an apprenticeship with a local crone, who now lived in a retirement home, didn't sound at all suitable. So they looked for alternatives.
There was a huge place in Scotland that would have been ideal. Apparently half the students were from non magical backgrounds. But trying to get hold of anyone from the school proved near impossible. So then did getting Mildred a transfer in at age thirteen rather then eleven. Something about missing records.
"Hogs wash," Mildred's dad had called it and moved on.
Pentangles only took witches who either had exceptional lineage or with exceptional talents, and had an even more exceptional bank account. None of which Mildred had as yet.
Salamanders and a couple of other small witch schools said she would be welcome. But they were all day schools and too far away, even on broom or boarding some days, to travel back and forth. The Hubbles could have moved house of corse, but decided that would be a back up plan and come back to it.
Then Camelots and Moonridge High, while both excellent, only took on boys and wizards. Mildred did argue that she could be a wizard rather then witch if she really wanted too. Not that she did but it was more the printable of the matter. So they were out of luck there.
Bottom of the pile had been Cackles.
The lady (witch) from the local council (coven) who'd popped over to see what Mildred could already do spell wise (not a lot) and to advise them on such matters, had been very hesitant to suggest it.
Why it'd been bottom of the pile the Hubbles couldn't under stand. The fees weren't unaffordable. Decent even, for a boarding school, and the holidays seemed fair. And, while it was nearer to Cardiff then it was closer to home, it wasn't even extremely far away so if they ever need to come to the school for emergencies or parents evening, her mum would only be on the road a few hours.
All right, the castle looked a little creepy and sad in the brochure. And it was odd where all the other school leaflets had had students smiling in posed pictures, this one didn't show any children at all. But there were rave reviews from both Ofstead and something called The Witches Guild, with emphasis on the "control over their magic and other abilities" girls would learn. And it was second joint top in the magical school league table for exam performance. It seemed perfect.
So a few telephone calls, and a reference form her current school later; Mildred was on the entry list for a scholarship that coming September.
Miss Cackle the headmistress even sent a personal letter of welcome. And said Mildred if she so wished may join the school into the first year despite the slight ages gap, so she could learn to be a witch from scratch. 'You're not our first girl to ever do so." She wrote, which was very reassuring to a nervous Mildred. Only Mildred had assumed Miss Cackle had just meant the first girl to go back a year or from a non magical family.
It was only in August and after they'd read the more-in-depth-then-the-pamphlet-welcome-pack that Mr and Ms Hubble realised that it wasn't just a school for well, … 'normal' witches.
Normal here meaning perfectly extremely ordinary human witches.
Normal perfectly extremely ordinary human witches like Mildred.
Because Miss Cackle's international academy for young Witches was advertised as 'a school for monstrously talented young ladies'.
And they had underestimated the monster bit!