Sorry it's so late, hope you had a good halloween. enjoy!
The bell for lessons went. And the four sneaking first years went to their next lesson; a library session watched over by Mr De Bloom and shared with the forth years. It seemed that, although Ms Scales was to take them for English and latin, a fire breathing dragon was not welcome in room full of old paper.
Mildred learnt quickly not to make assumptions or stare at her class mates. even though others goggled at her for being- well, herself. Mildred wasn't sure if they were staring at here more for her entrance to the school or her being AT the school. Overnight, and over break time, the rumours had spread amongst the student body of Millie, a common non monster witch . With folks like Ethel and some nastier girls adding fuel to the fire. So that first shared lesson or so Mildred the Human faced some odd looks and questions. And that was just between her fellow day walkers.
After the rush of the flying lesson and discovering the Mark 3 the rest of the day flew by in a rather blur. Mildred would never have guessed magical school could be like 'real' school in that sense.
Potions, their next lesson, was brilliant…at first.
They filed into the room under HB's watchful gaze and it seemed such a different place then it had been in form. Little caldrons stood ready on unlit burners. tools and equipment lined their desks. there was a rack for drying herbs that Mildred hadn't noticed at the back of the room earlier. Now it had been lowered down from the ceiling to an easy reach, the smells wafting around them. The store cupboard unlocked and open revealing all sorts of ingredients and potions. And thin smoke poured out of the bubbly cauldron on HB's desk. The hints of all sorts of magical potential hung about that lab. Mildred could almost taste it in the air when they responded to Miss Hardbroom's "Good afternoon girls."
Even Miss Hardbroom was different. The vampire seemed more at ease with them then Mildred had seen her so far. Less shouty but no less firm. That ghost of a smile even played about her fangs a little at times. Maybe it was because now the Mark three was away? Perhaps she was More at home in An working potions lab? Or HB was always happier to be inside during the afternoon. Miss Hardbroom's flying was excellent but teaching potions was her thing. She certainly looked the part as she measured and brewed and other witchy stuff involved in making potions. Again looking as Mildred thought a Real Witch. And Mildred was enthralled for at least ten minutes. But then HB went on about Lab safety, Making sure they knew how to correctly hold knives and how to light cauldrons. blah blah blah, All the boring stuff.
They didn't get to brew a potion that first lesson. (The other girls had had to show their own varying degrees of potion brewing skills in their entrance exams. And they all must have passed to be here? Mildred wondered how she'd have done. An A? for Abysmal. ) But they to test the potion at least. In pairs they were given a sample of colour changing potion from the teachers cauldron, to test on a bunch of leaves. But HB even made that boring. she had them writing things down, working out how much produced what effect on what leaf . And making them answer questions like,
"Who can tell me what is the common name for a Mayweed?",
"Is that clear Mildred?"
and "Harriet Goodcharm are you chewing gum?"
Very dull indeed.
At Six o'clock they packed up their things and trouped back to the hall for Their dinner. A lunch that was also Group A's breakfast. Or Prehaps Brunch would be a better label? Like breakfast, lunch wasn't great. And it took a lot longer to queue up for. Again with the whole school packed into the one hall it was very noisy. But more clatter and half asleep grumblings then the excitable ruckus of the new term feast. HB unfortunately made good on her promise on their earlier detentions. as they put their dirty plates away, a prefect sent Maud and Mildred to classroom two, while everyone-else went out for lunch break.
Once they found it, Mildred was surprised to find the detention wasn't deserted. She had thought this early in the year she and Maud would be the only ones. They were the only first years true; but there was another seven and a half girls there. and at least four of them were third years. Mildred even recognised two of them. The unlucky ogre who'd smashed up the game of skittles; and the rabbit looking like creature Miss Gullet had caught swinging on her chair at yesterday's welcome feast.
"You two get one for skiving and I get two days for not sitting on a seat properly?" she squeaked, her fur on end. "Miss Crotchet that's not fair!"
"Life seldom is, Jessica. Face the front." Miss Crotchet had said and returned to her spell-duko.
At half past seven, Maud and Mildred raced to their Spell class, worried they were late. but yet the twenty strong class- (group A joining the day walkers for a joint lesson.) -were still waiting for a teacher to arrive. Which teacher they weren't certain. There was quite a debate going on as Mildred and Maud arrived. There seemed to be a mix up in time tables as groups a and b had different teachers listed for taking the lesson.
"I thought we had Miss Gullet?"
"No Miss Nightingale. Here see- seven thirty Spells."
"But it's getting dark?"
"Maybe we have Professor Gimlet and she's already here."
So imagine Mildred Maud Ruby and Jadu's horror when Miss Cackle suddenly floated through the door!
To be fair everyone had jumped a bit at that.
(Actually Harriet even fainted during their first spells lesson with the headmistress! a lot of girls squealed too. Something to do with the spider Miss Cackle would make appear later. who'd have thought monsters would suffer from arachnophobia? Especially when Mildred had seen at least three spider students so far!)
But Mildred had forgotten Fenny's mentioning that Miss Cackle liked to take a few first year lessons now and then. Instead, petrified they'd been busted for their earlier eavesdropping, she and her friends spent much of the first half of the lesson in a state of nervous waiting. Waiting for her to summon them forward or give them a detention most horrid. but it never came.