"And all together now- Altma, Agba, Sansiba Calendula!"
"Altma, Agba, Sansiba Calendula," Echoed the class.
"Easy now and gently down. Well done girls." Miss Cackle smiled as the class lowered Mildred back to the floor. "Thank you, Mildred. You can stop trembling and return to your seat now…And do up those boot laces while you're at it."
Mildred opened her eyes and did as she was told relived to be back solid ground. She would had much rather try squashed frogs for breakfast dinner and tea every day from now on then have that hover charm used on her again. Eighteen hover charms to be precise.
Instead of calling Jadu, Millie, Ruby and Maud, out for their earlier misdemeanour, the head ghost got straight on with teaching a simple levitation spell. Miss Cackle had had the girls at the beginning testing it on some knobbly looking windfall apples first. It took two attempts for Mildred to just to make hers hop an inch up of the desk and hang for a moment. But then it had dropped, rolled off the table bounced off the floor and somehow shot upwards hitting the ceiling with a splat.
"Perhaps performing a joint spell might be in order." Miss Cackle had said, looking up at pulpy mess. "Much easier for young witches to perform when learning a new spell if working as group."
and Mildred, sitting unfortunately at the front of the class been volunteered as Guinea pig. Or possibly that was an excuse given her individual attempt was now dripping juice on the floor.
Having only read Spells for Beginners and given The Standard book of Spells a quick glance over in her preparation for staring school, Mildred's basic Latin currently left a lot to be desired. But, - other than flying again and the not actually being all that good at it (yet), -Mildred found spells to be a fast favourite class.
Getting her head around magical theory without the physical trying out of any spells proved very tricky indeed. Mildred knew the basics of spells. levitation, summoning/vanishing, moving, changing, creating/destroying) etc. But knowing and learning the basics are two different things. Knowing the basics had led to more accidents then before Mildred had known it was magic. If fact Mildred was no longer allowed to deliberately her magic in the house. or unsupervised after the incident with the curtains.
even though the very few spells she had deliberately tried here at Cackles' had gone wrong or done nothing at all, Spell class made Mildred believe she could be a witch after all.
No one avoided her here for being magic. Not like summer. A summer spent in her bedroom away from anyone Mildred might know from school. Where other kids had ridden past her house as dares. Or a summer sometimes Stood in the woods trying to direct her powers into nature like in the books. With mum stood behind a tree out the way while dad sat with the car ready just in case of an emergency. Or secretly hiding in the garden shed hoping not to burn it down.
Now despite only able to move a pencil (there wasn't enough apples to have a second go.) Mildred could really feel her magic tuning up, her heart filling in wonder, the static sparks in her bloodstream happy to be put to work. And it felt brilliant, like a cool balm or a warm bath over her.
For the first time since her magic had lashed out and kept lashing out, Mildred felt that the still-new feeling under her skin in her heart was no longer a curse. but a tool. Here was A safe space for it to sing, to be used. To craft and create, to learn and help and have fun with. And couldn't wait to cast another spell.
And yet the others seemed to find the class boring! like maths in a common school. Their homework was to practice the spell for next lesson and pick another beginner spell any of their choosing to learn or improve upon. Mildred couldn't believe it when everyone groaned! Why would any one complain about such a task?
But they did, under their breath.
"Please Miss Cackle-,"
And As well as complaining she already knew all those spells, Ethel had some other gripe that the words not matching what she'd been taught. Only she said that aloud to the headmistress.
"And then in the standard book of spells here It says here 'Zanista Tartra' not 'Sansiba Calendula'!"
"Yes, well I was taught one way, you another. and the witch who compiled that has published a third version. All of them work. Possibly one version is better for some then another." Miss Cackle replied.
"My cousin couldn't use 'Calendula'." Maud shrugged. Then because everyone was looking at her now said in a rush, "she used Sansiba Tartra in her exams."
"But- but then the Latin is wrong completely." Ethel said puzzled. (it was the first time Mildred had seen the fairy with an expression that wasn't mean in some way. Ethel was very pretty when she wasn't looking smug or angry. And it struck Mildred as a shame because that was the only expressions the fairy so far seemed to wear.) "If the spells directions aren't straight forward how can that work?"
"Indeed. Spell are not like potions you know." Miss Cackle said. "They're an art yes, but not so written down. They are a verbal tool with a verbal history. And like accents and verbal history so many of you will be told different spells for the same effect." She paused, going through the front desk to sit on the chair.
"Someone, I forget who now, once defined flying as 'falling, but missing the ground'. Spells are a bit like that..."
"Like an accident miss?" Mildred asked trying to understand. And then Mildred felt a bit silly for asking because there were a few sighs, and someone tittered. But Miss Cackle took her seriously at least, much to many girls (but mostly Ethel's) surprise.
"Yes Mildred, what a good analogy. As if you're encouraging a very particular accident to happen!" Miss Cackle beamed, "the right word Ursula-."
"Ethel. I'm Ethel Hallow Miss Cackle."
"Oh, yes - Ethel of course you are, My apologies. The right words are sometimes not as important as the right feeling! Or else we wouldn't have wordless spells. A spell is merely a spring for your magic to be directed from. A spell from the heart is much more effective than one just read aloud. So, you put your emotions and needs into your spell and you will encourage that particular 'accident' to happen."
Seeing a sea of somewhat confused faces Miss Cackle got up and explained, a wave of a hand causing chalk to write and illustrate on the board. "So perhaps compassion, the want to help another, if one is perhaps evoking a healing chant? Your own Happiness into wishing someone some good luck. Or just simply by being peckish one might use that feeling in levitating the biscuit tin off a high out your reach shelf."
The last one got a giggle from the class.
"So, do good feelings make for good magic then Miss?" Tansy asked.
"But then you'd have to be happy ALL the time." Drucilla countered.
"Yes. And no." Miss Cackle answered. Rather vaguely.
"It is good to focus on the happy but all those feelings 'bad' as they might be are important. Feelings and how you use or act on them makes you what you are…"