Hey so that week turned into two years? woops. my plan is to split this story in half for ease of access, (first day one side and this Broomstick test the other) but for now, have an update. hope it is comprehensible, and you're okay in this werid werid time. take care and thanks for reading.

Those of a squemish dispostion might want to just straight up skip

51. Stake Through The Heart and Millie's Too Blame

Its sharp pointy end a heading straight for HB …

There are a few ways to kill a vampire. A vampire can heal from most injuries; especially if that creature is also a witch who can use medicinal magic and spells.

But a wooden stake through the heart is not one of those such injuries.
And, even with vampire reflexes, it was only by sheer dumb luck that Constance Hardbroom narrowly avoided taking an impromptu flying pointy stick to said heart.

Mis Hardbroom made three split second deductions. Her first thought was to throw up another shield over little first year girls behind her. Simultaneously her second was to vanish out of the path the oncoming missile.

Then Constance realised a microsecond later due to the velocity and momentum vs magical transference theory 101 there wasn't enough time to transport herself out of the way fully, and lurched back mid-spell, half a mass of blag smog and light, half still there. Just a shame the 'still there' half tripped over her own feet.

Vampires are normally very elegant and cat like compare to normal mortals. Normally. The only cat like reflex HB demonstrated was the noise she made, that could almost be mistaken for tomcat. With that cry and a thud, Constance solidified with a start and fell backside first on the cobbles in heels-over-head fashion, back out of the broomsticks way.

It was a very near miss too. The broom missed her by the skin of her fangs, shooting through the space she'd literally just been occupying. Had it been viewed in slow motion under a lens, one would see the stake whip up the smoke of her very form with its air current, and skim right past her close enough splinters in her dress. But it did not however pierce her heart. The moment of panicked clumsiness saved her undead life. Not that Constance would on ever, even pain of a pointy stick, admit it. Nor would she ever hear the end of it from staff members who'd witnessed it and the Hubble-like ungainly heap HB ended up in.

Others weren't so lucky.

Unfortunately Mildred's rouge half broomstick, still gaining speed, ping-ponged off the shield (right at Harriet's eye line), then again at a right angle off a wall. And, struck someone else instead.

Four someone else's in fact. Or two and a few bits of someone's depending on your outlook on 'life', 'death' and how picky you are as to what count as a staking. Again it all happened so fast one would need a slow-motion camera to have got an accrete description.

What happed was, Ethel away from the other first years to tattle tale had been line of fire along with another teacher. But at the same time Ms Tiffany Gullet had turned to bolt out of the way, another teacher (One Miss Imogen Drill) had put Ethel Hallow's safety above her own.

Ethel was spun about out the way and Miss Gullet crashed into Miss Drill. So, instead of pinning the fairy student like a butterfly, the broomstick stake crashed into both teachers. Or more through both teachers. Gullet at (if she had one,) diaphragm height though one side and out the other. Miss Drill at-

Well it all happened so fast many would argue later it must be a trick of the light and that it missed her? But there was a rather nasty wet ripping noise as the broom tore first through the well-dressed skeleton, right though up to the other wad spellotape at her side and the jagged pointy out the back of the impaled Imogen's best fleece, unbloodied.

Even then the broom didn't stop. It carried on its velocity. And it must have snagged on something, because it dragged the Missus Gullet and Drill a good seven feet along with it, to the horrified the screams and yelps and gasps of the audience!

Then - as if things couldn't possibly any worse for Mildred, - then ghost or not, the pair, (well Miss Drill) crashed into Miss Cackle taking her along with them for the wild ride before they Slammed to a halt with the Broom Pinning the three of them -

Well four of them? Three and a quarter? Mr Blossom tried wasn't known for his wits, but he had tried at least to catch them. Or stop the runaway broom.

Instead it's pointy end went through the gap between the Ulna and radius of his arm and wretched him along the floor for the last moment with a thud as wood hit wood.

So As if things couldn't have possibly gotten any even worse for Mildred, what with the fumbled BAT leading to an unlucky impromptu skewering of head mistress slash ghost or skeleton or a pe teacher, it snagged a zombie as well.

It wasn't a very long ride at least before they then Slammed to a halt. With the Broom Pinning the three and a bit of them to the blackboard like an unlucky thirteen-legged insect.

All of that happened in about four seconds. The whole thing, from the walk talkie being zapped to now happened in about twenty second in total.

The screams suddenly stopped. There was a very tense uncomfortable silence. The disbelief was palatable. Made worse by a third year rushing off to be sick. HB scrambled up as fast as her dress and magic would allow it. But even she to momentarily stunned to function right now.

Miss Gullet like a Foosball player had started complaining hell for leather, while trying not to tip over on her axis slash hip bone; her feet scrambling for purchase on the cobbles, waving her clipboard all the while.

Although not effected by the stake Amelia found herself momentarily Squashed between Miss Drill and the board with Mr Blossoms arm somewhere in her shoulder and through her face. It is very uncomfortable for a ghost to be squashed; they are not very used to it. Unable to go out through Imogen or Tiffany, she had to push and off slide out the other way through the black board to get free, and then floated back around to assess the damage.

"Imogen? Tiffany? Mr Blossom?"

" M fne 'Eadmiiisssstress." Mr Blossom grunted face down on the floor. He seemed to be having trouble getting his other limbs to coordinate enough to stand back up.

"Yes. Everything's under control! All good just-!" Miss Drill said as she slid back along the handle a little with a wince. Then reached around the trashing skeleton to hold the unsharpened end of the handle with one hand, while she tried to push them off the board with the other, straining to push and pull three of them free. Nothing happened. Apart from the gooey sound of wood on bone on flesh on wood.

Miss Drill gave up, bumped her head back against the blackboard and sighed.

"Actually …a little help?"