A/N: I have always felt the events in the inspection episode upset Sybil more than she made out so this is how this came about!

Chapter Eight

Confronting HB

Sybil kept practising her one handed flying but everytime she panicked and ended up crashing, or nearly crashing if Ethel could stop her. She was annoyed with herself, everything else she was okay at now but she couldn't do the one handed flying.

"Oh it's hopeless, I can't do it" Sybil said, not feeling very brave at all in that moment after a whole lesson of her failing to fly one-handed. Ethel flew next to her and glared.

"Sybil Hallow, don't say you can't, our family is always going through so much rubbish and we are able to get through it, you can do anything, you are strong and brave deep down" Ethel told her, hating how her little sister thought she was hopeless at this and giving up, it was not in her nature.

"I don't want to let Esmerelda down…...she doesn't even have magic anymore…..I don't want her to think I am taking advantage of mine by not using them to my full potential, I don't want to disgrace our family name" Sybil said starting to cry softly to herself. Ethel was worried, despite being scared and fearful Sybil didn't cry much, she had being acting off since yesterday and when she asked her why she changed the subject. Ethel racked her brain for what could of upset yesterday and thought of one conclusion.

Yesterday the school had being inspected by Miss Doomstone, Sybil and her friends had given Miss Hardbroom a potion that made her nice and the inspector had nearly choked to death on a frog and then to top it off Miss Cackle had being fired.

"Are you upset because of the inspection? I know the school nearly got closed down and Miss Cackle got fired….but there is nothing we can do about that Sybil, I still don't know why you are so upset about it, she has never done anything for you" Ethel replied, wondering why the girl had taken it so badly.

"It's not that…..Miss Hardbroom yelled at me" Sybil cried into her hands. Ethel hovered in the air just looking at her younger sister, the woman yelled at everything and everyone for no reason, she therefore knew that whatever the woman had said to her had really upset her.

"Just ignore her, she would yell at the floor for making her shoes to loud if she wouldn't look crazy" Ethel replied. Sybil shook her head and cried more.

"I don't care about her shouting, it is what she said, I accidentally made my potion explode and then she told me that Esmerelda lost all her powers and I don't know what to do with mine and then said I was a disgrace to the name of Hallow" Sybil said crying, the words the woman had said to her still stinging in her chest.

"She said what!?" Ethel shouted, feeling the rage inside her already growing.

"She is right I am a disgrace, I am the one who should of lost my magic, Esmie is to talented not to have any" Sybil said as she cried more, not knowing why she was so upset, all she knew was it had hurt her because deep down she knew that was her worse fear, not being a proper Hallow.

"Right, let's sort this" Ethel said as she started to fly lower. Sybil saw her sister and followed her, not bothering to wipe her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Sybil asked, wondering what Ethel was going to do. The older blonde landed swiftly on the ground and Sybil followed suit, having a bad feeling Ethel was going to do something she will regret.

"Ethel where are you going? Ethel come back" Sybil said, her heart pounding from fear. Ethel didn't listen but walked down the corridor turning her head from side to side, clearly looking for something or someone, just then Miss Hardbroom walked out the dinner hall and Ethel walked over to her, broomstick still in hand, her eyes dark with anger.

"OI MISS HARDBROOM" Ethel shouted. Sybil flinched. She knew Ethel was about to have a go at the woman, oh no, her sister would end up getting herself expelled for attacking the woman.

"Ethel you are on school premises, no shouting!" the stern teacher told the girl, but Ethel didn't listen.

"What is this I have being hearing about you telling Sybil she is a disgrace to the Hallow name?" Ethel shouted. Sybil saw in the corner of her eye that Enid was there and she was smirking in the corner watching and then she ran off, clearly to tell everyone about the fight Sybil thought. Miss Hardbroom looked at her student and spoke sternly.

"Your sister is constantly making potions explode, I am sick of her not applying herself, Esmerelda lost all her magic and Sybil can't make a simple potion" the woman replied annoyed, she didn't appreciate Ethel having a go at her.

"DON'T talk about Esmerelda like you care, you haven't asked about her all year, you only liked Esmerelda when her grades were making Cackles look good and what right do you have to say Sybil is a disgrace, are you a Hallow? No. So how do you know what would disgrace our family" Ethel shouted.

By this point a fairly large crowd had gathered to watch the fight, as after all there was not normally a big fight like this between Miss Hardbroom and a student.

"Ethel you are making much to big a deal out of this, now if you carry on you will have detention for a month, that is a promise" Miss Hardbroom said in a deadly voice, trying not to shout because she knew students were gathered.

"A big deal? I am sticking up for my little sister, she was crying her eyes out because YOU told her she was nothing, no-one makes my sister cry….no, one" Ethel told the woman not caring who she was talking to, she had to know it wasn't acceptable. The girl then looked at the woman with a deadly glare, normally she was angry but right now she was raging mad.

"Ethel Hallow I am warning you!" Miss Hardbroom told her, wishing the girl would shut up and drop it, she had told Sybil of for making the same stupid mistakes over and over.

"Oh do what you want, expel me, don't let me in the performance, I don't care, but you can't say that to my sister and not apologise, say sorry to her now!" Ethel shouted. Knowing without Esmerelda here she had to be the one to stick up for Sybil.

"Remind me never to insult Sybil in front of Ethel" Maud whispered to Mildred who smiled. Ethel always had a temper but right now HB was lucky she was still standing and had not being thrown into the wall by magic with how angry Ethel was.

"Ethel stop this behaviour this instant!" Miss Hardbroom told the girl, thinking she was disgracing herself with the way she was speaking to her.

"If you don't apologise to Sybil right now I will mirror Esmerelda and tell her what you said to Sybil and Esmerelda might have a heart of gold but trust me, if you mess with Sybil or I you will know about it, if you think I am bad, wait until you see Esmerelda angry" Ethel threatened knowing that if she went and mirrored Esmerelda and told her what happened, she would be at the school and would have to refrain from killing Miss Hardbroom. Her scary, deadly, Hallow side only emerged when someone upset her sisters, but she was ten times worse than Ethel when she was angry.

"You will tell a girl who no longer has magic that she has to come and tell me off for upsetting Sybil?" Miss Hardbroom asked, not understanding how Esmerelda could do anything to her when she no longer has magic.

Ethel chuckled before she replied, the woman was so deluded sometimes it was funny.

"Miss Hardbroom, Esmerelda does not need magic in this situation, if I tell her that you upset Sybil she will become angry enough she won't need magic, trust me miss, you don't want to see an angry Esmerelda" Ethel explained, Miss Hardbroom glared at her student before speaking.

"Don't threaten me, I am your teacher Ethel Hallow" the woman told her, angry at the situation.

"Which doesn't give you a right to tell my sister she is not worth her family name, now apologise or I am mirroring Esmerelda, and trust me, you want to make sure word never gets to her about this" Ethel told the woman. She knew she was being a bit harsh but HB was always harsh and had used the thing she knew would upset her most against her.

Miss Hardbroom didn't want to give in to the stupid rude girl, but the last thing she needed was Esmerelda being told and coming to the school to tell her off, so with that she gritted her teeth and looked at Sybil.

"I am sorry Sybil" the woman said and Ethel smiled

"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Ethel said, and Ethel looked around seeing a lot of people watching now with their mouths opened, shocked. Wondering how she had got Miss Hardbroom to apologise.

"Come Sybil, we have practise to do" Ethel told her and she pulled Sybil's arm who followed her down the corridor. They walked for a moment before Sybil stopped and grabbed Ethel, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank you" she said. She was overwhelmed and shocked Ethel had done that for her. Ethel smiled and hugged her back tightly.

"That is what older sisters are for" Ethel explained and Sybil knew Esmerelda would of done the same, so maybe she wasn't perfect but her sisters loved her.