Mildred tapped her pencil against the half-written sheet of paper and wished that the words would come. There were times when she found it really hard to complete her letter home. She was fairly happy with the main body of it now but she wasn't sure how to sign off. 'Got sent to see the headmistress again' wasn't really the positive ending she had been hoping for. The fact that the sending to the office had been magical wasn't likely to impress her parents either. She dropped the pencil on the bed and raised her head to look at Maud. Maud was seated at the far end of the bed and was doodling idly on a scrap of paper.

"Are you alright?" Mildred asked her friend and Maud nodded.

"Why do you ask?"

Mildred shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. You just seem quieter than normal that's all."

"Just thinking of Haldane." Maud confessed.

Mildred tried to suppress the sigh that rose in her throat but was unable to completely mask it.

"I should have guessed that you wouldn't understand." Maud snapped at her friend and returned her attention to her doodle.

"Don't be like that Maud." Mildred urged her. "I'm sorry, it's just that I don't see Mr Harrington in the same way that you do."

Maud placed her pen down and turned to give Mildred her full attention.

"Have you actually looked at him? Haven't you seen the way that he gets dimples in his cheeks when he smiles?" She sighed heavily and leant her head on her hands. "You don't know what you're missing Millie." She told her friend. "I think he's just heavenly."

"I think he's just heavenly!"

Mildred and Maud turned their heads as they heard Ethel repeat Maud's line. They tried to ignore the laughter that followed but neither Ethel nor Drusilla were going to leave things there. The girls stood in the doorway and sniggered at the confession that they'd heard Maud make.

"Do you seriously think that someone like Haldane Harrington would be interested in you?" Ethel wanted to know.

"I didn't say that he would be." Maud tried to stand up for herself but she knew that Ethel was likely to gain the upper hand in the conversation.

"Just as well." Drusilla piped up. "Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to have you following him around like a lost puppy? I can just see it now." Drusilla grabbed Ethel's hand. "Oh Mr Harrington can I carry your bag for you? Oh Mr Harrington can I stare into your eyes as I think they're dreamy."

"Shut up." Mildred barked angrily at Dru.

"And why should she?" Ethel wanted to know. "She's only speaking the truth. I expect you're just as wet as Maud when it comes to Haldane. I bet you think that he'll take one look at you and want to take you away on tour with him."

"Do not."

"Bet you do."

"Well that shows what you know Ethel Hallow. I couldn't care less if Haldane Harrington left the school today and never came back."

"Well I find that a little disappointing." A rich deep voice boomed from the corridor behind Ethel. All the girls jumped upon hearing the voice and Ethel and Drusilla stepped out of the way to reveal Haldane standing there.

Mildred met his gaze and went as red as a beetroot with embarrassment.

"I can always leave now if you like?" He told her with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"No I… I didn't mean. I… Well I." Mildred stumbled helplessly trying to find the right words to say to explain herself to Haldane. He held up a hand and motioned for her to be quiet. She let her sentence dry up and tried to ignore the smug expressions that Dru and Ethel were sporting.

"I take no offence at your comments…" He left the sentence open waiting for her to supply her name.

"Mildred." She stammered in reply. "Mildred Hubble."

"Well Mildred Hubble I hope that you won't discount my play as quickly as you have discounted me?"

"Oh no sir." Mildred replied hurriedly. "I'm really looking forward to seeing it."

"Good." He smiled in return. "I'm pleased. And do me a favour?"

"Sir?"

"Call me Haldane. Sir makes me sound like a teacher."

"Sorry sir…. I mean Haldane." Mildred found herself blushing again as she said his name.

"Sorry to interrupt girls." He apologised to the group as he stepped back out into the corridor. "I'll be on my way. I look forward to seeing you all at the masterclass that I'll be holding during the week." He doffed an imaginary cap in their direction before walking off down the corridor.

"Well done Mildred!" Ethel remarked sarcastically. "You're lucky that he didn't take offence at what you said. Imagine having to front up to Miss Cackle and explain to her why our guest is leaving."

"Yes but he wasn't upset was he?" Maud countered. "He really didn't seem to mind at all."

"Yes but he…" Ethel tried to continue the argument but Maud wasn't prepared to take it this time.

"He was fine about it." She stated firmly. "And if he had said that he was leaving I'm sure HB would be interested in finding out what you were doing in Mildred's room in the first place."

Ethel opened her mouth to reply and then realised that she wasn't sure exactly where she could take the conversation.

"Come on Drusilla." She turned on her heel and stomped off down the corridor.

Maud and Mildred exchanged glances.

"That could have been really bad." Mildred confessed.

"Yeah." Maud agreed, her head resting on her hands. "I guess we're just really lucky that Haldane's as wonderful as he is."

Mildred groaned as she realised that Maud was drifting off on one of her daydreams again and she returned her attention to the letter she was trying to write.


Imogen looked up from her lunch as she heard a gentle tapping on the door.

"Come in." She called out, knowing full well that the tapping was too quiet to belong to one of the students. The door opened a crack and Haldane stuck his head round.

"Would it be alright to take my lunch in here with you?" He asked quietly.

"Of course." Imogen assured him, beckoning him in.

"Are you sure that Miss Hardbroom won't object?"

"Oh I'm certain that she would." Imogen replied honestly "But she's not here at the moment."

"Is she likely to be back in the near future?"

"I doubt it."

Haldane immediately looked relieved and pushed open the door wider.

"I get the feeling that she doesn't like me very much." He confessed.

Imogen smiled.

"Don't worry, Constance doesn't like anyone very much." She beckoned the man in. "Come and take a seat. It can be quite rewarding to get a few minutes of peace from the madness out there."

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you cope with being a…" Haldane struggled to find the right word. "In a… school like this?"

"A non-witch." Imogen supplied the word that Haldane was looking for. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's ok I guess. It can get a little frustrating sometimes when you know that the girls are using their magic to cheat at netball."

"Do they do that often?"

"Never when Miss Hardbroom's looking! She's very good at teaching them to use their skills responsibly." She looked at Haldane and saw the way that he was gazing at the décor in the room. "I take it you haven't performed in many magical schools before?"

"Er.. not many." Haldane smiled. "Well actually this is the first. It's a very impressive place."

"It's a very cold draughty place at this time of the year." Imogen corrected him. "I'll take you on a proper tour later if you like?"

"That would be great." Haldane smiled again. "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here to show me around. I have to confess that I'm a little nervous of your Miss Hardbroom. She looks as though she could pack quite a magical punch."

"I expect she could." Imogen admitted. "She could probably give most witches a run for their money."

"More powerful than your Miss Cackle is she?"

Imogen sat back in her chair and stirred her spoon round and round in her yoghurt while she considered Haldane's question.

"I suppose she is." She finally answered. "Can't say I've ever really thought about it before." She removed the spoon from the pot and took another mouthful. "Why do you ask?"

Haldane smiled guiltily.

"I don't really know that much about these kind of places." He confessed. "I guess I thought that the top witch would be the one with all the power."

"I think you've been reading too many books." Imogen gently scolded him. "Not all witches are obsessed with power you know. Some of them are quite normal." She paused and thought about the people she shared a staff room with. "Well I've heard that some of them can be normal."

Haldane laughed softly at her and Imogen found herself smiling at him in return.

"I'm glad you're here." She told him honestly. "I think you're exactly the breath of fresh air that this place needs."


Enid sat down at her usual desk and let out a heavy sigh.

"Chanting." She moaned. "Who needs it?"

"You do, judging by the strange noises you were making in the last lesson." Ruby told her smartly as she too settled down in the classroom.

"Funny." Enid told her sarcastically. She looked around the room. "Where is Miss Bat anyway?"

"Probably forgotten all about us." Ruby told her. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Perhaps she's trying to sneak a look at Haldane."

"What!" Ruby's tone was incredulous. "I can't imagine Miss Bat liking Haldane."

"Why not?"

"She's old." Ruby told her as though that answered the question.

"Maybe she likes younger men." Enid teased but Ruby turned her nose up in disgust.

"That's revolting." She told Enid flatly. "I can imagine Miss Drill with Haldane as they seem to be the same sort of age but Miss Bat?" She pulled a face.

"That's very ageist of you." Jadu butted in. "Do you really think that Miss Drill might fancy Haldane?"

Ruby and Enid looked at eachother and shrugged their shoulders.

"I guess it's possible. I mean she is the one that's going to show him around the school."

"I thought that she already had a boyfriend?"

"True." Enid agreed. "But I haven't heard her mention him recently."

The three girls sat back and thought about the situation. If they were honest with themselves then they weren't exactly happy with the prospect of Haldane and Miss Drill together.

They were jolted out of their reverie by the arrival of Mildred and Maud.

"I'm surprised to see you two." Enid admitted. "I would have thought that Miss Cackle would have confined you to your rooms for the rest of the day at least?"

Maud and Mildred exchanged glances.

"She was quite nice about it really." Mildred confessed. "We only have to write up the notes from Miss Hardbroom's class in our own time."

"What!" Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. "After HB transported you there and everything?"

Mildred nodded.

"I never realised she could do that." Jadu chipped in. "Did she get you on target?"

It was Maud's turn to nod.

"Yep. We landed slap bang on those chairs with pinpoint accuracy."

The other three girls shook their heads in disbelief.

"And if I had my way Maud Moonshine you and Mildred Hubble would still be sitting there now."

The girls scrambled to their seats as they heard the booming tones of Miss Hardbroom.

She appeared before them moments later with her arms folded and her face as black as thunder.

"I thought we had chanting now." Ethel piped up from her place in the front row. Miss Hardbroom shot her a look that made her cower back in her chair.

"Pleased though I am that you are so knowledgeable about your regular curriculum Ethel Hallow, I am here to inform you that you are to proceed to the great hall where 'Haldane Harrington' will be leading an acting masterclass." Haldane's name dropped from her lips as though it was the most distasteful thing in the world.

There was immediately a buzz of chatter from the girls, which Miss Hardbroom silenced by raising one hand.

"You will proceed to the great hall in a calm and orderly manner and you will not run nor chatter about what you believe will or won't happen in the next hour." She told them firmly. "If I catch one of you making the slightest of sounds then I will be more than happy to transport you all to the corridor outside Miss Cackle's office."

The girls rose quietly to their feet, fighting against the almost overwhelming urge to talk about this sudden change to their day.

As Mildred's group filed past her, Miss Hardbroom added a final thought.

"If you do make one sound then I can fix it so that you will be unable to move from those chairs in the corridor whether you wish to or not. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Miss Hardbroom." The girls chorused quietly.

Miss Hardbroom waited until the last girl had cleared the room before vanishing from the spot.


The girls arrived at the great hall to find Miss Drill waiting there for them. She ushered them in and waited for them to find themselves a seat and settle down.

"Haldane Harrington has kindly agreed to give up his afternoon to talk to all of you. I trust that you will all give him your full attention?"

"Yes Miss." The girls chorused happily and Imogen confessed that she felt a fleeting pang of jealousy. She couldn't recall a time when the girls had been so eager to attend one of her lessons. She was fairly sure that she ranked pretty highly on the girls list of preferred subjects; not that she kept a list, but she was certain that no class had ever reacted that positively to anything she had attempted to teach them.

Haldane looked down and smiled at the eager faces that were staring up at him. There was nothing he liked more than an attentive audience.

"Acting is an art." He told them. "It's not such a very different art to the one that you are being taught within these walls." He waited for the expected murmur from the girls and he wasn't disappointed. He raised his hands to silence them and after a few moments they did quieten down.

"Part of your art is deception." He told them. "From what I've witnessed so far you don't need to necessarily utter the spell to make things happen."

Ethel raised her hand and Haldane invited her to speak.

"It's not as simple as that Mr Harrington." She told him smoothly. "When you advance beyond a certain level you can make things happen by just thinking them but when you are at our level you still need the words." She paused. "Or the ingredients."

Haldane gave a smart half bow in her direction.

"I stand corrected…" He paused and invited her to reveal her name.

"Ethel Hallow."

"I stand corrected Ethel Hallow." He told her. "And as I told your friends earlier, I'd prefer it if you called me Haldane."

Ethel batted her eyelids in his direction.

"Whatever you say Haldane."

Haldane winked at her and then turned his attention back to the group as a whole.

"So it seems that you have more to your arts then I have to mine. Perhaps then there is something I can learn from you." He paced across the front of the stage as though pondering his next move.

"Usually we come into schools and put on plays that we have prepared. I was thinking that maybe you might find it more rewarding if you were to take part in the plays."

There was an outbreak of excited chattering from the girls and Haldane beamed at Imogen who was still standing at the side of the room, He was surprised to see that her expression was one of concern. He shot her a quizzical look and she stepped up to his side.

"Have you cleared this play idea with Miss Cackle?"

No." Haldane's face dropped. "Do you think that I should have done?"

"Well it would have been prudent." She told him. "Involving the students in a play is naturally going to mean that they have to spend time in rehearsals."

"Yes."

"Rehearsal time is going to have to come from somewhere."

"Aaahhh." Haldane finally understood what Imogen had been driving at. "I'm guessing that Miss Hardbroom won't be offering up any of her lab time?"

"On a scale of one to unlikely I'd say that it was a stone cold impossibility."

Haldane pulled a face and looked down at the girls who were chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

"But I can't let them down Imogen. There must be a way that we can persuade Miss Cackle that it's a good idea?"

"I'll talk with her." Imogen promised. "But I can't guarantee that she's going to like the idea."

"I'd really appreciate anything you could do." Haldane told her and then turned his attention back to the girls.


"A play?" Amelia looked up at Imogen over the top of her glasses. "Are you sure that it's a good idea?"

Imogen sat across from Miss Cackle and put on her best pleading face. She'd waited until the staff room was empty before broaching the subject. If there was one thing she didn't need when trying to present the idea it was Constance Hardbroom sneering and telling anyone who'd listen what a waste of time she thought it was.

"I think it's a great idea. The girls have been complaining that they have nothing to do in the evenings. This will be the perfect thing to occupy their time and keep them out of mischief."

"But a play?" Amelia still sounded unsure. "It's a big undertaking, it'll take more than a few evenings for the girls to get a play up to a presentable level." She paused and took in the disconsolate expression on Inogen's face. "Perhaps if you were prepared to sacrifice a few of your own cross-country sessions I dare say that I could persuade the others to follow suit."

"Miss Cackle that would be wonderful. I'm sure Miss Bat wouldn't mind giving over a few of her chanting lessons."

"Hhmm." Amelia agreed. It seemed that they both realised where the problem would lie.

Imogen's heart sank as Constance chose that very moment to enter the staff room. Constance noticed the guilty looks that passed between her colleagues and was immediately on the alert.

"I take it the pair of you are plotting some further disruption to our daily lives?" She snapped.

Amelia and Imogen exchanged a look. Amelia decided that it was time to tell the truth.

"What we were discussing, not plotting Constance, was a play."

"A play!"

"Yes. A play. Mr Harrington is going to stage a play that will involve our girls."

"Our girls!" Constance asked, fearing that she already knew what was coming next.

"I think it will be a great experience for them." Amelia argued.

"Do you. Do you indeed?" Constance stared down her nose at the pair of them. She didn't mean to it was just that they were both a good deal shorter than she was. "I take it that the proposed play will interfere with the scheduled timetable?"

"To a degree." Amelia confessed. "We will all have to make a few sacrifices."

"By 'we' I assume you're including me?"

"By we I am including everyone Constance not just you. This is a project that will involve the entire school and I'm expecting everyone to put in the same amount of effort."

"But Miss Cackle." Constance began to protest as she realised that her lesson plans would be thrown into chaos.

"Everyone will have to give up one lesson a week to accommodate the rehearsal schedule." Amelia stated firmly.

"I'm happy for the girls to forgo their cross country training." Imogen explained. "That's two lessons a week for me."

Constance sniffed.

"I don't mean to be rude Miss Drill but the ability to run along a muddy track isn't really considered as one of the essential qualities one needs to be a witch. In fact I know plenty of successful witches who've never felt the need to pull on a pair of running shoes and cavort around the countryside in sub zero temperatures. However it may come as something of a surprise to you to discover that potion making is quite highly regarded."

"Is there a point to this Constance?" Imogen enquired through gritted teeth.

Constance brushed at an invisible speck of dirt on her sleeve.

"I really don't think that you need me to spell this out for you Imogen. I think that you are more than capable of working it out for yourself."

"Ladies, ladies." Amelia stepped between the two teachers, once again taking on the thankless task of mediator.

"I suppose that you are going to side with Miss Drill again?" Constance remarked acidly.

Amelia sighed heavily.

"It's not a matter of taking sides Constance. I really do wish that you'd understand that."

"Oh so it's just a series of fortunate coincidences that every time Miss Drill comes up with an idea you happen to be in full agreement with her?"

"Constance please." Miss Cackle pleaded. "I really wish you'd try and see the benefits that can be gained from having someone like Haldane in the school. This play is going to go ahead and I wish that you'd get involved and help make it something really special."

"I thought that I had already made my opinion clear regarding the presence of Haldane Harrington within the school." She reminded the two teachers. "Why you think that I would welcome this further interruption to school life is beyond me." She folded her arms. "Do whatever you want. Just keep me out of it." She stalked past Miss Cackle and headed for the urn in the corner of the staff room.

Imogen exchanged a glance with Miss Cackle. Her expression was one of faint surprise. She hadn't expected Constance to give up with that little a fight.

"Shall I announce the auditions then?"

Miss Cackle nodded.

"Let's get this play underway." She agreed.