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Eventually, it was dinnertime, and Mildred went and got Miss Hardbroom- and the three of them sat there- Mildred trying not to laugh at her mum, who was attempting to mimic Miss Hardbroom's straight-as a board posture, and Miss Hardbroom, who was vainly trying to pretend that the current situation was not in fact-happening.
"So…Mildred…how was your last week?" her mum asked, breaking the silence. Millie giggled.
"Uh,it was good mum…" she said glancing at Miss Hardbroom. "Miss Bat says I'm improving in chanting, now that I've gotten louder and better at pronouncing things correctly"
"And you started saying the right words? Eh?" her mum teased. And Millie blushed, glancing at Miss Hardbroom.
"Mildred Hubble" Miss Hardbroom said sharply. "Were you chanting the wrong words on purpose" Millie shrugged.
"Only once or twice Miss Hardbroom, as a joke….but I am improving" Miss Hardbroom narrowed her eyes at Mildred.
"Chanting is a very serious art, with no room for…..jokes" she sputtered. Her mum raised her eyebrows.
"I hate to agree with her but she's right on this one Millie, if you chant the wrong words you could throw other people off as well and that's not fair" Mildred's eyes widened.
"All right. I said I'm sorry, and it was only once or twice I swear. I won't do it again…but hang on…did you two just agree?" Her mum and Miss Hardbroom regarded each other warily across the table.
"I suppose" Miss Hardbroom said slowly.
"Stranger things have happened" Her mum said at the same time. Millie gaped at them.
"I guess" Millie mumbled. "um, anyway…I guess Miss Hardbroom will tell you exactly how I'm doing in potions…"
"Dismal" Miss Hardbroom noted, precisely cutting her food into little bits.
"Thanks, HB" Millie said flatly.
"But that's why she's here" her mum said encouragingly.
"I painted the mural in the common room" Millie murmured. "it's all of us in front of cackle's, and all the teachers too"
"wow Millie, that's great" her mum said. "I can't wait to see it"
"thanks mum" she said, brightly. "Have you seen it Miss Hardbroom?"
"Yes" she said flatly, looking down at her food. Millie rolled her eyes.
"And?" she said imploringly. "What did you think?"
"It was fairly accurate" Miss Hardbroom said stiffly. "Until of course, Enid NightShade decided the staff would appear better in father christmas's cap"
Mildred almost spit out her food.
"I had nothing to do with that I swear" Mildred giggled. "I can't believe she did that" Her mum laughed.
"That Enid is something else" she said, shaking her head.
"Horrible defacement of school property is hardly the worst of her misdemeanors" Miss Hardbroom growled.
"And then we finished off with the holiday celebration…oh it was so much fun mum I wish you could've been there- it was like this whole ceremony thing with candles, where we send a lighted candle into the sky for the new year"
"The Yule ceremony is a centuries old tradition" Miss Hardbroom corrected. "It celebrates the beginning of winter and the start of the new year" she smirked a little at Mildred's enthusiasm.
"And it is quite memorable" she finished.
"It's beautiful mum, and then as her gift to us, Ms. Cackle cast a spell that made it snow indoors…and we all got to play in the snow for a bit- inside"
"And I would advise you not to hurl frozen liquid at me ever….again" Miss Hardbroom hissed. Mildred looked innocent.
"I don't know what you are talking about Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said grinning cheekily.
"Well, I'm afraid you might have to get used to that Miss Hardbroom, because a snowball fight is most definitely on the list of Hubble family traditions" her mum said laughing. Miss Hardbroom sputtered for a bit, looking pointedly at her food.
"Absolutely not" she said. "And I think it's about time I retire. Good night" she said, standing abruptly and sweeping from the room.
The next day was her first lesson with Miss Hardbroom. Her mum had graciously allowed her craft room to be converted into a makeshift potions lab. Knowing Miss Hardbroom was a stickler for punctuality, Mildred was up early, shoveling a few bites of breakfast into her mouth before skidding into the craft room.
"Right on time….barely" Miss Hardbroom acknowledged. "To begin, we shall review the potion for morphing two objects together. Now, were you further along you could use any two objects you like…but I suggest, at your level, we choose one food item to combine with one non-food item. Perishable objects are easier to morph " Miss Hardbroom explained. Mildred nodded
"So, we could use the chair" Mildred said, thinking out loud. "And like…a chocolate bar?" Miss Hardbroom blinked, and took a breath.
"That will do, I suppose" she said nodding. "For the actual brewing of the potion, open your book to page 56. I have provided the ingredients in their rawest form. Ask, always if you are unsure Mildred, and double check yourself at every step." Mildred nodded and got to work. Unlike in class, she wasn't rushed, and didn't feel the pressure of everyone else working around her. She even caught her own mistake, asking Miss Hardbroom for more salamander skin, after she realized her technique of ripping it up wasn't working. Miss Hardbroom raised her eyebrows, but flicked her fingers and gave her a new bowl, and then she began methodically cutting it, sketching short lines across with a pencil- and using the knife along those lines.
It all went wrong when it went to the incantation really. Mildred had focused so much on her potion, but she had accidently put two tablespoons of the mixture on the two objects instead of two teaspoons.
There was a poof, and instead of a chocolate chair, there was the chair and the chocolate bar next to each other, shrunk very small.
"Mildred Hubble" Miss Hardbroom ground out, sighing. Mildred bit her lip.
The second time round, Millie was grinning widely, presenting Miss Hardbroom with her chocolate chair. The chocolate still had the imprint of the wood texture on it, but mostly it had worked!
"Ta-Da!" Mildred said, exhausted, but with jazz hands. Miss Hardbroom arched an eyebrow, and examined the chair.
"You've still got the texture of the chair- but mostly…it is a fairly successful, if rudimentary transformation Mildred. Well done"
"Hello!" her mum knocked lightly, letting herself into the room. "How is my little witch doing? Brewing up a storm I hope?"
"Mummmm" Mildred turned red and hid her face. "you're embarrassing me"
"Newsflash! I'm you're mum, that's my job" she said smirking. "Oi what've you done to my good chair!"
"It's chocolate now, mum- we're doing a morphology potion" Mildred explained, breaking off a piece of the chair and popping it into her mouth.
"Oi Millie! Young lady you stop eating my chair this instant!" her mum said, chasing Millie away from the chair and giving her tickle, with Miss Hardbroom looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"And I just popped in to say that lunch is ready and since neither teacher nor pupil" she looked pointedly at both of them "Ate a proper breakfast, you will be breaking to eat now" she said, daring Miss Hardbroom to argue.
"I suppose this is as good a time as any to….break" Miss Hardbroom strangled her way through the word.
Both Millie and Miss Hardbroom surprised themselves with how hungry they actually were- and although one went about it in a more civilized way, both were shoveling food in like there was no tomorrow.
"So, we have gingerbread house making, cookies for Father Christmas, snowball fight, snowman building, picking out the tree, decorating the tree, decorating the house, hanging the stockings, opening one present Christmas eve" Mildred listed. "Did I forget anything mum?"
"Well don't forget singing Christmas songs while we do all of those things" her mum reminded. "But I think that's it"
"That is plenty" Miss Hardbroom muttered, rubbing her temples.
"Well what do you want to do first Millie?" her mum said, booping her nose.
"I'd like to do cookies tonight. And I mean, if you think about it Miss Hardbroom, cooking is kind of like potions. So I'd be practicing…it's all about combining ingredients precisely to make an end result" Mildred explained.
"I….I…" Miss Hardbroom seemed taken off guard. "Perhaps"
"And that means you'd be amazing at it, Miss Hardbroom" Millie said grinning. "Won't you help us please?" Miss Hardbroom shot a panicked look at her mum.
"I was going to do some marking…" she said slowly, and Millie's face fell.
"Miss Hardbroom- may I see you in the hallway for a moment" her mum said so sternly Millie thought they switched bodies. "NOW" Shocked, Miss Hardbroom allowed herself to be tugged from the room, unnerved and a bit on guard.