"You can come in if you want, Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said tentatively. Miss Hardbroom nodded stiffly and swept into the room. For a moment, she stood there uncomfortably, her fingers clenching and unclenching at her sides, before awkwardly sitting on the bed next to Mildred. Tabby, who had been curled up on Mildred's bed, uncurled himself to curiously sniff at Miss Hardbroom's sleeve.
"I am aware that you would prefer many of my colleagues to myself as your chaperone" she started. "It's true that I am not the best at….positive reinforcement…but I shall do my best to make your stay here agreeable" she finished hurriedly, glaring at Tabby. Mildred grinned.
"I didn't understand a ton of that…but thanks Miss Hardbroom" she said gratefully.
"Naturally we shall have to go over some ground rules" Miss Hardbroom growled.
"Naturally" Mildred said smiling to herself.
"Obviously you will adhere to the school rules as usual during your stay" she dictated. "You will have lessons with me mostly in the early afternoon from noon until 2, after which you will be allowed to spend your time as you wish, so long as it is not disruptive" she tried to inject her voice with her usual venom, but it was hard when the girl kept grinning at her
"Mildred Hubble what are you smiling at" she hissed.
"I dunno it's kinda funny, that we're alone here the two of us don't you think?" Mildred said swinging her legs.
"It is an academic opportunity" Miss Hardbroom conceded. "For you, for me it is an exercise in….." she sighed heavily. "Patience, and understanding"
"Well I think you should know" Mildred said. "That as much as I do want to improve in lessons…Mum said that it is a break, and I am going to have fun on my break" she said, trying to draw herself up like Miss Hardbroom did. Miss Hardbroom raised her eyebrows.
"Then you must…take that upon yourself. I am responsible for your learning, not your fun" she said disgustedly. Mildred's face fell and Hecate felt a twinge of guilt. Then she narrowed her eyes with determination and a slow smile spread over her face, as an idea came to her.
"I suggest a wager" Mildred said playfully. Miss Hardbroom looked at Mildred with confusion.
"What?"
"If you can help me become a better witch this week" Mildred said with a smirk. "Then I get to help you have some fun" Mildred said sticking her hand out. Miss Hardbroom's eyes flashed.
"You dare to question my abilities" Miss Hardbroom hissed.
"No, Miss, just the opposite. That's why I'm sure you'll have to have some fun with me by the end of the week" Mildred said smartly. "Unless of course you don't think you can help me improve" Miss Hardbroom narrowed her eyes.
"You will improve, Mildred Hubble, whether there is fun involved or not" Mildred shrugged.
"Well then I guess you have nothing to lose then" Mildred said grinning, holding her hand out. Miss Hardbroom sighed and considered her words, studying Mildred intently. She raised her eyebrows at looked at her with something akin to respect. Gingerly, she took Mildred's hand and shook it lightly. Mildred was somewhat shocked that her boldness had paid off, and beamed brightly.
"Very well" she said, lips twitching. "Dinner is at 6 in the dining hall" and transferred away before Mildred could ask what was for dinner.
To keep from being bored Mildred explored the castle, looking for secret passages. She spent a great deal of time in the library pulling out random books like she'd seen in the movies. But she turned up empty-handed. A while after that, she curled up to draw, letting Tabby model for her.
"Tabby stop moving" Mildred said irritatedly, sticking her tongue out and trying to sketch as fast as she can. Tabby meowed, and decided to lick himself. With a sigh of exasperation, somewhere throughout the castle, she heard a deep bong. "Oh no, Tabby what time is it?" she hurriedly gathered up her art supplies, stuffing them in her bag and taking off through the corridors to the dining hall. The dining hall was mostly the same, although it looked horribly abandoned without the students and teachers. The large mahogany tables and benches were stripped bare, and Mildred inched through them- wondering where on earth Miss Hardbroom was intending them to eat. That is- until she saw the much smaller teacher's table, the only one dressed for a meal. Mildred slid into a seat with only minutes to spare, quickly magicking Tabby to her room. Her stomach was churning, and she felt as though she'd swallowed a horde of bats. The confidence and playfulness of earlier had seemingly evaporated along with her mum. She had felt stronger when she was on her own turf in her room, but outside of that was Miss Hardbroom's territory. Mildred looked around anxiously before relaxing back into her chair. And in a flash, her strict potion mistress had arrived, holding a silver domed tray.
"Good evening, Mildred Hubble" she from behind her and Mildred started a little in her chair.
"Good evening, Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said almost automatically, as her teacher set the dish down on the table. To Mildred's surprise, she unveiled somewhat of a classic shepherd's pie, which in silence, she cut and placed carefully in front of Mildred. "Did you make this for me?" Mildred asked, shocked.
"Did you think you were to starve?" Miss Hardbroom murmured. "Any young witch needs proper sustenance if they are to improve" she placed particular emphasis on the last word, looking meaningfully at Mildred as she cut herself a piece and situated herself opposite Mildred.
"Thank you, Miss Hardbroom it looks delicious" Mildred said softly, blinking widely at her teacher. This Miss Hardbroom, Mildred decided, she quite liked. One on one she still held to her strictness, but she was a bit softer. Just a bit. Miss Hardbroom inclined her head.
"You are in my care, and I am true to my word" she said softly. "Now, eat" she said firmly, though Mildred didn't need encouraging, and quickly tucked in.
"So do you like to cook Ms. Hardbroom?" Mildred asked hesitantly. Miss Hardbroom paused, a bit taken off guard.
"I can perform adequately at it when necessary" Miss Hardbroom said stiffly and Mildred rolled her eyes.
"That's not what I asked" she pointed out."Wait a minute" she slapped her hand to her forehead. "You do! Of course you do….because cooking is just like potions!" Miss Hardbroom raised her eyebrows, and her lips twitched. "See, in cooking you have to be super precise. You're working with ingredients, measuring them out and keeping track of temperature and all these elements…" Mildred explained. Miss Hardbroom nodded slightly.
"Indeed, Mildred Hubble. It is not quite as enjoyable for me as potions, but I suppose there are parts of the process that I enjoy" Miss Hardbroom remarked slowly, looking as if she wanted to scold herself.
"That makes sense" Mildred said, grumbling just a bit. "Because I'm rubbish at cooking. I tried to make my mum a mother's day cake once and I almost burned the kitchen down" Miss Hardbroom smiled a bit at this ever so slightly. "But mum ate it anyway, even though I told her not to" Mildred said, tearing a little, feeling her mother's absence, and falling silent. Miss Hardbroom spent a few minutes opening and closing her mouth, trying to figure out what to say.
"It is as you said, cooking is not far off from potions. Perhaps it would be helpful for you to learn to cook in order to improve in potions" Miss Hardbroom offered hesitantly. "All part of your academic studies of course" Mildred looked suspicious.
"You want to teach me to cook" Mildred sounded out. Miss Hardbroom huffed.
"I want… I want to teach you about potions- through cooking. It's clear you need a more unique approach" Miss Hardbroom clarified.
"yes Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said quietly, but she smiled a bit to herself. "I'd like that" A silence fell again, but Mildred was now very curious about her strict teacher, and couldn't help but think this was the only chance she was going to get to learn anything about her. So she mustered up the courage to keep asking. "what's your favorite thing to make?" Miss Hardbroom looked at her suspiciously.
"Why the sudden obsession with my culinary skills?" Mildred rolled her eyes, and made an x over her heart.
"I promise I won't tell anyone" Mildred pleaded. "see I crossed my heart"
"You did what?"
"Oh…it's a nonmagical thing. It's like a promise. Cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye" Mildred recited to Miss Hardbroom's confused expression "If you tell that is all that bad stuff will happen, it's a promise I won't" Miss Hardbroom sighed.
"I will never understand the nonmagical world and it's…eccentricities…" she murmured to herself. "But as I see you will not let this go, when I was younger my mother taught me to make bat cookies, which is a fairly traditional recipe for us prepared often at halloween" Miss Hardbroom explained, albeit hesitantly. "The cookies are baked with an enchantment, and must be put in the oven at 11:30 so that they so that fly out at midnight. You can tell they're done because they start fluttering about" Miss Hardbroom's voice softened as she reminisced. "It quite scared me the first time I made them because the frosting had bled so that they looked far more alarming than I had intended" she concluded a bit abruptly. Mildred giggled.
"That sounds quite literally the bats" Mildred exclaimed. "Cookies that fly! That's amazing!" Miss Hardbroom looked like she was trying to hide that she was pleased by Mildred's reaction.
"It was" she agreed quietly.
"Can I learn how to make those?" Mildred asked. Miss Hardbroom sighed.
"Perhaps in time. But we will begin with something much simpler" Miss Hardbroom said. Mildred's face fell a little, yawning ever so slightly. "But tomorrow, for now, you need rest" She quickly vanished the dishes, and transferred them both to Mildred's room, with Mildred looking down to see that she was wearing her pajamas.
"I'll expect you up and dressed at 6' o clock for our first lesson" Miss Hardbroom reminded her as Mildred blinked sleepily at her teacher. Tabby raised his head from his spot on the bed, giving an irritated meow at having been disturbed.
"Okayyy" Mildred whined, rolling her eyes and climbing into bed. "I don't see why we have to start so early though"
"Early morning hours are the most productive hours for your mind" Miss Hardbroom said sharply. "Goodnight, Mildred Hubble" she said. "Should you…" she twitched slightly. "Require anything during the night, my quarters are open to you" Mildred's eyes widened.
"Really?" she said, smiling a bit.
"I mean if you are ill or in danger of some kind" Miss Hardbroom clarified. "It is not an open invitation, but under emergency circumstances"
"I got it, only joking. Good night Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said grinning. Miss Hardbroom huffed and transferred away, smiling only when she was out of view.