Tales from the Castle - a Sofia the First fanfic
Chapter 27: An Alternate Cauldronation Day
This is the second of two chapters designed to promote the 2017 American Red Nose Day. This chapter was inspired by an idea by Sofia2017 planning. Consider this chapter to be an alternate universe version of "Cauldronation Day".
At Enchancia Castle
It was an October day. Inside Enchancia Castle, Amber and James were sick with a cold. Sofia had been unaffected, and her sister, Madeline, was practically over her cold.
"Please, Mom," Madeline pleaded with Queen Miranda, "I'd really like to go with Sofia to Lucinda's Cauldronation Day. I'm really feeling much better."
"Let me feel your forehead, Maddie," Miranda said as she felt Madeline's forehead. "Yes, you seem to be better. You may go with Sofia."
"Yes!" Madeline exclaimed in glee.
"We've better get going," Sofia suggested. "But, we'll see Amber and James first."
In a few minutes, Sofia and Madeline arrived at the large guest room where Amber and James were staying. It had been decided that since both were suffering with a cold, and to make things easier on the servants taking care of them, Amber and James should be in the same room.
"Hi, guys," Sofia cheerfully said to Amber and James. "Maddie and I thought we'd come check on you before going into the village."
"You're going into the village?" Amber asked, puzzled.
"Today is Lucinda's Cauldronation Day," Madeline reminded Amber.
"Oh, yeah," Amber remembered. "I don't see why you and Sofia would want to hang out with a bunch of witches? I still remember what happened last Mother's Day."
"Now, Amber," Sofia spoke up. "You know Lucinda and her mother have apologized for what happened. Lucinda's mother is even turning good."
"Yes, yes, I know," Amber conceded. "I'm just too sick to argue the point."
"You two just go and have a good time," James said to Sofia and Madeline as he sat up in bed.
"Is there anything we can get the two of you?" Sofia asked Amber and James.
"A cure?" Amber asked, hopefully.
"The doctor says you'll be better in a few days," Sofia said as she tried to cheer Amber up.
"Perhaps you could bring us some peanut brittle from the general store?" James requested.
"Consider it done," Sofia smiled as she and Madeline left.
At Lucinda's house
Sofia and Madeline arrived at Lucinda's house, where Lucinda greeted them. After Lucinda gave Sofia and Madeline witch costumes using the Witch a Doodle Doo spell, the three got to work preparing Lucinda's back yard. Before long, Lucinda's mother started taking pictures, and Lucinda's witch friends arrived ... including Lily (Lucinda's good witch friend) and Indigo (Lucinda's bad witch friend).
To say that mixing Lily and Indigo was like mixing oil and water was an understatement. The two took an instant dislike to each other. Things got no better when Indigo brought a scarecrow to life which stole the straw that Lily had gathered for Lucinda's Raven Catcher broom.
Sofia managed to calm the two down, while Madeline decided to stay in the background. Things went smoothly during the broomstick dance, but trouble flared up again when Lucinda messed up the spell for her Raven Catcher broom, and when it was time to pick Lucinda's Witch of Honor.
Lucinda looked around. If she picked Lily, then Indigo would be mad. If she picked Indigo, then Lily would be mad. Lucinda had thought about picking Sofia, but Lily and Indigo were both miffed that Sofia had tried to keep the peace. Then it came to Lucinda.
"I choose," Lucinda began, "Madeline."
"Huh?!" Lily and Indigo gasped in disbelief, each having wanted to be Witch of Honor.
"Can a non-witch even be a Witch of Honor?" Lily asked as Lucinda's mother conjured up a rule book.
"Well ... nothing in the Cauldronation handbook says that the Witch of Honor must be a witch," Lucinda's mother admitted. "Madeline, it is!"
Caudronation trouble
As Madeline helped Lucinda stir the ingredients in a cauldron with the Raven Catcher broom, Indigo stared at Madeline with anger in her eyes. Indigo then noticed that Madeline was occasionally sniffling, still getting over her cold. An idea then came into Indigo's head.
"Powers to be, heed what I say, magnify that cold, and send that pesky princess away!" Indigo chanted.
As Madeline's cold returned, the Raven Catcher broom took flight, with Madeline holding on for dear life.
"Hey!" Lily exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing, Indigo?"
"Getting rid of that princess," Indigo smiled.
Lily and Indigo, using their wands, fought for control of the broom. Lily tried to bring Madeline and the broom down to earth, while Indigo tried to send Madeline and the broom away.
"Help!" Madeline shouted in fear, "I can't fly this thing!"
Before everybody knew it, Madeline and the broom flew straight at the cauldron, banging into it and spilling the contents in the process. As the broom hit the cauldron, it threw Madeline to the ground.
"Thank goodness I'm off that broom!" Madeline exclaimed in relief.
"Maddie!" Sofia yelled, worried. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Madeline answered. "But, my cold is back."
As the ingredients quickly traveled toward those gathered, it suddenly turned them into owls. The only three who were not affected were Sofia, Madeline, and Lucinda who had been standing away from the flowing ingredients.
"The potion was supposed to put an owl headpiece on my broom, not turn everyone into owls!" Lucinda despaired. "My Cauldronation is ruined! Now I'll never be a Midnight Witch!"
Lucinda then ran off as Sofia followed her.
"Lucinda, wait!" Her mother called. "I can fix this." She tried to pick up her wand, but was unable to because she, too, was an owl. "If only I could pick up my wand!"
"Nice going," Indigo glared at Lily as they perched on a table.
"Me?!" Lily growled. "I was trying to stop her, but you and your mean hex ..."
"Stop!" Madeline yelled at them. "That's enough, both of you! You spent this whole day arguing over who's best friends with Lucinda, but this is not how best friends act!"
"I just wanted to be the Witch of Honor," Lily sighed.
"Me too," Indigo pouted.
"And all Lucinda wanted was for her Cauldronation to go well," Madeline pointed out. "If you really wanted to act like good friends, you would have thought more about what Lucinda wanted, and not what you wanted."
"You're right," Lily sighed. "We've been so, so ... selfish."
"I guess we kind of have," Indigo agreed. "What's even worse is that I know a spell that can break the owl hex, but I can't use my wand with these claws."
"Same goes for me," Lily sighed. "Maybe you can?"
"But I'm not a witch," Madeline explained.
"We'll teach you the spell," Indigo offered.
"And show you how to use a wand," Lily added.
Setting things right
Lily and Indigo instructed Madeline on how to use a wand, and then gave her the spell. Madeline raised the wand, and chanted "Wolves that howl, cats on the prowl, bring back the witches, and be gone all these owls."
Everybody then changed back to normal, as Sofia and Lucinda returned after Sofia had comforted Lucinda. As Lucinda looked around, she noticed that her witch friends were busy cleaning up and gathering new ingredients. At one point, some of the witches presented the ingredients to Lucinda.
"My potion ingredients?" Lucinda gasped.
"Your friends did this for you," Sofia smiled.
"It was the least we could do," Lily announced.
"After, y'know ... ruining your Cauldronation," Indigo added.
"We are so, so sorry," Lily apologized. "We spent the whole day fighting over who was your best friend."
"And that made us act like really bad friends," Indigo added. "Not the good kind of bad, just the bad kind."
"And we feel just awful," Lily frowned.
"It's okay," Lucinda smiled. "But you're both my best friends. I don't want you to fight over me."
"Yeah, we know that now," Indigo admitted.
"Look, Lucinda!" Madeline declared. "The moon's not totally out yet! There's still time to finish your Raven Catcher!"
"Only if I get help from my Witches of Honor," Lucinda smiled at Madeline, Sofia, Indigo and Lily. "All four of you."
Lucinda, Madeline, Sofia, Indigo, and Lily quickly put the ingredients into the cauldron, and used the broom to stir the ingredients.
"I raise my voice as the potion is stirred, complete this broom with my favorite bird!" Lucinda chanted.
In a few moments, the broom transformed, now having an owl headpiece.
"I did it!" Lucinda cheered. "I made a Raven Catcher! I'm a Midnight Witch!"
"Achoo!" Madeline sneezed, her cold back.
"I'm sorry," Indigo sadly said to Madeline. "I shouldn't have given your cold back to you."
"Hold on," Lucinda's mother said as she raced into the house, and returned with a vial of clear liquid. "I knew I had some of this around. Madeline, please drink this. It will make you feel better."
Madeline drank the liquid, and smiled. "Strawberries!"
"I thought you'd like the flavor," Lucinda's mother smiled.
In a few moments, Madeline's cold completely disappeared.
"My cold is gone!" Madeline exclaimed, relieved. "Thank you."
"I understand that your brother and sister have colds, too," Lucinda's mother announced to Madeline as she produced two additional vials of the clear liquid. "I'll come to the castle with you and Sofia, and give these to your brother and sister."
"That's very kind of you," Sofia said in appreciation. "Thank you."
Curing a prince and princess
After the guests had left, Lucinda's mother took Lucinda, Sofia, and Madeline out to the front of the house. When they walked outside, Sofia and Madeline noticed it was day out.
"What a minute!" Madeline exclaimed, taken off guard.
"It was night a few minutes ago," Sofia observed. "And now the sun is out?"
"Witch time and normal time," Lucinda's mother explained. "It was night in Witch time. We're now back in normal time, so it's day once again."
The four climbed aboard the carriage which had brought Sofia and Madeline, and headed off toward Enchancia Castle. When they reached the castle, they met with King Roland and Queen Miranda.
"We're most grateful to you for bringing this cure for Amber and James," Roland said to Lucinda's mother, pleased.
"In fact, I think we should take this up to them now," Miranda suggested.
In a few minutes, the group reached the room where Amber and James were.
"You're back," Amber said weakly.
"Did you bring the peanut brittle?" James asked.
"Yes," Sofia smiled. "We brought back something else as well."
"A cure for your colds," Madeline happily answered.
"How?" Amber asked, puzzled.
"Lucinda's mother," Miranda happily announced.
"I'm not sure about this," Amber said under her breath, nervous.
"I realize, young princess, that I didn't make a very good first impression last Mother's Day," Lucinda's mother gently said to Amber. "Since that time, I've changed my ways, thanks to Lucinda showing me the way. Please give me a chance to make up for the past."
"Lucinda's mother gave me the cure, too," Madeline announced. "What was left of my cold cleared up almost immediately."
"Give it a chance," Sofia said to Amber.
"Okay, fine," Amber agreed, still not completely sure of the idea.
Lucinda's mother gave one vial of the cure to Amber, and the other vial of the cure to James. Amber and James then drank the contents of their vials, and in a few moments, the two were much better.
"Thank you," James said gratefully.
"Yes, thank you," Amber said, pleased.
"After a good meal, Prince James and Princess Amber should be right as rain," Lucinda's mother instructed Roland and Miranda.
At that moment, Lucinda's mother felt somebody hugging her. She looked down to see that it was Amber.
"I have a habit of judging people," Amber quietly confessed. "I can see I was wrong about you. I'm sorry."
"And I'm sorry for hexing you and your family on Mother's Day," Lucinda's mother admitted. "I was a different person then, but I've changed for the better. Lets say we start fresh."
"I'd like that," Amber smiled.
"Can the two of you stay for dinner?" Roland asked Lucinda and her mother.
"We'd love to have you," Miranda added, hopeful.
"Then, Lucinda and I would be honored to accept your invitation," Lucinda's mother smiled.
"Great!" Roland exclaimed, pleased.
Early that evening, everybody sat down for dinner in the royal dining room. As everybody enjoyed a fine dinner, they had a pleasant conversation. In the process, the royal family got to know Lucinda and her mother better.
As the dinner ended, everybody agreed that it was the best dinner and conversation they had ever had. The evening had gone well, and everything was right with the world.
Author's notes
Lily and Indigo are, of course, originally from the "Sofia the First" episode "Caudronation Day".
Madeline is from Sofia2017 planning's stories, and is based on the character from the "Madeline" books.
Sofia2017 planning suggested the "Caudronation Day" idea for this chapter, along with the idea of Madeline recovering from a cold, and Amber and James suffering from a cold.
Reminder
There will be a special American Red Nose Day fund raising broadcast on NBC-TV the night of Thursday, May 25th of 2017. You may also support American Red Nose Day by purchasing a Red Nose at Walgreens and Duane Reade locations across the United States.
Meanwhile, for a story promoting the 2018 American Red Nose Day, see Chapter 8 of my story "Once Upon a Time in Enchancia".