AN: And so Mildred begins hopping round the castle, making it as far as the staff room.

Chapter 4

Mildred hopped along the corridor, making steady progress, taking in far more than she usually did of the scenery. She noticed the many cracks and crevices that riddled the walls, threatening to undermine the stability of the castle above, inhabited by countless insects and other no doubt tasty morsels. She shuddered at the thought, fully aware that no one, even if there was someone watching her, would notice such as small movement.

Before she realised how far she had come she was outside the room Sybil Hallow occupied. The massive wooden door rising up beside her like a large brown waterfall, covered in rings that could easily have been ripples.

From the lack of vibrations on the floor she guessed nobody was in there, she figured therefore that it had to be, if not the second, then the third lesson. 'Oh God, HB's going to be furious if I'm late, but how can I make potions like this?' the question sounded absurd, but made real sense in her current situation; for how was one meant to delicately chop herbs when one only had three fingers?

Quicker than she had expected, she had passed the first year corridor and made her way down the spiral stone staircase that led to a long corridor by the staff room. The corridor was filled with the golden light that poured through the many windows that lined it, warming the stone so that it was pleasant to the touch.

Odd u-shaped shadows, from the interference of the archways that broke up the corridor into sections, created cool patches where the sun's warmth couldn't reach. Mildred jumped from the last step and made her way to one of these patches, bringing her closer to the staffroom. To her horror the door suddenly opened and out walked HB.

Xxx

Constance Hardbroom was irritated. Nothing about that day had gone right for her from the moment she had risen that morning, (and for her 'rising' meant deciding that it was no longer an ungodly hour and so it was acceptable to be wandering around the castle. Thanks to her endless supply of Wide Awake Potion, she never really slept anyway, let alone 'rose'.)

She heard the bottle chinking softly in her bag, reassuring her of its presence, as she left the comfortable depths of her favourite armchair and took out a copy of the test she was planning on setting the first years later that day.

Sensing that not all was well with her deputy, a deeply concerned Amelia Cackle called her back, just as she was about to lay her hand on the door handle, "Constance," she called firmly, seeing the younger witches immediate annoyance at being delayed further with little surprise, "is everything alright? You seem rather agitated today." As she spoke she tried to gauge the younger woman's reaction, a tricky task at the best of times, made more so by the fact that Constance's posture and facial expression were almost permanently static.

"Yes Headmistress, I am perfectly alright and also perfectly late for my lesson, so if you would excuse me I do not wish to waste any more time." She replied, as cold and as guarded as ever, raising her chin in the air as she did so in obvious irritation. Before any further unnecessary questions regarding her wellbeing could be uttered, she grabbed the handle, turned it sharply, and disappeared from sight.

xxx

Amelia watched her go over the rims of her angled glasses, 'still as thorny as she's always been,' she mused, remembering the past decade or so briefly before returning her attention to Miss Drill. The blonde met her gaze knowingly, both acknowledging the fact that Constance was always like that regardless of her mood.

"So, Imogen any idea what's upset Constance?" she asked casually, not expecting an answer that didn't involve Mildred in some way. Miss Drill smirked and pushed back her chair from the table, making her way over to the ancient metal water heater to pour herself another cup of tea before replying.

"Mildred still can't get that cat of hers to sit on her broomstick, I'll expect that was the start of it," she informed the less than surprised Headmistress, "then," she continued after taking a sip of the scolding liquid, "there was some incident with a cat on the broom-shed roof or something I heard her murmuring about when she came in just now." She sat down again as Miss Cackle sighed deeply, "Well it would be Mildred wouldn't it, I suspect I'll find her waiting outside my office at some point today then." Miss Drill joined in her laughter, then the pair rose from their seats and headed in separate directions.