Chapter 5
Clacking her tongue in frustration Constance read over and over the ingredients listed for the shrinking potion. One was meant to be a red herring and yet the more she looked at the list the more she became convinced that something was wrong.
Question 3. Which of the following ingredients do you think will be used to brew a Shrinking Potion?
Place them in order of use and describe correct method of addition, including notes of temperature and colour throughout.
One Mustard seed
Three stems of Bindweed
Five leaves of Hemlock
Twelve spiders eggs
Four cloves of garlic
Then suddenly the mistake glared at her, almost laughing at her for failing to notice it sooner. She had put the wrong amount of Bindweed stems. It was meant to have been two stems, not three. Cursing herself under her breath, she resolved to blame Mildred for distracting her in detention the previous evening when she had been conjuring up the questions. Oh well she would just have to change it later.
Tucking the test under her arm she marched briskly along the corridor, fully aware of how late she was about to be, stopping dead in her tracks as she passed the set of stone steps Mildred was trying to hide behind.
Xxx
Mildred panicked at the sight of HB, 'oh no of all the people, better get out of here,' she frantically began to clamber up the next step before her, trying to avoid being spotted. Her long spindly fingers struggled to get a grip on the stone, worn smooth by thousands of pairs of feet that had ground the step smooth over the years.
Miss Hardbroom suddenly stopped, did a double take and peered at her, 'Oh darn it she's seen me,' she cursed silently, slipping back down to the floor below. The sound of HB's heels crescendoed as she came nearer, reverberating through the floor and sending vibrations through her sensitive legs.
Xxx
Constance could not quite believe her eyes; a frog, in the building. Stepping towards it with one hand outstretched she reached down and scooped up the little amphibian, surprised that it did not attempt to leap from her hand in escape.
Holding it up to her face she stared deep into the glassy black eyes, feeling the clammy skin pressing against the palm of her hand as it breathed rapidly, oblivious to its screams of 'Go away, please, don't you have a class to teach.'
"Well, well, well, and how did you escape eh?" she asked it, fully aware that she wasn't going to get an answer. It croaked in response, a light, airy and seemingly carefree sound, almost as if it were responding to her question.
'Don't be stupid Constance,' she berated herself for even entertaining the thought, 'frogs don't understand English, let alone talk,'
She returned her attention to the trembling animal in her fist, "School corridors are not the place for frogs." She informed it, as if the small creature were a student.
She studied it as it croaked once more. The domed eyes bored into her despondently, reminding her of two tiny black holes, dark and empty. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about that expression, as if maybe it was trying to tell her something. Then an overwhelming feeling of sadness welled up inside her as she recognised the numbness and desperation in those eyes, a look she had often paraded around with as a child before learning to hide her emotions absolutely. As the emotion fountained up inside her she felt a sudden desire to talk to someone, be with someone, enjoy their company. She toyed with the idea of heading back to the staffroom, then dismissed it angrily, 'That's it Constance, get a grip on yourself.' She snapped inwardly, subconsciously causing her brow to crease into deep furrows, something she often did when angry.
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Mildred recognised instantly the expression on her tutors face. 'She's angry, does she know it's me? Does she think I did this to myself?' as she pondered this notion another thought occurred to her, 'What if it was her, what if she did it, she turned me into this, just like she did to that first year who's now that frog in the school pond. So the story's true then, and now she's done it to me, all because Tabby misbehaved in class.'
Her mind wandered back to her room where she was sure her beloved moggy was waiting for her, 'oh Tabby, I wish you were here.'
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'Ah! I know what to do with it.' Constance thought after a few moments wondering what she could possibly do with this stray amphibian, "I think we'll just put you in here," she said, placing the struggling Mildred in the black bag she had hung in the crook of her arm as she did so. Behind her the sound of the staffroom door closing made her look up.
She turned slightly to see Amelia leaning on the wall slightly, waiting for the pain from her arthritis to pass no doubt, glancing at her periodically, visibly weighing up whether to ask again as to Constance's wellbeing.
Before Amelia could open her mouth to inquire if she was, as Constance had expected, quite alright, Constance deliberately averted her gaze from the elderly witch and strode off in her usual manner, heels clacking faster and faster as she hurried to get away from her colleague.
Xxx
"No, No!" croaked Mildred as she was dropped unceremoniously into the dark material canyon; the giant hand opening and withdrawing before she could cling on.
A strange assortment of objects greeted her at the bottom. Before she could take a proper look at them all HB was on the move and the whole bag rocked back and forth like a boat caught in a storm, tossing Mildred this way and that way as if she weighed nothing at all. 'What a horrible place.' She commented glancing skywards to see straight up Miss Hardbroom's nose, which happened to be by far her worst angle.
Fed up of the bag bumping into her, Constance moved her arm so that it stuck out att a forty degree angle from her body, steadying the rocking motion enough for Mildred to get a proper look at her surroundings.
After the motion had ceased Mildred had ended up nestled in the folds of a bright purple handkerchief, bordered with deep indigo frills, and luckily for Mildred was newly washed. The faint aroma of lavender emanated from it, permeating the atmosphere with its soothing quality, making Mildred feel rather dozy and relaxed.
Next to that, unsurprisingly, was the short, fat, navy blue bottle of Wide Awake Potion, the name clearly written on the label in fluid, loopy writing, easily recognisable as HB's. The final item in the bag was a note book. It was small, black, with the school emblem emblazoned on the front and had clearly suffered heavy usage as it was held together with an elastic band.
'So this is what HB carries around with her,' Mildred though to herself as she felt the motion slow to a near halt and heard a door open, 'we must be in the lab then,' Mildred guessed as the sound of voices died instantly under the influence of "Places girls," booming from above her.
Next time: Mildred causes havoc in potions, no difference there then.
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