Lucretia Yewbeam, the school matron and Charlie's great aunt stood waiting for him at the door of Bloor's just as he had feared.
"Follow me!" She snapped and with that she dragged him off to her room in the east wing.
"Grizelda phoned me this morning," she started.
Charlie groaned.
"You have to be good at least one day this week while you're at school. Got it?
"Venetia is going to be your monitor-"
"She never said anything about a monitor!"
"How are we supposed to know how you behave?"
Charlie sighed.
"So, have you got it?"
"Yeah, sure..."
"Quit it with the smart mouth!"
"Yes, matron."
"Get out of my sight!" Charlie was only too glad to leave. He was not too glad to find Venetia Yewbeam waiting outside of matron's room.
"You're going to be late for class, Charlie," Venetia said, a little too sweetly for someone who didn't have a house talking to the person responsible for, said houselessness. "And you won't be taking music anymore- you're helpless at it and it's not like I'm good enough to teach you music.
"You're going to be taking art. Sewing."
Great.
"Here's your cape." Venetia held out a green cape.
"I am NOT going to wear that."
"Why?"
"Hello! Aunt Venetia, cape... sound familiar?"
She laughed softly.
"Do you really think I bewitched your cape?"
"Yes."
"Why would you think I'd do that?"
"Past record."
"That was one time."
"And those other times when you had Dorcas do your work for you... like let's see... when Miss Ingeldew almost died and last semester when Gabriel almost died."
"I had nothing to do with that, honest." Venetia's gentle smile was assuring but it was going to take a lot more than that to lure Charlie into wearing that cape.
"You'll get detention if you don't wear it."
"What's my first class?"
"Sewing."
"I'll make one."
Venetia shrugged. "Okay."
If she had bewitched the cape she wouldn't be okay with him making a new one, right?
He snatched Venetia's cape and put it on. Nothing happened. Well, that was a relief.