Chapter 1: The Test
Over a week has past since the night of the Mountain King. Since that night, Hilda has been telling her mother about the adventures she kept from her, even admitting that Alfur knew about several of them. Tonight she had decided to tell her a secret she already had permission for. She had just finished her homework and left her room to finally reveal it.
"Mum?" she said.
"Yes, Hilda?" her mother Johanna replied while preparing dinner.
"There's something I still haven't told you yet. I wasn't sure how to say it until now."
Johanna stopped what she was doing and went to the couch to listen to her daughter. Hilda sat next to Johanna while Twig, Alfur, and Tontu were all nearby, wondering what she was going to admit this time.
"What is it?"
Hilda took a deep breath and spoke.
"Remember when I told you about the librarian and the other witches?"
"Yes."
"Well, there's one little detail I left out." Hilda said with a sheepish smile.
"What happened?" Johanna crossed her arms.
"Ever since that day, Frida has been training to be a witch."
Johanna was speechless for a she spoke again.
"Well I didn't see that coming. But now it all makes sense. You know, for a while I was starting to think you were the witch in training."
"Oh, I wish." Hilda chuckled. "But no. I'm just her familiar."
Johanna quickly noticed that Hilda's eyes didn't match her smile.
"Do you like being a familiar?" she asked.
"Don't get me wrong, Mum. I'm happy for Frida and I'm glad I can help her." Hilda explained. "It's just that... I'm a little jealous of her. I was
really hoping I could actually learn magic and have so much fun! But the arch sorceress said I'd be a better fit as a familiar and I learned later that she was right. As for the committee, they don't even like me. So I settled for the next best thing."
"From what I've seen, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Alfur chimed in from the couch arm next to Hilda. "You've supported her, retrieved
ingredients for her, and always had her back. Frida is most fortunate to have you helping her."
"Alfur's right." Johanna said. "I'm very proud of you, Hilda. And how many human beings can say they're a familiar?"
"Thanks, Alfur. Thanks, Mum."
Just as Hilda was feeling much better, there was a knock at the door. Johanna went and answered the door and in came Frida who was very excited for some reason.
"Hilda! I have great news that just can't wait!" Frida said. "Did you... uhhh?"
"Yes, Frida. I just told Mum about your secret." Hilda assured. "You can talk about it in front of her."
"Okay, here it goes." Frida said. "I'm going to be given a witch's test tomorrow!"
"That's awesome, Frida!" Hilda responded with joy.
"There's more!" Frida said. "All witches in training get to bring their familiars with them! Will you come?"
"May I, Mum!?" Hilda asked with big eyes.
"You don't need my permission for something like this." Johanna replied.
"Yes!" Hilda said. "When should we meet tomorrow?"
"Just meet me at the library before nine a.m." Frida answered. "I'd love to stay longer, but it's almost dinner time and I need to get ready for the
test. There's no telling what I'll have to do. Bye, Hilda."
"Bye, Frida." Hilda said as her friend left the apartment.
Shortly after the door closed, Hilda's smile began to falter. Johanna saw that and knelt down to talk to her.
"Hilda sweetie, have you been putting on a brave face in front of Frida this whole time?"
"Not at first." Hilda admitted.
"Why don't you just talk to her about it?"
"Because there's nothing we can do about it." Hilda answered. "And the last time one of us had a personal problem, we argued. I don't want to lose my friend again, Mum."
"Awe, Hilda." Johanna gave Hilda a big comforting hug. "I doubt a little jealousy is going to ruin your friendship. You're too close for that."
Hilda couldn't resist hugging back.
"Uhm, are we going to have dinner soon?" Tontu interupted.
"Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me, Tontu." Johanna went back to preparing tonight's meal.
Hilda went back to her room with Twig close behind. After closing the door, Hilda sat in her chair and opened a drawer. From it she pulled the
rune-stick Kaisa once gave her and happily played with it a little like it was a wand. But then she stopped smiling and just looked at the stick. Twig
could tell Hilda was still upset and tried to comfort her. He succeeded, but not by much. Adventure may be her favorite thing, but magic was a close
runner-up and it was something she knew she could never have.
The next morning, Hilda and Twig met up with Frida and David (The former wearing a backpack) at the library with time to spare.
"Hi, David." Hilda said. "Sorry we can't spend the day with you this time."
"About that, Hilda." Frida explained. "Tildy said he could watch us take the test."
"Hopefully somewhere safe from anything that might go wrong." David nervously commented.
"Not to worry David." Kaisa said as she approached the kids. "You'll be with me and the other witches while the students take their tests. Now please follow me."
Kaisa led them through the secret rooms all the way to a room the children didn't recognize.
"Frida, Hildy, wait in here until it's time." she said. "David, Twig was it? Come with me."
Once the doors to the new room were closed, Hilda and Frida turned to see several other young witches in training, all waiting just like them. Some of them even had their own familiars. The two girls decided to have a friendly chat with the nearest kid. A tanned boy with a rottweiler puppy.
"Hello. I'm Hilda and this is Frida."
"I didn't know there would be this many students." Frida commented.
"Hi. I'm Jack and this is my familiar, Buddy." the boy responded. "And yeah, most of us are from different cities. I actually live in Faerieville.
You two seem new. How long have you been training as witches?"
"Actually, only Frida is a witch in training. I'm her familiar." Hilda said with pride.
Jack and all of the other kids looked at Hilda like she had three heads. Then some of them laughed at her.
"Hahahahahahahaha! A human as a familiar!? How pathetic!" a child with a crow said.
"What's the matter? Don't know how to read?" a kid with a donkey joked.
Hilda felt so embarrassed by all of the laughter and insults thrown at her. Her confidence was starting to crack.
"Knock it off!" Frida defended. "Hilda has done a great job as my familiar!"
The kids didn't stop at all.
"Cut it out!" Jack yelled. "You're just giving witches a bad name!"
Before anyone could say anything else, a bell was rung to signal that it was nine oclock. A new pair of doors opened and most of the children walked ahead into the hall while Hilda, Frida, Jack, and Buddy followed behind by a few feet.
"Thanks for trying to help, Jack." Frida said.
"I used to struggle with my spells and got teased for it, so I know how your friend feels." Jack replied.
As the children walked down the hall, Hilda looked at all the pictures of witches. All of them were either alone or with an animal or unique creature.
There were no human familiars in any of the pictures at all. Hilda was starting to wonder if she should even be here. Finally the kids were in another new room where several adult witches including Tildy and the committee of three observed them. Hilda and Frida looked around and spotted Kaisa, David, and Twig in a far off corner. David waved to them.
"Welcome witches in training." the short middle committee member said. "Today you will all show us how much you have grown as students through the Annual Witch Test of Apprentices! Each of you will receive different tasks and traverse certain areas of Trolberg to complete them."
A random lesser witch handed out a paper to each of the trainees.
"You all have until two p.m. today to complete all of your tasks." the sad looking member known as Abigail said. "Even one second late and you fail!"
"Your given sheets will let you know at the end if you pass or fail." the third member said. "Your time begins...now!"
"Good luck, Jack." Frida said.
"You too, Frida." Jack replied.
All of the kids traversed the rooms again and returned to Trolberg through the library. Soon after, Hilda and Frida were on their own.
"So what do we do first, Frida?" Hilda asked.
"This says we need to collect ingredients in three different locations." Frida answered. "The first one is at the beach somewhere."
The girls made their way to the beach on foot. Along the way however, they ran into a very crowded area.
"Oh no, I forgot." Frida said. "The market place is half off today."
"Can't we get through somehow?" Hilda asked. "We don't know how long these tasks will take us."
Frida knew that Hilda was right. A longer route could waste valuable time. She searched her head and her surroundings for a solution. Then she looked at the roofs and found an idea.
"I think I've got it!" she said. "Hilda, do you still have some of those troll abilities?"
"Well I can still understand trolls." Hilda said. "I still have some of my strength. Oh, and I can still jump better than before."
"Perfect. We'll just travel by roof after a little magic."
After finding a decent alley way to hide in, Frida cast a spell and both girls turned invisible.
"Cool. You finally found the right spell." Hilda said.
"Yes, now please hold still so I can ride on your back." Frida requested.
"No problem." Hilda grabbed her friend's legs as soon as she felt her from behind.
With Frida holding on tight, Hilda found a good starting point and leapt onto a large crate and then a roof. Then she ran and hopped from roof to roof with joy. Once they were both sure they were past the market area, Hilda leapt from a very high roof back to the ground. She let Frida go and after they hid again, Frida undid the spell.
"That was some good thinking, Frida."
"Thank you."
The rest of the way, Hilda thought about how those jerks treated her and how lucky Frida is. Her secret jealousy was starting to get to her. A few
minutes later, they arrived at the beach. Nobody else was there as usual, which made searching a lot easier.
"Does the list say what ingredients we need to find?" Hilda asked.
"No. Only that they could be anything." Frida answered. "We'll have to split up to find whatever is here."
"I'll go this way then." Hilda went left while Frida went right.
Hilda looked carefully at the sand, the water, and the stony area as she walked along the shoreline. She searched for at least ten minutes, but found nothing. She sat down on a rock to think about where the first ingredient(s) might be. Where at a beach would a witch hide something?
"Wait a minute! If this is a witch test, wouldn't they use magic to test a witch?"
Hilda then had an idea. She grabbed as much sand as her beret could hold and started sprinkling it all over the place. So far, she found nothing. Then she noticed a stone shape that a little animal would hide under if it was raining. She knelt down and sprinkled some sand there. The sand landed in mid-air. Just as Hilda suspected, the hidden item was invisible. She emptied her hat and picked up what was apparently a box.
"Frida, I found it!" she called as she returned to where they had split up.
Soon enough, Frida returned as well.
"What did you find?" Frida asked.
"An invisible box. See?" Hilda shook the box.
"Careful!" Frida warned. "Whatever's in there could be fragile."
"Oops."
Frida undid the spell and the box was visible again. However there was something on top of it.
"It's sealed by a rune puzzle." Frida said. "I think I can solve this."
She took the box and after a few minutes, solved the puzzle. Frida took the lid off and found a root and a round piece of glass inside.
"That's one task down." Frida said as she put them in her backpack for safe keeping. "Up next is... our school?"
While Frida started walking back into town, Hilda stood still and started questioning herself.
"Frida was right." she thought. "I could've broken that. Am I really that bad with this kind of stuff?"
"Is something wrong, Hilda?" Frida asked.
"Huh...no. I'm just enjoying the scenery." Hilda lied with a nervous smile. "Let's go."
Frida wasn't sure what, but she could tell that something was up with her friend. For the time being, she saved all other questions for later and refocused on the test.
This time there was nothing in their way to their second destination. Once they reached the school and made sure the coast was clear, Frida cast the opening spell and the locked doors unlocked and opened. When the girls entered and closed the doors, they found a stand with a sign on it.
It said "NO SPELLS PAST THIS POINT OR YOU FAIL".
"This should be fun." Hilda said.
"Or difficult." Frida commented.
They began their second search through the hallways while checking every room and locker they came across. At first, everything was empty of people and anything of interest. Then they heard something just around the corner. They slowly moved along the wall to take a peek and saw one of the adult witches walking like a patrol officer.
"This must be part of the test." Frida whispered. "We have to retrieve whatever is here without getting caught."
Hilda made the shush sign and took off her boots. Frida understood and took off her shoes. Hilda gestured for Frida to follow her and so she did. While the guard witch looked the other way, the girls rolled past that particular hallway and quietly continued. Some of the rooms also had guard witches as well as more in the halls, making this task even trickier. Thankfully, Hilda had experience with being stealthy, so she managed to keep Frida and herself unseen. Finally, they came to the door to the Principal's office and peeked through it's window. On the table of that room was a suspicious looking bag being guarded by yet another guard witch.
"Now what do we do?" Frida asked.
"I'll handle this." Hilda said. "After all, you need to stay hidden more than I do."
Frida reluctantly nodded and hid in another room. Hilda then creaked the door loudly on purpose. The guard witch heard it and went for the door. Hilda took off with the guard witch behind her. She tried to catch her with her wand, but Hilda was too fast for her. With the coast clear, Frida snuck into the office and grabbed the bag. It took a while, but both girls managed to retrieve their footwear and make it back to the entrance of the school together.
"So what's in the bag?" Hilda asked.
"It looks like I have to solve a riddle to open it." Frida said as she examined the bag. "One is always growing, one is always changing, and one is always coming."
"What kind of a riddle is that?" Hilda commented.
"I'm not sure. All I really know is that there are three of them."
Both girls pondered the confusing words on the bag. What could there possibly be three of that matches such an uninformative description?
"Trees. Mountains. Stars. Keys. Shadows? Rivers!" Hilda made a bunch of random guesses, but none of them worked.
"Hilda, why don't you just let me handle this?" Frida suggested.
Hilda kept quiet while Frida kept thinking. She only had so much time to figure it out, but wasn't getting anywhere. She looked at the nearest clock and saw that only half of the time limit was left.
"Wait a minute." she thought. "Time."
Her eyes widened, for she knew the answer.
"I've got it! The past, the present, and the future."
Suddenly the bag opened with a glowing light.
"How did you know?" Hilda asked.
"Everything that happens is added to the past, the present is never the same, and the future is basically everything that has yet to come." Frida explained. "Now we just have one more task, then it's back to the library."
She reached into the bag and pulled out a vial of green liquid and a patch of black fur. After storing the new ingredients into her backpack, Frida and Hilda left the school grounds. Hilda started falling behind while thinking about her worries again. She began to wonder if she was a burden to magic instead of an asset.
"Hilda!" Frida called, snapping her familiar out of her thoughts. "Are you alright?"
"Uh, yup! Just thinking about what you said." Hilda replied. "So where to now?"
"Our final destination is... the castle ruins outside of Trolberg."
More time has past as they approached the train section that led out of the city. But before they got there, they stopped by a random restaurant.
"I think I need to use the restroom before we go any further." Frida said.
"I can wait." Hilda responded.
Frida went inside while Hilda stood next to a tree and admired the a few minutes, Hilda was wondering what was keeping her friend. Then unfortunately, four obvious brats came around the corner and saw her.
"Uh-oh. It's her again." one of them said.
"Do you still think she's a witch, Trevor?" another asked.
"Careful, she might whack you with her broomstick." the group's only girl joked.
Hilda tried to ignore them, but all of their witch-related comments were adding salt to a wound. Those jerks just kept making jokes and insults, not
to mention laughing at her. Finally, she had enough and snapped.
"I'M NOT A WITCH, OKAY!" Hilda exploded. "AND IF I WAS, I'D BE PROUD OF IT!"
The brats were surprised by her outburst despite being told off by her before. So they all just walked away, but not before Trevor asked a question.
"If you're not a witch, then why does your friend look scared of you?"
For a moment, Hilda thought he meant David who wasn't even nearby. Then she turned around and saw Frida standing at the door with a shocked look.
"Hilda?"
"Let's just finish your test." Hilda said.
Later outside of Trolberg, Hilda and Frida remained quiet as they headed for the ruins. However, Frida could no longer ignore the elephant in the room. She grabbed Hilda's arm and made her face her.
"Hilda, are you jealous of me?"
Hilda wanted to lie, but she knew she couldn't hide the truth anymore.
"Yes ,Frida. I am. At first, I was okay with being the only human familiar. But all day, I've felt like I got the short end of the stick! You weren't even interested in magic until we found the witch's tower, and yet you get the best privilege ever! I've actually wished I was a witch, but what do I get? Nothing! I had to be kidnapped by a troll in order to do anything cool! And do you know what the worst part is!?"
Frida shook her head as she watched her friend fight the urge to show any tears.
"Tildy and the committee are right about me. I'm not smart or patient like you, Frida. And I'd only mess everything up again."
"Hilda, I had no idea you felt this way. Maybe we can talk to Tildy about this."
"That won't help. I just don't belong around magic. What is even the point of having a familiar when witches can do almost anything?"
"What about when we learned the truth of Trolberg together?" Frida asked.
"That's only because you're still an apprentice." Hilda countered.
"Alright, but... how do you know I won't end up like Kaisa?"
"I've seen you practice, Frida. You treat magic the same way you treat Sparrow Scout badges. At this rate, you could be a better witch than Tildy. Let's face it. You don't really need a familiar."
Then Hilda said something that Frida could never expect from her.
"I...*sniff*...I quit."
"Hilda! You can't! You're better than that!"
"Well I'm not good enough for this."
As much as Frida didn't want her friend to leave, she knew she couldn't talk Hilda out of this decision. She was better at receiving confidence than giving it. So she let her go.
"Alright. But could you at least meet me back at the tower?" she asked.
"I can do that." Hilda sadly agreed. "Goodbye, Frida."
And like that, Hilda walked back to Trolberg. Once she was sure that she was out of Frida's sight, she began to cry.
Frida reluctantly continued her test without Hilda. Soon enough, she found the castle ruins and started searching. It actually didn't take her that long to find something, for in the middle of the ruins was what looked like a thermos sitting on a big rock surrounded by several different wands. Frida checked the thermos and found some more writing on the side.
"Only the true wand can open this. The wrong wand will lead to failure."
Frida looked at each wand carefully. She only had one chance to open the thermos, so she couldn't mess up. Did the right wand have to be a certain shape or color? Was this another riddle? Is the wand even here? Never has Frida been so stumped before. She didn't know what to do.
"Oh this is impossible!" Frida whined. "I might as well use a broken stick in the woods!"
And that's when it hit her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handle of a ship's helm.
"Every witch has their own true wand." Frida pointed her wand at the lid of the thermos and magically opened it like a key to a lock.
She took the lid off and emptied out what was inside. A big fang and a mushroom. After she put them in her backpack, she looked at her wand, remembering the day Hilda found it and gave it to her as a joke.
"I have to talk to Hilda."
She was just about to leave the ruins when something occurred to her.
"Wait. If the box was invisible, and the bag was guarded by witches... then what's keeping me from finishing this task?"
Her question was almost immediately answered by an unnerving sound. Frida turned around and looked up in time to see what seemed to be a large black lizard climbing over one of the stone walls. The lizard leapt at her with hungry intentions. Frida managed to dodge in time, but the beast wasn't done yet. It repeatedly tried to bite her, making her more scared each time.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Frida screamed so loudly that Hilda with her head down could hear her.
"Frida?" Hilda lifted her head, turned around and realized that her friend was in danger. "What have I done?"
She took off back toward the ruins, hoping she wasn't too late.
Meanwhile after the scream, Frida ran for her life. She tried to cast any kind of spell, but the lizard was too fast and almost got her every time. Eventually the monster caught her under it's foot. Just as Frida was about to get eaten, a rock was thrown at the beast's head. She and it turned to see where the rock came from and there stood Hilda with a big stick.
"I don't know what you are, but you're not eating my friend!"
The lizard released Frida and lunged at Hilda with much anger. Hilda dodged it's bite just in time and smacked the other side of it's face with the stick, breaking it in the process. That only ticked off the beast even more, but Hilda was too worried about her friend to worry about herself. Frida would've cast a spell to help out, but all that chasing left her too scared. She could only watch. The lizard chased Hilda all over the ruins, neither of them getting tired from running. Then Hilda came to a cliff and waited for the beast. It quickly found her and rushed at her as expected. Hilda stood still as it got closer, and closer, and closer. Just as the monster tried to eat her again, Hilda jumped over it at the last second. The lizard not only fell for Hilda's trap but fell off the cliff. Hilda ran back to Frida to see how she was doing.
"Frida, are you alright?" she asked as soon as she found her again.
"Y-yes. Thanks for coming back, Hilda." Frida said.
"Good. Now let's get out of here."
But before they could take five steps, the ground beneath them gave in and they fell screaming. The broken floor caused a nearby wall to break as well, covering the hole so that barely any light could get through. Hilda got up easily from the fall, but Frida's feet were stuck under a boulder.
"Frida!"
"I'm not hurt too much. Just stuck." Frida assured. "Luckily, there's a curve in this rock. Can you lift it?"
"I tried something this big before." Hilda said. "As a human, this is too heavy. Can't you just levitate it off?"
"I can only do that with small objects right now, like a book. You'll have to go get help."
"I can't! What if that big lizard finds you while I'm gone? We have to get you out now!"
Hilda had only one option. She tried lifting the boulder anyway. But no matter how hard she tried, the boulder wouldn't budge. And yet she refused to stop. She needed to save her friend.
"RRRRRRRRRGH!" Hilda tried so hard that it was hurting her. "AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
Then something happened before Frida's eyes. Hilda's skin turned grey, her nose extended, her teeth changed shape, and her clothes went away somehow. Once all that happened, Hilda lifted the boulder with ease.
"I did it!" she cheered before throwing the boulder away. "Frida, how are your feet?"
"Ow! I think I need to stay off of them for a while." Frida said. "That's the second time this month I had a leg related accident. But right now, I'm more worried about you."
"What do you mean?" Hilda obliviously asked.
"Hilda, you're a troll again."
"What!?" Hilda looked at her hands, then the rest of her body and she even touched her nose. "How!? Why did this happen again!? What am i going to do? Some people are still scared of trolls! I can't even go outside until sunset!"
"Hilda, calm down!"
Hilda took a few deep breaths and calmed down.
"The first thing we should do is find an exit." Frida said. "Since I can't get up right now, you'll have to carry me."
"Okay." Hilda picked Frida up bridal style and started searching the stone interior.
"So, did you find the other ingredients?' Hilda asked.
"I did." Frida answered.
The good news is they found an exit within a couple minutes. The bad news is so did the black lizard. It quickly attacked them again, but hilda jumped out of it's reach.
"I'll handle this." Hilda said as she placed Frida in a corner.
She then faced the beast once again with her fists ready. The lizard made a sound halfway between a roar and a hiss, but Hilda flat out roared. The lizard made the first move head on and hilda gave it a right hook. The lizard shook it off and tried a new tactic. Swinging it's tail. Hilda grabbed the tail and lifted the monster into the air. She then threw it at a wall as hard as she could. Surprisingly the beast was still standing. Then Hilda noticed something under the creature's neck. It was some kind of dark purple crystal.
"I wonder."
Hilda and the lizard ran at each other, but Hilda was quicker this time and held it's head above her. The beast tried to knock her away with it's front legs, but Hilda was too sturdy in her troll form. She grabbed the crystal and yanked it out of it's socket. The lizard shrieked and moved around like crazy before releasing a flashing light. Once the light was gone, in the lizard's place was a little clay statue of the creature.
"It was just a golem beast." Frida said.
"Is that another witch thing?" Hilda asked.
"Yes. Not all witches use them, but apparently someone did as part of this test. It must've been made to catch us, not eat us. Sorry I didn't do anything. I was really scared."
"No, Frida. I'm the one who's sorry." Hilda dropped the crystal, walked over to her friend and sat down. "I should've stayed with you until the test was over before choosing to quit. What am I? A marra?"
"Hilda, it's okay." Frida said. "You may have made a mistake, but you came back and saved me. That more than makes up for it."
"Thank you." Hilda said as she wrapped her arms around her legs.
"No matter what anyone else says Hilda, you'll always be witch material in my book."
Hilda and Frida then hugged and made up even though they didn't really fight this time. While they were hugging, Hilda noticed that her hands had a magic glow on them similar to last time.
"Frida, I think I'm changing back."
The girls let go and observed what was happening. Hilda's clothes returned and her body reverted to it's original form. She was human again.
"What's going on with me?" Hilda asked.
"Whatever it is, at least now we can ask someone sooner rather than later." Frida said.
"You're right. Let's go." Hilda picked Frida up again and carried her all the way back to the witch's tower.
They had less than half an hour left by the time they were back where they started. Most of the other trainees were back as well, including Jack. The girls then noticed David, Twig, and Kaisa coming to check up on them.
"We saw the whole thing." David said. "Are you two alright?"
"Well I think I can stand now." Frida said.
"And I plan to solve my problem after the test ends." Hilda said while petting Twig.
"That 'problem' may not be as bad as you think, Hildy." Kaisa said. "Now let's return to our seats."
Hilda joined them in the far corner of the seat area wondering what Kaisa meant while Frida got started with the collected ingredients.
"I didn't think you could ever get jealous, Hilda." David said.
"Yeah, I don't think I handled that well." Hilda admitted.
"At least now you know how I feel around you and Frida."
That surprising comment made Hilda start thinking.
Frida figured out how the ingredients were meant to be used and put most of them in a miniature cauldron one by one. She then held the glass piece over the cauldron and waved her wand a few times. That was when some of the other kids took notice.
"That's your wand?" the kid with the crow rudely asked. "A broken piece of wood?"
"And I thought her familiar was lame." the child with the donkey commented.
Soon enough, all of the jerks were picking on Frida. Everyone in the room could hear all the insults, but nobody did a thing to stop it except for Jack. That was a detail that baffled Hilda. The more those jerks offended Frida, the more it bothered Hilda. Frida was starting to lose focus on her spell when suddenly...
"HEY!" Hilda shouted, getting everyone's attention.
She marched down to the disgraceful witches in training and started giving them a piece of her mind.
"You have no right to treat anybody like that! She never did anything to you! I may not belong around magic, but Frida does! Someday, she'll be able to do anything! And from where I stand, none of you jerks even deserve to learn magic!"
One of the jerks got mad and pointed a wand at Hilda. Surprising to everyone watching, Hilda didn't even flinch. Then for some reason, the witch in training stood down and walked away. Hilda was confused until she turned around and saw some of the adult witches having her back. Satisfied, she then stood next to Frida in case of anymore trash talk.
"Thank you." Frida said.
"You're welcome." Hilda smiled.
Very shortly afterwards, the students each completed the final part of their test with different magical reactions. In Frida's case, her potion glowed blue and imitated fireworks. Suddenly, a bell rang.
"Time is up!" the Abigail announced.
"To see if you truely succeeded, dip your given papers into your creations." the short member said. "If the paper turns yellow, you pass. If it's purple, you fail."
The kids did as instructed. The majority including all the jerks got purple papers and only five turned yellow. Two of them were Jack's and Frida's.
"Yes!" Frida cheered.
"I knew you could do it." Hilda said.
David and Twig came down to celebrate with the girls. Apparently the other kids who passed had someone to come and congratulate them too.
"Everybody, we're not done just yet!" the third member said, getting everyone's attention. "The Arch Sorceress, Matilda Pilkvist has something to say."
The arch sorceress who Hilda and her friends know as Tildy came forth to say who knows what.
"First of all, congratulations to those of you who passed and I wish the rest of you good luck for next year." she said while stroking her familiar. "And now for those of you who have never taken this test before, there is one more detail that was purposely kept from you. Each of you was not only tested to see if you can become official witches, but also given an extra individual test based on what is considered in need of improvement. Thankfully, all improvements have been shown today. Your papers should now say what part of you was also being tested."
The trainees who passed each looked at their papers to see what was now written on them.
"Mine says confidence." one kid said.
"I got humility." another said.
"Literature is on my paper." a third kid said.
"Spell memories." Jack said. "I knew I was getting better."
"What does yours say Frida?" Hilda asked.
Frida looked at her paper and was shocked by what she read.
"Hilda, you'll never guess what it is." she said.
Frida handed the paper to Hilda. What Hilda saw gave her the exact same surprise for it was the last word she would ever expect.
FAMILIAR
"What!?" Hilda said, getting everyone's attention again. "All this time, Frida's test was partly about me!?"
"It was their idea." Tildy said, approaching the confused girl. "Besides, you are her familiar after all."
"But that's just it." Hilda argued. "I'm only a familiar. I'm not as important as a witch, so why bother?"
Some of the other kids started muttering similar questions, not all of them nice ones.
"Hmhmhm. Obviously you needed this test, Hilda." Tildy said. "Come with me. There are three things that you and Frida should know. The rest of you may tag along if you wish."
All of the children followed Tildy to another hallway not seen before.
"The first thing you must know, Hilda is that you're not the only human to be a familiar." Tildy waved her hand and the hallway revealed pictures of witches none of the kids knew about. All of those pictures actually had two people in them to prove what was just said.
"The first human familiar right here was also his witch's husband." Tildy explained. "While this pair were identical twins. You'd be surprised by some of the different familiars in history."
"Why didn't anyone tell us?" Hilda asked.
"It didn't seem important to you at the time." Tildy said. "But now you need to know. Being a familiar is nothing to be ashamed of."
Hilda, her friends, and the other kids looked at the different human familiars on the walls. One was big and muscular. Another was missing an arm. There was even a woman who wore asian clothing. Hilda wondered what else she was going to learn. Thankfully, not for very long.
"The second thing, I'm actually going to show you with a spell." Tildy said, pulling out her wand.
She pointed it at Hilda's forehead and said some magic words. Then all over the halls were lots of circles with something happening in each of them similar to those portals made by the timeworm.
"What are these?" Hilda asked.
"Your memories." Tildy answered. "More specifically, the ones that show all of the good you have done."
Hilda and the others looked at the different memories to see how true it was. One memory showed her meeting and helping Twig. Another revealed how she led the plan to stop the bells. Not to mention when she helped the Great Raven get his memory back.
"I told you there was a girl riding on him." David said to Frida.
The end of the huge storm, the challenge against the marra, the reunited ghosts, the reunited old giants, all of it was there. Even the mistake with the tide mice was among them, revealing why she did that.
"Hilda." the committee of three came forth. "After seeing you partake with your friend and looking at some of these memories, we now see that we misjudged you. For that, we apologize."
"I like this memory in particular." Tildy said, piquing Hilda's curiosity.
Hilda went to the mentioned memory and saw herself and Frida right after the troll attack.
"But Frida only needed my help because she's still learning."
"No she didn't." Tildy said. "You asked earlier what the point of a familiar was. Well what you did that night was it. To help a witch with the harder parts of witchcraft. You were right about one thing, Hilda. Witches can do almost anything, but only if they have a familiar by their side."
Suddenly all of the young witches besides Frida were complimenting Hilda and asking her questions. Hilda had forgotten how important most of her actions had been, but not anymore.
"Thank you, Tildy." Hilda gave the arch sorceress a heartfelt hug.
Once the memories went back into Hilda's head, she had something to admit.
"I'm sorry if I was being selfish today. It's just sometimes... I wish I could've gotten something out of being a familiar."
"And that is where the third thing comes in." Tildy said. "Some familiars develop a single magic ability of their own. For example, mine can swallow and store just about anything in his body."
"Really?" Hilda asked with wide excited eyes. "How do I get my own?"
Tildy just smiled and said "You already have."
"Huh? No I didn't."
"Hilda, I think she means your troll form." Frida said.
"What? But I didn't make that happen." Hilda denied.
"You were a troll?" Jack asked.
"Twice now, but I never did it on my own."
"Uh Hilda, your hand is grey." David said.
Hilda looked at her left hand and panicked.
"Oh no. Not again! Why is this happening to me?"
She shook her hand, hoping it would change back. Instead, the rest of her body changed again. But at least her clothes stayed this time. The looks on the other kid's faces were starting to scare Hilda.
"Everybody relax!" Tildy said. "Hilda, it's not what you think. This is part of your ability."
Hilda calmed down and listened.
"Most familiars are not as caring to all living things as you are." Tildy explained. "The few who are end up with a very special power. Hilda, you're a shapeshifter."
"I am?" Hilda noticed her body changing back again.
"Yes, and from what Frida and Kaisa told me, I think you've had this gift for at least a week."
"The night I changed back." Hilda gasped. "That's why I still have some of my troll abilities. I must've never noticed because most of my body is covered."
"I quite agree with your theory." Kaisa said as she came forth with a book. "Unfortunately, there aren't any other current familiars who can teach you anything. But I can give you this."
She handed Hilda the book which was titled "The Magic of Familiars."
"But if you're still quitting, maybe you don't need that book." Tildy joked.
"Oh I'm definitely staying." Hilda said, hugging the book.
Everyone near her was as happy to hear that as she was to say it.
"It looks like you belong around magic after all." Frida said.
"I guess I do."
Later that day, Hilda and Twig returned home where Johanna, Alfur, and Tontu waited for her.
"So how was it?" Johanna asked.
"You were right, Mum. Frida and I are still friends." Hilda said. "Frida passed the test and it turns out I have my own magic."
"What?" Johanna said.
Hilda sat down and explained everything that happened from beginning to end, leaving her listeners quite surprised.
"So you can now become a troll at will?" Johanna asked.
"Not just yet. I have to read how to control it from this book."
"Fascinating!" Alfur said. "When do you plan to start?"
"I was hoping right now if that's alright." Hilda said while looking at her mum.
"Go ahead." Johanna said.
Hilda hugged her and quickly ran to her room with the book.
"I hope she doesn't start turning into a nisse." Tontu moaned. "I like my privacy."
"Well whatever Hilda turns into, things will be a lot more interesting." Alfur said.
As a mother, Johanna was worried about what kind of trouble Hilda could now get into, but she has learned a while ago to start letting go. As for Hilda, she sat at her table kicking her legs back and forth as she started reading. Her future adventures were starting to look a lot more exciting.
Author's note: There's a reason I came up with this story. When I watched the witch episode for the first time, I was upset that Frida ended up becoming a witch instead of Hilda. Don't get me wrong. It was a good episode and I know it makes sense, but when you have a fan theory for a long time and it gets destroyed, sometimes you feel a little ripped off. I knew I needed to get over it, but I was having a little trouble doing that. So I thought up this fanfic about Hilda feeling jealous over this one-sided deal, hoping it would help. While coming up with this, I also saw an opportunity for something else I wanted to write about. Hilda turning into multiple creatures and spirits. I have several other fan ideas for later chapters, but there won't be any shipping except maybe among the adults. There's a strong chance that season 3 will ruin this and/or my other chapters before I even finish, which is why I'll be treating this fan season as an AU. I hope you all like it.
P.S. I tried to find the names of all three committee members, but only one of them was ever mentioned.