'I hope they are joking with that human skin spell book' said Miss Hardbroom ominously.

This set the tone for the evening. Miss Drill sighed.

'If you could just watch it.'

With anyone else she would have pointed out it was fun but Miss Hardbroom did not know the meaning of fun. It was a foreign concept to her.

'No respectable witch would wear those lurid stockings' came the reply. Davina offered the name of somebody who would and suffered the death glare. Constance was quieter after that, occasionally tutting. Until it got to the sucking children's lives to keep immortal bit.

'Slander!'

Miss Cackle paused the recording.

'This one takes some suspension of disbelief, I'm afraid.'

'And ordinaries watch this nonsense every year? No wonder Halloween has been corrupted.'

'I'm afraid we can't change that now' soothed Amelia. 'Do settle down for the film.'

Constance took a handful of plain popcorn and crunched angrily, eyes like a snake. Imogen could feel her restraint vibrate in waves. Took deep breaths when Davina giggled at some inane joke.

'What did he mean by that?'

Imogen and Amelia exchanged glances, debating whether to explain about the pervy bus driver. That could have been what the giggling was about but with Davina, one never knew.

'What are we coming to these days when people talk about things like that in public?' Complained Constance after the scene with the fake policeman and the declaration of virginity in relation to a black candle.

Amelia explained that it created comedy while Davina giggle snorted.

Constance had been through all sorts of trials since coming to work at Cackles but watching Hocus Pocus had been one of her most horrifying. She'd had to sit through various unsavoury depictions of witches, Davina singing along with the witch spells, learning some French, a manic possessed mess of partying (Davina was already formulating Halloween themed drinks) and talk of yabbos (children these days, really) and talking black cats. She was relieved when it was over. Of course she had disdained the idea of zombies, ordinary people's folktale rubbish but even she was intrigued to see the final battle go down, blinked at the thought of sibling sacrifice. Imogen uncharitably thought that Ethel wouldn't have been willing to have given herself in favour of Sybil. She didn't know it but Amelia was thinking the same thing.

'If the students see this, Halloween will become the biggest fight on our hands for the rest of the term' pointed out Constance. 'We must make sure they never view it.'

Imogen was torn between causing chaos and preventing it. Amelia glanced at her and shook her head. She knew what she was thinking. They put the video away and prepared to go to bed, Davina chanting French library phrases, Imogen explaining who Madonna was and why she owned such a pointy brassiere, Constance knowing that her dreams would be utterly ridiculous, full of French books and smoke. Someone was going to get stabbed with those pointy bits, hopefully a zombie. What a ridiculous film. She was glad that Morgana didn't talk. That was the last thing she needed.