A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (3 page)

With a sinking heart, Mildred moved miserably through all the chores of the first day, unpacking robes, arranging the new books in her desk, feeding the cat, and innumerable small tasks till at last it was bedtime.

The pupils were too depressed to bother sneaking into each other’s rooms for a chat as they usually did on the first night back at school. Mildred lay in a glum heap under the blankets with the cat purring like a lawn-mower on her pillow, trying to think if there was any possible advantage in another year with Miss Hardbroom at the helm, but there wasn’t.

Next morning, Mildred was jolted awake by the bell ringing in a much more frantic way than usual. It didn’t take long for the cobwebs of sleep to clear and for her to realize that it was the fire-bell.

An untidily dressed Maud flung open Mildred’s door as she rushed past. ‘Quick, Mil!’ she shrieked. ‘It’s fire-drill, come on!’

‘What a time to choose,’ said Mildred, bundling on her tunic over her pyjamas. ‘Perhaps it’s a real fire?’

Maud went rushing off down the corridor, but Mildred stopped and looked out of the window to see if there was any evidence of fire. There, in the yard below, was Miss Hardbroom wreathed in thick purple smoke. She appeared to be standing in her customary arms-folded, upright posture, staring into the smoke as if she was in a trance, which seemed decidedly odd, given the circumstances.

‘Crumbs!’ thought Mildred. ‘She’s gone into a state of shock. I’ll have to help!’

Mildred rushed to the washroom and seized the bucket which stood under the window there to catch drips from the leak in the ceiling. It was already half full with stagnant rain water, so Mildred filled it to the brim, then carried it back to the yard window-sill, collecting her broomstick on the way.

She peered out of the window again, hoping that she might perhaps have imagined the scene below, but Miss Hardbroom had not moved and was now almost hidden from view by the smoke.

‘Here goes!’ said Mildred, her spirits rising as she thought how grateful her form-mistress would be. ‘Perhaps I’ll get a medal for bravery.’

It is difficult, at the best of times, to balance on a broomstick, but when you are trying to carry a heavy bucket of water at the same time, it is virtually impossible. Mildred did her best to arrange the bucket hanging from the back, but it was obviously going to spill the minute they took off, so she put the bucket back onto the window-sill, climbed onto the broom first, and then settled the bucket in her lap. This seemed to be reasonably steady so, taking her courage in both hands, Mildred gave the word: ‘Down broom! Fast!’

Instantly they plunged into a vertical nose-dive so abrupt that the bucket flew from her grasp and dropped like a stone. Mildred swooped desperately after it but, alas, too late. A torrent of foul, icy water drenched Miss Hardbroom from head to toe, followed a second later by the bucket which crashed over her head with a doom-laden clang. To give the stern form-mistress some credit, it must be recorded that she did not flinch when the metal bucket struck, after falling from such a height.

Though her natural inclination was to turn round and zoom straight back again, Mildred could see that there was no escape. The smoke had cleared, revealing at least half the school lined up in rows and Miss Hardbroom still in the same position, with the bucket neatly over her head. For a mad moment, Mildred thought that perhaps, for some unknown reason, it was only a statue of Miss Hardbroom, but this illusion was shattered when the statue spoke.

‘There is no need to ask
which
pupil is responsible for this,’ came the familiar voice from inside the bucket. ‘Mildred Hubble, perhaps you would be kind enough to assist me in my predicament?’

The sight of any other teacher dripping with water and with a bucket over her head would have been an occasion for great mirth among the pupils, but absolutely nothing could diminish Miss Hardbroom’s power. Not a sound was heard, not a smirk flickered on any face as Mildred stepped forward and stood on tiptoe to remove the bucket.

Miss Hardbroom’s eyes bored into Mildred like a laser-beam the moment they came into view.

‘Thank you, Mildred,’ she said acidly.

‘I – I’m s-sorry, M-M-Miss Hardb-b-broom,’ gibbered Mildred, ‘it was – I thought you were on fire — there was smoke so I, well I thought – it seemed…’

‘Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom heavily, ‘does it seem likely to you that I would be standing here in the middle of a raging inferno, casually rounding up all you girls?’

‘There was the smoke, Miss Hardbroom,’ explained Mildred in a tiny voice, suddenly feeling aware of the striped pyjama legs under her tunic.

‘
If
you remember your fire-drill Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘pupils are expected in the yard through the main door, and
not
, as some girls seem to imagine, from the upstairs windows. On entering the yard through the
correct
entrance, they would have been met by me, who would then have informed them that the smoke was merely magic smoke to lend atmosphere to the proceedings and that there was no cause for total panic as some pupils would seem to be prone to.’

‘Yes, Miss Hardbroom,’ quavered Mildred, ‘I’m sorry, Miss Hardbroom.’

‘Get into line, Mildred,’ ordered Miss Hardbroom. ‘Let us just say that we expect this to be your only half-witted jape for the entire term. Ethel? Would you please fetch me a towel and my cloak before I turn into an iceberg?’

‘Of course, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Ethel, smiling demurely at her form-mistress, but pulling a horrid face at Mildred as she passed her by.

Mildred lined up next to her two friends, Maud and Enid.

‘You are the limit, Mildred,’ whispered Maud.

‘I
know
,’ said Mildred miserably. ‘I must have been still asleep or something.’

‘Actually,’ said Enid, ‘it was quite funny really.’

At this point all three friends felt an unruly wave of amusement sweeping over them, and the rest of the fire-drill was spent desperately avoiding each other’s eyes in case a fit of the giggles should descend, and they were all agreed (especially Mildred) that this would definitely
not
be the thing to do.