A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (8 page)

‘Hold on a moment,’ said Enid, ‘I think we’d
better
get Miss Hardbroom. I mean, how are we going to explain where Mildred’s been?’

‘Let’s tell her in the morning,’ wheedled Ethel. ‘She’ll be in a dreadful mood if we disturb her tonight. Anyway, I’m sure poor Mildred here can’t wait a moment longer.’

Ethel spoke the words of the spell, and at once Mildred was standing before them.

‘Thanks for nothing, Ethel Hallow,’ she said, rubbing her arms and legs. ‘Gosh, it feels really odd to be this big again. Oh Maud, it was so awful in the potion lab, I really thought I’d had it.’

The door opened like a thunderclap, and there stood Miss Hardbroom.

‘Having a little party are we, girls?’ she inquired drily. ‘Ah, Mildred, I see you’ve decided to rejoin us at last. We hope you have had a pleasant time wherever you have been. Would it be too much, perhaps, to inquire exactly where you
have
been. Hmm?’

The three friends looked desperately at Ethel who stepped forward with a smirk flickering at the corners of her mouth.

‘I caught Mildred creeping down the corridor with Maud and Enid here,’ she said innocently. ‘So I invited them into my room and I was just coming to fetch you, Miss Hardbroom.’

‘
Ethel
!’ exclaimed Maud, Enid and Mildred together.

‘That’s not
true
, Miss Hardbroom,’ squeaked Mildred indignantly. ‘Ethel turned me into a frog and that’s where I’ve been for the last day, and it was
her
fault. She’s only just changed me back.’

‘I did
not
,’ lied Ethel, sounding convincingly angry. ‘I wouldn’t
do
such a thing – unlike some people around here,’ she added under her breath, referring to the time when Mildred had accidently changed Ethel into a pig during their first term at the school.

‘Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘you will write out five hundred times, in perfect handwriting, “I must learn to curb my imagination and to —” good gracious, girl! What on earth has happened to your feet?’

They all looked and saw that Mildred’s feet, still recovering from the invisibility potion, had not yet reappeared, even though she had changed back to her usual self.

‘That
proves
it!’ exclaimed Mildred joyfully. ‘Miss Hardbroom,
I
was the frog in the potion laboratory, the one you found in the corridor, and the potion I took is only just wearing off, that’s why I haven’t any feet at the moment. Oh yes! And to prove it even more, I can tell you that you have a handkerchief, a whistle and a notebook with a rubber band round it in your pocket!’

Miss Hardbroom turned to Ethel.

‘
Well
?’ she asked, in tones so terrifying that all four of her pupils shrank back against the wall.

‘I – I, well – I – she
had
insulted my f-family, Miss Hardb-broom,’ said Ethel feebly. ‘And I really didn’t mean her to run off like that. I only meant to give her a scare. I didn’t mean…’ she trailed into silence.

‘Ethel, Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘you will both come to my room first thing in the morning before breakfast. Now get along to bed at once, all of you.’

Their form-mistress ushered the three friends to their separate rooms. Mildred’s room was the last of all.

‘Let us hope that your feet are in the correct place by the morning, Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom frostily, as Mildred hastened inside and closed the door.

hortly after the rising bell had been rung, Ethel and Mildred were waiting anxiously outside Miss Hardbroom’s door. It was the first time that Ethel had been summoned to her form-mistress for any reason other than praise.

‘It’s
your
fault, Mildred Hubble,’ she muttered, as they paced up and down the corridor. ‘If you hadn’t told that stupid story to Sybil and upset her, I wouldn’t have done it to you. Anyway, I really
was
going to take the spell off straight away, but of course
you
have to go hopping off and get caught and land us in this mess.’

‘
You’ve
got a nerve, Ethel Hallow!’ said Mildred. ‘You just can’t ever admit you might be wrong, can you? It wasn’t exactly
fun
being pursued round the potion lab and shoved into jars. It wouldn’t occur to you that –’

The door opened and Miss Hardbroom beckoned them inside.

‘Sit,’ she barked, indicating two chairs opposite her desk. They all sat down.

‘It
wasn’t
my fault, Miss Hardbroom!’ Ethel blurted out. ‘Mildred Hubble told my little sister this story about first-years being changed into frogs by the teachers. She even told Sybil that the frog in the school
pond
was enchanted, and poor Sybil was in such a state that I thought someone ought to teach Mildred a lesson.’

‘It wasn’t exactly like that, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Mildred. ‘I’d gone up to Ethel’s sister to cheer her up because she was looking so miserable. I didn’t know —’

‘I have heard quite enough excuses,’ interrupted Miss Hardbroom, ‘and I do not wish to hear any more. Frankly, I am not in the least bit interested in whose fault the incident was.

‘The reason I have called you both here is to remind you that you are now second-year witches, and I do not expect this ridiculous feud between you two girls to continue. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, Miss Hardbroom,’ replied Ethel and Mildred meekly.

‘Ethel,’ continued Miss Hardbroom, ‘just because you happen to be an excellent scholar and one of the most helpful members of my class, I do not expect you to lie your way out of a situation when it has become awkward. Do you understand this?’

‘Yes, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Ethel.

‘Neither,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘do I expect you to contravene the Witches Code, rule number seven, paragraph two, by changing your fellows into any sort of animal for what
ever
reason. Do you understand
that
?’

‘Yes, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Ethel.

‘Good,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘then you will understand why I am giving you one hundred lines which will say “I must tell the truth at all times.” ’

She turned her attention to Mildred. ‘Mildred, I would ask you to refrain from tormenting the first-years with untrue horror stories about the academy, and to make some attempt to
think
– if that is possible – before you embark upon any more madcap escapades.’