Caution: Witch In Progress (22 page)

    Obviously before her brain had time to realise what her mouth
was about to say, the words ‘I’ll do it,’ were out of Malicia’s mouth and
drifting across the room.

    The other trainee witches and warlocks stared at her in awe.
Hexa took her chance to escape and vanish completely behind Bertha, though she
did have to push a few others out of the way.

    ‘She’s either very brave, or her brains are scrambled,’
whispered Haggie.

    ‘Or she has a death wish,’ added Mildew under her breath.

    ‘Silence in the ranks!’ ordered Miss Wick looking very relieved.
‘Malicia is about to perform!’

    ‘OH!’ boomed the demon, who had apparently just caught the end
of the sentence. ‘ARE YOU GOING TO SING AND DANCE, OR TELL RHYMES MAYBE? I LOVE
A GOOD RHYME. DO YOU KNOW “INCY WINCY SPIDER, FRIED IN THE PIT”, OR “MARY,
MARY, QUITE UNWARY, HOW DO YOUR DEVIL’S HORNS GROW”?’ As mentioned before, he
wasn’t the brightest demon ever spawned. ‘IF YOU DO,’ he continued, ‘I MIGHT
LET YOU FINISH BEFORE I EAT YOU.’

    ‘E..eat…me?’ asked Malicia warily.

    ‘WELL, YES. THAT’S THE KIND OF THING DEMONS DO YOU KNOW, EAT
PEOPLE. I’LL EAT YOU ALL. NOTHING PERSONAL. IT’S JUST THE DONE THING. IT’S
ALRIGHT. YOU WON’T FEEL IT. I’LL COOK YOU FIRST,’ he reassured them.

    Malicia clearly decided it was now or never. She began to chant.

    ‘Fireball great, Fireball bright,

    Fireball burn and Fireball blight,

    Fireball fierce, Fireball hot,

    Fireball formed and Fireball shot.

    Mark my words and heed my power,

    Banish yon demon in fiery shower!’

    Pointing her left hand at the demon, Malicia stared at the sparks
licking at her fingertips.

    Gertie was impressed she could still perform under such
pressure! Surely that was enough to win her the Golden Spider Award. She
watched the tiny balls of flame begin to shoot from Malicia’s upraised hand,
and head for the demon.

    A cheer rose from the watching witches and warlocks. Malicia was
really impressive. Impressive that is, until the fireballs hit the demon’s
scaly skin. They then fizzled away to nothing on his thick hide.

    ‘What about the big ones you told us you could throw,’ hissed
Miss Wick. ‘Don’t hold back now, girl, throw them!’

    Gertie decided Malicia probably meant her fireballs to be much
bigger, as she had boasted earlier. They just hadn’t turned out that way.

    The demon brushed at his chest with a flick of his clawed hand. ‘THAT’S
NOT VERY NICE!’ he said angrily, folding his arms. ‘HAVE I DONE ANYTHING TO
YOU? NO. DID I ASK TO COME HERE? NO. YOU SUMMONED ME. JUST AS I WAS PART WAY
THROUGH MY DINNER, ACTUALLY. BUT DID I COMPLAIN? NO. ALONG I CAME ANYWAY. AND
WHAT THANKS DO I GET? I GET THINGS THROWN AT ME…AND CALLED SMELLY,’ he added,
clearly remembering how insulted he had been earlier.

    Demons are like elephants. No, they aren’t all grey and wrinkly
with long noses and huge ears. They just never forget.

    The demon was visibly angry now. No more Mr Nice Guy. ‘ANYWAY,
I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS,’ he continued. ‘AND I’M HUNGRY. NOW. WHO SHALL I EAT
FIRST? OH YES, THAT LITTLE WARLOCK WHO SUMMONED ME, THEN CALLED ME SMELLY.
WHERE IS HE NOW?’

    Malicia’s face broke into a look of relief because she was out
of the demon’s attention span for a while.

    Gertie saw Fang squash himself further into the wall, trying to
hold back whimpers that might give him away. It didn’t do him any good. He had
been spotted.

    ‘OH THERE YOU ARE, COME ALONG NOW. DON’T WASTE TIME.’

    The demon picked Fang up by his cloak between two huge claws.
The young warlock squealed terribly as the demon looked at him close up. When
the demon lifted him even closer, Fang finally managed to blurt out ‘Nooooooooooo,
Don’t eat me!’

Gertie
had watched everything that had happened quite calmly and quietly. She didn’t
know whether she was afraid of the demon or not, strangely enough. It was easy
to get carried away with everyone else’s fear, but was she scared? The demon
hadn’t actually done anything too terrible yet, apart from pick Fang up and
make some threats. He also seemed pretty stupid. The main problem was that he
was here.

    Gertie was beginning to feel angry. She had worked long and hard
for her Presentation, and now this silly demon was preventing her getting it
over with. He was also swinging Fang about between his big claws to torment
him. Though Gertie didn’t particularly like Fang, she could see that this was
the worst kind of bullying. If she didn’t do anything about it, she would be
just as bad as Fang. Without much further thought, Gertie turned and handed Owl
to a rather confused looking Bertha. She asked Bertha to take care of him. The
young witch then gripped the pentacle she always wore around her neck for
protection, and stepped forwards.

    ‘Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?’ she asked the
demon in a bold voice. Everyone stared at her in total awe, and stepped even
further back. Especially Miss Wick, who looked completely lost for words. The
Head Teacher probably hadn’t experienced seeing a student almost eaten before.
She didn’t seem to know of any procedures to tell her what she should do in a
case like this.

    The demon turned to look at Gertie as she spoke.

    ‘WHO, ME?’ he asked, with an astonished expression.

    ‘Yes, you,’ said Gertie, pointing at him.

    The demon gave a deep chuckle. ‘SOMEONE LIKE YOU?’ he asked,
laughing out loud now at his own wit.

    ‘Yes, yes, eat her!’ called Fang from the demon’s grip. Fang
must have seen this as a chance to get away. He obviously didn’t care how he
did it, or at whose expense.

    Gertie was temporarily stunned. She was trying to help Fang,
after all he had done, and he wanted her to be eaten? This was unbelievable.
Fang continued to swing and burble. Gertie then saw an even better plan dawn on
his evil face. ‘Or her!’ he shrieked, pointing his bony finger at Bertha. ‘Eat
Fatso over there. I’m only small. I’d never fill you. Eat HER!’

    The demon peered across the room, as if considering the
possibility.

    Gertie knew that it took a lot to get any kind of emotion from
Bertha. It was even surprising she was so wide awake, and aware of what was
going on. This however, was different. This was personal. Calling her Fatso was
one thing. A thing she’d had to get used to. But trying to get a demon to eat
her? That was too much. Gertie saw a determined expression appear on Bertha’s
face, and no one was more surprised than Gertie when she spoke.

    ‘What wrong with you all? Who has stepped forward to try to
protect us? Little Gertie who no one likes very much because she’s different. Does
Gertie care about that? No. She wants to protect us anyway. Even Fang. Now that
bit, I don’t understand,’ she stared at the quivering heap in the demon’s
claws. ‘But it’s Gertie’s way. Gertie is my friend. The only true friend I’ve
ever known. That one friend now stands alone, looking very small, and facing a
demon.’

    Bertha turned to Jasper, who was sleeping soundly, and gently
stood Owl on his back. Without another word, she stepped forwards and stood
beside Gertie. Maybe in the hope Gertie could protect her from being eaten, but
bravely all the same. Whatever Gertie was about to face, they would face it
together. That’s what real friendship was all about, after all.

    Gertie looked sideways at Bertha in surprise, and then gave her
a beautiful smile. As one, they walked closer to the demon. Gertie noticed
everyone else was doing their best to tunnel through the wall.

    Owl seemed to be the only one delighted by his current
situation. His eyes showed he was pleasantly sleepy and probably unaware what
was going on. He would also have no idea what he was standing on, but whatever
it was, he looked like he wanted one. It was all warm and furry under his feet.
His expression said he definitely needed a new log, just like this one.

    Jasper snored loudly.

    With no time to wonder about Bertha now standing next to her,
Gertie stared up the demon’s left nostril. He looked like he had almost
forgotten she was there because he was clearly enjoying playing with Fang. He
seemed to be trying to decide what made the young warlock squeal most, prodding
or swinging. He was smiling and having great fun. After a while, the demon
looked down, maybe sensing Gertie’s eyes were on him. She stared back up at
him. The demon looked back at Fang with boredom beginning to show on his scaly
face. The boy was hoarse with all the screaming, and could only manage a few
whimpers. That clearly wasn’t half as much fun. The demon put Fang down, none
too gently.

    The warlock scampered behind the teachers as fast as his
quivering legs could carry him.

    ‘ARE YOU STILL HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT, LITTLE GIRL?’ asked the
demon. ‘MORE TO THE POINT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE WITH ALL THESE WITCHES
ANYWAY?’

    ‘I am a witch,’ replied Gertie, actually meaning it for the
first time in her life. She believed it, at last. Gertie didn’t have time to
digest the thought properly before the demon spoke again.

    ‘OH?’ he mocked, ‘WELL, I’M VERY PLEASED TO MEET YOU, MISS
WITCH. I’M LITTLE BOY BLUE!’ He then roared at his own wit.

    Gertie waited patiently until he quietened down again. She then
said, ‘I guess you might be, because you’re certainly not a demon.’

    Gasps and intakes of breath filled the room. Gertie heard Miss
Wick say ‘What are you thinking of? Surely you didn’t want to make him angry?’

    Gertie saw Bertha turn to stare at her. ‘I hope you know what
you’re doing,’ she muttered.

    ‘WHAT?’  roared the demon. ‘NOT A DEMON? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING
ABOUT, YOU SILLY LITTLE GIRL?’

    Gertie kept her ground, and tried to look calm. If truth be
known, she was quaking inside, but she was depending on the demon being as
stupid as he seemed.

    ‘A clever magician maybe,’ Gertie continued to goad him. ‘But
certainly not a demon.’

    The demon looked intrigued now. Of all the things he had ever
been called, a magician didn’t seem to be one of them. He looked at her with
more puzzlement than anger. His brain obviously didn’t work very fast, so he
was quiet for a few minutes.

    ‘Demons come from Hell,’ Gertie explained. ‘From down below,’
she added.

    That bit, the demon understood. ‘AND?’ he asked, ‘YOUR POINT IS?’

    ‘Well, you didn’t, did you?’ asked Gertie, in all innocence.

    ‘I DID TOO!’ boomed the demon. ‘YOU SAW ME. YOU ALL SAW ME BREAK
THROUGH THE FLOOR!’

    ‘What, through that hole there?’ Gertie pointed.

    ‘YES!’ replied the demon.

    Gertie stared at the hole with her chin on her hand, as if
pondering, then looked back at the demon.

    ‘WHAT?’ he asked.

    ‘No,’ replied Gertie.

    ‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO?’ he roared.

    ‘No, as in, no you’re too big, silly.’ Gertie said with a pout. ‘That
teensy weensy hole? No. You just caused a smoke screen and crept into the room.
You’re not from down below.’

    Gertie was seriously depending on the demon’s stupidity here,
because the door was much smaller than the hole. It was also the only other way
in. He really, really was stupid, fortunately.

    ‘I DID NOT!’ he roared indignantly. ‘I CAME RIGHT UP FROM HELL
THROUGH YOUR FLOOR!’

    ‘Didn’t,’ Gertie muttered.

    ‘DID TOO!’

    ‘Didn’t.’

    ‘DID, DID, DID TOO!’

    ‘Okay, prove it.’

    ‘DID…UHM?’ the demon paused.

    ‘Prove it then,’ replied Gertie.

    The demon looked at her blankly.

    Gertie had to explain all the way. ‘If you can fit into the
hole, I’ll believe you came out of it. So, all you have to do is get back in,
and prove it.’

    The demon thought about this for some time, while Gertie felt
everyone else holding their breath. Could they see what she was trying to do?

    Gertie hoped Bertha was thinking too, hard, but not about food.
She got Bertha’s attention, then pointedly looked over at the huge oak table.
She hoped the demon wouldn’t notice her gaze.

    She saw Bertha look at the table too, and could have cried with
relief when Bertha simply nodded. She had picked up on Gertie’s idea!

    ‘THIS IS MONSTROUS!’ complained the demon, whose demonhood had
probably never been questioned before. ‘YOU ALL BELIEVE I’M A DEMON, DON’T YOU?’
he asked the room in general.

    A resounding ‘NO.’ filled the room. Gertie decided that everyone
could at last see a possible way out of this terrible situation that didn’t
involve being cooked. They obviously felt a little bolder. Especially now she
and Bertha were so much nearer to the demon than they were.

    ‘OH THIS IS RIDICULOUS,’ complained the demon. ‘BUT, ALRIGHT,
YOU SILLY WITCHES AND WARLOCKS. I’LL PROVE IT.’ With that, he put a clawed foot
into the hole. ‘SEE.’

    ‘That proves nothing,’ persuaded Gertie, trying to keep calm. ‘Only
your leg will fit in.’

    With a look of complete exasperation, the demon swung both his
legs into the hole and balanced himself on the edge by his well muscled arms. ‘NOW
DO YOU SEE?’

    ‘Well, you can sort of fit,’ Gertie agreed, ‘but I bet you’re
stood on the bottom now. I bet it doesn’t go any further down.’

    ‘DOES TOO!’ screamed the demon, and let go. ‘SEE,’ his voice
called from down the hole.

    In a flash that Gertie would never have believed possible of
Bertha, she had the oak table levitated, turned over, and crashed down across
the hole. Everyone cheered and jumped around, until they heard the demon’s
voice getting closer again.

    ‘HEY, WHAT’S GOING ON?’

    In a moment or two, a scaly hand followed the voice around the
edge of the table, trying to lift it out of the way. The cheers turned to
screams again. Bertha bravely lumbered over to the table, and sat on it. While
Bertha’s added weight made the table even harder to lift, Gertie saw Miss Wick
act with great presence of mind. She quickly cast a strong gravity spell on the
table. No one would be able to lift it now. Not even a demon. That didn’t
however solve the problem of a demon under the floor, or the fact that if he
decided to smash through the floor again in a different place, he probably
could. Still, he was a very stupid demon, as he had so adequately proved.
Nevertheless, he had to be banished properly, somehow.

    ‘Mr Wolfsbane, quickly, now we can reach the door, go and find
old Mr Daemon. If anyone knows a way to banish a demon summoned by someone
else, it will be him!’

    The teacher ran off through the adjoining door back into the
Academy.

    Gertie could hear him calling Mr Daemon’s name from half way
down the corridor.

    The demon was still banging on the underside of the table, and
coming out with some very bad words. The table held.

    Gertie, and Bertha who had returned to stand by her, were
surrounded by fans patting them on their backs and praising their bravery. Some
even picked Gertie up and carried her around the room cheering. No one tried to
lift Bertha.

    Gertie wasn’t even sure what she’d done. She had become a bit
angry, and used some common sense. She didn’t feel brave. And it was Bertha who
trapped the demon, and stopped him coming back, she reminded everyone.

    Bertha grinned all over her face at all the attention. She had
never been surrounded by friends before, only bullies. She said this was the
best day of her life, though Gertie’s Birthday and all the food came a close
second. She then added, ‘I feel hungry again.’

    Nothing had changed much.

    It wasn’t long before Mr Daemon could be heard huffing and
puffing down the corridor. He carried Albert into the room with him. The
teacher never went anywhere without his cat. Gasping and trying to catch his
breath he said ‘Oh dear, oh dear. What have we here?’

    He put Albert down to survey the scene. Albert walked bravely to
the blocked hole, and clawed at the demon’s hand that was still trying to push
a way around the table. The demon let out a yowl, probably more from shock than
pain, and dragged his hand back. Gertie saw Albert waiting for it to appear
again so he could give it another swipe. He looked like he was enjoying
himself.

    ‘And, what level of demon do we have here?’ Mr Daemon asked.

    ‘Very low, I’m sure,’ replied Miss Wick. ‘Fang summoned him.’

    Fang gulped. Gertie saw he was still trying very hard to
disappear. He was maybe free of the demon, but he would now have Miss Wick to
contend with. He didn’t look sure which was worse.