Caution: Witch In Progress (4 page)

Gertie’s
first sight of the inside of the Academy left her staring up with her mouth
open. The entrance hall was so big, Gertie truly believed it must take up half
the building. This wasn’t the case of course, it was just the impression most
visitors to the Academy had when they entered for the first time. Cobwebs
festooned the dark ancient walls and windows, making the inside look gloomy and
creepy. There were iron wall brackets high up, probably to provide the light at
night with flickering flames. To the left and right were heavy, dark oak doors,
closed right now. Another oaken door was open before the crowd of witches
gathered in the hall. Through it Gertie could see some long wooden tables and
benches. To the right of the room, and leading up, was a flight of well worn,
wide stone steps winding around the far wall and up to the next landing. A
wooden rail topped the stone pillars edging the steps as far as the eye could
see. The room was full of ‘Ooooh’s’ and ‘Ahhh’s’ as the families talked
together while waiting for everyone to arrive.

    ‘Isn’t it wonderful, Mummy?’ Gertie whispered. She was too
excited to even breathe properly.

    It wasn’t long before the double doors swung shut for a final
time. Everyone knew it was the last time, because the doors locked themselves
too. It was then, and only then, that the tall, dark, figure proudly descended
the stone stairs. She was obviously a witch of many years, and her very aura
radiated power.

    ‘Well, that’s a bit more like it,’ muttered Gran. ‘At least she
looks the part.’

    The new arrival lifted her arms in the air, and the room fell
silent almost immediately, such was her presence. The figure stared around the
room, seeming to take everyone in at first glance. Once the room had been
completely silent for a few moments, she spoke.

    ‘Welcome fellow witches and warlocks, to the Academy. I am the
Head Witch, Miss Wick.’

    She paused to let her importance fully sink in.

    ‘The Academy is where you will learn the real meaning of being a
witch or a warlock,’ she continued. ‘If you will now all follow me, I will give
you a tour of some of the main rooms of the Academy.’

    The group followed along behind Miss Wick, all of them
surprisingly quiet. Even Gran, who seemed to have forgotten her earlier anger.
Everyone was too interested in what they were being shown, though there was too
much for them to take it all in properly. The first room they entered was the one
at the bottom of the stairs with the long wooden tables and benches. They were
told this was the dining hall. Next they were shown various classrooms, study
rooms, and bedrooms. There was so much to see! It was a building of many rooms
and corridors, with dark eerie cellars.

    Gertie felt totally lost almost right away. She hadn’t realised
in her small village that anywhere in the world could be quite so big. She
didn’t have much time to look around at the other witches and warlocks. Gertie
saw they were looking at her though. She noticed Fang whispering to many, and
pointing her out. Gertie ignored him. Ma and Gran didn’t seem to notice, which
was as well. Gran certainly wouldn’t have stood for any more cheek from Fang.

    ‘As you can see,’ Miss Wick was proudly saying. ‘We are an old
and established school of great renown.’ She stared at each witch and warlock
in turn to see they were properly paying attention, parents and pupils alike.
They were.

    ‘If she looks at me like that again, I’ll give her the Evil Eye,’
Gran threatened to Ma.

    ‘Shh. Listen or you’ll miss something,’ whispered Ma.

    ‘We have rooms in which to attend lectures,’ continued Miss
Wick, ‘places where we can practice spells, and a very impressive library,’ she
added, opening a huge creaking door on the second floor. Books bound in
countless dark colours seemed to loom from floor to ceiling, and the smell of
old paper and leather wafted out as the witches entered.

    ‘Oh, Mummy, look. I love books!’ squealed Gertie.

    Her interruption was silenced by a glance from Miss Wick.

    ‘As you can see,’ she continued, ‘we have all the classics such
as “Necromancy for Beginners”, “Witchcraft the Easy Way”, “The Devil’s
Companion”, and “Know Your Own Broomstick”. We are also proud to possess such elusive
volumes as “Every Witch’s Guide to Blighting and Injury”, and “How to Make Your
Own Hell on Earth.”

    A general murmur of approval rumbled through the crowd. Gertie
joined in, though she didn’t know what elusive meant, and planned to ask Ma
later. Maybe it was another word for big. They sounded like they had to be huge
books.

    ‘There are also many more bedrooms than you have seen, and a
large kitchen.’ Miss Wick gestured dismissively. ‘In fact, the Academy has
everything a young witch or warlock could possible want,’ she added, having led
them all back to the choking dust of the entrance hall.

    Miss Wick was thanked for the eye opening tour, and then the
family groups were left in the dining room with tea and devil cakes. Later they
would meet back in the entrance hall for bedroom allocation.

    Through the large window, the view from the back of the Academy
was breathtaking. It even brought a tear to the eye of the least sentimental
witches who attended or visited. Several gnarled oaks stood nearby, shrivelled
and blackened by being struck repeatedly by lightning. A steep hill, burned
black at the top by ceremonial bonfires, overlooked the building. To Gertie, it
seemed to tower protectively over the Academy. She could already imagine the
flaring shadows it would cast across the stone walls of the Academy when the
bonfire was lit.

    ‘Oh, Mummy, isn’t it wonderful!’ Gertie said with a sigh.

    ‘Yes, it is, dear,’ Ma replied, her expression calm. Gertie saw
her worries were receding now she had seen what an impressive place the Academy
was.

    ‘Why, when the bonfire is lit, the reflection on the black stone
will make it look like the whole building will burst into molten flames at any
minute,’ announced Gran in awe. ‘And you know the room in the cellar, the one
full of rack upon rack of ingredients for spells?’

    ‘Oh yes, what a collection,’ agreed Ma.

    ‘Yes, but not just that,’ continued Gran as she bit into her
second devil cake. ‘Did you notice it had its own running water?’

    ‘Really?’ asked Ma.

    ‘Yes,’ replied Gran, spitting crumbs. ‘Right down the middle of
the back wall it was, seeping through the bricks. It must come from the moat.
They had their own fungus growing all down it. Just imagine, fresh fungus to
simply walk up to and scrape off whenever you need it.’

    ‘How wonderful,’ agreed Ma in a dreamy voice.

    Their talk soon turned to the bedrooms, to be allocated next.
Some of the bedrooms they had seen overlooked a murky swamp and a stagnant
pond. Gertie knew that on moonlit nights the whole area would be bathed in a
beautiful eerie glow. The new intake of trainee witches and warlocks would have
to draw lots to see who got the best rooms. On the tour, Miss Wick had
explained that even the blue skies and a bright sun of summer were made more
bearable when seen across the swamp. She also said that the swamp smelled even
stronger in the heat, and the aroma would drift in through the windows of the
left wing. Everyone wanted the rooms with the view.

    Before long, they went back to the entrance hall where Miss Wick
and another witch stood. A small cauldron had been set up in the centre, and
all the new recruits gathered around it.

    ‘Please, please…’ Gertie begged quietly. ‘Wart would love it,
Mummy, and if I got one of those rooms I could wave at him from my window.’

    ‘We’ll have to see,’ replied Ma in a hushed voice. ‘Quiet now,
they’re making the choices.’

    Gertie was so nervous when her name was called to go forward,
she wondered if her legs would get her to the cauldron. They did, and she
dipped her delicate pink hand into it. Taking out a slip of paper, she handed
it to Miss Wick as she had seen the others do.

    ‘Left Wing,’ announced Miss Wick in a loud voice that carried
easily around the hall.

    Gertie couldn’t believe her luck, and neither could Fang or the
others who had not chosen the best rooms. She danced around gleefully, ignoring
Fang’s sour looks. Her Ma looked a bit embarrassed, so Gertie tried to calm
down again as she walked back to them. It was just so exciting!

    The teacher allocated to show Gertie to her room was Miss
Fiendish. Gertie saw her head over towards them, only pausing near to Miss Wick
who was talking to the other teacher standing by the cauldron. They were both
staring at Gertie, and she had the distinct feeling they were talking about
her.

    They both tutted, shaking their heads, and then carried on with
the draw.

    Miss Fiendish gave the two witches quite a look, then smiled at
Gertie as she came over to introduce herself. Gertie was so excited about the
room, she tried not to think about the other witches. Miss Fiendish had given
her the first kindly look she had received from any of the staff since arriving
at the Academy.

    The teacher led the way up to Gertie’s room, and Gertie smiled
sweetly at her. The teacher looked a bit taken aback by this, but returned her
most pleasant grimace back to Gertie.

    ‘Here we are,’ she announced, swinging open a big oak door on
its dark hinges and standing back to let the family go in.

    Gran entered first, almost at a run. She hurriedly dropped Owl’s
log over by the wall, and headed straight for the window.

    ‘Oh, Gertie, come and look at this view!’ she called. Gertie
went to join her, and the sight that met her was magnificent. The swamp looked
even nearer to her room than it was to the bedroom they had been shown earlier.

    ‘Wart will love it there, Gran,’ she grinned happily. ‘Look,
Wart’ she exclaimed taking the sleepy toad out of her pocket and holding him up
to the window. ‘That will be your new home for a while!’

    Wart gave a disinterested croak, and closed his bulbous eyes
again. He seemed irritated at being disturbed. Gertie thought he had probably
been having a nice dream about eating huge tasty flies.

    ‘I think he’s excited’ Gertie said.

    ‘Uhm,’ replied Ma looking at the motionless green blob on
Gertie’s hand. ‘We’ll take him over there together before we leave.’

    Ma had been carrying Owl since they arrived, so now she took him
over to his log and placed him on it. He stared at her, closely, then down at
his log. Seeming quite happy that he knew both, Owl settled for a nap.

    ‘I’ll leave you to settle in soon, Gertie,’ said Miss Fiendish,
who Gertie had forgotten was there at all. ‘But before I go, I want to mention
the lights.’ She pointed a bony finger up at the black iron wall brackets. They
were smaller than the ones in the hallway, but looked much the same. There were
four, high on the walls of the small bedroom.

    Gertie stared up at them and waited.

    ‘We need to try them out, Gertie,’ continued the teacher. ‘Not
all of our students know the Fire Spell very well when they first arrive, so
all the lights are set up to respond to the simple phrase Lights on!’ She had
said the last two words in a louder and more commanding voice. Flickering
flames immediately rose from the brackets, casting light across the room.

    ‘Lights off!’ Miss Fiendish then ordered. They did as they were
told right away.

    ‘Your turn,’ she said to Gertie in a quieter voice.

    Gertie felt quite embarrassed at having to try in front of her
new teacher, so she looked down at her toes and whispered ‘lights on.’

    ‘Good first try,’ replied Miss Fiendish, who was obviously a
very nice witch. ‘But, let’s try it again, looking at the lights, and a little
louder shall we?’

    ‘Encouraged by her teacher’s gentle voice (gentle for a witch
that is), Gertie stared up at the nearest light and said more loudly ‘Lights
on!’

    No one was more surprised than Gertie (except maybe Gran), when
they DID come on!

    ‘It’s always good for the new students to have an early success,’
Miss Fiendish explained to Ma and Gran. ‘The lights are enchanted beforehand so
they usually respond quite well to everyone.’

    ‘Thank you,’ replied Ma. ‘I’m sure my Gertie will be happy here.’

    ‘I’m happy already’ replied Gertie with a smile. ‘I’ve only just
got here, and I’ve learned my first spell!’

    Miss Fiendish grimaced kindly. ‘We will meet in the dining hall
for something to eat and introductions at 5.30, once all the families have
left,’ she added, pointing at the clock on Gertie’s wall. It was shaped like a
cobweb, black with white numbers, and had two small broomsticks pointing at the
twelve and the one. ‘That gives you four and a half hours to settle in and say
your goodbyes. See you later.’ With that, the teacher left.

    Gertie looked around herself in awe. The room only had a small
bed with a cabinet next to it, a writing desk and chair, and a single wardrobe,
but Gertie thought she was in the best place in the world.