There was a long pause and Mildred felt her heart pound a little bit faster. HB had not moved; she was still kneeling motionless in the middle of the now abandoned hall, clouds of white smoke spiralling out from her and whirling towards the heavens.
"Miss?" Mildred edged another pace closer. "Are you alright?"
Slowly, Constance raised her head, her eyes opening, blinking against the light in the room. Mildred was certain that she caught sight of pure black before the familiar bright brown eyes locked onto hers.
"Thank you Mildred." Constance kept her voice as calm as she could, not wanting her young pupil to realise just how close to losing control she had been.
"Are you…?" Mildred took another few hesitant steps towards HB, her relief tempered by her fear of the potions teacher.
"I'm fine." Constance snapped, not wanting to be questioned by Mildred. She watched as the young girl's head dropped slightly. "I'm fine…Thank you Mildred." She amended, reminding herself that her young pupil had been responsible for her own survival. She took a deep breath and prepared to test out her shaking limbs.
"What was that… thing Miss?" The words fell from Mildred's lips, she was eager to get some explanation for what had just happened.
Constance felt the world swim before her eyes and she sank back down to the ground again. She tried to take a steadying breath and assess her situation.
"Do you need a hand?"
Constance closed her eyes tightly and prayed that the world would stop spinning soon. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again and attempted to raise her head to meet Mildred's gaze. A wave of nausea washed over her and she had to swallow hard to prevent a display that she was determined no pupil would ever witness.
"A few moments Mildred." She finally hissed through clenched teeth.
Mildred stood awkwardly a few paces away from Miss Hardbroom and hoped that it wouldn't take her teacher long to regain her strength. There was something very un-nerving about seeing HB in such a state. Mildred let out a sigh of relief as she saw Miss Cackle begin to regain her senses. In all the panic, Mildred hadn't stopped to question why her headmistress had remained frozen whilst the rest of the occupants of the hall had returned to normal. That question was now at the forefront of her mind, but she doubted that she was likely to get an answer any time soon.
Amelia blinked furiously and tried to work out what was going on. The first thing she noticed was the near empty hall.
"Where is…"
Mildred pointed helplessly towards the doors.
"They all went that way… They seemed to be in something of a hurry."
"Ahh." Amelia muttered quietly and made a mental note to herself to check whether any of the parents were plumbers, she had the feeling that they were going to need one very very soon.
She looked around in disbelief at the burnt strands of bunting that now hung forlornly from the rafters. Something major had happened, that was obvious. A slight groan drew Amelia's attention to her left where she immediately noticed the uncharacteristic pose of her deputy.
"Constance!"
Constance groaned again as she heard the concerned tones of Amelia Cackle. If there was one thing in world that she hated more than anything - and she had to admit to herself that the list was fairly extensive - it was being the centre of attention. She waved away the hand that appeared on the periphery of her vision, offering to help her up.
"I will be fine thank you Amelia." She informed Miss Cackle with as much patience as she could muster.
Miss Cackle exchanged a look with Mildred. Although she had the very definite feeling that she'd missed out on something, Amelia wasn't sure that she liked the way that Constance was trying to gloss over her current state.
Amelia waved a hand in the air.
"Should I be concerned about the fact that you appear to be smoking?"
Constance clicked her tongue against her teeth and Amelia took that for a no.
"And the fact that you look as white as a sheet?"
Constance sighed at this.
Amelia struggled for something else to say.
"Well, will you at least let me help you up?"
Constance sighed heavily, and with a certain amount of reluctance, allowed Miss Cackle to help her to her feet.
She brushed away Amelia's hand as soon as she could and set about removing invisible specks of dirt from her pristine black dress.
"Should I ask about what exactly happened?" Amelia's voice was now more hopeful than expectant. "Will I want to know?"
Constance raised her head and, ignoring Miss Cackle, glared at Mildred.
"I think you and I need to have a serious talk sometime very soon about the casting of forbidden spells." Constance told her sternly. She watched as her pupil's shoulders sagged.
"And I think you and I Constance, need to have a talk sometime soon about the storing of forbidden volumes within academy walls." Amelia informed her deputy.
Constance sighed heavily, realising that Miss Cackle was about to suggest that she should let Mildred off the hook.
"This is a serious matter Miss Cackle." She protested.
"I couldn't agree more." Came the reply. "I would like that chat with you before the end of the night."
Constance met Miss Cackle's gaze and knew that it was going to be pointless pursuing the matter any further. She tutted and returned her attention to picking at the invisible specks of dirt.
"Miss?"
"I can see you hovering there like a nervous bat." Constance snapped at Mildred. "What is it that you want? A pat on the back perhaps for very nearly bringing about the end of the world?"
Mildred gulped. HB wasn't renowned for a tendency to exaggerate.
"Sorry." She apologised meekly, realising immediately just how pathetic the apology sounded.
"Well I suppose that's something."
"That thing Miss…!" Mildred wasn't sure how to broach the next part of the subject. "What did it do?"
Constance paused in mid-pluck and Mildred swallowed nervously.
"The entity was summoned here by the magic in the spell you cast."
"I understand that Miss." Mildred was keen to gloss over the fact that it was her fault the entity was summoned in the first place. "But why did it need the magic?"
"We all need food to survive Mildred. Entities like that feed on magic; feed and grow by taking all the magic that they can find."
Mildred frowned.
"Then why hasn't the school been attacked before?"
"Because magical entities are only attracted to the most powerful of magic; magic that can affect and alter perception is very dangerous to play with." Constance glared at Mildred, making sure that her point was being understood. "It's very much the dark side of the art."
"It's black magic?" Mildred gasped.
Constance sighed heavily.
"Black Magic is brand of confectionary Mildred, one that will do nothing but make your teeth rot. There is no such thing as black magic. There is magic that can be used for destructive ends, a kind of dark magic if you like; magic that can dramatically alter the world around it." Constance paused and glared at Mildred. "It is most definitely something that a novice witch should not play about with."
"Sorry." Mildred apologised again.
"Magical entities traditionally exist in another plane, the same plane that dark magic uses. By using the magic in that book, you gave it a bridge to this world."
Mildred closed her eyes and tried to take in everything that HB was saying. She really wasn't sure that she understood it fully, but she was determined never to mess about with any of HB's books again.
Amelia had been listening to the exchange with a great deal of interest, hoping that something would give her the answer as to what she had missed. She sighed to herself, if anything she was more confused now than she had been before. She looked at her deputy and noticed, for the first time, the dark lines that were beneath her eyes; she also took in the way that Constance seemed to be shaking gently.
"Perhaps we should save the explanations for another time." She suggested.
Constance took a deep breath.
"Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it would be politic to get everyone out of the school as soon as possible. There is still a lot of magic in the air and one miscast spell could result in mayhem."
"A good idea." Amelia agreed. She had been wondering exactly what they were going to say to the parents. She had held the evening because she wanted to cut down on the number of complaints that the school received. She wondered just how many letters she was going to receive after the parents had returned home and had time to think back over the events of the evening,
The doors to the Great Hall opened and parents began filing slowly back in. Amelia frowned as she read the confusion that was in their eyes. None of the fathers seemed to want to make eye contact with her and she wondered just how much of the evening's activities they could recall.
She smiled in relief as Imogen made her way towards her.
"Are you ok?" She inquired of the P.E teacher.
Imogen nodded slowly.
"I think so." She paused, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw a pale wisp of smoke appear to rise from Constance's shoulder. "Should I ask about what's been going on this evening?"
Amelia took one of Imogen's hands within her own.
"Everything will be explained later, what I really need now is for you to help me get everyone out of here and on their way home."
Imogen's eyes remained locked on Constance as she was led away; trying to work out if she had really seen smoke issuing from the potions teacher.
Constance winced and raised a hand to the side of her head. The magical entity had left her with something of a pounding headache. She had the feeling that it was going to be several hours before it would begin to recede.
"Are you alright Miss?"
Constance frowned.
"Mildred, shouldn't you be looking for your parents?"
"I'm sure Maud will look after them." Mildred told her.
Constance sighed; she knew that Mildred was unlikely to leave her alone until she had asked the questions that were burning away at the back of her mind.
"Very well Mildred. What is it that you want to know?"
Mildred's mind raced as she tried to prioritise the questions.
"What did that entity do?"
"I thought I…"
"No Miss." Mildred interrupted. "What did it do to you?"
"Nothing that need concern you." Constance replied more impatiently than she intended.
"I saw your eyes." Mildred spoke quietly. "I saw the blackness."
Constance suppressed a shiver at Mildred's words.
"It did nothing." She told her young pupil firmly. "It's gone now and that's all that matters."
She saw the doubt on Mildred's face but noted with relief that she didn't question the response.
"You acted bravely this evening." She commended Mildred. "It took a lot of courage to stand against the entity in the way that you did."
Mildred blushed; she was unused to hearing compliments from HB.
"I couldn't have done it without that protective bubble." She admitted.
Constance 'Hmmed' quietly.
"And I suppose that you did try and make amends for your earlier folly." She finally admitted. She looked down at Mildred and took in the expression on her pupil's face.
"You ever do anything like this again Mildred Hubble and I can assure you that saving the school and the people within will not prevent you from being expelled."
"Miss?" Mildred's voice was hopeful.
"I've decided on the punishment for your actions this evening." Constance told her firmly. "You will write out 1000 times, in your best hand 'I will not seek to break into private property and try and use spell books I do not understand'." She glared at Mildred. "I'd also like a 3000 word essay on the perils of releasing magical entities into places where they do not belong."
A smile spread slowly across Mildred's face.
"You're not going to have me expelled?"
Constance raised an eyebrow.
"You unleash magical entities on these premises again and I promise you that you will be out of here so fast, your feet won't touch the ground."
Mildred shook her head.
"I won't do it again." She promised.
"Well I'm glad we've established that." Constance winced again as another spike of pain hit just above her left eye. "Now if you wouldn't mind Mildred…."
"Sorry Miss." Mildred apologised.
Mildred watched as HB walked slightly unsteadily across the Great Hall. Her mind was racing, trying to understand everything that had happened during the last few hours. She had unwittingly cast a spell that had attracted a magical entity to the school. The entity had nearly taken over everyone and without Miss Hardbroom's help, Mildred dreaded to think of what might have happened.
She swallowed nervously and wondered just what exactly she was going to say to her parents.
Imogen paused in her mission to clear the hall of parents as she spotted Constance heading her way. She quickly excused herself from Griselda Blackwood's parents and moved to stand in front of Constance, forcing her colleague to stop.
"I don't pretend to understand what happened this evening and I don't expect that I will ever get a sensible explanation from you about it, but I have to put on record that I saw a few things that didn't make sense."
"Such as?" Constance's voice was tired.
Imogen scratched the side of her head.
"I kept seeing images of myself looking through a file." She noticed the way that Constance stiffened at the sentence. "I don't understand it though. If I didn't actually look at your file from the WTC, how come I saw the pages as clear as day?"
Constance tried her best to look nonchalant.
"It was most probably the effects of the magic in the air; it just showed you what it thought you wanted to see. None of it was real."
Imogen shook her head.
"But it was just so clear; I could almost feel the paper between my fingers." Imogen furrowed her brow. "Are you sure that I didn't look at that file?"
"As far as I am aware, I arrived in time to stop you." Constance's tone was cold.
"But…" Imogen wanted to push the point further but she watched as her normally stiff-backed colleague winced and raised a hand to her head. As she looked, she realised just how tired and washed out Constance looked "Are you alright?" She asked, concern plain in her tone.
"What?" Constance snapped in return.
"Are you ok?"
"Don't fuss." Constance swiped away the hand that was hovering at her side. "You're as bad as Amelia. I am not dying, it's just been something of a trying evening and I require a little time to recuperate."
Imogen decided that it was probably best to just leave her colleague alone at the present time. She made her excuses and left in search of Davina.
Constance watched her go. With everything that had happened during the last couple of hours, she had forgotten all about the business with the file from the WTC. She cricked her neck; it seemed that there were still some loose ends to tie up. A wave of tiredness washed over her and Constance decided that perhaps the loose ends could wait for a little while. She took one look at the sea of confused parents and decided that, for once, someone else could take care of everything. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her own apartments within the school.
Thomas Nightshade's mouth dropped open in amazement as the tall witch disappeared into nothingness. He grabbed hold of his mother's hand and pulled her firmly towards the exit. He'd had enough of witches and magic to last him a lifetime.
Enid turned her head as she heard her mother calling for her to leave. She acknowledged her mother with a quick wave of her hand and then turned back to face her friends.
She'd been trying to remember what had happened but everything in her mind seemed foggy.
"And how exactly did we get those blankets on our heads?" Maud wanted to know.
Jadu grinned.
"It was all a bit extreme."
Ruby shook her head.
"We're all going to be in so much trouble as soon as HB tells Cackle what's happened."
"HB's not going to say anything."
The small group turned as they heard Mildred's voice.
"Where have you been?" Maud asked, delighted to see that her friend had survived the evening unscathed.
"You wouldn't believe what happened if I told you."
Enid smiled at her friend and gave her a quick hug.
"Explanations will have to wait." She told Mildred. "My parents want to go and I get the feeling that I'm going to be grounded for the whole of half-term when Thomas tells them all about that toad business." She scratched her head. "I still don't quite believe that I did that….I did do that, didn't I?"
Mildred nodded.
"You did that. Perhaps you'll be able to convince your parents that your brother imagined it though."
Enid's face lit up into a smile.
"You might have something there." She told her friend. She made her goodbyes to the others and headed off to join her parents.
Jadu looked around.
"I guess I'd better go and find my parents as well. My mother's going to be worried that everyone thinks she's nuts after that business with the coats."
The three remaining friends wished Jadu well and watched her head off in search of her parents.
"Who are you going home with?" Mildred asked Ruby.
Ruby's eyes widened in fear.
"I hadn't thought about that." She confessed. "And what if they've met since…well since everything returned to normal?"
Maud tapped her friend on the arm and then pointed across the hall.
"I'd say that you had some explaining to do."
"Oh no." Ruby looked on horrified as both her parents headed towards them.
"Perhaps we should go?" Maud suggested but Ruby grabbed onto her hand tightly.
"You can't leave me." She pleaded.
Imogen scanned the hall until she spotted Davina. The chanting teacher was standing next to the piano and complaining vocally about the footprints that were all over the lid and top of the small upright.
She crossed to the end of the hall and tapped Davina on the shoulder.
"I need to have a quiet word with you."
Davina looked nervously around.
"What is it? Do you know where the footprints came from?" She wiped frantically at the marks, muttering beneath her breath about the manners of certain parents.
Imogen interrupted her impatiently.
"Is there such a thing as a memory erase spell?" She waited for a few moments before trying to laugh off her fears. "Forget I said anything." She laughed nervously. "Constance is probably right. I was just imagining things."
"Imagining things?" Davina's face was suddenly a picture of interest.
Imogen pulled a face.
"When the magic started… getting out of hand this evening I saw images. I saw images as clearly as I can see you now. I saw myself sitting in my room looking at pages in a file. I remembered the feel of the parchment in my hand." She shook her head at the clarity of the memory. "It was Constance's file from the WTC. I know that I saw that file. I know I looked at the contents of it."
"But you can't remember any other details?"
Imogen shrugged her shoulders.
"The rest of it is a complete blank. I remember you leaving the room and then Constance arriving at the door. There is nothing to fill the space in-between."
Davina opened her mouth to try and reassure her colleague that a little slip of the memory wasn't anything to worry about when she realised that Imogen was shaking her head.
"What is it?"
"When you left the room I was standing with the file in my hand but when Constance appeared in the doorway I was sitting down. I don't remember moving across the room…." She shook her head again as another thought struck her. "And I'm sure that the bow on the file looked different."
Davina regarded Imogen closely.
"You've got to be certain about what you're saying." She warned her colleague. "Accusing a witch of casting a memory erase spell is a pretty major thing."
Imogen looked helplessly at Davina.
"So there is such a thing?"
"Of course there is." Davina told her shortly and then paused as she thought on the matter. "Well I think there is, I can't really remember."
Imogen tried her best to ignore the ramblings of her colleague.
"I know that what I saw in those moments this evening was real. I can't explain how I know but I DO know." She met Davina's gaze. "Constance has done something to stop me remembering what I've seen."
"But that's against practically every rule of the Witches Code." Davina's head was bobbing with unease. "I can't imagine that Constance, of all people would do that."
Imogen thought back over her earlier conversation with the chanting teacher.
"You said yourself that you were in the corridor and that you didn't see her. What if you didn't see her because she wasn't there until after you'd left and after I'd looked at her file?"
Davina was at a complete loss for words. She opened her mouth to say something but then promptly shut it again.
"I'm going to have to do something about this." Imogen decided. "But I don't think that now is the best time. First thing tomorrow I'm going to have a word with Constance. If she doesn't level with me then I'm going to take the matter to Miss Cackle."
Davina watched as Imogen strode purposefully from the room. She shook her head nervously. There was trouble ahead and she wasn't certain that she wanted any part of it. Never had the stationary cupboard seemed more inviting.
"Mum. Dad." Ruby tried to keep the quaver out of her voice as both her parents came to a halt in front of her. "I can explain."
Ruby's father frowned.
"Explain what?"
Ruby was somewhat at a loss for words.
"Well about you both being here." She finally found her voice.
She watched as her parents exchanged glances.
"We spoke on the phone before coming here this evening." Her mother explained softly. "We didn't want you to think that you'd have to choose between us so we agreed to come separately."
Ruby's mother looked on in surprise at the faces of all three girls in front of her.
"Whatever is the matter?" She asked them. "Any one would think that that was the wrong thing to do."
Maud took a deep breath.
"So you're saying that you knew that Mr Cherrytree was coming?"
Ruby's mother nodded.
"We may not be getting along but that's not Ruby's fault."
Mildred had been opening and closing her mouth, trying to find the right words.
"So we did all that for nothing?" She finally announced.
"Did all what?" Ruby's father wanted to know, suspicion tingeing his voice.
"Nothing." Maud said quickly. "Well we must dash. It's been nice to meet you." She grabbed Mildred by the hand and pulled her friend away.
"You do have the oddest friends." Ruby's father remarked as he watched the two girls hurry away.
Amelia looked around at what remained of the Great Hall, the walls were blackened and everywhere she looked, she saw broken chairs and torn up bunting. She let out a heavy sigh and turned her attention to Constance, who had appeared at her shoulder.
"I thought you were going to get some rest?"
Constance shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the question, not wanting to explain how she had found it impossible to rest.
"It all looks a little bedraggled, doesn't it?"
Amelia 'hmmed' in response.
"Just don't say it." She warned her deputy.
"Say what?" Constance inquired innocently.
Amelia narrowed her eyes and looked sternly at her colleague.
"I can practically hear the words in the air."
Constance made a show of sealing her lips. Amelia looked away and then swiftly back again, trying to see a chink in her deputy's armour but her face remained impassive.
"Fine, fine." Amelia finally grumbled. "I'll say it then. You told me so." She folded her arms. "Are you happy now?"
The briefest of smiles ghosted across Constance's face; it was there for a fraction of a second before she regained her neutral expression.
"Do I take it that there will not be another parent's evening?" She inquired innocently.
"Not as long as I'm headmistress of this academy." Amelia told her firmly and stalked off towards her study, in search of a large slice of lemon cheesecake.
It was a little after three in the morning, when Constance opened up the doors to the Great Hall and silently stepped into the empty room. The walls were still hung with the tattered remains of the decorations but the room was now silent; the pupils and parents had long since departed. There was something special about the castle in the dead of the night, Constance decided. In the past, she had always found it reassuring to walk around the building in the early hours and take in the feeling of the magic that permeated every stone. The building was almost alive with magic and it was good to feel its reassuring presence after the events of the evening. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, trying to sense if there was any trace remaining of the malevolent entity. She relaxed slightly as she found nothing but the touch of the familiar.
She folded her arms in satisfaction and glanced round at the ancient walls of the castle; there were still some things that were sacred after all. The castle contained the magic and the traditions of hundreds of witches. That magic had been under threat in more than one way the previous evening. There had been the full frontal assault by the entity and there had been the more subtle, but equally as dangerous, breaking of tradition that had threatened to change the school forever. Magic needed a delicate balance to work, it needed to be understood and treated with respect. Opening up the doors to the outside world was to throw all that heritage away and dilute it with the non-magical general public. That wasn't something that Constance was ready to do. She was well aware that she was one of a dying breed; that she was, in all probability, one of the last true witches in the education system. When she left, then things would begin to change and the lessons and standards of the past would be erased and some of the true magic within the school would be lost forever; that was probably the reason why the offer of the entity had been so appealing and had tempted her. She shivered and folded her arms tightly across her chest. That wasn't a thought that she really wanted to dwell on. There were a good few years left in her yet and whilst she remained a teacher at Cackles, she was determined to see that the old ways were respected.
She took one last look around the hall, satisfying herself that everything was as it should be, before turning silently on her heel and sweeping back out into the corridor.
In the furthest corner of the room, something dark and shadowy slunk back into the recesses and waited for its strength to return.