A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (11 page)

Outside Mildred’s room, Ethel pressed her ear against the door and was surprised to hear a strange noise from within.

‘Mildred?’ called Ethel, knocking softly. The noise grew louder.

‘Mmmmmm! Mmmm, mm, mmm!’

Ethel opened the door and held up her candle to reveal the awful sight of Mildred’s victim trussed up on the floor.

‘What on earth has happened to you?’ gasped Ethel, untying the gag and pulling at the knots in the sash and rope.

‘It’s that Mildred Hubble!’ said Griselda, who was almost in tears. ‘She must have gone berserk. She got me in here under false pretences, tied me up, stole my cat and went to the display in my place. Honestly, Ethel, she sounded really mad, wittering on about beetles up her pyjama leg and suchlike. Whatever shall we do?’

‘Go after her, of course!’ answered Ethel, delighted at the thought of the praise they would get when they revealed Mildred’s wicked behaviour.

‘Come on, Griselda, I’ll change into my outdoor clothes and meet you in the yard with my broom in five minutes. We’ll have to hurry. Goodness knows what that girl is planning!’

‘All right,’ agreed Griselda. ‘I’ll run and fetch my broom.’

Meanwhile, the academy was alighting on the castle hillside and being welcomed by the chief magician and all the other witches and magicians. The chief magician, Mr Hellibore, looked most imposing in his purple robe embroidered with moons and stars and a tall, pointed hat. Mildred would have been absolutely thrilled by it all if she had not been so terrified of the task ahead of her.

There was a long delay between the pupils’ arrival and the commencement of the displays and chanting, during which Miss Cackle and the teachers greeted friends and acquaintances, and the girls all stood to attention, being neat and well-behaved and a credit to the school.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the sky and everyone looked up to see Ethel and Griselda swooping down on their brooms, waving and shouting.

‘Mildred Hubble’s down there!’ shrieked Ethel.

‘She kidnapped me!’ yelled Griselda. ‘And she tied me up, so she could come in my place!’

‘That’s enough now, girls, thank you,’ ordered Miss Cackle, who was not at all pleased at such unseemly shrieking from her girls.

Miss Hardbroom strode across to the rows of pupils and Mildred pulled her hat even lower over her face. From under the brim she could see the chief magician nearby, looking rather puzzled at all the shouting.

‘If you
are
here, Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘I would advise you to step forward at
once
and explain yourself.’

The pupils all began looking round at each other and Mildred knew there was little time before someone recognized her. There was no alternative but to make a dash to the magician before anyone could catch her. Summoning every scrap of courage, Mildred suddenly barged through the rows of pupils and threw herself in front of Mr Hellibore.

‘Please forgive me, Your Honour,’ she said, thrusting the box containing her friend into his hands. ‘I know you didn’t want me to come here tonight, but there is an enchanted magician in that box and I promised him that I would get him to you so that you could change him back. I’m so sorry to cause such a lot of trouble but I didn’t know what else to do.’

‘What on earth is all this nonsense about?’ asked the chief magician sternly. ‘And are my eyes deceiving me or are you not the girl who
ruined
the broomstick display last year? If so –’

‘We do apologize most humbly, Your Honour,’ grovelled Miss Hardbroom, seizing Mildred’s arm in a vice-like grip. ‘The girl seems to have taken leave of her senses –’

‘I
haven’t
, Miss Hardbroom!’ interrupted Mildred. ‘
Please
, Your Honour, Mr Hellibore, sir, it really
is
a magician. His name is Algernon Webb-something, Stonely-Webb, oh
something
like that, only he couldn’t quite remember. He’s been a frog for simply ages.’

‘Good gracious me!’ exclaimed Mr Hellibore. ‘Do you know, Miss Hardbroom, it might just be Algernon Rowan-Webb. He was my room-mate in the days when your school was used as a sort of summer camp for magicians and he actually
did
disappear one day and we all thought he must have gone home. But it was
decades
ago – why the poor chap! If you’ll excuse me, Miss Hardbroom.’

Mildred kept her eyes firmly closed as the chief magician opened the box and intoned the release spell. Suddenly there was a gasp from the crowd. Mildred opened her eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Standing in front of them was an extremely old man with a beard that trailed on the ground and long flowing white hair. He was very bent over and was rubbing his eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

‘
Algy
, old chap!’ exclaimed the chief magician with joy. ‘It’s
Egbert
, your old friend, don’t you remember?’

‘Egbert!’ replied Algernon. ‘Yes, of course, I remember, though you were a lot younger in those days. Excuse me a moment, I shall have to sit down. It’s all a bit much for me after all these years as a frog. My legs and arms feel awfully cramped. Egbert Hellibore! Well, well, what a piece of luck.’

‘The luck came from your little friend here,’ said Mr Hellibore, placing a hand on Mildred’s shoulder. ‘This child braved all our displeasure to bring you here.’

Mildred felt very shy as the vast crowd fell silent and every pair of eyes swivelled in her direction.

‘Do you remember me, Mr Rowan-Webb, sir?’ asked Mildred. ‘We were frogs together.’

‘
Remember
you?’ repeated Algernon. ‘My dear Mildred, how could I ever forget you. No one ever had a truer friend. Without your help I would have been a frog for ever. And please call me Algernon.’

‘Well, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Mr Hellibore, ‘we can hardly send the girl back to school again after this act of heroism, now can we?’

Miss Hardbroom ground her teeth and managed a horribly false smile. ‘Whatever you wish, Your Honour,’ she replied.

‘Is there anything you would like as a reward my child?’ asked Mr Hellibore, smiling kindly down at Mildred.

Mildred thought for a moment. ‘Oh yes, sir!’ she replied. ‘There
is
one thing.’

She stepped forward on tiptoe and whispered in his ear.

‘Is that
all
?’ said Mr Hellibore with a laugh. He leaned across and quietly told the ancient magician what Mildred had asked for. Algernon smiled dreamily. ‘What a wonderful memory you have, my dear,’ he said. ‘Yes, that would be very nice, very nice indeed.’

The crowd watched in fascinated silence as Mr Hellibore snapped his fingers and a small table appeared in his hand set with a white table-cloth, tea for three, and a huge plate of toast, crumpets and butter. Algernon peered at the table, then snapped
his
fingers and a pot of honey appeared. ‘Mustn’t forget
that
,’ he commented as he set it on the table and, with a glow of pride, Mildred walked away arm-in-arm with the two most important people at the celebrations, to have a proper old-fashioned tea by the nearest bonfire.