Lovesick Witches

Encountering Ethel

I was walking through the crowded corridors of the school with Mildred, Maud and Enid walking closely beside me. All the students hustling past carried tall piles of spell books, textbooks and workbooks, lots of students dropping them and having to bend down to pick them up, getting basically squashed by other students rushing past them. It was all a bit chaotic. Similar to Pentangle's in that regard.

As I was busy observing the clumsy witches in the chaotic corridors, I failed to notice the two witches walking towards me. I assumed they failed to notice me too as one of the girls walked straight into me and we crashed, me accidentally knocking her pile of books out of her hands. 

Everything stood still for a minute. "I'm so sorry," I stuttered, embarrassed by that clumsy encounter, but before I could bend down to pick them up, the girl spoke.

"Watch it," she snapped in a harsh tone.

"It was an accident," I replied, quietly.

The girl looked at her friend standing next to her in disbelief as if I had just killed her cat or something. She then looked at Mildred who stood by my side, before her gaze returned to me.

"So you're friends with her," she said, sarcastically emphasising the word "her" when referring to Mildred.

"Yes," I responded. "Today is my first day here at Cackle's. Mildred, as head girl, offered to show me around and help me settle in."

"Well I should have been head girl. In fact, I was head girl, but Mildred, being the irritating snake that she is, took it from me." The girl exchanged a malicious look with Mildred before bending down to pick up her books.

The student was tall and with long blonde hair, tied into a high ponytail with a black ribbon. She had a very upright posture and a smug look on her face. Her friend was standing next to her. She, on the other hand, didn't look so unpleasant. This girl was slightly shorter and had brown hair, neatly plaited into two dutch braids. As I accidentally caught eye contact with this girl, she gave me a weak smile.

As I wasn't sure of the history of the blonde girl and Mildred and I still felt bad for bumping into her, I decided to break the unpleasant silence.

"Well met," I said to both girls, whilst bowing my head. "I'm Ana. I've come from Pentangle's Academy." I shifted my glance to just the smug looking girl alone. "And sorry, again, for bumping into you." I said, although she did pump into me as well so it was just as much her fault as it was mine.

"I'm Ethel Hallow," she replied with a somewhat aggressive tone. She didn't say 'well met' back to me which I found slightly rude. "And this is Felicity," she said, gesturing to the brown haired girl standing next to her.

"Well met, Ana," Felicity said with another weak smile. Ethel, on the other hand, rolled her eyes.

"Just so you know," Ethel continued, "I am the best witch in the school. I should have been head girl and I should have been asked to help you settle in. Not Mildred. I'm a Hallow. And Hallows are always," she emphasised the word 'always', "the best witches. So don't mess with a Hallow."

And with that, Ethel and her friend Felicity walked passed us, Ethel giving me a harsh nudge as she passed. I turned to face Mildred, Maud and Enid who were standing next to me.

"Don't mind Ethel," Mildred said with a smile. "She's just jealous that you made friends with Maud, Enid and I, when she only has one friend."

"Because she's a bitch," added Enid, "so no one wants to be her friend." Enid and Maud giggled at this.

"But anyway," said Mildred, changing the subject, "we're going to be late for potions. Let's go."

The four of us walked through a few more crowded corridors, luckily not bumping into anyone else, and we walked through an open door into the potions lab.