Lovesick Witches

Heroic HB

Once the realisation had hit me that I was in the past, I ran back out of the potions lab door. I didn't know when in the past I was, but I knew I had to leave. The students and the teacher in the potions lab would have been so confused when I bursted through the door of the lab only to run straight back out again. 

If I went outside into the mists and entered the school in the exact same way I left it, the window of my room, I would go straight back to the present. I had to go quickly before Agatha and Miss Gullet could re-do their spell and destroy the school. So, I began to run through the academy to get back outside. 

As I paced through the corridors of the past academy, all I could think about was how much I longed for HB. I felt so incredibly guilty for going out into the mists and being foolish enough not to expect that I would end up in the past. As I ran, I was imagining the disappointment I had given HB for disobeying her. 

But despite my guilt, I couldn't help but wish HB was here with me. On my own, I was helpless. I felt terrified running down the dark hallways of the past school. I hated being on my own. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to get back to the present. Or Agatha and Miss Gullet found me and trapped me here. Or I wouldn't get back in time and Miss Gullet and Agatha destroyed the school. 

What if I had the chance to save everyone. But instead, I let everyone down. Everyone. My parents. My friends. Miss Hardbroom. I couldn't bare the thought of letting HB down to such a huge extent. I felt so disappointed in myself. 

I reached the front door of the school. But just as I was about to leave and go into the mists, the door swung open. I stood still. I watched in panic as the shadows of two figures crawled across the ground. I lifted my head to see Agatha and Miss Gullet standing right there in front of me. Both witches looked me in the eyes. I took a step back. My heart began racing faster than before. My breathing became more rapid. They came closer, pushing me back up the corridor I had just come down. I turned away from them and began to run. 

I ran a few metres before I was stopped by Miss Gullet appearing right before me. 

"Where do you think you're going?" she said. "You really thought you could just run away from us? Run to Miss Hardbroom? We could have easily stopped you from running into the school if we wanted to. But instead, we let you walk right into your own foolish trap. Now you'll be stuck here. In the past. Forever. And there's no way you can stop us from destroying your school now." 

I gasped in horror and turned away from her only to see Agatha now standing before me. 

"You are so foolish," Agatha said. "Thinking you could outrun us. You look about sixteen yet you can't even do a simple transferance spell. It's a pity, really." 

That's it. A transfer spell. I'd been practicing those with HB. I'd only managed to transport a few meters, but maybe that was enough. I raised my hand about to transport myself out of the building, but before I could, Agatha realised my plan and raised her hand, transporting all three of us into a room. 

I looked around me. It was a cupboard. The cupboard attached to Miss Cackle's office. Of course, it wan't really Miss Cackle's office. We were in the past. 

"These walls are spell proof," Agatha said once we had appeared in the room. "Meaning there's no way you could escape by a transfer spell. Here, you won't be a distraction anymore and we can go and destroy the school without you ruining our plan." 

"Only an extremely powerful witch can transfer in and out of here," said Miss Gullet with a wicked look on her face. "And based on your foolishness, I highly doubt you are one of those witches." 

"Have a nice life, little girl," Agatha said. And with that, both witches transferred out of the cupboard, leaving me alone, in the dark, unable to escape. 

I tried to do a transfer spell to get out. But they were right. I wasn't strong enough. 

My legs suddenly weakened and I collapsed onto the hard, cold floor beneath me. 

Everything fell silent. 

I was trapped. 

I hugged my knees and curled up against the wall. 

As my sadness overwhelmed me, I felt my eyes well up with water. I felt the cold moisture fall down my cheek. Uncontrollably, more tears began to form and I sat there in silence, acknowledging my sorrow. 

I had let everyone down. Agatha and Miss Gullet were about to go and destroy the school and all I had done was made the situation worse. And what if I never made it out of here. What if the mists cleared up. I would be stuck in the past forever and no one would know where I had gone. 

I felt my throat tighten as I wiped the tears from my face. Not that it made any difference, as I just continued crying. Agatha was right. I was so foolish. I should have gone to HB straight away. It was so stupid of me to think I had any chance of out running two powerful witches. 

Only an extremely powerful witch could get me out of here. The most powerful witch I knew was Miss Hardbroom. She could easily get me out of here. But she didn't even know where I was. 

I bursted out into more tears as I thought about this. I would be stuck here forever. I would never even see Miss Hardbroom again. Nor my friends. Nor my family. I felt so helpless. I felt so alone. 

I began to realise how much I wanted HB. How much I wanted to be with her. I wanted nothing more than to run into her arms and for her to comfort me. I wanted her protection. I wanted her to tell me that I wasn't alone. 

But I was alone. 

I sat there, in the freezing storeroom, as more tears rolled down my cheeks. 

To my disbelief, a woman suddenly appeared in front of me using a transference spell. Not Agatha. Not Miss Gullet. I looked up at the figure. 

It was Miss Hardbroom. I blinked a few times to make sure it wasn't just my imagination. No. She was real. She was here. She had found me. 

"Ana!" she said as a slight smile formed across her face. 

I bursted into tears once again. But happy tears this time. I couldn't believe my luck. Hearing the sound of her voice gave me happiness, more than I had ever felt before. 

I stood up. I looked her in the eyes. I could see worry in her dark pupils as her eyes widened. To my surprise, a small tear rolled down her cheek. 

I ran to her and threw my arms around the teacher. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back. 

"I'm so sorry, Miss Hardbroom," I said through my tears. I clung on to her and never wanted to let go. She didn't either. "I was so foolish. You were right. I should have listened to you. I'm so sorry for letting you down, Miss Hardbroom." 

Miss Hardbroom let go of me, took a step back and held my hands in hers. She looked me in the eyes and I noticed that I wasn't the only one crying. 

"You didn't let me down, Ana. I'm just so glad I found you." And she hugged me again. It felt like the best moment of my entire life. I couldn't even begin to describe all the emotions I was feeling in that moment. But it didn't matter. Because I was safe. I was with HB.