Lovesick Witches

Back To The Present

With pure happiness, I stood there in the dark cupboard, my arms wrapped around Miss Hardbroom's long black dress. She was hugging me back. I was crying out of relief. 

I pulled away from her, suddenly remembering the situation we were in. 

"Miss Hardbroom," I said. "Agatha and your step-sister are going to destroy the school! We have to stop them!" 

"Don't worry," she said. "Miss Cackle is dealing with them. I came to get you. We have to leave now," she said. "Come on." 

The teacher took my hand and did a transference spell, transferring us both out of the cupboard and to the front door of the school. 

"Now," she said, "we have to do this properly. Where did you leave the academy from, Ana?" 

"Through my bedroom window. I used a spell to smash it open." 

"Right," she said, looking me in the eyes. "We are going to go back through your window. Are you ready?" 

I nodded and we ran out into the white mists together. I pointed to the place on the ground where I had left my broomstick and we ran over to it. Miss Hardbroom jumped on and I sat on the back of the broom, behind her. We flew upwards through the mists and between us, managed to navigate to my bedroom window through the loud winds roaring around us. 

When we reached the smashed window, we both squeezed through and landed on my bed. I looked around my room. It was definitely my room. It had all my spell books on my desk. We had made it back to the present. And to my pleasant surprise, the school was still in one piece. 

"What happened to Miss Gullet and Agatha?" I said as Miss Hardbroom and I stood up. "And where is Miss Cackle?" 

"They're still in the past," Miss Hardbroom told me. "Miss Cackle went to distract them so I could get you. She will be fine. She is more powerful than both our sisters." 

"But what will she do with them?" I asked. 

"The plan is that she'll leave them in the past. Trap them there. So that she can get back before the mists clear up but my step-sister and Agatha will be stuck there. I hope everything is going to plan." 

Just as she said this, Miss Cackle flew through my bedroom window and landed on my bed. Miss Hardbroom and I stepped back, in shock. Miss Cackle stood up and looked at us both. 

"Well?" Miss Hardbroom said. 

Miss Cackle nodded and HB breathed a sigh of relief. 

"It worked," said Miss Cackle. "I've trapped them there. Once these mists clear up, they will be stuck in the past, forever." 

"And you," said Miss Cackle, turning to look at me, "I'll leave Miss Hardbroom to deal with you." I could sense anger in her voice and also a hint of sadness. Miss Cackle used a transfer spell and disappeared. 

I turned to look at Miss Hardbroom and she turned to look at me. I fell into her arms once again and she embraced me in hers. 

"I can't thank you enough, Miss Hardbroom," I said. "And I'm so sorry. I didn't want to let you down. But I saw Agatha and Miss Gullet doing an annihilation spell on the school and I didn't have time to run to you, so I tried to distract them first. I should have thought about the mists. I wanted to save the school so badly, but I just messed everything up." 

Miss Hardbroom stepped away from me and gestured towards my bed. We both sat on it, exhausted. She looked into my eyes and took my hand. 

"You didn't mess everything up, Ana. If it wasn't for you, this academy would no longer be standing here. Yes, you were foolish to go out into the mists, especially as you knew the consequences. And you were also foolish to believe you were strong enough to defeat two witches more than thirty years older than you. But that being said, you acted with best intentions in the heat of the moment. So for that, I will not tell you off, nor punish you. I'm just so relieved I managed to find you and get you back here."