The Merging: Hackles Academy Of Witchcraft And Wizardry.

Chapter 17

On the other side of the castle, Hermione and her parents were in the Muggle Studies classroom sitting opposite Julie, who wasn't anywhere near as formal as Hecate.

'Hello, my name is Julie Hubble. I'm the Muggle Studies teacher and also Mildred's Mum. I'm assuming that you've probably met her?' Julie asked warmly, immediately breaking any tension that might have occurred upon meeting your daughter's teacher.

The Grangers both smiled at the lovely greeting and offered up one of their own. 'Hello. It's really nice to meet you! I'm Emma and this is my husband, Dan. We actually did have the pleasure of meeting young Mildred earlier and she seemed like a very lovely young woman. Hermione has also informed us that you're also a muggle, which I have to say, makes this meeting a lot less daunting than the others,' laughed Emma.

'Yes, I can imagine. I'm very experienced in how scary it can be being surrounded by a castle full of magicals, but you don't have to worry about that in here at least,' began Julie. 'This is going to be a really quick meeting! Hermione is an outstanding student, and she really is a pleasure to teach. She's polite and helpful, and the fact she's a muggle-born seems to be very beneficial to her. Because of it, she also likes to help the students that haven't been brought up with muggle customs. I don't know if Hermione has mentioned it yet, but we did a family tree project a few weeks ago and Hermione and Millie worked together on theirs. It turns out that they actually share an ancestor!' Informed Julie proudly.

'Yeah, Mum. And it turns out that we are from a magical family! Barbara Merlin-Moon; she was the last of our family line to possess magic by the way. Well it turns out that she studied right here at Cackle's Academy. There's an award with her name on it and everything. It's in Miss Cackle's office, so we haven't been able to check it out yet and find out what it's for,' said Hermione excitedly.

'That's very interesting sweetie! Maybe we could have a look tonight, before we leave? Ms Hubble and Mildred could join us?' Emma suggested, hope and curiosity present in her voice.

'I'm sure that that can be arranged, and I'm sure that Mildred will love the idea,' smiled Julie happily. Suddenly, she was interrupted by a ping coming from her phone signalling that she had a new message. She looked over at the flashing light coming from the screen curiously, and wondered who would be texting her. She had already spoken to both her mum and her sister today, and they knew that she was busy tonight.

'You can answer that if you like. We don't mind!' Dan's voice cut through her thoughts.

'Are you sure? It's just, I'm worried that it might be an emergency. Mum's getting on in age and she's prone to the odd fall now and again,' she answered fretfully.

'Honestly, it's fine! We know how it is,' said Emma kindly.

Julie nodded her head in thanks, before picking up her phone and opening the message. What she saw on her screen melted her heart and had her tearing up almost instantly. There in front of her, was a picture of Mildred hugging Hecate. And if she wasn't mistaken, Hecate was hugging her back. They both had smiles on their faces, and the message at the bottom said...

Hecate told Millie that she's proud of her and this was the result. I knew that you'd want proof, or you'd never have believed me. You're welcome 😊😘

'Are you OK, Ms Hubble?'  Asked Hermione gently.

Julie was so choked up that she couldn't speak. The picture was so adorable, that she fully intended to have it printed out and framed at the earliest opportunity. Instead of talking, she handed over her phone instead.

Hermione took the phone curiously and proceeded to look at the picture on the screen. 'Oh my god! That's so cute. I bet Millie was ecstatic, she's been trying to impress Miss Hardbroom for weeks,' gushed Hermione.