Salem: The Power Of Four [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter Two: Bunch of Witches

Madam Lavatio was not only the Headmistress for Salem Girls Academy, but she was also the oldest teacher in the school, or possibly the oldest woman in all of Salem itself.

The woman was anything but attractive. In fact she might as well have defined the typical stereotyped witch.

She had patches of green on her skin, her warts had warts, and her nose was so hooked that you could catch fish with it. Her hair was short, brown and in a tight perm, and her face was always set in its natural scowl.     

“Your uniforms are atrocious!” she boomed throughout her office, as she glared down at the four girls who smiled innocently at her, “I demand to know what happened this time!”

She paced between all four girls, eyeing all of them, deciding which girl to supposedly torture first. She could not stand any of them and their lack of respect for the school uniform.

“Miss Jinx,” she began, staring down at the girl with dark, long, wavy hair with that single blonde streak. With crescent moon-spectacles over her hazel eyes, and a small smile plastered upon her lips.  “Explain what has happened to your uniform, this instant.”

“It was karma Madam,” she said simply.

Lotus Jinx’s uniform had a few tears on the blazer, but barely visible to notice. What was noticeable though was how her skirt had been heightened a few inches above her knees to become mid-thigh, also she wore stockings with unusual patterns sewed upon them, rather than the plain old grey stockings they were supposed to wear only during winter. Her blouse had the first two buttons, unbuttoned, which showed the necklace she wore with a large alchemy pendant and a long delicate brown feather.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make Madam upset.

“Explain how this is a result of karma Lotus,” Madam Lavatio gritted through her teeth.

“Well…Madam, it was from making us wear the horrid uniform in the first place,” Lotus sighed, “I simply could not deal with that sort of bad karma, when I am already unlucky enough,” she shrugged.

It was true, Lotus Jinx was probably the unluckiest girl in the entire academy. In anything she did, and she always ended up with the worse possible outcome.

“You’re about to get unluckier,” Madam Lavatio had said, “all of you are,” she glared at all of them before walking over to the next girl.

A girl with waist-length chocolate coloured hair, golden skin and a dimpled smile. A girl known as Azura Parthenope. Whose blazer looked as if it shrunk, its ends only reaching mid torso, her skirt had also heightened a few inches above her knees, while also wearing fishnet stockings, and she wore sleek cream-coloured knee high boots on top of that. As well as probably five sparkling brooches on her blazer. 

“Miss Parthenope,” Lavatio sighed.

“I was just trying to follow the fashion trends Madam,” she smiled.

“In what world exactly?”

“Any world but this one,” she stated, “and if you ask me, I certainly improved your uniform, by… a lot,” she smiled proudly.

“You said that last time,” she glared, “and I still disagree.”

“Oh I know you agree Madam,” she smirked, “deep, deep, deep down inside that…lovely soul of yours.”

“Let’s agree to disagree,” she scowled, and walked over to the next girl.

She was the smallest of the four. She had dark shoulder length hair though wore a beanie on her head, in the shape of an owl, with two grey ropes flowing down on each side of her head. Her blazer was nowhere in sight, instead she wore her white blouse, unbuttoned at the top with a loosened tie, as well as rainbow suspenders. And just like the other two, her skirt was cut to mid length, and she wore similar stockings to her friend Lotus, and to top it all off she wore bright green converse shoes.