The Maple Witches (Worst Witch Spin-Off)

Chapter Four

Half an hour and an empty suitcase later, Sephy emerged from her room to find Ana and Cassie walking down the corridor towards her.

"Sephy! We were just coming to get you! What's your room like? Mine's got bats! And the bed is much cosier than I was expecting, and the view from my window is stunning and -"

"You should get a job reading the terms and conditions of adverts," Cassie interrupted with a laugh. "The reason we came to get you is because it's almost lunchtime. Then we get to meet our tutor and they'll give us our timetable and things."

"Is the first year tutor still HB?" Sephy asked hesitantly, to which Ana instantly paled.

"What?" She squeaked. "No, no, no... That would be a living nightmare! She'll constantly expect me to live up to a legacy and if I put a toe - let alone a toenail - out of line, she'll write to my mother -"

Don't panic," Sephy said, trying to be reassuring. "Cackle's has central heating now. Who knows what else has changed?"

As it transpired, the quality of the meals had not much improved in previous decades. The stew that was being served had the consistency of glue and smelled strongly of fish. When Sephy asked if it was vegetarian, she was vehemently informed that "of course it contains vegetables". At least she could choose to opt out. It seemed as though she would be living off stiff broccoli, mixed veg and banana yoghurt for the foreseeable future.

"How can you be a witch and be vegetarian?" Cassie asked as they sat down with their lunch trays. "If you won't eat animals, you won't be able to drink potions."

"Long story short, I'm not," Sephy said. "I just try to avoid eating meat where I can. But seriously, if you knew the ins and outs of the meat industry, or saw how potions ingredients are prepared, it would put you right off. Trust me."

"What do you mean?" Ana asked, befuddled.

"Well I read an article in The Cauldron Chronicle the other day about how they're trying to find more ethical alternatives to certain potion ingredients, because they've uncovered so many different scandals. When they prepare dried bat wing, they don't even wait until the bats are dead first."

"I think I saw something like that on WBC1," Cassie chimed in, eyes wide. "It was about eye of newt I think."

"That's right!" Sephy replied, impassioned. "The extraction is only carried out with anaesthesia  two out of five times, and usually they are alive afterwards and are reintroduced into nature, unable to fend for themselves."

"That's barbaric," said Ana, decidedly putting down her knife and fork.

"I know!" Sephy exclaimed. "What's interesting is how they are trying to replicate the effects of the -"

"Hello again."

The three turned round to see Freya hovering behind Sephy.

"Again?" asked Cassie.

"This is Freya Emerald," Sephy explained hesitantly. "She ... visited me while I was unpacking. She's from Maple Grove."

"No way!" Ana gasped. "THE Maple Grove? As in Circe and Morgan Le Fay Maple Grove?"

"That's right," Freya replied sweetly. "You are certainly an expert on your Witching History."

With that, she strutted off to sit with a huddle of other first years who seemed anxious to speak to her.

"That's insane!" Ana whispered. "I'd love to live in Maple Grove. It's basically the heart of witching culture, don't you think?"

"And as a result, all the witches and wizards who live there think they are Merlin's gift to magic-kind," Cassie added with a laugh.

"She seems sweet though," Ana countered.

"You'd think she'd be more ... supercilious," Cassie added.

"Yeah, you'd think," Sephy muttered.

Cassie frowned. "Did something happen between you two?"

Sephy paused, wishing she'd stayed silent. "... Oh, it's nothing really. I just think she might turn out to be a bit two-faced."

She turned to face the growing group of girls who seemed drawn to Freya like moths to a flame. Sephy grimaced subconsciously when she glimpsed Freya's obsequious smile. She'd known witches like Freya before. Sighing internally, she returned to trying to impale indestructible broccoli stems on the prongs of her fork.

When lunch ended, the first years were hastily escorted through the labyrinth of corridors to the Potions Lab, where the intimidating deputy head was already waiting for them. Ana and Sephy instinctively headed towards the back row of seats, joined by Cassie and another girl who had gleaned that staying as far away from Miss Hardbroom's damning glares was a good idea.

"Is it okay if I join you?" she murmured, lowering her voice so as not to disturb the rooms natural, chilling silence.

Cassie motioned to the seat next to her. "Of course."

"Um, I'm Hazel by the way," the new arrival supplied, prompting shy introductions from the others whilst everyone else sat down.

"Silence..." Miss Harbroom chided icyly, commanding the atmosphere in the room to tense further. "Once again, welcome to the academy. I hope I make myself clear when I say that you are not here to play at witches and fool around but to work hard and prepare for your Witches' Higher Certificates under the supervison of your form tutor, who will be..."

A collective breath.

"...me."

Sephy winced. The number of people who looked happy with this arrangement could be counted on one hand with four digits spare. Freya, determined to be favoured by everyone, continued to smile sweetly.

"Timetables and planners will shortly be given out, along with copies of the Witches' code. You will have five minutes to copy your timetables and relevant information into your planner, after which we will start our first Potions lesson."

Before long, Sephy had a black leather notebook with a yellow cat embossed on the cover along with a rather jam-packed looking timetable, as well as a glossy Code pamphlet she had seen a hundred times before. Everyone seemed anxious to discuss and compare their new schedules, but no-one dared be the first to speak. Consequently, Sephy and her classmates spent the first five minutes of their first ever lesson silently attempting to transfer all the relevant information on their timetables into tauntingly small boxes.

When the arduous process had finally finished, Sephy was even more eager to get started than before. She wondered whether that had been her new class tutor's plan all along but a split-second later, it transpired that Miss Hardbroom merely delighted in enforcing pain in the traditional manner.

"Before we get started," Miss Hardbroom began, picking up an ominous pile of paper from her desk, "I would like to assess how little you currently know about potions, and how much of a trial I will find the next five years."

She pointedly dropped a quarter of the stack of paper on the end of the first row bench, before continuing to the latter rows. When Hazel passed a booklet to Sephy, her shoulders slumped.

'WHC Potions: First Year Baseline Assessment'

"You have 30 minutes," Miss Hardbroom stated simply, returning to her desk. "Begin."

And with that, she flipped an hourglass on her desk on its head, as Year One opened their examination booklets.

*Author's Note*

Another update?! Dun dun dunnnn!

In this chapter I decided to discuss the idea of animal rights within the witching community because it has never really been mentioned in the WW series. I think it would be quite an interesting debate in this fictional world! Any thoughts? :)

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment your thoughts and maybe leave a vote if you enjoyed.

- Lucy :)