𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 - (𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐋)

Chapter 9│The Plan

(Authors note at the end)

The morning the plan was put into action was stressful. All the witches preparations had led up to that day and nothing could go wrong.

The first step in their plan was to transform Rat #1, into a white mouse and release it into the school, to find the Good teachers, specifically Professor Dovey. From their the rat would steal Dovey's wand and meet the three witches at the school gates to let Agatha and Tedros inside. But even the first step almost went wrong.

The three witches transformed into ravens and flew down to the school gates. Once they landed behind the bush, they had to quickly change into their uniforms, but that experience in itself was one that the witches wanted to forget.

"Unmogrify on three," Hester instructed, "One...two-"

"With you watching?" Dot gasped.

"As if we want to see you naked, you idiot!" Hester yelled. "Three!"

Once they were back in their human form and dressed, they walked up to the gate and called out to Merlin. Agatha and Tedros gawked at them, as Hester informed the old wizard that they only had two minutes to get the Evers in. 

"The wand isn't here yet?" Hester questioned as she looked over at Anadil.

"H-h-he was s-s-supposed to arrive before us-" Anadil replied nervously. If her rat didn't arrive, then the plan would fail and it would be her fault. She tried to ignore the anxiety that she felt and focus on the situation instead, but suddenly, a figure appeared in the fog and immediately they knew who it was. As Sophie neared, that rat was nowhere in sight. Hester and Merlin pressed her for the wand, with less then ten seconds until the fairy patrol came she spotted the white mouse, with Dovey's wand in it's mouth. As Anadil opened the gates she sighed in relief.

As the witches and the two Evers walked up the hill, Sophie ran into them looking alarmed. She questioned them about the new students behind them, which was really just Agatha and Tedros disguised as Edgar and Essa. Finally after a few mediocre cover stories and way too many slip ups, the five of them made it back to the room, without being caught. The hardest part of the plan was over and they all felt a weight lifted off their chests. 

----

Hester, Anadil and Dot rushed to their next class and tried to act as normal as possible. They went about their day as they typically would, when the witches arrived back to their room, they found Agatha and Tedros lips locked and their arms wrapped around each other in a loving embrace. It made Hester mentally gag, feeling disgusted by the Evers' love for each other, but also a tinge of jealousy. 

After the group split up Hester and Edgar (Agatha) made their way down the school halls. 

"Anadil and I tried for weeks to find a path into the School for Old with zero luck, so you better have a damn good plan," Hester explained, while she dragged Edgar by the hand through the school. They passed some dorm rooms and received weird looks, some students even thought that Hester had a boyfriend. 

The two of them discussed various methods of getting into the school, but in the end Agatha decided that she wanted to use the bridge, much to Hester's dismay. They snuck through the halls, while Agatha questioned Hester. After she explained how they became Merlin's spies, how cute Reaper was and the new school rules, they were nearly at the bridge. Until they ran into the one person that they didn't want to run into.

"Hester, my sweet. Shouldn't you be in your room?" Aric creepily said.

"Edgar forgot his book bag in the library," Hester replied, as she tried to get past Aric. "You know how disorganised boys are-"

"You may be teacher's pet, but that doesn't mean you can break the rules, Hester. Even i can't break the rules, or I'd have  cut my mother into pieces by now and served her as a midnight treat." Aric said viciously, as he stared daggers at Hester. "Strange, though. My mother insists you're one of Evil's Great Hopes, sure to become an illustrious witch. And yet, I can't imagine Evil's Great Hope cavorting about with a dodgy boy after curfew."

He moved his gaze to Agatha. "Stranger indeed, given I've personally punished almost every boy in school but don't recognise this one in the slightest." His gaze hardened, "Every boy in this school belongs to me now. Especially ones like my new friend Edgar, who doesn't seem much like a boy at all. Best move along Hester dear."

But the tattooed witch held her ground, glaring at the violet-eyed boy.

"Go'" he yelled at her, "Because this time, when I slit you open, you won't have a trial flag to save you."

Fear surged through Hester's body, as she fled up the staircase, leaving Agatha all alone. She felt pathetic leaving her there a real evil witch would never act like this. Feeling anger course through her veins, her demon exploded off her neck and pinned Aric to the wall. She told Agatha to leave.

"No! I can't leave you alone!" Agatha responded, "Not like last time!"

"This isn't like last time at all." Hester snapped

"But he's dangerous! What if-"

"You're forgetting something very important about me, my dear." She turned to Agatha, with a lethal look in her eyes. "I'm a villain."

With that Agatha sprinted away. Hester stunned Aric, as he reached for the whip on his belt. Knowing she was short of time she started whispering incantations. All Aric could do was wail in pain. As she heard shouts and footsteps running down the hall, she quickly snuck away back to her room. Thankfully nobody saw her.

----

Meanwhile Anadil and Dot were also made their way back to the dorm room. After they got Tedros to the School Master's tower, they knew they had to get back as quickly as possible. The chocolate fog wouldn't go unnoticed and soon enough someone would go and find who did this. As the two witches sprinted down the staircase, they heard a commotion that came from down the hall. Teachers were yelled at students to go back into their rooms while, others were huddled around something they couldn't quite see.

Dot and Anadil snuck back into their dorm and found Hester anxiously pacing the room. 

"Nobody saw you right," She asked desperately.

"I don't think so," Dot answered.

"Hester what's going on?" Anadil asked, she had never seen Hester so nervous before. 

The witches sat down and Hester explained everything that happened in as much detail as she could. By the time she finished telling them what happened, Anadil and Dot were just as alarmed as her. 

"It will be okay. If we get caught someone will save us." Anadil said hopefully. She reached behind her and grabbed Hester's hand as Dot pretended not to notice. 

That night the witches did not sleep. They watched from their window as Agatha, Tedros and Sophie, barely escaped being killed by villains of past fairytales. When the shouts and roars finally died down, the witches were still awake, fearful of what the next day would bring. By next morning someone would know it was them, who were the spies. The three witches who nobody would suspect, suffering punishment to save the future of the Endless Woods.

Hey so I'm back. 

I know it's been a while, but with the final book coming out I felt like I had to keep writing this. I went through the old chapters and updated a lot of them. There are more Hestadil scenes and other fun stuff. 

I really thank you guys for sticking around.