Chapter Text
"This is a terrible idea," Maud whispered, shaking her head in tired resignation as Mildred, Maud and Enid crept along the corridor to the teachers' quarters. They were careful to make as little noise as possible; yes, they were invisible, but none of them had mastered the silencing potion yet. "Why can't you just study, Mildred?"
"I've tried," Mildred replied, but she had to admit that she didn't feel good about Enid's plan. Her mum had always taught her not to cheat. Then again, she really had tried to study; it's just that there were so many potions to learn, and knowing HB, she'd try to trick them by putting something really difficult on the test. It felt like HB always wanted her to fail.
"What other choice have we got?" Enid said. "If Mildred doesn't pass who knows what'll happen, and - well, Millie, it's not looking great so far."
Mildred shrugged. Enid had a point: her last attempt at the summoning potion had resulted in her temporarily turning Maud into a warthog, much to Miss Hardbroom's annoyance. Maud still had a few whiskery hairs above her nose. "It's easy; we sneak in, get the test, quickly look at what's on it, and then help Millie study the right potions."
The corridor was dark and quiet as they crept towards the door to Miss Hardbroom's quarters, Enid at the front. She gave a broad smile as she rattled the lock: it was open! "Come on!" It should be fine; they'd seen HB head on patrol to the first year corridors and knew the route she took, knew she wouldn't be back for a good few minutes yet, but Mildred's heart still thumped in her chest. Yes, she'd snuck into Miss Cackle's room last year to get the keys for the confiscation cupboard, but that had almost ended really badly. And this was Miss Hardbroom. Why on earth had she let Enid talk her into this? "
It'll be fine, Millie," Enid pleaded, a wicked grin on her face. "She's just a teacher; it's not like she's going to have an army of goblins hidden under her bed or anything." Mildred swallowed. That didn't seem entirely impossible. From behind her, she could hear Maud gulp as Enid slowly, quietly turned the knob.
To Mildred's relief, the room looked surprisingly normal; it was simply decorated, with much less chintz than Miss Cackle's, but there wasn't actually that much black. A neat desk, a large mahogany wardrobe, a well-stocked bookshelf, a bed with plain white covers and purple cushions, two armchairs, a low coffee table, and a roaring fire in the grate. Almost cosy, Mildred thought - or as cosy as strict old HB would ever get.
The three headed across the room towards the desk by the window; the test, surely, must be on there, or in one of the drawers? As they neared it, however, Mildred felt Maud's hand tap her slowly on the shoulder, before grabbing her hand and pointing with it towards the coffee table. On it were two half-drunk cups of tea, a plate of two pink-iced doughnuts, and a chessboard.
Mildred's heart started thumping. Miss Hardbroom hadn't been in here alone. Which meant that-
Before she could finish her thought, Maud's hand rose with hers to point towards a second, closed door, from behind which were faint noises. Panicking, Mildred grabbed Enid, but before they could run for it, they heard a voice.
"Back so soon, Hiccup?" came a cheerful tone that Mildred recognised immediately. Miss Pentangle. Of course, she thought, dazed, the doughnuts, but any brief feeling of happiness she had that the two teachers had mended their friendship was quickly replaced by panic. They had to get out: the invisibility potion wouldn't last much longer than half an hour, and who knows how long Miss Pentangle would stay for?
She couldn't see Maud or Enid's faces, but just as she was about to make a run for it, the noises behind the door got louder: Mildred heard a flushing toilet, and a tap running. Before she knew it, she was being pulled backwards by a pair of arms, and she pulled Enid back along with her, all three of them landing together with a thud in the wardrobe.
Maud, she realised, her brain catching up with her location. Maud had opened the door and pulled them in. She hurriedly pushed the doors shut, and pushed back the array of long black dresses that were tickling her face. How many identical black robes did a witch need, anyway?
"Ssh," Maud whispered, and all three girls attempted to freeze, squashed up next to one another. Luckily the wardrobe was huge, and didn't appear to creak too much, although Mildred worried that with one wrong move she'd be shoved out of the door back into the room. Soon enough, the bathroom door opened, and squinting through the keyhole Mildred could make out the figure of Miss Pentangle, dressed not in her formal pink robes but in what seemed to be a pair of dark pink pyjamas. What on earth? Her hair was down, and Mildred thought she looked soft, somehow. Still beautiful, but cosy, like the fire. This was not what Mildred had expected.
"Strange," Miss Pentangle mused out loud, looking around the room in confusion as she closed the door behind her. "I could have sworn I heard a voice." Shrugging, she waved her hand, and soft piano music filled the room. She sat herself down in one of the armchairs, sighing with contentment, before sipping her tea and picking up one of the remaining doughnuts.
Mildred held her breath, trying not to make the slightest noise. The music helped a little, but the tiniest move and they risked being discovered. Miss Pentangle was nice, yes, but Mildred doubted that she'd be willing to overlook them sneaking into Miss Hardbroom's room to try and cheat on a potions test. From behind her, she felt a pair of hands squeezing her shoulders with a death grip. Maud. The message was clear: I told you so.
A few minutes passed, and the girls sweated in the wardrobe. Mildred was trying to think of a plan to get out, but there was nothing. She could see the faint outline of her hands starting to emerge by the keyhole light: the invisibility potion was already starting to wear off. They mustn't have mixed it quite right. There was nothing for it now but to wait it out and hope.
Eventually, after minutes watching Miss Pentangle steadily eat a doughnut and leaf through a couple of Miss Hardbroom's books that she'd selected from the bookshelf, the door opened, and in strode the imposing figure of HB. Mildred drew in a silent breath. If they were caught, that was it - she'd expel them, if not grind them to bits and add them as extra special ingredients to her potions laboratory. They were done for.
"All done, Hecate?" Miss Pentangle said, smiling at Miss Hardbroom. "Terrified the girls into bed as usual?"
"But of course," Miss Hardbroom said, with what looked like a very slight smirk on her face. She shrugged off the black dressing gown she wore to patrol the corridor, placing it neatly on a hook behind the door, and to Mildred's surprise Miss Hardbroom was wearing dark purple pyjamas, just like Miss Pentangle's. What on earth?
"Now, where were we?" Miss Pentangle smiled as HB sat down in the chair opposite her, and picked up her half-drunk cup of tea.
"I believe, Pippa," Miss Hardbroom drawled in her superior way, although Mildred could see that she was smiling slightly as she fixed Miss Pentangle with a stare. "That you've had enough time to study the board to realise that you have entirely no hope of winning this game."
Miss Pentangle, who'd now moved to sit cross-legged in her armchair, gave an exaggerated pout, but followed it with a smile. "Fine," she huffed, resignedly moving one of the chess pieces, which HB then followed by triumphantly moving one of hers, a smirk on her face.
"Checkmate, Miss Pentangle," HB sneered, leaning back slowly, her arms placed along the side of her chair as if she was a queen on her throne. She was gloating, Mildred realised. This was weird.
Miss Pentangle stuck out her tongue slightly, before picking up the last remaining doughnut on the plate. "Yes," she said, looking at the board and sighing with a smile. "I suppose I shall simply have to comfort eat to get over the terrible loss."
"You've had three already," Miss Hardbroom remarked, her eyebrow twitching as Miss Pentangle moved the doughnut towards her mouth. "Honestly."
"Well, it's not as if you'd want one, Hiccup, is it," Miss Pentangle teased. "With all this sugar, and icing?" She held the doughnut in her hand out towards Miss Hardbroom, who continued to look at her with a raised, slightly amused eyebrow, before suddenly grabbing the doughnut and taking a large bite. Mildred struggled to choke down her gasp at seeing her strict potions teacher so - well, how could she describe it? So playful. And Hiccup?
"Hecate Elizabeth Hardbroom," Pippa smiled, raising a hand to her mouth in fake shock. "I see I'm a still a terrible influence on you."
Miss Hardbroom continued to eat the doughnut, although she looked at it rather suspiciously, as if it might explode in her hand. "That, Pipsqueak, is hardly news. It seems that not that much has changed in thirty years." Pipsqueak?
"No, it doesn't," Miss Pentangle replied softly, and Mildred thought she seemed suddenly sad. Miss Hardbroom didn't reply, and a stillness seemed to descend over the room as the two teachers gazed at one another, HB holding the half-eaten doughnut in her hand. Slowly, the stillness became awkward, like they didn't quite know what to say to each other.
"How- how are your second years?" Miss Pentangle eventually asked, uncrossing her legs to sit properly on her chair, and it seemed as if they'd become grown ups again. Even if they were still in their pyjamas.
"Easily distracted," Miss Hardbroom replied; she'd put the doughnut down now back on the plate. Miss Pentangle didn't pick it up. "I can't remember us ever having been so silly."
"They'll get there," Miss Pentangle replied. "How's Mildred?" From behind her, Mildred felt a finger poke her in the back - Enid, almost certainly. Still, she for some reason found herself a little nervous about what HB would say. Probably not anything good.
"Still refusing to apply herself, I'm afraid," Miss Hardbroom said, arching an eyebrow as she took a sip of tea.
"Don't be too hard on her, Hecate," Miss Pentangle sighed. "She's trying her best. It can't be easy, being the only girl from a non-witching family."
"I imagine not," Miss Hardbroom says, her lips thin. "It's just frustrating, Pippa; there are such glimmers of potential, of real power, of imagination, but then day-to-day there are just so many constant mishaps. And she's far too prone to taking the easy option instead of applying herself." Mildred dimly saw that Maud's head, half-visible, was alongside hers, and that she was nodding it vigorously - the spell was definitely wearing off now - but all Mildred could think about is that Miss Hardbroom thought she had potential. And, guiltily, that she had gone for the easy option; she'd been willing to cheat to see the paper, even though she knew it was wrong. She felt disappointed in herself.
"I keep trying to set her challenges, to get her to prove to herself that she can do it," Miss Hardbroom continued.
"To no avail?" Miss Pentangle queried, cocking her head sympathetically.
"Well, I've given the second years a mid-term potions exam, just to get them to apply themselves to their studies - especially Mildred. But so far Mildred's efforts at revising have resulted in her turning Maud Spellbody into a warthog and sending herself into a ten hour sleep just before her chanting lesson."
Mildred heard Enid stifle a giggle, and poked her in the side.
"Ah," Miss Pentangle nodded, and Mildred could see she was smiling too. "Well, I daresay dear old Miss Bat would have hardly noticed; aren't sleeping girls rather par for the course in her classes?"
"Alas, I wish it were just the pupils," Miss Hardbroom quipped, and the two were now smiling at one another again, as if the awkwardness from before had gone. Mildred continued to stare at them, squinting through the keyhole. What exactly was happening here? Miss Hardbroom picked back up the doughnut and began to nibble at it.
"See," Miss Pentangle said, gesturing at the doughnut. "They're entirely addictive. Even you, Hiccup, are powerless to resist the lure of sugar."
"Is that so?" HB replied. "I shall have you know, Pippa, that my powers of self-control are second to none. I am merely choosing to indulge you by eating this particular," - and here she gazed at it with contempt - "item."
"I find, Hecate," Miss Pentangle started softly, looking down at her long pink nails, "that there is something to be said for, just occasionally, letting go of all self-control. Perhaps," she continued, a soft smile on her face, "it would do you good to try it sometime, Hiccup."
At that, for some reason Miss Hardbroom's cheeks flushed a bright shade of red, as Miss Pentangle smiled innocently at her. Mildred didn't know exactly what Miss Pentangle had meant by the statement, but she knew it wasn't often that her potions teacher was left without a reply.
"Ahem," HB coughed, her face still red as she looked down at her watch, which, even in her purple pyjamas, she still had around her neck. "Perhaps it's - it's late, Pippa, and I'm teaching first period."
"Kicking me out again?" Miss Pentangle smiled, and Mildred wasn't sure if she sounded amused or a little bit sad as she looked at her wristwatch. "You're right, Hiccup, it is late, and I must fly back - I can't believe how quickly these Tuesday evenings just whizz by. It's just so wonderful to see you again."
At that, HB blushed again, before eventually stuttering out "you....you too, Pippa." She seemed so shy, all of a sudden, Mildred thought, like she didn't know what to do without the stern and strict pose she'd mastered so well. "I'll come to the tower and see you off."
Mildred didn't know what to think. Part of her was overjoyed that it seemed they were going - now they had a chance to escape - but another part of her wanted them to continue their conversation. It had been interesting, like sneaking into another part of someone's life that you weren't supposed to see, and she found herself wanting to know more.
Suddenly, she heard a noise from next to her: a stifled sneeze. Enid. Rats!
Miss Pentangle must have heard it too, even over the music, for she looked around curiously. "Do you hear anything, Hiccup? It's odd, I swear I heard something before, too."
Miss Hardbroom paused and straightened into her stiff pose, her eyes scanning the room with suspicion. Mildred thought they were done for. Maud squeezed her hand in a death grip, and Millie braced herself. St Joseph's wouldn't be so bad, perhaps; at least they'd have art lessons and you could design things on computers. And she'd made it a year and a term; that wasn't too bad.
"Must be the wind," HB finally said, and Millie struggled to contain her sigh of relief. "It's a bad night out there, Pippa, please take care."
"Of course," Miss Pentangle smiled. "Although, unlike some people, I've never crashed my broom into a tree while trying to fly with bats."
Miss Hardbroom rolled her eyes. "You are never going to let that one go, are you?"
Miss Pentangle smiled, shaking her head, and she stepped right into Miss Hardbroom's personal space. And then they were, well, looking at each other again, and it was strange. But wait - HB had crashed her broom into a tree? Really?
After a few seconds, Miss Pentangle finally waved her hand, and she was immediately transformed back into the glamorous figure Mildred had met at the Spelling Bee, her hair coiffed up, make-up on, and elegant pink robes. Finally - finally -the two witches both waved their hands and transferred away from the room.
In the wardrobe, the girls waited a minute, still not daring to breathe in case HB and Pentangle hadn't really gone. Eventually, Maud gingerly pushed open the wardrobe door. No response. Sensing they didn't have much time, the three girls bounded up and stretched their legs, finding that their bodies were half-visible. They needed to get out now, before HB came back.
As they started to rush for the door, Enid grabbed at Mildred's hand gestured at the desk. On it was a sheet of paper, which, when Mildred looked, was written "Second Year Potions Test."
"Come on then!" Enid looked, "let's get what we came for."
Mildred shook her head. She couldn't. She didn't want to be a person who took the easy way out. No, either she'd pass the test on her own, or she wouldn't pass it at all. Pulling Enid along behind her, she made for the door, leaving the test untouched on the desk. Closing HB's door behind them, the three girls crept silently back along the corridor, scarcely daring to even breathe until they found themselves safely in Mildred's room, where, overcome with relief, Mildred and Enid collapsed in a fit of nervous giggles. Maud stood shaking her head.
"I told you that was a bad idea," Maud said. "I can't even feel my feet from crouching down for so long, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack when you sneezed, Enid."
"Sorry," Enid giggled, looking at least a little sorry, and Mildred found herself unable to suppress her laughs. They'd come so close to getting expelled. Again. "I can't believe we went to all that trouble and you didn't even look," Enid added.
"She doesn't need to look, Enid," Maud pronounced. "She can pass on her own. I'm proud of you, Millie."
"Thanks," Mildred shrugged, her laughter now under control. "I mean, I knew it wasn't the right thing to do anyway, but HB was right, I suppose. I should work harder, shouldn't take the easy way out."
"Ah well," Enid said. "You can't fault the plan. And anyway, spying on HB and Pentangle was quite fun."
"Yeah," Mildred said, her eyes widening. "What was that? I mean, Hiccup? And Pipsqueak?"
Enid snickered, and even Maud looked as if she were now seeing the funny side in the evening.
"I guess they must have been their old nicknames for one another," Maud said. "They must have been good friends. Must be nice for them to catch up."
"Oh really, Maud, come on," Enid said, looking at Maud as if something was very obvious. "That wasn't two old friends catching up - that was flirting. They like each other, silly."
"What?" Maud questioned, looking confused. Mildred, though, nodded to herself: Enid's idea seemed to make a lot of sense. After all, for the whole conversation she'd felt like there was something going on that she wasn't quite getting. Perhaps that was it.
"Oh, come on Maud, it's sooo obvious," Enid said. "Have a bite of this doughnut, Hiccup," she continued, batting her eyelashes and attempting to look coy. "Oh but Pipsqueak, I couldn't," she continued, dropping her voice as she tried to look stern. "I have to make the girls shiver with fear, and it'd totally ruin my image."
"Well, I think it's cute," Mildred said, shrugging. "Who knew that HB could ever be so - I dunno, so-"
"Nice?" Maud said. "I suppose she did seem very different to how she is with us. Not half as scary when she's in purple pyjamas eating a doughnut."
"Do you think her and Miss Pentangle will realise that they like each other?" Mildred pondered. "And, I don't know, get married or something?" For some strange reason, she had a vision of herself, Maud and Enid as flower girls at their wedding. That could be fun. Miss Pentangle would look lovely in a white wedding gown, although probably Miss Hardbroom wouldn't wear a white dress- what were magical weddings like anyway? Did they have them, or did they -
"Earth to Millie," Enid said, jolting Mildred out of her reverie. There was mischief glinting in her eye. "I have an idea."
"Oh no," Maud moaned. "Please tell me it's better than sneaking into HB's bedroom to steal a potions test. Or helping Tabby catch mice by trashing Miss Tapioca's kitchen. Or-"
"-Think about it, Maud," Enid interrupted. "If we can hook HB up with Miss Pentangle, perhaps she'll stop being so grouchy all of the time. Maybe she'll even give us doughnuts..."
"That," Maud pronounced. "Is a terrible idea. Even if you are right about HB and Pentangle, HB would kill us if she ever found out we'd tried to get involved in her love life. We once again narrowly avoided getting expelled tonight, and already you want us to follow an even riskier plan!" She looked somewhere between scared and faintly sick.
Mildred though, sort of thought that it was worth a try. Not really because she wanted doughnuts - although they had looked good - but more because, for some reason, she sort of wanted to help HB. Even though Miss Hardbroom hadn't exactly been nice to her, Mildred couldn't shake the feeling that without HB, things wouldn't be quite the same, somehow. And didn't everyone deserve to be happy?
She didn't put it quite like that though. Not to the others. "Enid's right, Maud," she said. "If HB was with Miss Pentangle, perhaps she wouldn't have time to pick at us over every error in our potion, or patrol the school quite as often. And doughnuts on Sundays do sound good."
"Fine," Maud relented, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Only nothing stupid. And nothing now, Mildred, because you need to go to bed. You've only got two days to study before HB's test. Come and see me in the morning, and we'll go through the growth and shrinking potions again."
"Thanks Maud," Mildred said. She could always trust her best friend. "Night."
And with that, after Enid and Maud left, she collapsed on her bed, looking up at the ceiling in a mixture of relief and wonder. She had to study tomorrow, she knew that. But HB thought she had potential - the same HB who'd once, apparently, crashed her broomstick into a tree. The same HB who she and her friends might just help find love.