Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE!

by Katrina Kahler

  'Thank you Miss Moffat,' Mistress Ravenshawk said, her voice soft but still managing to carry with it a strong sense of authority. 'It is an honor to be here for what I'm sure will be a pleasurable game. I'm sure it won't be long before we return the favor and have you back over to our grounds.'

  'May the games begin,' Miss Moffat shouted and leprechauns appeared either side of the court and blew their trumpets loudly.

  Both teams jogged a lap of the court, whilst the onlookers clapped and cheered. When they'd finished they both gathered in their teams and the referee walked over to the sideline of the court.

  'Girls, I'm in no doubt that you can do this,' Miss Firmfeather smiled. 'Remember to stay focused, hold tightly onto your broom and remember how important timing is with the ball, don't let go of it too early or too late.'

  Mistress Ravenshawk had her team gathered in tightly around her as she quietly spoke to them, making sure that no one else heard them.

  Miss Moffat and Molly appeared in front of them and Miss Firmfeather nodded at the girls before she walked over to the referee.

  'Witchery College are a formidable team but I believe in you and I know that you will give it your all. I want you all to do your best and most importantly...enjoy yourselves. It is important that you don't forget that you're representing this Academy, so show team spirit and give it your greatest effort. I'm far too nervous to stand here and say anything else, so I'm going to leave you all with Molly and go and take my seat,' Miss Moffat said, before she quickly walked across the court.

  'Good luck girls and you better win or I'll turn you all into toads,' Mistress Ravenshawk winked, as she gave her team a wave as she followed Miss Moffat over to the reserved seats on one of the lower rows.

  'I'm so nervous I think I may throw-up,' Gerty muttered.

  'You'll be fine, just don't fall,' Destiny patted her on the shoulder, a confident look on her face.

  'We'll be fine, those girls look ghastly, look at how ugly they all are,' Demi gave the other team, a large false smile.

  Charlotte didn't say anything, instead she kept her gaze directed at the ground and hoped that she didn't look as nervous as she felt. Her arms were shaking and she tried gripping harder onto her broomstick so that no one noticed this.

  'Are you okay?' Gerty whispered to her.

  'Yeah, just nervous,' she whispered back.

  'Miss Moffat's right, we just need to go out there and enjoy ourselves. Whatever happens, we've trained super hard and we just have to do our best,' Gerty smiled.

  'Gather in,' Molly gestured them forwards. 'Miss Moffat's words contain a fine sentiment and all...but we are here to win. There's no way that you can lose against Witchery College,' she shuddered. 'My advice would be to play then at their own game,' she winked. 'You have to win or I might do some toad changing myself,' she smirked.

  'No pressure then,' Stef rolled her eyes, before she followed Demi and Destiny out onto their starting positions on the court.

  Charlotte stood in front of the third post by the side of a scary looking girl from Witchery College. Not only was she a good few inches taller than Charlotte, she also hadn't stopped snarling at her since they'd both taken their positions.

  Gerty was standing in the middle of the court next to Witchery College's Climber. She was all smiles as she looked over at Charlotte and gave her a thumbs-up. The referee walked over to them and magicked up a large toad, half of it was orange and the other half was blue.

  'Which color do you choose?' the referee said to the climber from Witchery College.

  'Blue,' she replied without hesitation.

  'Miss Moffat's Academy, you're orange. The side that the toad lands on first gets the ball,' she said, before she threw the toad high up into the air.

  Both teams watched as the toad fell down onto the ground, its blue legs touching down onto the ground before it bounced back up.

  'Blue it is,' the referee handed the ball to the Witchery College's smirking climber.

  'Mount your brooms and wait for the whistle,' the referee watched as all the girls got onto their broomsticks and then she placed the whistle in her mouth.

  The whistle blew and both teams flew up into the air and wasted no time in flying around the court. The Witchery College girl with the ball threw it over to the tall girl. Charlotte tried to intercept the girls catch but ended up being elbowed out of the way, only just managing to keep balanced on her broomstick.

  Destiny snuck up behind the girl with the ball and snatched it out of her grasp. She flew away from her before she threw the ball over to Demi who then managed to get it past the Witchery College girl and into the basket.

  There were loud cheers from the girls and the crowd and snarls and groans from the girls from the opposing team. The ghost appeared and floated in front of Demi and all the girls listened to what spell it was going to give her.

  'Kittens are as sweet as honey, apart from their fur-balls as they aren't funny. Fur-ball overload with fur-pila.'

  Charlotte made a mental note of the spell as she watched the ghost vanish. The game continued and Witchery College whizzed around the court, bashing into the girls brooms and grabbing the ball out of their grasps. Miss Moffat's team took the aggression well, remaining on their brooms and grabbing for the ball when they saw the opportunity.

  Although Miss Moffat's team were trying their best Witchery College won the next two baskets, mainly because of the tall girl who kept a firm grip on the ball whilst still managing to swipe her broomstick and her elbow into the opposition.

  Stef had the ball but Witchery College were closing in on her and she couldn't fly free.

  'Alice,' she shouted, before she threw the ball over to her.

  Alice reached out and caught it in one hand and the onlookers cheered excitedly from the side-line. A girl with her hair tied into bunches flew with speed towards Alice, trying to grab at the ball. Alice, ducked out of the way and threw the ball into the air, it spun over to the third basket and bounced against it. Charlotte held her breath as she watched the ball slow down it speeds and wobble from side-to-side before it tipped into the fourth basket.

  The crowd cheered loudly and Alice grinned widely.

  'As an eight-legged creature, you'll scuttle as you move. Accuracy and speed is what you have to prove, Stilio crura,' the ghost announced, before he disappeared.

  A girl from Witchery College shoved Demi off her broom to claim the fifth basket.

  'That wasn't fair!' Demi said with disgust. 'That basket shouldn't count!' she stared at the referee but got no reaction.

  'Go on Miss Moffat's,' someone shouted from the crowd.

  'Let's do this,' Stef said, before the referee threw the ball into the air and she charged forwards for it, managing to swerve out of the way of one of the opposing girls with such force that it caused them to topple off their broom.

  Stef reached out her hands and grabbed it just before the girl with bunches could. There were more cheers from the crowd, blocking out the disgruntled snarls from the Witchery College girls.

  Stef whizzed her way over to the sixth basket, weaving her way around the opponents. Suddenly the grass beneath her rose up like snakes and wrapped itself around Stef's arms, legs and broomstick. She shrieked out as the ball dropped out of her hand and onto the ground. The grass roots let go of her suddenly and she toppled down onto the ground, her broomstick landing on her leg with a thud.

  Stef grabbed her broomstick and pulled herself up, but one of the Witchery College girls had already grabbed the ball.

  'They used an illegal spell,' Molly shouted over to the referee but she ignored her and stared out at the court…a smiling, dazed look on her face.

  Mistress Ravenshawk gave a sly smile as she discreetly lowered her wand. She was adamant on her team winning and fair didn't come into it.

  Charlotte saw the girl with the bunches putting away her wand, she knew that she'd cast the illegal spell on Stef and wondered why the referee hadn't disqualified her for it.<
br />
  The girls tried to get to the ball back but the Witchery College girls were on full defence, swatting away anyone who got in their way. The last basket was scored and groans filled the stands and the court.

  'They cheated!' Destiny said, as she flew over to the referee. 'Didn't you see the grass grab at Stef, that last basket should have been ours!'

  The referee didn't reply, instead she gave a large smile and rocked her head in time to an unheard tune.

  An annoyed Destiny went over to her team, who were being pep-talked by Miss Dread.

  'Darlings, I know you can do this. You have won some excellent spells so don't waste them, stay strong as a team, communicate and Gerty, climb as if your life depends on it.'

  'What is wrong with the referee?' Stef asked, as she rubbed her bruised leg.

  'It seems as though foul play is afoot which gives you girls more reason to beat them. If you win by cheating then you haven't properly won, you have to rise above them and prove that you're the better team. Now drink your pumpkin juice as you must hydrate and remember to suck it up, as I know you can all do it,' she nodded at them, before she back-flipped her way back over to Miss Firmfeather who was attempting to communicate with the referee to no avail.

  'It doesn't look like the referee will be of any use,' Charlotte sighed.

  'Whoever cast that spell on the referee must have been super powerful,' Gerty said.

  'Aren't you worried? If they cast that spell on Stef, imagine what they might cast on you when you're trying to climb that tower,' Alice said.

  'Nah, what happens, happens. All I can do is try my best which is what I'm going to do,' Gerty shrugged, as she skipped her way over to the middle of the court where the castle had risen up.

  'I hope that I come out of this alive,' Patricia said to Charlotte as she walked past her.

  Charlotte bit down on the side of her lip as she walked over to the starting position. This morning she had been terrified that Margaret would show up, but instead she was equally as afraid of the other Witchery College girls. She wasn't about to give up though, if Gerty was willing to climb up that high tower knowing that any number of spells could be cast upon her, then Charlotte knew that she could try her hardest to help her from the court ground.

  Miss Firmfeather blew the referee’s whistle to signal the start of the tower run and both the tall girl and Gerty raced over to their dolls and began to climb their sides of the tower.

  Gerty was ahead of the other climber, dodging and weaving away from the towers grabbing hands as she went higher and higher with no signs of tiring.

  'Tempestatis nubes,' one of the Witchery College girls cast a spell up at Gerty and a storm cloud appeared over her head and drenched her.

  This didn't deter Gerty who continued to climb at a fast speed. Charlotte looked up and saw how close Gerty was to the top of the tower and then she looked over at the opposing climber who wasn't far behind her. She met the eye of Demi and Stef for approval before she flicked out her wand at the Witchery College climber.

  'Fur-pila,' she shouted and the climber stopped on the spot, bent over and began to cough out large balls of fur.

  'Gross,' Stef chuckled.

  'Go Gerty,' Charlotte cheered.

  'Arma,' the girl with the bunches said and Charlotte's wand flew out of her hand and spun over to the stands.

  Charlotte rushed after it, dread filling her body at the thought of it breaking. As she neared the stand Molly stood-up and pulled Charlotte's wand from behind her back.

  'I told you that they didn't play fair,' Molly whispered.

  'Thank you, thank you so much,' Charlotte gave a relieved sigh, as she took her wand off Molly and raced back onto the court.

  Gerty had managed to dodge two of the Witchery College spells and was now only a couple of steps from the top. She had her princess doll outstretched and her team was cheering excitedly.

  Mistress Ravenshawk twitched her nose and said something under her breath as she subtly pointed up at Gerty.

  'Honk, honk,' Gerty said as her hands and feet turned into flippers and she slid all the way to the bottom of the tower, the princess doll landing on her head.

  'What happened?' Charlotte rushed over to her.

  'How could you let that happen, you were an arm’s reach away from winning,' Demi grunted.

  'Honk, honk,' Gerty held out one of her flippers.

  'They're nothing but a bunch of cheaters, let's beat them,' Stef pulled Gerty up onto her flippers.

  The tall girl had almost reached the top of the tower and Molly was not impressed. She took out her wand and muttered out an incantation, smirking to herself as the tall girl instantly blew up so that she resembled a balloon and floated away from the tower, screaming out in a rage as she flew away.

  'This is an outrage,' Mistress Ravenshawk stood-up and abruptly strode over to the referee. 'They clearly just used an illegal spell, do something?'

  The referee grinned at her before she spun in a circle and then tipped her head from side-to-side. Mistress Ravenshawk huffed before she walked off, her feathered-hair blowing slightly in the breeze.

  Mistress Ravenshawk looked over at Gerty whose arms and legs were back to normal and she had picked up the princess doll and was running towards the tower. She struck out her wand in a swift movement and the grass beneath Gerty's feet turned into thick, wet concrete. The faster Gerty tried to run, the further she sank into it.

  Gerty was stuck and the concrete continued to move out across the rest of the Miss Moffat's girls until all of them were also stuck.

  'What now?' Stef shouted.

  'We have one spell left, the spider one,' Charlotte said.

  'Then let’s use it now,' Demi said, as she readied her wand. She tried hard to pull the spell from her mind but she couldn't remember it.

  'Stilio Crura,' Charlotte said firmly, as she waved her wand over at Gerty.

  Gerty began to shake before eight long furry legs sprouted out of her side, pulling her human legs out of the wet concrete and scuttling across it.

  'Go Gerty!' Stef shouted, as she watched Gerty reach the tower and crawl her way up it.

  The climber from the opposing team had deflated and was now at a similar point on the tower as Gerty was. Feathers came out of the holes in the tower and tried to tickle Gerty off but she didn't let go of her grip.

  One of the tower hands grabbed the opposing climber and nearly swiped her off it. She steadied herself just as gunk poured from the lips that appeared near the top of the tower and covered them both. Gerty had a minor slip but soon recovered whereas the other climber lost her footing and only just rebalanced her grip in time.

  'Velox scanders,' a short girl with freckle covered cheeks from the opposing team shouted, as she flicked her wand up at her climber.

  The spell was meant to make her climb very fast but the girl had cast it wrong, causing their climber to move quickly the wrong way down the tower.

  Her team yelled at her and Mistress Ravenshawk appeared at the sideline and once again attempted to argue with the referee.

  'Go on Gerty!' Charlotte shouted.

  'Keep on going!' Demi screamed.

  Charlotte held her breath as Gerty made the last few steps and then stretched out her arms, placing the princess doll safely on top of the tower.

  Loud cheers erupted and all the Academy girls hugged each other, including Demi who excitedly grabbed Charlotte into an embrace before awkwardly letting go of her.

  'We did it,' Stef cheered, as she patted Alice on the shoulder.

  'Of course we did, I'm from the type of family that does not know how to lose!' she replied.

  'Foul,' the girl with bunches shouted over at the referee. 'They cheated so we should win.'

  'We did not cheat,' Demi marched over to her. 'You're just a sore loser.'

  'The game should be rerun!'

  'No chance!' Demi replied.

  Mistress Ravenshawk looked frustrated as she walked across the court over to the t
all girl, her wand at the ready.

  Charlotte thought that she was going to turn her into a toad but instead she thrust the girl’s broomstick at her and said something that Charlotte couldn't quite hear.

  The Witchery College team were either crying or shouting at Miss Moffat’s Academy team and spells were flying between the two sides.

  The girl with bunches was now clucking and walking about like a chicken, much to Demi's amusement and Patricia had been turned as blue as a blueberry.

  Molly was in a heated debate with two of the older girls from the Witchery College and although outnumbered, Molly didn't look in the slightest bit concerned. She managed to turn both of the girls into grey rats before they had a chance to cast a spell on her. Molly grinned as she stepped over them and their pile of clothes as she walked off to join the girls on the court.