Fortune telling didn't come naturally to Margaret but she'd somehow managed to work out some of the answers from the blurry images she'd conjured up in the crystal ball.
'She's a cleaner,' she said, as she looked up at the smartly dressed woman that was sitting in front of her. The gong sounded and the normal woman gave an insulted look.
'I do apologize,' Miss Moffat said to the woman, after she had rushed over to her. 'Margaret, this is Mrs Davenport, she is head of the normal’s university.'
Margaret muttered an apology and blushed before she looked back into the crystal ball.
When the test had finished all the girls gathered in front of Miss Moffat to hear the results.
'Firstly I would like you all to join me in giving a huge thank you to our guests who took time out of their very busy schedules to join us here today,' Miss Moffat flicked her wand and clapping sounds erupted in the hall, which were soon joined by the other girls' claps and cheers. 'Now, for the results. In first place and with one-hundred-percent accuracy,' she arched her eyebrow. 'And who will receive five points is Charlotte.'
The hall erupted in more cheers and Charlotte saw Molly wink at her.
'In second place with ninety-seven percent accuracy and receiving four points is Gertrude. In third place with eighty-percent accuracy and receiving three points is Alice. Fourth place with seventy-three-percent accuracy and receiving two points is Stephanie and finally in fifth place with sixty-five-percent accuracy and receiving one point is Margaret.
Well done to the top five, and to those of you that are disappointed, don't forget that there is still one more test to go. For now, go off and have some free time and may I suggest that you practice your spells. The final test will take place in the yard tomorrow morning straight after breakfast. After this test, our top five will be revealed, which is very exciting. I am eager to observe the final test and to find out which of you girls will be representing the Academy,' she smiled at them before she walked over to the normals and started talking to them.
As the girls followed Molly out of the hall, the sweet smell of hot toffee filled the room. Charlotte glanced back to see that one of the tables was now filled with colorful cakes, snacks and warm drinks for the normals.
'Well done,' Stef said.
'Thanks, you did great too.'
'Third, how could I have come third again?' Alice moaned.
'Third is great Alice, it means that you are in a strong place going into the final test. And you are currently in joint first place with Margaret,' Gerty said.
'I should have come first in both tests,' she muttered, before she walked over to Melody to grumble about her placing to her.
'We are the comeback kids,' Gerty smiled, as she linked arms with Charlotte.
'We sure are.'
Margaret barged past them, an annoyed look on her face.
'Watch it,' Gerty said.
'Whatever,' Margaret snapped.
'I suppose she's just annoyed at her placing,' Gerty shrugged.
'Yeah, probably,' Charlotte replied, unable to hide her smile.
Charlotte and Gerty were currently in fourth and fifth places, they just needed to do well in the spell test and they stood a good chance of making the top five. Charlotte was one step closer to proving that she was an accomplished witch and one step closer to hopefully getting a chance to sort things out with Charlie.
***
It seemed as though the whole school were out in the yard to watch the final test. Lessons had been cancelled for the morning and a floating row of bleachers had been positioned on all sides of the yard.
The first year girls were all lined up on one side of the yard, each of them had a wooden horse in front of them. Across the yard were two large flags with the Academy's crest of two crossing brooms below the letters MMA on them.
'As you can see, you each have a horse in front of you. For your spells test you have to ride your horse over the finish line,' Molly pointed over to the flags. 'To do this you will need to cast a spell on your horse. Begin when you hear the bang of my starter gun, good luck.'
Charlotte and Stef exchanged anxious looks as they waited for the test to begin. Charlotte tried hard to think up a spell to use on her horse but she wasn't sure which one would work best.
BANG, echoed loudly across the arena, followed by hundreds of bats that flew off across the yard.
'Paulo Equus,' Charlotte aimed her wand at her horse.
A small, greyish-brown animal with a short mane and long ears appeared in front of her.
'Eeaw,' it said, before it nudged its head against her arm and began to chew on her sleeve.
'My sweater's not food,' she shook her head, before she climbed onto the animal.
'Eeaw, eeaw.'
She gently kicked its sides to try and get it to move but it remained where it was.
'Nice donkey,' Margaret snorted over at Charlotte, before she trotted off on a pretty white pony.
Charlotte tried to ignore Margaret and instead patted the donkey.
'Please don't be stubborn, I need to do well in this test.'
'Eeaw,' it said, before it bucked her off.
'What am I going to do with you?' she sighed, as she got back up onto her feet.
The donkey once again moved its head towards her sleeve and as she moved her arm away from it she thought of an idea. She got back onto the donkey and then held out her wand.
'Natantis carota,' she said and a floating carrot appeared in front of the donkey.
The donkey immediately began to move, trying to bite the floating carrot which remained just out of its reach.
At first Demi turned her horse into a rocking horse. She tried to block out the laughter that was coming from the crowd and cast another spell on her horse but this time wheels appeared on her rocking horse. She jumped on it and tried wheeling it forwards, before she cast another spell and this time the wheels spun quickly by themselves, transporting her across the yard.
Alice had turned her horse into a cute Shetland pony but it's little legs were struggling to go very fast.
'Hurry up,' Alice shouted at it.
Destiny had turned her horse into an elegant black stallion and on seeing it the crowd cheered. Once she'd jumped onto it Destiny found that it was far too powerful for her to control and it wandered over to a nearby patch of grass and refused to move from there.
Margaret finished with ease, crossing the line long before anyone else. Next was Alice, who was still shouting at her pony.
Demi whizzed past Stef who was on an angry grey pony, she kicked the pony to get it to move and it flared its nostrils and stopped abruptly, causing her to fall forwards onto its mane. Demi finished in third place and Stef managed to get her pony moving again and finished in fourth.
Charlotte's donkey was still trying to reach the carrot, it was moving forwards but not at a very fast speed. She saw that Gerty was close by on a Spanish dancing horse, which was trotting her the long way around the arena with its head held high.
'Please, come on,' Charlotte said to the donkey but it carried on forwards at the same pace.
Gerty wasn't far from the finishing line now but her horse had stopped and held its head into the air.
'Please move,' Gerty asked it nicely but it remained still.
Victoria whizzed past Charlotte on a zebra and was just about to cross the finishing line when the zebra got spooked by the cheers and shouts close by. It reared back before it spun around and ran off in the opposite direction, with Victoria clinging onto its mane in fright.
Charlotte passed Gerty just as her horse began to move. She closed her eyes and chewed on the side of her lip as the donkey placed one of its hooves across the finishing line at what appeared to be the same time as Gerty's horse had.
The rest of the girls crossed the finishing line, apart from Destiny who was still trying to move her horse away from the grass. They all gathered around Miss Moffat and excitedly waited for the results.
Charlo
tte was both excited and nervous. She had the fingers on both of her hands crossed as she eagerly waited for the results. Margaret looked over at her and scowled and Charlotte looked away from her. Still, she could feel Margaret's gaze boring into her.
'I know I'm going to win,' Alice said.
'Get over yourself,' Stef rolled her eyes.
'Congratulations girls, I am most impressed with your progress over the past six months. Today you have demonstrated your abilities and skills and let me tell you that we are impressed...with most of you,' Miss Moffat smiled. 'Remember that only five of you will represent our Academy. And the top five are...in first place is Margaret.'
Margaret squealed in excitement as she jumped on the spot, before she rushed over to Miss Moffat and hugged her. Miss Moffat pulled back and brushed down her coat.
'There's no need for that,' she said and Margaret blushed, before she walked back over to where she'd been standing.
'Second place is Alice.'
'There must be a mistake, surely I came first?' Alice said loudly.
Miss Moffat frowned before she waved her wand at Alice. She carried on trying to talk but no words came out of mouth, so she clasped her hands over her mouth and looked at the ground.
'Third place is Demi, fourth place is Stephanie and lastly in fifth place, with only a fraction of a hoof in it, is...Charlotte. Well done girls, you have shown true promise and skill and I don't doubt that you will do this Academy proud when you compete against the wizard's college.'
Charlotte and Stef hugged each other excitedly but then they looked over at Gerty, who couldn't hide her disappointment.
'I'm sorry Gerty, it was so close,' Charlotte said.
'You still did well, your horse was really good,' Stef said.
'Thanks guys,' Gerty forced a smile. 'But it's okay, you both did great and deserve to be in the top five,' she hugged them both.
They pulled apart and stood in silence for a few moments.
'Hopefully Charlie will make the wizard's team too,' Gerty winked at Charlotte.
'Hopefully,' she smiled.
'I'm positive he will, although you can't go all gooey-eyed as there's a trophy to be won,' she grinned.
***
The day of the competition arrived and the five girls to make the team flew with Molly over to Alexander's College.
Dale was there to greet them and he led them through the hallways of the castle and into the empty hall. There were seats set out on each side of the stage and Dale gestured for them to sit there.
'It's very quiet, when do you think the boy's will arrive?' Stef whispered to Charlotte.
'Why am I sitting on this end?' Alice huffed. 'They will think that I came last.'
'Who cares,' Stef replied, rolling her eyes.
Alexander appeared on the stage in a royal blue suit.
'Molly, always a pleasure,' he leaned over so that he could kiss her hand.
'Alexander, Miss Moffat sends her regards and hopes that you won't miss the trophy too much,' Molly grinned.
'Well, we shall see about that.'
'Girls, no doubt you are wondering who you will be competing against? Well wonder no more,' he whistled and five boys wearing long black capes and floppy wizard hats appeared on the stage.
Charlotte looked eagerly at the boys but she couldn't tell if one of them was Charlie.
'The first member of our team,' Alexander gestured to the boy on the end of the row...’
Charlotte held her breath as she watched the boy take off his hat.
'Is William.' Polite applause greeted this decision.
'In second place...is Patrick. ' Once again, people clapped their hands.
'Third was John.'
'Fourth place goes to Michael.'
Both Charlotte and Margaret were shocked, their chins dropped at the thought of missing out on seeing Charlie.
'And the final competitor to face the girls is'...he seemed to take an eternity to say the last name... 'Charlie.'
On seeing his brown hair and sparkling eyes both Charlotte and Margaret jumped out of their seats and cheered loudly. All eyes in the room turned to the two girls.
Charlie looked over at Charlotte and smiled, then he winked at Margaret.
‘Well, this is going to be interesting,’ Stef whispered to Alice.
***
Who will win the battle to claim Charlie’s heart?
Book 4
The Book of Dragons
Chapter One
With a click of Alexander's fingers the large hall went from virtually empty to packed full of wizards.
Stef, Demi and Alice waved over to the crowd excitedly, whereas Charlotte and Margaret kept their gaze on Charlie. He kept on smiling as he looked over at them both...but then his eyes fixed firmly on Charlotte and he gave her a wink.
Charlotte could feel herself blushing as she continued to smile at him. He took his seat opposite them and Alexander continued to introduce the rest of the boys.
Charlotte saw that Margaret was still looking over at Charlie, and this really wound her up. She knew that Margaret was only interested in him because she knew she liked him. Charlotte looked at Margaret's long blonde hair and devious smile and let out a sigh. Did Charlie like her or did he prefer Margaret? She longed to find out but she couldn't decide if she should read his mind or not?
'I'm so confused and I just want to find out if he likes me, reading his mind wouldn't hurt anyone...it would just give me answers, wouldn't it?' she thought to herself.
She chewed on the side of her lip and smiled over at Charlie. He smiled back at her and she let out a thoughtful sigh before she looked away from him.
However much she tried to convince herself that reading his mind would be okay, she knew deep down that it was the wrong thing to do and that she'd just have to wait to find out who it was that he liked.
'And the last but by no means the least boy on the team is...Harry,' Alexander said, and the short, funny boy who had sat with Charlotte's group at the picnic took off his hat.
The girls all clapped apart from Margaret who was too busy smiling at Charlie.
'Now, can the two teams please follow me. Let's give them a round of applause,' he clapped his hands and the rest of the room joined in.
Charlotte quickly jumped to her feet and watched as Charlie walked over to her, his eyes locked on hers. Margaret saw the connection between them and shoved into Charlotte, sending her falling onto her knees.
'Oops,' she muttered, before she stood in front of her and blocked Charlie from helping her up.
Stef reached out a hand to Charlotte and helped pull her up to her feet.
'Thanks,' she blushed, as she brushed down her skirt. 'Do you think anyone noticed?'
'Yeah, it looks like all of Alexander’s College are watching.'
'Oh,' Charlotte's embarrassment rose as she looked at the ground.
'But they also saw Margaret push you over.'
'I suppose,' she forced a smile, before she followed Stef off the stage.
She looked over at Margaret and Charlie talking to each other as they walked down the stage together. It should have been her standing next to Charlie, not Margaret. She knew that she needed to be more cautious of her and to stop letting her get her own way.
Alexander led them past the cheering crowd and out into one of the huge corridors. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor and Alice walked straight into the back of Demi.
'Watch it,' Demi grunted.
'Now that we have both of the teams ready it's time to began,' Alexander clicked his fingers and they were all transported into a forest.
There was a round table in front of them with ten chairs placed around it.
Molly smirked as she pretended to click her fingers. Dale, who was standing next to her burst out laughing and Alexander looked at him.
'Everything okay there Dale?'
'Yep, fine,' he said sheepishly.
'Could the ten of you please come and sit
at the table,' he stood at the head of the table and gestured over to them. 'And could the two captains please sit here,' he gestured to the two chairs in front of him.
Margaret shoved her way over to her chair and quickly sat down. She smiled at Charlie as he sat down next to her and he smiled back.
Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE! Page 17
