All the girls on the stage (besides Margaret) hugged each other excitedly, as they watched Miss Moffat write down their names and described their win.
'Thank you,' she closed the book and then passed it back to the Mistress of Spells. 'Please can you return it to its secure residence?'
The Mistress of Spells nodded before she carefully picked it up and walked off the stage. Miss Moffat waited until she was out of sight before she addressed the room.
'I think it's only fitting that we take the rest of the morning off to celebrate,' she flicked her wand.
Gold balloons appeared and floated above their heads. Music sounded out, a rainbow drinks fountain appeared in the corner, along with a chocolate fountain, each level was a different flavor (milk, dark, white and strawberry) and a table full of delicious looking food appeared in front of the stage.
'Enjoy,' Miss Moffat smiled, before she hopped onto her broom and flew out of the room.
Everyone jumped to their feet and rushed over to the various stands around the room. Molly flicked her wand and the chairs vanished, leaving a dancing room.
'You're in the Book of Dragons,' Gerty squealed as she hugged Charlotte.
Stef grabbed their arms and pulled them over to the crowded chocolate fountain. Alice had pushed herself to the front and was dipping a large, fluffy marshmallow into the strawberry sauce.
'We should get priority, we are the ones mentioned in the Book of Dragons,' Stef huffed, as more girls appeared around the chocolate fountain and tried to squash their way to the front.
'Let's go and dance and wait until the queues go down?' Gerty said.
Charlotte nodded and followed Gerty as she weaved her way past the girls and led the way over to the dance-floor. Gerty grabbed her hands and they giggled as they danced with each other.
A few minutes later, Stef appeared next to them, her hands full of sticks with chocolate covered marshmallows on them. She held them out to Charlotte and Gerty and they each took one.
'Thanks Stef, how did you manage to get to the front so quickly?' Gerty asked.
'I have my ways,' she smirked.
Charlotte looked over at the chocolate fountain and saw that all the girls stood around it were floating in the air. They were flailing around and trying to lower themselves but their yelps could not compete with the loud music.
Molly walked over to the chocolate fountain, pushed a few marshmallows on a stick and covered them in chocolate, before she flicked her wand and the floating girls returned to their feet.
'She did that,' one girl pointed over at Stef.
'Yeah, but she's part of the reason you're having this party, so deal with it,' Molly shrugged, before she walked off nibbling on a marshmallow.
The girls spent the rest of the party dancing, drinking rainbow drinks, eating a ridiculous amount of chocolate covered marshmallows and delicious cakes.
Charlotte never imagined that she'd get to see the Book of Dragons, let alone be recorded in it. Life was good and she found herself hoping that a Margaret shaped tornado wasn't going to ruin this.
***
Destiny didn't say much during dinner, her mind was on the Mistress of the Books and what she'd said to her. Destiny knew that she was a formidable teacher, when she'd first started here she'd witnessed her turn Charlotte into a mouse. She was one of the Academy's most feared teachers, yet in the great hall...Destiny had seen a different side to her, one that showed that under her frightening façade, there was a vulnerability.
She rushed back to her room and stuffed her laptop and some books into her backpack. She was just about to the leave the room when Demi walked in.
'Where are you going?'
'Just going to the library,' Destiny replied, as she walked past her.
'I'll come with you.'
'No, I have to study alone or I won't be able to concentrate,' she said, before she hurried out of the room.
Demi stood there and stared at the door as it swung shut. She had a strong feeling that Destiny was up to something and she was going to make sure that she found out exactly what that something was.
***
When Destiny arrived at the library she saw that there was a LIBRARY CLOSED sign on the door and on trying it she discovered that it was locked. She knocked on the door once and fidgeted on the spot…as she waited for an answer. Soon she heard footsteps from within and her heartbeat increased. The door was opened and the Mistress of the Books looked at Destiny, before she signaled her into the library. She took one last glance out into the corridor before she closed and locked the door behind her.
Watching on from around the corner and dressed in black pants and a hoodie was Demi. She saw the Mistress of the Books beckon Destiny into the library and she longed to find out what was going on.
'Insectum Fugite,' she turned her wand towards herself.
She began to shake and then she shrank. Emerging from the pile of clothes on the floor, buzzed out a small black insect.
'Buzz,' she moved towards one of the old wooden framed library windows and flew through a gap.
'I've been working here for more years than I'd care to mention, yet I'm not one of the favorites. How dare Miss Moffat embarrass me like that in front of the entire Academy. I've worked hard to build-up my reputation and that woman has managed to rip holes in it. Do you know what a second-year did today?' the Mistress of the Books asked.
Destiny shook her head, not quite believing that this was actually happening.
'I told her to be quiet in my library and she...she smiled.'
The dark and gloomy room seemed to be illuminated by the anger within the Mistress of the Books’ eyes.
'That's awful,' Destiny said.
'I know,' she frowned. 'But it's okay, I turned her into a mouse.'
'I don't blame you.'
'All I want is respect, is that too much to ask?'
'No, no it's not. I ahh, I know how you feel. I don't fit in here either, not really. I'm not as cunning as Margaret or like goody-two-shoes Charlotte. I'm an outsider, I'm just the girl who was asked to leave her last school. It's like they think I'm going to hex them or something, they always look at me with concerned looks on their faces and a firm grip on their wands.
I just wanted to be given a chance, but it's clear that's not going to happen. The day I walked through the doors of this Academy I was already marked as a lost cause. There's no coming back from that, I will always be on the bottom of the heap,' Destiny sighed.
'Destiny, with a name like that you were born to make your mark on this world and to become something special, how about we make that happen?' the Mistress of the Books smirked.
'I'd like that,' Destiny smiled.
'I know the spell to open the door to the Book of Dragons,' she whispered, before she looked around the room. 'But I would need you to do a tiny little task for me so that this can happen.'
'Anything,' Destiny said eagerly.
'To open the door I would need The Mistress of Spells’ wand, so all you'd need to do is to 'borrow' it during your next class with her.'
'I, I erm dunno.'
'I knew it was too much to ask of you, forget I mentioned it,' the Mistress of the Books turned her back on Destiny and walked over to her desk.
'No, it's not too much. I'll do it.'
'Are you sure?' she asked.
'Yes, I'm sure.'
'I'll make it worth your while of course, if you do this tiny little thing for me then I'll let you look inside the book.'
'I'd like that,' Destiny couldn't hide her grin.
Demi listened, she was both shocked and excited by what she'd heard. She longed to be able to read the Book of Dragons. She looked down at Destiny and the Mistress of the Books who were now standing close to each other as they finalized their plan. She wanted to hear them better, but to do that she needed to fly closer to them.
She landed on the desk with a loud 'buzz' sound that she couldn't help but make. Fierce eyes caught sight of her and a han
d swiped out in her direction. Demi quickly flew out of the way, panic taking over as she flew away.
'Vermin, there's vermin in my library,' the Mistress of the Books aimed her wand at the fly.
Demi darted out of the way of the spell and whizzed over to the window. She tried to find the gap she came through but she couldn't find it.
'Siccatum,' the Mistress of the Books flicked out her wand.
Demi found the gap just in time and flew through it before the spell could reach her.
'Of course,' she huffed. 'My windows are old and in desperately need to be replaced, a point I've been telling Miss Moffat about for years. But does she do anything about it, ha, of course not. I'm not one of the favorites. I very much doubt that the Mistress of Spells has to ask twice, thrice, several-hundred-times to get what she wants.
Anyway, I will stop boring you and instead I shall see you tomorrow at the same time. I am in no doubt that you will have what I've asked for, I see your potential to become a truly great witch.'
'Thanks,' Destiny smiled. 'I won't let you down.'
'You better go before you are missed. And don’t tell anyone about our meeting.'
Destiny nodded over at her before she left the library, she had to poke herself to prove that this was real. She was finally going to get to look in the Book of Dragons, she just had to figure out how she was going to get the Mistress of Spells’ wand. Easy, right?
Chapter Five
Demi flew back over to the pile of clothes in the corridor and waited for the spell to wear off. She quickly got dressed and rushed back to her room, pleased when she found that it was empty.
It wasn't long before Destiny entered the room, a thoughtful look on her face. Demi placed a chair underneath the door knob and stood in front of it with her arms folded.
'What're you doing?' Destiny looked at her strangely.
'I want to talk without Margaret disturbing us,' Demi said.
'Okay, then talk,' Destiny sat down on her bed and looked over at Demi.
'I know I was in the team that won the Golden Wand Trophy.'
'Yeah, we all know that,' Destiny snorted.
'But, I still feel like you do. I don't fit in here, when it comes to this Academy, I'm viewed as a second class citizen.'
Destiny shrugged before she opened up one of her textbooks and began to flick through it.
'I saw you okay, I was the fly in the room when you were talking to the Mistress of the Books,' Demi blurted out.
'You did what?' Destiny slammed her book shut and glared at Demi.
'I'm sorry, okay. I just knew you were up to something and I wanted to find out what it was, so I turned myself into a fly and listened in.'
'So, what do you want?'
'I want to read the Book of Dragons too.'
'No chance,' Destiny said abruptly.
'I won't tell anyone about it, I promise.'
'I can't, the Mistress of the Books would be furious if she found out you knew.'
'It'll be okay when she realizes that I'm on your side and I won't tell anyone about it. Also you need me, I have the perfect plan to distract The Mistress of Spells and to take her wand.'
'Fine,' Destiny sighed. 'But if the Mistress if the Books turns you into a warty toad don't come croaking to me.'
'I won't,' she grinned.
'So, what's your perfect plan?'
'Well,' Demi said, as she walked over to Destiny's bed and sat down next to her, 'this is what we're going to do,' she whispered, a devious look on her face.
***
The girls all watched as the Mistress of Spells swirling her wand around as she tried to teach them a vanishing spell.
'You need to flick your wand with more belief,' she said to Margaret.
'Peribut,' she flicked her wand at the orange on her desk and it immediately vanished.
'Reditum,' she said and the orange reappeared.
'I can't concentrate, not with that awful smell,' Margaret swiped her hand in front of her nose.
'Yes, it does smell a bit off in here,' the Mistress of Spells sniffed.
'It's making me feel nauseous,' Alice pinched her nose.
'It was probably you who made it,' Margaret smirked.
'It was NOT me,' Alice demanded.
'Alice, you stink,' Demi giggled.
'Go and shower Alice,' Destiny sniggered, before she exchanged a knowing look with Demi.
'Saliunca,' the Mistress of Spells flicked her wand and the smell was replaced by the scent of lavender.
'Ah, that's better,' she smiled.
As the lesson carried on the smell of lavender faded and the awful smell returned, only it had come back worse.
'It smells like gone off meat,' Stef coughed.
'We can't possibly be expected to learn in this environment,' Alice said snootily.
'Then you should go outside or to the ladies room,' Margaret smirked.
'I did NOT make that smell!' Alice blushed.
'You so did, you've gone as red as the redroot plant we used in that speed-writing potion we learnt last week.'
'That doesn’t mean that she did it,' Charlotte said.
'Well then if it wasn't Alice, then maybe it was you,' Margaret grinned.
'Yes, it's Charlotte. I saw her eat a huge bowl of porridge this morning,' Alice said.
'Alice,' Charlotte glared at her.
'Girls, enough,' the Mistress of Spells placed her wand down on her desk. 'I can't possibly be expected to teach with that ghastly smell about, so please all put down your wands and search my room for the source.'
All the girls put down their wands and began to search the room for the cause of the smell.
Demi and Destiny pretended to help search but their main focus was on the Mistress of Spells and her wand that had been left unattended on her desk. Demi pretended to search around the desk and checking that no one else was looking, she quickly grabbed the wand and hid it under her cardigan. She hurried over to Destiny who held her backpack open. Demi quickly put the wand in it.
They were relieved they'd managed to get the wand…but anxious that they'd get caught. Unbeknown to the rest of the class, Destiny had hidden a corpse flower on one of the shelves in the room at the beginning of the lesson. She'd also quickly placed an invisibility spell onto the flower so that it was harder to find.
The door swung open and Miss Moffat stood in the door way. On seeing her, the room fell silent and the girls stopped moving.
'What on earth is going on in here? You girls are louder than a group of ogres at a loudest growl competition,' she looked over at the Mistress of Spells.
'Miss Moffat, I do apologize but we are trying to find the cause of this vile smell.'
'Yes, it is rather potent,' Miss Moffat sniffed at the room. 'Smells like a corpse flower to me, perhaps you forgot to place one away correctly?'
'I haven't used a corpse flower recently but I suppose it's a possibility,' she sighed.
'Fortem surgens,' Miss Moffat said, and the strong scent of fresh roses filled the room.
'Much better,' the Mistress of the Spells chuckled, as she walked over to Miss Moffat. 'Be seated girls and please continue with the vanishing spell I taught you.'
The two women stood near the door as they talked privately to each other. Miss Moffat had just left when the bell sounded.
The Mistress of Spells walked back to her desk and looked down at it. Both Demi and Destiny felt their hearts beat faster, as they looked at their teacher.
'It has been an interesting lesson,' she said under her breath. 'You're free to go,' she smiled at the girls.
They all scraped back their seats and hurried out of the room. Destiny put her backpack over her shoulder, it felt heavier somehow and she longed to get the wand out of her bag. Demi walked alongside her, unable to hide her smirk.
They'd done it, they'd stolen the Spell Mistress's wand. Now all they had to do was to give it to the Mistress of the Books and they'd finally get to look inside of the Book of
Dragons.
***
Dinner in the great hall was as loud and exciting as always. For Charlotte each evening carried with it an eager excitement, she always longed to find out what food would be served. At her old, normal school, they used to sit at round, wooden tables, in the magnolia room, where they were served soggy fish fingers and burnt fries. Miss Moffat's Academy was different, meals were always magical and enchanting, and they were never served soup that looked like murky water in chipped plastic jugs.
Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE! Page 22
