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

by Katrina Kahler

  'You clearly don't follow fashion,' Alice stuck her nose up at Stef's worn navy jacket.

  'I like your coat,' Gerty said.

  Alice smiled as she stroked her arm.

  'On the plus side, at least if we get lost and end up cold we can use it as a blanket,' Stef smirked.

  'Stef,' Charlotte shot her a look.

  'Joking,' she chuckled.

  'Morning everyone,' Alexander's voice echoed out across the crowd. 'Firstly I'd like to thank you all for leaving your beds at such an early hour and all meeting up here. Miss Moffat, Mistress Ravenwolf,' he nodded in their directions. 'Each of you will receive horns,' he clicked his fingers and grey horns fell into everyone’s hands.

  'Use the horn on your journey through the Dark Forest, if the dragon is nearby and hears the noise, it should help to flush it out. If you do see the dragon let your group leader contact myself or the other principals through their wands. Do not try to approach it, unless you want some extreme sunburn,' he chuckled.

  'May the fortunes be with us all,' he said, looking worried.

  The staff from all three schools flew overhead and swooped down in front of the students. Molly flew down in front of Charlotte, Stef, Alice and Gerty and smirked at them.

  'Maggie, Toyah, you two as well,' she beckoned the second-years that were close by over. 'Now, it looks like I have my group.'

  'So much for the Mistress of Spells,' Stef whispered to Charlotte and Gerty.

  'Her hair always looks good, it's never frizzy like mine,' Gerty looked over at Molly's neat side bun.

  'I like your hair,' Charlotte said.

  'Thanks, I like yours too,' Gerty smiled.

  'Stay close to me, hold tightly onto your wands and broomsticks, don't touch anything unless you have to and keep your eyes wide open. Got it?' Molly’s eyes were serious and her face was set with a hard look.

  They all nodded before they followed her into the Dark Forest. All of the groups splintered off into different directions and soon it was just them trudging through this section of the eerie forest, the faint sounds of horns could be heard in the distance.

  Molly was weaving her way around a tree when Charlotte walked up alongside her.

  'Is everything okay?' Molly looked at her.

  'Yes, erm, I was just wondering if you knew where Demi and Destiny were. It's just…I haven't seen them today?'

  'They have gone,' Molly said abruptly, before she hurried forwards.

  Charlotte stayed back and chewed on the side of her lip. She knew better than to catch up with Molly and quiz her more on the subject, besides, this wasn’t the time or place for being distracted.

  'My feet hurt,' Alice moaned, as she stopped walking and looked down at her black school shoes.

  'Hurry up,' Molly shouted over to her.

  'My parents will be hearing about this,' she huffed, before she started walking.

  'My parents will hear about this,' Stef mimicked and the other girls laughed.

  'Is she always like this?' Toyah asked.

  'Pretty much,' Stef replied.

  'I'm surprised you haven't turned her into a slug,' Maggie said.

  'I've considered it,' Stef grinned.

  They carried on walking, the morning chill wore off and the girls began to feel the heat, especially Alice whose face had turned as red as her coat.

  They came to some long vines and Molly used a spell that made them slither to the side, creating a pathway for them to walk through.

  Suddenly a puff of glitter appeared and two fairies appeared on the leaves in front of them.

  'Stop blowing those horns, they're giving me a headache,' a golden-haired fairy said.

  'I was asleep until you woke me up,' the other fairy huffed.

  'We're very sorry for disturbing you, we're looking for a dragon, I don't suppose you've seen it?' Charlotte asked.

  'Pft, a dragon,' the fairy snorted.

  'No, we haven't seen a dragon,' the golden-haired fairy said.

  'Come on girls, let’s leave these fairies in peace,' Molly ushered her group forwards.

  Charlotte looked back at the fairies and waved at them. They giggled before they flew off, leaving a path of glitter behind them.

  'If the fairies haven't seen the dragon then we must be looking in the wrong place,' Toyah said, as she tightened her ponytail.

  'Fairies can't lie,' Maggie said to the others.

  'We know,' Stef replied.

  'Oh, okay.'

  'It just means we need to keep on going, now stop meandering and get a move on,' Molly sighed.

  The girls kept on moving forwards, time ticked by but they saw no sign of a dragon. They kept on sounding their horns and traipsing through the forest, hoping that someone would find something soon so that they could go back to the Academy.

  They came to a particularly gloomy section of the forest, the trees had leaned over and their branches had entwined together.

  'I don't like this,' Gerty whispered.

  'It'll be okay,' Charlotte placed an arm around her shoulder.

  'Thanks Charlotte,' she smiled.

  'Stay close,' Molly said, her wand raised.

  They all moved closer to her and weaved their way through the trees. The further they walked the darker the forest became, until they had to use their wands as torches.

  'Who goes there,' a voice boomed and the girls immediately stopped walking.

  'Witches,' Molly shouted back. 'We're looking for a dragon.'

  'A dragon,' the voice bellowed. 'You lot are louder than any dragon!'

  The furry figure moved out from behind the trees, it was at least six-feet tall with large green eyes.

  The sight of the monster caused all of the girls to take a step back and Stef and the second-year girls giggled at the sight of its moustache. This didn't phrase the monster and he strained as he bent over to get a closer look at them.

  'Stop blowing into those noisy things,' he spat at them.

  'We will,' Molly said.

  'Good, good,' he gave a toothy smile before he turned around and thudded his way deeper into the forest.

  'Okay girls, stop blowing your horns until I say so,' Molly said.

  'That was a scary, yet amusing monster,' Stef chuckled

  'I liked his moustache,' Gerty said.

  'Me too, what a strange looking moustache for a monster to have,' Charlotte said.

  'Maybe there's a barber shop in the Dark Forest?' Stef said.

  'It wouldn't surprise me,' Molly muttered. 'Now come on, we've got a dragon to find.'

  At the mention of the dragon the girls shuddered. They'd briefly forgotten why they were here but now the fear was at the front of their minds. None of them wanted a run-in with a dragon, the monster with a moustache was frightening enough.

  They carried on into the forest, they were nearly at the edge of it now and the trees had thinned out and the sun was streaking through the gaps. Molly had told them to start blowing their horns again, although none of the girls were happy about this as they were out of breath.

  This area of the forest was covered in muddy puddles, they all puffed their way around them. Charlotte took a large step across a puddle but she misjudged it and splashed her foot straight into the murky water.

  A small scaled creature that looked like a fish with legs poked its head out of the puddle and glared up at her.

  'First you disturb me with that terrible noise and then you stick your big foot straight through the roof of my house,' it moaned.

  'I-I'm sorry,' Charlotte blushed as she pulled her foot out of the puddle.

  'Be more considerate in future,' it said, before it swam back under the water.

  'What was that?' Stef asked.

  'Oh yeah, watch out for puddle dwellers, they don't care much for trespassers,' Molly smirked.

  'Great,' Stef grunted, as she carefully stepped over a puddle.

  Alice stepped around a puddle and then brushed her shoes on the nearby clump of grass. She was hot in
her coat but she refused to take it off. Sweat was dripping off her face and into the fur, she felt dizzy but she carried on walking. She wobbled across a pile of leaves and looked down.

  'W-what,' she peered down at the object. It was large and oval shaped and it glistened gold.

  'Step back!' Molly shouted at her.

  Alice quickly tottered backwards and watched on as Molly cautiously peeled the leaves away from the object.

  'Venit,' she flicked her wand.

  Within a matter of moments, Miss Moffat and the Mistress of Spells had appeared alongside her. They all leaned over the egg, inspecting it.

  'Is that a dragon's egg?' Gerty asked.

  'Yes,' Miss Moffat replied.

  'Molly, help me take this back to the Academy. Girls, the Mistress of Spells will lead you through the forest.'

  On hearing this Stef grinned over at Charlotte and she gave a knowing smile back.

  'Come on girls,' the Mistress of Spells beckoned the girls forward.

  They thought that once they'd found the egg they would have been sent back to the Academy, but they now knew that this wasn't the case. The egg was proof that the dragon was real, it existed and it was lurking somewhere in this forest. It could have been close by, it could have been watching them at that very moment.

  The principals couldn't just let a dangerous dragon roam free, as the destruction it might cause could be unimaginable.

  Charlotte took one last glance back at the large glistening egg and wondered if that was the only one that had been laid in the forest.

  Stef, Charlotte and Gerty all exchanged a concerned look. There was only one way to find out…and they continued on their journey through the dark forest.

  Book 5

  Flame

  Chapter One

  The dragon egg was far heavier than it looked and Molly and Miss Moffat struggled to carry it. The trees of the Dark Forest seemed a never-ending gloom of bark and greens that seemed to entwine together. The mid-morning sun was relentless and loose strands of Molly's hair stuck to her head with sweat. Her arms felt heavy and ached under the egg's weight, she gritted her teeth to try and cope with the pain.

  Miss Moffat wasn't suffering in the heat, nor was any of her perfectly fixed up hair out of place. She showed no signs of strain as she carried the egg, humming whilst she moved.

  Molly imagined flying over the trees with the egg balanced on her broom and the soft wind brushing through her hair. Unfortunately, the egg was too heavy and delicate to risk taking on their brooms, so they had no choice but to walk the long trek back to the Academy. Their brooms and wands floating closely behind them.

  The egg glistened in the sunlight and there was no denying that it looked beautiful. Still, right now Molly despised it, nearly as much as she disliked the silly girls who'd caused this to happen in the first place. Opening the Book of Dragons, seriously, out of all the stupid actions they could have done, that was by far the dumbest. She rolled her eyes at the thought of it and continued to grit her teeth.

  Her fingers were slipping, she tried to regain her grip but the egg was now damp beneath her hands. She looked up at Miss Moffat who seemed oblivious to Molly's plight.

  'Miss Moffat,' Molly croaked out, as the egg began to slide through her fingers, but she was too busy humming to hear her.

  'Miss Moffat,' she shouted.

  'Molly, there is no need to shout,' she looked at her sternly.

  'My fingers,' she blurted out in a begging tone. 'I need to put it down.'

  'Very well,' she gave a frustrated sigh.

  They both lowered the egg carefully onto the ground and Molly immediately began to rub her hands. She grabbed her floating wand and aimed it at the air.

  'Speculo aqua,' she gasped.

  A glass of water appeared in front of her, she quickly took it and gulped it all down.

  'When you're ready,' Miss Moffat smirked at her.

  Molly nodded her head, before she wiped her hands on her grey skirt. She wasn't looking forwards to carrying the egg again but she knew that stalling time wasn't going to get the job done any quicker.

  'I'm ready,' Molly said, as she looked over at Miss Moffat, her arms folded and her expression stern.

  'Good,' she gave a nod, before she unfolded her arms and bent down next to the egg.

  A cracking sound started, quiet at first but loud enough for both of them to take a step back and exchange worried looks with each other. They both looked down at the egg, which now had a large crack down the middle of it like the joints of a jigsaw.

  Instantly Molly took a step back, but Miss Moffat remained where she was and with a flick of her wrist she summoned her wand into her hand.

  'Make no sudden movements,' she hissed at Molly.

  There was a thudding sound from within the egg and the crack began to expand. Miss Moffat didn't so much as blink as she kept her gaze on the cracking egg.

  Suddenly the top of the egg burst open as a head forced itself out of the confines of the egg and into the world.

  A scaly red head covered in bits of eggshell and gunk appeared and stared at Molly and Miss Moffat with little baby dragon eyes.

  'Statuam,' Miss Moffat flicked her wand out at the baby dragon.

  It ducked back down into the egg to avoid the spell. It peaked its head out of the egg, hissed at Miss Moffat before it stretched out its wings and flew over to Molly, landing on her shoulder.

  'Don't move,' Miss Moffat mouthed, as she aimed her wand at the dragon.

  The dragon hissed, then it opened its mouth and breathed fire straight at Miss Moffat's wand, causing the end of it to begin to burn.

  Miss Moffat dropped it onto the ground and quickly tapped it with her foot before any serious harm was done.

  Molly couldn't help but laugh. Miss Moffat glared at her.

  'Seeing as you both seem so acquainted, you can lead the way,' Miss Moffat said snidely.

  Molly looked at the dragon; it was still gripping tightly onto her shoulder. She wasn't afraid of it any more, instead she thought that it was kind of cute.

  'Be good,' she whispered to it, before she slowly began to continue the walk through the forest.

  The dragon remained perched on Molly's shoulder like a statue. Occasionally it stuck its long dry tongue out and licked her face, which tickled her and caused her to let out a chuckle.

  Miss Moffat walked directly behind Molly, her half-burnt wand aimed at the dragon. Molly was relieved that she didn't have to carry the egg anymore, she just hoped that the dragon didn't set fire to her hair.

  Eventually they arrived back at the Academy. The dragon peered around, taking in its surroundings before it sniffed at a nearby rosebush and then let out a sneeze.

  'Are we going to the book?' Molly whispered to Miss Moffat.

  'No,' she shook her head. 'It's too young, it will have to be raised here. I know just the place, follow me,' she strode across the courtyard.

  Molly blinked her eyes, not quite sure how she felt about Miss Moffat no longer having her wand aimed at the dragon. The dragon seemed cute and friendly, but she still had a fire-breathing creature resting on HER shoulder and her headmistress was currently ten paces ahead of them.

  The Academy's grand entrance hall was empty as all the staff and students were currently still searching the Dark Forest. A bronze statue of a woman in a long Grecian style dress with a leaved wreath in her hair gasped when she saw the dragon.

  'Nothing to see here,' Miss Moffat declared. 'Just a baby dragon courtesy of my staff undermining me. I let these girls into my home and put a roof over their heads and provide them with exquisite food and the very finest magical education and they have the audacity to do this,' she rambled on to herself.

  Molly followed Miss Moffat to the far end of the Academy and looked quizzingly at her as she opened the door to a damp smelling cupboard and beckoned them forwards.

  'I know you don't want anyone finding the dragon, but I don't think this is a suitable home for it.'


  'Molly, it is vital to learn that not everything is always as it seems.'

  'Okay,' Molly sighed, before she stepped into the cupboard.