Caution: Witch In Progress

by Lynne North

  ‘Well, I could get Vlad to eat that silly insect over there,’ threatened Fang pointing at Killer.

  Killer was currently trying desperately to get out of his jar in the opposite direction.

  ‘There is nothing clever about that, Fang, as they are natural enemies. What else can your familiar do, apart from threaten defenceless insects?’

  Fang stared at Vlad, and Vlad stared at Fang.

  ‘I don’t know,’ replied Fang in a voice as small as Bertha’s had been.

  ‘Well, maybe you should try to find out instead of insulting your fellow pupils,’ said Mr Daemon, turning away.

  The teacher glanced around the room.

  Gertie concentrated on Owl so that she wouldn’t catch his attention. When she looked back, it hadn’t worked. He was staring right at her.

  ‘Gertie?’ he asked.

  Gertie jumped so much, Owl fluttered up an inch or two before settling down again.

  ‘Have you thought of anything you can try with your fine owl yet?’ he asked gently.

  Gertie hated being singled out like this, but she had been thinking. She had been thinking very hard.

  Mr Daemon gave her an encouraging look.

  ‘Well, sir,’ Gertie began, ‘Owl is very short-sighted. When he flies off somewhere and then comes back, he can’t always find me. He isn’t sure where I am, so he flies to the wrong person to check, or even in the wrong window.’

  ‘Yes, he does,’ agreed Hexa.

  Gertie nodded. ‘So,’ she continued, ‘I wonder if I could get him to sense me, rather than to look for me, if you see what I mean, sir. I know that sounds very silly,’ she added, almost in apology.

  ‘No, no. Indeed, that is an excellent idea, Gertie, and one that would be very beneficial to your poor familiar. What a lucky fellow he is to have you for his contact.’

  Mr Daemon stared at Fang who was doing a finger-down-throat feeling sick routine to amuse Malicia. The boy stopped immediately.

  ‘Are you getting anywhere with the idea, do you think?’ the teacher asked Gertie.

  Gertie was a little encouraged by his interest. ‘Well, I’m trying to get him to feel what it is like to be near me, and to aim for that rather than looking for me. I’m sorry, I can’t explain it very well.’

  ‘Yes, excellent again, Gertie. If your owl can sense your aura, then he will never get his return wrong again.’

  ‘What’s an aura, sir?’ asked Clawd.

  ‘Ah, sorry class. An aura, Clawd, is a kind of electrical energy we all have around ourselves. Some people are able to sense auras. All animals can. Our aura can vary if we are happy or sad, or ill, but it still uniquely represents us.’

  Returning his attention to Gertie, Mr Daemon continued. ‘Yes, please try, Gertie, but before you do, can we see what Owl usually does? Get him to fly about a bit then come back, so we can judge if there is an improvement later.’

  ‘Yes. Alright,’ replied the young witch. Gertie lifted her little hand up and said ‘Fly, Owl, fly!’

  Owl looked a bit confused (which was nothing new), and then set off into the air. He headed closer to what were probably only vague shapes to him. He quickly veered away from the cat after flying too close. He showed more interest in the rat. Gertie knew it was too big for Owl though, and could still move, so wasn’t worth the effort. It would be out of sight before he could blink. He then stared around, a blank expression on his face.

  Mr Daemon waved at Gertie to call her owl back while he was distracted, so he couldn’t just follow her voice. Gertie muffled her voice in her hands and called,

  ‘Here, Owl!’

  Owl responded immediately. He flew in the general direction of the voice. He then peered closely at Haggie, Wanda, Mildew, and even Bertha, before deciding he had found the right witch, a couple of inches from Gertie’s face.

  ‘Uhm, I do see what you mean, Gertie,’ agreed the teacher. ‘Will you now do something for me?’

  ‘I’ll try, sir,’ she replied.

  ‘While I go around talking over ideas with the rest of the class, will you concentrate this image to your owl? See yourself with a colourful shield around you, and try to get him to zoom in to the feeling your aura gives off. See if you can get him to sense it, and follow it.’

  Gertie nodded, and began immediately.

  She could hear Mr Daemon going around the class chatting over ideas and suggesting tests to the other pupils. ‘Any luck, Clawd?’ he asked, staring at the huge rat.

  ‘Well, actually, sir, I think I must have made quite a strong contact with him, because I feel terribly depressed all of a sudden,’ replied Clawd proudly.

  Mr Daemon didn’t look exactly sure what Clawd meant, but as the boy sounded happy about it he said ‘Well done. Keep up the good work.’

  He watched here, gave tips there, asked questions and gave advice. Finally, he turned to see that Gertie had sat back in her chair, watching him.

  ‘Do you think you’re ready, Gertie?’ he asked.

  ‘I think we can try, sir,’ the young witch replied in a brave voice.

  ‘Off you go then!’

  ‘Remember, Owl,’ Gertie said, as she stared deep into her owl’s eyes. ‘Fly now Owl, fly!’

  Off Owl flew. First he checked out the shelves around the room. He then flew very close to Mr Daemon to see if he knew him, and clearly got a bit too close to Albert for his own liking so flew up again.

  After a few minutes, Gertie called him back in the same muffled voice as before. In fact she even turned around the other way to face the back of the class before she called. By the time she had turned around to check on Owl’s progress, he was landing softly on her desk.

  ‘Wonderful!’ called Mr Daemon. ‘Class, you have just witnessed a true connection between witch and familiar. Gertie, whatever you are doing, keep on doing it. Well done!’

  Gertie beamed in delight, and hugged Owl to her. She wasn’t even bothered by Fang’s scowls. She had helped her Owl, and that was the only thing she was concerned about. Mr Daemon smiled, and Gertie knew she would do well in his class.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gertie’s next day was free to do some reading ready for Friday’s class, which was about Levitation. The pupils had been told this class would be in preparation for their lessons in Broomstick Riding, which all sounded very exciting, but a little alarming too. Gertie had ridden on a broomstick many times of course, but never alone, and certainly never in charge.

  Bertha was lying down in her room under the pretence of trying to levitate. Gertie didn’t think she fooled anyone. Especially since Bertha’s snores were soon echoing down the corridors. It didn’t seem to worry Bertha that she wasn’t good at anything yet. Her idea seemed to be, well, if you can’t do it, why bother?

  Gertie couldn’t be like that. Sometimes she wished she could. She checked her window before setting off for the library. Yes, here came Owl again. Gertie had never known him to be so happy before. He was like a playful baby owl. Owl seemed to be testing his newly acquired skill by flying off, then heading back to zoom in on Gertie. Each time he took a little longer, as if he was going further away on each test. He soared easily through the open window again. Right window, right witch. If owls could smile, Owl had a permanent silly grin on his face today. Maybe Gertie just felt he was smiling. She knew he was though. She could certainly feel their bond stronger than ever since yesterday’s class. Gertie longed to tell Ma and Gran. Nearly weekend now anyway, and her Birthday!

  Gertie did her best to tell Owl she wouldn’t be in her room for a while, and then headed for the library. A few pupils were already there, but certainly not many. Gertie wondered if most of them were as eager to learn as Bertha was. Not at all, in other words. Some just seemed to muddle by without trying. Still, Gertie didn’t care whether the others wanted to work on not. She wanted to do well, and was willing to try very hard. Ma and Gran were paying for her to be able to have this opportunity, and she wasn’t going to let them down. They were not exactly a
rich family. Gran sold quite a few of the shawls she knitted, and Ma kept the best herb and weed garden in the village. She was well able to sell or barter her herbs and plants to other less green fingered witches in Vile Vale, and in other places. Gran had even been known to tell fortunes to normal people when the mood took her. She always said the same kind of thing about ‘Tall, dark, handsome strangers’ and the like, but no one complained. Gertie wasn’t sure if that was because they feared the Evil Eye, or just because it was what they wanted to hear. Normal folk could be very strange. Whatever the reason, Gran made some money out of it. So, Gertie didn’t come from a poor family, but they didn’t have money to waste either. She would use the Academy to make them proud of her.

  Gertie found the recommended books to look over with the help of Mr Mort. He had a habit now of coming over to Gertie as soon as she entered the library. He must have known that, unlike many of the others, she was here to study seriously. Not just to look for silly pictures or spells to laugh about. Gertie sat at the table over in her favourite corner, and thumbed through the index of the first book. She found the page she was looking for, and began to read.

  “Levitation is an electromagnetic force used to counteract the effects of gravity.”

  Gosh, thought Gertie. This sounds like it’s going to be really complicated.

  A couple of hours later, Gertie decided she couldn’t read any more. Her eyes were beginning to ache in the dimly lit room. The library was a room without windows so the ancient books couldn’t be damaged by bright sunlight shining on them through glass. The flickering torches around the room were all lit, too high up to be of any danger to the books. Reading in the library though, still made Gertie’s eyes ache. She tended to give herself a break for a while, and then come back later. Gertie never tired of spending a lot of time in the library. She always read the books suggested by the teachers, and she was also in the process of studying for a private project of her own. Mr Mort was the only one she had confided in about this, because he knew the best and oldest books to check. Gertie hadn’t even told Bertha about her project, because she doubted it was possible. Anyway, she wouldn’t give up until she had tried to find the information she needed in every book at the Academy. For now though, Gertie’s eyes and mind needed a rest. She had tried to take in what she was reading about levitation, but she hoped Miss Black would be able to explain it all more simply in class tomorrow.

  Gertie decided to call in on Bertha to see how her meditation was going on. She decided it mustn’t be going too well as she approached Bertha’s room. The big girl’s snores were still bouncing off the walls in the corridor. Gertie knocked on the door, and called out, but Bertha was making too much noise to hear. Gertie went in and sat on Bertha’s chair to wait for her to wake up. Jasper woke first, and climbed over Bertha’s legs to come to say hello to Gertie. Gertie decided he probably wondered if she had brought him a treat of any kind.

  Bertha awoke as one of Jasper’s hind legs dug into her bulbous stomach, and said ‘Oh, Jasper! Oh, hello, Gertie. Was I floating by any chance when you came in?’

  ‘Uhm, I don’t think so,’ Gertie replied.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Bertha. ‘I thought if I really, really relaxed while thinking about levitating, then it might work. You can’t get more relaxed than while you’re asleep can you? Anyway, I thought I’d give it a try. Maybe I sank back onto the bed as you came in and Jasper kicked me.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Gertie replied, not wanting to upset her friend. For Jasper to have kicked her though, she couldn’t exactly have been floating; unless Jasper was too. Gertie couldn’t see much likelihood of that.

  Gertie told Bertha some of the things she had read about levitation while Bertha and Jasper had a snack. Both girls felt as baffled as each other, and talk turned instead to Gertie’s birthday. Gertie would go back to study some more later, then they would worry about the levitation class in the morning.

  Now the pupils had been to their first familiars class, they had been asked to bring their creatures to each lesson with them. It was believed the familiars might be able to lend their energies to the tasks in store for the learning still to come. Poor Jasper didn’t look like he had any energy for himself, never mind any to lend. A similar flurry of animals therefore filled the corridors in the morning as the pupils made their way to Miss Black’s class. Having all spent time with each other before, the familiars seemed to be treating one another with some degree of healthy respect. All this meant was that instead of trying to attack or eat each other, they just traded dirty looks. Much like some of the witches and warlocks.

  Miss Black entered the classroom as the pupils were settling down. She was quite a young witch, and slim. Gertie thought she looked a bit stern too. No doubt they would soon find out whether she was or not. The others must have felt the same about the new teacher, because they settled down very quickly and waited for her to speak.

  Miss Black looked around at them all, taking in their familiars at a glance. Gertie decided she probably wanted to make sure none of them looked about to make any trouble. Finally, she introduced herself. She then told the class she was about to teach them the art of Levitation, in preparation for their broomstick riding.

  ‘You will, I’m sure, have read the suggested passages about levitation,’ said Miss Black, with a look that dared anyone not to have. ‘So you will all know at least a little about the process. To put it simply, everything, including ourselves, is held down to earth by gravity. If gravity was taken away, we would all float off into space. What we have to do therefore, is to learn to defy gravity, even if only temporarily. All witches are born with special powers, of course.’

  Gertie wasn’t very sure about that.

  ‘So where this might be difficult, or even impossible, for normal people, it should come quite easily to you all, with a little practice. What you have to do is to learn how to consciously control the electromagnetic force that counteracts the effects of gravity. This will take you a great deal of concentration at first, but after a while will become second nature to you. You will barely have to think about it, which is just as well as it wouldn’t be very good if you forgot how to defy gravity when high up in the air.’

  Some chuckled at her remark, but Gertie went quite pale.

  ‘That won’t happen,’ continued Miss Black. ‘You will simply sit astride your broomstick, and off you’ll go. Believe me. We won’t let you fly until you’re quite safe.’

  ‘Some of us are a lot bigger than others,’ said Fang with a sneer. ‘Will that not have an effect?’

  ‘Not at all,’ replied Miss Black. ‘The principal is the same no matter what size the object you are trying to move. Once you are confident in making small items levitate, the larger ones will be just as easy.’

  Gertie thought Bertha should look relieved about that, but she didn’t. She wondered if the big girl was even listening to what was being said, or if she was off somewhere in her own mind. Somewhere involving lots to eat.

  ‘On that thought,’ Miss Black continued, ‘I want you all to take out a pencil and put it on your desk. I then want you to concentrate, not so much on the pencil, but on the air around it. Concentrate in particular on the air beneath it. Once you learn to change the air currents, the pencil should rise up into the air. When you start to believe you can do this, it will become much easier. Now, all give it your best shot.’

  Everyone put their pencils on their desks and stared at them, willing them to rise. A couple soon rolled a little, which Miss Black said was quite promising. Gertie’s pencil didn’t do much at all. It looked like it was gripping the desk, determined not to move. In all honesty, Gertie was a little anxious about trying too hard, because she remembered the tilting table at home, and the broken crystal ball. Still, the pencil wouldn’t come to any harm even if it did fall to the floor, so she tried a little harder.

  ‘Remember to concentrate on the air around the pencil rather than the pencil itself,’ reminded Miss Black. ‘Get you
r familiars to lend their energies to helping you too, if you can.’

  Oh yes, thought Gertie. She stared at owl, who was standing on her desk, and scratched his ear. She then stared back at the pencil.

  ‘Excellent, Hexa!’ Miss Black was saying. Gertie looked over in time to see Hexa’s pencil giving a bit of a spin and lifting itself slightly off the desk before flopping down again.

  Gertie tried even more.

  Owl stared at Gertie, perhaps with the vague idea he should be doing something. He bent his head low as if trying to make out what she was staring at so intently. He seemed to spot the pencil, slightly before his beak hit it. In fact, if the pencil had levitated at that point, it would probably have poked him in the eye.

  Reaching forward, Owl picked up the pencil in his beak and offered it to Gertie.

  Gertie gave a little chuckle. ‘Thank you, Owl,’ she said. ‘But that isn’t really how you are supposed to help me. It’s meant to lift up by itself.’ She put it back down onto the desk and continued to stare at it.

  Owl blinked at her, looking confused. His eyes then glazed over as he went off into one of his daydreams, no doubt about flying in the woods. Owl daydreamed a lot, maybe he could see better in his dreams.

  Other pupils were having a few problems with their familiars too. Rather than helping, a lot of them were proving to be more of a hindrance. Charlie the chameleon (who was currently yellow) had proceeded to chew Ghoul’s pencil. Fiendish’s spider, Boris, had curled himself around the pencil on his desk. That would probably make it a bit more awkward to levitate. Diablo looked at Malicia’s pencil in disdain, as indeed he looked at most things. He then turned back to gaze at the rat. Gertie noticed this, and was getting a strong suspicion about why Clawd said his rat was having even more premonitions of death recently. Minx the myna had learned to hum through her gag, which was rather distracting for everyone around her. All in all, the familiars in general were not proving very helpful.

  Despite this, some pupils did seem to be having a few minor successes. Gertie’s desk quivered a little, so she tried to narrow her concentration to a smaller area around her pencil.