Chapter Five
It turned out that Stef did remember the way back to the room and Charlotte tried to memorize the route, hoping that she wouldn’t get lost when she was in the castle alone. The four of them walked inside, and Gerty fell down onto her bed and swung her legs out over the side of it.
‘Did you know that Miss Moffat is over four-hundred-years old? She looks amazing doesn’t she and her hair, it’s so beautiful and shiny. I think I might grow my hair that long and maybe when I’m older I’ll dye it the same color as hers,’ Gerty said excitedly.
‘How can she be that old?’ Charlotte asked.
‘By magic of course,’ Stef snorted.
‘I’m new to this magic world, so I didn’t know.’
‘That’s okay, I can teach you.’ Gerty smiled.
‘Thanks, I’d like that.’
‘I’ll have that bed by the window,’ Alice said, as she walked over to Stef’s bed and sat down on it.
‘Erm, no you won’t, that bed’s already been claimed by me. First come, first served,’ Stef said.
‘I should have my own room. Don’t the staff here know who I am?’ Alice was looking like she was going to be a king-sized pain!
‘Clearly not.’ Stef rolled her eyes.
‘If I can’t have my own room, then I should at least get to pick which bed I have, and I want this one.’
‘Well you can’t have it because it’s mine.’ She strutted over to her bed, her hands on her hips. ‘That one’s yours, over by the bathroom.’
‘I’m not having that one, it’s the worst placed bed in the room,’ Alice argued.
‘Your bags are by it, see.’ She pointed over to the large pile of bags that were by the bed. ‘So that one’s yours and this one is mine. You’re currently sitting on my bed,’ she smirked.
‘This is ridiculous, rest assured that my parents will hear about this.’ She abruptly hopped off the bed and stormed across the room and out of the door.
Stef sneaked over to the door and peered around it, followed by Gerty and Charlotte. They watched Alice storm off down the hallway.
‘Where’s she going?’ Charlotte asked.
‘Probably to ring up Mommy and Daddy and complain about the awful treatment she’s been receiving here,’ Stef said with a posh voice.
Gerty and Charlotte shared a look as if to say that Stef had gone too far, and Stef caught sight of it.
‘Relax, she’ll be back, but she needed to know her place.’ She walked away from the door. ‘Don’t worry about Alice; she’ll be fine.’
Charlotte went back over to her bed and rummaged through her bags. She wanted to unpack but didn’t know where she was supposed to put her clothes…seeing as the wardrobe was off limits. She wondered why the wardrobe was there when it couldn’t be used. It was annoying as it was so huge, all four of them would have been able to fit their clothes into it.
She looked over at Stef who had pulled a separate draw from out under her bed and was filling it with piles of her clothes. Charlotte found that there was a draw under her bed too, so she pulled it out and began to sort out her clothes. She found herself wondering where Alice had gone and when she’d come back. She didn’t want any more bickering to happen between Stef and Alice, but they were both strong personalities so she doubted their room would become a calm zone anytime soon. At least all this drama kept her distracted from thinking about home and about how much she was missing her mom and dad.
Charlotte was still unpacking her belongings when Alice huffed her way back into the room, followed by two similar looking girls, one wearing black and the other had a white tunic on, and both of them wore a triangular silver pin boasting the word ‘prefect.’ The most noticeable difference in their appearance was that one girl was a couple of inches taller than the other one.
‘I’m Sonya, and this is my sister Silvia, we’re prefects here at the Academy. According to Alice, someone’s stolen her bed,’ the taller girl said.
‘Erm, no they haven’t,’ Stef folded her arms. ‘Alice was the last one into the room, and therefore she should have the bed that’s left.’
‘I am from a very important witching family called The Smithers, who I’m sure you’ve heard of, so I should have priority. And according to my measurements, I have 29 and a half inches less space than the rest of you, and that is NOT fair!
‘If you were last in the room then you’ll have to put up with the bed that’s left, I don’t see the problem,’ Sonya said, as she flicked her long blonde hair behind her ears.
‘The problem is that it’s not the bed I want,’ Alice complained.
‘Well you should have got here earlier then,’ Stef said.
‘Alice, we suggest that you calm down and try to fit in,’ Silvia said before they both turned around and headed out of the room.
‘But that’s not fair. Don’t you know who I am?’ Alice shouted to their backs, but neither of them turned around. ‘Fine,’ she said under her breath, as she walked over to her bed and lifted her bags on top of it.
‘Where are the servants? It’s positively awful that I’m expected to unpack this myself.’
‘Just get on with it.’ Stef rolled her eyes. She’d finished her own packing and was now lying on her bed.
Alice grabbed a handful of clothes and walked over to the wardrobe. Stef smirked in Charlotte’s direction at the sight of what Alice was doing. Charlotte looked from Alice to the wardrobe and knew that she should say something. However annoying Alice was, Charlotte didn’t think that she deserved to be sucked into that black hole. As Alice got closer to the wardrobe…even Stef’s grin faltered, and Charlotte opened her mouth to warn her.
‘Don’t open that, it’s like a wind tunnel in there, it’ll suck you in,’ Gerty blurted out.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Why would they put a dangerous wardrobe in my bedroom?’ Alice said smugly.
‘It’s not your bedroom, it’s our bedroom and Gerty’s right, so don’t open it,’ Stef said.
‘Why should I believe you?’
‘Because you don’t want to end up with a first offense and a wart on your face, do you?’ Stef grinned.
Alice rubbed her freckly nose before she walked back over to her bed and put her pile of clothes down onto it.
‘There’s a drawer under your bed,’ Charlotte said.
Alice nodded before sitting on her knees and pulling the drawer out. She studied it before reluctantly unpacking her case and placing her clothes inside.
Once everyone had finished unpacking an awkward silence fell over the room, and no one seemed to know what to say or do.
‘Why don’t we all tell each other a little bit about ourselves?’ Charlotte suggested nervously, breaking the silence. The other girls all nodded.
‘Okay, I’ll start. My name is Charlotte Smyth, I’m eleven, and I only recently found out that I am a witch. I knew I could do special things that my friends couldn’t do, but I didn’t put much thought into it, at least not until I went to a party. There was a boy who was teasing me about my hair, so I unintentionally froze him. My mom showed up and unfroze him and then she told me that she was a witch and so was I. You see my mom kept being a witch, secret from my dad, he’s an ordinary, and he thinks that I’m at some normal boarding school. Mom says he can’t ever find out because he wouldn’t understand. So, all this is new to me, but I’m really happy to be here and have you all to share a room with.,’ She smiled.
‘I’ll go next,’ Gerty said, as she hopped up and bounced from one leg to the other. ‘Hi, I’m Gertrude Baggs, Gerty for short-‘
‘What a horrible, ugly name,’ Alice interrupted.
‘Shush! Stef shot Alice a stern look.
‘I like your name,’ Charlotte said.
‘Thanks.’ Gerty smiled, unfazed by Alice’s comment. ‘I am ten but was accepted into this Academy a year early because I developed the skill of levitation at a very young age. Both of my parents have powers, and at home, I was encouraged to practice witchcraft. Up until now,
I’ve been home-schooled as I didn’t fit into a normal school. It was so hard not using magic there, especially when the boys used to tease me about my last name. I may have turned a couple of them into toads.’ She grinned.
‘I am super excited to be here in a proper castle with real-life witches, and I can’t wait for lessons to begin.’
‘Me next,’ Alice chimed in, as soon as Gerty had finished talking. ‘I am Alice Smithers, from the world-famous Smithers family. You all would have heard of my family as we’re well known in the magical world,’ she stuck her nose into the air.
‘Mommy and Daddy believe that I am extremely powerful, so that’s why I am here. Of course, they will miss me terribly, but I owe it to the Academy to show all of you lower rung girls how to behave like a lady.’
There were snorts and giggles from the other girls after Alice had finished talking.
‘I’m Stephanie Jolly, Stef for short.’
‘Jolly certainly doesn’t suit your personality.’ Alice really didn’t have any tact.
Charlotte grabbed one of the pillows off her bed and threw it across the room at her, hitting her on the head.
‘I can’t believe you just did that.’ Alice dropped the pillow by her side. ‘I shall be keeping that pillow.’
‘Give it a rest will you.’ Stef grabbed a pillow off her bed and also threw it over at Alice, who only just ducked in time.
Soon everyone was holding a pillow and tossing them around, hitting each other. Laughter erupted, and even Alice joined in, as she clashed her pillow against Stef’s.
Gerty squealed as a pillow went flying past her head before she picked one off her bed and flung it over at Charlotte who caught it and threw it straight back. Charlotte then grabbed one of her own pillows and joined in the pillow fight with Stef and Alice. Gerty picked up a pillow and joined in too.
‘Settle down girls, you are definitely not showing refinement, and you don’t want to be caught for your first code of conduct,’ a girl blocking the doorway said, her arms folded, another girl standing slightly behind her.
The four girls collapsed on their beds and the floor and let out bursts of uncontrollable laughter. Gerty was the first to recover from her laughing fit and walked over to the girls.
‘Hi, are you both new here too?’ she asked, and the girl with the folded arms nodded. ‘My name’s Gerty, nice to meet you. What are your names?’
‘I’m Margaret Montgomery, and my friend is Demi Taylor, we are in the room next door, and we couldn’t concentrate due to the awful hullabaloo you were making.’ She stared at the girls, but that just made Stef laugh even more.
‘We’re going back to our room now, try to keep the noise down and act like grown-ups.’ She flicked her hair behind her, before she left the room, Demi following along behind.
‘Act like grown-ups,’ Stef mimicked the girl’s voice before she flicked her own hair.
Charlotte picked up a pillow and threw it at Stef, and they all burst into laughter again.
‘I must do something adult-like, such as reading an educational book before dinner is served,’ Stef said.
‘Or get rid of the creases in the sheets,’ Gerty laughed.
‘Or sit here in silence and be a picture of decorum.’ Charlotte sat down on her bed and crossed her legs and pouted her lips.
‘Oh, how lovely and adult-like you are,’ Stef laughed.
Alice couldn’t hide her smile as she shook her head and picked up a pillow.
‘You should be picking up all my pillows and pumping them up, seeing as you’re the ones who threw them at me.’
‘No chance,’ Stef grinned. ‘Hey, it could be worse. You could be sharing a room with Margaret Montgomery and her minion.’
‘Shush, she’ll hear you,’ Charlotte giggled.
‘You must act like a grown-up Charlotte,’ Stef laughed, as she again flicked back both sides of her hair.
‘Does anyone know what time dinner is? I’m so hungry,’ Gerty said, putting her hand to her stomach.
‘I don’t know.’ Stef shrugged, and Charlotte shook her head.
‘At home, we have servants who prepare all our food and a butler who calls us into the dining hall when it’s ready. The food is always exceptional, especially the caviar canapés and baked Alaska.
‘I’m happy with fries and a burger,’ Stef said.
‘Me too,’ Charlotte said. ‘With lots of mayo.’
‘Marshmallow ice cream with extra chocolate sauce,’ Gerty said licking her lips. ‘Ah, now I’m even hungrier.’
‘I don’t eat burgers,’ Alice said, a worried look on her face. ‘I hope they have upper-class food here or I will waste away. I don’t eat common food, like burgers.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ Stef smirked.
A bell rang loudly, and they all hopped up and looked at each other excitedly before they headed for the door.
‘All witches must proceed to the meeting room,’ Molly said, as she flew past their room on her purple flickered broomstick. ‘All witches must proceed to the meeting room.’
Stef led the way along the hallway and down the staircase into the meeting room, which now had long tables in it, with long red and black tablecloths on them. The room was already filling up quickly with the other girls. Stef walked over to the end of an empty table and Charlotte, and Gerty followed.
Alice saw that Margaret and Demi sat in the middle of one of the tables where no one else was sitting. She walked over to them and sat down next to Margaret.
‘Excuse me, but you can’t sit there. Don’t you dare ever sit there again.’ She glared at her.
‘Yeah, you’re too ugly and no way near cool enough to ever associate with us,’ Demi smirked.
Alice fought back her tears as she stood up and quickly made her way over to the spare seat next to Charlotte. No one else heard what had happened, but even so, the seats next to Margaret and Demi remained empty.
The room fell silent as the witchress, and the other teachers all flew in on their broomsticks and over to the platform, that now had a long table on it. The dragon seat was placed centrally behind the table and looked even grander next to the ordinary bronze framed chairs.
Charlotte looked up at the line of the seated staff, noticing how they all looked beautiful. She wondered if she’d be a teacher one day or if she’d marry an ordinary like her mom had, and then hide the fact that she was a witch. She didn’t know the answers to these questions…but she did know that now she knew about the witching world she was curious to learn more and couldn’t imagine ever going back to living as an ordinary.
‘Welcome to the first dinner of this academic year, we shall start as we always do by saying the witches’ creed,’ Miss Moffat said.
As she began to speak, the other witches joined in:
‘Witches old and witches young
owls and bats and black cats too.
Come together in this castle
to bring out the best in you.
With perfect love and perfect trust
we learn the spells and witches’ rules.
Acting for the good of all
now let’s eat in this great hall.’
Charlotte looked at Stef, and they exchanged awkward glances because everyone else around them seemed to know the words to the creed, including Gerty and even Alice, although she only joined in on the last few sentences. Charlotte knew that she’d need to learn it for next time so that she didn’t stand out and reminded herself to ask Gerty to teach it to her and Stef later.
As soon as the witch’s creed had finished the bats flew into the room carrying bowls of broth and baskets of bread rolls. They went to the teacher’s table first before they brought in food for the girls.
Charlotte watched, and she was incredibly impressed as two bats quickly but precisely placed the bowl of orangey red broth down in front of her. On seeing Stef begin to eat and Gerty grab a roll out of the basket in front of them, she also took a roll and then placed her spoon into
her broth. Picking up the silver goblet in front of her, she saw that it was now full of cranberry juice, even though she was sure it had been empty when she’d first sat down.
The main course was a selection of steamed meats, and freshly cooked vegetables and dessert was an array of fruits and mini cakes that the bats brought in on three-tiered stands. The food was so delicious that even Alice hadn’t complained once, although when Charlotte thought about it, she realized that Alice hadn’t said anything since she’d sat down.
When everyone had finished eating Molly stood up and said ‘luculentam’ as she waved her wand. All the dirty dishes, goblets and cutlery immediately vanished, and the tables were perfectly tidy.
‘I so need to learn that spell,’ Stef said, and Charlotte and Gerty nodded in agreement.
‘Now that dinner is over it is your free time to do as you wish, may you use it wisely. I request the new students to stay behind, and Molly will give you a tour of the Academy. As for the rest of you, you’re now free to leave,’ Miss Moffat said. She got onto the broomstick that was floating behind her chair and led the rest of the teachers and older students out of the room.
Charlotte watched as the room became quieter. Then she followed the others over to where Molly was standing in front of the platform, her blonde-hair now tied into bunches.
‘I don’t see why I need a tour, I know where my room is, and the meeting hall is easy to find. Surely servants should be on call to show me the remaining rooms as and when I need to see them,’ Alice said, breaking her short bout of silence.
‘This castle is huge, and I’m excited to see more of it,’ Charlotte whispered to Gerty.
‘Me too.’
‘Welcome to Miss Moffat’s Academy, I think I’ve already met the majority of you, but for those of you who don’t already know me, I am Molly McDonald, head prefect. If you have any questions or problems then my room is on the third floor, it says head prefect on the door so you can’t miss it. I’m happy to help you all out-‘
‘You get your own room?’ Alice rudely interrupted.
‘Yes, I do, but I had to share a room when I was your age. If you are insistent on having your own room, then study hard and maybe when you’re in your final year here, you too will become a prefect.’
WITCH SCHOOL - Book 1 (Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL) Page 3