delicate, not a weed.’
‘
Look
, Ethel,’ said Mildred firmly, ‘just stop it, will you? I’m not getting into a fight over some silly little first-year whether she’s your sister or not, and if you’ll excuse me, this porridge is bad enough hot, but cold it’s inedible and there’s a long way to go till lunchtime.’
‘I won’t forget this,’ muttered Ethel. ‘No one insults
my
family and gets away with it.’
‘Weed!’ exclaimed Mildred, feeling suddenly reckless after all Ethel’s prodding. ‘All you Hallows are weeds, weeds, weeds!’
Ethel got up and flounced out of the hall, looking grim.
‘You shouldn’t goad her,’ said Enid. ‘You know what she’s like.’
‘I know,’ said Mildred, ‘but she does ask for it sometimes with all her airs and graces. No one insults
my
family,’ she mimicked in Ethel’s voice. ‘She’s just an old windbag, she’ll have forgotten by tomorrow.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure about
that
,’ warned Maud.
After breakfast Miss Hardbroom announced that the rest of the morning would be devoted to cat-training. All the girls were presented with black kittens in their first term at the academy and these were trained to ride on the back of their broomsticks. Mildred, however, had been given a rather dim-witted tabby because there hadn’t been quite enough black ones to go round. It seemed rather typical of her luck that she had ended up with the wrong sort of cat, and she couldn’t help wondering if Miss Hardbroom had made sure that the misfit kitten had been given to Mildred, rather than someone like Ethel.
‘I hope you have all been practising during the holiday,’ said Miss Hardbroom, as the girls all lined up with their brooms hovering next to them and the cats perched on the back – that is to say,
most
of the cats were perched on the back. Mildred’s tabby was clinging desperately to the front of her cardigan, its claws hooked in and a wild, desperate look on its face.
CHAPTER FOUR
he noise of the bedroom door being slammed woke Mildred with a start. She opened her eyes and froze with horror and disbelief at the sight of a vast creature staring down at her with green eyes each as big as a lilypond.
Mildred closed her eyes again, hoping that perhaps it was only a nightmare, but when she sneaked another look, the apparition was still there, and now it began patting gently at Mildred with its gigantic paws.
Terrified, Mildred backed away and crashed into something hard, which seemed to be a huge iron railing towering above her. However, at this distance from the monster, she could see that it was none other than her own tabby cat, which for some reason had grown to the size of a mammoth.
Knowing the cat as well as she did, Mildred could see that, despite its size, it was frightened out of its wits. Her suspicions flew at once to Ethel having cast a spell on the cat to get even with Mildred for the insult to Ethel’s family.
‘Don’t be scared, Tab,’ she started to say, but much to her surprise, all that came out was a strange hoarse noise sounding rather like ‘Craark!’
Panic began to grip Mildred as it slowly dawned on her that not only Tabby, but also the bedstead, all the furniture and even the bats sleeping round the picture rail were many times larger than usual. This led her to the alarming conclusion that it was not
they
who were bigger, but
she
who was smaller – and a
lot
smaller.
CHAPTER FIVE
ith the worst possible timing, Mildred turned the corner just as Miss Hardbroom strode through the door leading from the yard.
‘Well, well,’ she said, bending down and picking up the little frog, ‘what have we here then?’ And without further ado, she crammed Mildred into her pocket and marched off.
It was not very pleasant in the pocket. Mildred felt around in the bumping, musty darkness and discovered a whistle, a notebook with a rubber band round it, and a voluminous handkerchief.
The next thing she knew, Miss Hardbroom
‘
Look
, Ethel,’ said Mildred firmly, ‘just stop it, will you? I’m not getting into a fight over some silly little first-year whether she’s your sister or not, and if you’ll excuse me, this porridge is bad enough hot, but cold it’s inedible and there’s a long way to go till lunchtime.’
‘I won’t forget this,’ muttered Ethel. ‘No one insults
my
family and gets away with it.’
‘Weed!’ exclaimed Mildred, feeling suddenly reckless after all Ethel’s prodding. ‘All you Hallows are weeds, weeds, weeds!’
Ethel got up and flounced out of the hall, looking grim.
‘You shouldn’t goad her,’ said Enid. ‘You know what she’s like.’
‘I know,’ said Mildred, ‘but she does ask for it sometimes with all her airs and graces. No one insults
my
family,’ she mimicked in Ethel’s voice. ‘She’s just an old windbag, she’ll have forgotten by tomorrow.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure about
that
,’ warned Maud.
After breakfast Miss Hardbroom announced that the rest of the morning would be devoted to cat-training. All the girls were presented with black kittens in their first term at the academy and these were trained to ride on the back of their broomsticks. Mildred, however, had been given a rather dim-witted tabby because there hadn’t been quite enough black ones to go round. It seemed rather typical of her luck that she had ended up with the wrong sort of cat, and she couldn’t help wondering if Miss Hardbroom had made sure that the misfit kitten had been given to Mildred, rather than someone like Ethel.
‘I hope you have all been practising during the holiday,’ said Miss Hardbroom, as the girls all lined up with their brooms hovering next to them and the cats perched on the back – that is to say,
most
of the cats were perched on the back. Mildred’s tabby was clinging desperately to the front of her cardigan, its claws hooked in and a wild, desperate look on its face.
CHAPTER FOUR
he noise of the bedroom door being slammed woke Mildred with a start. She opened her eyes and froze with horror and disbelief at the sight of a vast creature staring down at her with green eyes each as big as a lilypond.
Mildred closed her eyes again, hoping that perhaps it was only a nightmare, but when she sneaked another look, the apparition was still there, and now it began patting gently at Mildred with its gigantic paws.
Terrified, Mildred backed away and crashed into something hard, which seemed to be a huge iron railing towering above her. However, at this distance from the monster, she could see that it was none other than her own tabby cat, which for some reason had grown to the size of a mammoth.
Knowing the cat as well as she did, Mildred could see that, despite its size, it was frightened out of its wits. Her suspicions flew at once to Ethel having cast a spell on the cat to get even with Mildred for the insult to Ethel’s family.
‘Don’t be scared, Tab,’ she started to say, but much to her surprise, all that came out was a strange hoarse noise sounding rather like ‘Craark!’
Panic began to grip Mildred as it slowly dawned on her that not only Tabby, but also the bedstead, all the furniture and even the bats sleeping round the picture rail were many times larger than usual. This led her to the alarming conclusion that it was not
they
who were bigger, but
she
who was smaller – and a
lot
smaller.
CHAPTER FIVE
ith the worst possible timing, Mildred turned the corner just as Miss Hardbroom strode through the door leading from the yard.
‘Well, well,’ she said, bending down and picking up the little frog, ‘what have we here then?’ And without further ado, she crammed Mildred into her pocket and marched off.
It was not very pleasant in the pocket. Mildred felt around in the bumping, musty darkness and discovered a whistle, a notebook with a rubber band round it, and a voluminous handkerchief.
The next thing she knew, Miss Hardbroom
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