It was the first day of term at Weirdsister College, Cambridge. The summer holidays may have been over, but the summer weather most certainly wasn't. Even Professor Shakeshaft, who seemed to be older than history itself, had never experienced a heat wave like it. Milly, Cas, Tim, Azmat, Ethel and Hobbes were walking through one of the corridors after having endured an hour-long lecture in a room that felt like an oven. The conversation consisted mainly of complaints about the heat, and complaints about Starfinders lecture.

            "They should put a health and safety warning on lectures like that!" groaned Tim.

            "That was so boring," Milly commented. How do they expect us to concentrate in this heat, anyway?"

            "It's impossible to concentrate in this heat," stated Cas. "Especially for a whole hour AND on the first day back."

            "It's cruelty, thats what it is!" Tim added.

            "Why don't we use magic to cool down?" suggested Azmat. "I know a spell that'll work."

            "In that case, hit me with it!" said Tim. He stopped walking and shut his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. The next thing he felt was freezing cold water hitting him in the face! He quickly retaliated by soaking Azmat, and it wasn't long before a full scale magical water fight was under way.

            The six students were enjoying themselves so much, that they didn't hear the footsteps coming towards them from round the corner. Cas managed to dodge one of Milly's magical water bombs, which flew straight past her and hit someone smack in the face, just as they walked round the corner! For a moment she just stood there, not really sure what had hit her. Everyone stopped and started laughing except Milly and Ethel. Ethel's eyes flitted from the teacher to Milly, and an evil smirk formed on her face. Milly, on the other hand, had turned chalk white. Surely it couldnt be true. She had to be mistaken. It just couldnt be true, could it? Unfortunately for Milly, it was true. She felt her insides freeze up as the all too familiar voice cut through her.

            "Mildred Hubble!" Milly and Ethel instantly recognised the tall, frightening looking witch who was standing before them. Neither of them had ever seen Miss Hardbroom look so angry. She had obviously worked out what had happened, and was now looking accusingly at Milly. Milly considered making a break for it and disappearing into thin air, but decided against it. Miss Hardbroom didnt look too thrilled at her surprise soaking, and Milly knew that if she disappeared now, she would just hunt her down later. Just at that moment, Dr. Wendle walked round the corner. She took one look at Miss Hardbroom in all her soggy splendour, and burst out laughing. Miss Hardbroom shot her a look of fury, but she didn't seem to notice.

            "Uh, Professor Thunderblast wants to see you just now, Miss Hardbroom, urgently," she managed to tell her, between giggles. "She said something about your cat, Morgana." Miss Hardbroom shot one last look at Milly, but she looked too angry to actually say anything to her former pupil. Milly wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry as she watched Dr. Wendle walk off, followed be a rather wet, and somewhat bedraggled looking Miss Hardbroom.

 

*   *   *  

           

"Trust me to do something like that. Out of all the people I could have soaked, it would have to be her!"  groaned Milly.

"Hey Milly, wasnt that the teacher that appeared when you were in front of the All-Seeing Eye?" asked Tim. Before she had a chance to answer him, Cas jumped in, telling her not to worry, everything would be fine. Milly didn't look very reassured.

"You dont know HB like I do! She couldnt stand me when I was at Cackle's. It didn't matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to end up in trouble!

"Look, why don't we all head out to Misery's?" Cas suggested. "I'm sure Miss Hardbroom will be alright once shes had a chance to calm down."  At this statement, Ethel almost choked and Milly looked at Cas as though she must be mad. 

"Just wait till she catches me later on, then you'll see what she's like," Milly told her. She looked really worried.

"I think Misery's sounds like a really good idea," said Tim. Milly sighed and followed on as everyone headed for Misery's. Everyone, that was, except for Ethel and Hobbes. They had arranged to help Dr. Starfinder with an experiment, and headed off in the opposite direction.

 

*   *   *

 

Miss Hardbroom followed Dr Wendle through the corridors and into a room, where she was confronted with the sight of Professor Thunderblast trying to coax an extremely distressed looking Morgana out of a corner. The hissing mass of black fur, however, did not appear to be too impressed by her attempts. Dr. Starfinder was watching from a distance. His hands were covered in scratches and there was one faint scratch just visible on his face. He did a double take when he saw Miss Hardbroom, and muttered something about not having time for insane cats and having important magical research that he had to get on with. He avoided making eye contact with her as he pushed passed her on his way out the door. As soon as Morgana saw Miss Hardbroom, she bounded towards her and didn't stop until she was safe in her mistress' arms. The poor thing looked absolutely terrified. She was breathing heavily and shaking all over. There was a look of genuine concern on Miss Hardbrooms face. This was so unlike Morgana. She was always such a perfectly behaved cat. What on Earth could have gotten into her?

"It might just take some time for her to settle in." Dr. Wendle seemed to be reading Miss Hardbroom's mind. "She's in a strange place surrounded by strange people. She should get used to it with time."

"I think I'd better take her back to my room," said Miss Hardbroom. Professor Thunderblast suddenly had a brainwave.

"Why don't you get Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow to spend some time with her? They should seem familiar to her, seeing as they both went to Cackle's Academy. If she recognises a few faces around her, then it might help her to settle in." Miss Hardbroom looked at Professor Thunderblast as though she had flipped.

"What, trust Mildred Hubble with my cat, after what she did to me just before I came down here?!"

 "What do you mean?" Professor Thunderblast was completely unaware of the events that had just taken place, so Dr. Wendle explained to her why Miss Hardbroom was so wet. Professor Thunderblast thought it was quite amusing, and she couldn't understand why Miss Hardbroom was so upset about it.

"Oh, I'm sure it was all in the name of fun!" she said. However, Miss Hardbroom was looking less than amused. Professor Thunderblast continued, "In fact, this might be a good way for you to learn to get along with Milly." Miss Hardbroom shot her a look, which she either didn't notice, or ignored. "I know you didnt get on too well with her at Cackle's, but she's a good kid, and it wouldn't hurt to make a fresh start with her." Miss Hardbroom looked at Professor Thunderblast as though she couldnt believe what she was hearing.

"She's right," Dr. Wendle added. "Just give her a chance, and try to remember, she's not a school kid anymore."

Miss Hardbroom thought about this as she looked at Morgana. She didn't particularly like the idea of Mildred Hubble helping to look after her cat, school kid or not, but she didnt have any better ideas, so she agreed. She then set off to take Morgana to her room, before going to look for Milly and Ethel.

 

*   *   *

 

Milly seemed to have cheered up since her trip to Misery's. She smiled to herself as she thought about it. It was the first time she had seen Ben since before the summer, and she had enjoyed talking to him. She had just arrived back at the college along with Cas, Tim and Azmat. They met Ethel whilst walking through one of the corridors. She looked hot, bothered and flustered.

"What happened to you?" asked Tim.

"Let's just say that Starfinder's lectures are better than his experiments!" she replied. "Hobbes is still working with him, but I decided I'd had enough for one day. There's just no point in continuing. Even Starfinder can't concentrate properly in this heat. If they keep going like this, it won't be long before there's an accident!"

"Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow!" Cas, Tim and Azmat looked around, trying to work out where the voice was coming from. Milly and Ethel, on the other hand, were only too familiar with the old routine of first hearing HBs voice, then seeing her appear out of nowhere. Milly felt all her previous worry come flooding back. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst as Miss Hardbroom materialised in front of them. "Don't look so worried, Mildred," she said. "I'm not going to punish you for what happened earlier, although, in my opinion, you do deserve it! Anyway, I wondered if I could ask you a favour." She then went on to tell them about Morgana, and asked Milly and Ethel if they would mind spending some time with her. "Just until she gets used to the place. Would you mind?" Milly wasn't sure what to think, but looking after Morgana for a while seemed better than risking a punishment, so she agreed. Ethel had been hoping to see Milly getting a telling off, and she now looked extremely disappointed. Nobody seemed to notice, though.

"Miss Hardbroom?" Milly finally plucked up enough courage to ask the question that had been playing on her mind since the water bomb incident.

"Yes, Mildred?"

"What are you doing here?" She really hoped she had managed to sound inquisitive, rather than cheeky.

"Teaching," came the reply. However, it was obvious from the looks on everyones faces that they weren't satisfied and wanted to know more. Miss Hardbroom gave an exasperated sigh and relented. "Alright, if you must know, I had a fall out with Miss Drill and it soon became apparent that the only solution was for one of us to leave. Miss Cackle then made her feelings on the matter perfectly clear by siding with Miss Drill." Just at that moment there was a horrendous crashing noise, which seemed to come from one of the rooms down the corridor.

"That's where Starfinders working," Ethel informed everyone. There was another strange noise, which sounded like the crackling of a fire. They all ran to the room where the noise was coming from, and opened the door. Sure enough, Starfinder had managed to set the room ablaze. Miss Hardbroom tried to zap the fire, but it had no effect. In fact, the flames just seemed to burn brighter. Milly felt something brush against her leg and looked down to see Morgana.

  "How did you manage to get out?" she asked as she bent down. Miss Hardbroom had said earlier that she had left Morgana locked in her room. Morgana let Milly pick her up without so much as a meow. She then turned her emerald green eyes on to the flames. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, the fire just went out. Nobody knew what had caused the fire to go out, and nobody really cared except Milly. They were all just glad the blaze was over. Milly, however, was looking at Morgana. She couldn't be sure, but she thought the fire had only went out when Morgana had fixed her eyes on it. Was it possible for a cat to have magical powers? Of course not! She must have imagined it. She was letting her imagination get the better of her, or at least, that's what she told herself. She told herself to wake up and come back to reality, but she was unable to prevent certain sneaking suspicions from forming in her mind.

            "Morgana?" Miss Hardbroom had noticed that Milly was holding her cat.

            "She must have got out." Milly stated the obvious. She hesitated, before adding, "I might be wrong, but I think she might have had something to do with the fire going out."

            "Don't be ridiculous! How could Morgana have put the fire out?" Miss Hardbroom was looking at Milly as though she was stupid. "I'm not sure how the fire went out, but I can assure you, Morgana had nothing to do with it. She is a cat, and cats can't do magic." Miss Hardbroom paused, and she suddenly noticed just how calm Morgana looked. She had been extremely distressed earlier on, and yet here she was, having just witnessed a horrendous fire a sight that would normally send the most laid back cat into a panicking frenzy and she hadn't so much as batted an eyelid. You would never have guessed from looking at her, that anything out of the ordinary had just happened.

            "Are you alright, Miss Hardbroom?" Milly asked. Miss Hardbroom looked at her cat. There was something strange about the way Morgana was looking at her. Those deep green eyes didn't look as though they belonged to a cat. They looked as though they held too much knowledge, as though Morgana understood what was going on and everything that was being said. She felt herself shudder, as Morgana seemed to be looking through her eyes and into her mind. She didnt know why, but she felt afraid, and 'creeped out,' as her pupils at Cackle's would have said. Normally, she would use her common sense and not let anything like this bother her, but she found it impossible to ignore the way Morgana was looking at her. On hearing Milly's voice, she looked up, as though she had just snapped out of some kind of trance.

            "Uh..yes Milly.  I'm fine." She paused for a moment and looked thoughtfully at Morgana, who had now turned her attention to Milly. She didn't seem to mind Milly holding her at all, despite her earlier panic attack. "Mildred, do you think you could keep an eye on Morgana for a while? I'm supposed to be giving a practical demonstration in five minutes, and it would save me from having to lock her in my room by herself."

            "Yes, of course."

            "Well I'd better get going then." Miss Hardbroom cast one last glance at Morgana before heading off down the corridor. Milly looked at the cat she was holding. What on Earth had Miss Hardbroom been talking about? She had made out earlier as though Morgana had turned wild and was completely uncontrollable. As far as Milly could see, Morgana seemed perfectly happy. She looked calm and contented. She came to the conclusion that Miss Hardbroom must have been overreacting.

            "Hi Morgana," Cas stepped up to Milly and reached out to stroke Morgana. Morgana stretched her head forward and sniffed Cas hand. "She doesn't look as though she's frightened of strangers to me," Cas commented. She stood for a moment, lost in thought as she stroked Morgana. "Here's an idea, why don't you reintroduce her to Tabby?" Milly looked at Morgana.

            "What do you think, Morgana? Will we go and see Tabby?" Milly took the meow as a yes and smiled as she walked off.

 

*   *   *

 

            Later that night, Miss Hardbroom lay back on her bed and thought about the day that had just passed. She looked at Morgana, who seemed to be back to normal, thankfully. What on Earth had gotten into her earlier? Perhaps Dr. Wendle had been right; perhaps Morgana had just panicked because she was in a strange place. Morgana looked up at Miss Hardbroom with her emerald green eyes. She meowed before springing lightly up onto the bed, beside her mistress. Miss Hardbroom smiled to herself as she stroked her cat. She was extremely relieved that she seemed to have recovered from whatever had happened earlier. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Miss Hardbroom looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was half past eleven at night, who in their right mind would be wandering around at this time? She got up to answer the door, only too conscious of the fact that she was wearing silk purple PJs and her hair was no longer tied back. Well, what did they expect at this time of night? All the same, she still couldn't help feeling extremely self-conscious about her appearance. 

            She opened the door to reveal Professor Shakeshaft holding a stack of books. No doubt, they must have been the books she'd asked him for earlier. She knew she had told him that she wanted them as soon as possible, but this was ridiculous. She would have been perfectly happy to wait until the next morning. The professor, however, didn't seem at all bothered by her appearance. He presented her with the books before going on his way. Miss Hardbroom walked over to a bookshelf and read out the title of each book as she arranged them on the shelf.

            "The Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Potion Ingredients, Traditional Potion Making in the Modern World," she muttered to herself. "An Advanced Guide to Animal Transfiguration." As soon as she said this, Morgana leapt from the bed and launched herself at the book. Miss Hardbroom was taken completely by surprise and dropped the books she was holding. Her earlier concern for Morgana suddenly switched to a mixture of anger and annoyance. "Right that's it, I've had enough!" She then picked up Morgana and proceeded to help her out of the window and onto the branches of the tree, which was growing outside it. Morgana put up a bit of a fight, but eventually gave in. Miss Hardbroom shut the window before retiring to her bed and switching off the bedside lamp.

 

*   *   *

 

            Miss Hardbroom woke the next morning to find Morgana sound asleep, at the bottom of her bed. She looked at her for a moment, trying to work out how she had managed to get back inside. The window was still shut, and there was no way Morgana would have been able to open it. She got up and checked the door; that was shut too. She turned to face her cat, a puzzled look on her face. She then glanced at the clock and realised she only had fifteen minutes before her first class. She would have to wait and work this out later. She dressed quickly and put her hair into the usual tight bun. She then hurried down to take the class, and arrived just in time.

            After about half an hour, a loud rumbling noise spread through the whole college. It seemed to originate from the room that Starfinder was working in; the same room he had set on fire the day before. "I'm alright!" Everyone laughed as they heard Starfinder's voice echo through the corridor. After a few minutes, there was another loud rumbling sound, this time followed by an equally loud crash. After the previous day's events, Miss Hardbroom decided it would be a wise idea to go and investigate. She left the room and headed down the corridor, towards the scene of yesterday's fire. She started to hurry as she noticed smoke coming from underneath Starfinders door. When she opened the door, she found Starfinder standing in the middle of a horrendous blaze, which was completely out of control. Just to make matters worse, parts of the ceiling were falling down and the pieces of rubble had started firing themselves across the room! Miss Hardbroom tried to zap the fire, but, once again, it only seemed to make things worse. Before she knew what was happening, she too, was surrounded by flames.

 

*   *   *

 

            Milly was in her room finishing off her breakfast. She had decided to have a lie in, seeing as she didn't have any classes until the afternoon. She was completely oblivious to what was going on in Starfinder's experiment room. As luck would have it, her first class was with HB. She was trying her best not to worry, but she couldn't help it. She heard a thud and looked down. Morgana was sitting at her feet on top of a book she had dragged through from somewhere. She looked into Milly's eyes and Milly shuddered. There was something strange about that cat, but she couldn't work out what. She bent down to pick up the book, which Morgana obligingly jumped off. She read the title. "An Advanced Guide to Animal Transfiguration." She thought for a minute, before looking back at Morgana. Morgana looked straight back at her, and at once she knew her suspicions had been correct. To start with, she had thought that Morgana wasn't an ordinary cat. Now she realised that Morgana wasn't a cat at all! Milly performed the reversal spell, which had come in useful so many times at Cackle's, and she watched as Morgana turned into a girl about the same age as her.

           

*   *   *

 

            "Look out!" Miss Hardbroom turned round just in time to see a rather large piece of ceiling flying towards her. She only just managed to avoid it. Professor Thunderblast and Dr. Wendle had arrived at the scene of the blaze. A few of the older students had also joined in trying to control the fire, but to no avail. It didn't matter what they tried, things just seemed to keep going from bad to worse. Just as it was beginning to look like all was lost, Milly came running round the corner, closely followed by the girl she had just changed back. The girl stopped for a second, and then zapped the blaze HB style, and it vanished immediately. The ceiling was also restored to its former glory.

            "Well, thank goodness for that!" exclaimed Professor Thunderblast, picking herself up from the floor. "Are you alright, Miss Hardbroom?" She didn't get an answer, so she turned round. Miss Hardbroom was standing stalk still, with a look of shock and disbelief on her face. She was looking at the girl responsible for extinguishing the fire. Nobody else knew who she was, but Miss Hardbroom recognised her niece at once. She just stood for a minute, before getting over the shock, just enough to whisper a name.

            "Louise?" The girl was looking at Miss Hardbroom in the same way that Morgana had done. She responded by giving a slight nod, before running towards her aunt, and throwing her arms around her neck. Miss Hardbroom pulled back to get another look at her, just to make sure she wasn't mistaken. She then dissolved into tears. Nobody was quite sure exactly what was going on except Dr. Starfinder. He had turned chalk white and looked as though he was about to pass out with worry.

            "Where have you been?" Miss Hardbroom asked her niece.

            "I've been with you the whole time, you just didn't know it!"

            "What on Earth are you talking about?"

            "I was Morgana, or at least, you thought I was. I take it you remember the day I disappeared, when we were at the Weirdsister College open day?"

            "Of course I remember! Ive not been able to stop myself from thinking about it! I've lost count of the number of times 'Ive woken up with nightmares about it! I'm hardly likely to forget it, am I?!"

            "Well, do you remember the display that Andy Starfinder was giving?" She shot Starfinder a meaningful look, and he almost passed out. Miss Hardbroom looked from her niece to Starfinder, trying to work out what she was getting at.

            "Yes, he was." She trailed off, and the look on her face changed from one of bewilderment to one of anger and rage. "You!" she whispered, through clenched teeth.

            "Look, I'm really sorry," Starfinder stuttered.

            "Sorry? I'll give you sorry!" Miss Hardbroom looked as though she was about to explode.

            "Will someone please explain to me, what is going on?" Professor Thunderblast asked the question that everyone else wanted to know. Louise answered her.

            "A year ago, I came here, along with my Aunt Constance, for the open day during the summer. Dr. Starfinder, if I remember correctly, was visiting from America for the first time. He didn't actually work here, but he thought he would give a display anyway." She was looking at Dr. Starfinder as though she was ready to attack him. "Anyway, he wanted to try his potion out before hand on me. I said no, but he threw the potion at me anyway. As soon as it touched me, I turned into a cat! He couldn't work out how to turn me back, so he just left me! Of course, the first thing I did was to find my Aunt Constance, but she mistook me for Morgana. In fact, I'm sure I saw her when you put me outside last night!" She turned from Professor Thunderblast to her aunt as she said this. Miss Hardbroom looked as though she was about to cry again, and Louise's statement softened. "Look, I'm alright!" she told her aunt. "I've been well looked after!" Miss Hardbroom managed a small laugh as she choked back tears.

            "Of course, how could I forget?!" Dr. Wendle looked as though she had just seen the light. "You weren't actually there, Professor Thunderblast. That was when you were at that advanced training day, and you left me in charge of the open day, remember?" Professor Thunderblast did remember. She remembered hearing about Louise's disappearance, but she hadn't realised that Louise was Miss Hardbrooms niece, and she certainly hadn't realised that Dr. Starfinder had been responsible for her disappearance.

            "Dr. Starfinder, could you go to my office, please." This was more an order than a question, and Starfinder obeyed silently. "Louise, I have no doubts that your parents will want to see you. Why don't you go home with your aunt, and then well take it from there?"

            "What about my classes?" As usual, Miss Hardbroom managed to find something to worry about.

            "I'll cover them for you, now go." Miss Hardbroom thanked Professor Thunderblast and walked off with Louise. Once again, she was finding it difficult to hold back tears.

            "Right, well, I'd better go and talk to Dr. Starfinder. I want everyone else to carry on as normal, as far as that's possible." With that, Professor Thunderblast headed for her office, and all other life in Weirdsister College just seemed to carry on as normal.

 

By Tanzy Tigereye