Founder's Day

By Angora

What would a school holiday be without something going horribly, horribly wrong?

Cackle's Academy wasn't the cheeriest looking of schools. It wasn't the most well put together looking of schools. It wasn't even, under normal circumstances, the most school looking of schools. But with the fog rolling in the way it was, it looked one hundred times worse than normal.

Griselda Blackwood landed gracefully on the ground in front of the school with Fenella only a second behind her. "It's really coming in, isn't it?" Griselda asked.

"Of course it is," Fenella agreed. "We wouldn't want it to be sunny or warm, would we?"

That said, they hastened back inside, where, if anything, it was twice as cold. Some first years were looking out into the courtyard at the fog and trying to find shapes in it. Otherwise, it appeared that the castle had been completely deserted. "Where is everyone?" Griselda asked. It was unusual for the students not to preserve what free time they had out in the open, before Miss Hardbroom started barking at everyone to get back to their rooms.

"Maybe Miss Bat's still got them practicing," Fenella suggested, gazing around for someone to be about.

"Practicing for what?"

"Founder's Day, of course," Fenella replied, casting a sideways glance at Griselda. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes," Griselda replied slightly distractedly. "I'd forgotten about that. I don't suppose you're up for volunteering to clean up the staff room again?"

"I don't think we'll get off two years in a row," Fenella said. There was a loud crash from somewhere in the distance and the two instantly brightened up. "I'll bet you anything you like that that was Mildred and her friends."

The two started off briskly in the direction the sound had come from. "Did you hear about them trying to help Charlie pass his test?"

Fenella made a scoffing sound. She was known to play a little outside the rules herself, but cheating on a test was taking the whole thing a bit far.

They rounded the next corner and heard a sound that made them jump directly back to whence they came. "Mildred Hubble!" They exchanged a look as Miss Hardbroom's voice boomed ahead of them. There was a squeaky response, an exasperated sigh and the sound of footsteps coming toward them. After a few seconds, Mildred, Maud, Enid and Charlie rounded the corner.

"I'm really sorry," Charlie said. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"HB has it in for me anyway," Mildred said. All at once, the group suddenly noticed they were no longer alone.

"What happened?" Griselda asked.

"Charlie thought he might try some magic," Enid said with more than a touch of anger.

"Look, I said I was sorry!"

Enid shot a look at the third years. "He blew a hole in the roof, right outside Miss Hardbroom's study." The older girls looked at each other in silent communication. Charlie was a very dense boy.

"It doesn't matter now," Maud said tiredly. "But can we just try not to get in any more trouble?"

Everyone grunted angrily, and the third years decided that maybe this wasn't the best time to hang out with their younger friends. Taking a quick leave, they made their way upstairs.

"Charlie's really lucky he's not a student here," Griselda said once they were a safe distance away. "He'd probably be expelled for that."

"He'd deserve it," Fenella said. They reached Fenella's room first and ventured inside, closing the door somewhat more firmly than was necessary.

"What are you doing in here on a Sunday?" Griselda was more than a little surprised to see Mildred and her friends, as well as Charlie Blossom, cleaning busily during the holiday.

"Punishment for yesterday!" she heard Maud hiss angrily. Griselda felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. She'd probably be the best witch in the school if she weren't always in trouble.

Charlie, meanwhile, was busily distracting himself by looking out the window, but she looked in time to see him wince a little. She exchanged a look with Fenella, and they proceeded to change the subject, and tell the others about Hermoine Cackle.

It was then, thumbing through the book, that they discovered the founder's day clause. "Oh no!" Charlie exclaimed, a look of the purest, post painful disappointment crossing his face. It appeared that if only he was able to stick around until the next day, he would be able to attend the school. Fenella's eyes narrowed a bit at this suggestion, but Griselda was pleased that she was polite enough not to say anything. Of course, the all knew Mildred would come up with some way to keep him there, and the two third years beat a hasty retreat so as not to get caught in the crossfire.

Once in the hallway, Fenella started off purposefully toward the library. "I should probably get this back," she said. "It's not really supposed to leave the library."

"Hold up," Griselda said, jogging a few steps to catch up with her. "I'll come with you."

Fenella opened her mouth to say something but seemed to change her mind at the last second. "Thanks, Gris," she said eventually. They walked toward the library in silence, whilst Griselda tried to think of something to say.

"Oooooooh!" Griselda stopped in her tracks. That anguished groan could only mean one of two things. Either a student was pretending to be Sir Walter again (this seemed to happen every year) or Mildred had done something terrible to the Blossom boy. Horrible scenarios dancing through her head, she allowed her feet to lead her backward three paces, and cautiously opened the door.

Surely enough, while Enid was stifling a giggle, Mildred was looking piteously at Charlie Blossom, who had what looked like a bad case of magic lergy. "What did you do?" Griselda asked.

Charlie cast a pained look in her direction, before doubling over in pain again. "He wanted to stay over," Enid said, a smile on her face. It disappeared quickly as Mildred cast a glance in her direction.

"I don't think I want to anymore," Charlie wheezed.

"It's just until Miss Cackle sees you," Mildred said soothingly.

Griselda raised an eyebrow. "I think I ought to get out of here before things turn ugly," she said.

"Oh," Enid called just as she was about to make a graceful exit. "If you see Maud, tell her I put her lipstick back in her room... and I'm sorry it's so squished."

"Sure thing," Griselda said, not wanting to ask what had happened. "I thought she'd be with you."

"We sent her to watch for..." Mildred trailed off.

"Oh just say it Millie," Enid said impatiently. "She's not going to hear you."

"I don't want to take that chance," Mildred said, looking around her as though expecting the walls to come alive.

"Oh," Griselda said. "You mean HB." That thought hadn't occurred to her, and it made her doubly anxious to escape the scene of the crime. She somehow thought that Miss Hardbroom would be able to diagnose magic lergy on sight, and she didn't want to be around for the prognosis. "Alright then, I'll tell Maud if I see her."

Griselda hadn't made it half way down the hall when she ran into someone else. To her great relief it was not Miss Hardbroom. "Fenella, I was just coming to see you," Griselda said. Fenella looked over her shoulder as though silently wishing she had taken a detour. "Is everything..." Griselda noticed the volume in her friend's hands. "I thought you were taking that back to the library."

"I was," Fenella answered quickly. "And I did. But I... um... that is to say... I wanted to finish reading it."

"Oh," Griselda said. "Well, you'd best hurry then, HB's bound to show up at any moment."

"Hmmm?"

Griselda felt a prickling of unease in the back of her mind. "You said that the book wasn't supposed to leave the library."

"Oh, it's not!" Fenella said. She shifted ever so slightly in place.

"Well, come on then," Griselda said kindly. Her friend looked quite relieved as they hurried up the hall towards Fenella's room. They passed Charlie's room to the sound of a loud growl.

"What was that?" Fenella asked, nearly jumping out of her skin.

Griselda rolled her eyes slightly. "You won't believe what Mildred and her friends are up to this time," she said, giving Fenella a little push forward. They continued down the hall as she explained. "They've given Charlie magic lergy so that he can stay for Founder's Day. That's why we'll be hearing from HB."

"Oh," Fenella said. They reached her door and she looked around the hall again. "Well, thanks Gris," Fenella said dismissively. "You'd better get out of here before HB shows up."

"Fenella, what's-"

"Bye," the other girl said brightly. She started to pull the door open, but Griselda slammed it back into place. "What?"

"Fenny, what's going on, and what do you want with that book?"

Fenella looked around the hall again and said defeatedly, "just come in then." Griselda felt that same prickling of unease, and followed her friend into her room. Before she could figure out what was going on, Fenella chucked the book onto the bed and said unconcernedly, "he's been here all day."

"Who's-"

"Who's that?" Griselda followed the harsh sounding voice to the triangular mirror on Fenella's wall, and was startled to see, not her own reflection, but the face of an ill kempt, middle aged Englishman sneering at her.

"That's Gris," Fenella said. She sat down and started to thumb through the book as though nothing was amiss. "Gris, this it Mitch."

"N-not 'Mad Mitch'?" Griselda asked, watching the phantom in the mirror regard her.

"What's it to you?" he demanded shortly.

"That's him," Fenella said sighing. She continued to flip distractedly through the book.

"Fenny," Griselda said, not taking her eyes from the figure in the glass, "not to pry, but why is Mad Mitch in your mirror?"

"After she robbed Mad Mitch, Hermoine Cackle imprisoned him in a mirror," Fenella said. "The mirror is still in the school. The only problem is that someone preformed an unbinding spell."

"Who?" Griselda asked.

"Well," Fenella said, looking up for the first time. "That would be me."

"Oh," Griselda said. She regarded the scowling apparition for another moment. "He doesn't look too dangerous to me."

"Come closer," Mitch said evenly.

Griselda recoiled a step. "All the same, I think we ought to put him back, don't you?"

"That's what I'm trying to do," Fenella said. "The trouble with mirrors is that it's easy to get people out of them, and extremely difficult to get people into them."

Griselda cast another sidelong look at Mitch and joined Fenella in looking at the book. "Why don't you be a good little girl and let me out of this mirror?" Mitch asked politely.

Fenella ignored him. "He's no danger to us until Founder's Day," she said dismissively. "I should be able to put him back before then. I just have to find the mirror he came from, and bind it."

"Well, where is it?" Griselda asked. The whole thing seemed entirely too simple to her somehow.

"I don't know," Fenella said. "I don't even know what it looks like."

"I do," Mitch called in a sing-songy voice. "I dooo!"

Fenella glared at him. "Why don't you just bind him in that mirror?" Griselda asked. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as the being pressed his tongue against the glass.

"It won't work," Fenella said. "It has to be the mirror he came from." She sighed and tried to explain. "When Miss Cackle founded the school, she drew up the charter on Founder's Day, right? Well, it so happens that while she was trying to do that, Mad Mitch snuck in the back way and that's when she had to trap him in a mirror. If the mirror is unbound - and this is the part I forgot to read - he can simply walk out of it on Founder's Day."

"How?" Griselda asked. "I don't think he's getting though that triangle."

"He can travel between mirrors," Fenella explained. "I trapped him in this one, but it's only going to last until midnight. After that, there's nothing that can stop him from getting out except a direct binding on his own mirror."

"Such a lovely woman," Mitch mused. "Little witches, let me out."

"Maybe you should tell Miss Cackle," Griselda suggested.

"Little witches, little witches, let me out," Mitch called again in the same sing-songy voice.

"Not yet," Fenella said. "It's not even dark yet." Griselda looked doubtfully at her. "I promise, if we can't find the mirror in time, I'll tell Miss Cackle."

"Little witches-"

"Oh, put a sock in it," Fenella said angrily.

"You won't find the mirror," Mitch said knowingly.

"Then what have you got to worry about?" Fenella demanded.

"Little witches," Mitch continued, uncaring of her question. "Let me out. Midnight is an eternity away."

"Shut up. Come on, Gris, we should get looking."

"Little witches," Mitch called after them in a rare moment of continuity, "I'll be waiting for you. By the clock in the hall, little witches." He looked after them defiantly as they slammed the door behind them. "I'll be waiting for you."

The clock struck nine. If they hadn't seen Miss Hardbroom heading for Miss Cackle's office with a self satisfied smile and Mildred's gang in tow, they would have worried that she would be starting her rounds.

"Fenny," Griselda said, grabbing her friend by the arm, "we've done a binding spell on almost every mirror in the castle, and none of them have done that glowing... thing.

It was true. They had knocked on doors, or barged into the rooms of all the first years, the second years, the other third years, the fourth and fifth years (who had given them a funny look), they'd cast on all the mirrors in the bathrooms, and they'd even gotten the small mirror in Mr. Blossom's tool kit, although they both agreed that it probably never belonged to Hermoine Cackle. They had even stolen away into Miss Bat and Miss Drill's rooms with some amount of trepidation. So far, none of the mirrors had displayed any signs of being enchanted.

"Maybe it's hidden somewhere in the castle," Fenella suggested. "I don't think Miss Cackle's grandmother or Miss Cackle would have just left it laying about."

"Fenny," Griselda said, repeating herself with the utmost patience, "it's too late. We'll never be able to search the whole school in three hours. There are places here that no one's ever been!" Fenella looked like she was about to cut her friend off, but Griselda continued. "Besides, Miss Hardbroom's going to start making room checks in maybe a half hour. She's going to notice a psychopath in your mirror."

"Then we'll go get Mitch, and we'll keep going extra quick." Fenella started to bolt down the corridor but was pulled backward.

"I think it's time we told Miss Cackle."

"Gris," Fenella said seriously, "I already asked Miss Cackle if she knew where it was."

"What? When?"

"This morning," Fenella said. "I got desperate, and I asked her if she knew anything about the mirror. She said she'd never head of it."

"Well, don't you think she might have been lying?" Griselda asked. "She wouldn't exactly tell you where to find a maniac, would she?"

"Well," Fenella said, that same uncomfortable look coming over her face again. "I might have slipped something in her tea while I was showing her the book."

Griselda felt her heart sink. Fenella was notorious among the student body for slipping people truth serums when she wanted to get a strait answer, but she had never before used one on a teacher. "Miss Hardbroom would know," Griselda pressed anyway. "I know she'll be angry, but..."

"Give me half an hour, Gris, please?" Griselda looked at the quiet desperation in her friend's eyes.

"Alright. Half an hour." Fenella smiled in gratitude and she added quickly, "but that's all!"

The two took off at a run towards what Fenella decided would be the most likely place to hide a mirror. It had gotten dark in the castle, and they were forced to carry a lantern with them. Technically, they weren't supposed to have a lantern... "The east tower," Fenella said as they ran. The lantern made a jiggling sound that was louder than necessary. Combined with their footfalls, they were each very surprised that Miss Hardbroom didn't appear in front of them. "No one ever goes there."

They climbed the spiral staircase in leaps and bounds, headless of the danger of sliding stones. There was a wooden door at the top which was locked. "This has to be it," Fenella said excitedly.

Griselda held the lantern and looked at the door. "I don't see a key hole," she said uncertainly.

"Of course not," Fenella agreed. "It's locked magically."

"Ninety nine bottles 'o rum on the wall, ninety nine bottles 'o rum..." a faint, but very distinguishable voice came from the other side of the door.

"How did he get in there?" Griselda asked in a near squeak.

Fenella looked back at her with no explanation. "I'm sure I know the unlocking spell," she said, more for the comfort of herself.

The words to the song were changing and mixing with other songs of the intoxicated. "Drink 'em all down... bring a knife and a gun and we're gonna have some fun..."

"Um... let me see," Fenella thought for a moment before reciting an unlocking spell. To her great surprise, the door gave a click and swung open.

There was nothing in the tower room save a full-length mirror with Mitch in it. He paused mid song as he saw them enter. "Bugger," he said under his breath. "What're you two doing here?"

"Stopping you," Griselda said in a pleasingly dramatic way.

Fenella raised her hands to cast the binding spell and Mad Mitch gave them a little wave before running off the side of the mirror. Fenella ignored him and cast the spell. Nothing happened.

"Oh dear," Griselda said.

"Miss Hardbroom, Miss Hardbroom, Miss Hardbroom!" Fenella and Griselda came clamoring up the hall, waking everyone it seemed except their teacher.

"Why does she only hear us when we're trying to be quiet?" Griselda asked in annoyance. A door opened in front of them and Ethel Hallow stepped out of it to address them imperiously.

"There you are," she said. "My sister tells me she let a man out of your mirror."

"Have you seen Miss Hardbroom?" Griselda asked, as they both paused.

"I wish I had," Ethel replied. "I'd report you to her!"

"Come on, Gris," Fenella said. Griselda looked back over her shoulder at Ethel as they ran away again. "She's probably still in Miss Cackle's office."

They raced down the stairs, headless of the darkness, and burst through the door to their headmistress's office only to find it deserted. "Why are the teachers missing when you actually need them?" Fenella asked, mirroring Griselda's earlier question.

They took off toward the main stairs again. By this time it was shortly after ten o'clock. "Looking for someone?"

They backtracked down the stairs as quickly as they had started to run up them. Mitch was smiling at them from the clock face. Apparently he could travel in any reflective surface. "I didn't know you cared enough to make our date," he said chidingly. "But here you are at the clock."

Fenella yelled out the first half of the spell before he darted away again. "Damn him!" Fenella yelled, nearly stomping her feet in anger.

"Shhh," Griselda said, pointing down toward the dungeons. "Listen." They could hear the faint strains of his sing-songy insults and sayings as he made his way through the mirrors. Nodding at each other in silent agreement, they bolted down the stairs after him.

"Run, run, run, run, RUN!" Mitch called as he raced ahead of them. They could see him reflected in the silver dishes of the kitchen as he moved onward, even farther beneath the castle.

"What're we going to do if we catch him?" Griselda asked breathlessly.

"I'm hoping he leads us past his mirror. He seems to know his way around."

By the time they had rounded through the dungeons, and returned to the main hallway, they were both able to yell the binding spell at great speed, and had bound every reflective object they met in their travels.

The clock was rolling on ten thirty and there was still no sign of any of their teachers. "Faster, faster, faster, FASTER!" Mitch called, racing along at the top of the stairs. "The clock is chiming, the clock is chiming! Chiming!" He laughed maniacally, and the two exchanged a look. The clock was not chiming.

They rounded the top of the stairs and followed the sound of his yelling, and a few surprised exclamations from the inhabitants of the hall as he made his way toward the west tower. "Run little witches, run, run, run!"

They chased him up the tower and down again, binding everything they saw. The time was approaching eleven o'clock, and they were getting very tired by the time he started for the southern passages of the school. Fenella stopped running abruptly and doubled over, trying to catch her breath. Griselda joined her and they both exchanged another of their meaningful looks. This was hopeless.

"Where do we go?" Griselda asked.

"Think hard," Fenella said seriously. "If we followed him into the south passages, what's the point that would be hardest for us to get to before midnight?"

"The north passages?" Griselda asked half heatedly. Fenella nodded, not having the energy to answer. "But the only thing down there is..." Their eyes widened and they took off at a run again, ignoring the pain in their feet from the uncomfortable boots.

Miss Hardbroom looked up from her notes. It was almost midnight. It felt like midnight, anyway. She didn't have a clock with her. The whole point of working in the northern extremes of the school was to avoid noisy distractions. If only the students knew that she had magical tripwires set up all over the school.

She leaned back in her chair and allowed herself the indulgence of a stretch before going back to work.

She didn't look behind her at the dusty mirror that sat in the corner. She hadn't thought of it for decades. Not since she had found it in the bowels of the school and hidden it from public display. With the sort of things that happened in the school, she wouldn't have been surprised if one of the students had let Mad Mitch out of his glass prison. As it was, only a highly skilled witch could manage it without being in this room, and it would have to be intentional.

She listened with a magical ear to the clock in the main hall. Being a teacher allowed some slack on the "selfish and trivial means" clause. It was chiming the hour.

So intently was she listening that she didn't notice the figure looming in the glass behind her. He licked his lips in anticipation and stared into the room in front of him with a blank expression, except for his eyes, which were molten. He had left the clock after hearing it chime it's second stroke. He waited now, tapping his foot in time with each successive chime. Four. Five. Six. Half way to freedom.

Five chimes left. The door burst open and the much-bedraggled forms of Fenella and Griselda fell through the door. "Miss Hardbroom!" Fenella exclaimed.

Miss Hardbroom's face contorted in rage. "Fenella Feverfew! Griselda Blackwood! What are you doing?"

Three chimes left, and they didn't see him yet. Their eyes were traveling wildly around the room, and he could see the pretty one, the one called Gris, starting to wonder if they had guessed wrong. Too late now, Gris.

Two chimes left and he felt a pang in his stomach. The small brunette had seen him out of the corner of his eye. Miss Hardbroom was standing in front of them now with her back to him. "I demand an explanation!"

One chime left. Fenella dashed around her teacher and raised her arms. She yelled the words to the binding spell just as the last chime struck. He pressed his hands to the glass, and felt only the solid walls of his prison. As soon as it happened, it was over, for he instantly disappeared into the nothingness that was his existence.

Fenella and Griselda let out a sigh of relief and smiled at each other. It took them a moment to notice that Miss Hardbroom looked as though she was about to go into cardiac arrest with rage. "I am certain," she said with barely contained rage, "that you are about to offer me a suitable explanation as to why you have both stormed into my private chambers in the middle of the night looking as though you have fallen off a dump truck." She managed the whole thing in a single breath of air, which was not a good sign of things to come.

Each looked at the other, but neither could think of a lie.

"It all appears to be an honest mistake," said Miss Cackle reasonably. "And since no harm was done, I think we can over look this incident."

"But Miss Cackle," Miss Hardbroom protested. "They disabled my surveillance system, they-"

"We didn't mean to," Fenella said quickly. "And then you were no where to be found when we were looking for you."

"If you had come forward in the first place," Miss Hardbroom argued, trying to shift the blame back on the students, "all of this could have been avoided."

"That's the trouble hiding things," Miss Cackle said crisply. "No one's ever quite sure what to do when they discover them."

The girls brightened a little. Their case had been all but won when Miss Cackle discovered that Miss Hardbroom had neglected to tell her about the mirror. They had had a rather animated discussion about it before realizing that they weren't alone. It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a precarious situation.

"Be that as it may-"

"You may go," Miss Cackle told them, cutting Miss Hardbroom off completely. "I'll expect to see you at the Founder's Day assembly."

"That's punishment enough," Fenella said to Griselda as they stepped out into the hallway.

"Our founder was no shrinking violet, but a highway man!" To the exclamations and cheers of Cackle's Academy, Mildred Hubble and her friends finished their song and dance.

As the masses made their way the dining hall for lunch, and as Charlie and his uncle Frank set off for his mother's house, Fenella noticed a peculiar thing. She was surprised when she looked in a mirror and saw her own reflection. Even more peculiar was the sight of Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle, who were still bickering; as they went about the school, hiding several chunks of broken glass, which resembled pieces of a mirror.