The morning after a certain Halloween...

The name of the school was Cackle's Academy. For centuries it has trained and polished the finest witches in the witching world, a world that is unknown to most ordinaries. That may change soon, though.

For Mildred Hubble, it was a time of being joyous. For nearly two years she felt that she was the odd one out. She believes that she did not come from a witching family, but the revelations of the past few days letter to realize that she did have a witching heritage. What she did not know was exactly how directed the origin of that heritage was. It was something that was celebrated by her friends, Maud Spellbody, Enid Nightshade, and Esmerelda Hallow.

For Esmerelda's sister, Ethel, it was not a happy time. During the last few weeks, she had learned that her family was, in general, a rather unsavory lot, from the first Hallow to her mother Ursula who could not care about her middle daughter one iota, lavishing that love on Ethel's older sister who had done everything in her own power to step away from the dark shadow that seemed to be the Hallow legacy.

For Assistant Headmistress Hecate Hardbroom, the last 48 hours had been hours of change. The change in her relationship with her most troublesome pupil, the aforementioned Mildred Hubble, now has confirmed that the younger witch did descend from a witching family meant that she could be even more of a taskmistress on the young lass. And for two very good reasons. Reason one: in the two and one-half years Ms. Hardbroom had known her, she has recognized Mildred as potentially a great and powerful witch. And if she did not have a mentor loving enough to be touch when needed, that mentor would be doing Mildred Hubble a great disservice.

Yes, Hecate Hardbroom did admit she loved the little girl. But then the also seemed to fancy Mildred's mum, Julie. It was the young mother that Hecate met the previous night with the other person who possessed the headmistress' heart, Pippa Pentangle of Pentangle's Academy. It was Mildred who brought Hecate and Pippa together after a long separation, and now it seems the two witches were both becoming smitten with the curly-tressed blonde. It also seemed that for Julie the feeling was mutual towards the two of them. Julie adored Hecate's straightforwardness (the blonde always love a challenge of wits and Hecate was more than up to it). Then there was this Pippa Pentangle person. Almost the exact opposite of Hecate. More of a free-spirit where a smile and laughter came easy.

And that figure of Pippa's didn't hurt. Julie was a great admirer of both the male and female forms in all their forms. Not that she didn't like Hecate's as well...Julie just knew there was something going on under all that prim and proper.

No matter, the fact was that the two headmistresses and Mildred's mum we're getting along swimmingly. Something that, glancing from her perch near the Punchbowl, Mildred Hubble seemed very happy about. After all, her mom had to look this happy since...well it was a very long time ago...

It did not seem to be going well for Ms. Marigold Mould. The former Chief art instructor at Cackle's Academy lay motionless on her cot. She was being held in a rather dank cell under a castle belonging to the Great Wizard. After all, her actions to steal away with a certain portrait hanging in the office of Ada Cackle were almost capital crimes. Sacrificing her witchly powers to reignite the Founding Stone that kept magic alive at Cackle's may not have helped her case. After all, Marigold was a free spirit...one not bound by the restrictive Witch's Code. Free spirits we're not evil per se, but more traditional witches saw them as a threat to the canons that were held dear. The reason for Ms. Mould's actions though was not to destroy tradition. They were rooted in something deeper.

They were rooted in love.

If there was a point where the great tribulations started, it would be three nights after the Halloween Party. At the castle, Marigold Mould suddenly but quietly fell ill. A guard went to serve Marigold dinner. She had not spoken a word since her imprisonment, so the former witch's stillness through the day was not that noticeable. Continued bitterness over lost powers and immortality, one would say. When an attendant/jailer tried to wake Marigold for her evening, she would respond. A healer came in and examined. She told the Great Wizard that Marigold somehow had slipped into something that was akin to what mortals would a coma, and there was no cause that she could this. The healer did, though, find the Wizard's reaction curious. He simply thanked the healer with a slight smile, turned and left.

Meanwhile, in her study, Ada Cackle was warming herself by the roaring fireplace. She glanced at the photo above the fireplace of two terrified witches, The witch on the right was Agatha Cackle, Ada's identical sister who tried to takeover Cackle's more than a year previously. She tried to destroy the school after she was stopped from taking over, aided by the witch on the left, Goldie Gullet, the former health supervisor who turned one of the wizards at Cackle's to get the position.

Miss Gullet didn't seem evil at first, as a matter of fact, she was one of the most empathic witches at the school. The discovery of what Miss Gullet had done had also revealed a more sinister side, even though the botched introduction of Agatha showed the bumbling side of the red-haired witch that previously endeared her so much to the witches and students.

Thinking of this, Ada thought of why Miss Mould would risk so much just to snatch that picture on the wall. Was it because she, Gullett, and sister Agatha were all involved in a coven of free spirits, witches who did not adhere to the incredibly strict and rigid Code.

It was as Ada was pondering this that she glanced at that picture and noticed. The fact that, though the rest of the photo was as awash with color, as usual, Miss Gullet's image was starting to fade.

Ada realized something had to be done. She hurriedly rushed to photo, took it from the wall and laid it on the floor she put a finger to her lips and laid the finger on the image of her sister. "Forgive me, Agatha," she whispered. For all the trouble she caused, Ada still loved her sister, but this was life or death. Ada then stretched her arms and reached down to picture on the floor. She had to get the incantation correct. And she had to be in time.

"By all I see...'

...and all we are...

...I summon Goldie Gullet..

...from realms afar."

Ada knew she had to be specific,otherwise the spell would bring forth Agatha, as well.

Suddenly, red and green waves began to emulate from the picture. Hands sprang up from the photo. Ada grabbed the hands and pulled with all her might. As she pulled, a red-haired woman emerged from the picture. Soon, the nearly lifeless body of Goldie Gullet was sprawled on the wooden floor. Her breathing seemed very labored, and her coloring was even a more alabaster than Ada remembered. Desperately, Ada grabbed a maglet...the chalkboard-like communication device that used magic to communicate with Cackle's students and faculty..then hurriedly summoned as many of the faculty as she could.

Then she went back to Gullet. The younger witch seemed desperately clinging to life and all she could mutter was one name she said over and over...

"Marigold..."

"Marigold..."

"Marigold..."

And in a sprawling white house not too far from the Academy, a prim blonde woman regarded a picture with great anger. The picture was that of the Second Year at Cackles. The woman took a quill pen, dipped it in blood red ink, and then Ursula Hallow began to use the pen to mark "X"'s on some of the faces on that picture.

She X'ed out Ada Cackle.

She X'ed out Maud Spellbody.

She X'ed out Enid Nightshade.

She X'ed out Marigold Mould.

She X'ed out Hecate Hardbroom.

Mrs. Hallow's hand started to shake with great anger as she added her next mark:

She X'ed out Mildred Hubble.

And finally, slowly, she added the last mark.

Ursula Hallow X'ed out the face of her middle daughter. Ethel Hallow.

To be continued...

Author's notes:

Sorry for those who have followed me. I know its been awhile since I've written anything, and there are a few stories that I need to update as soon as I can. For now, your comments and ideas would be most welcome.

Disclaimers: This story is based on the Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy and the TV series produced by CBBC and ZDF, and aired by CBBC in the UK, ZDF in Germany, and Netflix in the USA.