Chapter Text
If calls with Pippa every evening were turning Hecate softer, she certainly didn't want to let it show to her students. As she walked away triumphantly from quelling yet another loud conversation in the library, she remembered Pippa's comment about her putting half the school in detention. Hecate smiled, much to the surprise of Miss Bats who was walking in the opposite direction. The elderly teacher didn't think she had ever seen the deputy head smile before. It suited her, she thought with a chuckle as she carried on down the corridor.
Despite her apparent omnipresent abilities, her punishments given became slightly less extreme. Hecate had gone from dishing out detentions with zeal, to giving verbal warnings, and advice where possible. She saved the dentitions for the truly unruly. Perhaps the softness was showing ever so slightly.
Even Mildred Hubble benefitted from the teacher's new approach to punishment. Her morning detentions had become more like private tuition, and she had noticed with some excitement that her grades had improved. She was by no means the best witch, but was firmly no longer the worst witch in her year. One particular morning during detention, the two witches were covering colour changing spells. "Very good, Mildred, although slightly too strong" the teacher half praised, amused at the shock on the girl's face. Mildred had successfully turned both her own and her teacher's hair a shade of bubblegum pink. Hecate snapped her fingers, and her hair returned to its usual sensible dark colour. Mildred had burst out in a fit of laughter at the brief sight of her teacher with brightly coloured hair. "Silence girl," Miss Hardbroom hissed, "it is hardly a laughing matter to overcast a spell. Now," she tapped the textbook twice, "can you explain me exactly where you went wrong?"
"Bubblegum pink?" Pippa laughed uproariously as Hecate recounted the day's events later. "We could have made quite the pink pair!" She giggled at the thought of the usually uptight witch with a candy coloured updo. Hecate joined Pippa in her laughter, the pink hair had been rather comical.
Their laughter was cut short when Hecate's detection spells alerted her of some misbehaviour elsewhere in the castle. "Goodnight, Pipsqueak." Hecate said as she transferred away.
The following week and a half settled into a new routine for Hecate. Detentions in the morning with Mildred, and calls in the evening with Pippa.
"Well, Mildred Hubble," the potions teacher said, as Mildred mixed a satisfactory duplication spell. "It seems there is not much more we can cover before your end of term exams. Today is your final detention, and you have proved your dedication to your education. Hopefully you can replicate that in your exams." Mildred smiled triumphantly.
"Miss Hardbroom… I-I was wondering. As these detentions have been so good for my grades, and as I'm not from a magical family… Would you be able to tutor me next year?" She asked shyly. She had surprisingly come to enjoy the detentions with her teacher. Suddenly, working out a potion and spell wasn't just a random mixture of ingredients and words, it was a series of components that all had a purpose to fulfil.
Hecate was floored. One one hand, she had seen a great improvement in the student's grades. On the other, she wasn't a fan of giving special treatment to anyone. "I will discuss it with Miss Cackle." She finally replied. Mildred smiled hopefully. "But, Mildred Hubble. In order for me to consider it, you must get above 70 percent in your end of term exams. You must prove that you can work hard and apply your knowledge well."
Mildred pouted. Even with her detentions, she had only been getting a maximum of 67% in her mock exams. Knowing that there was no arguing with Miss Hardbroom, she thanked her teacher sullenly and left the detention to go to the library.
Hecate would almost miss the early morning detentions if she wasn't glad to have her mornings back. She loved seeing the delight of her students as they learned about potions for the the first time. It was almost as if she got to relive the wonderment of learning it afresh, one of her favourite things about being a teacher. However, she was still unsure whether or not tutoring would be a good idea. She could hardly wait to confide in Pippa and ask her for advice.
"What do you think Pipsqueak?" Hecate asked, later that day when the two witches mirrored. "I do not want to be seen as playing favourites." She added, thinking for a moment. Had she ever had a favourite? The closest a student had ever come to being favoured was Esmerelda Hallow, and look where she had ended up.
Pippa smiled, "I think it's a wonderful idea, Hiccup. I know you've been enjoying the detentions too." She was so glad her friend was embracing new ideas. It felt strange thinking of Hecate as only her friend, given everything that had happened between them, but she understood Hecate's desire to not be too forward. This was uncharted territory.
Shaking the thought from her mind she continued. "The girls really respect you, it's clear from how much they learn in your lessons. Isn't it fantastic that Mildred wants to spend even more time learning from you!" Hecate's cheeks turned pink in response.
"I would love to have you inspire my students the same way you have inspired Mildred Hubble. Why don't you come and visit my school and give a potions lesson on traditional potion making?" Pippa's voice went up at the end of the question in hope. Pippa couldn't wait to have an excuse to see Hecate again.
Hecate's cheeks turned ever pinker. She pursed her lips. "Are you sure, Pippa?" She couldn't imagine even her own students attending an extra potions lesson, let alone Pippa's students, who were used to a more modern way of learning.
Hecate shivered. Under her cool calm facade, Hecate was a bundle of nerves. They fluttered inside her stomach like a family of bats. She hadn't seen Pippa since the kiss.
Pentangles was a long way away and required a lot of effort to transfer to. Even for a witch of her power. She had made sure she had a big breakfast, and with Ada's permission, had taken the rest of the day off to charge her powers.
She took a deep breath and straightened her back, with a flick of her wrist, she transferred herself.
Hecate looked around at the beautiful entrance hall she found herself stood in. Pentangle's was light, bright and modern. Much like its stylish headmistress.
Freshly cut flowers adorned every surface, and the carpet that covered the clean white flagstone floor was of course a bright shade of pink.
Pentangles was just about as opposite to Cackle's Academy as it could be.
"Hecate, dear!" Pippa declared grandly, opening her arms to her newly arrived visitor. She enveloped her in a tight hug and gave her arm a squeeze. "I'm, so pleased you are here." She noticed with private amusement that the tall witch looked as out of place as a fly at a frog festival.
"I have arranged for you to give your lesson in the auditorium," she continued brightly. Hecate remained quiet, a feeling of apprehension wouldn't leave her. What if the students didn't enjoy her lesson? She quietly followed the blonde witch to the auditorium, watching her perfect ponytail bouncing in front of her, and nodding distractedly at the chirpy facts Pippa was telling her about the school.
"…and here is where you will be giving your lesson, Hecate." Pippa announced as they arrived at a door. She opened it with pride to reveal the large classroom inside.
Hecate stepped in, taking in the breathtaking room. It had state of the art cauldrons, and none of the desks had students' names carved into them. "I suppose this will do…" she trailed off, and summoned her own cauldron and ingredients from Cackle's.
"Oh Hecate!" Sighed Pippa in exasperation. "Anyway, my dear, I must run, I have a disciplinary matter to see to." She winked at Hecate, knowing her penchant for punishment. "I will try to make it back for some of your lesson. The students should be arriving any minute now." She said, and transferred herself away.
Hecate set about preparing the classroom for her lesson. She had pulled out all of the stops for this class. Even the girls at Cackle's didn't have the opportunity to try body swapping spells in her lessons. She smiled to herself, imaging the excitement of the students as they found out what she had planned for the lesson.
As she busied herself portioning out ingredients into carefully measured piles, she didn't notice the time pass. Finally when the neat sets of bee's wing, ivy leaf, powdered reindeer antler and wormwood were set out on her bench, she looked up at the classroom theatrically, expecting to see the room lined with faces eager to learn. Instead, she saw only empty tables and chairs.
Hecate smirked to herself, modern magic, she thought with derision, these students can hardly keep time. She chuckled to herself, and made a mental note to ask Pippa to teach her students a simple timekeeping spell later.
She took a seat at her bench and tapped away a little tune on the table. Seconds passed into minutes, and still no students arrived. Hecate stood up and opened the door of the auditorium, perhaps the students had lined up outside and were waiting to be invited to enter. She poked her head out of the door and looked left and right. No students to be seen.
A pained look crossed Hecate's face as she realised no students were coming. How could Pippa set her up for such embarrassment like this?
The witch's face darkened and angrily she waved her hand to vanish the ingredients she had so painstakingly laid out. Instead of disappearing, the mixture of powders and herbs exploded in a puff and scattered themselves about the classroom. She heard her own voice in her head, repeating a lesson she so often gave to her students. "Do not use your magic in anger." Hecate was too angry to wait for her magic to calm down, and instead stormed out of the auditorium door, slamming it behind her.
The dark haired witch stormed back down the corridors to the entrance hall and past a surprised looking Pippa Pentangle. She barely heard the witch call her name as she carried on marching out of the school, her face the picture of a curse.
Hecate carried on walking away from the school for what seemed like forever as she calmed down.
She daren't try to transfer back to Cackle's in her current emotional state, and instead walked towards the nearest village, a quaint stone built village of cottages tucked away on a lake's shore. Hecate knew this area well, it was where she had grown up, where she had first started broomstick skiing, and where she had first met Pippa. She felt sick. How could Pippa embarrass her like this? She felt so foolish for falling for it. Of course Pippa wasn't actually interested in her. This had all been an elaborate ruse to get a one up on her, as Pippa so frequently did.
Hecate stopped by the lake in a spot she used to frequent as a young witch. She picked up a stone and focussed all of her magic into it. She threw it into the water and the stone disappeared beneath the surface without a ripple in sight. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was no longer too angry to use her magic and could transfer herself home to Cackle's. As she realised her anger had left her, she felt a sharp pain in her chest where is had been replaced by hurt.
The witch transferred herself straight into her chambers and scooped up her familiar in her arms, uncharacteristic hot tears falling from her face. She buried her face in the cat's fur and sobbed.
She was wrenched from her sorrow by the sound of a mirror call coming in. "Banished be" she muttered, and waved away the call. Immediately again, another mirror call came through. She glanced at the mirror, praying it was anyone but Pippa. To her disappointment, the blonde witch's face glimmered through the mirror. She waved her hand again to banish the attempt.
She flung herself onto her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Hecate awoke, embarrassed by her emotions. She was shocked at her lack of control over herself since she had started speaking to Pippa again. Pippa. Even thinking her name hurt.
Everything hurt. Her feet hurt from walking, (Hecate wasn't used to walking anywhere these days) her head hurt from crying, and her heart hurt from the betrayal of it all.
She transferred herself quickly to the dining hall, not even caring that she had slept in the same clothes she was still wearing.
As she ladled herself a bowl of grey gruel, she noticed a few eye raises from students at her abnormal appearance. She didn't care, she felt numb with pain.
"Miss Hardbroom," a student said, trying to gain her attention. "Miss Hardbroom!" They repeated again.
"Yes, girl." The fearsome teacher turned to address whoever had just spoken. Maud Spellbody stared up at her teacher anxiously.
"M-miss Cackle wants to see you." She spluttered, and ran away before the teacher could bite her head off.
Maud needn't have worried, the menacing deputy head teacher had already transferred herself outside of Ada Cackle's office. She lifted her hand to knock, and faltered. What was she going to say to her friend. She shrugged and forced herself to knock.
Ada opened the door and frowned worriedly at her colleague's disheveled appearance. "Hecate, please come in. I have someone here who very much wants to see you."
Hecate's face paled as her friend stepped aside to reveal Pippa's perfect face.
"Now I understand you have quite a lot to say to one another." Ada said in her most teacherly voice.
"You!" Roared Hecate. "How could you?" She said, her voice wavering. "I trusted you, and you embarrassed me."
Ada stepped in, clasping her hands together. "Now, now, Hecate. I think there must have been some misunderstanding. Miss Pentangle has told me you left her school in quite a hurry, with no explanation."
"She set me up!" Cried Hecate indignantly. "Nobody came to my lesson." She added gloomily.
"On the contrary," Ada replied. "Miss Pentangle said she had been rounding up students and was on her way to bring them to your lesson, when you left."
Hecate's mouth dropped open.
"I never wanted to embarrass you Hecate dear." Pippa apologised. "I wanted to showcase you. You're the best witch I know, and my students could learn so much from you. I wish I had made the lesson compulsory."
"Is that so?" Hecate asked. She hoped this was the truth, but hardly dared believe it.
"Yes, Hiccup darling, I wouldn't do anything to to hurt you." Overcome with emotion, Pippa pulled Hecate into a hug. Hecate's stiff body melted into Pippa's arms, as she processed the information.
Suddenly realising Ada was still in the room, Hecate pulled free, mortified. "Sorry, Ada." She mumbled, staring at her shoes.
"No harm done Hecate, now I imagine you two have quite the conversation to be had. I'll leave you to it." Ada smiled and left the room.
"Oh Hiccup, you must have thought me so cold hearted to think that I would purposely hurt you like that," Pippa sniffled. "I do hope this hasn't changed things between us." She added, on the verge of tears.
This time it was Hecate's turn to offer comfort. "Pipsqueak, it only hurt so much, because I care what you think of me." She whispered. "Nothing could ever change my feelings for you." She gently kissed the witch on her forehead and vanished her tears.
The two witches hugged, and stood revelling in the comfort the other brought.
"Hiccup, I really should be going back to my school again." Pippa said sadly, knowing that if she didn't leave now, she never would want to. She kissed Hecate lightly on the cheek. "I'll mirror you when I get back." She promised, as Hecate opened her mouth to protest.
"Fly safe, Pipsqueak." Hecate said, and silently placed a protection spell on the blonde witch. She couldn't bare the though of something happening to Pippa because she had had to travel to comfort Hecate.