Free Caution: Witch In Progress by Lynne North

necessary.
        ‘Excellent, yes. Try showing a little more teeth, Lucyfer,
that’s it. Good. Can you manage a squint, Hexa? Oh good try. Like the sound of
that, Clawd, really mean.’
        He seemed to suddenly become aware the class were watching
something else, and noticed Fang.
        ‘Is anything wrong, Fang?’ he asked. ‘Would you like to share
the joke with us all?’
        ‘No, sir,’ grinned the young warlock. ‘There’s nothing wrong.
I’m just wondering how someone who doesn’t even look like a witch will be able
to make a grimace,’ he added smugly.
        Mr Wolfsbane clearly knew who the boy was referring to.
        ‘That’s better, Gertie,’ Mr Wolfsbane addressed her. Gertie
glanced back at the mirror and realised there was a different expression on her
face. It even looked a bit mean. ‘You need to feel it, mean it, Gertie,’ he
added. ‘And, yes, get angry. It will help. You, Fang, attend to your own
grimace,’ he added rather sternly.
        Fang turned quickly back to the front, quite in shock. He was
used to everyone agreeing with him, and didn’t seem to like this new turn of
events one bit.
        ‘Keep trying, Gertie,’ the teacher added, moving on to Bertha.
He pulled her desk away slightly so she could sit up again. ‘No time for
sitting back relaxing, Bertha,’ he said. ‘Into your mirror now, grimace.’
        Bertha gave of her best, and looked about to burst a blood
vessel. Mr Wolfsbane patted her on the head with a ‘Keep trying, you’ll get
there.’
        Gertie felt better, much better. Maybe Mr Wolfsbane was alright
after all. He had sided with her against Fang! She looked back at the mirror
and tried again. A smile. She thought of Fang trying to show her up in front of
everyone, and tried again. Oh yes, she almost frightened herself! Now she knew
what to do. Just think of Fang, and get angry.
        Gertie also found that her grimace looked even better if she
narrowed her eyes a bit too, because then no one could see how big and innocent
they were.
        She watched Mr Wolfsbane move from Bertha to the next desk, his
shoulders shaking. Gertie felt sure he was trying not to laugh. She saw him
turn to look at her from across the room, and smile. Gertie decided he liked
her. What he clearly didn’t like was pupils picking on others. It wouldn’t happen
in his class.
        By the end
of class, Gertie didn’t think she had done badly at all. For her, that was
really good. She said as much to Bertha as they walked backed down the
corridor. Bertha was munching her way through her second chocolate bar to calm
her nerves after the stress of having to stay awake for a full lesson.
        ‘Mr Wolfsbane is quite nice, when he’s not grimacing,’ Gertie
concluded.
        Bertha said she wasn’t so sure. He didn’t let anyone get away
with anything. Not even eating or sleeping in class.
        Gertie went back to Bertha’s room with her for a while. They
decided they would read the first three chapters of “Perfecting Your Grimace”
together so they could discuss anything they didn’t understand.
        Bertha’s room wasn’t as nice as Gertie’s, as it only overlooked
the moat and blasted heath. Apart from that though, it was very similar. Jasper
raised an ear as the girls went in, and gave one weary flop of his little tail.
That was about as much energy and enthusiasm you ever got out of Jasper, unless
you were offering him something to eat. Bertha’s familiar, Jasper, was a very
overweight pug dog. Bertha agreed that Jasper hadn’t helped her much more with
her spells than Owl had Gertie, but she loved him anyway.
        Gertie stroked the rolls of fat around Jasper’s neck while he
nodded off again. He only opened his eyes when Bertha rattled a packet of
biscuits she brought out ‘to help us concentrate.’
        Gertie nibbled at one while she concentrated on the text book.
It made a lot of sense, and even mentioned the