Thu, Jan 28, 1999
It is nearly the end of Mildred's first year at Cackle's Academy. One night, there is a strange, fierce wind which blasts through the castle, rattling and shaking everything and giving Mildred and Maud bad nightmares. Next day, everything seems fine - except for Miss Cackle. She seems completely out of sorts. She is particularly irritated with Mildred and actually tells the staff that she is the Worst Witch in the school and that she is going to expel her. Miss Hardbroom is pleased to hear her opinion of Mildred confirmed, but strangely piqued about the expulsion - she finds herself saying there is little point in doing it now. When Miss Bat reminds Miss Cackle how Mildred saved them all from her wicked sister, Agatha, Miss Cackle breaks into a fury and says that relations between her and her sister are of a private matter. Mildred is put in isolation for the night, and spots Miss Cackle waving a lantern towards the forest. Mildred, Maud, and Enid consult as to what it means - has Miss Cackle been magicked by her evil sister? Mildred thinks not - witches aren't allowed to revenge themselves once beaten. Luckily, Ethel, who has followed them, knows about a statute of limitations - and Agatha's will be up at the high noon on the last day of the term. Ethel feels a bit sorry for Mildred now that she's going. It takes all the combined resources of the first years, to discover what is really going on - of course, Miss Cackle is her sister, the wicked Agatha! The girls track down the real Miss Cackle to the store cupboard in which Mildred and Enid were once trapped. Unfortunately, they are discovered by two of Agatha's wicked cronies, and time is ticking away to midday on the last day of term. The final confrontation takes place in front of everybody and gives Mildred a chance to show us all why she's really the best witch in the school.
Thu, Nov 19, 1998
A distressed Mildred runs off with Tabby in her bag, and stopping to rest in the valley below she comes upon a group of witches. They are planning to take over Cackle's Academy by turning everyone into frogs while they are asleep! Mildred, thinking on her feet, casts self-defense spell on the witches, but it doesn't stick. Miss Drill, meanwhile, has decided to take a ride in the forest. She is angry with the others for not taking her fears about "shifty" witches seriously. She comes across Mildred's things, and decides to investigate. To her surprise, she discovers the witches have planted Mildred's feet in the ground. Miss Drill comes to the rescue and yanks her from the ground, praising her untied bootlaces. Back at the school, the evil witches have turned Miss Cackle into a frog. Mildred and Maud, who have decided to become friends again under the circumstances, team up to trap the witches. Maud will create a diversion while Mildred will try to re-create the wrong spell, "in exactly the right way". They end up in the lab where Mildred casts the spell on the witches, shrinks them, and puts them in a box. Miss Cackle is furious when she discovers her jealous twin sister in the bunch, and demands that they concede defeat. Agatha, Coldstone, and Bindweed disagree very loudly and the box is closed until they decide to take a no-retaliation oath according to the Witches Code. They reluctantly agree, and are restored to their original sizes. Miss Cackle is so pleased with Mildred for coming to the rescue of the Academy that she decides to forget all about the celebration foul-ups.
Fri, Jan 26, 2001
Mildred & Jadu's expulsions are on the horizon & the other girls try to find a way to save them. The girls plan on running Maude for Head girl hoping to use their influence to save the two. When that plan falls through they decide steal Ms. Cackle's spell book & they end up creating a danger far greater than they've ever faced! Now it's up to Mildred to save the day!
Thu, Nov 18, 1999
Ethel thinks it's Mildred's fault that Sybil is always following her around, so when things go too far during a lesson of broomstick flying, Ethel vows to get her back. When Tabby falls off Mildred's broomstick, she is sent to her room with strict orders to make sure that the cat learns to properly sit on the broomstick. Frustrated, Mildred decides to take a nap, and when she awakes, she discovers that she's been turned into a frog. She escapes to find help but instead, Miss Hardbroom scoops her up and puts her in her handbag. Mildred thinks this is all Miss Hardbroom's doing, when she is unceremoniously dumped into a jar. Life as a frog is far from easy, so Mildred is greatly relieved when she manages to escape to the safety of the school pond. There she meets another frog - a wizard who has been enchanted so long ago that he can't even remember his own name. Mildred promises to get help as soon as she's restored to her old self. With a lot of effort, Mildred gets back to the school, where the others discover what has happened. When Ethel turns her back, she discovers it wasn't Miss Hardbroom that turned her into a frog. When Miss Hardbroom suddenly appears, she gets the shock of her life when Mildred is able to recite the precious contents of her bag.
Thu, Jan 27, 2000
Mildred's potion exam, and a gardening competition for Mr. Blossom are both happening at the same time. Mildred's chances of passing look slim, as Ethel and Drusilla conspire to get her thrown out of Cackle's. Frank's chances of winning are sabotaged by his rival, Terry Root. Mr. Root has persuaded Miss Cackle (with a certain amount of blackmail concerning the girls' behaviour in the village) to allow the gardening competition to take place in the Academy Courtyard. Miss Hardbroom is absolutely opposed to the idea, especially since it might distract the girls from their exams. When Mr. Blossom's greenhouse is trashed and his marrows are destroyed, Miss Hardbroom who suspects Mildred and her friends, forbids the girls to have anything more to do with gardening - after they have cleared up the mess of course. Mildred and Maud find one marrow untouched and decide a growing potion will help Frank win the competition. Of course, Ethel and Drusilla see this as a chance to get Mildred in big trouble with H.B. The growing potion turns out to be the right answer for both Mildred and Frank, while Ethel's plans blow up in everybody's face.
Thu, Dec 17, 1998
A heatwave has struck Cackle's Academy and Miss Bat has let the girls practice their Chanting outside. The girls use it as an opportunity to sunbathe on the broomshed roof, until Miss Hardbroom catches them and punishes them by making them clear out the locker room. Meanwhile Miss Hardbroom is fed up with Miss Bat's irresponsible attitude to teaching and her habit of eating flowers. A row subsequently develops ending with Miss Bat locking herself in the staffroom cupboard until further notice. Miss Cackle magics the girls a refreshing summer drink, and then sets them a task of re-creating the drink by natural means only. For once Ethel and Drusilla team up with Mildred and her friends. After several unsuccessful attempts to make the drink using natural products, Mildred asks Miss Bat for help, saying that she believes flowers are the key ingredient to the drink. While out collecting flowers, Mildred and Drusilla have a fight and end up in the river, causing Miss Hardbroom to separate them and make the challenge a competition. Mildred and her friends manage to successfully re-create Cackle's magic drink using flowers, while Ethel cheats by using a potion. Ethel then sabotages Mildred's drink by spiking it with chilli sauce, but causes further chaos when her magic drink results in a severe case of the Foster's effect, sending Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom and Miss Bat shooting through the Great Hall ceiling when they taste it.
Thu, Jan 21, 1999
The Chief Wizard, Egbert Hellibore, comes to give a talk to the girls on Spells, Potions, and Gourmet Cooking. The girls are given strict instructions about behaviour by Miss Cackle and H.B so that when the talk turns out to be really quite good fun, the girls have been so "drilled" that they clam up completely even when asked to join in. Hellibore presumes that they are lacking in confidence and need more practice at public speaking. He suggests a debate between the boys at his school for Wizards and, put on the spot, Miss Cackle has to agree. Ethel is chosen to be the star speaker, but even Mildred discovers she quite likes rattling on about whatever comes into her head. The girls are looking forward to meeting the boys, though when they are introduced, they hardly say a word. Have they all been overawed? But no - in the first part of the debate, the girls are indescribably good and the boys are hopeless. At break, it looks like the girls have got it in the bag. Hellibore magics some snacks for break, but some of the boys have brought their extraordinary-looking bottles of fizzy juice, which they won't let the girls near. After break - a shock turn around! Even the shy, mumbly boys have turned into regular orators, the girls are shocked to dumbness and the boys wipe the floor with them. But before the boys depart, Mildred and the others manage to steal a bottle of the suspicious fizz. When they test it out, the results are fascinating - especially in lessons, and everyone wants a go. The problem comes when it spills onto inanimate objects which then have the power of speech and can talk about their lot - mostly to whinge. And finally Miss Hardbrooms's desk spills the beans to her. To their surprise, H.B. is not as cross as might be expected. A return match is arranged with the boys. Hellibore and the boys can't resist, and come fully prepared with plenty of strange fizzy juice. They don't expect that the bottle of juice will be speaking in the debate - and would have a lot to say about what the boys had been up to.
Thu, Nov 5, 1998
It's time for the presentation of the kittens - the black cat will sit decoratively on the end of each girl's broomstick when they fly. Mildred nearly doesn't get one at all, and when she does there are no black ones left, so she has to make do with a tabby. Meanwhile, Frank is looking after his nephew Charlie for a few days and brings him to the school. Charlie is fascinated by the girls but finds it hard to believe that they're really witches. When Ethel brags about her family portraits that adorn the walls, Charlie insults her lineage. He annoys her even more by asking whether boys can be witches. Of course Mildred and Ethel disagree. When Tabby can't even manage to cling onto Mildred's broom, Ethel lays into her about how hopeless she is. Mildred has been looking up spells in the library and, pushed too far, tries to turn Ethel into a frog - only to find a pig in front of her. The pig trots off, and the chase is on to catch it and turn it back into Ethel before Miss Hardbroom discovers what's happened - and Mildred gets into trouble once again! Charlie gets mixed up in all this by memorizing a simple reversing spell, which comes in handy when Mildred turns Ethel into a pig. When Frank brings Ethel to Ted's pig farm, Mildred and Charlie must rescue her before the farmer brings them to the market. Charlie manages to save the day, though not before the pig becomes a duck and Charlie becomes a donkey!
Thu, Dec 16, 1999
It's half-term, and Mildred and her friends set off to visit Algernon at his riverside retreat. Mildred has been told to leave her cat behind, but when no one is looking she manages to smuggle him away with her. Much to Mildred's delight, she discovers that Algernon has taken on Merlin as his apprentice. She lets him into the secret about Tabby and together they hide him in the cabin of a small boat, and secretly supply him with food. Miss Hardbroom, while taking a walk on the beach, hears a cat mewing and goes to investigate. She slips on a kipper and is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Ethel and Drusilla have become suspicious of Mildred and after discovering the boat with Tabby on board, they untie the rope and send the the boat down river towards the rapids, completely unaware that Miss Hardbroom is on board...
Thu, Jan 14, 1999
Mrs Cosie's tearoom is a haven of peace and comfort for Miss Cackle, full of delicious goodies. It is, however, strictly out-of-bounds to the girls of the Academy. This doesn't deter Mildred and her gang, who are keen to stem their hunger pangs and take advantage of a free cake promotion. Unseen by Miss Cackle, the girls settle down at a table where they overhear a plan to trick Miss Cosie into selling her tearooms so that a toxic incinerator can be built on the site. This would make life unbearable for the inhabitants of Miss Cackle's - to say nothing about the wildlife. Can Mildred prevent Mrs. Cosie from signing the tearooms away and, more importantly, an the girls avoid being caught out-of-bounds by Miss Cackle and the stickler Miss Hardbroom?