Lottie's POV

The skeleton grips Ms King's shoulders and its jaws snap open and closed *click clack*

She jumps and screams and whirls round, but the skeleton clings to her shoulders going, it's jaws clacking a rhythm *click clack*

Jason starts forward. "Corinne…!"

I snap my fingers, taking the spell off. The finger snapping isn't strictly necessary, I just had to make an effort of will to cancel the spell. The skeleton slides to the floor, a pile of plastic bones. Ms King leaps back, nearly colliding with the trophy cabinet.

"Are you OK, Ms King?" I ask, trying not to smirk.

"T-That thing, it grabbed me!" she gibbers, pointing at the plastic bones.

I nudge the bone heap with my foot. "Nope. They're just plastic." I grin at her. "Were you enacting the Skeleton Dance from the Silly Symphony? I like those old cartoons. They're sooo trippy. Ghosts… skeletons… witches… Who could ask for more?"

Ms King frowned. "Certainly not! The thing grabbed me – it – I…" Perhaps she realises how dumb she sounds, because she flushes a little. I can see that, even though she's wearing too much makeup.

"Are you sure you're alright? Maybe a cup of strong, sweet tea?" says Jason kindly.

"No – No- I'd better be getting along." Ms King hurries off.

"I hope she's OK," I say, rubbing my nose. I'm trying to make my tone imply, 'has she been drinking?'

"A flair for the dramatics is natural for those with a passion for acting," says Jason, but he sounds a bit uncomfortable.

I've got to show Jason I care about him. "I – I wanted to say, I really appreciate what you're doing for our class," I stammer, gazing into his soft brown eyes. I touch his arm. "I'm not always the best student in every class, but you've made the topic come alive for all of us. I'm really happy that you're taking my English class."

God, I sound lame. Well at least I can't blush anymore. How am I supposed to tell Jason I care about him, the man, not just the teacher?

"Thank you very much, Lottie. It means a lot when a student appreciates my efforts," he says graciously. "And if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll always be there to listen."

That's so sweet! I feel tears coming to my eyes. He could come to love me, I know it. I'm a witch now, not just a dizzy schoolgirl. I can do magic. I must find a way to show him how much I care.

00O00

Astrid's POV

Biology class now. I'm getting stares and a few kids pull weird faces at me. I scowl back at them.

Mrs Rose, the biology teacher, gives a little start at the sight of me, but then she smiles awkwardly and gets started on the lesson.

First part is her talking about diabetes. Lex, the girl I'm sitting next to has diabetes. She's brave about it. She shares with the class how she needs insulin injections. It's weird that medical science hasn't managed to come up with a real cure. Well, that's something to add to my list of witchcraft goals. I will find a way to help Lex. There's so much I need to do… The school makes Lex trek all the way to the nurse to get her injections. She's not allowed to do it herself on school grounds, even though she can when she's not at school. What a stupid rule.

Lex tells us about the time immediately following her diagnosis. "I had a total problems with needles, I was not good with blood, I was not good at anything I had to deal with today. But I'm going to be on insulin for the rest of my life."

I pair up with her for the experiment we have to do next. It's on an unrelated topic. We are about to dissect a poor dead frog.

"You truly are an inspiration," I tell Lex, touching her pale hand with my green one. "You were so strong."

Aggie, a mean girl, pulls a face at me. "You look like you have a real condition, Astrid. I mean, you look truly awful. But Lexi… she's faking it so she can skip classes and have snacks between meals."

Lex turns even paler than usual and her green eyes widened.

"Take that back," I tell Aggie, quietly.

"What? About you looking awful? Alright, you don't look awful – you look positively diseased. Radioactive, even."

"What I meant was this - how dare you accuse Lex of faking a very real illness that could threaten her life?" I'm breathing through my nose and glaring at Aggie.

"It's OK, honey. I'm used to that kind of thing," mumbles Lex.

It's not alright with me. I lean my face close to Aggie. "You won't apologise to us?"

She shrinks away from me. "Don't get too close, I don't want whatever it is you have."

I snatch her pencil case from her desk and chuck it across the room. "Fetch."

Aggie cries out. "Girls!" Remonstrates Mrs Rose.

"Sorry, Mrs Rose. Won't happen again," I say. I turn to Lex. "Please get the safety goggles and I'll … sort something out."

Lex goes to get the goggles. She won't see, then.

When Aggie turns to get her pencil case, I quickly lean across the desk and touch her dead frog. "Samina."

The frog twitches. Its dead limbs are infused with motion again. When Aggie sits back down I will her frog to jump at her. She shrieks as it leaps into her hair and slithers down her neck.

"It's alive! It's attacking me! It's down my back! Gettit!"

The class bursts out laughing. Lex stares at her, wide eyed. I will the frog to jump up again.

"It's jumping up! Gettit!"

"Silly girl, what do you think you're doing?" Ms Rose is cross.

"It's the frog, it jumped at me!"

I make the frog slither up to the back of her neck and then release the spell. Mrs Rose goes over to her and picks the dead amphibian from her collar. And shakes it in her face. "It's dead, as you can see perfectly well. Now stop mucking about in my class."

OK… I don't know if what I just did was right, but Aggie had better not make me mad again.

00O00

Lunch break. I've got to plan ahead. First thing's first. I've got a list of goals now and I know where to start. I need Daddy's guidance really, if I am to begin to prioritise. So first I get him back. Next, I'll make a plan about curing disease. Maybe I can help Lex.

I go back to the boiler room. There's the door, just the same. I do wonder why no one else has found it. Was Lottie the only non-witch ever to see it? She was the one who took me here, I didn't actually find it on my own like she did. And if she was the only one who found it on her own, then why her?

The mirror's eerie glow casts flickering shadows on the stone walls. "Mirror Girl?" I call.

"Why do you call me 'Mirror Girl', you feisty witch?" she asks. "I find it demeaning."

"I can call you something pretty if you want. What about… Miri? Now listen, Miri." I put my hands to my hips. I've thought about what I want to say. "You've got to answer some questions. You helped make two witches and you've marked us out as different from normal people. It's your duty to give guidance."

"Alright then. Miri it is. As for guidance - you want to know more about Necromancy?"

"Yeah…" She's reading my mind again. I just know it.

The outline of a door glimmers in the far wall. I hadn't seen it there before. It has been revealed by magic. "You want to challenge the natural law for the one you love most. Be advised that this is a dangerous path and you invite great risk to yourself."

I nod. "I'm sure. But Daddy would do it for me in a heartbeat."

"There is in fact a way – a simple spell to bring back a departed soul and it won't fail to do that. It is in another spellbook. Not the one you already have. But be warned – the danger is very real."

"Thank you, Miri."

I push open the door and wrinkle my nose at the fusty reek of the passage ahead. Oh dear… My bright green hands seem to be giving off a sickly light of their own. It looks like they're floating ahead of me in the blackness. The tunnel winds down. My feet move through dust and cobwebs.

At the end of the passageway I see a faint light coming from the stones in the ceiling. I hear a harsh, squeaky voice. "Hey greenie, you gave me a fright."

"Whaaa-?" I see a strange, knobbly little stone creature hobbling around another stone door. Thinking back, I remember know what it is. I read about them in the spellbook I got yesterday. A troll. But the book didn't say they were really small.

"Hello, little troll. You gave me a fright too."

"Witches are scarier than trolls." The little creature hobbles next to me as I shove the door open.

"Well… maybe. I'm Astrid. Have you got a name?"

"Jasper. I was the only pebble in my clan. A runt. The others picked on me, so I ran away."

"Aw. Sorry to hear that, little guy."

The chamber beyond is like a cavern. But there's a pillar of light here. I can see something suspended in the light. A book. A volume bound in black leather. There's a glint… something tied to it. A knife? I reach for the book and remove it from the light. Did I hear a faint scream in the distance? There's a silver dagger tied to the book. The book is titled the Codex Mortis. Urgh! The leather on the front cover is shaped like a leering face.

"That would be for sacrificing," said Jasper. "That book is about Necromancy. Creepy stuff. But since you're a witch you don't have to kill anything. Giving some of that green stuff you have instead of blood will do to conjure a spirit. You don't have to sacrifice anything."

I pull a face. "Right. Good to know." I hate that he talks about sacrifice so casually. I certainly won't be doing any of that.

I'm going to conjure tonight, so help me.

00O00

Lottie's POV

What a day. It's not easy, being green. My friends are all acting weird about it. And the boys still gawp, but not the way that flatters me. I'm just glad to be back home and reading to Gabi again this evening. I can feel normal again, just for a little while.

I'm reading her part of Harry Potter.

"You won't go away to magic school, will you Lottie?" Gabi's blue eyes are wide and anxious.

"No, Lil Sis." I stroke her long hair.

"Will ya get a castle? Like Elsa?" She plucks at her Pyjamas. She's wearing Elsa Pyjamas tonight. She frowns. "If you do, you'd better take me with you, OK? I thought about it. I'd rather go away with you then stay here without you."

I put my arms around her. "Of course I'll take you – if I ever do get a castle. Dunno if I will." It'd be quite cool if I had a castle. Either way, my being a witch had better not come between me and Gabi. I still think it's not fair that I was the one who wasn't warned exactly what it's like. Astrid was the one who made herself a witch knowing full well she'd become freaky and green. Talking of Astrid, she's snuck off on some witchy business tonight. I suppose a witch is allowed to. We're supposed to skip around in the moonlight, aren't we?

00O00

Astrid's POV

God, the graveyard is creepy in the ghostly moonlight. But my perspective on creepy is different now. I've been reading the Codex Mortis and know some more tricks now. Here I am beside Daddy's grave. "I back again, Daddy," I murmur. "This time I have something better than flowers." I hold up the Codex Mortis. My green hands are almost luminous in the moonlight.

"I like the ambience," says Jasper.

Jasper the troll is tagging along. I can use the company.

The instructions in the Codex Mortis are weird. I've gotta will myself to find the right spell and trust in my magic to find it. I concentrate and rifle through the heavy pages. OK, here's the page – I have a strong feeling about it… The words are in pen – a weird alphabet, but somehow I can understand it and whisper a long stream of gibberish aloud. Then I grit my teeth, and cut my arm with the dagger in the right place. A trickle of green blood falls onto the grave.

Suddenly, emerald fire leaps up around us. We're in a circle of the green fire. My hearts' really thumping. Is this it? Dare I hope?

I can see the silhouette of a man… It must be him! "Daddy?"

Now I can see his fuzzy outline! My heart leaps. "Astrid?" His voice is echoey, but it's him alright.

I drop the book and knife and fling my arms around his shadowy form. He's light as paper, but I can hold him. It's part of being a witch, I guess. I can hold ghosts. I'm sobbing hard on his shoulder just as I used to, and I feel the light touch of his hands gently rubbing my back in comfort. "Everything is alright now, Precious Pumpkin. I don't know how, but we've found each other again, no matter what we both look like. That's all that matters."

"I – I can't tell you how awful it's been without you with me," I say between my sobs.

Jasper's voice chirps up. "We might have a problem. This kind of conjuring draws unwanted attention. Magic demands a balance. You conjure a good man and then an evil man can take a shot at breaking through uninvited. Magic will put a damper on things. That's balance."

I'm not really listening to the little troll, but now I'm getting a real creepy feeling, that something's watching us… something bad.

A shadow looms over us all... A shadow with glowing, red eyes. Daddy and I instinctively clutch hold of each other. Oh God, what have I done? The shadow takes the form of a man with bulging bloodshot eyes. The evil spirit bares yellowed teeth at us. His fingers extend to a grotesque length.

"H-Hello…" the strained voice of a crazy person. "Tonight, I'd like to t-thank you for leaving a tear in the veil that I could find. I haven't breathed air for thirty years! My body is but a hollow structure." The horror makes a dreadful, slurping sound. "My clay fingers bring the touch of the grave. Young witch – your slender green body is so much fun. I want to give you a big stroke!"