The Witches Familiar

The eyeballs in a jar were staring at her. She just knew they were. It was making it hard to concentrate. 

“Pst, Pheobe. Your potion is boiling over.” The urgent whisper came from Charlie, the red-haired golden child sitting at the desk beside Pheobes’.  

“Oh shivers!” Pheobe looked around in a panic. The items on her desk all seemed to blur together, nothing looked at all useful. A black streak darted across Pheobes’ peripheral vision and up onto her desk. 

Eldon, her cat, helpfully jumped up on the table with a wooden spoon held in his jaws. Pheobe grabbed the spoon with a grateful nod to Eldon and started stirring the potion as she turned down the flames under her cauldron. That was way too close. 

“Pheobe Mansen.” The stern voice of the teacher, Miss Heelia, from the front of the classroom had Pheobe snapping to attention. 

“You know the rules. No familiars on the desks. He either sits on your shoulders or stays on the floor.” 

Eldon took a moment to glare at the teacher before jumping down to the floor by Pheobes’ feet.  

“Sorry, miss.” Pheobe mumbled her apology. 

“And do try to keep your potion under control. We do not need a repeat of your previous explosive incident.”  

This comment encouraged a few snickers from other students in the room, but they quickly died down after a stern glare from Miss Heelia.  

Pheobe ducked her head and tried to focus on her potion, something that became increasingly difficult with Eldon pacing back and forth over her feet.  

“Would you stop that.” Pheobe hissed at him. 

“Oh, I do apologize.” He hissed back sarcastically. “I would never want to distract you from the incredibly delicate potion that you are completely butchering.”  

“I’m doing my best.” Pheobe stated in an attempt to end the conversation before she got in trouble for talking.  

“Just let me show you the right ingredients to add before you turn us all into ogres.” 

“You aren’t allowed up here.” Pheobe whispered while glancing around to make sure no one had heard them yet.  

Charlie was peeking at her curiously from behind their red ringlets, but no one else seemed to have noticed the hushed conversation yet. Pheobe grinned nervously at Charlie, mouthing the word sorry before turning back to her potion. She had only seen a brief glimpse of Charlie’s potion but theirs looked to be turning out a lot better than her own.  

“I don’t need to be up there to point out the ingredients.” Eldon said, pulling Pheobe's attention back to her desk just in time to see the jar of rosemary starting to levitate.  

Pheobe couldn’t help a nervous squeak escaping her as she jumped forward to grab the jar before anyone noticed it floating. A few classmates glanced sideways at her but she tried her best to ignore them as she tossed a bit of rosemary into her potion.  

Eldon continued to levitate ingredients for Pheobe to use until the potion started to look stable and less explosively foamy. 

Finally, there came the sound of a bell and Miss Heelias voice calling across the room. “Spoons down.” 

Pheobe let out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding and placed her spoon down on the desk, casting a quick look at Eldon. He seemed unbothered.  

Miss Heelia walked up and down the rows of desks, peering into cauldrons and carefully analyzing each witch's potion. Pheobe already knew what she would say about hers. “Good try, Pheobe, but it is not quite right. Perhaps you can try again.” It seemed Pheobe was always disappointing her teachers, no matter how hard she tried.  

Miss Heelia stopped at Pheobe’s desk, looking over the lip of her cauldron at the bubbly, faintly green tinged liquid inside.  

“A passable potion.” Miss Heelia said, a mixture of surprise and, dare Pheobe think it, pride in her voice. “Well done.”             

Pheobe couldn’t help her face lighting up with a grin. She could see Charlie giving her an enthusiastic thumbs up while Eldon flicked his tail in annoyance.   

“I thought that went well.” Pheobe remarked happily to Eldon later in a relatively quiet hallway. They had both wandered the entire campus in their first few weeks at the school, making note of any potential places where they could talk openly. It was unusual for familiars to be able to speak, so they had agreed to keep Eldon’s speech a secret.  

“Oh sure, it went well for you.” Eldon drawled, stopping in a patch of sunlight to stare dramatically out the window. “You get to be a star pupil while I sit on the floor and avoid getting stepped on by every mediocre witch who thinks they can make it in this school.” 

Pheobe dropped her gaze to the floor, starring at the odd shadows her shoelaces made on the ground. “I didn’t realize it would make you that upset.” 

Eldon’s ears twitched and his shoulders slumped a little but he didn’t turn around. 

“I am sorry, Pheebs. It can be...frustrating.” 

Pheobe nodded, even though Eldon couldn’t see her. “I don’t like lying either.” 

Eldon was about to reply but both were startled by a voice from behind them. 

“Are you talking to your cat?” 

For the second time that day, Pheobe let out a squeak as she turned to see Charlie standing in the hallway, their ringlets falling to one side of their face as they cocked their head and looked at the startled pair. 

“Uh.” Pheobe could swear she was as red as a toadstool. Charlie could definitely see her nervous blush. Ducking her head in an attempt to hide her face behind her blond fringe, Pheobe looked pleadingly at Eldon for help.  

Eldon, meanwhile, was pointedly looking anywhere except at Charlie or Pheobe, which was incredibly unhelpful in this situation.

“Pheobe?” Charlie sounded concerned now “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” Pheobe tried to sound convincing, “Don’t you ever, um, talk aloud to your familiar?” 

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking their head. “No, I don’t think I do. Should I?” 

“Oh yeah, you really should.” Pheobe frantically scrambled for words, trying to come up with a convincing explanation. “Familiars love when their witch talks to them. They like the attention, you know. To feel, uh, useful.” 

Charlie frowned for a moment before reaching into their pocket to retrieve the fuzzy bundle of red fur that was Dimitri, the red squirrel who served as Charlie’s familiar.  

“Do you think they can really understand us?” Charlie questioned while studying Dimitri as he stretched after being woken from his warm and cozy nap.  

“Absolutely!” Pheobe replied, using Charlie’s momentary distraction as an opportunity to gesture frantically at Eldon, hoping he would do something to bring about the end of this stressful conversation. “Eldon always knows exactly what I’m saying to him.” 

Taking an excruciatingly long moment to stand and stretch out each of his delicate limbs, Eldon began to casually weave his way between Charlie’s legs. Well, this wasn’t getting Charlie to leave at all.  

Charlie let out a soft coo as they knelt down to start scratching Eldon under his chin, drawing out some very rare purrs from the stubborn cat.  

“It’s so strange, Pheobe.” Charlie mused while continuing to pat Eldon. “I could have sworn I heard someone answering you. I was so confused when I saw it was just you and your familiar here. You sure there was no one else around?” 

Without warning, Eldon switched gears entirely, arching his back and hissing directly at Dimitri who had still been perched on Charlie’s hand.  

Startled by the sudden aggression, the squirrel darted away from the perceived threat, scampering down Charlie’s arm and jumping to the floor before taking off down the hall, followed by a still hissing Eldon.  

Charlie jumped back and almost fell over in their haste. “What’s happened?”  

“I...I don’t know.” Pheobe started to run after the two animals, Charlie right behind her. 

“Eldon! Come back here!” Pheobe called out, but Eldon only continued to threaten Dimitri as the squirrel clambered up to a window ledge and leapt across a short gap to a tree branch outside.

Pheobe and Charlie were able to catch up to the window where Dimitri continued to cower just out of reach, but Eldon was quick to take off around a corner.  

“I’ve never seen a familiar act like that.” Charlie remarked while trying to coax Dimitri back inside.  

“Me neither. I need to go see what’s up with him.”  

Pheobe muttered some apologies as she left Charlie by the window to chase after Eldon. She didn’t have to go far. Eldon had made himself comfortable on top of one of the glass display cases lining the hallway outside the school library. 

“What was that?” Pheobe asked as she approached the unbothered cat. 

“I believe it is called a distraction.” Eldon’s sarcastic tone was somehow elevated by him grooming his left paw at the same time.  

“It was rude.” Pheobe retorted, hands on her hips. 

“You always insist on keeping our true relationship a secret, so I thought it best to get that classmate of ours to stop asking troublesome questions. And no one actually got hurt, so what was the harm?” 

“I’m trying to fit in here, Eldon. It’s hard enough I can’t get any spells or potions right, your antics are not helping. You could have taken a moment to think of a better plan that didn’t involve terrorizing anyone’s familiar.” 

Pheobe was about to continue lecturing the distressingly unconcerned cat when the clicking of heels from around the corner caused her to turn and see Miss Heelia coming towards them.  

Pheobe adjusted her posture and turned to face her teacher. Eldon continued to groom himself.  

“I just ran into Charlie and their rather distressed looking familiar in the hallway.” Miss Heelia said. “Apparently, your familiar has caused some disturbance.” She stared coldly at Eldon until he relented and jumped down off the display case, then switched her gaze back to Pheobe. “Care to explain?” 

“Um...I didn’t...I mean.” There she went again, flushed cheeks and stuttered excuses a clear sign to everyone that she had no idea what she was doing.  

Pheobe couldn’t look Miss Heelia in the eye, could barely keep herself from crumpling up into a sad little pile on the floor. She opened her mouth to apologize, but never got the chance. 

“My apologies, ma’am.”  

Pheobe couldn’t move. Her eyes were fixed on Miss Heelia as she looked down at Eldon, who had just spoken. Out loud. In front of a teacher.  

“It was my fault.” Eldon continued. “You know how us familiars can be. I just lost control of my urges for a moment. It most certainly will not happen again.” 

Pheobe fixed a smile on her face as Miss Heelia looked from her to Eldon and back again. 

“Pheobe. I’m rather impressed.” She spoke at last. “How did you manage to cast a proper communication spell on your familiar?” 

Of course. That was absolutely a possible explanation for this situation.  

“Oh well...uh...I sort of just...had a go at it. I read about it in the library and thought it might be useful.” 

“How fantastic. You have more talent than I realised. That is a complicated spell, but you must have executed it perfectly.” 

“She really is quite remarkable.” Eldon said dryly.  

Miss Heelia seemed to be considering something, her features crinkled up in a thoughtful expression. “Perhaps you could help me with something.” She said, gesturing for Pheobe to follow her. 

“What were you thinking?” Pheobe whispered to Eldon as they followed behind Miss Heelia. 

“I thought this was a better plan.” Eldon replied with a smug wink.  

They walked in silence for a while, across the center courtyard to one of the schools’ towers. Climbing the steep stone stairs, Pheobe began to think that this was not going to be an easy task Miss Heelia expected her to help with. 

At last, they reached the entrance to the highest floor of the tower, a heavy oak door reinforced with iron and magic. A padlock, no doubt enchanted, kept the door clamped shut. Miss Heelia pulled a keyring out of her jacket pocket and unlocked the simple yet intimidating door.  

Pheobe hesitated but, encouraged by a rather firm shove on her ankles from Eldon, followed Miss Heelia into the dimly lit room. Several small, circular windows set high up in the wall illuminated the outline of the hexagon shaped space.

Once all three were inside, Miss Heelia quickly closed the door behind them and turned a serious look on Pheobe.  

“We have had a bit of a pest problem recently.” She confessed. 

Eldon’s ear twitched in a displeased manner. “What sort of pests?”  

“Not mice, I’m sure.” Pheobe reassured. 

“Not mice at all.” Miss Heelia confirmed, clicking her fingers to light the many candles dotted around the room to reveal a cluster of old desks and piles of textbooks, cracked cauldrons and other damaged school supplies. And covering it all, filling the whole room and floating between the rafters, was a swarm of wisps.  

Miss Heelia explained as the wisps started to stir. “The other staff and I have managed to confine the swarm to this tower, but each time we cast a spell to remove them from the school grounds, they either find a way back or manage to slip through the spell completely. Perhaps you could cast a dispersal spell strong enough to remove them all.”  

Pheobe knew she must look like a fool, mouth agape and legs starting to tremble at the thought of attempting to cast a spell and embarrassing herself in front of her teacher. Again. She needed time to think of a plan. 

“I could try. But I need a minute alone to...um...prepare.” 

The teacher gave her a curious look but thankfully didn’t ask any questions before stepping back through the door, closing it behind her and leaving Pheobe and Eldon alone with the wisp swarm, now more alert and active, reflecting the candlelight in a beautiful way.  

Pheobe did not have time to admire the swarm. She turned to Eldon. 

“What do we do?” 

“What do you mean? We do what she asked, of course.” 

“Eldon you can be so unhelpful sometimes.” 

“I do not see the problem. I have already figured out why the staff are having difficulty removing the wisps. This school has the strongest magical aura of any place in the country, so of course the wisps keep finding their way here. I have come up with a solution, so this should be an easy task to complete.” 

“It doesn’t matter how easy or simple the spell is, Eldon. I can’t do it. You know I can’t. I’m not a witch.” 

Pheobe slumped to the floor, pressing her fists to her forehead in frustration. “I’m just a familiar. I can’t do any of this magic on my own. This whole thing was such a stupid idea. I shouldn’t have made you hide your identity like this.” 

Eldon padded across the floor and climbed into Pheobe’s lap. 

“Please try to be brave, Pheebs. I know it can be scary, but I need this school, and I think you do too. We can learn so much here.” 

Pheobe couldn’t stop the words flowing out of her. “I thought it was the only way for us to be accepted here, for me to be the witch and you the familiar, but all I did was make everything so much more complicated than it needed to be. If they didn’t want to accept us here than we shouldn’t have come in the first place.” 

“I’m the one who wanted to come to this school.” Eldon spoke up. “And we can still pull this off. I can cast a portal spell to the enchanted wood. Wisps cannot resist that place. It will be more enticing to them than this musty old classroom and they will all go straight through.” 

Pheobe took a shaky breath. “That does sound easy.” She mumbled, feeling calmer. 

“It is a simple plan, but a powerful spell. There is no way I can cast it without you, Pheebs. This is what a witches' familiar is for, to give the witch support and amplify their power. We can do this together, right now while no one is watching, and tell them you cast the spell.” 

Eldon let out a soft purr when Pheobe wrapped an arm around him and ran her hand through the smooth fur on his back. “And we can keep pretending for a while. I suppose I can deal with everyone thinking I am the familiar for a bit longer, if that is what it takes for us both to stay here.” 

“You think they will keep giving us tasks like this? I’m worried that would expose us eventually.” 

“You need to not worry so much. Think about it, Pheebs. This is an excellent opportunity for both of us. You will be able to make friends with everyone in school and impress all the teachers, and I will finally have a chance to practice the more advanced spells they would never teach us otherwise.” 

“This could go horribly wrong.” 

“It could. But at least it will be fun.”