Hannah Baker And The Hedge Witch

It was three years ago that I found out my family were Wiccans and I had to train to be one.
It began on my thirteenth birthday. My mum presented me with the Book Of Shadows, a book full of the most powerful spells. She then sat me down and informed me that she and my grandma were White Witches. And now it was time for me to train to be a Wiccan. In case you don’t know, Wicca is the religion that us witches follow. We don’t have black cats or broomsticks, and we’re not in contact with the Devil. Being White Witches, my mum and grandma use their powers to help others. When I asked if we had any other Wiccan relatives, Grandma told me darkly that, yes, there was. Her sister, Fairuza, but I was not to talk about her, ever. A long time ago, Fairuza had sold her soul to the Devil, and became a Black Witch. Using her powers for evil.
It wasn’t until I was sixteen that the first time I used magic properly happened.
I’d used magic many times before, but only under the supervision of Mum or Grandma. From thirteen, they taught me Meditating lessons. This meant I was taught how to concentrate on spells. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I learnt about Binding.
I’d heard of it before, but I was never allowed to take part, because it was too dangerous. Binding is when you have to stop Black Witches from creating evil. Being White Witches, Mum and Grandma did it all the time. But I was never allowed to…

“Hannah!” Mum came rushing into my bedroom. I was sat on my bed, reading “Harry Potter“. Ever since I found out I was a Wiccan, I’d been reading a lot of “Harry Potter”.
“What is it, Mum?”
“Your grandma and I are going out.”
“Okay. Are you going Binding again?”
“Yes, you know that people’s cats and dogs have been going missing, and milk keeps curdling?”
“Yes.” This had been in the newspapers for weeks, and police were baffled about the mystery.
“Well, our Coven have found out there is a Hedge Witch moved in quite close by. She’s also a Black Witch, so we’re all going to Bind her.”
“Can I come?”
Mum looked at me, a little shocked. “What?”
“Well, I am sixteen.”
“It isn’t that, Hannah, it’s just that you haven’t had any proper Binding lessons, not really…”
She shut my door after she left, and a little after that, I heard the front door slam shut. I went back to reading “Goblet Of Fire” feeling quite upset. I’d never performed proper Magic before, only in the lessons Mum and Grandma had given me. Why shouldn’t I have a go at Binding? Suddenly, I felt like Harry Potter. I grabbed my coat, ran down the stairs, and out the door. I had no idea where I was going, so I just wandered aimlessly around. Then I saw several cars parked outside a house. One being Mum’s car. Wondering if that’s where Mum and Grandma’s Coven were, I went up to the house, and rang the doorbell.
Getting no answer, I pushed the door open, and went inside.
I looked all about me, feeling more and more like Harry Potter. I noticed the door to a room was shut, where all the other doors were open. There was a green glow coming from he bottom of the door. Curiously, cautiously, I opened the door a little, and peeked inside
I nearly in fright. Mum, Grandma, and their Coven - there must have been eight in total - were all pointing their wands at an old woman. There were green sparks coming from their wands, and the sparks were keeping the woman aloft.
I recognised this as Levicorpus, a spell used for blackmail. It was illegal for White Witches to use on other White Witches. It was only used in really extreme circumstances, like o a Black Witch who was threatening danger.
“Okay, girls, let her down!!!” Mum called out. The Coven lowered their wands, lowering the Black Witch with them. Grandma stepped forward.
“Now, Fairuza,” she said. “Do you promise to leave and never come back?”
‘Fairuza?’ I thought to myself. ‘Haven’t I heard that name before, somewhere?’
“Never!!!” Screamed the Black Witch named Fairuza. “I came for what is mine, oh darling sister!!!”
Then I remembered where I’d heard her name before. Grandma’s sister, who we never, ever talk about.
Fairuza was really scary looking. She looked a lot like Grandma, except her face was full of warts, and she had a long, hooked nose. A warty face and a hooked nose were the sure signs a witch was a Black Witch, Grandma once told me.
Fairuza stood up, and looked around at the Coven surrounding her. The she looked toward the door, our eyes locked. She had bright, yellow ones that were slitted like a cat’s. They bore into my sky-blue eyes. Then she pointed at me, and gave a loud shriek.
“There she is!!!” She screamed. The Coven all turned and looked at me as well.
“Hannah Baker!!!” Mum scolded. “What are you doing here?”
Fairuza let out an ear-splitting yelp and ran towards me.
I panicked. Not really sure what I was doing, I pointed my finger towards her, and yelled out: “PUFFIUS MAXIMUS!!!”
One minute, Fairuza was running towards me, and the next, she was gone, leaving behind only a trail of golden sparks.
When the sparks had subsided, I looked around at the Coven. There was dead silence, then they all started clapping. Mum and Grandma came running towards me.
“Well done, Hannah,” Mum positively beamed. “You wasn’t supposed to come here. But I’m glad you did. Thanks.”
“How did you know the spell to banish a Black Witch?” Grandma asked. “White Witches have been trying to figure it out for thousands of years!!!”
“I used the same spell in one of my lessons on an apple,” I answered.
“Well, we’re so glad you did,” said Adriana, a member of the Coven. “Thank you, Hannah.”
“Yes, thank you, Hannah,” the rest of the Coven parroted.
“You are a Hedge Witch, Hannah,” Mum told me.
“What’s a Hedge Witch?”
It means you can perform spells on your own. Not like me and your grandma. We’re Coven Witches. We can only perform spells with other witches.”
“And what did Fairuza mean when she said she’s come for what she needs. And why
did she come running towards me?”
Mum sighed. “I knew this day was eventually going to come. Well, Hannah, it started a long time ago.”
“Fairuza and I are twins,” Grandma carried on. “As you know, Wicca’s been in our family for centuries. There was a prophecy stated that Wiccan twins would be born one day to our family. Wiccan twins are rare,” Grandma said, seeing my confused look. “It was said one twin would be a Black Witch while the other would be a White Witch. The Black Witch twin would eventually use her evil powers to take over the world. And she would use a relation of her’s to be our assistant. This wouldn’t be any old relation. But a Gifted Relation. This Gifted Relation would know a special spell which would be useful to the Black Witch twin.”
“So, what happened when you and Fairuza was born?”
“Well, at the time, my family were Hedge Witches, and we lived in solitary confinement. Our mum and dad kept both of us and nobody found out we were twins. People would only see one or the other of us. But not both of us at the same time. Both my parents were White Witches, and they hoped both of us would be as well. Until the fateful day Fairuza sold her soul to the Devil.
“The prophecy came true. Fairuza became a Black Witch, whereas I stayed a White one. And Fairuza chose her assistant. A Gifted Relation. That’s you, my dear. Fairuza foresaw you knew of the Special Spell, and she hoped to use it to take over the world. Except you used it on her first.”
Grandma finished her story, smiling at me. I felt something truly magic had happened. Not the fact that I was a Wiccan, but the fact that I was going to change the world…