Jill Murphy

Au milieu du premier trimestre, les élèves recevaient chacune un chaton à qui elles devaient enseigner l'art de se tenir sur un balai. Le chat n'avait aucune utilité particulière, il était simplement là pour préserver la tradition. Dans certaines écoles de sorcellerie, on préfère distribuer des hiboux, au lieu de chatons, mais c'est là une simple affaire de goût.

'I wonder,' said Miss Cackle,'if there is any hope at all for you in this Academy. You take one pace forward then four paces backward; it's the same old story, Mildred, isn't it ? And the term only just begun.

Perhaps being worst at everything is catching - you know, like measles.

( Peut-être qu'être la pire en tout est contagieux , tu sais, comme la rougeole.)

She (Mildred) was one of those unfortunate people who seem to invite disaster wherever they go. Despite her efforts to be helpful and well-behaved, Mildred had an uncanny knack of appearing to be the cause of any trouble which was occulting, and it must be admitted that there were occasions (particularly when her rather wild imagination ran away with her) when she managed to turn some peaceful event into a scene of total chaos.

Everything I do just seems to go wrong, that's all. I don't mean to do it.

Magic broomsticks are very curious things. If they are owned by one person for a very long time (…), they develop a strange kind of intuition about their owners. In the same way that a dog will stand at the front door and wag its tail when its master is getting boot a bus at the end of the street, a broomstick can sometimes sense that its owner is nearby, and if the owner is in trouble, the sense is even more acute.

I do think tortoises probably are incredibly dim. They look as if they only have about one brain cell [...].

[...] there seem to be new schools for sorcery popping up like mushrooms these days.

Don't get too excited, Miss Cackle, I'm sure she'll manage some little disaster before too long [...] !

Obviously pottery is a subject fraught with danger for everyone else while you are in the class, Mildred!

Miss Granite seems to have had a personality transplant. All that easygoing stuff and now she's turned into Attila the Hun !

The most annoying thing about Ethel was her ability to convince you that she might, just this once, be truly sorry about whatever unpleasant thing she'd done recently and was actually going to make amends. Mildred fell for it every time.

Elle a enfin trois minutes et quarante-cinq secondes de tranquillité... avant que les enfants ne débarquent tous les trois !

'I have to hand it to you, Mily,' said Maud with a smile. 'Things are never boring when you're around ! I don't know why H.B. calls you the Worst Witch. I think she ought to create a special award just for you ! '
'You're unique ! ' laughed Enid. 'The one and only, never-to-be-repeated Mildred Hubble - always gets out of trouble, whatever it is ! '

[...] everyone knows that losing graciously is just as important as winning in any competition !

'Good morning, Mildred' (…). 'I suppose it is too much to hope for that you are sent here with a message, or for some innocent reason?'

Dans la maison, Bébé Ours avait fini par s'endormir; Maman Ours s'était retournée et ne ronflait plus. Papa Ours se glissa dans son lit et ferma les yeux. "Enfin la paix!" se dit-il en lui-même.

Personne ne va te cafarder, puisque le cafard, c'est toi.

Amandine Malabul était nouvelle à l'académie: c'était sa première année d'études en sorcellerie et, pour tout dire, elle avait plutôt mal commencé. Amandine n'avait aucune intention d'enfreindre la discipline ni de contrarier ses professeurs, mais elle faisait partie de ces infortunés que la malchance prend un malin plaisir à plonger sans cesse dans l'embarras et il lui arrivait toujours quelque chose de fâcheux.

Really, Mildred, (...) I have run out of things to say to you. Weef after week you come here, sent by every members of staff in the school, and my words just seem to go straight in one ear and out of the other. You will never get the Witches' Higher Certificate if this appalling conduct continues. You must be the worst witch in the entire school.