The sun is shining outside and makes the leaves of the trees around the little witch's cottage glow. Between the thick cushions of moss on the ground many white star flowers have grown in the last few days. Witch Holterpolter likes those best, but right now she can't enjoy the star flowers at all. She sits at the table in the kitchen and stares into space. Holterpolter has only been going to witch school for a year, but she has already learned a lot: she can brew the simple potions from the thick book of the Forest Witches and, with the help of the magic witching globe, she manages to see things in the near future.

At first she couldn't fly on the broom at all, but by now she can take off and fly a meter above the ground. The other witch pupils don't get everything right straight away either, but their teacher Hannihopp explains well and helps them where she can. But today everything simply went wrong! "Oh dear, oh dear, oh my!" Holterpolter wails, tearing at her hair. "What's the matter with you?" asks a tiny voice. A small spider is descending on its thread from the lamp above the kitchen table and swings back and forth in front of Holterpolter's face. Holterpolter sighs: "Oh, it was terrible, simply awful!" she tells her little friend. "When Head Witch Ruckelbuckel, the school's director, came into our class today to see what we'd learned so far, I got very nervous. The witching globe slipped from my hands and rolled across the floor. Then I completely forgot the ingredients for the wart-away tincture and in the end the cough syrup in the cooking pot exploded!" "What?" shrieks the spider Sinni. "How did that happen?" Holterpolter groans: "I'm not really sure myself. I think I mixed up thyme with the witch powder Toximoxi. We're not even allowed to take the Toximoxi jar off the shelf yet. I can't explain it at all. But of all moments, when Head Witch Ruckelbuckel looked into the pot it started to bubble and boil … and then there was a bang and the Head Witch was covered from head to toe in green slime." "Really?" asks Sinni. "Yes, really! Unfortunately…" Holterpolter answers. "I'm so embarrassed," she says, tearing at her hair again. Her hair is now completely tousled and knotted into nests. "And what did Ruckelbuckel say? Or your teacher Hannihopp?" asks Sinni. "No idea! I ran away and came straight home," answers Holterpolter, sniffling. "Oh my goodness!" cries the little spider. "You didn't apologize?" Holterpolter shakes her head. "No, no, no, that's not acceptable!" Sinni scolds the witch pupil. "I know," Holterpolter replies, "but I'm afraid. I'm sure I'll have so many punishments to do now that I won't know where to begin."

"Still, you have to apologize!" Sinni says firmly. "I'll go with you and then you can do it," she offers her friend. Holterpolter sighs, but then she gets up. She puts on her witch's hat and ties her witch's cloak around her. "Yes, you're right. Come sit on my shoulder, Sinni, then I might dare," she says. So the two friends leave the little witch's house and set off back to witch school. Once there, the witch pupil knocks timidly on the director's door, carefully presses down the handle and looks into the room. Head Witch Ruckelbuckel and their teacher Hannihopp are sitting together. Holterpolter's heart sinks into her witch dress. "Did you want to speak with us?" asks the director. The witch pupil nods timidly and stammers: "Yes, well I… um… wanted to… apologize for… well… I'm sorry that the cough syrup…" Holterpolter breaks off and turns bright red. She can't go on. "Oh, little witch pupil, it's not that bad!" Ruckelbuckel reassures her. "You know, when we were pupils there were plenty of accidents too." "True!" confirms Hannihopp and tells: "I once slipped off my broom and my teacher had to rescue me from the top of a tall fir tree." "And once a potion exploded for me too," adds Ruckelbuckel. "Really?" asks Holterpolter and already feels much better. "During my exam to become a witch teacher I didn't control the temperature under the cauldron properly and soon everything vanished in a stinking blue cloud. My goodness, I smelled awful for days afterward," Ruckelbuckel recounts. "I suppose I'm lucky that your cough syrup didn't smell strange, it was only green and slimy. But you must promise to be more careful when putting ingredients together in the future," the Head Witch adds and smiles at Holterpolter. "I'm glad you had the courage to apologize. Things can't always go smoothly, but you have to be able to admit mistakes and learn from them," says Hannihopp to her witch pupil. "See?" Sinni whispers in her friend's ear. Holterpolter nods and says goodbye relieved. "What a crazy school day!" she says outside to Sinni. "First I need a big cup of chamomile tea." "Maybe you need glasses if you can't read the labels on the jars properly," the little spider suggests. "That's probably not necessary, I'll just have to be more careful next time," Holterpolter says and walks out into the witch forest with her friend on her shoulder. "Because I can see those beautiful star flowers over there perfectly!" she says, laughing.