Bagsy had packed all the things she'd need to take home for Christmas in her trunk and her satchel, she would carry a cage with her two pet rats and the box with the living stampelia separately. Professor Wattleseed had commented that her and Winifred's living stampelia looked the best in the class, and that it might fully transform if they kept up their good work, unlike quite a few pairs in the class who had already accidentally killed their living stampelias. Wattleseed said they hadn't supervised their sun hours and their plants had died of loneliness. The thought had made Bagsy rather sad.
Mezrielda joined Bagsy at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast. Bagsy had offered to sit at the Slytherin table every now and then, but Mezrielda pointed out that she was a massive wimp and would turn into a mouse under the snake-like glares of the other Slytherins. Bagsy had grumbled her agreement.
When they finished their food, Mezrielda and Bagsy walked down to where students were lined up to take the horse-drawn carriages, and noticed they didn't have to carry their own bags, Professor Hilkins informing them they'd be by the station when they arrived there. Bagsy was grateful – it was snowing heavily, and she didn't feel like carrying her bags herself.
'At the start of term, we had to take our own luggage,' Bagsy murmured to Mezrielda.
'Well, it's obvious, isn't it?' Mezrielda responded. Bagsy gave her a quizzical look and Mezrielda rolled her eyes. 'Belta Zotova – the grounds keeper – she must take the luggage to and from the castle for us. She wasn't here at the start of term, so she couldn't do it.' Bagsy nodded. It made sense and she felt silly for not realising it herself.
When they were at the front of the line and about to get on a carriage someone tapped Bagsy on the shoulder, and she turned around to see Professor Fitzsimmons looking down at her with their dark, amplified eyes. 'I'll see you on the train,' Bagsy said to a perplexed Mezrielda as she was pulled aside. Students paid little attention to them, but even so, Fitzsimmons waved their wand and Bagsy noticed a slight muffling of their words. Clearly, they wanted this conversation to be private.
'Bagsyllia,' Fitzsimmons began calmly, without the frustration Bagsy had grown accustomed to, 'despite your lack of progress,' there it was, 'we will continue our lessons after the Christmas holidays. I expect you to practise as much as you can until then.' Professor Fitzsimmons took a wrapped package out of their brown and white sweeping robes. 'This might help.'
Bagsy took the package, feeling it was a book instantly, and a thrill of excitement coursed through her as she wondered if it was a perfect set on instructions explaining how to cast spells.
'I know I've been short with you this term,' Fitzsimmons said awkwardly and Bagsy looked up at them in confusion. 'I must apologise – I know you are trying your hardest.' Bagsy just blinked, unsure what to say or do. 'I'm still considering different approaches to learning, and whether these private lessons are helpful or a hindrance though, hopefully, they will be more successful. This,' Fitzsimmons tapped the package, 'should help.'
With Fitzsimmons' cryptic message playing in Bagsy's head, she boarded one of the remaining carriages, Mezrielda having already taken one herself. She was sharing with some Gryffindors in the older years, as well as two people she recognised. Jonathan Krinkle, the younger brother of the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, and Itsuki Elmore, the Hufflepuff boy with a mohawk. The sides of his hairstyle were now starting to grow back, and it looked even worse than before.
'Hello, I'm Jon,' Jon Krinkle said.
Bagsy smiled shyly at him and Itsuki. 'Um, h-hi,' she stammered, hoping they'd leave her alone.
'You were at the Quidditch match,' Jon said. Bagsy nodded. 'How'd you find it?'
'It was okay…'
Jon pushed on. 'Who was your favourite player?'
Bagsy thought for a second. 'Probably Greenda. I think she flies really well-'
'Aha!' Jon cried triumphantly, whilst Bagsy startled and Itsuki looked amused. 'Finally!'
Bagsy asked, 'Um… only… what do you mean?'
Itsuki laughed. 'Jon here is very upset about how popular his brother is.'
Bagsy sympathised – sometimes it felt like her sister was a better version of herself. She said, 'If it helps, I didn't pay much attention to Ford. In fact, I can't remember what position he plays.'
'Ha!' Jon cried out again, and one of the older Gryffindors harshly shushed Jon, who shrugged it off. 'That's made my day,' he declared.
Bagsy smiled. 'Glad to have helped.'
When she arrived at the station she grabbed her bags and hurried onto the train, searching for Mezrielda, finding her in a compartment on her own at the back of the train.
'You took your time,' Mezrielda commented as Bagsy let out a sigh and sunk into her seat, flopping her trunk and satchel on the space next to her. 'Wingardium Leviosa,' Mezrielda cast, lifting the luggage into the overhead storage spaces.
'Thanks,' wheezed an out of breath Bagsy and Mezrielda shrugged, looking out the window at the morning sky. The snow was laying thick and the woods between them and Hogwarts castle were almost entirely white.
They spent the journey discussing the two riddles surrounding the thorned gauntlet. Bagsy tried to dub the riddle Mezrielda had read in the book, riddle one, and the riddle from the girl's toilet, riddle two.
'So creative,' Mezrielda drawled mockingly when Bagsy suggested the titles for the two riddles.
'It's better than toilet riddle and gauntlet riddle,' Bagsy pointed out.
Mezrielda paused, then smirked. 'I'm going to call them toilet riddle and gauntlet riddle, just to bother you.'
Bagsy puffed out her cheeks indignantly but didn't see how to change Mezrielda's mind. 'You sure you don't want any of this 'childish food'?' Bagsy asked, the trolley lady having passed them with all sorts of sugary goods.
Mezrielda sneered in disgust before sipping her pumpkin juice. 'I'd rather die.'
'That's extreme,' said Bagsy, pulling her Ghost Floss apart. Instead of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans she got last time, she bought Tongue Tying Tear Drops and Ghost Floss. After trying the Ghost Floss, she popped one of the small, tear shaped sweets into her mouth and felt her tongue seize up and twist around. It was an unpleasant feeling at first before a burst of sugar joined the sensation, the sweetness spreading over her whole tongue making Bagsy understand the necessity of the twisting. 'Mmm. Dat's weally uud!' she managed to exclaim around her twisting tongue, having another one.
'That's revolting.' Mezrielda looked at Bagsy with the greatest contempt she'd managed yet. Bagsy tried to mimic her facial expression and Mezrielda huffed, looking out the window in a strop.
'Oh! I almost forgot,' Bagsy said once her tongue had returned to normal. She reached up for her satchel, grabbed the strap, and pulled it down. It caught on her trunk that slipped forward as well, the rat cage following closely with panicked squeaks from Jill and Bill.
'Arresto momentum,' Mezrielda cast without even looking, sounding bored. 'How many times are you going to knock things over?' Bagsy's trunk softly floated onto the seat next to her, the rat cage managing to stay up on the shelf.
'Oops, sorry,' Bagsy said awkwardly, then fished a card out of her satchel and held it out to Mezrielda, who looked down at it silently. 'It's a Christmas card,' Bagsy explained. 'Or a happy holidays card – it changes depending – look just take it.' Bagsy forced it into Mezrielda's hand. She'd asked her sister to send her the card so she could give it to Mezrielda in person before Christmas.
'I didn't get you anything,' Mezrielda said quietly. For once she seemed speechless. Bagsy felt that was a gift enough.
'It's okay, just don't open it until Christmas, or, at least, until you're not in the same compartment as me,' Bagsy said seriously. There was little she hated more than people opening cards or gifts from her while she was still there – it was just another social interaction for her to get wrong. Mezrielda nodded and put the card, that had been scrunched up in Bagsy's bag, carefully away in her own, and when Mezrielda opened her bag Bagsy couldn't help but notice the number of shining objects that were inside of it. 'What's all that?' she asked.
Mezrielda snapped her bag shut, her face flushing. 'None of your business,' she snapped, but Bagsy was curious and decided to bide her time.
They went back to discussing the thorned gauntlet again, and the toilet riddle versus the gauntlet riddle, but didn't come up with anything new.
'If only I had the rest of the gauntlet riddle,' Mezrielda grumbled. 'I bet I could solve it then.'
'It does feel like we only have half of the puzzle,' Bagsy agreed, with a strange feeling in the back of her mind, like something obvious was being withheld from her own thoughts, but she couldn't decide what it was.
Mezrielda was looking out the window peacefully and seemed deep in thought so Bagsy reached out and used the tip of her hornbeam wand to push open her bag. She saw a few shiny buttons, some glinting stones, a needle, some marbles and a whole bunch of bottle caps, all of them very shiny.
Mezrielda shoved Bagsy's hand away and pulled her bag shut. 'What did I say, Bagsy?' she hissed.
'Sorry, I just really wanted to know-'
'So, you forcibly opened my bag? Despite how clear I was that I didn't want you to?' Mezrielda clenched her jaw. She looked very mad. Bagsy didn't know what to say, she knew she shouldn't have looked, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
'I'm sorry,' Bagsy murmured.
Mezrielda scoffed. 'I'm sorry,' she repeated mockingly, then stood up, cast a levitation spell on her belongings, and left the compartment.
'Where are you going?' Bagsy asked after her.
'Somewhere I won't be spied on,' Mezrielda shot back, walking down the train. Bagsy sat back down in her seat, feeling miserable as she watched the landscape go by.
Mezrielda didn't return for the rest of the journey, and when the train pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters she couldn't spot the sleek, black hair of Mezrielda anywhere, either. Bagsy sadly resigned herself to the fact that they'd ended on an argument right before Christmas and directed herself to the nearby Floo station to get home.
With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Bagsy appeared in her living room's fireplace, not sure why she felt so empty at returning home. She reckoned it was because of how different her home felt from Hogwarts castle. It didn't look like a wizard's home – it was very spacious, with lots of white and hard edges, and more rooms than she and her family could hope to make good use of. Even the furniture felt harsh and empty.
Bagsy looked out the floor to ceiling windows that seemed present in every direction. At least outside the house there was a massive garden surrounded on all sides by a woods, and she could look out and imagine she was back in the Hufflepuff common room, seeing the feet of her fellow students walk by above her head.
Bagsy didn't know if her mother and father were home, or if her sister was at work, so she carried her things up to her room and began unpacking, letting her rats out first. They would crawl up her robes and sit on her shoulder or make little nibbling noises as they scurried around her soft double bed. It made Bagsy feel less alone.
Her room was spacious but, unlike the rest of the house, it was filled with stuff. All her experiments from before Hogwarts were still there – the different toys she'd taken apart and rebuilt or merged with other toys, with strange blueprints she'd made pinned onto every available wall space. Even the rickety grappling hook she'd cobbled together from spare pieces of wood was there. Her massive desk was the only exception – entirely clean and bare – the shelves surrounding it had a few books and some parchment, but nothing more. Bagsy planned on stocking it full of potions equipment and ingredients when she was older and less likely to explode the house with foolish experiments.
Even so she thought, dimly, that she'd rather have no potions kit and be at Hogwarts, than alone at home. With a start she realised she might miss Hogwarts. Suddenly, spending the Christmas holidays alone didn't feel so nice.
It wasn't a feeling she was used to.