'Lalalalalalalala!' Bagsy cried loudly, running down a corridor to her left and away from Tod, who was shouting something after her. She hoped that if she drowned out his words he wouldn't be able to change her memories. If she couldn't hear Tod he couldn't make her forget, she figured.

Bagsy was already bad at running but trying to sprint while carrying a heavy brick was another thing. Thankfully, the great hall wasn't too far away – if she could only get there before Tod everything would be fine.

But then, she realised, that wasn't true. Tod could make her forget even if teachers were around. It's not like teachers would stop Tod from simply talking to her. With a sinking feeling, Bagsy started to panic. In her panic, her feet took her to where she hoped Mezrielda would be, and she burst into the great hall. The students sitting at the end of the table closest to her looked up in surprised silence. For once, Bagsy wasn't fazed by the attention, she was too busy scanning the hall for Mezrielda to care. Her panic rose when she couldn't spot Mezrielda's sleek hair anywhere. Tod was hurrying towards her, and fast, so Bagsy ran to the Hufflepuff table and ducked under it.

'Hey!' a Hufflepuff exclaimed indignantly. 'What are you-'

'Ssh!' Bagsy hastily hushed him. 'Please,' she added politely, crawling along beneath the table, muttering apologies as she butted into people's legs. She came to a stop, flattening herself to the floor and staying as still as possible, swamped by the bags of the students sitting around her she hoped she was out of sight. Nervously, she watched Tod's feet walk down the length of the Hufflepuff table. They paused next to where Bagsy was and for a horrifying moment the boy crouched down and peered in her direction. She tensed, holding her breath and closing her eyes. In the shadows below the table, she must have been well hidden, because Tod straightened back up with an annoyed hiss and continued down the table.

It took Bagsy a few minutes of not believing her luck, and then working up her courage, before she crawled back out from under the table. Tod was at the other end, leaning down to check below, not seeing that the person he was searching for had emerged from her hiding spot. Thanking the stars, Bagsy turned and ran from the hall, hoping Tod wouldn't turn around and see her.

She ran aimlessly, not sure where she was going or what she was doing, but when Bagsy rounded a corner and saw Mezrielda walking next to Professor Fitzsimmons, relief overcame her.

'Ah, Bagsyllia,' Fitzsimmons smiled at Bagsy, whilst Mezrielda looked at Bagsy with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. 'One of the librarians left me a note,' they explained, waving a slip of paper through the air. 'She wrote to let you know, like Mezrielda here, that you have some overdue books. I was just on my way to collect you to have them returned.' Fitzsimmons walked towards Bagsy, Mezrielda in tow, their face neutral but pleasant. Then, as they drew nearer, Fitzsimmons' large eyes landed on the brick in her hands and their gaze changed to something terrifying. 'What is that…?' they said quietly, their eyes searching for an answer they couldn't find. 'Whatever that is, it is dangerous. You must give me that brick,' they ordered in a low voice. Bagsy didn't move. 'Now,' Fitzsimmons snapped, before moving to take the brick from her with a speed Bagsy hadn't expected.

'She isn't holding a brick!' an out of breath voice sounded from behind her, and Bagsy felt the air around her drop to the depths of cold she'd expect at the north pole.

Fitzsimmons' brown eyes fixed on the student behind Bagsy and froze, hands inches away from taking the brick from her. Glancing over her shoulder Bagsy saw Tod, looking strained.

'Excuse me?' Fitzsimmons's voice sounded tight, as if their focus was elsewhere.

Bagsy awkwardly stepped out of the way of the two who seemed to have begun a staring contest and scrambled over to Mezrielda. 'You have to drink this!' she urged Mezrielda, managing to shift the brick to one hand while producing the draught of silver cleanse from her robe with the other.

Mezrielda crinkled her nose in distaste. 'Why?'

Fitzsimmons' voice drawled out tensely from behind them. 'Yes... she wasn't holding a brick…' they said, each word sounding like a battle. With a start, Bagsy realised Fitzsimmons was fighting Tod's power. She spared a look back at the two and saw them both standing rigid. Tod's face was red, and a vein had appeared on his forehead, whilst Fitzsimmons hands were clasped so tightly they'd gone white.

'Because what Tod is doing to Fitzsimmons he has already done to you,' Bagsy rushed out, shoving the vial into Mezrielda's hand and pushing it towards her face. 'Please, I need you to have your memories back… I'm begging you.' She was getting desperate. She didn't know who out of Tod or Fitzsimmons would win, or how long it would take, but she didn't want to stick around to find out.

Mezrielda looked from Fitzsimmons to Tod to Bagsy, her eyes narrowing. 'Why should I trust you?' she asked and Bagsy's heart sank. To be honest, it wasn't because she was worried they'd fail to get the gauntlet, it was more that she'd grown used to Mezrielda being her friend, or the closest thing Mezrielda could be to a friend, and the harsh, cold words were an icy stab in her gut.

Bagsy let the brick drop out of her hands to the floor and placed her hands on Mezrielda's shoulders, looking her dead in the eye. 'You do trust me, Mezrielda,' she begged, thinking back to when Mezrielda had shared her quest for the gauntlet with her, before they'd grown used to each other's company. If she had been willing to trust her with such a secret then, Bagsy hoped she'd be willing to trust her now. 'You know you do.' She didn't need to force sincerity into her voice.

Mezrielda's brown eyes searched Bagsy's hazel. It felt like Mezrielda was poking around in her mind her gaze was so sharp, even if Bagsy knew that wasn't really the case.

At last Mezrielda nodded, frowning in determination, and downed the contents of the vial. Her eyes misted over for a moment, before the fog cleared away, and a look of understanding spread over her features as her memories returned. 'Run!' she said suddenly, grabbing the brick from the floor. 'Go, go, GO!' She took off in the direction of the spiral staircase and Bagsy followed, glancing over her shoulder to see Fitzsimmons' shoulders begin to relax as Tod's memory altering power overcame them. Bagsy didn't think they'd have long before Tod would be on their heels again.

Out of breath and heart racing Bagsy caught up to Mezrielda who was standing at the entrance to the spiral staircase. Mezrielda was mumbling something to herself – Bagsy thought it sounded like one of the riddles, but she didn't quite catch which part of which riddle it was.

'What now?' Bagsy asked breathlessly.

Mezrielda didn't look at her and Bagsy felt dread curl in her stomach at the rising of her shoulders.

Mezrielda said, 'Can you cry?'

Confusion made Bagsy stutter. 'W-what?'

'Can you make yourself cry?'

Narrowing her eyes, puzzled at the random question, Bagsy shook her head. 'Of course not. Not on command.'

'Then…' Mezrielda's voice trailed off. She drew in a long breath, before rounding on Bagsy, her eyes fiery. 'Then what took you so long? You should have been quicker to return my memories! Instead you wait until the last possible second, until Tod is right on your heels and about the get the gauntlet!' She maliciously shook the brick in Bagsy's face as she spoke.

Bagsy stared blankly at her, a lump forming in her throat. 'I'm sorry,' she said truthfully. 'I was so tired of being the only one who can't cast spells. I try so hard, Mezrielda, but it doesn't matter, I can't do it. I can't cast spells no matter how much I practise or how patient I am…' She felt tears prick her eyes but she forced them away. 'Maybe you were right, maybe- maybe I am a squib…'

Something passed over Mezrielda's face, as if she'd found something she'd lost and couldn't be more upset about. 'Maybe you're a squib?' she echoed, her voice sounding as strained as Fitzsimmons' had been. Mezrielda scoffed. 'There's no doubt about it. You're definitely are a squib.' Bagsy looked at her silently, a burning in her chest evaporating her energy. 'It won't be long before the professors realise and kick you out. Squibs don't belong in Hogwarts.'

'Is that what you really think?' Bagsy asked, her own voice sounding so far away.

Mezrielda fixed her with her iciest look yet. 'Yes.'

Bagsy stood still. First a few tears rolled down her cheeks, then her face scrunched up in sorrow as she sniffed away the first few sobs. Soon, she was crying, her face in her hands.

'Come on,' Mezrielda grabbed Bagsy's wrist and hauled her after her and into the staircase.

Bagsy let herself be dragged along, drawing in ragged breaths, picturing herself spending her life locked in her room back at home with no magic and no friends, or as a lonely bog hag with no future to speak of. The torches that lined the walls of the endless staircase seemed to laugh at Bagsy as they went, casting amber light onto the tight, spiralling steps, and she swore they were quietly chanting the word 'squib' with each step she took.

Bagsy nearly crashed into Mezrielda when she suddenly stopped and whipped around to face her.

'My doors will open if you grieve,' Mezrielda said softly, quoting the riddle, and Bagsy looked at her in confusion. She reckoned she must look a mess from the piteous expression that filled Mezrielda's features. 'Bagsy, the riddle explains that for the endless staircase to let you in someone has to be crying. Otherwise, it's just an ordinary staircase that leads to the floor below.' Bagsy's eyes widened, but Mezrielda wasn't finished. 'You're not a squib, Bagsy. A squib couldn't have untangled my cursed hair, or made the Hufflepuff team new brooms, or returned my memories to me.' The compliments clearly came difficultly from Mezrielda, struggling to get through her clenched teeth, but she said them all the same. 'And even if you were a squib you'd…' Mezrielda's voice fell to a self-conscious mumble. 'You'd still be pretty cool. Not as cool as me, of course, but cool all the same.'

Bagsy blinked away tears and sniffed a few more times, feeling a tad strange at all the nice words. Mezrielda thought she was the second coolest person in Hogwarts, then. 'You didn't mean what you said?'

Mezrielda looked awkwardly away with a pained expression. 'No. You needed to cry so I could get us in here. I would have done it myself but… Well, that doesn't matter right now. Listen, I'm–' Mezrielda cut short of an apology. Instead, she produced her wand from her robe. 'Now to pass the test,' she announced instead, referencing the riddle once more. Bagsy felt her heart race with nerves, her eyes fixed on the brick in Mezrielda's hand.

'Bagsy!' Tod's voice echoed down the stairs furiously, and Mezrielda and Bagsy both startled.

'Quick!' Bagsy urged, not sure what the test the riddle had spoken of was or how to pass it.

'I have to take my time, Bagsy,' Mezrielda murmured, her brow furrowed in concentration and the tip of her wand glowed. 'Detego Gloriam,' Mezrielda cast, her voice quiet.

Nothing happened.

Bagsy heard Tod's footsteps getting closer. 'We need to move, Mezrielda,' she urged.

Mezrielda nodded, walking quickly down the steps, her eyes still fixed on the brick. 'Detego Gloriam!' she said again, her voice thick with effort. Bagsy watched hopefully but the brick didn't change. 'Why isn't it working!' Mezrielda hissed. 'I made this spell specifically for this, it should be working!' She looked at Bagsy in frustration.

'Don't give up now, Mezrielda,' Bagsy said, surprising herself with her calm voice. 'Keep trying.'

Mezrielda looked at her silently, drew in a breath, and turned back to the gauntlet.

Tod's footsteps were gaining on them and Bagsy drew her walnut wand out of her robe. She didn't know what she intended to do with it, but she had to try.

'Detego Gloriam!' Mezrielda hissed, her voice sounding desperate. 'It's meant to return a powerful object that has been transformed back to its former glory-'

'Stop explained and keep trying!' Bagsy hissed back. Tod's shadow fell on the wall above them. 'And hurry!'

'Detego Gloriam!' Mezrielda kept casting the spell, but it didn't seem to be working.

Bagsy saw Tod round the corner.

'Locomotor Mortis.' Tod shot a spell at Mezrielda. Bagsy opened her mouth to warn her but it wasn't necessary. Without looking Mezrielda flicked her wand behind herself as if it was child's play, countering the jinx with an absent minded utter, before returning her attention to the brick.

Bagsy stepped between Tod and Mezrielda. 'Ignore him and focus,' she instructed Mezrielda, her hand shaking as she raised her wand to point it at Tod.

Tod laughed. 'I've seen your spell casting, Bagsy. You can't seriously think it's suddenly going to work now?' When Bagsy fixed him with a harsh look and raised her wand, Tod gave her a crooked smile and shrugged. 'Alright, then. Locomotor mortis,' he cast lazily. Bagsy, thinking of all the practise she'd done, hours and hours and hours of it, tried to counter the jinx.

In spite of her efforts, she felt her legs lock together and her body tip backwards. With a sinking feeling, Bagsy felt herself crash into Mezrielda, and with yelps of surprise, the two of them tumbled a few steps before coming to a stop. Bagsy felt stupid. Of course, she'd only get in the way.

'Perfect, Bagsy!' Mezrielda said and Bagsy felt shame crawl up her back. It took her a second to realise Mezrielda wasn't being sarcastic and Bagsy cast her gaze to the brick in Mezrielda's hand. Only, it wasn't a brick anymore.

A gauntlet composed entirely of thorns was clasped in her palm, the spikes writhing around each other as if alive, and Bagsy's mouth gaped in disbelief.

'Give it here,' Tod snarled and Bagsy felt the air around her grow cold and lifeless. Bagsy looked at Tod helplessly, awaiting the loss of her memories as Tod opened his mouth to speak once more. Bagsy knew they were done for.

'Major bibulous!' Mezrielda shrieked, struggling out from under Bagsy and staggering to her feet, gauntlet still in hand. A sudden, splitting noise filled the staircase, seeming to shake the air itself with its power. With a cry of surprise and fear Bagsy covered her ears, Tod doing much the same.

Mezrielda raised the gauntlet above her head and shut her eyes, the thorns moving as if to slide down over her hand. This was it. Mezrielda was making her wish.

Bagsy squeezed her eyes shut. There was too much noise and too much stress. She wanted all of this to be over already. Ruefully, she wondered how this could get any worse, and regretted her thought when she felt the staircase rock to the side. Tod and Mezrielda, who had both been standing, grabbed the hand rail at the side for balance, Mezrielda managing to keep the gauntlet in her grip, evidently not having had the chance to make her wish yet.

Bagsy, who'd been lying on the stairs from her tumble, and with her legs still locked together, felt herself slip further down the spiral stairs, past Mezrielda, and out of sight of Tod.

The ear aching noise ended as Mezrielda dismissed her spell. 'Bagsy!' she called in worry as a different loud noise took her spell's place. Bagsy thought it sounded like stone crumbling as she flashed back to when she'd dug the brick out of the owlery's wall and accidentally dropped it and her eyes widened as she looked back at Mezrielda.

Mezrielda, still ignoring the moment she had to make her wish, instead cast the counter spell to the leg locking jinx on Bagsy, who felt her limbs free themselves from each other. In her moment of distraction, the gauntlet shot out of Mezrielda's hand and flew up the staircase, away from her.

'No!' Mezrielda cried, running after it as Bagsy scrambled to her feet and followed. Her heart sank as she wondered if Tod had used a summoning charm to steal the gauntlet, yet as she ascended she saw the gauntlet whizz past Tod's surprised looking face.

All three students rushed up the stairs, away from the noise of collapse and towards the thorned gauntlet. Tod tried to shove Mezrielda back, who grasped at his robes to pull him over, all the while Bagsy was struggling to keep up, trying her best to focus on the steps and not trip. When the rumbling of the staircase began to shake in her bones she looked behind her and felt her breath catch in her throat.

The stones composing the spiral staircase were falling away into darkness one by one, with increasing speed. An abyss gaped just behind Bagsy's feet, waiting to swallow her whole should she fall.

'Mezrielda, the stairs!' Bagsy called, out of breath, to where she was ten or so steps above. Mezrielda glanced back and her face paled. Bagsy had to consciously force her own legs to move, taking two steps at a time, dragging in tight breaths and hauling herself along using the hand rail to the side. The torches seemed to arch over her head and giggle maliciously at her plight, their flames casting odd shadows on the steps that moved around, disorienting her.

Tod seemed to be having a similar problem as, the next second, he tripped onto his face with a thud. Mezrielda passed him quickly, her hand reaching forward, inches from the gauntlet.

Bagsy was about to do the same, her heart racing with fear, but then she saw the look on Tod's face as she was about to pass him. He hadn't been nice to them but, then again, wasn't he just another kid looking for a magic item that could grant him whatever he wanted? Bagsy had never seen Tod look more like a child than he did right then, and it struck her that he didn't deserve to fall into the darkness, never to be seen again. 'Come on,' Bagsy urged him, stopping the step below Tod and helping him to his feet. 'Keep going, Tod-' she was cut off by a shriek of surprise as the step below her own feet disappeared into the depths below, feeling herself drop and just managing to grab on to the step above her.

The second Bagsy had slipped, the collapse of the stairs halted, and silence fell on the three students, the only noise was the distant, sickening thuds of stone falling on hard floor far below them. Bagsy looked down at the darkness that felt monstrously empty below her, stretching out far beyond what her eyes could see. She looked back up to see Tod was frozen in place, staring at her blankly.

'Help me!' Bagsy begged, her grip slipping on the stone. Its surface was smooth, and her fingertips were slowly inching towards the edge. Not moving a muscle, Tod stared at her, eyes wide and confused, as if he'd forgotten how to breathe.

Further up the stairs Bagsy saw Mezrielda's hand reach up, fingers just within reach of the thorned gauntlet.

Bagsy felt the step she was clinging to crumble, and just about managed to hold on. 'Mezrielda!' she called desperately. Mezrielda paused, looking down at her and then back at the gauntlet, hovering just beyond her reach, calculations playing in her eyes. 'Please!' Bagsy cried, her word trailing off into a sob as she looked back down at the darkness.

In a sharp lurch, Mezrielda grabbed the gauntlet.

The step collapsed and with a scream, Bagsy fell.