Cold air rushed up to meet Bagsy as she and the crumpled step she'd been holding onto fell into darkness.
She looked up at the fading light and at Mezrielda pulling the gauntlet over her hand. Then she couldn't see Mezrielda or Tod, only a prick of brightness high above her. It was as if she were at the bottom of Hogwarts lake, and the giant squid's tentacles were wrapping themselves around her, dragging her to the murky depths.
She heard stone clatter against stone a fraction of a second before her fall was abruptly stopped, and Bagsy's entire body shuddered as she landed on her back. She felt her lungs and heart pushing down against the back of her rib cage and her head crack against hard floor. Spots bloomed in her vision and all sense of up or down was lost.
Laying still, Bagsy wondered if this was what it was like to be dead, before she realised she wasn't. She sat up, her body feeling stiff and painful, and one of her legs had a deep, hot pain searing inside of it. She tried to get to her feet, but her right leg refused to take any weight, so she hauled herself over rubble and stones, trying to see in the darkness she now found herself in.
She should be dead, she'd been falling for what felt like ages, and she'd felt her speed increase as much as it was capable of. Bagsy knew a fall like that should be lethal, and yet she appeared very much alive, if the pain in her leg was anything to go by.
Stones crunched and scraped as Bagsy weakly pushed them out of her path as she dragged herself along. At one point, she felt something long and thin and realised, with some relief, her walnut wand had fallen with her, and survived the impact, too. She took the wand and tucked it into her robe, still feeling that faint pull to it.
Eventually, Bagsy's hand brushed a wall and, with great effort, she used its support to stand up. Once she was on one foot she noticed a dim light in the distance and began half-hopping half-hobbling towards it. After a struggle, the light had grown enough that Bagsy saw what it was; before her was the entrance to the endless staircase. How she'd ended up at the archway she'd entered from, she had no clue, but when she walked through the opening and onto the corridor she'd been on only a few minutes prior, she realised something was very wrong.
The air was stale – as if it hadn't moved in centuries. Dust hung stationary in the air, visible in the desaturated and unnatural light, the paintings on the walls were empty, and no rugs lay on the floor. It was the quietest, and most lifeless place Bagsy had ever seen.
This wasn't Hogwarts. It couldn't be.
Bagsy staggered forward, leaning heavily against the walls. 'Hello?' Her voice was hoarse and quiet. She tried to call out loudly but her vocal chords lacked the strength. Even so, Bagsy received a reply, but not in words. The response was in the form of a groan that shook through the castle like a fierce wind and Bagsy huddled against a wall as the noise shuddered through the space. The air turned cold and the dust rushed past her like a sandstorm, empty paintings shook on their hooks and the glass of the windows bent inwards, seeming seconds from breaking.
Bagsy's mind stalled as it instantly recognised the noise – it was the roar she'd heard back in Fitzsimmons' test, when the mammoth creature of white, with multiple arms, had tried to eat her. Her mouth slowly opened in terror as she stared at the floor ahead of her, her mind not quite accepting the truth.
She felt her walnut wand in her pocket but knew there was nothing she could do with it to protect herself. She glanced down – her leg was oddly shaped and below her knee a large, dark bruise was beginning to form. She couldn't run, her right leg was ruined.
The thing roared again and Bagsy looked up, the castle quaking with each step it took towards her. Her lower lip trembled. She had survived the fall to die to this creature, she realised, horrified.
A large hand gripped the side of the corridor ahead of her, its long nails digging into the stone. It was pure white, as if it wasn't made of anything at all, but rather a hole in the world itself. The hand was followed by another that thudded down on the floor, attached to a long, white arm with multiple odd angled joints, with nine fingers and two thumbs at the end. Then a face moved slowly around the corner, fixing its unblinking red eyes on Bagsy that dripped red sludge that tap tapped onto the stone floor as it went. This was what had been in her dreams, Bagsy realised. This was what had been watching her, just out of sight, for so long, waiting patiently for her to fall into its web. Bagsy felt a sob crawl up her throat and forced it down, struggling to stay standing.
When the creature approached Bagsy, its arms filling the corridor as they dragged its body along, she couldn't hold back her fear any more. She sunk to the floor with dread as she realised the inevitable. The creature moved at a crawling, consistent pace, even though Bagsy had seen it move with lightning speed in the test. Four of its terrible arms arched above her like one large hand, circling behind her, cutting off the escape she was too injured to take.
Slowly the creature opened its mouth and it kept opening it, wider than Bagsy had thought possible, until ten rows of razor-sharp teeth smiled down at her. It could swallow her whole, but Bagsy felt it wanted to chew, first.
She covered her eyes. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want this to happen, but the monster didn't care, and hands grabbed onto her arms and legs, lifting her into the air. Bagsy screamed when one of them squeezed down on her leg.
'Please, no!' Bagsy cried desperately.
'Look at me…' a croaked voice whispered in Bagsy's mind, as if it hadn't been used in centuries.
'Please, please…' Bagsy was shaking all over.
'Look at me…' the voice repeated. Bagsy opened her eyes to see two red, sludgy masses of sight stared back at her. In that moment, she knew what this monster was called, feeling it impress its identity in her mind, like a stamp squashing her brain matter down to the floor, branding it's mark upon it.
The blood eyed beast, as it was named, smiled widely. 'You are marked,' the voice hissed softly, the mouth of the creature not moving. Bagsy felt a pain like hot metal sear into her left shoulder and let out a scream, wriggling uncontrollably against the agony of sharp, claw-like nails cutting into her flesh. 'You are mine, now.'
The hands drew her upwards and above its gaping mouth. Bagsy still had her walnut wand, but she couldn't think of a single spell she could cast, let alone one that would save her, and pain was buzzing her thoughts to static.
The creature let go of Bagsy and she fell towards the teeth with a shriek.
The second after long nailed, white hands let go of her, and as she was falling towards a brutal death, something pulled taught like rope on the nape of Bagsy's neck and, with a sharp snap, she was rushing away from the beast and back towards where she'd landed.
The beast screeched and rushed after her, its hands cracking the walls as they found purchase with their knife-like nails. Bagsy was being lifted sharply upwards, into the darkness she'd fallen through earlier. She saw the white beast below fill the space entirely, its white arms snapping onto the wall like magnets as it sped towards her with an open mouth and furious roar.
The invisible rope that had attached itself to the back of her neck pulled her even faster until light spilled around her and Bagsy, like breaking the surface of water, was flung onto the steps next to Tod and Mezrielda.
Bagsy trembled, curling up on the floor, the breath knocked out of her.
'Thank the stars…' Mezrielda breathed, rushing to Bagsy's side. 'Bagsy. Bagsy, look at me. Are you okay?' Mezrielda was shaking her. Bagsy didn't notice, because she was looking at the gaping darkness and pointing her trembling hand towards it as a dreadful groan reached up and surrounded the three of them. Bagsy squeezed her eyes shut, seeing those white hands reaching around her slowly in her mind.
When she opened her eyes the beast was upon them, just fitting into the gap left by the now collapsed stairs, and Mezrielda's mouth hung open. The beast reached towards Bagsy with one of its large hands but Tod shot to his feet and stood in the way.
'We aren't here,' Tod said quickly and though the coldness in the air was nothing compared to what Bagsy had felt down below, in the other Hogwarts, she still noticed it.
The beast turned its unblinking, bloody eyes on Tod, and Bagsy saw him strain. His hands were balled into fists that shook at his side and his knees seemed ready to give out.
'We have to help…' Bagsy managed, her voice cracking as it tried to work.
Mezrielda, eyes wide, nodded and pointed her wand at Tod. 'Teporiem,' she whispered softly. Bagsy felt the warmth that hit Tod from where she lay. It didn't feel like the nicest warmth but Bagsy hoped it would be enough to help hold his resolve.
'I said,' Tod's voice was laced with power. 'We aren't here. You did not see us here. The staircase was empty, and you decided to leave without hurting anyone.' Bagsy felt herself be pushed into the steps on Tod's last words so much energy crackled behind them.
Even so, it didn't seem to matter. The beast lurched forwards, hands outstretched, and was an inch away from them when it abruptly stopped, like a mime hitting against an invisible wall. Bagsy flinched with every pound of the beast's fists on the invisible wall, but it didn't seem able to get through. After a while, it stopped, realising it couldn't reach then, and Bagsy let out a shuddering breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
The beast slowly began to descend, its eyes watching them silently. 'You are marked…' its voice whispered in her mind. 'You are marked…' The creature disappeared into the darkness, and Tod collapsed onto the steps, hanging his head in exhaustion. In silence the three students sat, not able to speak on what had just happened.
Bagsy looked at the space where the creature had been, shaking uncontrollably, and Mezrielda sat next to her and went to wrap her arms around her in an attempt to console her.
Bagsy shoved her off. 'Get away from me,' she croaked weakly. 'You left me to die.'
Mezrielda shook her head. 'No, I didn't.'
Bagsy snarled. 'Liar. I hope being Minister for Magic is worth it.' If she could have, she would have got up and walked away.
'Let's get out of here,' Tod cut in quietly. 'We can discuss what happened once we've reported this mess to a teacher.' Slowly, and with effort, Tod got to his feet. One step at a time, he approached Mezrielda and Bagsy. 'Come on.' He held his hand out to Bagsy who took it, letting Tod lift her to her one good foot.
Mezrielda sucked in a breath. 'Bagsy, your leg…' she whispered. Bagsy just glared at her.
Tod helped Bagsy limp her way up the stairs. 'I'm going to laugh, now,' Tod said softly. 'I'm not laughing at you, it's just that-'
'Laugh with me and you may leave,' Mezrielda said from behind them, quoting the riddle once more. Bagsy wanted to tell Mezrielda to shut up but her voice hurt too much.
Tod nodded. 'Exactly,' he said. 'No laughter and you stay trapped in here like you were the first term. Remember?'
Bagsy paused in their ascent, taking a breath. 'Are you going to make us forget all this?' she asked. Tod looked at her, before turning away and laughing quietly. When the exit appeared, he stopped his weak laughter and returned to silence.
Bagsy felt her chest twist in fear as they exited the stairs, expecting to find rug-less floors, empty paintings and stale air, but this wasn't the other Hogwarts – this was her Hogwarts. The portraits were full and looking at them in concern.
'Get Fitzsimmons,' Mezrielda instructed one of the pictures. 'Or any teacher. Tell them it's urgent.'
Tod lowered Bagsy to the floor, helping her lean against one of the walls. 'I won't make you forget everything,' Tod murmured in a low voice. 'There's no point. The gauntlet's been used.' Bagsy looked behind him and at Mezrielda, whose right hand had white dots on it where thorns must have dug in. The gauntlet was nowhere to be seen.
'But…?' Bagsy croaked expectantly.
'This is for my own protection,' Tod murmured. 'I can't let you remember what I am. What I can do.'
'Why?' Bagsy's voice was getting quieter by the second.
'You won't,' Mezrielda's harsh voice cut into their quiet conversation and Tod looked at her in puzzlement. Mezrielda tossed an empty vial at him, Tod catching it and looking at the liquid quizzically. 'You can't. Not anymore. She's immune.' Tod blinked and looked at the vial blankly. 'That cures the effect you have on people,' Mezrielda explained, nodding at Bagsy. 'We've both drunk some.'
'Where did you get this?' Tod hissed, Bagsy sensing a hint of fear in his words, but her focus was slipping as she stared at the floor in shock.
'Bagsy made it.'
'You're lying,' Tod shot at Mezrielda. 'A first-year couldn't figure out how, least of all Bagsy.'
'You'll find that Bagsy is the only one who could, but you can believe whatever you want.' Mezrielda shrugged. 'If you try to make us forget it won't work, and it will only make you more exhausted. I take it, from the state you're in, that using your power doesn't come for free, does it?'
Tod was silent as he turned the empty vial over in his hand, his movements slow. 'You must tell no one what I am,' he said at last, defeated. His words sounded more like a plea than an instruction.
'As long as you tell no one what I wished for,' Mezrielda shot back.
'You have yourself a deal.'
Her body finally giving out, Bagsy's head lulled to the side, her eyes closing. She didn't hear any more of their conversation, only the muted noise of someone calling her name, growing more and more distant.