The spider gloves and spider slippers fit snugly on Bagsy's hands and feet as she hurriedly moved around the castle. She had grown adept at using her inventions and scuttled along swiftly and silently. At the beginning of her search, the castle had been calm, but within a few minutes it was as if an alarm was crying out through every room, corridor and stairwell. Students rushed from one place to another, professors barked hurried orders, and Ministry officials were starting to pour into the bloodstream of the building.

Not a single of these hurrying, distracted people noticed Bagsy as she searched for Winifred and Robin. She was headed straight for where she expected them to be hiding; the Eagle Club room.

Reaching the stairs leading down towards the tapestry that hid the space, Bagsy let go of the ceiling and dropping to the ground deftly.

'You won't find them there,' a pompous voice sounded from behind her. Turning around, Bagsy saw Primrose Vinski leaning against a wall, arms folded and toothy mouth smiling tauntingly at her. 'Did Mr Mortem find you?' she asked. 'He came to the common room. Everyone else refused to tell him where you'd gone but, oops, I just couldn't avoid letting it slip you were taking a letter to the owlery. How unfortunate.'

'I don't have time for this!' Bagsy yelled at Primrose suddenly, who started and pushed herself off the wall in shock. 'Where are they?!'

'Winifred and Robin?' Primrose checked, looking Bagsy up and down uncertainly.

'The Ministry are going to take them in,' Bagsy explained darkly. 'I need to find them.' She took a few steps forward until she was eye to eye with Primrose. She couldn't help but relish in the fact that she was clearly stronger than Primrose – she'd win if Primrose tried to stop her. At this distance, she had no hope of drawing her wand without Bagsy shoving her over first.

Primrose jutted her chin out bravely, staring at Bagsy with her one-snake, one-blue eyes. 'You can't keep them hidden forever.'

'Who says I want them hidden?' Bagsy grit out, her patience fraying. She saw charred skin and mangled flesh in her head; wounds inflicted on her sister by an inferno.

Primrose paused, considering Bagsy again, before her eyes narrowed. 'No, Bagsy,' she said in disapproval. 'This isn't you.' That took Bagsy aback – it hadn't been what she'd expected. 'You're not a villain.' Primrose's voice was quiet, barely audible amongst the chaos reigning in the corridor not far from them.

Bagsy moved backwards, her anger draining like water through a sieve as confusion took its place. 'W-What?'

'I said, you're not a villain.'

Her anger returned. 'Winifred and Robin are the reason-'

Primrose slapped her. Bagsy reeled backwards, barely stopping herself from tumbling down the stairs.

'I'm a villain, Bagsy,' Primrose hissed. 'I do what I do to people because I'm a villain, but at least I have the decency to accept that, and not place the blame of my own actions on others.'

'What are you on about?' Bagsy spat.

'I felt you poke around inside my head,' Primrose hissed, baring her snake-sharp teeth. 'I hate it, but I've accepted it. I know you know why I am the way I am. I know you know about my destiny. I have no choice – I'm a villain. I was born to be a villain, I was raised to be a villain, and I choose to be a villain. But you don't have to do that.'

'You're always talking about how I'm not really nice underneath it all,' Bagsy shot back. 'Shouldn't you be glad?'

'You're not listening to me!' Primrose raged, throwing an arm angrily into the air for emphasis as she gestured at Bagsy. 'I just want people to be honest about who they are and stop pretending they're so nice all the time. But, even if everyone is horrible deep down, only some of us are truly rotten!'

'What I'm doing isn't rotten,' Bagsy countered. 'Winifred and Robin-'

'Are not to blame,' Primrose hissed. 'And you know it! I don't know what's got you so angry but-'

'You're the one who started all this,' Bagsy cried. 'You toldMr Mortem I was helping keep Winifred and Robin hidden!'

'So he wouldn't take me in, you dunce!' Primrose roared, tears pricking her eyes. 'Like with everything else, I didn't have a choice! I never have a choice! Look at me! I'm not human anymore! Do you have any idea how the Ministry treat people who are different? It was me or them.' Bagsy regarded Primrose silently. It was hard to miss the half-scaled abomination as she moved around the castle. Bagsy scolded herself – as much as hated Primrose it wasn't fair to think of her as an abomination just because she looked different now. 'I know who I am. I know the lot I've been dealt,' Primrose forced her words out as if they were bile in her throat. 'You have a choice. Don't you dare take it for granted. You're not a villain – you don't get to be a villain – that's my thing.'

Bagsy was done listening. 'Either tell me where they are or get out of my way.'

Primrose took in a breath, flashed her clawed hands and sharp teeth, and braced herself. 'No.'

Bagsy's heart thundered in her head as she faced towards Primrose. She had half a mind to charge at her, kicking and punching like a toddler, but another part of her was starting to cringe, starting to see herself standing there, angry and red in the face as she raged at the world for what had happened. Doubt crept in – were Winifred and Robin really like Cora? Had Bagsy really made the same mistake twice? Or, rather, was she now making a different one? Her anger almost instantly dissipated at the thought. 'They're only going to take them in for harmless tests,' she offered weakly, her face paling.

Primrose sneered and shook her head in disgust. 'How naïve can you get.'

Lady Red, from the card game Bagsy played with Mezrielda, was sneering at her in her mind's eye. How naïve had she really been, Bagsy wondered. 'Where are they?' Bagsy asked, her voice hollow now. 'How did you know I wouldn't find them here?'

'They've already been found,' Primrose revealed nastily, stepping aside, 'and, given how long you wasted speaking with me, I reckon you can't stop them being taken.' She paused, looking closely at Bagsy's face. 'Which, from the look in your eyes, is something you've come to realise you don't actually want.'

Bagsy didn't say another word. She ran past Primrose as fast as she could, the significance of the testimony she'd given Mr Mortem hitting her full on at last as her mind finally unscrambled itself from the trauma of discovering her sister had died.

'Hey!' Professor Wattleseed called after Bagsy, noticing her as she ran into the main hallway. 'All students are to report to the great hall or the library immediately! Miss Beetlehorn, did you hear me?'

Hoping her gut instinct was right, Bagsy turned in the direction of the library, taking the steps of the staircase two at a time, feeling thaumaturgic energy pulse through her muscles as she moved.

Sooner than she expected, she was in the library, trying to shove through the crowd and get to the nook. When she couldn't make any progress, she threw herself against a wall and began to climb upwards, using the ceiling as a clear path to get to the corner of the library. With a thud, she dropped onto the table in the nook. It creaked below the sudden weight, but resisted splintering into two. Looking around, relief flooding her, Bagsy saw Mezrielda sitting at the desk, her expression as surprised as Bontie's owl Mistius' always was. Miserably, Bagsy pushed Bontie from her head.

'What on earth are you doing?' Mezrielda asked, astounded.

'I've really messed up,' Bagsy rushed out, filling Mezrielda in on everything that had happened. She told her about Mr Mortem questioning her, about her testifying against Winifred and Robin, about Professor Starrett arriving and accusing Mr Mortem for being early and going against regulation, and finally she explained how Fitzsimmons and Starrett had set out to find Winifred and Robin but that, presumably, the Ministry go to them first. She skipped over the news of her sister's death – it was too hard to talk about right then.

'Why on earth would you tell him?' Mezrielda asked, incredulous.

'Please trust me when I say I had good reason, and that I can't talk about it right now, and that I think I'm deeply, deeply regretting my decision.'

Taking a second to look around herself in alarm, Mezrielda swallowed, nodded, and got to her feet. 'Alright. We need to act quickly.'

'You'll help me?' Bagsy breathed as Mezrielda guided her down from the table.

'Don't be ridiculous, of course I will,' Mezrielda muttered, glancing out the window. She froze and then pointed. Turning to look out the window, and at the grounds of Hogwarts, Bagsy saw Winifred and Robin, four aurors on either side of them, being led towards a set of small boats floating at the edge of the lake. 'We're too late…' Mezrielda trailed off.

Bagsy hung her head, shutting her eyes tightly. She didn't even know how she felt – maybe the Ministry were going to run harmless tests, maybe Winifred and Robin should have given themselves up to begin with, or maybe something far worse awaited her friends. Looking back up, Bagsy watched, heart in her throat, as Winifred and Robin's figures disappeared below the surface of the lake as the small row boats descended into its depths. Bagsy slammed a fist onto the table, letting out a frustrated cry.

'What's the matter?' someone asked from behind in response. Bagsy looked over her shoulder to see Ford staring at them with concerned eyes. Greenda, Emmeline and Kat were standing behind him, having jostled their way through the crowd to reach the small area.

Bagsy paused, looking up at Ford, seeing how tall he was. 'Ford, do you know a boy called Tod Alden?'

Ford frowned. 'You mean Magnus' younger brother?'

'Yes! Him!'

'Sort of, yeah.'

'Could you recognise him in a crowd?' Bagsy asked.

'Uh… I guess.' Ford shrugged. 'How come?'

'I need a favour,' Bagsy said.

'Anything.'

'Can you see Tod in here?' she requested desperately.

Looking unsure as to why he was doing this, Ford stood on tiptoes and spent a few minutes scanning the crowd. 'He has dark hair, right? Kind of tall, crooked smile, hair in his eyes, that sound about right?' Bagsy nodded. 'That might be him there – why?'

'I need to speak to him – it's urgent.'

It took some time but, eventually, using his height to his advantage, Ford managed to push through the crowd enough to grab Tod's attention. 'It's Bagsy!' Ford call to Tod. 'She needs you.'

The minutes crawled by until Tod had successfully navigated the crowd and reached them. The second he was free of the clustered students, Bagsy grabbed his collar and dragged him to a corner as far away from the others as possible, dropping her voice to a low whisper. 'I need you to make some memories disappear,' she explained hurriedly, allowing the truth about Winifred, Robin, and her testimony to rush out of her. As she spoke, a frown appeared on Tod's face, that only grew darker as she kept explaining the situation.

'You want to use my power again,' Tod clarified. Bagsy nodded. 'On multiple Ministry officials?' Bagsy nodded. 'No. No way.'

'Tod, please!' Bagsy begged him.

'It's suicide, Bagsy! Do you think I owe you or something?' Tod asked, his brown eyes flashing dangerously.

Bagsy flinched at that. On the one hand, she had helped him out a lot, and in return he'd stolen her memories, so yes, maybe he did owe her something. On the other hand, she'd made a point that their friendship wasn't a transaction, and she intended to stand by that. 'No,' she said at last, but apparently her hesitation was enough to infuriate Tod.

He shook his head, moving away from her. 'Unbelievable. Do you have any idea what risk I'd be putting myself in if I tried to wipe the minds of multiple Ministry officials? As far as you know, they'd try to do the same thing to me they're doing to Winifred and Robin.'

Greenda perked up in confusion, looking up from where she'd been showing her broom off to Emmeline, still explaining all the different signatures on it. 'What's that about memory wiping?' she asked suspiciously.

'Nothing,' Tod snapped, pushing coldness around him. Bagsy watched as Greenda, and anyone else who may have been listening, turned back to their conversations as if nothing had happened.

Bagsy grabbed her hair in panic and sank into the window seat. If Tod couldn't help her, then there was nothing she could do.

Tod was still frowning, looking out the window. Was he still angry?

'I'm sorry,' Bagsy spoke up, just in case he was. 'I know it's a lot to ask – you don't have to help me if you don't want to. Please, don't be upset with me, I'm not sure I can deal with that right now. Not on top of everything else.'

'No, no,' Tod murmured, furrowing his brow. 'It's not that.' Wordless, he pointed out the window. Turning, Bagsy looked out over the lake. In the distance, the water was bubbling like a ring of fire was heating it from below.

'My eyes,' Tod muttered. 'They're slipping over the horizon… I can't focus on it.'

Mezrielda walked over to the window and peered out as well. 'How peculiar,' she murmured. 'I'm experiencing the same thing.'

Bagsy, however, was not. Out of the water, like an ancient horror, a large, square shape was rising. It had three tall horns extending from the top, and thin purple veins of light pulsed over its surface. As she watched, large sails extended from the tall horns, catching the wind with their great, fabric expanse. Bagsy took a second to take it in. 'It's some kind of flying ship…' she murmured as it magically rose out of the water.

Mezrielda said suddenly, 'Bagsy, you said Professor Starrett was angry at Mr Mortem for going against regulation?'

Bagsy nodded. 'Yeah. She said something about him not being allowed to set off for Hogwarts until they'd received the letter announcing the inspection.'

Mezrielda's eyes flicked to the horizon, then to Greenda, and finally to Tod. Dragging in a breath, Mezrielda placed her hands on the table. 'I think I understand. And, I have a plan.'