'Tod, I'm going to need you to wipe the memories of anyone who sees what myself and Bagsy are about to do,' Mezrielda said swiftly.

Tod folded his arms and looked accusingly at Bagsy.

Bagsy said, 'This isn't in return for what I've done for you. If you do this, it's because you're my friend and you want to. The choice is yours.'

Looking at the small group of students he'd need to use his power on, Bagsy saw Tod weigh the situation in his mind. 'Alright,' he relented at last.

There was a threatening glint in Mezrielda's eyes. 'And if you ever use the information you're about to get against me, I will personally cut your tongue out. Understood?'

Eyes widening at the threat, Tod slowly nodded. 'Ideally, I'd like to keep my tongue in my mouth, thank you very much.'

Mezrielda scowled at him. 'Great. Bagsy, can you fly in your school robe?'

Pausing to look down at herself, Bagsy considered the question. Her school robe was filled with all sorts of bits and bobs hidden in its multitude of pockets, so it was quite heavy. 'I think so,' she said.

Mezrielda nodded firmly. 'Good. You need to convince Greenda to give you her broom.'

Not wasting a second to question Mezrielda on her plan, Bagsy stood up and hurried over to Greenda. She didn't know what Mezrielda was thinking, but she trusted it was their best hope of getting Winifred and Robin back. 'Hi,' she said awkwardly. 'Um, I was wondering If I could take a look at your broom?'

Greenda looked down at her and smiled. 'Sure thing!' Then, to Bagsy's dismay, Greenda held the broom out for her to inspect, but did not let go of it.

'Um.' Bagsy shifted on her feet. 'Could I hold it?'

Greenda arched an eyebrow. 'Why? You want to modify it right now? You don't look like you have any of your tools on you and, besides, now's not really the best time. You know...' She nodded towards the emergency gathering of students in the library.

'No, no,' Bagsy forced out. 'No, I just want to hold it, that's all.'

Greenda retracted her broom, placing a hand on her hip. 'Are you alright, Bagsy? You're acting a little weird. First you need to speak to Tod, and whisper conspiratorially to him in the corner, and now you want to hold my broom out of nowhere? I thought you didn't want to listen to my facts on the Rocketing Unicorns?'

'I was preoccupied,' Bagsy only half-lied. 'Please, I just want to hold it for a little bit.'

'Hmmm,' Greenda thought. 'Alright, though I'm a little confused as to why-'

As soon as the broom was in Bagsy's palms a shock of cold filled the air.

'You lost your broom,' Tod spoke clearly, a bead of sweat on his forehead. 'You believe it is somewhere in that direction.' He pointed away from the window. 'As far as you know, Mezrielda and Bagsy were never here.' With blank expressions Greenda, Emmeline, Kat and Ford turned away from them, mumbling about where Greenda's broom could have got to. With a sharp inhalation, Tod collapsed onto a chair, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. 'I hate working on multiple minds at once…' he grumbled.

'Thank you, Tod,' Bagsy breathed, giving him a quick hug. 'You're a good friend.'

'Yeah,' was all Tod could say he was so out of breath.

'Time to go,' Mezrielda announced, throwing open the windows, looking more uncertain than she had when she'd announced the plan. 'I'll be frank with you, Bagsy, I have a plan, but only up to a certain point.' Bagsy listened intently. She had no clue what was going on, or what it was Mezrielda had figured out, but she trusted her friend. 'We're going to fly to the airship that you can see and board it. I believe that's where Winifred and Robin have been taken. Once we've made it there, we're going to try and find Winifred and Robin, and break them out. But remember, I can't see the airship.'

'You can't?'

'No.'

'Why-?'

'There's no time. Listen, Bagsy. I can't see the ship, so I'm going to have to follow you to it. As such, you'll need to fly at a pace I can keep up with.'

Bagsy narrowed her eyes in confusion. 'But we only have one broom, how will you follow me?'

Mezrielda looked past Bagsy at Tod, who was staring back in exhausted interest. 'I suppose if I asked you to look away you wouldn't?'

'Not a chance,' Tod confirmed.

With a sigh, Mezrielda jumped out of the window.

His exhaustion forgotten, Tod sprang to his feet and rushed over to the window, leaning out in alarm, only to see Mezrielda, holding one particular finger up in his direction, efficiently shift into a magpie and race upwards into the air. 'Oh, my…' Tod breathed.

'Wish us luck,' was all Bagsy could say before mounting Greenda's broom and kicking off, shooting out of the window and in the direction of the giant, square shaped air ship which, all things considered, could look like a squid if seen underwater and at a distance. Perhaps Maisy had been onto something, after all.

The first thing Bagsy noticed as she took to the sky was just how windy it was. The second thing was, as she continued to ascend towards the square ship in the distance, how dizzying altitude could be.

The black and purple airship was quickly gaining height, moving up into the clouds, and as Bagsy followed, she found her heart pumping faster, and her ragged breaths quickly drawing in short, staggering attempts at air. Mezrielda was just managing to keep up with her on her magpie wings. Occasionally, to gain more speed, Mezrielda would shift mid-air and cast a powerful jet of flames to appear below her. Shifting back, she'd ride the thermals higher up to keep pace.

As the altitude increased, Bagsy's grip on Greenda's broom was growing weaker. She could only be grateful she was wearing her spider gloves and slippers, which were offering extra grip. Her gloves and slippers could only do so much, though, and when the broom began to protest from the height it was being forced to fly to, Bagsy wasn't sure what to do. All she managed in the moment the broom began to stutter and sink downwards was regret not having perfected any anti-altitude charms to place on the modified device.

'Reparo!' Mezrielda called. She'd flown above Bagsy, shifted, and as she'd fallen cast a spell at the broom. Her aim was off but Bagsy managed to steer the broom, and move her leg out of the way, to allow it to connect.

The enchantment only lasted for a minute before the broom began to struggle once more. Bagsy herself was feeling pretty starved for air and when, weakly gasping, she looked down and saw just how high they had risen, it made her feel far sicker than the lack of oxygen was.

Turning towards the magpie to ask her friend if she could cast another reparo spell she saw that the small bird was fighting desperately to move forward in the turbulent air that only worsened as they entered the clouds.

In the dusk light, Bagsy reached out towards Mezrielda, calling as loudly as her fading voice would allow her. 'I'll carry you!' she cried urgently. For a second the bird cast her an indignant glance that said plainly how undignified before Mezrielda relented and swooped over to her. Gently, Bagsy managed to catch hold of Mezrielda in bird form, and hugged her friend close to her chest, her other hand gripping the broom tightly.

The ship was far bigger up close than she'd expected, looming above them as they approached, and Bagsy swallowed, her throat feeling very dry.

Abruptly, the broom shot down a few feet before Bagsy recovered and, with difficultly, steered it upwards. She didn't need to pop open the wooden panel to know the flight modulators were running out of power at this height. It wouldn't be long before the broom lost all control and would send Bagsy plummeting to her death. They'd been flying up more than they'd been flying forward, and were still over the vast Hogwarts lake, but at this height there was no doubt in Bagsy's mind that she'd perish instantly on impact with the surface of the water.

Her first thought was to descend back to the ground, but her second thought reminded her that for whatever reason, Mezrielda believed they had to make it on board the flying ship to rescue Winifred and Robin.

Accepting her fear and shuddering madly at the prospect of falling to her doom, Bagsy pushed on. As the edge of the ship slowly came into reach the broom began to slow, as if the air around it was thick syrup. 'No, no, come on!' Bagsy muttered in panic. 'We're so close!'

Mezrielda was letting out alarmed squawks but Bagsy wasn't letting her go. She'd only let Mezrielda go if she was falling and all other options were exhausted.

Pushing thaumaturgic energy into her legs, Bagsy braced herself, tensing her muscles. It was like a light electrical current coursing through her limbs – she hoped it would be enough. Her mind envisioned the broom gliding on the limited energy it had left and, optimistically, she concluded that she could perhaps make the jump if she executed it correctly.

At the last possible second, when the broom was shuddering almost as much as the terrified Bagsy, she kicked off, jumping free from the broom.

For a horrifying second there was nothing below her – only a falling broom behind, and an unsympathetic black and purple wall in front. Reaching out her free hand, the other still clasping a ruffled Mezrielda, Bagsy grit her teeth and closed her eyes, hoping for the best.

With a thud, her hand collided with the side of the ship, the spider glove activating and sticking fast to it. Taking a few seconds to collect herself and breathe the oxygen-thinned air, Bagsy opened her eyes and looked down. It had been a mistake; she saw Greenda's broom tumbling like a leaf down towards the distant lake as the ship she hung from rumbled loudly through her bones, still rising upwards.

Not wanting to risk any malfunctions in her gloves, even if they'd never had issues before, Bagsy fastened her spider-slippered feet to the side and began to climb upwards.

After what felt like far too long, and with her muscles feeling burnt out and weak, she found herself clambering onto the deck of the ship. It was large, flat, and square, with no sign of a way inside. The three masts towered above her, the sails blown out from the wind, that would have shoved Bagsy clear off the top if it weren't for her hands and feet magically stuck to the deck by her inventions. She placed her head on the floor, dragging in difficult breaths, her shoulders sagging as her energy rapidly depleted. Three commanding squawks brought her back to reality. Mezrielda was pointing her beak ahead of them, at something on the deck; a trapdoor.

Using all the energy she had left, feeling like the broom she'd been riding on not too long ago, Bagsy forced her way forward and to the trapdoor. Once she reached it Mezrielda, very unexpectedly, shifted back into a girl. She grabbed onto Bagsy, who similarly grabbed onto her.

In a fast motion before the wind stole her away, Mezrielda pointed her white wand at the trap door. 'Alohomora!' she cast. As soon as the final syllable left her mouth she was a bird again, clasped safely in Bagsy's hand.

Not wasting a second, Bagsy threw the trap door open and fell down through it. Instantly, the roaring of the wind was gone, the cold of the outside dulled, and the air in her lungs replenished. She may as well have fallen into Hogwarts lake it was such a shocking change of environment.

Instead of orange dusk light, it was dark. The floor and walls were black with purple lines running through them and pulsing with soft lilac light. Gingerly, Bagsy set Mezrielda down on the floor, who returned to human form, before Bagsy collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily and closing her eyes in exhaustion and shock.

'You did it,' Mezrielda managed, sounding as out of breath herself as she fell to her knees and keeled over. 'Well done, Bagsy.'

'That… was too close,' Bagsy whispered meekly.

Mezrielda could only nod in agreement.

They didn't have long to recover from their eventful journey before the world was warping around them.

'Mezrielda!?' Bagsy called in fear as the walls stretched and curved. She felt suddenly overcome by a new kind of dizziness and illness that swamped her mind and stomach. Pain followed next, and Bagsy let out a groan, closing her eyes and placing her hands on her head as she curled in on herself. She became dimly aware of Mezrielda making similar, pained noises. The dread only grew within Bagsy at this new information and her eyes snapped open to find a familiar scene surrounding her.

The floor had changed to a white staircase that hovered over an abyss of darkness and confusing shapes in white and grey. The steps led up to a door that opened on more stairs that, despite always going up, managed to take multiple right angles until they were paradoxically looped back to the start.

'Its…' Mezrielda groaned out, gripping her side. She was hunched over and pale and forcing her eyes to open, but it looked a struggle. 'Like… Pepsini's…' Mezrielda trailed off as she fell to her side, dangerously close to the edge of the steps, and the yawning black below them. 'What… did… he say…?' Mezrielda forced out. Bagsy could only look at her, her brow furrowed in agony, her eyes hazy with dizziness, as she tried to understand what Mezrielda was talking about. 'He said something to… stop… the intruder trap…' Mezrielda let out a tearless sob, her features squeezed together against the intense discomfort. 'What… was it?'

Bagsy, now finding herself with a splitting headache, tried to rack her brain. When they'd taken the warpdoor to Opius Pepsini's house in London by mistake, they'd set off one of his intruder traps there. Evidently, Pepsini's intruder traps weren't only present in his abode. He'd spoken two words to end the spell – what had they been?

'Something…' Bagsy began, her words feeling too large to fit out her mouth, 'about… stopping… but… a fancy word for it…'

Mezrielda perked up, a look of relief flooding her face. 'Contortion cessation!' she cried hopefully. With a pop, the paradoxical steps, and black abyss, vanished. Once more, they crumpled on the floor of the black and purple ship.

Bagsy allowed herself to flop onto her back, closing her eyes against the nausea rising within her and resisting the urge to be sick.

'We don't have time to rest,' Mezrielda's voice gently pushed into the darkness Bagsy was surrounding herself with; she'd placed her hands over her eyes to help block out the light. She was about to ask Mezrielda for five minutes to recover when she realised there were voices approaching them. Voices talking about alarms being tripped, and possible break ins.

Clenching her jaw, Bagsy pulled her hands from her face and opened her eyes. Mezrielda was crouched next to her, looking as white as snow but determined. She helped Bagsy to sit up and then, with the little strength Mezrielda had, helped her get to her feet.

The voices were growing nearer.

Bagsy glanced around. There didn't seem to be anywhere to hide; besides the trapdoor above their heads leading back to the deck of the ship, it was just the dead end of a corridor.

Mezrielda had other ideas. She was leading Bagsy to one of the walls and reaching her hand towards it. With confidence, she pushed against a panel that, now she was starting to get through the dizziness, Bagsy saw was clearly indented in the wall. The panel melted like water to the side, revealing a gaping hole in the wall that led down into darkness; it was some kind of chute.

'We don't have much choice,' Mezrielda said simply and then, before Bagsy could protest, shoved her through the gap. With a yelp, Bagsy felt magic take hold of her body and drag her efficiently down the chute. Mezrielda jumped in after her, casting something Bagsy couldn't hear as she did.

Feeling like she was on the most terrifying slide, Bagsy felt a scream drag out of her as she plummeted into the bowels of the ship. Within a few moments, she was unceremoniously deposited onto the floor of a large gold and black room. She rolled across the floor from the momentum before Mezrielda impacted against her, having been thrown from the chute herself.

'Urgh,' Mezrielda grumbled, getting off of Bagsy. 'I haven't used one of those in a while.'

'You've used one of those before?' Bagsy squeezed her eyes shut, her head ringing from everything it had been through in the past minute.

'We have one at Vespite Manor,' Mezrielda revealed swiftly, dusting herself off. 'It's behind a hidden panel like that one was.'

Bagsy only managed a groan of acknowledgement as she propped herself against something metal. The floor was a metal grating with another floor far below it; the walls surrounding the circular walk way were golden and stationed at uniform intervals were different chute openings, each labelled and presumably leading to different areas of the ship. The chutes were large, golden pipes, and rose far above them, disappearing into the ceiling and walls as they corkscrewed and twisted in different directions.

Bagsy started, scrambling to her feet as a concern hit her. 'Won't they follow us down the chute?' she asked Mezrielda suddenly.

Mezrielda was already walking around, her shoes tapping down on the metal grating. 'No,' she answered calmly. 'I blocked the entrance off – they won't be able to follow.'

'Can't they counter your magic, though?'

'I doubt it,' Mezrielda said confidently.

Unsteady on her feet, Bagsy leant against the railing as she caught up with her friend. 'Okay,' she said, looking nervously around herself. 'We made it to the ship, and we seem to have some time before anyone catches us; can you explain to me what the plan is, and why on earth we're here in the first place?'

Mezrielda looked at Bagsy, before nodding and sinking to the ground, leaning her head against the metal railings and letting out a long breath. 'Yes. I can. I need a second, anyway.'

Joining her on the floor, Bagsy waited patiently, the creaking of the pipes, and the rumbling of whatever magical contraption powered it, echoing around the place, accompanied by the odd drip drip of condensed water from the steam puffs shooting out the side of the chutes.

'For whatever reason, the Ministry wanted to take Winifred and Robin in, but, evidently, they did not have the necessary evidence to justify the kidnapping of thirteen-year-old children.'

'Right.' Bagsy nodded, following so far.

'From the snippets we've heard Starrett say throughout the year, it seems there is a rule for inspections of Hogwarts that would have made the Ministry's job of collecting evidence far more difficult. As far as I can gather, based on what you said you overheard Starrett say to Mortem, the earliest Ministry officials can set off for Hogwarts is the moment the notice of inspection reaches the school. It takes a minimum of an hour to get from the Ministry to Hogwarts – plenty of time for preparation the Ministry don't want to allow.'

'So?' Bagsy frowned.

'Bagsy,' Mezrielda intoned as if she was an idiot. 'They must have been using this ship as their base – if it was hidden in the lake it would only have taken them minutes to reach Hogwarts once an inspection notice was delivered.'

Bagsy's eyes widened. 'So they could catch Winifred and Robin out!'

'Yes!' Mezrielda confirmed, before her expression turned dark. 'I'm just a little confused – the Ministry don't like creatures like vampires or phoenix bornes, sure – but they haven't gone to these lengths in years. Something serious must be on the line.'

'But that means!' Bagsy started. 'This ship is a headquarters for the Ministry!'

'Naturally.'

'And we just broke onto it!'

'You catch on quickly,' Mezrielda deadpanned. Bagsy, meanwhile, was grabbing her hair in absolute anxiety. Mezrielda continued, 'I bet you anything Winifred and Robin are on this ship somewhere. We need to find them and help them escape.'

'And how are we meant to do that!?' Bagsy all but wailed, throwing her arms into the air, the sickness in her stomach had faded, and was now replaced with horror at the situation she'd put herself in.

Mezrielda fixed Bagsy with a fiercely arrogant look. 'My magic is all we'll need. I'll break them out and get us all to safety.'

Bagsy would have protested such a reckless, fool-hardy plan, if she didn't trust Mezrielda's claim completely. 'Alright,' was all she said instead, arms slowly dropping back to her side. 'Let's do it.'

'The first part of the plan was to get here, which is why I had to drag you into this. I couldn't see the air ship until we landed on it – it must have had some illusory magic hiding its presence.'

Bagsy narrowed her eyes in confusion. 'Wait. How come I could see it, then?'

'Who knows,' Mezrielda said far too quickly, as if she very much did know.

'Isn't that odd, though?'

As if she'd just found a lost puppy, relief flitted across Mezrielda's expression. 'Maisy could see it as well,' she countered. 'Remember? She kept spouting all those lies about a square shaped squid with three horns.'

Thinking back, Bagsy inclined her head. 'Yeah, she did,' she admitted, feeling a little better; she wasn't the only one who seemed able to see through the ship's illusion, then. 'Guess she wasn't lying about that.'

Mezrielda sneered in distaste. 'I suppose.' Then, as if the weight of the ship they had broken into was falling onto her shoulders, Mezrielda hung her head. 'I fell out with Maisy in first year because she lied to everyone about the armchair being Tod's, not mine,' she confessed. 'But now I realise she hadn't been lying. Or, at least, she hadn't known she'd been lying. Tod had just messed with her memories.'

Bagsy grimaced at that. 'Maybe you should try talking to her about it?'

Mezrielda scoffed at the idea.

They took a moment to rest in silence, the hiss of hot air, settling of metal, and gentle waves of purple light bouncing off golden pipes calmly embracing them.

'We've spent long enough pausing,' Mezrielda spoke after a time. 'We need to find Winifred and Robin first, then we can relax.'

'Right,' Bagsy agreed, even if she really wanted to stay sitting still for at least another thirty minutes whilst the sickness of the intruder trap wore off. Instead, she got to her feet and forced the bubbles of nerves threatening to overwhelm her down. As if reading her mind, or, more likely, noticing the very intense shivering Bagsy was uncontrollably experiencing, Mezrielda quickly cast teporiem in her direction, helping her steady her racing mind.

Mezrielda strolled around the walkway, inspecting the labels next to the chutes. She paused at one of them and gestured for Bagsy to join her. 'It's your sister,' Mezrielda offered in explanation. Bagsy's heart stopped. Her sister? Was she about to see her dead body? When Mezrielda pointed to the label, where Rebontil Getrishia Beetlehorn was neatly scrawled in black lined gold letters, the feeling of ice being pressed harshly against her back slowly faded and she let out a shuddering breath. She couldn't think on why her sister had her own chute on this ship because she was too busy thinking about how she had died; at the indirect hands of Bagsy's foolish actions. 'We should take this one,' Mezrielda decided. 'Perhaps your sister can help us-' she cut off as she leant her head into the chute and looked upwards, frowning. 'Peculiar. Someone has blocked it off.' Mezrielda turned around, scanning the other labels. Bagsy couldn't help feeling a little relieved – she didn't want to have to explain to Mezrielda why her sister couldn't help them. She briefly wondered if the chute had been blocked off because her sister had died.

Pushing the image of Bontie's burnt corpse from her mind, Bagsy read the other labels. Her eyes landed on Mr Hagas Mortem. 'This one,' she said suddenly, already beginning to step into the chute opening.

Mezrielda scanned the label. 'Are you sure?' she asked uncertainly.

'If Winifred and Robin are anywhere, they're with Mr Mortem,' Bagsy reasoned. Mezrielda seemed satisfied, so Bagsy leapt into the chute, and felt the magical force grip her body once more, this time hurriedly rushing her upwards through the tube. Air roared past her ears, and her hair was flung about her face, as her ascent sped up to speeds faster than Bagsy had ever managed to fly on a broom.

As ungracefully as she'd been deposited in the bowels of the ship, she was spat out into a plush office, sprawling over a chair that was so comfortable it absorbed the force and all but mitigated the pain the impact would have caused.

Bagsy was about to question where the Ministry got such well-designed, comfortable chairs from when, for the second time, Mezrielda was thrown against her. The two girls, and the chair, clattered to the floor in a ruckus. Mezrielda let out a pained complaint as Bagsy reeled from the fall.

'I'm going to have so many bruises,' Mezrielda mumbled, rubbing the back of her head as she rose to her feet. Bagsy wasn't far behind her.

It was a nicely sized office, with an oak desk crammed with drawers of varying sizes that were uneven and mismatched in colour. The walls were filled with freakishly organised filing cabinets and different awards from the Ministry hung proudly on the walls. The most interesting one Bagsy could spot proclaimed Mr Mortem's ability to fetch toad bean coffee for his superiors as "highly satisfactory". It was framed and freshly dusted.

Mezrielda was peering with interest at a selection of files on Mr Mortem's desk. 'He was filling out a report,' Mezrielda explained as she flipped through the pages. 'Correction; he'd just finished filling out a report.' There was begrudging respect on her face. 'I may detest the man, but my stars, can he fill out paperwork. So neat…'

'Focus, Mezrielda,' Bagsy had to remind her friend as she was admiring the crossed Ts and dotted Is.

'Of course.' Mezrielda flushed in embarrassment as she proceeded inspecting the document. Curiosity driving her, Bagsy leant over her friend's shoulder to take a look. Project Submerge was the title. Immediately below it was the word Summary and below that were countless bullet points. Reading them turned her blood cold.

Time-Scribes de-fogged past dialogue and uncovered incriminating evidence at Vespite Manor. "Not everyone can have immortal children" was discovered and concluded to be in reference to Inferno children, making it the first solid evidence of Inferno, or 'Phoenix Borne', in recorded Wizard history. This crucial discovery acted as the foundation for approval of Project: Submerge.

For the good of Wizard kind, these Inferno must be located. There is now good reason to believe Inferno both exist and are hidden within the student body of Hogwarts.

No evidence had indicated the faculty were aware of the presence of Inferno amongst their number, but this inference was wise. The approval of Project: Submerge allowed the capture of two students who, after testimony from a concerned classmate, had been confirmed as infant Inferno. In accordance with the Inferno Conscription, the two units were seized by the Ministry.

As such, the obtainment of the two Inferno units follows all Ministry regulations and laws, and the occupation of Vespite Manor starting in November is appropriately justified for the purpose of further evidence collection and control of communications of the vampiric occupants.

Bagsy glanced at Mezrielda's hands. They'd been laid softly on the paper at first, but now they gripped the edges tightly, crinkling the page. Without a word, Mezrielda turned the page and continued to read. She flipped through too quickly for Bagsy to keep up until, eventually, she paused on a page long enough for Bagsy to take it in. This section was titled: Record of Approved and Blocked Communications and transcribed numerous letters Dantura and Palid Glint had written. The first Bagsy recognised as the letter Mezrielda had received before Christmas; evidently, it had been approved by the Ministry. The letters listed as blocked seemed innocuous but, for whatever reason, were barred from being sent. Only one of them caught Bagsy and Mezrielda's attention above the rest.

'Look,' Mezrielda spoke up at last, her voice tight as she pointed at the section. Unlike the rest of the letters, this one contained mainly numbers.

Note: circumvention of Ministry approval by sending an unchecked letter via a hidden method was attempted and discovered. The following is a confiscated letter believed to be some form of code:

"To our Dearest Mezrielda,

26, 66, 69, 74, 76, 77, 92, 93, 99, 119, 121, 132, 133, 136, 152, 165, 168, 190, 219, 224, 228

Love,

Mum and Dad"

'I'm such a fool,' Mezrielda bit out. 'They must have contained a hidden message in their letter to me. How did I not realise? It wasn't like them to keep me away at Christmas – let alone withhold a reason why.' Abruptly, she kicked the table. 'Idiot!' she hissed at herself.

Someone knocked on the office door. Bagsy looked in frozen horror at it as the handle began to turn. Mezrielda's wand was already in her hand and pointed stiffly towards the door.

'Mr Mortem?' a Ministry official spoke delicately through the metal door. 'You should come see this. There's been a problem containing-' Whatever they were going to say next was drowned out by the sudden blaring of an alarm. Like a siren, it wailed through what felt like the entire ship. The soft pulsing lights became harsh and bright, flashing red and then purple, filling the dim space with the gloomy colours. It was almost as dizzying as the intruder trap had been. The person at the door left, calling out in concern to their colleagues.

Mezrielda and Bagsy looked at each other and then at the door, Mezrielda lowering her wand. With a slam, Mezrielda closed the document they'd been reading. 'We need to move.'