Itsuki and Jon were excited to hear Bagsy would join them for Thaumathletics. They had been playing wizard's chess in the common room when Bagsy had walked over and timidly told them the news.

'We never got to hang out with you, but now?' Itsuki said happily.

'Missing Hufflepuff is too right,' Jon added. 'Slippery like a fish, you are.'

Bagsy wasn't sure if she was being complimented. She was also greatly confused why anyone would be eager to hang out with her.

'Maybe we'll get into cool adventures this year,' Jon sighed wistfully, and Bagsy realised why.

'W-what adventures?' she spluttered.

'Oh, please.' Itsuki waved his hand dismissively. 'Everyone spouts different stories but it's clear exciting stuff happens around you, Bagsy.'

'I wouldn't call it exciting…' Bagsy muttered, sitting down next to them.

'What other electives did you take?' Jon asked, one of his knights careening into Itsuki's pawn.

'Muggle studies and Care of Magical Creatures,' Bagsy answered.

'Three!' Itsuki exclaimed. Bagsy nodded shyly. Mezrielda had chosen three also; Arithmancy, Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures. She'd said the third was only because most people took Care of Magical Creatures and so it was her best opportunity to look impressive in front of her cohorts and gain the social respect she was seeking.

Bagsy had chosen three because she couldn't decide between Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. She figured she could drop one once she'd decided which she preferred. Thaumathletics she felt obligated to take – she wanted to become as good at Quidditch as she could be and what better way to do that than by taking a subject all about physical exercise? Even if Bagsy currently hated running, she was determined to train herself to be faster, stronger, and better at sport. If she could do it on a broom she could do it on the ground, and if she could get better on the ground, she could get better on a broom. Or so she hoped.

'Well, I'll look forward to taking Thaumathletics with you two,' Bagsy said awkwardly, standing up and walking to her private room.

'Where'd she go? How does she do that?' she heard Jon ask as she entered her private room, the door hidden behind an armchair and some ferns.

'No one knows,' Itsuki pointed out.

Then, the two speaking in unison; 'Missing Hufflepuff.'

Bagsy swiftly unpacked her things. Last year, the boggart in her room had kept her too scared to sleep in there. Sure, the boggart had been banished by Cora on the first night, but the thought of it had put Bagsy off. Now, though, Bagsy found her fear was gone. Or at least, her fear of the boggart was gone. Bagsy knew all too well it had been replaced by a worse fear. The feeling of a small, enclosed space of red and fire flashed in her mind. Pushing the thought aside, Bagsy set to work on her new invention.

She wanted to be able to move about Hogwarts without being seen, and what place was the least seen of all of Hogwarts? The ceilings, of course, Bagsy thought as she looked up at the ceiling of her private room – a ceiling she only looked at when lying in bed.

Her invention took all Saturday, all Sunday and early Monday morning to get right. She based them on the concept of the mag-net bat and ball. All she had to do was make the shoes she had designed magnetically connect with the ceiling, like the ball did to the bat, and create a material to silence the noise they made. Bagsy worried the other Hufflepuffs would think there was a spectre somewhere in their common room as she kept making loud thuds with her falling followed by low, frustrated groans of pain as she tried to walk up the wall.

Neve was confused when Bagsy shyly appeared behind her one evening asking her for help with some stitching. After last year, it had become evident to Bagsy that if she ever needed help making items of clothing, Neve was the person to ask. She'd constructed a beautiful wedding dress made from paper alone. Sadly, it had been stolen, but the talent that had made it remained. Neve had been more than happy to help, and soon Bagsy was back in her private room and continuing her work, her new invention now with far better stitching.

Bagsy had three separate bumps on her head and countless bruises by the time she managed to get the shoes to stick to the ceiling and hold her weight. The only problem was, standing upside down and walking on her two legs, Bagsy felt all the blood rush to her head and found that she was very obvious indeed. She needed to be pressed flat against the ceiling if she wanted to be sneaky.

It was five in the morning on Monday when Bagsy finally sat back in her chair, exhausted, looking at her invention. Bagsy grabbed the slippers and gloves which, unlike her previous inventions, looked incredibly elegant and light-weight thanks to Neve's help, and eagerly raced to breakfast. Without a second thought, Bagsy sat down next to Mezrielda at the Slytherin table. Mezrielda started, looking Bagsy up and down in surprise.

A girl sat opposite them with large, triangular, rose coloured glasses shot Bagsy a look. 'This is the Slytherin table,' she said simply. Bagsy thought she was Maisy, but her memory wasn't entirely clear on it.

Bagsy froze, stood up suddenly, and indicated Mezrielda join her at the Hufflepuff table without a word.

Smirking slightly, Mezrielda did so. 'What's got you so animated this morning?' Mezrielda asked, settling herself into her usual seat at the Hufflepuff table.

'Look at this!' Bagsy whispered proudly, holding the slippers and thin, silk gloves below the table where Mezrielda could see them.

Mezrielda's eyes widened and she gingerly took the items. 'What are these?'

'Ceiling slippers and ceiling gloves.'

'We've got to think of a better name for them…' Mezrielda murmured, turning the deep blue items over in her palms one by one, examining them.

'I managed to condense the sponges in the spell-sponge glove design so they're thinner and lighter. I also managed to weave magnetic thread into the material and calibrated it to vertical and upside-down surfaces and, with the right pressure, even flat surfaces like the ground. Ditto for the slippers. I just need you to cast the tangle jinx on them to ensure all the components properly hold together.'

'Consider it done,' Mezrielda breathed, examining the invention in amazement. 'Implexio!' she cast onto the gloves and the slippers, which shimmered like the ocean. 'Bagsy, this is…' Mezrielda trailed off, speechless. Bagsy felt she may burst with the happy warm feeling bubbling inside of her. Mezrielda looked at her then, at the deep bags beneath her eyes, and the unusual paleness of her complexion. Her expression changed. 'Bagsy, did you sleep at all last night?'

The happy feeling vanished and Bagsy opened her mouth to say something but found no words.

'Bagsy,' a familiar voice called jovially behind her. Bagsy turned with an open expression, while Mezrielda looked at the speaker with annoyance.

'Tod!' Bagsy greeted him. He had only grown taller since last year and his dark hair, which was always falling in his eyes, was hanging in his face.

Tod pushed it to the side and smiled his confident, crooked smile. 'Can I talk to you alone?'

'Why do you want to do that?' Mezrielda asked sharply.

Tod, hands in his pockets and with his shoulders back, looked at Mezrielda with amusement. He didn't need to remind her that if it hadn't been for his help last year she wouldn't be at Hogwarts, and if he hadn't helped Bagsy drag her and the elf out of the lake she may not even be alive.

'Can't we talk here?' Bagsy asked uncertainly.

Tod glanced at Mezrielda but eventually shrugged. 'Sure. I want to cash in my IOU.'

Mezrielda's eyes snapped onto Bagsy like a bear trap. Bagsy knew that one sentence was all Mezrielda needed to hear to work out what had convinced Tod to help her out last year.

'Umm… yes. Let's talk alone,' Bagsy muttered, casting Mezrielda a guilty look. Tod and Bagsy walked outside the great hall and to a side corridor, leaving Mezrielda to stew. 'What do you need?' Bagsy asked.

Tod's confident smile seemed to crack slightly. 'My… um…' Tod rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. 'My silver tongue still hasn't returned.'

Bagsy stared at him blankly, her mouth opening in worry.

'I want you to help me get it back.'

'Of course!' Bagsy exclaimed. 'It's my fault you lost it, anyway.'

'That's true,' Tod agreed. He wouldn't have used his powers to trick Mezrielda's parents into letting her come back if Bagsy hadn't begged him to.

'What do I need to do?'

'That's the difficulty,' Tod admitted. 'I have no clue.'

'Oh…' Bagsy trailed off. 'It's only… I know nothing about silver tongues or how your powers work, so I have no idea how to get you your powers back.'

'You owe me,' Tod said.

Bagsy folded her arms and tapped one of her feet on the floor. 'Okay,' Bagsy said at last. 'During personal study we can figure something out. I'll ask you questions about your powers and I'll need you to answer honestly. Hopefully, with enough information, I'll be able to find something similar enough to what you have that I can base a cure on.'

'Thank you,' Tod breathed, his shoulders sagging with relief, his confident façade slipping. It was back the next second. 'Of course, my natural charm is all I really need, but it would be nice to have my old abilities back.'

'You just promise you won't use them on me?' Bagsy added, all of Bontie's warnings about Tod playing in her head. She knew Bontie wouldn't approve.

'Of course.'

Bagsy hurried straight back to Mezrielda after her conversation with Tod.

'Bagsy,' Mezrielda began, 'you didn't have to sell your soul to the devil just to get me back to Hogwarts!'

'He's not the devil, Mezrielda, don't be silly. And yes, I did. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you.'

Mezrielda was very quiet for the rest of breakfast. At first Bagsy thought she was angry, before she realised Mezrielda looked more abashed than anything.

Taking her slippers and gloves back from Mezrielda, who wisely suggested calling them spider slippers and spider gloves because it sounded 'far more official', Bagsy headed off to her first lesson of the year. Mezrielda walked next to her, handing Bagsy her timetable and tapping the column for Monday ruefully.

'Again?' Bagsy groaned seeing that, for the third year running, they had double Charms first thing on a Monday. Only this year, like first year, all the houses took the class at once. Professor Starrett would waste no time in humiliating Bagsy in front of the entire year, no doubt. Bagsy rummaged through her bag and pulled out a thin, silver ring with odd coloured beads attached to its sides.

'What's that?' Mezrielda asked as they approached the Charms classroom and Bagsy hastily pulled the silver band in place on her hornbeam wand. She'd briefly considered building the wand-training wheel for her walnut wand, but the pointed end of the wood sent shivers down Bagsy's spine and unpleasant memories through her brain, and she wasn't sure she could bring herself to use it.

'A wand training wheel,' Bagsy explained. 'I made them as subtle as I could. Let's hope Professor Starrett doesn't notice them… and let's hope they work.'