Disclaimer: As I said before.


An Escape Route?
Tom swung his leg up and within seconds was in the trailer. He found himself knee-deep in round sacks, each one shaking slightly. He heard faint purring coming from these bundles, and each one was tied shut with strands of hairy rope.

"Well Tom, what is it?" Michael asked from below.

Tom bent down and carefully untied the nearest one, unsure of what he would see. The coarse material fell away, unveiling a small, rotund, furry creature. Relieved, Tom smiled.

"It's only a Puffskein! There're loads of sacks here - just of Puffskeins!"

Scared, the revealed Puffskein curled itself into a ball, and Tom reached down to pet it.

Suddenly, Sammy's face appeared at the back of the trailer. It seemed to Tom that he had just grown several feet, but when he looked down he could see that Sammy stood on a wooden crate.

"Give one here!" he demanded as he climbed inside, his hands searching through the soggy puffskein sacks.

A faint smell lingered about the trailer, and Tom's robes were wet from leaning against the metal walls. The little creatures had become happier now – the sacks leaped around, squealing with delight. Sammy ran across the slippery trailer floor, chasing the moving sacks, and Michael laughed as he caught escaping puffskeins on the ground below.

A light breeze flew threw the trees and ruffled the yellow puffskein fur. Cool in the shadow of the woods, the boys had removed their shoes and socks, and now ran barefoot, their robes hoisted above their knees, splashing rainwater at each other.

Some fairies came to watch them – they perched on the twigs of the nearest trunk, and the boys waved jovially.

Lying back in the trailer, Tom stared up at the blue sky through the gaps in the trees. He had never felt so content. The puffskein he held hummed in his ear, and Tom laughed aloud when he felt the soft fur tickling him.

This was so much better than Charms.

With a sharp intake of breath, Tom realised what their new found furry friends were in the trailer for.

Today was Tuesday, and every Tuesday there was a creature market in Hogsmeade. He guessed that Krudge, the school caretaker, was taking the puffskeins to the Hogsmeade market to be sold, and this was the reason the trailer was here, beside the staff gateway.

Tom thought of a plan. Krudge would never allow them into the trailer, so if they were to get to Hogsmeade, they would have to do it by stealth.

This would be their exit route – they would hide in the spare sacks, pretending to be puffskeins, and escape the castle grounds unnoticed – at last, he was going to Hogsmeade!

The others became very enthusiastic as he explained his plan, and they proceeded to tidy up the trailer, in case Krudge noticed things weren't as they should be. But hidden in sacks, Krudge would never notice them…