Bagsy's eyes flew open to find herself sitting at her desk in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Fitzsimmons was sitting on a chair opposite her, their big, dark eyes fixed on her. Bagsy's strange dream began catching up with her. She felt shocked, thinking over her own actions, at how un-Bagsy they had been. If she didn't know herself better, she'd say she'd acted… competently. Then the image of that creature appeared in her mind again, and panic rose up her throat like bile.

'Drink this.' Professor Fitzsimmons offered her a vial. Bagsy didn't question it and drank. 'Very trusting,' they commented.

'Sorry.'

'It's not a bad thing.' Fitzsimmons stood up and walked over to one of the windows, the world beyond it dark. Bagsy felt something like jetlag hit her and looked cautiously at the empty vial she'd just drunk from. 'What you're feeling isn't because of what you drank,' Fitzsimmons explained, as if reading Bagsy's mind. 'It's a side effect of the spell I put you under. Your mind has experienced a few minutes, maybe half an hour at the longest, when in reality, eight and a half hours have passed.'

'Eight and a half!?' Bagsy gaped at them.

'Eight and a half, indeed.' Fitzsimmons turned around. 'That vial contained a draught of peace. Your friend, Mezrielda, told me you were prone to panic and suggested I have something prepared for your awakening.'

'F-Friend?'

Fitzsimmons sat down opposite her, their brown and cream robes splayed around them. 'You, Bagsyllia, are an exceptional child.'

Bagsy was still dreaming. She had to be. There was no way Professor Fitzsimmons, the Head Professor, was calling her exceptional. 'There must be some mistake – I can't… I mean…'

Fitzsimmons waited patiently as Bagsy stumbled over her words, blinking their large, dark eyes. 'I will explain more next week, Bagsyllia. For now, you have an Astronomy class you're late for. Thankfully, you only missed a Personal Study period. Not the most disastrous absence, I must admit.' They stood up, ushering Bagsy out of the room with them.

Bagsy let herself be led to the Astronomy tower, dumbfounded and silent, unable to bring herself to ask the questions chasing around in her mind.

'Professor Jones! A late arrival,' Fitzsimmons called to the Astronomy Professor. Professor Jones nodded and directed the star-struck Bagsy to a telescope two Gryffindors were looking through.

'Do your best to catch up,' Professor Jones said sympathetically. Bagsy didn't miss the odd look he shot Fitzsimmons before the Head Professor disappeared down the stairs and back inside the castle.

Bagsy heard whispers around her.

'Why did she take so long?'

'Did she fail?'

'I heard Fitzsimmons had never seen a performance so bad they made her take it three hundred times before giving up!'

Bagsy sat and let the two Gryffindors do the majority of the work, despite their best efforts to get her to join in. Eventually, they seemed to realise she was too stunned to move. One of them, Arice Allthorn, offered her his scarf and Bagsy couldn't decline. She didn't care about having the Gryffindor colours draped over her shoulders, scrunching the material in her hands and feeling the fabric helped ground her to the present.

When Astronomy ended, and the students tiredly milled out of the tower and to their dormitories, Bagsy had deep bags under her eyes and a gaunt, ghostly expression plastered on her face. She trailed at the back of the group and didn't notice, as she approached the Hufflepuff common room, someone following her.

A hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around but Bagsy didn't yelp, she was so unexplainably exhausted.

'We need to-' Mezrielda cut off, the fierce expression on her face melting at the sight of her. 'Merlin… Forget it, we can talk tomorrow morning. Go and get some sleep, Bagsy, and come find me in the hall at lunch tomorrow.' Mezrielda let go of her and walked off. Bagsy nodded numbly, not having heard a word she'd said.

Back in her private room, Bagsy curled up on her bed, unable to change into her yellow and black pyjamas, and fell asleep almost instantly, Jill and Bill curling up next to her and chattering softly as she drifted off.

At first, she dreamt of nothing at all, but then, in the peace of sleep, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She tried to turn and see what it was, catching glimpses of white, but whatever was behind her, it moved too fast to see. Even if she couldn't see whatever it was, Bagsy felt very much like it could see her, and was watching very closely.

The next morning, she shook off her dream as the oddity it was. Getting up, the first thing she did was fish out the walnut wand she'd received from Ollivander's earlier that year. When she'd cast a spell in the dream that had been Fitzsimmons' test, the walnut wand had worked for her. Hope spiking in her chest, she flicked the wand about and cast as many simple spells as she could think of.

When not even lumos returned a response from the plain, pointed wand, Bagsy's hope dwindled. The wand had worked for her in the dream, but in the waking world it seemed as incapable of bringing forth her magic as the hornbeam wand. Plus, because Bagsy felt so inexplicably drawn to it, she couldn't help feeling nervous and apprehensive, wondering why it was she was drawn to it.

Defeated, Bagsy put the walnut wand away again, pushing it, and the pull it had on her, from her mind.

At breakfast Bagsy felt perfectly fine in terms of rest, but downtrodden at her failed magic attempt, lamenting at how much she'd been through in only her first week at Hogwarts. She sat down, tucking into a croissant and some jam, and looked up at the clear skies bewitched onto the Great Hall ceiling. She had flying this afternoon, so the weather cheered her a little. After Defence Against the Dark Arts, flying wouldn't be very scary at all. Bagsy was even starting to put the unpleasantness of the suits of armour and the endless staircase from her mind, rationalising them as dreams like the one Fitzsimmons had made her have.

An owl swooped over her and dropped a letter on her lap and Bagsy paused her eating to read it. Unsurprisingly, it was from Bontie. Unsurprisingly, she'd addressed it to Bagsyllia Beetlehorn, not Bagsy.

Bontie was glad to hear she seemed to hate Hogwarts as much as she did and encouraged her to stay away from the other students and focus on independent study. According to Bontie, the lessons at Hogwarts were mainly useless. Bagsy wasn't sure she entirely agreed – they were very good at traumatizing her.

Bontie also told her to stay away from Tod Alden but didn't tell her why, adding that Greenda sounded like an annoying goody-two shoes, then joked that Bagsy would obviously get along with her.

'Are you okay?' A concerned voice broke into her reading, Greenda Particularis looking down at her with wide eyes.

Bagsy quickly folded the letter and put it into her robe's pocket, hoping Greenda hadn't seen the unkind things her sister had written about her. 'I'm fine, thanks,' she answered honestly.

Greenda sat down next to her, lugging her massive, and heavy looking, bag onto the bench. 'Are you sure? The whole school's-' Greenda stammered. 'Well, I mean, I heard from one or two people that you've been kicked out of Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

Bagsy blinked. 'I have?' It was the first time she'd heard that.

Greenda stared back at her. 'You haven't?'

'I don't think so.'

'Oh.'

There was a paused. Greenda shifted in her seat. 'But they said you failed the test. They said when the lesson was finished you were still sitting in your seat, not moving.'

Bagsy shrugged. 'All I know is Professor Fitzsimmons put me in some kind of a weird dream, and when I woke up eight and a half hours had passed by-'

'Eight and a half hours!' Greenda practically shrieked.

'Shhh!' Bagsy urged her as they received a few odd looks from other students, mainly first years who were tired after their late night of Astronomy. 'Yes, eight and a half hours. Fitzsimmons didn't seem upset with me. They even… they even said I was a somewhat good student.'

Greenda narrowed her eyes. 'How weird,' she muttered. 'Well, don't go telling the first year Gryffindors or Ravenclaws about it until tomorrow.'

'What? Why?'

'Fitzsimmons' test is something everyone has to go through unprepared. It's legendary.' Greenda's eyes sparkled. 'It's cruel to spoil the experience for first years who haven't taken it yet. Not to mention against the rules.'

Bagsy went back to her food, quietly disagreeing with Greenda. She'd have loved a heads up. Though, in a way, her sister had warned her, hadn't she?

Bagsy noticed the looks she got – people thought she'd failed. They were saying that no matter how long she spent on the test she couldn't do the right things to wake up, or that she was going to be expelled. Bagsy thought they were all rather stupid, but that didn't stop her feeling miserable about it. Anything that brought her attention was a bad thing, for sure.

She fidgeted her way through History of Magic, which Hufflepuff shared with Gryffindor on a Thursday morning, and wolfed down her lunch of sandwiches and juice, wanting to get to the flying grounds early. Someone sat down beside her and Bagsy didn't mind the idea of a brief chat with Greenda before heading out. When she saw it was Mezrielda she felt disappointed.

'How are you feeling?' Mezrielda asked, her nose crinkled in distaste as if the question pained her. Bagsy wondered if everyone was going to ask her how she was doing today.

'I'm okay, thanks,' Bagsy answered, then moved to leave.

'Wait. Can we talk?'

Bagsy sat back down. 'Sure,' she said, suspicious.

Mezrielda took a breath. 'Three hours and forty minutes.'

Bagsy furrowed her brows. 'What?'

'That's how long I took. To complete Professor Fitzsimmons test,' Mezrielda explained. Bagsy felt frozen to the spot. Mezrielda, the talented knows-every-spell girl, had taken longer than the lesson time as well. 'How long did you take?'

Bagsy mumbled under her breath.

'What?'

'Eight and a half hours,' Bagsy said reluctantly.

'Eight and a half hours!' Mezrielda hissed in surprise. Thankfully, she wasn't as loud as Greenda, and no one seemed to notice.

'I tried my best. All that matters is I didn't fail, and I'm not getting expelled, even if I did take way longer than everyone else,' Bagsy muttered bitterly.

Mezrielda laughed. 'Of course, you'd think this is a bad thing.'

Now Mezrielda had Bagsy's attention. 'What do you mean?'

Mezrielda waved her hand dismissively and swished her sleek black hair to the side. 'Evidently, it's pure luck you managed to survive longer than me, but it's still very impressive. Gosh, I can't be the only one to have figured it out, surely?'

'Figure what out?' Bagsy was getting annoyed now. 'Spit it out.'

'Fitzsimmons' test. No one else got past the spiked rocks – not even Tod – so they assumed it was some strange personality test, that the rocks are a magical barrier that reads your abilities. They assumed you're meant to fall on to the rocks and that you and I somehow failed the test.' Mezrielda's eyes sparkled arrogantly. 'Of course, the opposite is true, but Fitzsimmons would never tell them so. They wouldn't want to upset everyone else in the year; no one else has ever progressed beyond the rocks before, or at least, got past them and told others. The point of the test is to see who can survive the longest.'

Bagsy stared at Mezrielda, mouth agape. It did make sense but how had she, useless-Bagsy, survived the longest? In fact, had she even died? As far as she could recall, she'd fallen into the pit, but she hadn't hit any hard surfaces or spikey rocks, which she was very thankful for.

'Anyway, that was what I wanted to talk to you about. It means we're special. It means we're better than the other students. Of course, I knew this already, I was just very surprised to find you were in the same boat, too.'

Bagsy didn't know what to think. It didn't sound like it could be true – she was the least capable student at Hogwarts, it was evident for everyone to see, she'd never cast a proper spell in her life. 'I'm not so sure, Mezrielda. Fitzsimmons is very odd – there could be all sorts of reasons for the test. It could be we're worse than others and that's why we took longer.'

Mezrielda huffed. 'Me? Worse than other students? Don't be ridiculous.'

'Either way, don't go around talking to people about it,' Bagsy grumbled. 'I hate all this attention.'

'Yes – it is rather irksome,' Mezrielda said, reaching for a sandwich slice and taking a neat bite. 'Flying should be a nice way to put it from our minds.'

Bagsy was shocked. 'You like flying?'

Mezrielda furrowed her brows. 'Why wouldn't I?' she asked, crossing her legs and sitting up straight, dusting some bread crumbs off her newly pressed robes which Bagsy noted looked a tad old and worn.

Bagsy stuttered. 'You just… don't seem the type.'

Mezrielda said, 'Just because I have basic education in magic doesn't mean I'm incapable at sports, Bagsy. The two are not mutually exclusive.'

'I'm heading to the flying grounds now, if you want to come?' Bagsy offered. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd said that, but it was done now, and she couldn't suck the words back into her throat.

'Yes, alright.' Mezrielda finished her sandwich and stood up as Bagsy winced, having half-hoped she would say no. 'We'll be a bit early, but that can't hurt, can it?'

The skies had remained clear, and though there was a slight chill, it was a great day for flying. As Bagsy and Mezrielda walked out of the castle and crossed a meadow that led towards the flying grounds, Bagsy noticed a series of circular windows low to the floor. 'That must be the Hufflepuff common room,' she said.

'Where?'

'There.' Bagsy pointed.

Mezrielda followed where her finger was aimed and nodded. 'Yes, I see. So, your common room isn't in a tower, then? Not like Gryffindor or Ravenclaw?'

'Gryffindor and Ravenclaw get towers?'

Mezrielda nodded importantly. 'Yes, but Slytherin get a whole dungeon to themselves, and windows looking into the lake. Maisy swears she saw the giant squid, but everyone knows she's lying and just wants attention. I, of course, have seen the squid, and it is nothing like how Maisy describes it. She said it looked a bit like a horse, which is ridiculous and how I know she's lying. My point is, Slytherins have by far the best space. What other house could find argument over the existence of a squid outside their windows?'

Bagsy pouted. 'The Hufflepuff common room is kinda small, and we don't get to see giant squids. I bet Gryffindor and Ravenclaw have loads of space, too.'

Mezrielda shrugged. 'They probably do.' She pointed up at the towers. 'Those are incredibly large structures.'

Bagsy's resentment for Hufflepuff grew and by the time they'd reached the flying grounds, Bagsy was wallowing in Hufflepuff-hating self-pity.

Professor Kim was the flying instructor. She was East Asian and had hair almost as long as Mezrielda's, and equally as black, though hers was wavy and tied in multiple plaits winding around each other, keeping it out of her young face. Bagsy thought she looked like she'd only just graduated.

'Well, you're early!' Kim said, smiling pleasantly at them. 'Love to see keen beans, I do. Nothing better than flying, except people who know there's nothing better than flying, am I right?' She beamed widely in excitement, the same glint of anticipation in her eyes as Bagsy had seen in Professor Wattleseed's. 'Seeing as you're early, why don't you fetch the school brooms from the broom shed and line them out? It's just to the side of the flying grounds. We'll need enough for both Slytherin and Hufflepuff.'

Enlisted to help set up the lesson, the two made multiple trips to and from the broom shed, slowly amassing enough brooms for every student who'd be attending. Mezrielda kept shooting jinxes Bagsy's way, who'd then drop her stack of brooms. At first Bagsy had felt scared and annoyed, but the look on Mezrielda's face wasn't mocking or condescending, but more challenging, as if inviting her to retaliate.

Taking the bait, Bagsy got her own back when she stuck her leg out whilst passing her. Mezrielda fell flat on her face, laden with brooms and unable to cast any spells in time to prevent her tumble. Bagsy openly laughed, and even Kim let out a chuckle.

'Resorting to physical assault. Honestly, learn some magic, Bagsy!' Mezrielda flustered, then, 'I'll get you for that!' She raised her wand, performed an elaborate flourish in the air that went on for ages, pointed her wand dead centre at Bagsy's face, and grinned maleficently. Bagsy gulped, eyes wide in fear. 'Boop!' Mezrielda poked Bagsy's nose with her wand. No spell followed.

Bagsy sneezed in surprise, and then laughed again.

By the time they'd laid all the brooms out, and placed glowing spheres hovering in the air at different locations (Professor Kim said they were markers they'd use for drills later in the lesson) the other students were wandering their way onto the field. With a start, Bagsy realised she was almost disappointed – hanging out with Mezrielda had been fun. At least, it had seemed like fun. She wasn't entirely familiar with the emotion.

Kim had them line up by the brooms, turning a blind eye when Mezrielda elbowed a Slytherin boy out of the spot next to Bagsy, before beginning her instructions. Tod tapped Bagsy on the shoulder. He'd taken the spot on her other side and gave her a confident dip of his head. Bagsy gave him a friendly wave, then turned her attention to Professor Kim.

'Hold your hand above your broom,' Kim said, walking down the line, 'and say 'up' with conviction. Flying is a wonderful thing, don't be shy, let the broom know you're excited!'

Bagsy had only flown once or twice before. She'd never found much time for it – she preferred staying indoors sketching, reading or practising. Despite this, she didn't feel nervous. No wands, no spells, just a magic machine and her direction. She was well within her comfort zone.

When the broom flew up to meet her hand on her first call Bagsy felt pride swell within her. Mezrielda, standing in the spot she'd forcibly claimed next to her, managed it on her fifth, very frustrated, try and Bagsy gave her a mock impressed look and a thumbs up.

'Oh, pack it in,' Mezrielda sneered. 'I've flown on a broom before, obviously. These ones are just old and deaf.'

'Guess mine's got better ears, then?' Bagsy asked cheekily. Mezrielda puffed out her cheeks angrily but didn't answer.

Professor Kim waited uncertainly for the students to finish calling their brooms and the excited chatter that followed it to end, before continuing her instructions. 'I want a proper grip before anyone takes off.' Kim had her own broom and demonstrated the best way to hold the end. She walked up and down the line, inspecting each student's grip and ensuring everyone had it right and Bagsy was itching to take off by the time Kim had finished.

Kim ordered the students to mount their brooms and Bagsy carefully swung one leg over, holding on tightly.

Professor Kim instructed, 'You will give a confident push off the ground, hover, and then tilt your broom stick forwards, allowing it to come back to the ground, having experienced the joys of flight.' A few students were about to kick off. 'Wait!' Kim said harshly, then, with a hint of nervousness in her voice, 'We will do this in stages.' She pointed at a broad-shouldered boy with very short and strikingly blonde hair that stood out against his dark skin. 'Your name?'

'Jon.'

'Oh! Jonathan Krinkle, right?' Professor Kim asked. Jonathan nodded. 'Your older brother is Ford?' Jon nodded again. 'I expect to see some good flying from you, then.' Kim smiled. Jon didn't.

'Who's Ford?' Mezrielda whispered to Bagsy, then, 'Never mind, you obviously wouldn't know.'

Kim gestured at Jon. 'I want every student from Jonathan to,' she pointed further down the line at a Slytherin with large, rose coloured, triangular glasses, 'Maisy to go first.' Kim proceeded down the line, having small groups of students kick off, hover, and land under her close watch. Finally, after what felt like the whole lesson, Kim stood in front of Mezrielda and Bagsy. On her instruction Bagsy, and three students on either side of her, hovered off the ground. Kim corrected Bagsy's grip, who listened intensely, trying to absorb as much of her instructions as she could, and burn the muscle memory of the correct grip into her mind.

'No, no,' Kim said, shaking her head. 'Don't try so hard. Have the correct grip, yes, but don't force it. Let the broom lead you.'

Bagsy found it difficult – especially when the old broom kept shuddering and leaning to the left. The broom wanted to lead her into the ground. When her feet landed back on the grass, Bagsy felt less optimistic about flying than before.

The rest of the lesson Kim had them fly close to the ground and around the hovering spheres Bagsy and Mezrielda had placed earlier. It was useful, and fairly relaxing, but a part of Bagsy wanted to fly freely, under her own direction. At least she could manage the drills, she thought to herself, taking the small victories where she could.

When the lesson ended, and the brooms were locked back in the shed, Bagsy eyed them hungrily – perhaps she could sneak one under her robe back to her room? She knew first years weren't allowed brooms, but if no one found out…

'Hopefully next week's flying lesson will be more enjoyable,' Mezrielda mused as they walked back to the castle.

Tod came into step on Bagsy's other side. 'How's life whilst being banned from Defence Against the Dark Arts?' he asked. Bagsy rolled her eyes, but Mezrielda beat her to responding.

'None of your business,' she hissed with genuine malice, quickening her step. Bagsy's eyes widened as Mezrielda walked on ahead of them, her black hair swishing behind her.

Tod smirked at Bagsy. 'Watch this,' he said, checking over his shoulder that Professor Kim wasn't around, before slipping his wand out from his robe's sleeve.

'Wait, what are you-'

'Implexio!' A small ball of yellow light streaked out of Tod's wand and hit Mezrielda's hair, causing her to stumble forwards. Yellow static reached out from the point of impact until Mezrielda's long black hair was a mess of knots and she turned around in horror, her hands flying to her hair, feeling the tangled destruction Tod had caused. Laughs broke out from other students who were walking back. One Slytherin boy tugged on a strand of Mezrielda's hair as he ran past, narrowly missing a slap of retaliation. Lips pursed, Mezrielda flicked her wand out of her sleeve and tapped it gently to her hair, but the tangles remained. Frustrated, she tried again, but Tod's jinx refused to leave.

Tod laughed. 'Funny, right?' he asked Bagsy. 'We have to put snot noses like her in their place, don't we?'

Bagsy nodded mutely, feeling as though a stone had been tied to her stomach and she was being dragged to the bottom of Hogwarts lake.

Mezrielda glared at Tod, then at Bagsy, then turned and hurried back to the castle.