Bagsy trudged to Herbology, angry she wasn't allowed to go to the meeting Mezrielda was currently having with Professor Kim and Professor Starrett, who was head of Slytherin house. Bagsy needed to be there to defend Mezrielda, to tell them that of course Mezrielda hadn't done it. She knew it looked like there was no other explanation – no one else at that pitch who'd had their wand on them had the ability to cast such powerful spells like vanishing charms or had the motivation that a Slytherin would have to do so – but that didn't mean it was Mezrielda. Sure, Mezrielda had had a flight modulator, and her last spell had been a vanishing spell, but that was because she'd been helping Bagsy, not because she'd stolen from Emmeline's broom. Bagsy was more certain that Mezrielda hadn't made the flight modulators vanish than she'd been about anything else.
She was so caught up in her frustrated thoughts that she didn't pay much attention in Herbology. She did, however, pay enough attention that when Professor Wattleseed excitedly asked the class to pair themselves for that year's project, and Winifred skulked over to Bagsy, hoping for another easy year of letting her do all the work, she had the good sense to tell her no.
Instead, Bagsy found a rather eager Teresa wanting to partner with her.
'I saw your work with the stampelia last year,' Teresa explained, 'and I knew I had to partner with you this year.' Neve, who had been Teresa's partner the year before, looked rather downtrodden. Teresa smiled at Neve. 'Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a great partner.' When Wattleseed paired Winifred with an entirely silent Neve, Bagsy got the distinct impression that wouldn't be the case.
'Are you sure you don't want to be partners with Neve?' Bagsy asked, but Teresa shook her head vehemently.
'I know we'll work amazingly together,' she assured Bagsy, who was looking guiltily at Neve.
After Herbology was personal study, which all the houses shared at the same time. The second year Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs crowded into the library to study and start their homework. Unlike last year, when personal studies had been filled with loud chatter and unfocussed laughter, this year there was a more subdued atmosphere that the young librarian very much appreciated. It seemed the increased amount of homework went some ways to forcing the students to be quiet.
Winifred, however, seemed just as intent as ever on sneaking out.
'Where's Mezrielda?' Winifred asked, running a hand over her bald head. 'It's time for us to go to my club.' She nodded at a group of Ravenclaws who were waiting off to the side of the library. Bagsy was wondering herself where Mezrielda was, chewing her bottom lip as she tried not to think about Mezrielda being expelled. When, a few minutes later, Mezrielda walked through the doors into the library, Bagsy breathed a sigh of relief.
Winifred gathered Mezrielda and Bagsy and marched them down the corridors.
Mezrielda looked down at Bagsy. 'I swear I didn't-'
'I know it wasn't you,' Bagsy whispered back. 'You wouldn't do something like that.'
Mezrielda was silent as they walked along. 'Thank you,' she said after a stretch of quiet. Then, sulkily. 'I've received detention for the rest of term.' Bagsy gave Mezrielda a sympathetic look. It felt like a harsh punishment but, then again, the school thought Mezrielda had nearly killed a girl.
'I can go and explain to them it wasn't your fault. You did tell them it wasn't your fault, didn't you?'
Mezrielda grumbled something.
'What?'
'Not quite.'
Winifred took them down some steps until they were in the castle basements. Glancing over her shoulder, and with an excited glint in her eyes, Winifred pulled back a tapestry on the wall to reveal a hidden passage. Bagsy dimly remembered noticing it last year and thinking it was very intimidating. With other students around her, it was far less imposing.
As they followed Winifred, Bagsy looked at Mezrielda and frowned. 'What do you mean? Mezrielda, you didn't do it, so you should have told them that!'
Mezrielda pursed her lips. 'It's difficult to explain. My situation, my family situation, is rather unique. I doubt anything I said could convince the school of my innocence given the incriminating modulator and spell history of my wand. I doubt eve your word could have swayed opinion. My best option was to claim it was a reckless mistake with no true malicious intent, and beg for forgiveness and, for now, it's worked.'
'But you have detention!' Bagsy protested. 'That doesn't sound like it worked.'
'It's better than being expelled or losing my scholarship,' Mezrielda pointed out. She lowered her voice, furrowed brow into a serious expression, and spoke as if her words could summon demons were they too loud. 'I haven't told you yet but getting expelled isn't just getting expelled for me. If I'm kicked out of Hogwarts, if something as bad as that goes permanently on my record, then-'
'Through here,' said Winifred, ducking into the space, and unbeknownst to her cutting off Mezrielda.
Bagsy glanced expectantly at Mezrielda. 'What were you going to say?'
'Nothing,' Mezrielda said sharply, shaking her head to herself. 'Forget I said anything.' She went next, unperturbed by the dark corridor as she followed where Winifred had gone. Bagsy hesitated, then decided being alone outside the corridor was worse and went in after.
The passage led into a large, circular room with at least ten other students, all Ravenclaws, clustered in small groups around the place.
'Welcomeeeeee!' Winifred cried, throwing her arms out and spinning dramatically, 'to the Eagle Cluuuuuuub!'
Robin, who'd been with some first year Ravenclaws, hurried over to her sister. 'New members?'
'Yeah. We're expanding beyond Ravenclaw!' Winifred called loudly to the other members of the club. There was a murmur and then a spattering of applause. 'Let's show 'em what we've got! Three! Two!'
'Why is she counting down?' Bagsy whispered fearfully to Mezrielda, backing away.
Mezrielda stepped in front of Bagsy, drawing her wand. 'Get ready,' she murmured forebodingly.
'One!' Winifred drew her wand and shot a jinx their way. The other Ravenclaws did much the same, a rainbow of lightning bolts cascading like chromatic spray at them.
'Reverto!' Mezrielda cried, her voice echoing around the room. The robes she was wearing extended suddenly and reared up like horses, kicking out their front legs, incredulous whinnies echoing like the sharp cut of a scythe. The jinxes and spells collided with the fabric and bounced off with each kick, shooting back towards their senders. When Mezrielda's robes returned to normal size, fluttering around her legs as if there were a gentle breeze, the other Ravenclaws had boils on their faces, legs locked together, or were hiccoughing madly. Bagsy had caught a few spells, her hands blowing up like balloons, and her legs turning to jelly, but Mezrielda stood unaffected.
Curses were reversed, jinxes were countered, and soon everyone stood back up, Bagsy included, free of their injuries.
'See? What did I tell you all!' Winifred exclaimed and the Ravenclaws nodded approvingly. 'I mean, the Huffle-puffle is a bit of a truffle,' Winifred said in a sing song voice, to a few giggles, 'but they're a package deal, so I figured, you know, why not go for it?'
'Her name is Bagsy,' Mezrielda said harshly, putting her wand away. 'What is all this, Winifred?'
'Didn't you hear me? Good at duelling but maybe you've got fluff in those ears.' Winifred shrugged, then gestured at the Ravenclaws around her. 'This is the Eagle Club. It's were the best of Ravenclaw meet to become even bester.'
'You mean 'better',' Mezrielda corrected her flatly.
Winifred's lip twitched. 'I meant what I meant. Language is meant to die and rebirth itself.'
'What do you do here, then?' Mezrielda sounded as if she was getting fed up. Bagsy, on the other hand, was hiding fearfully behind her like a child, feeling in-over-her-head, and very jealous of all the spell-casting she'd seen.
'We duel, and we keep duelling until we become unstoppable.'
'Hell yeah!' Robin cheered, her eyes fiery. The first years around her yelled their agreement.
'None of you could challenge me,' Mezrielda scoffed condescendingly, swishing her sleek hair. 'What a shame-'
'Petrificus totalus,' Winifred murmured quietly under her breath, shooting a spell from behind her back at Mezrielda.
Mezrielda wasn't caught out. 'Protego.' a misty shield appeared in front of her and the spell rebounded, hitting a first year Ravenclaw who fell to the floor. Sensing a duel, the other Ravenclaws backed up against the walls, leaving a wide-open space in the centre, and two small Ravenclaws frantically dragged their frozen friend out of the firing line. Bagsy, following their lead, ducked to the side, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Mezrielda twiddled her wand in her hands as if she were bored. 'Pity, you can't even surprise me-'
'Tarantallegra,' Winifred shot another jinx Mezrielda's way. This one was faster, and Mezrielda's shield charm was too late to stop it. Bagsy watched, stunned, as Mezrielda began dancing uncontrollably. Bagsy hid a smirk behind her hand. She felt guilty for laughing at her friend, but she couldn't help it if Mezrielda looked like a stringed puppet being tossed this way and that, her hair flying after her.
'Scissor sororibus!' Mezrielda hissed, her face flushing, as she pointed her wand at her feet. As her feet stopped madly tap-dancing, Winifred had already cast another jinx. Not missing a beat, Mezrielda snapped her wand up and swished it, catching the jet of red with the tip and flicking it to the side.
Bagsy watched with mounting excitement as jets of coloured light shot in one direction and then the other. Winifred pulled a brick from the wall with her wand and threw it in Mezrielda's direction, who transfigured it into a horde of magpies who flew at Winifred, squawking angrily. Winifred, thinking fast, turned the magpies into paper birds before setting them on fire. Rubble, ash and torn cloth littered the floor when Winifred and Mezrielda finally came to a stop, both breathing heavily and sweating, pointing their wands at each other in furious silence.
Winifred's fury dissipated like steam and she turned, beaming, to her peers. 'I think we have ourselves a new member!' she announced to cheers and woops from the Ravenclaws. Mezrielda straightened up, her mouth wide as she gulped in air, and tucked a strand of her now messy black hair behind her ear. If Bagsy didn't know any better, she'd say Mezrielda was abashed.
The Eagle Club ended its session there, the Ravenclaws heading back to their tower in a shoal of chattering excitement.
'Why "Eagle Club"?' Mezrielda asked Winifred as she made to leave.
Winifred rolled her eyes at Mezrielda. 'What's the Ravenclaw mascot?'
'A raven?' Mezrielda guessed.
'Duh, that's why it's called the Eagle Club– wait, did you say "raven"?'
Bagsy was confused. 'The Ravenclaw mascot isn't a Raven?'
'No!' Winifred looked scandalized.
'That's dumb,' both Mezrielda and Bagsy said in unison. Only Mezrielda's statement was loud enough to be heard, though.
'The mascot is an eagle, hence, Eagle Club,' Winifred hissed, hot annoyance rolling off her in waves. Bagsy thought she could feel its warmth from where she was standing, she looked so angry. With that, Winifred spun on her heels and swiftly departed.
Bagsy held back a giggle until Winifred was out of ear shot. 'Delightful, isn't she?'
'Positively charming,' Mezrielda drawled sarcastically.
'I better go do my homework,' Bagsy sighed, walking towards the library. She'd wanted to complete it during personal study but the Eagle Club had stood in its way.
'Me too,' Mezrielda agreed. 'I have at least another foot of writing before my scroll will be long enough for Professor Starrett's standards.'
'And I just got a really long assignment from Professor Binns,' Bagsy complained. 'He wants an essay on the formation of the Wizengamot.'
'He gave the Slytherins and Gryffindors the same.'
'Hey, about that thing you were going to say earlier-'
'Like I said, ignore it,' Mezrielda enforced. Grudgingly, Bagsy left it there.
They worked into the late hours, sitting in their favourite nook of the library. Occasionally, Bagsy would reach up and gently stroke the petals of the matured stampelia, who would sway peacefully in response.
'It's nearly midnight,' Mezrielda commented, glancing at the small sundial she wore around her wrist. It cast a shadow onto the time no matter what the light was like around her. Bagsy held back a yawn. 'I'm going to bed.' Mezrielda collected her things, bid Bagsy goodnight, and left.
Bagsy stayed up quite a bit longer. She was used to working into the twilight hours and had far too much homework unfinished to comprehend sleeping. Even though none of the homework required Bagsy to cast spells, there was still a lot of it, especially since she had neglected to use her personal study to finish it. When Bagsy found herself writing that you could make a table dance to scare off burglars, she realised she needed to leave her "uses of animation charms" essay until the morning or face ridicule and, possibly, detention.
Packing her things away, Bagsy waved goodbye to her stampelia, and trudged off to the Hufflepuff dormitory. If she was quick and quiet, no prefect would spot her. She hadn't intended to stay up beyond curfew, but the work had sucked her in like a whirlpool.
When Bagsy passed the first suit of armour on her way to bed, she didn't think anything of it. They'd creeped her out ever since her first year when they'd been controlled by the blood eyed beast to threaten her. Now, though, they had been guarded against such control. Fitzsimmons had told her they couldn't be used to harm her anymore. When she passed the second suit of armour, her confidence faltered. There weren't usually this many in a row.
When Bagsy passed the third suit of armour, she knew something was wrong.
She paused, glancing behind her at the gleaming metal and glinting swords, before quickening her pace.
By the sixth suit of armour Bagsy decided to break into a run but, as she did, something clamped onto her elbow. Bagsy let out a scream, dropping her things in shock. Turning to look, she saw one of the suits had secured its gauntlet firmly around her arm. 'Help!' Bagsy cried, pushing against the metal arm in a desperate attempt to free herself.
Another metal hand grabbed her other arm – a second suit of armour. Bagsy heard clanks as the armours surrounded her and lifted her off her feet.
She kicked the air helplessly, thrashing as she tried to free herself. 'Please, someone!' Bagsy called before a metal hand forced itself onto her mouth, clamping it shut. She managed to look over her shoulder, where the suits of armour where carrying her, to see a dark shadow in the corner of the corridor. Bagsy saw worms in her mind, spelling out two words; beware shadows.
She struggled as hard as she could, her cries audible behind the metal hand. The armours stopped and started to swing Bagsy backwards and forwards, meaning to throw her into the shadow. Bagsy looked again and saw the shadow cast upon the stone wall, waiting for her, the idea of being swallowed by it hooked in her mind and her insides turned to ice.
The metal hand on Bagsy's mouth suddenly flew away, pulled from the rest of the armour and thrust against the corridor wall with a clatter as if magnetized to it. The suit of armour looked at its arm, now missing a hand, in what Bagsy could only describe as confusion.
Like an off switch, the suits of armour holding her collapsed to the floor, losing all signs of life. Bagsy followed, letting out a yelp on her way down.
The metal pieces rose into the air around her and, as if tugged by a rope, shot down the corridor away from Bagsy. As they went they passed by Professor Starrett, guided by her wand, who's night gown billowed at their speed. The suits of armour dismantled and, their pieces flung to the other end of the corner, Professor Starrett moved her wand back towards Bagsy, the tip glowing a bright white as she stalked over to her. Bagsy looked at Starrett, unable to move from where she'd fallen.
Starrett stopped in front of her, towering menacingly. 'Are you hurt, Miss Beetlehorn?' she asked, reaching down to grasp Bagsy's shoulder and help her to her feet. There wasn't much strength in Starrett's stick-thin arms, but it helped her rise to her feet all the same.
'N-no,' Bagsy managed, looking down the corridor at where Starrett had flung the metal pieces. 'I'm f-fine.'
Starrett pulled Bagsy to her side. 'Stay close,' she instructed urgently, hurrying down a side passage and away from the scene, swiping her wand around her, her eyes scanning the paintings as if they were somehow responsible. Bagsy did as she was told as Professor Starrett led her down a familiar, maze-like route. When they stopped below a waiting black hole in the ceiling, Bagsy wasn't surprised.
With a clink, a glass ladder descended, beckoning them up to Fitzsimmons' office.
