Sleep was something Bagsy still struggled with. One night, feeling exhausted from Quidditch practise and hours of homework, Bagsy tried to turn in early but found herself staring at the yellow canopy of her bed and grasping the necklace around her neck fearfully.
Throwing her sheet off of herself and missing the quilt her sister had made, Bagsy got up and left the room. She wrote a quick letter to her sister, keeping her up to date with her life and informing her that Primrose had left well enough alone since the last incident, even if she did suspect her of stealing the quilt. Bound for the owlery, Bagsy pulled on her cloak and set off. It was nearing winter now and she didn't fancy facing the chill without the warm material keeping the wind off her.
Eldritch took her letter and swopped off efficiently, his cute, fluffy amber feathers buffeted in the winter breeze. Bagsy glanced up, seeing where a brick was missing from the structure and thought back to how she'd found the thorned gauntlet last year, before leaving the owlery. On her way back to the Hufflepuff common room she walked past a store cupboard that Bagsy swore was usually locked.
'You fools,' a deep voice hissed. It was thin sounding, like it was coming through a long pipe. 'The girl can't be forced into the shadows, we must let her go of her own volition. Next time don't act until you've been ordered!'
Bagsy, suddenly aware Mistress Foncée wasn't with her, tip-toed past as quietly as she could, feeling mildly terrified. If something went wrong, there would be no one with her to help.
'Come. There is no use trying to sneak back in here anymore,' the voice hissed. There was silence. 'That was an order, get moving!' it added in annoyance. Bagsy froze at the noise of clanks of metal shoes and the clinking of armour. Through the crack in the open door Bagsy saw silver shapes gleam as they walked into darkness. Soon, there was no more noise and no more voice.
Bagsy stood, too frightened to move, worried that even a twitch of her hand would give away where she was.
When she heard a squawk from inside the room Bagsy jumped in horror and ran all the way back to the Hufflepuff dormitory. If Bagsy had been unwilling to sleep before, she was downright incapable now. Luckily for her, Neve and Teresa were still awake, sitting in armchairs, Teresa in a nighty and Neve in pyjamas. Teresa had her head stuck in a book and Neve was folding paper, as usual.
Bagsy flopped down in the third armchair, staring blankly at the floor. Had she just seen someone commanding the metal suits of armour, the ones that had tried to throw Bagsy into a shadow? And what had it meant when it said the girl, Bagsy presumed in reference to herself, couldn't be forced into the shadows, but only enter them willingly? Bagsy's head swam with confusion and fear. She resolved to inform Mistress Foncée of what she'd heard as soon as she could.
Teresa's head had been buried deep in the book she was reading, Magical Creatures – Practical Practise, when suddenly she thrust her head out and onto the back of her armchair with a gasp of fear. Neve dropped her paper in shock before standing up and rushing to Teresa's side. Bagsy furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering how just a book had affected Teresa so.
'What was it?' Neve asked in a small voice, pushing her glasses up her nose before wringing her hands nervously together.
'It was one of the markers, Neve,' Teresa said, her voice shaking. Bagsy didn't think she'd ever seen Teresa scared, and a new fear sparked in her stomach.
Neve nodded, seeming to understand. 'Nasty stuff,' she murmured. 'You shouldn't read those chapters, Teresa, their rating is for fifth years and up.'
'I know,' Teresa sighed, closing her book.
'What's a marker?' Bagsy asked, her voice as small as Neve's. Teresa and Neve looked at Bagsy, only just now realising she was there. Teresa's fear had ebbed away by now, and something new filled her eyes. It was the kind of look someone had when they peered at a splattered bug with morbid curiosity.
'They're a subsection of magical creatures,' Teresa explained as Neve sat back down and picked her paper up again. 'They're classified by their... unique hunting method.' Teresa looked down at the book in her lap silently. Bagsy waited patiently, she knew Teresa would explain what the hunting method was eventually. 'They don't just kill and eat their prey,' Teresa said at last, her voice quiet in the empty common room. Neve put down her paper again, watching Teresa with fearful but curious eyes. Bagsy got the impression Teresa was enjoying this and milking the horror for all it was worth.
'What do they do?' Neve whispered, her eyes wide and her hands clasped together tightly. Bagsy furrowed her brow, Neve had acted like she knew what they did before. Maybe Neve was going along with Teresa's theatrics.
'They mark them,' Teresa said. Neve let out a little gasp and Bagsy found herself tiering of the pantomime dramatics. 'It can be with a claw or a tooth or a talon, but they mark them, they always mark them first.'
'Who?' Neve pressed. Bagsy new this was scripted now but was interested enough to follow along.
'Their prey...' Teresa hissed, her eyes flashing with excitement. 'Once their prey is marked they know where they are at all times and can see into their mind. Markers are masters of mental manipulation and cruel masters of it indeed. Their favourite meal is a terrified one.'
When Bagsy had moved to the edge of her seat, she didn't know, but she had. Even Neve and Teresa seemed surprised at how taken with the tale Bagsy was. They didn't realise that Bagsy was thinking about a voice that had spoken to her last year. 'You are marked,' it hissed softly in Bagsy's mind. 'You are mine, now.' Bagsy's right hand rested on her left shoulder, where the deep claw marks the blood eyed beast had left on her were, and her left hand clasped tightly around the necklace that Fitzsimmons had promised her prevented the beast from knowing where she was or seeing into her mind.
'A marker stalks their prey, savouring the hunt, and when they finally POUNCE!' Teresa raised her voice on the last word and Bagsy barely held back a yelp. 'They don't just devour the body. No, that would be too kind... A marker devours the essence of their prey, sucking their soul and strength along with their flesh. The longer a marker lives, the more powerful it becomes, because it has more time to steal the souls of those it hunts...' Teresa finished her story, sitting back in her seat.
Neve looked uncertainly at Bagsy, who's face had paled. 'We were just messing with you,' she assured Bagsy, laying a gentle hand on her left arm. Bagsy flinched away, staring widely at Neve in silence. 'We didn't mean to actually scare you – we're really sorry if we did...'
'Ah, she'll get over it,' Teresa dismissed with a wave of her hand, happily returning to her book.
'Teresa,' Neve reprimanded her with more force than Bagsy had ever heard her use.
Teresa huffed and looked at Bagsy in annoyance. 'Look, the only creatures that can mark their prey are too small to hurt us humans. Marking is a very heavy magical process, so only tiny little creatures can use it on other tiny little creatures. Anything bigger than a pencil with the appropriate biology to mark their prey would be so heavy they'd be crushed under their own weight. So stop being so scared.'
Teresa's attempt at comfort didn't help Bagsy any, and she didn't sleep that night. She was too busy turning her necklace visible and staring at it to check it was still there.
At breakfast the next day, Bagsy scoured the room for Mistress Foncée. After locating her, and quickly explaining to her what she'd heard the night before, Bagsy found Mezrielda and unloaded on her everything that she'd seen last night. She was beyond worried about the idea that she was marked by the beast, and even Mezrielda looked concerned. Besides the occasional snippet of alone time they got in the lessons they shared, meals were the only time Bagsy and Mezrielda could speak freely about the blood eyed beast, especially because Mezrielda couldn't visit the Hufflepuff common room in the evenings, given she had to serve her detentions in the kitchen then.
'You think it marked you?' Mezrielda checked. 'And that this necklace blocks the effect of the mark, namely, being able to see where you are and get into your mind?' Bagsy nodded. Mezrielda looked grim. Bagsy willed her to say something, how she was being foolish to think the blood eyed beast had marked her, but Mezrielda looked as quietly horrified as Bagsy felt. 'Let me look,' she murmured at last. 'Show me your shoulder.'
Bagsy, with a glance around, subtly pulled the robe down on her left shoulder. Mezrielda caught a glimpse of the white indents in Bagsy's arm and winced.
'They hurt when I touch them,' Bagsy added. 'They aren't fading. But, Teresa said that marking is a heavy magic process and that anything bigger than a pencil would be crushed under its own weight if it had the organs to mark its prey.'
Mezrielda pursed her lips. 'Let's hope she's right.'
It was two weeks before the Christmas holidays and Mezrielda was looking forward to not having to spend her evenings working the kitchens anymore. Bagsy, on the other hand, felt over worked and scared so that even the jolly Christmas decorations around Hogwarts couldn't cheer her up.
Bagsy's spells were as none-existent as ever, her fear was sky high and her piles of homework went higher still. She wasn't sleeping, was growing more frustrated with her failure to cast spells and was skittering about the castle like a mouse with a cat on its tail, jumping at the slightest of noises and avoiding shadows at all costs. At least, Bagsy assured herself, there hadn't been a Hufflepuff Quidditch match yet, so she'd avoided that stress, but then she would remember that the first Hufflepuff match was that weekend and feel even worse.
With dark bags under her eyes and feeling like the mindless shell-people they'd been learning about in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Bagsy looked off into the distance one morning, her porridge forgotten.
Mezrielda was moaning about her detentions, as usual. 'And the elves won't shut up about Horba! Apparently, he was the cleaner but he up and left without a word to anyone, which is why we now have the delightful Mistress Foncée.' Mezrielda frowned. 'It is pretty odd that Horba just disappeared, though...'
Bagsy, who barely heard a word, hummed her tired agreement.
'Bagsy?' Mezrielda asked in mild concern. Bagsy blinked slowly, not responding. Mezrielda gave Bagsy a poke, who started and began eating her porridge again, not looking at her. 'You're starting to worry me,' Mezrielda said gently. 'I think you should speak to a teacher if you're having this much trouble sleeping...' Bagsy nodded numbly but didn't move. With a sigh, Mezrielda stood up.
'Finally heading back to the Slytherin table, are we?' Primrose shot from down the table. Most of the Hufflepuffs had accepted Mezrielda's presence during all meals. Primrose and her friends, Rebekah and Logan, didn't want to let it go. A few Hufflepuffs murmured their ascent, clearly not used to it yet, either. Mezrielda wriggled her fingers and hissed, imitating snakes. Primrose, clearly thinking back to her snake-transfigured fingers, glared but said nothing more. Mezrielda walked away. Where to, Bagsy didn't know. She felt too tired to turn her head and look.
Owls poured into the great hall as the mail arrived. Teresa and Neve sat down opposite Bagsy as four large owls swooped down with a mammoth, square package. It was more like a crate, and its thud on the table woke Bagsy up with a start and she stared at it in surprise. Bagsy's small letter that Eldritch daintily dropped next to her seemed tiny in comparison. Even so, she gave Eldritch a pat on the head and a treat before he took off again. Primrose cast Eldritch a vengeful look – clearly, she hadn't forgotten his attack back in Diagon Alley before term had started.
'What's that?' Bagsy asked Teresa around a yawn, not noticing the massive "Happy Birthday Teresa!" scrawled along the side. The crate was plastered with a big, muggle looking label and the owls that had let go of the crate looked tired and flustered.
A small crowd clustered around Teresa and her package. Neve, who huddled close to Teresa, didn't seem keen on the attention. Teresa, however, basked in it and paused before throwing the brown paper off the crate and pushing the wooden sides off. With a clatter, a massive glass tank revealed itself.
It was filled with worms.
'Eeeewwww!' came the resounding voices of the crowd that had formed, taking steps back. Neve looked relieved at the extra space.
'A worm farm!' Teresa cried happily, throwing her arms around the tank to hug it, nuzzling her cheek against the glass.
Primrose rolled her eyes. 'Not another pet...' she grumbled.
'That Zotova must really like you, letting you have all these,' Paloma, who had just sat down on Teresa's other side next to Neve, whispered.
Teresa looked proud. 'Us creature-heads have got to stick together,' she explained.
'Creature-heads?' Paloma looked confused.
'People obsessed with animals and that stuff,' Neve murmured to Paloma as Teresa gazed longingly at her gift.
'How interesting,' Paloma murmured, before asking Neve to elaborate more. Neve looked nervous and unsure what to do but stumbled through an answer all the same. Paloma seemed endeared by her shyness, if anything.
Bagsy's eyes were fixed on the worms that wriggled around in the dirt, her heart in her throat, thinking of all the worms that had been trying to give her messages. She had to get alone with that worm farm, whatever the cost.
When someone tapped Bagsy on the shoulder she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Mezrielda held out a vial with purple liquid inside. 'It's a potion for dreamless sleep,' she explained as Bagsy took it from her. 'I told Blythurst you were having trouble sleeping and he gave it to me. He said one sip a night should do the trick.'
Bagsy looked at the vial and then at Mezrielda. She felt as if she'd been hit with the strongest teporiem spell as a happy warmth spread from her scalp to her toes. 'Thank you, Mezrielda,' she said, but Mezrielda's eyes had found Teresa's worm farm, and Bagsy knew the same thoughts she'd been having were occurring to Mezrielda, too. They both watched in silence as Teresa carried the worm farm, with some difficulty and assistance from Neve, out of the hall and in the direction of the Hufflepuff dormitory.
As they were escorted by Mistress Foncée to their Charms lesson Bagsy let out a distressed sounding cry.
'What's wrong?' Foncée asked quickly as Mezrielda cast Bagsy a curious look.
'I left my textbook in the common room!' Bagsy cried in her best distressed voice. It was hollow and so obviously fake that Mezrielda looked disturbed by the poor performance. Foncée, for whatever reason, humoured her, and escorted them back to the Hufflepuff common room. Bagsy knocked out the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff on the correct barrel before ducking through the passage.
'I'll help her find it,' Mezrielda excused herself to Foncée, following after her. Once they were inside the common room, Mezrielda put her hands on Bagsy's shoulders and gave a little jump, her weight pushing down on her as she did. 'Highly adequate thinking,' Mezrielda praised Bagsy, who felt flushed with pride. It had been a pretty good idea, she agreed internally. 'Execution could use some work, but it'll certainly do.'
When they entered the girl's dormitory and saw Teresa hunched over the worm farm sitting next to her bed they slowed to a halt and Bagsy realised this might be harder than she'd first thought. She didn't want Teresa around whilst they let the worms spell out words. Teresa was moving the soil around with gloved hands whilst Neve stood behind her, looking terrified.
'We should really head to Charms, Teresa,' Neve fretted, before spotting Mezrielda and letting out a squeak. 'Slytherin!'
Mezrielda looked at Neve with a deadpan expression.
Teresa turned around. 'Hey! You're not allowed in here!' she barked. 'Bagsy, did she force you to let her in?'
Bagsy, bewildered by Teresa's question, opened her mouth but failed to form words.
Teresa glared at Mezrielda. 'Get out.'
Bagsy saw that Mezrielda had pulled her wand from her robes. Bagsy shot a nervous look at Neve, who looked just as hopeless.
'Levicorpus!' Mezrielda rumbled in a low voice that Bagsy barely heard. First Teresa, and then Neve, rose into the air by their ankles, their arms dangling below them.
'Mezrielda!' Bagsy yelped. Mezrielda's wand directed Teresa and Neve, who were both struggling helplessly in Mezrielda's jinx, out of the door to the dormitory, where she let them drop.
'Locomotor porta,' Mezrielda incanted and the round, wooden door between them and the others snapped shut. Mezrielda walked over to it swiftly and pointed her wand at the lock. 'Colloportus.' The door locked with a click.
'Mezrielda!' Bagsy exclaimed. 'What did you just do?!'
'I cast a levitation jinx, then a door closing and locking charm. Now, the worms. Quickly.' Mezrielda strode over to the worm farm. Bagsy, with a last horrified glance at the locked door, which Teresa was now angrily banging on, followed Mezrielda to the worm farm.
As soon as Bagsy looked down the worms began to scramble to the surface and arrange themselves. Her breath caught in her throat, wondering what message they had for her.
Bagsy and Mezrielda titled their head to the correct angel, reading the sentence in unison. 'The Corvid trials approach...' they murmured. An ominous note hung in the air as they looked at each other. The worms began spelling something new.
'Beware...' Mezrielda read, as the worms aligned themselves, but Bagsy was distracted by the appearance of a crow sitting menacingly on the end of Teresa's bed.
'Mezrielda,' Bagsy murmured, too late, as a murder of crows flooded the room and descended on them. 'Mezrielda, the worms!' Bagsy managed to say as she batted crows away from her face and crumpled onto the floor, bringing her knees to her chest, caws and squawks filling the air.
'Shadows!' Mezrielda called out. 'They spelt shadows! They're spelling more!'
Bagsy could barely see what was happening for all the black feathers and beaks, but she heard the smashing of glass as the crows attacked the worm farm.
'Get – away!' Mezrielda hissed, trying to protect the worms. The crows snapped them up one by one. 'Don't trust...' Mezrielda called out again, trying to shield the worms with her body. The crows were nearly done, and only two worms remained. 'M!' Mezrielda reported, the remaining worms she was looking at shifting to spell a different letter. She took them into her hands, trying to keep the last two worms away from the hurricane of feathers.
A crow swooped between Mezrielda's shielding arms and snapped one of the worms in its beak, fluttering away. The other worm lay dead in Mezrielda's palm. Bagsy looked up from where she'd hidden her face in her hands. The room was littered with a handful of black feathers, and Mezrielda was on her knees, surrounded by mud and broken glass, her robes covered in dirt and dark plumage.
'Move aside,' Bagsy heard Mistress Foncée from outside the door and her heart sank. 'Alohomora,' came the quiet but sharp voice of Foncée. The door swung open, Bagsy wondering if she heard something else close as it did, and Foncée, flanked by Teresa and Neve, entered the room. Mezrielda looked up, a dead worm held in her hand and broken glass, mud and feathers scattered on the floor around her. As if to make matters worse, Mezrielda chose this time to sneeze with a loud squawk! and cough up a black feather that slowly descended to the floor to join the rest.