Bagsy Beetlehorn and the Corvid Trials (The Bagsy Chronicles 2)

The Phoenix Effect

Griffin and Bontie took Bagsy to platform nine and three-quarters when it was time for the Easter term to begin.

Griffin pushed the trolley with the luggage, and Bontie held Bagsy's hand, who was feeling considerably more hopeful about her home life. It was like having real parents, in a way, even if Bagsy felt guilty for thinking that.

They'd arrived with a few moments to spare, so Griffin took Bagsy's things onto the train and unpacked them into one of the compartments.

While he was away from them, Bontie turned seriously to Bagsy. 'In your letters you mentioned you and Tod went to Mezrielda's,' she began, her voice low, and Bagsy sensed she'd done something wrong. 'Bagsy, are you still hanging around that kid?'

Bagsy nodded. 'Yeah, he's alright.'

Bontie pursed her lips. 'Do you remember me telling you to stay away from him last year? Do you remember me curing you of your memory loss?' Bagsy nodded. Bontie looked puzzled. 'Are you sure?' Bagsy nodded again. 'If you remember, if he hasn't taken those memories from you, then why are you still hanging around with him, when I specifically told you not to?'

'He seems nice,' Bagsy offered.

'He seems nice,' Bontie repeated, reminding Bagsy distinctly of Mezrielda. With a subtle flick Bagsy barely caught, Bontie cast a muffling spell on their conversation. Even so, Bontie lowered her voice to a whisper. 'Bagsy, he's a silver tongue, you need to do as I say and stay away from him.'

'He won't use his powers on me. I trust him, Rebontil,' Bagsy retorted hotly. 'Besides, I don't hang out with him often, just every now and then.'

Bontie shook Bagsy. 'That's all it takes! One conversation, Bagsy. He's dangerous.'

'Tod wouldn't take advantage of me like that.'

'You have no way of knowing that. You have no defences against it either. If he wants you to forget everything he could just do it,' she snapped her fingers, 'and you'd have no clue what had happened. I don't want to see that happening to you, Bagsy. Listen to reason and stay away from him!'

Bagsy narrowed her eyes and looked at the floor. 'You're not my mum,' she grumbled.

Bontie let go of Bagsy sharply.

'All packed,' Griffin announced, stepping off the train. 'Everything okay?'

'Yes, everything's fine,' Bontie said, pulling her robes neatly around herself. 'Bagsy, you're my sister, and I love you dearly.' She placed a hand on Bagsy's hair and ruffled it. 'Please be safe and write to let me know how you're doing, and please, do as I say.'

'Sure,' Bagsy muttered uncertainly. Bontie gave her a quick hug and then ushered her onto the train, which was preparing to leave.

Mezrielda was already settling herself opposite Bagsy's things.

'How did you-?'

'The rats were a give-away,' Mezrielda explained, pointing at the travel cage Bill and Jill were inside.

As the train set off Bagsy waved at her sister. They'd had a spat, but she was still her family, and the smile Bontie gave her, and enthusiastic beam Griffin added, were an uplifting sight.

As they journeyed to Hogwarts, Bagsy caught Mezrielda up on the mysterious message the muggle-boy had given her.

'So, basically, he told you nothing you didn't already know,' Mezrielda concluded.

'He did give me a torch,' Bagsy said. Besides practising with Griffin or spending hours each day with her mag-net bat and ball, or modifying her Fleet Footed Fox, she had spent the remainder of her holidays taking the torch apart and putting it back together. The muggle technology made her look at magic differently and she had been sparking with new ideas for how to modify brooms and create inventions.