Bagsy Beetlehorn and the Inferno Conscription (The Bagsy Chronicles 3)

A Speech of Trust

The welcome feast was always a grand event at Hogwarts. Watching the first-years, some timidly dragging behind as Bagsy had done in her first year, others confidently striding ahead, like Mezrielda had, was always interesting. The sorting ceremony was loud and long but Bagsy, who'd found the abrupt cheering from each house table jarring, now discovered there was some fun in lightly clapping her hands and smiling with the rest of her house when another small, terrified first-year was led to their table.

She was still disappointed when, during big feasts such as this one, Mezrielda had to split away from her and head for the Slytherin table. Bagsy remembered back when she'd watched Mezrielda be sorted into the other house and how her stomach had sunk in misery. She found a warm feeling of relief upon realising that it hadn't mattered – Mezrielda and Bagsy were friends, and though she was missing out on guessing which student would go to which house with her, at least she got to enjoy Mezrielda's know-it-all aura at other times.

Once the sorting ceremony was finished and Professor Fitzsimmons, the head professor of Hogwarts, stepped onto the podium and held their hands aloft for silence, a hush fell over the hall.

Bagsy noticed a tall, gaunt man step forward from next to the teachers' table. She recognised Mr Mortem and wondered, angrily, what he was doing sticking his tiny, nasally nose in Hogwarts' business.

'And so, another year begins,' Fitzsimmons announced proudly, their large eyes, amplified by their bug-like glasses, taking the students in. 'I hope you are all prepared for a year of education and fun.' Fitzsimmons then proceeded with their usual warnings. Bagsy had paid little attention to them before but now, she noticed, one warning had repeated the same each year. 'The forbidden forest is, unsurprisingly, forbidden to each and every student. Regardless of whatever dire need you may perceive yourself having, nothing can excuse a single step into those trees. Do not be mistaken – any student found in the forbidden forest will be severely and without hesitation punished.' Fitzsimmons stilled, looking around the hall, their unassuming white and brown robes sweeping down around them, reaching the floor easily from the height of the podium. Their hair was dark brown and cut short to the jaw line, with impossible curls at its ends.

Bagsy noticed Mr Mortem was eyeing Fitzsimmons disdainfully – clearly, he didn't like their attire or hairstyle, and as Fitzsimmons' silence stretched on so did the displeasure on Mr Mortem's face, dragging the deep bags below his eyes even lower, the corners of his mouth turned down so severely they nearly touched his chin.

At last, with the silence in the hall beginning to bubble with awkwardness, Fitzsimmons abruptly turned to Mr Mortem. 'Ah, yes,' Fitzsimmons said, as if they'd just found a set of keys they'd misplaced. 'You had a little thing or two to say, didn't you, Hagas?'

Mr Mortem's face looked like it was melting it was so wrinkled with fury. 'Something quite important, actually, Dantes.'

'Address them as Professor Fitzsimmons or not at all,' Professor Starrett snapped from the teachers' table, her hands clasped tightly together.

Mr Mortem puffed out his chest and approached the podium. When Fitzsimmons didn't step down, he addressed the students from where he stood, Fitzsimmons looking down at him as if he were a curious artefact in a museum.

'The Ministry has been made aware of a severe threat,' Mortem began. 'Someone amongst you is an inferno.' A rumble of curiosity and concern bounded between the students. 'You will listen to me!' Mortem snapped angrily. The students fell silent, more out of stunned confusion at the abrupt outburst than obedience. 'I am head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. As such it is my duty to protect wizard kind from the evil creatures who mean us harm. Inferno are such creatures. You may have heard of them in bed time tales by another name but allow me to impress upon you the recently discovered truth; inferno are real, and they are hidden among us.'