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

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'Happy, uh, Christmas, I suppose,' Mezrielda's voice woke Bagsy, who'd been dreaming she was in a ship below Hogwarts lake. Cora Foncée had appeared and attacked her, and then a large serpent, or worm, had appeared and thrashed about, destroying the ship. Just as white arms with sharp claws were materialising in the dark waters and swimming towards Bagsy, she found herself woken up.

'Good morning,' she grumbled. 'What time is it?' She shut her eyes against the faint light coming into the room from the windows overlooking the lake.

'Nine in the morning.'

'Nine in the morning!?' Bagsy squeaked. 'Why would you wake me at nine in the morning on Christmas day!? Are you an evil witch, or something?'

'Perhaps,' Mezrielda said, baring her teeth and making a mock hissing noise. Bagsy could tell she was trying to be humorous, but the lack of enthusiasm, and the evident discomfort with making any kind of joke, made it look funny for the all the wrong reasons. Bagsy stifled a laugh.

'That looks more like a vampire than an evil witch,' Maisy chimed in, having also woken up.

'Vampires?' Mezrielda asked in concern. 'Who said anything about them? I didn't. I don't know any vampires. Don't be so silly.'

Maisy simply got up and left the room, looking nonplussed.

'Breakfast or presents first?' Bagsy asked. She was awake now, so she may as well get up. Sliding her legs over the side of the bed and putting her slippers on she shuffled out of the room as well.

'Presents,' Mezrielda said far too firmly.

Bagsy eyed her suspiciously.

There were no Christmas trees in the Slytherin common room, a fact Mezrielda was a big fan off, so they had laid their presents around the fireplace.

'This is for you,' Mezrielda breezed casually, despite the obvious tension in her shoulders. She held out two small packages to Bagsy, both wrapped supremely neatly in black and green striped paper.

'Thanks!' Bagsy smiled, wondering what they were. The first one she opened confused her. A pack of cards sat in her lap. They seemed similar to the pack they'd discovered in the library, except this card game was called traitor, not changelings. 'Is this...?' Bagsy asked, her voice trailing off in amazement.

'I made a better version of the game we found,' Mezrielda explained, 'and these cards do work, so we can play it. If you want to. If you don't that's fine, of course. You can do whatever you want, I couldn't care less.'

'This is so cool,' Bagsy breathed, looking awestruck at the pack. 'And you enchanted them? That must have been really difficult.'

'Please.' Mezrielda wafted her hand dismissively. 'Twas a piece of cake for a sorceress as skilled as myself. Now hurry up and open the other one.'

'No,' Bagsy said suddenly. 'You open mine first,' she added, handing a messily wrapped package to Mezrielda. She'd had to use muggle tape, but she hadn't been very good at it, so it looked like some sad failed transfiguration experiment.

'How am I meant to open this?' Mezrielda wrinkled her nose disapprovingly at the state it was in. Bagsy was about to answer her but Mezrielda beat her to it. 'With determination, I suppose.' With three swift, efficient flicks of her wand the brown paper was in the bin and Mezrielda was holding a large collection of strange, small items that she could transfigure. A special kind of smile existed briefly on Mezrielda's face before it was forced down. 'Good,' she murmured thickly. 'I was running out.'

Bagsy wasn't sure what she'd been worried about – clearly, Mezrielda was happy with her present, even if it was the same as it had been previous years. 'Nice,' Bagsy smiled. 'Back to my present, then.'