I slumped to the ground. A bloody gurgle bubbled up from my throat as I tried to form words. A healing spell. A shout at Headmistress Millington. My eyes strained to see her in the darkness which grew more absolute by the second.

I was dying, and she'd killed me.

Over the sound of my dying heartbeat, footsteps thudded nearby. Not inside this room with me, but outside. Was the headmistress running away again? No, I couldn't let her. Even death wouldn't stop ...