The Ghost in the Night...

"Quiet as a shadow, The Wiccan stalks the halls of Hogwarts," Noah whispered, tiptoeing through the dungeon and peering around a corner. "He knows the Dark Followers are here somewhere. They're Slytherins! he thinks, his mind whirling at a hundred miles per hour. The Dungeons are where they live...and where they belong."

"As he hunts, The Wiccan's (secretly not-so-mild-mannered Noah Archer) mind flashes back to how this day began."


Noah leaned against, the wall, staring cooly at a tall boy currently fiddling with a complicated piece of machinery. Noah is in full Wiccan garb, his face magically obscured by the hood he wears. The boy sighed and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, pushing the small device across the table. "That should do it."

"Will it work?" Noah asked. His voice is unusually husky and deep, and the boy rolls his eyes.

"Of course it'll work. Stop being so dramatic. When you want to make an escape just pull it out and press the button," he explained. "Whatever powdered stuff you've put in there is ejected-"

"Peruvian instant darkness powder," Noah interjected.

The boy sighed. "Sure. whatever. Anyway, it's more convenient than throwing it all the time."

Noah nodded. "True. Thank you Walker. Do you have any more information?"

Walker shrugged. "Hey man, not much. Just that those Dark Followers weirdos might be meeting tonight. Don't know where, when, or if it's even official. Just a rumor. But worth investigating right?"

"Everything is work investigating"

Right here, right now.

Noah stopped dead, his incessant narration coming to a sudden stop as he hears footsteps coming down the hallway. He pressed himself up against a wall, trying to see if it was a Slytherin or not.

Angelique didn't know why she even bothered. Any club started by Julia Traverse was bound to be pointless and doubly so if it had a stupid name like The Dark Followers. Julia had a serious case of inferiority. Her little club was obviously just a sad and desperate ploy to make herself look important. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

Angelique thought about that for a moment. Nooooo, it was still funny.

She let out a low chuckle as she continued down towards the Slytherin common room. Of course, that was the other annoying thing about Julia. She had this really bad habit of thinking in cliches, so now Angelique was breaking curfew. If she got caught, she was going to use the harpy for target practice.

Angelique stopped dead and turned her head to one side. She could've sworn she'd heard someone whispering. However, though she tried to catch the sound again, feeling like her own ears were themselves extendible, no sound came. She shrugged; the dungeons were like that sometimes, on account of having the weight of the rest of the school bearing down on them all the time. It was like they were complaining.

"The Wiccan spots his pray," Noah breathed, a sound so quiet it barely reached his own ears. "A shadow is all he can see, but the movement is too suspicious. Nobody should be out this late...so who is this and why aren't they nestled in their bed?"

Noah peeked out from behind the column, trying to see who it was. Unfortunately the lurker was hidden deep in shadow, apparently unaware of Noah's presence. Part of him wanted to take whoever it was out without showing himself, an awesome batman maneuver. The other part wanted to figure out if the perp knew anything about the Dark Followers.

"The Wiccan debates the pros and cons of each tactic," Noah whispered to himself. "Finally, he decides. Stepping out into the hallway, he raises his hand and whispers Lumos"

True to his narration, Noah stepped out and whispered Lumos. The rings around his fingers began to glow, and a small ball of light shimmered into existence a few inches above his outstretched palm. "You have exactly 5 seconds to give me a good reason not to blast you," Noha warned aloud, his voice stupidly deep and gravelly. "1...2...3..."

"Incarcerous."

Chains leapt from the stonework and snaked rapidly towards the figure's ankles. Angelique had no idea who the person addressing her was and obviously he was in the same position with regard to her, or he'd have cast first and demanded answers afterwards.

She took her time advancing closer to this person. It was probably some idiotic Hufflepuff who'd got lost on their way to the kitchens and thought she was encroaching on their territory. The Badgers thought they owned that entire end of the dungeons.

Noah hit the ground with a very undignified thud.

Ok, he hadn't expected that.

He twisted and muttered a pointed his finger towards the chains "Diffindo!" The first strike failed to sever through the chain completely however, and it took several more tries before he was able to jump to his feet. Luckily for him, now that his Lumos had faded the perp was forced to waste precious seconds bringing light, enough time for Noah to get back to his feet.

And then he saw her face.

Dammit. A girl.

He couldn't hit a girl! What was he thinking, jumping in before he saw the perp's gender?! While it was true, statistically speaking, that women could be criminals, (20% were, last he checked) fighting one was not what he prided himself on. He would simply have to subdue her without hurting her.

"I just want some answers," Noah growled, holding his palm up. "Now be a good girl and put the wand down."

Her spell had taken him down but not out. The boy - or girl; a gravelly voice meant nothing in a world where a potion or charm could alter a voice as easily as that autotune thing did in the muggle world - had managed to sever the chains and get back to his feet.

That wasn't as interesting as how he'd managed it, though. He seemed to be using wandless magic, but Angelique didn't know of anyone in the school who could do that. She would investigate it later, after she had her fun.

She giggled as he told her to put down her wand. Be a good girl? But didn't he know?

"A good girl?" she repeated, stepping ever closer. "I can't be a good girl. It's not possible, I'm afraid. There's something wrong inside, you see."

She cocked her head to the side and let the moment stretch out till it was all thin and uncomfortable. This was fun. Angelique hadn't had fun for a long time.

"What answers?"

Noah took a step back. This was not what he had been expecting. He had come down here hoping to ambush some fourth year in way over their head, and instead was stuck fighting a seventh year girl.

Noah recognized the girl now. She was a Slytherin, just like he had suspected, a seventh year named Angelique. Weird girl, but Noah was in no position to be talking.

He kept a wary eye on her wand, his palm still pointed at her chest. She wasn't going to put the wand down, and he doubted he could take her in a straight fight - even if he would allow himself to go all out she would probably overwhelm him. He had to be smart.

"What are you doing out so late?" he asked finally. Unarmed or not he could still try and get something out of her.

He was scared. Angelique could tell. Well, people didn't usually back away from you unless they were. Not too scared to try interrogating her, though. She shrugged in reply.

"You were here waiting," she said, "so you already know."

Well, Julia did say she wanted them to expand the ranks. She hadn't said with whom.

"Do you want to join? I could get you in. Ju- Our leader relies on my opinion in all things."

It was a lie, but not a very obvious one. In reality, the Dark Followers were barely a handful of people who got together to talk about how evil they thought they were. They never actually did anything, which was why this little encounter was sending silvery chills up and down Angelique's spine despite her attacker's timorousness. It was perfectly plausible that Angelique would be Julia's second in charge.

Noah laughed. "Like I'd ever want to join you, you pathetic pieces of slime," he shot back. "Next time, try a bribe that actually has a chance at succeeding," A sudden wave of excitement rushed through him - she had all but confirmed her status as a Dark Follower. That juts meant he had to subdue her.

Easier said than done. Noah's hand twisted, his rings trembling with magical energy. "Glisseo," he snarled, pointing his palm at the ground beneath the girl's feet. The floor around her suddenly became slippery - hopefully he could throw her off balance and take her down without hurting her.

Yes, definitely wandless magic, but this time Angelique's thoughts caught up with her and pointed out the thing that had been niggling in the back of her mind. Wandless but not silent.

Her shield charm bounced the spell off onto a nearby wall where the bricks immediately fused together. She didn't know what he was trying to accomplish with baby spells like that, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to work.

"I wasn't trying to bribe you," she said, sidling closer again. "I was offering you a way out."

No more time for playing around, now. Angelique's curiosity was getting the better of her and she didn't have all night to stand around chatting. Her wand flashed as she silently cast a body-bind curse at her opponent.