The Ghost in the Night...

Non-verbal magic was annoying as hell, especially when you were a thirteen year old super-hero.

Noah wasn't thirteen. But he had been, and he had spent far too many nights stuck in uncomfortable positions because he had underestimated the power of non-verbal magic. So when he had finally made his personal list of rules and stuck them to the walls of the Coven, number one was "Watch the opponent's wand"

They could keep silent all they wanted, but their wand would always give it away. A twitch, a twist, a little flick...there was always something. But that of course, brought him to rule number two.

Rule 2: If you're standing still when the opponent casts their spell, its too late to dodge.

So the minute he released his Glisseo, Noah was already moving. Sure enough, he didn't hear anything, but the body bnd curse that flew past his right ear mid-roll told him all he needed to know.

Damn, the girl was good. Most people would never have come that close to hitting a rolling opponent.

Noah popped to his feet. His sense of honor prevented him from directly attacking the girl, but there were always ways around that if you were willing to be creative - or crazy - enough. "Accio!" He shouted, focusing on the girl's wand. Expelliarmus might've been more effective, but again, direct confrontation...Noah was really going to have to talk to himself if he got out of this.

Sure, the spell probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot. Few people knew how to properly grip their wands.

The boy's duelling method was unconventional, she'd give him that, but Angelique was unconventional too. Being unable to dodge his charm, she instead decided to let him have what he wanted. Gripping her wand harder, Angelique let the charm pull her forward before she let go, sending the wand spinning towards his outstretched hand.

What he wouldn't have expected was for her to be right behind it. Pureboods generally and Slytherins in particular had no stomach for muggle-style fighting. She closed the small gap between them and aimed a knee to where she estimated his groin to be, though his stomach would do just as well, simultaneously trying to haul the overlarge hood of his cloak down over his eyes.

"Who are you?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

The wand smacked against his palm and for a moment Noah was stunned by his own success.

Then Angelique rushed towards him and kneed him in the groin.

Noah's eyes widened, and a frantic cough escaped his throat as he stumbled backwards. Angelique came with him - she had her hands on his hood and was doing her best to pull it over his eyes. Heh. Good luck with that. The hood was magic; it never got in the way. He would've been beaten a long time ago if it had cut out his peripheral vision like it should've.

Unfortunately, the same magic that made the cloak impossible to remove except by his hands was now working against him, causing a painful burning instead of coming forward. Noah grabbed Angelique's wrists and managed to pull them off, pushing her back and pointing his ringed palm at her. "I am The Wiccan! And I am totally pissed off!"

The Wiccan? Angelique was acquainted with the concept. Muggles who pretended to be witches and wizards were a standing joke in pureblood society and had often been primary targets of dark lords in the past. Occasionally, one would encounter a muggleborn student whose parents had believed Hogwarts was some sort of new age academy.

It was, however, highly unlikely that the person she was speaking to was Gerald Gardiner. For one thing, he was a muggle, and for another, he died half a century ago. Whoever this was, they thought it was cool to use an alias.

People who used aliases usually needed to hide their identity for their own protection. Obviously, none of the teachers knew of his midnight wanderings. That left Potter's Army and although whoever this was might be a member, Angelique seriously doubted this little adventure had been approved by the rest of the team.

The final and most likely scenario was that this person simply fancied themself the new Harry Potter. Probably even pretended that stupid cloak made them invisible, thus their presence in the darkest part of the school in the first place. And everyone knew Harry Potter was the ultimate hero, which meant Angelique, by contrast, must be the villain in this fantasy.

She backed up and raised her hands in the classic surrender pose.

"Okay, I give up," she said. "Take me to your leader."

Angelique surrendered.

That made Noah pause. But only for a moment. He grabbed her wand from where it had fallen on the floor and stuffed it hastily into his pocket. He would give it back to her...eventually. For now, he needed to make sure she was crippled.

"That's not exactly how this works..." Noah said, back to using his low, guttural voice. "Obviously you' haven't heard of me. I'm kind of hurt," he said calmly. "Incarcerous." Ropes flew from his hand and wrapped themselves around Angelique, stopping her from moving. A body bind would've been preferable, but again, that damn chivalry thing.

Really, girls just shouldn't be getting in the way.

Noah cast a quick glance over the knots, making sure they were satisfactory, and cleared his throat. "I just want to know a few things. And then we can both go on our merry way. What are the Dark Followers?"

It was a question he already knew the answer to, but it was always better to make the victim underestimate what you knew. Plus, he would be able to determine whether she was going to be truthful or not, which was vitally important.

Angelique didn't flinch as the ropes bound her, though she was surprised the kid was willing to go that far. He obviously didn't think much about his future.

"I'm sure there's a lot of things you like to know," she said. "How do you propose to make me tell you?"

Noah rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had been hoping that the girl would answer his questions once she had given up - obviously that wasn't part of her plan. How could he get her to answer, how indeed...

He could try veritaserum. Of course, he'd have to steal it, and by the time he got some she would've had plenty of time to mentally prepare herself for it. Worthless. Physical interrogation was out of the question, and unfortunately Noah had no experience with legilimency. So the only thing left...

"Equivalent exchange," Noah said, squatting in front of her. "You answer a question, I answer a question. Any question. Minus, of course, who I actually am," he said. "It wouldn't do you any good anyway. But You don't want to pass up such a delightful opportunity to figure me out do you? Believe me, I plan on being quite the thorn in your side for a good long while."

She frowned, pretending to think about the offer, though really Angelique had made her mind up before he started speaking.

And then, just as suddenly, she changed it.

"You'll tell the truth? Swear on Harry Potter's Grave," she said.

Noah rolled his eyes. Then realized that she couldn't actually see him rolling his eyes, and thus the effect was ruined. He raised his hand.

"I swear on Harry Potter's grave that I'll tell the truth," he said. "I wouldn't lie anyway. That defeats the purpose of this exercise."

Angelique smiled. A real smile of pleasure, or at least as close to pleasure as Angelique ever got, and that was malice. It was good enough for her; let the games begin.

"All right then. The Dark Followers are a group of idiots who get together to make themselves feel big by pretending to be the Junior Death Eater League," she said.

The adrenalin started pumping as she decided whether to ease him into this or go straight for the throat. On one hand, it could get quite interesting if he was taken by surprise. On the other, she had no idea how many questions she had to spend.

"How old where you the first time you masturbated?" she asked innocently.