Harri's foot connected with the bedraggled football as she shot it towards the wooden post in front of her. The sun was starting to set and she likely should have been heading back to the castle. Curfews had never been something she adhered to though. The day was too nice to waste and it felt like it had been forever since she had been able to kick her ball around. The school year was nearly over. She needed to prove to her blokes back home that she was still one of the best main strikers in the neighbourhood. Of course she wished she could be playing nothing but Quidditch all summer but that just wasn't going to fly. None of her friends were magical, though she may be able to convince her Dad to let her visit some of her school friends during Holidays.

As the ball bounded back to her she struck out again, this time a slight curve caused the ball to move passed the wooden post and into the Pumpkin patch, "Bollocks." Harri muttered to herself. In no time she had moved further down the field and hopped the fence to retrieve the ball. So far today she had only managed to squash two pumpkins. She figured it was no big deal, the house elves would only be making them into pies anyways. Anything that didn't end up in the kitchen usually ended up in the potions dungeons or the Hospital or some shite like that. Harri didn't pay much attention, she wasn't a big pumpkin fan. The best thing someone could do with a pumpkin was smash it.

She bent low to pick up her ball, her short cropped hair was tucked under her knitted cap as per usual, with her wand tucked up into the side by her ear. Her uniform trousers were splashed with mud and grass stains marred the knees. She had pulled off her vest and tie and wore only her white shirt. As she straightened she noticed a figure joining her on the field, she tucked the ball behind her back and took a subtle step in front of the squashed pumpkin, "Nice night fer a walk eh?"

Sometimes, Mairead wondered if any of her classmates were still prone to homesickness.  If Mairead was one to engage in emotional heart-to-heart conversations with her classmates, she might have even ventured to ask some of them.  But, she hadn't.  She continued to adjust more and more to living at Hogwarts, but there were still parts of home she missed: that home wasn’t in the same place all the time, playing ruckus music with familiar faces and, most importantly, not being cooped up at night.
 
Curfew continued to be Mairead’s biggest cultural adversary.  Especially in late spring, when the warmth from the day first started lingering past nightfall.  By now, the prefects (and a few professors) had grown accustomed to chasing Mairead back inside after dark.
 
Three years later and the routine hadn’t changed much.   So, on this warm evening, Mairead was out on the grounds looking for a spot where she could hide for as long as she could get away with.  She was halfway across the field when she noticed the silhouette of another person: a younger student, given her relative size.  It was safe to say the other Gryffindor was neither a prefect nor professor.  The football the figure was chasing also supported that assumption.  Mairead approached the other student, noticing that the ball had suspiciously disappeared and the girl was holding her hands behind her back. 

Mairead raised an eyebrow.  Did she actually think that would work?  However, if Mairead feigned stupidity, there might be some fun to be had here.  “It is a nice walk, indeed,” Mairead replied, trying her best to sound … well, not like her.  “However, it’s close to curfew.  Shouldn’t you be back in Gryffindor?  You know, Professor Storm inspects the grounds for lingering students every night.  You do not want to be caught by him.  Did you ever hear of poor Sally Knight?”

A small wave of relief washed over her as she recognized the older Gryffindor. She had yet to spend any time with her but Mairead's reputation certainly preceded her. The girl was near legend amoungst the Gryffindors and she was only in her third year. Harri had been hoping to get herself mixed up in some prank or another with the older girl, she was practicly an idol.

Although the way she was talking made Harri furrow her brow. Maybe she had been wrong about her.

Harri straightened herself puffing her chest out. She liked to maintain that she wasn't afraid of Storm (whether or not she actually was) so many of her class mates found the old Defense Professor scary and intimidating, the stories told by the older students hadn't helped any either. "I ain't afraid of Storm none." She paused, "who's Sally Knight?"

Though Mairead wasn’t one to worry much about the unofficial school grapevine, she was aware of her burgeoning reputation.  It pleased her, though one didn’t exactly go around boasting about such things.  Those that felt the need to boast about reputations rarely had them.  On the flip side, Mairead recognized the younger first year from Gryffindor tower and had, on occasion, noticed the girl’s tenacity, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
 
The first year needed to prove her mettle.
 
“Interesting,” Mairead offered, seeming to give the girl’s assertion of braveness due consideration.  “Most o’ us older kids do.  Maybe you just hadn’t seen the things we seen.  Wisdom and all.”  Mairead crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the first year.  The first year seemed small for her age, not dissimilar form Mairead herself.  Delightfully, this meant that age actually had made a difference and Mairead was taller than the girl by an inch or two.
 
”Who's Sally Knight?"
 
Mairead plastered a sad, mournful look on her face and glanced down at the ground, slowly shaking her head.  “Who was Sally Knight,” she corrected.  “Not surprised ye don’t know of her.  She was a fifth year when I was only a wee first year.  A star Chaser on our quidditch team.  She was late comin’ back from a practice one night and ran into Storm.  They found her quidditch uniform tangled in the branches of the whompin’ willow.  They say ye can still find her ghost out in the forest, if yer brave enough.”  Mairead let out a long, forlorn sigh.
 
“Ye know that uniform that sometimes ends up on top o’ the statue?”  After their last victory, a stray shirt had been tossed up in victory.  No one had bothered to take it down, yet.  “It was Sally’s.  We retired it after that and sometimes hang it in her honor.”

Harri let out a loud dirty scoff, "Yer takin' the piss, right?"

Despite her conviction that the older girl was just messing with her, she couldn't help herself from looking up to the statue. The sun was starting to set and shadows were beginning to stretch across the school grounds. Was the jersey still there? She caught a glimpse of something moving in the breeze. Probably just her imagination. She turned back to Mairead instead.

Harri squared her shoulders, the touch of fear that briefly filled her eyes was swiftly turned to mischief, "so . . . You wanna go look for her ghost?"

Much like everything else in the Wizarding World, Harri was thrilled to discover that ghosts were real. Although she could do without Nearly Headless Nick constantly scolding her for not being ladylike. If this girl was wandering the forest as a ghost what better way to cap off their night than going looking for her? If Harri just happened to prove she wasn't scared in the process, all the better.

"Less o' course yer scared? Then we should probably head back to the castle." Harri's smile was almost wicked.

"Yer takin' the piss, right?"
 
Mairead arched her eyebrows and offered the first year a broad, flat smile.  Without confirming one way or the other, the older Gryffindor drew one elbow up in a lazy shrug.  Mysteries were always far more enticing than truths or even lies.  Let Harri come to whatever conclusion she wanted to.
 
Clearly, it was working.  Mairead’s smile morphed into a true grin at the ghost busting proposal and nodded her head.  “That’s one option,” she offered, ignoring the accusation of being scared.  If Harri truly thought she was afraid, Mairead figured she’d try upping the anti.  “I heard Professor Storm keeps trophies of his victims in his office.  I heard someone say he has one o’ her gloves in his desk.”
 
She crossed her arms over her chest and watched the girl intently.  “We could go try and find her.  Or, break into his office to find the trophies.”

Harri could tell she was being challenged. It happened often enough with her mates back home. They were always daring each other to do stupid shite. It got them in trouble more often than not but that was part of the thrill. They weren't just proving to each other that they were brave enough to raise to the challenge but also that they didn't care about the inevitable consequences that followed.

Judging by the other girl's reaction Harri was now convinced Mairead was putting her on. However that wasn't enough for her to back down. She had two options: they could wander around the forbidden forest looking for a ghost that didn't exist and find all sorts of baddies that did. Or they could sneak back into the castle and break into the office of the most feared Professor in the whole school. The second option, while likely to get them in more trouble was less likely to get them killed or seriously maimed (unless some of the worst rumors about Storm were true)

Harri moved her football from her back to her hip and hopped over the fence to come to the other girl's side, "I bet we could find more'n jus' her glove in his office." A mischievous grin overtook any sign of fear she had been disguising earlier.

What had started as a simple challenge to test the first year’s mettle had quickly grown into something more: it had now taken on its own life as a true adventure.  Galvanized by the mystique of a quest, it was easy for Mairead to suspend reality and belief that Professor Storm just might have some sinister trophies hidden in his office.  Harri had already proven herself by agreeing to this adventure.  But, Mairead wasn’t about to admit that.

"I bet we could find more'n jus' her glove in his office."
 
Mairead waited for the younger girl to drop down from the fence before starting back towards the castle.  “I heard he’s got a wizard’s skull in his office.  Defeated him in a duel year’s ago and now uses it as an inkwell.”  Given the frequency with which Mairead got in trouble, she was rather familiar with interior design of most of their teacher’s offices.  But, that didn’t stop her.  “I bet the wizard insulted him or something.”
 
“We could use some back up, though,” Mairead said as she drew up on her heels.  “A look out and what not.”  Especially after the near miss the night before, she needed to be careful.  The older Gryffindor took a slight detour, heading towards the base of the castle walls.  She followed the stone wall to a pile of rocks and knelt and whispered, her words an intelligible and almost inaudible hiss.  A grey and black snack slithered out from between two lower rocks and into Mairead’s outstretched hand, wrapping its tail around her wrist.  Mairead straightened up and turned towards Harri.
 
“Ye ready?”

Harri picked up her pace to make sure she stayed by the older girl's side. Mairead wasn't that much bigger than her but the size difference was just enough that if Harri didn't pay attention she'd start lagging behind. While she had been a little concerned (and possibly afraid) before, she was now completely energized with their newest task of mischief.

"Brilliant." She breathed in admiration at the tale the older girl told her. Although she was certain Mairead had been taking the piss about the Quidditch girl, Storm having a skull for an inkwell was infinitely more believable. She wasn't a gullible girl in any sense but the past year had taught her that nearly anything was possible in this crazy Wizarding World. Why shouldn't she believe that a super intimidating powerful Wizard would have a skull just chilling in his office?

Without a thought she followed the other Gryffindor to the side of the castle. She thought, perhaps she knew a few secret entrances into the castle so they didn't draw attention to themselves by going through the front door. What happened instead made her eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets, "You can talk to snakes?!"

Bottom line: who really knew what Professor Storm was liable to have in his office.  Maybe nothing.  Maybe something deliciously scandalous.  There was a very good chance that what they found would prove to be far less exciting than the quest itself.  Who needed more motivation than that?  When Mairead straightened back up with the serpent coiled around her wrist, she assumed their two woman party was ready to stage their invasion.  She wasn’t expecting to be briefly distracted by the wide-eyed astonished look on the first year’s face.
 
"You can talk to snakes?!"
 
Mairead blinked, her shoulders creeping up in a slow shrug.  “Aye, I can.”  Mairead had never actively sought to conceal her ability to parlay with snakes but she’d never been forthcoming about it.  It was a tool that could be wickedly helpful in the snooping-esque hobbies that Mairead kept and the fewer who knew about it, the more helpful it was.  Mairead cocked a sly grin.
 
“They make excellent spies and look outs.  Especially in the dark corridors, people always overlook them.”  Mairead started following the castle wall to one of the side doors.  They were also quite adept at wriggling under locked doors and through keyholes; an ability that might come in handy in their current endeavor.
 
“Care to go first?” Mairead asked, sliding the door open and stepping aside for the first year.  With a grin, she lowered the snake to the floor and watched it slither ahead of her into the corridor.  “Or, rather, second.  I’ll let ye know if anyone’s hiding around a corner.”   

Mairead was so calm and cool about the whole thing. As if talking to snakes wasn't one of the coolest wizarding powers out there! She was ready to hound the older girl for answers on her ability but now was not the time. She wondered if it was a learned ability or something she could just do. After discovering that werewolves and vampires exist, not to mention stalking their shape shifting upperclassman Harri was having a hard time distinguishing what was natural for wizards and what wasn't. She didn't think she was born with any extra magical ability, then again the only thing that seemed to come natural to her was riding a broom. She wasn't outright failing any of her classes but there were certainly some other kids, who had been around magic their whole lives, that seemed to have a leg up on her.

Harri peered through the side door. There wasn't much to see beyond the wall sconces lighting the corridor ahead. She shrugged and nodded at the same time, looking as though she had a twitch, "Sure." She stepped inside. As her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting she tried to see if she could spot their look out. Mairead had certainly been right about snakes making good look outs, they were damn near impossible to see slithering along the great stone halls.

She moved slowly and quietly. She wasn't as familiar with the castle as the older girl likely was but she had definitely spend as much of the year as she could exploring. It took her a little bit to reorient herself. Once she determined where she was though, her movements became more sure. She was tiny, even for a first year. Her thin frame and nondescript features had always helped her disguise her gender but it also helped her move around a little less detected than someone double her size. This had allowed her to get away with far more than she likely should have since arriving at the school.

Harri paused at a turn in the corridor. She didn't know where the snake had gone off to but she had been around this section of the castle enough to know one of the ghosts regularly visited it. It wasn't their own House Ghost, she was well acquainted with Nearly Headless Nick by now, but she thought it may have belonged to one of the other houses. She looked back to Mairead, "House ghost." She whispered as explanation as to why she had stopped. They weren't that far from Storm's office at this point, only a few more turns and they'd be there.

For three years, Mairead had marveled at the vastness of the castle.  It was well past curfew and in their little corner of the castle, it was completely quiet.  No scuffling of feet in corridors overhead and no creaking of classroom doors.  It made the castle feel deceptively empty.

The third year could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle with excitement.  She followed closely behind the first year, keeping an ear out for anyone coming up behind them.  Ahead of them, the snake slithered silently along the corridor, faintly hissing an update as it turned corners ahead of them. 

On past snake-headed excursions, Mairead had often wondered if reptiles were capable of lying.  She knew her abilities were limited to communicating with the snakes; she wasn’t able to force them nor could she compel them to be truthful.  She knew she couldn’t do anything to prevent one of her snake sentinels from betraying her to a passing prefect or professor but, as of yet, they’d never done so.  Maybe the promise of free food was too valuable?  Maybe they weren’t intelligent enough to be deceitful?  Maybe she just hadn’t met the right snake?

“Bloody ghosts,” Mairead breathed as she peered around Harri's shoulder.  "It's a bugger snakes can't see them."  It had been the biggest weakness in her current tactic.  Mairead pressed her back against the wall as Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington glided down the corridor and through a closed door halfway down.  Finally, the ghost had moved on to his next endeavor and Mairead tugged the younger Gryffindor's sleeve.  "Let's go," she whispered and started at a fast clip towards the Deputy Headmaster's office. 

Within a few moments, the two girls were standing in front of the door.  The easy part was done.  Now, they had to figure out how to get in.  Chances were slim the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor just left his office door open, but Mairead would feel even more foolish if they went through great measures to break in and the door was open.  But, first, then needed to make sure they weren't walking into the lion's den with the lion crouching waiting to pounce. 

"Alright.  Let's see if..."  Mairead glanced down and watched as the serpent slithered fruitlessly against the crack beneath the door.  "Cac!" Mairead breathed.  There had be magical defences.  Not that it was a surprise.  Mairead reached down and picked up the snake.  "Alright.  Do ye know any breakin-in charms?" 

Harri held her breath when Mai tried to simply open the door. It had been a long shot but was also understandable to try. Everyone would expect the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor to ward his door, they wouldn't be expecting him to leave it unprotected. It was one of those mind puzzle that always made Harri's head hurt. Do the unexpected. Unfortunately for them the Professor wasn't looking to play any mind games on the students and had indeed protected his office.

She cursed softly and tucked a loose lock under her beanie before removing her wand from where she usually kept it tucked up by her ear. She gave Mairead a shrug, "Saw one of the older students do this one." She waved her wand, "Alohamora." Nothing seemed to happen, though she wasn't entirely sure she had done the proper hand movement for the spell. She had learned early on just how ridiculously precise you needed to be when moving your wand around. Thankfully she wasn't as prone to explosions as some of the other first years were (much to her disappointment, explosions were cool!)

"Think yer snake could unlock it from the otha side?"