Stepping out of the Charms classroom, Waker stared daggers at her latest essay... with those three big, fat circles of red ink dirtying it like open wounds. It had been perfectly gorgeous when she handed it in a few days ago! Now it was a disaster. The corrections would take until dinner time, at least. Sometimes the Ravenclaw regretted having signed up for more than the bare minimum of NEWT classes, but then she would not have been Waker.

As she perused the third paragraph while walking, a thought occurred to her. How could she have been so careless as to leave out that quote about the introduction of Muggle-Repelling Charms to international Wizarding events? The girl pushed a strand of hair back into place and began to open her schoolbag even as she rounded into the nearest corridor. Wandering several steps in and relishing the quiet, she sank carefully onto the floor against a wall, and propped a textbook in her lap in lieu of a proper desk.

Waker managed all of thirty seconds worth of note-jotting when she involuntarily paused. A thin trail of black ink dripped from her quill tip into the margin of her essay. Muffled voices were coming from Merlin-knew-where, and for one awkward moment, she'd thought someone was whispering to her. Repressing a childish shiver, she tilted her head and strained to hear.

The door to the Ravenclaw's immediate left led into a seemingly barren classroom. Now that she gave the entire corridor a qualified glance, Waker realized that it was indeed one that was not used by the professors. At the very least, this meant that she was not quite so pathetic for being spooked in broad daylight. On the other hand, Waker, who prided herself in awareness, had inadvertently wandered someplace that was technically off-limits.

She looked back at the closed door suspiciously, and somewhat apprehensively. The voices were most definitely coming from behind it. Waker gently lay her book and essay beside her bag and climbed to her feet. Whoever would be meeting in a place like this could not have been up to anything good. And, while truthfully it was none of her business, the not-so-noisy interruption to her own plans justified just a peak. Besides, Waker needed to know that she wasn't losing her mind after the week she'd had. Hearing imaginary voices was not in her two-year, nor even her five-year plan. She moved directly behind the door and opened it a crack, wand at her side. She could always blame the tediousness of Muggle-Repelling Charms.

Michael dealt his dirty deeds all around the school. He and his clients, even his own contacts used slips of paper with special symbols to designate where to meet. This particular event was to be in the third floor's abandoned corridor, in one of the many abandoned classrooms. It was a risky business but what had to be done had to be done. It was Michael's esteemed responsibility to keep the information business with Devlin flowing. He had a reputation to uphold! Jack Club, Information Broker.

This particular call was for a simple exchanging of words. The buyer, who was undisclosed needed to know the common room password for the Hufflepuff house. Why? Michael didn't know. He didn't care. It was a cheap exchange. But he knew if any strange happenings happened there in the following days it happened indirectly through him.

"Okay, here it is. The paper burns itself up in one hour, so memorize it. Jack Club, and furthermore Jack Spade thank you for your business." He said, nodding towards the buyer and heading for the door. "You didn't see me, I didn't see you." He said, twirling his wand in his hand as per habit. The buyer pulled his hood up opened the window that led out into the... third floor air? He accio'd a broom and flew down to the ground quickly, sending his instrument back to his dorm. What a strange way to exit. But of course, Michael didn't consort with the most conventional people. Putting the gold in his pocket, Michael ran his hand through his hair and head for the door.

He stopped a few feet short, and listened. He felt like someone was watching him, and maybe there was. Looking down so see a shadow from under the door crack, Michael stopped twirling his wand and pointed it at the door. Did he have a spy? Was it a prefect? Was his business compromised? It was a good thing that he kept his identity as Jack Club a secret, for if he were caught it would only look as if he were some small-time agent.

Putting his wand to his neck, Kyle muttered a spell that masked his voice and made it sound dark, and robotic like. "Who is standing behind the door?" He said darkly as he took a step closer. He was tempted to blast the door down, as anyone who was eavesdropping on him had no good intention. Maybe it was a good idea to leave just as his buyer had... confrontation was not always the answer. Some people like Kyle Gibson, the fool, did not know that.

"Answer me or I'll blow the door and you up."

The voices seemed to reach an unsettling silence less than a minute after Waker had pressed closer to the door. Through the small crack, she could only see two human-like shapes huddled in whispers, dark and shadowy against the light of the sun, much to her personal dismay... and slight annoyance. But had someone mentioned burning paper and playing-cards? If it weren't for Waker's own recent experiment with fire, she might have let out an uncharacteristic laugh. Such things made her think of the muggle cartoon Inspector Gadget. She pressed her hand to her mouth and continued to listen. Perhaps Nina was holding another rogue poker game.

The situation became much less humorous when she thought she saw something drop out of the window. What in the world was going on in there? The Headmaster would have quite a lot to deal with if students were jumping from windows... or being pushed. Thoughts of muggle cartoons dissolved and were replaced with the mind-plaguing bits of history Waker had revisited in preparation for Remembering Day. The first infiltration of Death Eaters into Hogwarts had resulted in Albus Dumbledore's body being thrown from a tower.

And then someone spoke. To Waker. She froze like a statue, brows furrowed and mouth slightly ajar. The voice was not one she recognized; it sounded both far-away and close, and very mechanic. Maybe if she didn't answer... but no, this person was insistent. Answer me, or I'll blow the door and you up was certainly grounds to back away and start speaking, especially after watching one of the figures disappear out the window (or at least what Waker could make out of a window through her less-than-stellar sliver of open door). The Ravenclaw did just that. Stumbling backward with less dignity than she would have liked, sort of like a magnet being repelled, she raised her wand.

"Waker Nolan," she almost choked, trying to save grace. "I'm not afraid of you," she added haughtily, if also unconvincingly. "If you try to blow me up, Headmaster Greyfriar will..." What? Owl her leftover limbs to Mummy and Daddy? She definitely wasn't banking on that happening. She stared at the back of the door with determined eyes, but wasn't quite sure she really wanted to know who was threatening her. "Accio essay," she added under her breath. If anything was blowing up, it was not going to be her charms work.