For a while now Dominic had wanted to go exploring the castle after hours, he wanted to have the adventure, he wanted to see how different that Hogwarts was when it was lights out. He imagined all kind of staff going on during the so-called witching hour, maybe there was ninja hedgehogs wandering the corridors, or all the prefects, the head boys and girls, ghosts, house elves and all the professors had a massive hand banding rave in the Great Hall complete with a mosh pit (whatever that is, Dominic wasn’t entire sure but he felt that it was some kind of giant pit filled with melted chocolate and strawberries.) Maybe the ninja hedgehogs were the DJs? Still the little boy wanted to find out what it was like.

He had been careful to not really fall to sleep. The Gryffindor boy didn’t want to nod off and miss his escapade, that would not be cool at all. Nor did he want to risk setting off an alarm clock, in case it woke one of the other first year boys and they decided to grass on him to a prefect or something. That was not something he wanted to risk either, especially as he didn’t think he was super popular with the other first year boys anyway. They didn’t really want to make friends with him no matter how hard he tried. Oh well, that was not probably for the blond haired lad for the time being.  

The small Gryffindor carefully crept out of bed, dressed in some bright red pyjamas and slipped on some red slippers. He slowly made his way out of the first year boys’ dorm and sneaked slowly out of the Common room, hoping that no-one was down there to catch him skulking around at this time of night. Although he could probably pass it off as him having a bad dream and coming to the common room to calm down. In any case it was midnight and the 11 year old was pretty sure that no-one else would be up this time of night.

Thankfully, he was right. He made his way discreetly out of the common room. The first year had never been this quiet in all of his life. Even him making it this far without causing havoc or a ruckus was a bit of the achievement for the usually hyperactive youngster. He was certainly slightly proud of himself that he hadn’t got caught this far. The riskiest part, however, was when he was outside the common room and in the corridors.

The Gryffindor lad looked around in awe at the corridor, it certainly did look quiet different in the middle of the night, it was a lot quieter and slightly unnerving if he was honest with himself. Dominic didn’t know if that was because he was sneaking out and was scare of being caught, or if there was something more sinister at foot. Maybe the Frankstein monster that his grandmother warned him about was creeping around the school? His cousins had told him that it was not real but he wasn’t sure that he believed them entirely. Why would his mamgu lie to him?

He wandered further down the corridor, really feeling a bit aimless in his exploration. Perhaps he should have planned this out better and had a target of somewhere to go. It was a bit late now, he hoped that it wouldn’t matter. The school did look very different and the Welsh boy did worry that he might not be able to find his way back to his dorms, especially with the moving staircases. If push came to shove, he supposed he could also go and kip in an empty classroom and hope that no one bumped into him.

It didn’t really occur to him to return to the Gryffindor common room, he wanted to see how the school was like after dark after all, and that would not help him achieve that aim. The youngster was about to try and slink down towards what he thought was the sixth floor, he wasn’t sure, when he heard a noise. The 11 year old froze for a bit and quickly moved to hide behind some tapestry, rather badly as it happened as his red slippers were clearly visible from underneath the drapery .

Her late -night/early-morning shifts.

Amelia was fond of them, honestly. After travelling to the Ministry for her internship, completing her work and any other Lord Rowle might have in mind, she returned promptly to Hogwarts. She had a promise to Lady Amy, duties as a Prefect, duties as a student. Save for the occasional meet-up with Lord Mikhael, her lady stepmother, or her lady grandmother, her day was an easy sort of clockwork of one to the next to the other, and her only true concern Diodorus. Her responsibilities as a Prefect were simple, and the rules were easy. It was nothing to twist them to keep an eye on the Rowle heir, to exchange a favor or so, to keep an eye on the rest of the students to see to it that at least surface-wise, things looked acceptable.

And the midnight shifts. . .well. A half-release from the tedium of her studies. Her clubs weren't overly numerous, so to interfere with her priorities as little as possible. She did have leadership positions, but as they were shared, she was able to work with them, rather than against them. Clockwork again, keeping her day smooth and unstuttering. The midnight patrols kept her legs firm, kept the silly cat twining about her legs calm. Nujum had been well-behaved since he'd met the Lady Anicka's rottweiler, though it was Amelia's opinion that it was either a coincidence that her familiar had matured, or that he had good influence from some of the other Slytherin cats.

Ta-miu had never given any issue, though then again Ta-miu had been an older cat, one who Amelia hadn't known since kittenhood. Ta-miu was her jidda's, and like anything else in Lady Demaordimah's life, the cat had fit to Lady Demaordimah's expectations. It was more likely than not Nujum had gotten spoiled running around the field of dead Bān-Geard (and likely the family) had been named for or taken their name from. She didn't particularly care which it was-- leave that to Athazaz, to Susan, or to Carin(a). She was Zabini, soon enough she would be Travers, and she need never go back.

Nujum hissed, his ears pricking up. Amelia put a level hand on her partner's arm to stop him from taking out his wand, her eyes flicking up over his height. It was always somewhat humorous, how she kept being paired with the taller boys, though she supposed it made an amusing contrast, especially when they slipped into their roles of the night.

"It's late to be out-of-dorms," she called out as the Prefect pair stepped off the staircase, the Abyssian cat's ears still glued to his head. One tapestry bulged, and red slippers stuck out of the bottom. "First-year, aren't you?" By their Second year, students were usually better at concealing themselves, after all. Of little importance if the student was indeed a First year, she knew. The only First year of any worthiness was Lady Genevieve's daughter Madeleine, and the younger girl wouldn't be such a fool to be hiding so obviously. "You can make this easier on yourself."

The 11 year old boy was sure that he had found the most awesomeness hiding place in the whole world. He was pretty sure that the prefect would not be able to find him. So it was a complete surprise for the Gryffindor when the older student seemingly found out where he was. Dominic wondered if the girl was just taking a shot in the dark and it was a lucky guess? Maybe she was secretly a Cowsphat in disguise? They had incredibly good at seeing people who were hiding. Maybe she was about to destroy him with her laser eyes? It was a scary thought but that is what the Cowphat might do to him. Maybe he was better off hiding still. Just to be safe.

”How can you you you you see me?” the little boy asked in amazement, still hiding and not coming out. He was pretty sure that the prefect was bluffing, if she was indeed a prefect. ”And how do do do do do I know you are are are not really a cowsphat?” he called out from behind the tapestry, still not leaving his hiding place

”It it it is not thaaaat late” he decided to argue back, to be fair the first year didn’t know what time it was, it could be 10 minutes past midnight, 1am or near the break of dawn. Although, in reality he had only be out of his dorm for 15 minutes at most. ”I I I….” he decided that he culd try to lie his way out of this one. It didn’t occur to him that he had already been caught out and it would have been wise for him to come out quietly. ….I am not. I I I am the the the talking tapestry of of of Hogwarts, woooo, you you have been selected for a a a a very special quest. You must must go go to to talk to to to the gargoyle on the the the ground floor. He will tell you mooooooree.. woooo” Dominic put on his best ghostly voice. ”Noooooooo, the the quest will not beeeee easy…..but you you you will have great treasures” he hoped the temptation of treasure would make the older student fall for it. He hoped that when she went to try and talk to a gargoyle he could slip back to the boys’ dorm in Gryffindor tower. He was hoping in vain.

"We have ways," she responded, amused. "We learn them once we're considered worthy among Prefects." There was no use in saying all Prefects knew them-- the Hufflepuff prefect her year was far too soft, the Ravenclaw was far too spaced out, and next year's batch looked not quite promising. Isobel Yaxley, perhaps, but the Ravenclaw batch was funny, really, with little Althea and some Ollivander cousin of hers who was so new, she still squeaked when she moved.

Her partner looked at her, clearly questioning. She cut her glance at him, and it took a moment for the gears in his head to start working, to realize Amelia would be playing the kinder Prefect of the moment. Some people were useless past midnight, truly. "Is that so? The gargoyle on the first floor?" A further hint of warmth in her voice. "You'd be surprised to find then, that I've already passed him by. He's really not much for talking, but there are some floorstones that rather like to do so. Though talking isn't precise the word for what they do. . .you know the ones, don't you, Sixth floor in one of the abandoned wings? They open and shut a fair amount, really."

His lips pressed together, but her partner finally understood what she was getting at. "They drop students down. You'll get broken bones, which are painful. It's hard to hear the screams of pain, really."

"Don't be cruel to the child," she cooed, giving his well-muscled arm an audible pat. "We do hear them. . .eventually. On our patrols, and the flagstones shift around ever so much over there. I'd hate for you to find one," a hypothesis now, but Slytherin was obviously not the correct, and she'd heard enough of the Hufflepuff chatterings of the First years from observing at a far distance Carin(a) and their friends. Her partner was somehow Ravenclaw, but showed no familiarity with the voice. "little Gryffindor. Your Common Rooms are so close by, and the trouble we save you from grows with every minute you stand behind the tapestry."

Dominic shifted uneasily when the older student said they had ways the learn from professors. Did all prefects, head boys and girls and professor have this ability? And more importantly was there some kind of secret lab or facility underneath the school where this happened? Did the professor take prefects and extract their brain and insert it with a new one that had all of the knowledge of the school magicked into it? Did the students who became authority figures have to drink some kind of potion that made them all knowing? Was there a magical surgery that the student authority figures have to undergo that removed all the fun from their personality and turned them into an unthinking, unemotional, uninteresting perfecting machine? It was extremely possible. The Gryffindor made a mental note to explore for this sometime soon; maybe he could rope Henry into coming along with him in one way or another.

The 11-year-old wondered if he had gotten away with his little ruse when the Slytherin perfected started talking ”Noooooooo, not the first floor…” replied the little boy ”….the the the ground flooooorrr” it would take a lot more than that to catch him out. It might be late, but I remember what I said the blond boy thought to himself rather irritably, he hated when people tried to take him for a fool. Which was ironic, given that was exactly what he was trying to do with these two prefects.

The news about the floor tiles in the abandoned wing was exciting news ”Really?!?” he squeaked in his usually excited voice, still hiding ”That sounds so so so coooolll” he made a mental note to go and explore there sometime. ”Do do do do they have they ever eaten a a a a student?” he asked with interest. He always thought that the school eats its pupils, and it was another reason for him not to like school. Something had to be done.

”I I I I I am not a a a a Gryffindor” he lied again, still wanting to go on a little adventure. These prefects have given him so many ideas. He wondered if they had any more ”I I I am actually a a school inspector, talking to to to you through a a a magic tapestry. WE we we want to to to know more about the the the the fun…..um…..dangerous things at at the the school”