Closed Creeping Spiders in the Dark

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt was relieved that the sorting ceremony had gone well, as well as the feast that came after. After the end of year feast last year, Matt was worried he might lose control of things. The new batch of first years had seemed interesting, a few familiar names on the list as usual. Matt had been a teacher at school long enough now that he was starting to sort children of his former students, that wasn't something he would quickly get used to. Time really flew, and Matt hoped he could do this job for a lot longer, it was a long while off, but he hoped that he would eventually sort his own grandchildren.

He was heading back to his office after this long day, thinking about the upcoming professor's meeting. He had a few things he wanted to address, and he had been trying to think of a good way to bring it up with the teachers. He pondered this as he walked through the dimly lit corridor, passing suits of armor and portraits that were incredibly familiar to him now as he approached his office. Still, there was something... off. Matt frowned, his steps faltering as he realized he had an odd feeling. He turned his head, wondering why he had the strange feeling that he was being watched.

Matt turned around, and jumped as he realized he was being followed. Behind him was a young girl, one of the new first years, silently following him and glaring. His heartbeat shot up as all the horror movies his ex-wife had once made him watch flooded into his mind. She's here to hurt me. His mind supplied helpfully, but he pushed that down. That was ridiculous. His thoughts raced. This was one of the Westwick twins, a familiar name he hadn't been too excited to encounter. He remembered the twins that had been in the year below April back in school, but not very fondly. He supposed this must be a relative, maybe even a child of one of them. But what was she doing here? Matt grabbed his wand. Not to defend himself, he reminded his panicked mind quickly, but for some light. A quick Lumos provided a slightly better view, but the girl did not look any less creepy with the strange shadows the small light added to her face. Matt felt a shiver go down his spine. "Er, hello. Are you lost?" He asked uncertainly, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual. But as he spoke, he realized something else that was nagging at him. Something that made him shiver again. There had been two Westwick girls. His gaze darted nervously around the darkened hallway as one thought blocked out all others.

Where was the other one?

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie wasn't going to "her" dormitory, that much was obvious. This was a mistake, and it needed sorting out, now. If she looked to be accepting it, even for a second, that was a weakness to be exploited. She refused to allow this to happen, and that required immediate action. It hadn't been hard to shadow the Headmaster at the end of the feast - the man seemed laughably oblivious, and Nessie filed that knowledge away for future reference.

She didn't know her way around the castle yet, but that didn't matter when she had someone to follow, keeping her footsteps as silent as possible as she stayed at a decent distance to the Headmaster. He didn't seem to have noticed her, so she took the opportunity to prepare her arguments in her head. They were simple ones - she wasn't supposed to be in Slytherin, and wasn't willing to accept it. She apparently hadn't been silent enough though, and Nessie did her best not to jump in alarm as the Professor began looking around, instead locking her gaze firmly on him. If she could intimidate the man before even reaching his office, so much the better.

And he certainly looked and sounded nervous, Nessie noticed with satisfaction. Maybe this was going to be easier than she expected. "I need to talk to you, Professor." She said coldly, gaze locked on him as she approached. "There's been a mistake."

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt felt an odd sense of relief when the girl started speaking and didn't start levitating or screaming or something. He took a deep breath. He needed to stop being ridiculous, this was just a lost child. A lost... creepy child, but one he needed to help nonetheless. "I can see that, you seem to have gotten separated from your prefect and housemates." He told her, his voice steadier now he could rationalize this a bit. Though he still had the unsettling feeling that the other twin could jump out of the shadows at any moment. "I can help you find your dormitory." He said.

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie couldn't help her lip curling in slight disgust as the man spoke, doing her best to keep her voice level. "No, that's not the problem." She said coldly. "The hat put me in the wrong house, I need you to fix it. I'm supposed to be with my sister. We're twins." She said firmly, no space in her tone for argument. It was obvious, as far as Nessie was concerned. Who would want to split up twins? "Just move me to Hufflepuff, and I'll go to bed."

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt hadn't been entirely sure which dormitory he would have to escort the girl to, as he knew the two girls hadn't been in the same house. The look on her face told him everything, this was the Slytherin girl. Matt sighed as the girl spoke. This was starting to become a pattern. At least this one hadn't broken into his office, but was that only because he had spotted her before she could? "I'm very sorry you and your twin aren't together, but I can't change the sorting." He told her gently. "The hat decides and we cannot change it after the fact. If the hat put you in Slytherin, that means it is the place you will thrive, even if it doesn't feel that way now."

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie gritted her teeth at the patronising tone, silently bristling with rage. This wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped, after all. "No." She said coldly, that strange feeling of numb horror rushing over her again. "I'm not willing to be in a different house. The hat made a mistake." Her fists were clenched so tight her nails pressed deep into her palms, the little prickles of pain keeping her calm. "We're twins. We're the same." She repeated. "There's nothing different about us, we can't be in different houses. It doesn't make any sense. So change my house, so I can go to bed."

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt sighed, wondering briefly if they needed to do something different about the sorting ceremony. It was tradition, sure, but it didn't seem like all the kids were dealing with it well. He shook his head "I'm sorry, but I can't change the hat's decision. I understand that it's hard, but you will see your sister at mealtimes and in classes." He told her a little tiredly. He had compassion for the girl, he did. But he was also tired, it had been a long day. "Let me walk you to your dormitory."

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie's blood burned in her veins, heart racing as she glared at this wretched man with every ounce of spite in her body. "No." She said coldly. "It's not my dormitory. I'm not going anywhere without my sister. Take me to Hufflepuff." She insisted, glaring the man down icily.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt was losing his patience rapidly. "No. I will not take you to Hufflepuff, as that is not your house. I can't change it, and even if I could, I wouldn't. The hat has his reasons for putting you in Slytherin, and has seen you can thrive there. If you give it a chance, you will do great." He told her. "I am the Headmaster of this school, and while I sympathize with you, I won't let you treat me with disrespect. You will go to your room now, and I will be happy to be a listening ear to you at a reasonable hour in my office. During the day." He said firmly.

 

[Nessie Westwick]

This was pointless. How spineless was this school, kowtowing to the whims of a hat? She took a step backwards, never breaking her glare on the hateful man. "You're pathetic." She spat. "You'll regret this. You'll never know peace - I will make sure of it. You will spend the next seven years in terror, and I will be watching your every step. You'll never know which corner I'm behind, where the next torment is coming from. I will torture you for this." She spat, having backed away far enough to reach a fork in the path. She couldn't risk being traipsed off to the Slytherin dorms, so she needed to take the chance to abscond first. "You've made a big mistake." Nessie wished she knew some impressive hex to leave him with, but as it was all she could do was turn and run, darting down the corridor away from the Headmaster, silently cooking up plans for how she was going to ruin this man's life.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Apparently, Matt had been wrong. He was going to let her disrespect him. Because after she was finished talking and insulting him, the girl ran off. He considered chasing her, but there was no way he would catch an eleven year old girl even if it wasn't dark and he wasn't tired. On top of that, just taking points from a house the girl didn't even want to be in seemed pointless. At least for now. He took a deep breath, determined not to let the girl's words creep him out more than she already had. It helped that he could hear them for what they really were, a scared child's last defense mechanism. At least, he hoped so. He'd talk to Angel about her in the morning and ask him to keep a close eye on her. The girl would need help adjusting, that much was clear. He hesitated one last moment, though he knew there was no point in following her. It still didn't feel right to leave a girl wandering the castle alone at night. He turned to a nearby portrait on the wall and instructed it to spread the word around the paintings at Hogwarts that if the girl got lost, they'd help guide her to Slytherin. It was the best he could do for now. With a tired sigh, he headed to his office. Matt knew from the portraits in his office that a lot of the previous headmasters had stopped only after two to four years. He was starting to understand why.