Open Specter in the Dark

[Anmoch Marcach]

The Dark Rider had never paid much attention to the goings on at Hogwarts. He'd had centuries to roam the dungeons at Hogwarts, and was intimately familiar with every corridor and room. It was a good place to spend time if he wanted to be alone, away from students.There were certain parts of the dungeons that students rarely went into, though he did occasionally run into the Potions professors or the Slytherin head of house. The ghost was mindlessly drifting today, passing through walls at random. He didn't much mind if he saw students or not. They rarely approached him, as they were often intimidated by his presence. This wasn't something the Dark Rider ever discouraged. He had close to nothing in common with almost all the humans in this castle.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney couldn't decide if the Towers or the Dungeons were her favourite spots in the castle. The Towers definitely had a drama to them, spiraling high into the sky with vast views and windows to stare out of moodily in the waning daylight. But the dungeons had their all encompassing darkness and the close press of many passages and secrets under the school. Plus, they were also way closer to her dorm room, which made them a much easier spot to lurk when she needed some writing inspiration or just wanted to pretend she was a Victorian waif, hopelessly lost in a tragic maze.
Rounding a corner, Sydney froze when she came face to face with the ghost she'd seen at the house meeting as they drifted silently through an adjacent wall. "I saw you, in the house meeting. You're the Slytherin ghost," She said matter of factly. She hoped the ghost would stay this time, fascinated by the potential opportunity to speak with someone who'd actually died.

 

[Anmoch Marcach]

The Dark Rider did not immediately notice the student, but when she spoke, he halted and listened to her words. He turned so he could look at her fully, and his horse leaned closer to the girl as if curious. She looked younger than most of the children at the school, and the Dark Rider guessed she was one of the younger students at the school. Perhaps she had gotten lost in the dungeons, or perhaps she had only been exploring on her own. "Yes." He said simply at her statement about who he was. He had never been a student at Hogwarts, but had been the ghost of the Slytherin house for many years now. He felt a sort of kinship with the house because of that. If the girl remembered him from the house meeting, it meant she was in Slytherin as well. The Dark Rider couldn't say he remembered seeing her there, but he hadn't been looking too closely at any of the students. "I am," he added to his previous statement. He was unlikely to offer up more information and his interest was waning, his gaze already moved away from the girl.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney felt her hair stand on end as the rider and his horse stopped, wanting to reach out and touch the horse as it leaned closer, even lifting her hand before pausing and considering the rider carefully. She wasn't one to ask for permission, but she wasn't sure if getting on the ghost's bad side was a good idea. Noticing the rider seemed to already be growing bored of her somehow, Sydney mentally admonished herself for her previous dull statement, casting around for something more interesting to keep the ghost's attention. "Did your horse die with you? Is that why it's still here too?" She tried, unsure about the rules of human ghosts, let alone animal ghosts. Where they even two separate entities, or was the rider's horse some sort of projection of his previous life, like his clothes and armor probably were.

 

[Anmoch Marcach]

The Dark Rider noticed the girl raise her hand to touch his horse, but stop. He guessed the girl was smarter than she looked, but so would most of the students be. To him, they all looked soft and weak. Coddled. But he had gotten used to Hogwarts students over time. He wasn't in the habit of answering all student's questions, and the personal nature of the one she asked made a small part of him bristle. Arrogance wasn't an uncommon trait in the students of his house, though. And the girl had hit on a subject he felt uncharacteristically soft about. His steed being one of the few things that still reminded him of his old, living self. The Dark Rider placed one hand gently on the horse's mane before he answered the girl's question. "Yes." Was all he said.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney squinted at the Rider as he answered, trying to imagine the situation that would result in them both dying at the same time. The whole thing was pretty macabre and rather thrilling, though she suspected he maybe wouldn't think so. "So did it stay uh, 'here' because you did too?" She said, trying to think of a way to phrase her question. It wasn't like the Rider's horse could have asked him if he planned on spending eternity not crossing over, but maybe that was something you could sense, especially if you died together. What would the Rider do if his horse ever crossed over without him? Could it do that? Would he just walk around or would he go to? Sydney tried to school her face into something more sombre and stoic in the face of the Rider's looming presence, though the train of thought was making it difficult to be serious. At least it was helping with the chill the was lingering over their whole conversation.