Guard duty was incredibly boring for the magical theory professor for she rather be in her study sipping on a blush wine and grading papers. Hogwarts held a tension of likes were rarely seen and while she understood why she needed to be vigilant in her extra duties. She was loathed to complete them when her attentions could be put elsewhere, after all, what could a little lass such as herself do against an intruder? The feigned thought caused a small giggle to escape the professor as she strolled down an abandoned corridor.
Elspeth’s stellios heels echoed their sounds against the cobblestone floor. Anyone could hear her a good feet away, not that she was trying to hide, no she came unfraid and ready to face anything that might become an obstacle.
Upon turning the corner, she stifled a yawn as she surveyed the area. All seemed clear for the moment when suddenly something caught her eye, a glimmer perhaps? No, it was a disturbance in the air–an unknown apparition moving about the castle unattended? Interesting. Moving elegantly towards the anomaly, she gingerly stuck her slender leg out, at first, she hadn’t felt a thing, and perhaps what she saw was just a trick of her mind, but then, with a force she wasn’t expecting, she heard someone topple over and to her great amusement, she saw the sprawled form of Harry Potter. She smiled like a fox cornering a rabbit.
“ Mr. Potter.” she greeted as she folded her arms under her chest. “ Out for a midnight stroll are we?” she spoke quietly, as if not to alarm the others. Ignoring his protestations, Elspeth took a step forward and knelt down and examined the invisibility cloak.
“ A cloak of invisbility. How clever.” her thick, scottish accent filled with amusement rather than annoyance. She was no Snape and did not share his sentiment of those from different houses. Gently, she picked up the cloak and felt the fabric through her fingers.
“ Did ye ken that it’s made frae selkie silk? Durin’ the roarin’ twenties, hunters nearly drove the selkies tae extinction fer their coats. Of course, the ministry banned it in the forties, and ah’m happy to say the selkie population recovered.”
She stood then and folded the cloak nearly before offering it back to Harry.
“ Stealth isnae really yer strong suit, laddie, ye need tae be careful.” She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest once again. “ Ah think we both agree that neither of us has seen anything? Ah dae implore ye tae return tae yer common room, and this little incident would be forgotten, what say ye, Mr. Potter? Ah’ll even walk ye back tae yer room.”
He raises dark eyebrows, relaxing slightly as he realizes he’s in no immediate danger of being written up or expelled. His interest is piqued - nobody else has ever claimed to know the secrets behind his cloak, for he did not know himself... even Dumbledore hadn’t bothered to tell him. “Selkie, professor?” He hesitates before accepting the cloak back, folding it carefully over his arm and looking back at Professor Selwyn with stronger respect than before. “I never knew what it was made of. I didn’t know anybody did.”
He feels a twinge of frustration at being caught, wishing more than anything that he was in front of the blank wall, imploring it to reveal its secrets to him. He knows he won’t be able to sleep until he figures out what’s going on in there, but he knows better than to argue with the clever Professor, and so he nods reluctantly. “Ok. And thank you, for letting me off so easily. I guess I’m lucky you’re the one who found me.”
It’s only as he wearily starts to follow her back that he realizes she had made no attempt to answer his question. Is there no one in this castle without a secret? He thinks somewhat irritably. But he wasn’t going to bother asking again. Draco had taken over his mind, and there was little he could think of that could take his mind away from all of his sneaking around.
