A late night wander pv Closed

"Oi, you two!" someone called from a near distance.

A figure of about 6'3" or 190.5cm made great strides toward them, drawn by the source of Claire's wand light in the dim twilight of the coming evening hours. As it drew closer, the figure proved to be a swarthy young man warmly dressed in winter robes. He wore a sardonic smirk as he appraised the two young students by the light of the wand.

"Out for a romantic evening stroll?" he teased softly with a small chuckle. "That's all fine and dandy, but it's getting very close to eight o'clock which, if you weren't aware, is curfew. Don't you know there could be hags and other nasty beasties roaming around to attack out here on the grounds?" Kit looked from the girl to the boy and back again.

"You must be some of the newer students; I don't think we've met. I'm Kit Paine, the Hogwarts Castle Caretaker." He tilted his head at them. "I don't suppose either of you know about the shadow spiders or the curse of black blood that's been affecting some of your older housemates in recent years. If you're not careful, you could get bitten or somehow cursed yourself. It's not safe out this late, even going around with someone else."

"Please, call me Kit," the caretaker laughed when Clair referred to him as 'sir'. "And if you don't know about the black blood, it's probably for the best. It was one of the reasons the staff made curfew earlier starting last year. Things became a lot more unsafe once it was found out that multiple covens of hags were hanging around the school."

He looked between the students, nodding when Simon explained that they were just taking in some fresh air. The castle could be pretty stifling, especially after studying all day. Still, curfew was curfew. "I suppose if I accompanied you, I could allow you a few more minutes out here," he said at last, stroking his chin speculatively. "We can't go making this a habit, though, so please don't tell anyone I let you do this. It's only this one time."

Blinking when the boy asked about the black blood curse, Kit looked momentarily taken aback. Then he scratched the back of his neck, glancing toward the Forbidden Forest. "A couple of years ago, there was an incident with some spiders made out of shadows that got into the Slytherin rooms. They bit some kids and inflicted them with this really painful curse that caused their blood to turn black. There might have been some other happenings since then that led to the same curse, but that was the first time the staff became aware of it to my knowledge." He tired to offer a small smile. "Fortunately, I hear they recently found a cure, but it never hurts to be safe rather than sorry."

Kit heaved a deep sigh. "Some people think the curse is related to the hags that have been discovered around Hogwarts, but no one knows for sure. All we know is that hags eat children, so their being spotted so many times around a school can't be good news. Which is why the new precautions and curfew were put into effect last year. Or was it the year before last, now?" He frowned, scratching his head. "It was right before I became caretaker here. Weird to think it's already been a whole year since I was hired."

It was then that Clair asked if students should even have been out and if the other schools were safe around Hogwarts. Kit chuckled softly at that. "Yes, well, we don't want to cancel school altogether, do we? And the more of us there are, the better a chance we stand against the dangers out there, I think. Especially the hags. There are more students to keep their eyes peeled for anything suspicious going on and more teachers to call if something bad happens." He smiled at the young Ravenclaw girl. "They're tricky creatures, hags. It's said they can even change their shape to look like students themselves. That's why we have to be extra dilligent."

When Clair mentioned the term 'metamorphmagus', Kit looked at her and blinked in surprise for a moment. Then he laughed. "I'm surprised you know about those! Yes, actually, Hags are similar to Metamoprhmagi in that aspect, which is all the more reason to be extra careful. Metamorphmagi are so used to false guises, however, that they can sense when someone else is not what they seem, like animagi or someone using a polyjuice potion. For that reason, I think they'd be able to sense if there was someone around who was actually another metamorphmagus or a hag in disguise."

He paused, looking thoughtful. "Interesting theory about a hag pretending to be a metamorphmagi, but I don't think it would be so easy for them to hide their true natures. Scent, for example, is something metamorphmagi cannot change, so they would the smell the same no matter what form they took. To be honest, though, I suppose we don't know enough about hags to know if the same is true for them." The idea caused him to frown slightly in concern.

Then, however, he brightened, not wanting to worry the students with him."I wouldn't worry too much about that, though. Metamorphmagi are rare and they need to be registered with the Ministy of Magic when their powers are first discovered, so I don't think it's likely a hag could pretend to be one just like that." Someone who was already known to be a metamorphmagus...couldn't a hag try to impersonate them, though? It was a sobering thought, to say the least.

The mention of the head of Ravenclaw caused Kit to laugh, however. "Who, Marcus? Oh, no, he detests children," the caretaker chuckled. "He was the caretaker before I was and now he's my superior, so I know him pretty well. Trust me, he'd likely be the last person you'd suspect to be a hag."

When Clair asked Kit if his offer to accompany them for a little while longer was a trap, he laughed again, shaking his head. "What? No, I wouldn't do that to you guys. I just thought since you're both relatively new to the school, you could use a little more time getting to know the grounds better. I don't give out detentions lightly, anyway," he informed her with a wink.

As they conversed, the caretaker noticed Simon take hold of Clair's hand, but made no comment on it. He'd wondered if perhaps the tales he was telling them had made the Hufflepuff a little more protective of the Ravenclaw, but he didn't think it was a bad thing. In fact, he was glad the students were thinking to look out for one another more.

Simon told Kit it was 'super nice of him to allow them to stay out a little longer' and Kit smiled with an obliging nod, happy to be of service. He continued to walk, admiring the grounds, as Simon leaned in to whisper to Clair, doing his best to give them some privacy if they wanted it. They were of different houses, so they probably didn't get much time together alone anyway.

He stopped when the Hufflepuff appeared to need to fix his pant leg, patiently enjoying the evening air, before he felt something very hard collide with the side of his skull and a sharp pain cut into his head. His wavy, slicked-back hair went from raven black to bright blue in agony and shock, making the change in color visible even in the low light. Grunting, he put a hand to his head and shut his eyes, trying to wait for the pain to lessen before figuring out what the heck had just happened.

He heard Simon yelling, 'run' at the top of his voice and wondered if the students were in danger. Had whatever hit him in the head gone after the students? But after a few moments of biting back the pain through gritted teeth, he tried to open his eyes only to see nothing there. There was just Simon and Clair, with Simon trying to pull Clair along and Clair looking at him, Kit, with an expression of deep worry. She was soon yelling at Simon to 'stop'. Stop? Stop what...?

Then, slowly, he pieced together exactly what must have happened. He had been hit by Simon. Why? Because Simon had been scared. And of course Simon must have been scared what with all that Kit had been telling him and Clair about hags and the curse and being out after dark. And then Clair had mentioned that thing about maybe hags pretending to be metamoprhmagi.

And then, of course, Kit realized his hair had changed color after he'd been hit. He smiled weakly to himself in a mix of amusement and helpless despair. How was he supposed to get the kids to trust him after they saw that?

Fortunately for Kit, one of his greatest strengths was the tolerance of pain, but that didn't keep him from bleeding. He wondered if he had sustained a concussion, but that could wait until later. For now, he thought it was most important the students knew they weren't in danger.

"Ow...nice sense of self-preservation you've got there...Simon, was it?" he murmured, trying to regain his balance to keep from falling over. He was feeling a tad bit dizzy after the blow to the head and his hand was sticky with blood where he touched his injury. "I promise, though...you have nothing to fear from me." He tried a feeble attempt at a chuckle. "I mean...if I were a hag, why would I have warned you about them? I know my hair's changed color, but...that's because I'm a metamorphmagus."

It was up to Simon, naturally, whether he wanted to believe Kit or not, but as long as there wasn't an actual threat around, Kit was glad. He wasn't sure he would have been able to take on a real hag on his own had there been one.