Nearly Headless Nick did not like to wander the dungeons at night. He knew that nothing could hurt him physically, but he still felt uncomfortable at the thought of floating through the dank stone corridors alone.

But it was his job as a school ghost to patrol the area at least once before going back to the Gryffindor Tower tonight. And so, Sir Nicholas began his slow and unhappy journey down the corridor.

He had never caught any students out of bed in the dungeons-usually they went up to the kitchens or to the empty classrooms on the upper floors. Most of the students, like Nick, hated to wander the cold Slytherin territory after dark. Who knew what kind of evil lurked beneath the foundations of the school. Nick could just imagine large, disgusting, monstrous things slithering around in the black.

He was almost done with the final leg of his patrol…scanning the ceilings and floor when-

He saw a body.

The boy was small-looking. He was bony and slumped on the floor lifelessly-a black cloak obscuring his face. Clenched in his left hand was a small glass vial containing a few drops of darkish liquid.

"Oh my…" Immediately-Nick sped off to find help.