Valkyrie stared out of the window for what seemed like forever until she could take it no longer.

"Skulduggery?"

"Yes?"

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…um, N."

"Are you seriously trying to play 'I spy'?"

"Trying, yeah."

"Fine, is it" He thought for a moment "noise."

"How can you 'spy' noise?"

"Shut up." Skulduggery muttered. "Is it 'nothing'?"

"Yep. Your turn."

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B"

"B?"

"B."

"Right ok. Is it blue sky?"

"No."

"Is it, um, banks?"

"No."

"Is it…" Valkyrie leaned towards the window, and saw it in the distance. "Bridge!"

"Correct." Skulduggery said, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat. Valkyrie sighed.

"I wonder how much longer it's going to be." She muttered.

"You could ask one of the prefects. They are only next door." Skulduggery said. Valkyrie cocked her head to the side.

"You know, I might just do that." She stood, putting her hat on the chair and opened the door, looking out into the corridor. No one was there as the train rattled on. She closed the door and walked to the next one, tapping on it quickly. All heads inside turned to her as she opened the door. She spotted the raven-whatsit prefect that had spoken to them.

"Hey, just wondering how much longer it's gonna be." Valkyrie said. The prefect looked outside, and then back to her.

"Well we're near the bridge now, so I'd say, a few more hours. Maybe 3, something like that."

"Ok, thanks."

"No problem." Valkyrie closed the door and returned to her own compartment, putting her hat back on as she sat down.

"3 more hours." She groaned. Skulduggery chuckled. "What do you think it'll be like. You know, the school."

"I imagine it'll be like a normal school with magic mixed in." Skulduggery shrugged "But Ghastly said it's un-plottable on any map, which is why we have to take such a long train ride to get there."

"Urgh, wizards and their damn protective spells." Valkyrie muttered, which make Skulduggery chuckle even more.

"Yes, I must say I'm not so fond of the 'wand' technique either." He smiled at her, his façade still activated. Valkyrie gestured to his face.

"When are you going to take off the façade?" She asked.

"Possibly when we reach the station, possibly when we reach the school. I'll play it by ear." He shrugged. Valkyrie nodded and pulled the hat over her eyes so it went a little darker, and leant back in her seat. After a little while, she began to sink into the rhythm of the train rattling along, and eventually, she felt her eyes close. The darkness seemed welcoming to Valkyrie's tired mind and body. She felt her mind drift off to dreams as she sank further back until she realised after a while, that she was asleep.

When Valkyrie woke up, it was to Skulduggery poking her arm. She battered him away lazily before he spoke up.

"We're here. Come on. We have to get off the train." Valkyrie groaned as Skulduggery pulled her up so she was standing. Reluctantly she opened her eyes to see it was black outside, and Skulduggery was standing next to her. When he was sure she was awake, he walked out, checking that Valkyrie was following. She walked after him, trying not to drag her feet on the ground from sleepiness. As soon as she stepped foot on the platform she could hear the shouting, yelling, laughing. She stood by Skulduggery, hat lowered over her face like his, as he talked to the prefect. They began to walk after the crowds of students all dressed in black cloaks with either yellow, green blue or red ties, before they made it to a set of carriages.

"You'll be sitting with us." The prefect said "We reserved spaces and everything." The first thing about the carriages that Valkyrie noticed, were the two blackened horse like creatures pulling it.

"What are they?!" They exclaimed. The prefect frowned.

"Carriages." He said simply.

"No, what's pulling them?" She asked. He turned around, and the looked back to Valkyrie.

"Nothing, they're pulling themselves, like always."

"Valkyrie's right. I see them too." Skulduggery said slowly. "How intriguing." He murmured.

"Ok, we've established I'm not crazy. That's a start I guess." She muttered. The prefect rolled his eyes, gave them a queer stare, and then boarded the carriage. Skulduggery helped Valkyrie up, and then got on himself, sitting next to her.

"What about the suit cases?" Valkyrie asked.

"If you'd been awake you would have known that they get transported into the school separately." Skulduggery said. Valkyrie stuck her tongue out at him as the other prefects looked them up and down.

"You don't seem very detective-like." One of them, a girl with a yellow tie, stated.

"That's because we're not here on detective business." Skulduggery replied smoothly.

"Really? I thought you were here because of the mur- I mean, death." The prefect stopped herself mid-sentence. Skulduggery and Valkyrie whipped their heads around.

"Murder?" Valkyrie asked.

"We weren't told about any murder." Skulduggery said quickly, his face serious. Another prefect sighed.

"There was, an incident, and a Hufflepuff was killed."

"A what?"

"A Hufflepuff. It's a house name. It was last year, and everyone believes different rumours. No one really knows what happened, except Harry of course, but hardly anyone believes him. All we know is that one minute, Harry and Cedric grabbed the trophy – it was a competition you know – and the next, they appeared on the ground, Harry was next to Cedric, injured bleeding and beginning to cry, and Cedric was dead." The prefects were silent, seemingly remembering the incident. Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie and lowered his voice slightly.

"It seems we're needed more than I anticipated."

"Ravel told us not to get involved with anything other than the mission."
"Have we ever listened to Ravel?"

"Good point." Valkyrie nodded slightly and Skulduggery sat up straight in his chair.

"We'll need to talk to several witnesses. Who saw Cedric before he died?"

"Harry, Harry Potter. He was competing in the games. He's in Gryffindor house. You'll hear about him soon I expect."

"Why?" Valkyrie asked. A female prefect with a blue tie on addressed her.

"Harry Potter is the boy who lived. There's an ultimately powerful wizard who killed everyone in his path, but when he got to Harry, Harry defeated him. Sent you-know-who packing. And he was only 1 year old. Got the scar to prove it and everything. He's really famous. But now he's on about you-know-who coming back, and killing Cedric. That's what eh says, but you-know-who hasn't been back since about 4 years ago, when he tried to kill Harry again."

"Sounds like we need to have a chat with Mr. Potter." Skuldugegry concluded. Valkyrie nodded and asked a question of her own.

"Why do you keep calling this guy you-know-who. What's his name?" The prefects eyes widened in fear, and the prefects huddled together silently.

"We can't say it. It represents so much evil that only the bravest wizards dare say it, and that's only Professor Dumbledore and Harry."

"We'll need to know it." Skulduggery said. The prefect gulped.

"His name is, L-lord Voldemort." They all shrunk back, the yellow tie prefects shivering and whimpering.

"Sounds like he's pretty powerful." Valkyrie muttered, glancing to Skulduggery. She hoped that if they did ever meet this Lord Voldemort, she wouldn't have to bring out Darquesse to fight him. She didn't like that thought one bit.

"He is. On par with Dumbledore himself."

"Dumbledore? As in Albus Dumbledore the headmaster?" Skulduggery asked.

"That's right." The prefects nodded.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. We'll get to the bottom of this. And if this you-know-who comes across us, he'd better hope his wand isn't breakable." Skulduggery smiled at them, attempting to be reassuring, but as soon as he turned back to Valkyrie he was frowning in deep thought.

"It's just as well we're here to teach 'em how to punch." Valkyrie muttered.