By the time you reached the hallway, the green glow had begun to fade. At that point you almost stopped yourself. This was ridiculous: sneaking out in the middle of the night and running around the academy, investigating paranormal activity? You imagined yourself in full Ghostbusters attire, complete with vacuum cleaner contraption for sucking up wandering spirits.

But before you realized it, you were already hurrying down the passage. Suddenly, the light completely vanished. You could no longer see where you were going: your path masked by shadows. You stopped suddenly as your eyes adjusted to the dark. That was when you heard the sound of running footsteps.

Of course you had no time to react before someone slammed straight into you, knocking your breath away as you both crashed to the floor. "What the hell—?" you coughed, trying to make sense of what had just happened. This had to be a joke. Again? You were going to have the world record for times being tackled to the ground in 24 hours… and a new set of bruises on top of the ones you received this morning

You heard some pretty vulgar words coming from beside you on the floor. But the worst part was that you recognized the voice.

"You have got to be kidding me—" you muttered with a touch of disbelief. "You agai—"

"No time! Just get up and run!" The amount of panic in his words alarmed you. But while you were pleased at the fact that Arthur recognized you, you were genuinely confused. What on earth was going on?

He stumbled to his feet and pulled you up without speaking. Whatever it was that he was running from seemed to have knocked all the usual sarcasm out of him. You felt a little scared, despite the absurdity of the situation.

"What the heck? What's going on?"

"Erm…" he glanced hurriedly to the hallway behind, nervousness penetrating his voice. "Let's just say that I may have just accidentally hexed the wrong person…"

As if on cue, a violet light began to glow faintly from beyond a corner, gradually getting closer and closer. Without giving you a chance to ask what the hell it was, Arthur grabbed your hand and yanked you down the corridor. The sound of your feet echoed on the hard floor. You could make out a strange clattering noise coming from behind you, steadily growing. The two of you tore past the common room, taking a right and weaving your way through hallways you didn't even recognize. He was leading you deeper and deeper into the school.

At first it seemed that you were going to lose whoever or whatever was following you, but gradually you noticed the noise beginning to get stronger. Whatever it was, it was catching up.

The next thing you knew, you were being shoved violently through a narrow doorway. You heard the door click shut behind you as Arthur slid down to a crouching position beside it, not saying a word. You imitated him, pressing your back against the wall and trying to adjust your eyes to the blackness. Both of you listened tensely.

"…kolkolkolkolKolKolKolKOLKOLKOLKOLKolKolKolkolkol kolkol…"

The clattering slowly subsided, moving on past your room and down the hallway. You stared at each other frozen, hardly daring to breathe as it faded away into the silence.

At last, you thought it was safe enough to let out your breath, sliding completely to the ground with your knees to your chest. Arthur seemed to loosen up beside you as well. The room you had taken refuge in wasn't exactly a room. It was more like a small closet, with a row of shelves near its back.

"Okay," you said, almost in a whisper. "Answer time."

"I should say so!" His tone was unexpectedly caustic. "What do you think you were doing up and wandering about at this time of night?"

You were a bit shocked. "Excuse me? I'd like to ask you the same question!"

"If you want to know, I was taking care of some important business."

"At two in the morning? What kind of business was that?"

He shifted uncomfortably."I already told you. I was in the middle of… hexing a certain person when I made a mistake."

"Wait, wait. Hexing? You mean like cursing? With magic flames and voodoo dolls?" You were a bit superstitious, but you weren't gullible. This had to be a joke.

"I prefer candles and chalk," he coughed.

No way. He was being serious. "So that was some sort of angry spirit charging after us in the hallway?"

"Actually, that was another student," he said bluntly.

Right. A student.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some important matters I need to take care of…" He stood up in the cramped space and brushed off his shirt. Then he tried the door handle. It wouldn't budge. He tried with two hands, rattling it in hopes that it was only jammed. You watched him struggle with it, ramming his shoulder against the wooden door in frustration.

And then it dawned on you. You were locked in a tiny closet. In the middle of the night. With a person you had only met that morning.

Arthur cursed and then sank back against the wall, that same realization dawning on him. You sat there in silence, not quite knowing how to react.

"Umm… Can't you use some magic word and unlock the door?"

"Are you kidding? That's absurd! I don't even have a wand with me! Does it look like I keep magic in my pockets?" He waved his arms around frantically. Then he slumped back down to the floor beside you, his arms crossed.

"So…" you muttered, "it looks as if we're going to be here for a whole lot longer than planned."

He didn't answer.

"You could have at least picked a bigger closet…"

In the dim light from beneath the door, you could see him glowering crossly. You tried to hide a smirk.