Ascendio - Book 1

Chapter 10 - Nightmare

The hooded man is back again.

The dream takes place in the same clearing, with the same two people--except this time there is another accompanying the ginger girl. I don't recognize him--from his build I can tell that he's male, but his face is blurred and unrecognizable.

The ginger, with her green eyes, steps forward. "I've brought him, sir."

I could hear the hooded man sigh. "Good. Tell me, 'M', how are the... new recruits?"

"G-good, sir," the boy spoke, hastily bowing. The ginger rolled her eyes as the boy stood up and practically saluted the hooded figure. "The testing went well, and Ev--"

"Shut up, you fool!" The ginger strode forward and promptly slapped 'M' across the face. "Someone is listening to this conversation, and I don't want them knowing my name."

"R-right." The boy cleared his throat and continued, gingerly touching his sore face. "'E' here has assured me that the participants don't even remember the tests."

"Quite right," 'E' said with a sniff. "And you had nothing to do with it, so don't dare give yourself credit."

The hooded man laughed, a strange sound coming from someone whose face I could barely see. "Same as always. Now, I head that there were some... questionable new Slytherin recruits."

"Barely any with potential," E muttered. "There was one boy, but he doesn't seem to like me very much."

"I wonder why," M said under his breath. E shot him a glare.

"But they were instrumental in our miniature plan," E said, as if she was sucking up to the hooded man. "They were perfect hosts for that sickening spell--and now, Slytherin house has been upgraded!"

M sighed. "They should've done it earlier. It's not our fault our house wasn't destroyed in the Dark Wizard attack on Hogwarts. We needed upgrades just like all the other houses!"

E sniffed. "Like you would know. You spent the entire time hiding."

"I was small back then!" M shouted.

The hooded man turned around in a flash, his cape snapping in the wind. "No more bickering! This is a serious matter."

Both of them stood to attention, heads bowed and looking ashamed of themselves. Who is this man to control them this way?

"I trust you got the one upgrade important to our not so miniature plan," he said, pacing in front of them.

There was a muttered "yes sir".

"Good. Now, I want you two to go back to Slytherin house, and keep an eye on those new first-years. They might be more useful than you've given them credit for."

The two nodded, and walked backwards, quickly disappearing into the shadows. The man watched them go before turning back towards the tree and sighing.

He looked up at me, almost as if he could see me, though I knew, somehow, that was impossible. Even with the moonlight streaming right down on top of him, I couldn't see his face. When he spoke, I could almost hear the tiny smile on his face.

"I hope you've gotten what you came for, little spy,"

A wave of his hand, and my vision went dark.