Into the Unknown
Having graduated from Hogwarts, Max Paige now works with a professional private investigator/ghost hunter in Inverness, Scotland while living on Ghost Island...
The Ghost of
Lochland Castle
Lochland Castle
As Private Investigators, we have to deal with all sorts of cases. My boss, James Dresden, has lived in Inverness, Scotland for his whole life. His family had lived in their castle home for centuries - at least five generations back. James’ brother-in-law, Jason, lived in one of the towers of the castle. Jason was a Squib, but this helped young Alex’s transition of living as a wizard in a muggle world, then to Hogwarts, a lot easier.
While I was having a drink at an Irish pub with James, Jason came in to join us. “Hey guys, I’ve got a case for you.”
We were all ears, and listened to Jason to tell us about the Ghost of Lochland Castle. He was spending a night on the couch after an evening of drinking. The guys had played Poker while listening to music, and then they’d dispersed to spend the night.
“I was just about to sleep when a sound startled me. I lay there, passing it off as random castle noises. But then it kept going. I got up to start looking around but then the noises stopped. I went back to bed and got to sleep. The thing is my friend Bryce said he heard the noises the next few nights. Clearly it wasn’t just because I’d been drinking.”
We promised that we would look into it and send an owl to Bryce to schedule a visit. Jason was still pretty skeptical about the validity of his brother-in-law’s story, but we had to look into it.
The Lochaland Castle was massive and I know we would have been lost if we didn’t have David to show us around. It was dark, since we’d come at night, and we were eager to get started.
We slowly searched each room, noticing a couple of books missing in the library. Some food was missing from the fridge as well.
“You know that ghosts don’t eat, right?” James eyed the man.
“Yeah, but I also know that this castle is haunted. My family has said so for years.”
As James and David explored the bedrooms, I headed down to the basement. I heard movement nearby, and saw a chair falling over. I knew that this was impossible for ghosts to do since they were, you know, invisible and transparent, so I took out my wand and whispered, “Lumos.” A glow of light shone at the tip of my wand and revealed a young girl of about ten years old. She was hiding behind one of the old cabinets.
“Hi there,” I reached for her arm before she could run away. I did a non-verbal spell of ‘Nox’ to put out the light of my wand and put it back in my pocket. “Whatcha doing?”
“Please, don’t tell Uncle Bryce. I only came down here to hide for a couple of nights because I’m mad at my mom and…”
Bryce and James came down the stairs then, with a flashlight since Bryce was a Muggle. “What is going on here?” Bryce asked, then he saw his niece. “Margaret? What are you doing here?”
“I found your ghost,” I smirked a little, letting go of the girl’s arm.
The girl launched into her story of excuses again, but Bryce promised to take her home to her parents and thanked us for investigating the issue. I could tell that he felt a little ashamed of the fact that he’d thought there was a ghost in the castle, when all along it had been his niece. If only all cases were this easy!
But some advice to you first-years! Pay attention in Charms class. You never know when you might need to use one without saying the incantation, and that only comes with years of practice!
While I was having a drink at an Irish pub with James, Jason came in to join us. “Hey guys, I’ve got a case for you.”
We were all ears, and listened to Jason to tell us about the Ghost of Lochland Castle. He was spending a night on the couch after an evening of drinking. The guys had played Poker while listening to music, and then they’d dispersed to spend the night.
“I was just about to sleep when a sound startled me. I lay there, passing it off as random castle noises. But then it kept going. I got up to start looking around but then the noises stopped. I went back to bed and got to sleep. The thing is my friend Bryce said he heard the noises the next few nights. Clearly it wasn’t just because I’d been drinking.”
We promised that we would look into it and send an owl to Bryce to schedule a visit. Jason was still pretty skeptical about the validity of his brother-in-law’s story, but we had to look into it.
The Lochaland Castle was massive and I know we would have been lost if we didn’t have David to show us around. It was dark, since we’d come at night, and we were eager to get started.
We slowly searched each room, noticing a couple of books missing in the library. Some food was missing from the fridge as well.
“You know that ghosts don’t eat, right?” James eyed the man.
“Yeah, but I also know that this castle is haunted. My family has said so for years.”
As James and David explored the bedrooms, I headed down to the basement. I heard movement nearby, and saw a chair falling over. I knew that this was impossible for ghosts to do since they were, you know, invisible and transparent, so I took out my wand and whispered, “Lumos.” A glow of light shone at the tip of my wand and revealed a young girl of about ten years old. She was hiding behind one of the old cabinets.
“Hi there,” I reached for her arm before she could run away. I did a non-verbal spell of ‘Nox’ to put out the light of my wand and put it back in my pocket. “Whatcha doing?”
“Please, don’t tell Uncle Bryce. I only came down here to hide for a couple of nights because I’m mad at my mom and…”
Bryce and James came down the stairs then, with a flashlight since Bryce was a Muggle. “What is going on here?” Bryce asked, then he saw his niece. “Margaret? What are you doing here?”
“I found your ghost,” I smirked a little, letting go of the girl’s arm.
The girl launched into her story of excuses again, but Bryce promised to take her home to her parents and thanked us for investigating the issue. I could tell that he felt a little ashamed of the fact that he’d thought there was a ghost in the castle, when all along it had been his niece. If only all cases were this easy!
But some advice to you first-years! Pay attention in Charms class. You never know when you might need to use one without saying the incantation, and that only comes with years of practice!
