There once was a prefect named Ludd

  Who had a face like a cow chewing cud

  "Five points, make it ten!"

  Yelled again and again

  Till everyone wished she'd go ‘thud’

  The nastiest prefect alive

  Makes the first-years all run and then dive

  Behind tapestries quick

  When they hear her steps click

  Like a redheaded wasp from hell's hive

  That bespectacled tyrant called Ludd

  Whose temper is hot as fresh blood

  Acts like Hightower's pet

  (Though she’s not noticed yet)

  But still follows her 'round like a dud

  - Found scrawled in the margins of Bagshot’s A History of Magic: Volume I (of XXXII)

  Jack was so caught up in his own thoughts at dinner that he had an out-of-character lapse in punctuality. He realized it was nearly 7:30 PM already, excused himself to his friends, and ran out of the Great Hall with his schoolbag in hand.

  It’s just Quillworth, she won't be upset, Jack assured himself as he ran through the Central Hall with the great clock striking the half hour. He prepared an apology as he opened the library doors. She wasn’t at her desk. Must be in the stacks.

  Jack trotted up without seeing anyone. He caught a whiff of an unfamiliar sharp perfume. Then a shrill voice made his heart sink:

  "You're thirty-one seconds late, Mr. Semmes." Bianca Ludd made a show of checking her pocket watch. Her gray eyes glinted behind her glasses with a vengeful eagerness. "Shall I make it another night of detention to teach you timeliness?"

  "That won’t be necessary. Where's Ms. Quillworth?" Jack asked, already knowing the answer wouldn't matter.

  "Staff meeting." Ludd's ketchup-red hair strained against her hairband. "I'll be supervising you tonight." She gestured to a table directly in the center of the library floor. "Sit. Empty your bag."

  Jack did as he was told, pulling out his books and parchment. Ludd stood and walked over, inspecting each item as if she was checking for contraband, even turning his books upside down and shaking them.

  "No notes from Washington tonight?" she asked. "No special messages to pass along?"

  Jack clenched his fist under the table, "Look, whatever Montfort's been saying-"

  Ludd perched on the table’s edge next to him, her posture a parody of an office secretary - leaning slightly, legs crossed at stockinged ankle, fingers drumming on pleated knee in a way that was unsettling rather than coquettish.

  "Oh, it's not what Mr. Montfort's saying that concerns me," she said, adjusting her glasses. "It's what you've been doing. Infiltrating. Getting close. Making yourself useful. Worming your way into advanced classes. Playing the charming newcomer."

  She leaned towards him, staring.

  "Charming, huh?” Jack snorted derisively. “Well, I'm in detention, clearly I’m not doing something right.”

  "What should you be doing?" She edged even closer, into his personal space. "Your mission? Gathering information? Get close enough to Miss Hightower to influence her father?"

  Jack felt his face burning. The moxie of this broad! He had to clench his teeth to stop from launching an insult. Or even worse, slap her clean off the table. Taking abuse at Ilvermorny was one thing. Even here from Montfort. But from a girl like this? Who was younger than him? It was almost more than he could bear.

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  "How about you sit down,” he said, his voice tight with the effort of restraint, “and you let me do my homework.”

  She leaned even closer. Her nose was a whisker away from his. Her perfume was harsh, like acetone mixed with jasmine. "Do you know what happens to girls who get caught up with boys like you, James Semmes?" Her voice was a whisper. Some other students had entered the library, giving them curious looks. "They don't become Head Girls. They don't get Ministry positions. They disappoint their parents. They get shuffled aside and forgotten. They get hurt."

  "I would never do anything to hurt-"

  "Miss Hightower?" Ludd looked at him without blinking. "You already are."

  Jack stared back at her in furious silence, blood roaring in his ears.

  "So here's what's going to happen," she continued, straightening up. "You're going to sit here in silence. And after tonight, you're going to stay away from Miss Hightower. No conversations. No glances. Nothing."

  "I still have tonight then. Better get a move on if I want to ruin her life." Jack crossed his arms defiantly.

  Ludd smiled. A snake baring teeth before the strike.

  "One more word out of you, just one word, and I'll make sure everyone knows exactly what you are, Semmes. Not just a clumsy American boy - but MACUSA's little spy, using an innocent girl for whatever game your masters are playing." She leaned closer, dropping her voice. "And then I'll make sure you regret ever setting foot in this castle."

  Their eyes locked - burning hazel against flinty gray.

  Neither blinked.

  The air between them crackled, as if the slightest spark might ignite an inferno.

  Ludd’s smile faltered ever so slightly, but she held firm, her jaw tightening. Jack was unyielding. He had the relentless focus of a boy who had stared down far tougher opponents. He'd learned endurance at Ilvermorny, a place where flinching was weakness and holding your ground was survival.

  The silence stretched taut, but Jack didn’t budge. Nearly a full minute passed, until at last, she blinked and looked away.

  She seized his Transfiguration textbook - the one he’d left in the common room today since he didn’t need it for class - and began flipping through it with exaggerated care. A folded piece of parchment fluttered out. She snatched it with a Seeker’s reflexes before Jack could move.

  Oh Franklin. Please don’t let that be–

  Ludd unfolded it, eyes widening behind her glasses as she read aloud:

  

  GRYFFINDOR IRREGULARS - DAILY INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

  From: Agent P To: Senior Agent J

  Re: Overwatch

  Note: For lack of orders this morning due to Peeves, we received targeting data from T.M. on people he “thought would be funny for us to follow” (his words, not ours).

  1. Target C.H. (“top priority”) spent 44 minutes in library (1503-1547)

  

  
• Referenced 3 books on potion-making and 1 book on advanced charms


  
• Wrote notes in purple ink (presumed favorite color)


  
• Shushed Agent W when Agent broke noise discipline


  

  2. Target C.V. observed meeting unknown contact in dungeons ~1251.

  

  
• Suspicious head-nod exchanged


  
• Agent M chased by Sly. prefect afterwards but gave him the slip after breaking line-of-sight


  

  3. Target M.M. accosted agents in common room at 2200.

  

  
• Refused to grant Agent P permission to stay out late to surveil


  
• Threatened to tell our mums - potential insider threat!


  
• H.R. provided intel on her favorite sweets for leverage


  
• H.R. also recommended we buy flowers: “She likes roses. If too expensive, lily-of-the-valley will do.”


  
• Please lend us five Sickles for appropriated funds for M.M. (roses, chocolate)


  


  
• (We will provide a receipt)


  


  

  4. Awaiting further orders

  

  
• Agent M has perfected Instant Darkness Powder


  

  For Merlin and Country (and Gryffindor)!

  P.S. Can we get proper code names please? Initials are boooring.

  P.P.S. Miss Ludd is No Gudd!

  [accompanied by a cartoon of an angry bespectacled witch with pointed teeth]

  “A surveillance report?” Ludd looked up from the note, her expression torn between triumph and disgust. "‘Miss Ludd is No Good?’ Really, Semmes? Will you be trying to take down the Ministry next?!"

  Jack removed his hand from his mouth where it had been stifling his laughter.

  "Ok, this is actually kinda funny-" he began.

  "FUNNY?!"

  Everyone in the library looked over. There were several loud shushes.

  She leaned into him and continued in a furious whisper.

  "You have first-years spying on seniors, tracking their movements, monitoring their activities… and you expect me to believe this isn't exactly what it looks like?"

  "They're just little kids playing–"

  "Playing at being your personal intelligence service?" She folded the note with precise, angry movements. “Your 'Gryffindor Irregulars'. Just like a proper spy network. I must report this. You’re a dangerous boy."

  “You’re loony.”

  "That's twenty points from Gryffindor and another night of detention for talking back to a prefect," Ludd said, tucking the note into her pocket. "We'll see what Professor Winterborn has to say about your little ‘operation’."

  Jack ground his teeth as Ludd marched back to her table and began writing up her report.