"Dark magic, sure," Gabe answered breezily. "House elves, wouldn't have a clue." He hadn't thought about it; at the time he'd been busy, and since he'd... well, been busy. He thought about it now, walking in silence for a few steps. "Home imps in the near east are bound to the hearthstone. I'd curse that, let them spread it. But house elves are bound to a person, right?" Which would probably be Schechter; it seemed equally unlikely to Gabe that he was either a zombie or likely to be the unwitting carrier of a curse. He shrugged. "My money's on some defense mechanism of the castle fucking up. Or being fucked up. But this place has magic to burn."
He was still thinking about that, when a corner of his brain nudged him; oh yeah, his turn now. He could ask just what she did know about him - she'd had no doubt about him and dark magic - but actually he was more curious about... "Have you managed to corner Beckett yet?"