Cutler Eldritch is a pseudonymous British wizard novelist of legal and crime thrillers set in the British wizarding world. He is known for his popular stories and novels involving Atticus Dangerfield, a muggle-born wizarding advocate who has been unwillingly pulled into tackling a variety of peculiar criminal cases beyond the remit of his day job. Eldritch began with a series of short novels in 2026-27. He returned to the publishing scene with a new and more intense set of stories, beginning with The Chronomancer's Gambit in 2031.
Atticus Dangerfield: The protagonist of the majority of Eldritch's writings. Dangerfield is muggle-born. He is initially presented as a seemingly dull yet sincere wizarding advocate, his career consisting mostly of conveyancing and will writing for prominent magical families, occasionally with the odd case of more magnitude if lucky. Although happy with his secure position in his younger years, he gradually finds the tedium of his career to be not only mind-numbing, but representative of a failure to harness his own abilities and achieve something useful in the wizarding world. His life is changed dramatically in Imperius Causes when he is contacted by a frantic witch after she is accused of murdering her brother ... even though he disappearance and was presumed dead 10 year earlier.
Fergus Dangerfield: Atticus's elder brother, a muggle and a practically minded engineering manager and Conservative town councillor. Fergus has no interest in the magical world and seems to actively avoid learning anything about it, seeing it almost as a threat to his own position. Nevertheless, his concern for his brother has him acting as a sounding board for the theories he brings to him from his cases, as much as he would like to pretend the entire business did not exist at all.
Melodie Clarke-Michaels: Business-partner to Atticus, intellectually more than a match for him, and considerably more ambitious and outgoing in her personality. She is also muggle-born but now entirely estranged from her muggle family. There is also suspicion of her being romantically involved with a known criminal shortly after her graduation from Hogwarts. Atticus attempts not to pry into her business but it's clear that something is amiss, despite her professional success.
Aileen Gilruth: A Senior Investigator at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Some suggestion of romantic feelings between her and Atticus are made, yet both seem resistant to them. Aileen is quiet and shrewd with a good knowledge of all goings-on in the Ministry. Atticus and Melodie use her as an inside into affairs even beyond the scope of their current cases.
Remus Percival Melcombe: The incumbent Minister for Magic and former head of the Department for International Magical Cooperation. Melcombe is privately prone to nervous episodes and publicly appears sullen and overworked. Although his tenure has been without incident, suspicions have arisen that many want the man out of office and seek the job themselves.
Josephine Elterton: The incumbent Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Affectionately known as "Lady Elterton", the Chief Warlock is a ferociously witch of 74. She combines strict discipline with a warm sense of justice and commands much respect from the Wizarding Community.
Markus Filtridge McClaren: A petty criminal, mostly reformed but sometimes slipping back in his old ways. Despite his dodgy reputation, he is employed on the books of Atticus's firm. Markus was originally employed to hunt out details in "dirty" cases such as divorce, fraud, and illegal creature breeding. Atticus has been known to cover up his occasional criminality in order not to loose his investigative skills. Markus has a vague knowledge of the criminal underworld and an ability to worm his way into the confidence of many different groups of people.
Publications[]
First Generation (2026-27)[]
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Title
Published
Notes
The Dangerfield Portfolio
December 2026
A collected series of short stories, originally published in periodicals, involving the character Atticus Dangerfield.
Imperius Causes
May 2027
The first 'Atticus Dangerfield' novel which begins as a prequel to the curated set of short stories
Draught of Deceit
August 2027
The second 'Atticus Dangerfield' novel, a legal thriller off-shooting from Imperius Causes
Second Generation (2031-Present)[]
Cover
Title
Published
Notes
The Chronomancer's Gambit
July 2031
Atticus Dangerfield, now mostly retired from investigation, is hired by the Ministry of Magic to help track down a genius magical theoretician who is using time manipulation to aid a notorious criminal gang.
Behind the scenes[]
The content of this storyline takes place in the virtual world Second Life® @ Mischief Managed, a devotional sim created by Anya Ohmai and voluntarily maintained by various creative Administrators and players. You can find out more information here: http://mischiefmanagedsl.net.
Cutler Eldrich is the pseudonym of Archibald Colquhoun. This is only known to a limited number of people and should be learned in-character.
