A Piece of Mind

Chapter [8]

Artemis woke to the unpleasant sensation of water being dumped upon his head. Of course, water wasn't exactly being dumped on his head.

The high-pressure water streaming out of Crabbe's wand trickled to a stop, letting Artemis' now waterlogged ears soak in the sound of Malfoy's laughter, along with that of his two goons. The boys from the previous night watched cautiously from their beds, silently observing to see what Artemis would do.

"Very mature, Malfoy," said Artemis, with an unknowable tone lacing his sarcasm. Pushing the dripping hair from his face, he stood up and pulled his wand from his bedside table. The three boys backed up, pulling their own wands from the folds of their cloaks, but Artemis simply flicked his wand towards himself, drying his clothes and face instantly. He tucked his wand into his pocket and walked to the bathroom to change.

The room was empty when he returned, and as he packed his bag he made a mental note to find a book on protective wards from the library. He suspected this wouldn't be the only incident between him and Malfoy. He was also starting to miss Butler very much, for the protection, and for the familiar company.

When he stepped into the common room he found Julia on the couch with Grace snoring on her shoulder.

"Oh! Artemis, you're awake. We thought you'd gone to breakfast already. Grace," she hissed, and the dark-haired girl jerked awake.

"Wha- oh, did I fall asleep? Morning, Artemis," said Grace, stretching as she stood. "Let's go eat, I'm starving."

As they sat down for breakfast, the short professor he'd seen at the staff table yesterday passed out papers to the Ravenclaw students. He was short enough to be an elf. Was it possible...?

As he passed, Artemis turned his back. He'd investigate another time, he thought, a promise he's found himself making often in the past few days.

"Miss Lankester, Miss Turner... Mr. Fowl. Here are your schedules. I hope to see you improve in Potions this year," A low, quiet voice said from behind them, Artemis turned his head enough to see the greasy hair framing the pale sharp features of Slytherin's Head of House. He made no noise as his cloak billowed behind him.

"Ugh, he's so creepy," said Julia, watching him go. "That's Professor Snape, Potions Teacher. He favors Slytherins but..."

"-but not me," Grace finished, glaring at her eggs and sausages. "Just because I don't come from a rich family, and I'm barely a half-blood as it is, and only pure-bloods should be Slytherins. He's always been harder on me; pointing out the smallest mistakes, making me redo potions or essays if I forget the smallest little thing- it's infuriating!"

Artemis put down his fork. "I have no magical connections that I am aware of. Which puts a target twice as big on my back, I assume?"

Grace looked over at him and smiled. He hadn't meant to comfort her, only inform her of his background and perhaps learn more about the social divide in the wizarding world.

"Pretty much," said Julia glumly after she got over her surprise, digging back into her food in silence. It was unusual for a half-blood to be sorted into Slytherin, but unheard of for a muggle-born. Though, Artemis was no average wizard. He wasn't even a normal person. It shouldn't come as such a shock to see him break stereotypes such as this.

"Is it just this house? I talked to a few students from the other houses on the train and some of them mentioned having muggle parents," said Artemis.

"Only in Slytherin. Apparently, our founder believed only those of pure blood should be able to learn at Hogwarts, but with the wizarding wars and less strict marriage laws, pure-blood families are dying out."