Artemis Hexley and the Figures in the Shadows

Chapter 5: New Tricks

After hearing her story, Penny's three best friends had rallied around her, putting all their spare energy into supporting their friend. Because of this, Artemis and Tonks hadn't had much of a chance to think about their plan to break into Filch's office. In fact, they had hardly thought about the idea of getting their possessions back. This changed at the end of November, when a parchment was put up on the noticeboard in the common room naming the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend, which was being held on the last weekend before the Christmas holidays.

"Excellent! We can finally get hold of some fanged frisbees," Tonks whispered to Artemis. "Operation Filch from Filch is back on!"

"What happened to getting hold of contraband from Jae Kim?"

"He got caught stealing Boomslang skin from Snape's private store, so he's had to stop smuggling contraband, at least for now. I tried Tulip Karasu in Ravenclaw, too, but she's more of a Dungbomb girl herself," said Tonks. "Tulip had a good idea, though. She said that seeing as you're so good at Transfiguration, that if we go into Zonko's and buy some frisbees maybe you could transfigure them somehow, so we can get them back into the castle unnoticed."

"That's a great plan! Then you release them in the corridor outside his office, and I'll sneak in and get our stuff back."

"You're as good at breaking rules as you are at breaking curses, Hexley," Tonks laughed. "Filch won't know what's hit him."

  At the end of Herbology class the next day, Professor Sprout asked for a list of students who would be staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. Penny had been the first to sign up, as she had already discussed the issue with Sprout and Madam Pomfrey, the school matron. It had been decided that Penny should stay at school so that she could continue taking the various potions that Madam Pomfrey had prescribed her: Calming Draught and Draught of Peace when she was feeling anxious, Invigorating Solution when she felt drained, and Dreamless Sleep Potion for when she suffered from nightmares. To show their support for their friend, Artemis, Tonks, and Rowan followed suit.

"Artemis," Professor Sprout said to her as she signed her name. "I never had the chance to tell you how proud you made me at Halloween, when you brought Penny to see me. You showed true loyalty and compassion towards your friend. I think you deserve ten house points."

"Thank you, Professor, but I really wasn't doing it for house points," Artemis replied. "I don't even want them. I just want Penny to feel better."

"Well, how about a compromise? Five house points. I insist," she added, seeing Artemis open her mouth to argue. "Think of them as an early Christmas gift, if you like."

It turned out that the four Hufflepuff girls were not the only students who would be at the castle for Christmas. Bill Weasley, who wanted to spend more time studying ready for his Ordinary Wizarding Level exams at the end of the year, had also opted to stay, along with his brother Charlie, who still hadn't told his parents about the Crup bite on his hand.

"I'm trying to convince them to let me keep Dragon as a pet after the end of term," he confessed to Artemis and Rowan. "Mum's worried about the mess, and Dad's not keen because Crups can be agressive to Muggles, and we all know how much he loves Muggles. They'll never agree to it if they find out about Merula's Cruppy biting me."

The final assessment for the Cruppy rearing project was set to take place during the final Care of Magical Creatures lesson before Christmas. In the new year, the Cruppies would be sent to new homes.

Both Artemis and Rowan had already written home to ask their families to allow them to keep Scully and Toto. Rowan's family had agreed wholeheartedly, thinking that the Crup could possibly control the number of gnomes in the orchards. Artemis' mother hadn't replied to her letter, which was disappointing but unsurprising. Artemis didn't think that her mother would have agreed anyway, given the fact that they had Muggles living in the houses either side of their own. Luckily, a second letter to her Uncle Newt had proved more successful, and Scully would now be going to live in Dorset with her great-Aunt and Uncle after the term ended.