Artemis Hexley and the Portrait of the Vault

Chapter 20: The O.W.L.s

With the Quidditch season over, the O.W.L. exams were fast approaching, and it seemed to Artemis that nearly everyone she knew had gone half mad. Almost daily, fifth years were being sent to the Hospital Wing for Calming Draughts; Madam Pince was now having to force students out of the library at night time; and when she arrived for detention, Artemis was surprised to see a small queue outside the kitchens.

"Who are all those people?" she asked Jae, who had an array of quills and small bottles in front of him on one of the counters.

"Punters," came the reply. He looked at Artemis with a wry smile. "Look, I saw an opportunity and I took it."

Jae started selling his wares, and Artemis watched and listened as she polished the silverware. She heard the words "Self-Correcting Quill" and "Wit Sharpening Potion", and quickly realised  exactly what he was selling. Cheating devices.

They'd been told about the consequences of being caught cheating in their O.W.L.s at length by Professor Sprout, and as a Prefect, Artemis should really have been reporting Jae to the teachers. However, Jae was her friend. She wasn't quite sure what to do, so she let him be.

When she saw a pair of familiar faces approaching him, however, she put down the cutlery and went over to intervene.

"Penny! Barnaby! What are you doing?"

At the sound of her voice, Penny and Barnaby both turned around. Penny's cheeks turned bright red, and Barnaby looked down at his shoes. Jae sighed.

"I'm trying to work here, Hex," he said. "Can you not frighten away my customers?"

"These aren't your customers, they're my friends. My friend and my boyfriend," she corrected herself, quickly. "Right. Come on, you two."

She dragged Penny and Barnaby away from Jae, and looked at them accusatively. Penny's eyes were wide with panic.

"Please don't tell Bill," she whispered. "He will think I'm an awful person. I just... I'm so worried about failing."

"Penny, you're not going to fail," Artemis told her. "You've been revising really hard!"

That was true. Rowan, in true Rowan style, had created a revision timetable for all four of the girls to follow. Other than Rowan herself, Penny had been the best at keeping to the schedule, thanks to Artemis' lack of free time and Tonks' lack of effort. But Penny shook her head sadly.

"I've tried, but it's not working. Ever since Bea got stuck in that portrait, I've found it really hard to concentrate, and all I do is stare at the page, looking at the words and worrying about her."

Penny burst into tears, and Artemis wrapped her arms around her.

"We're going to free Beatrice, Penny. I know it's worrying, but we will get her out," she told her. "And until we do, she is safe, at least. She can't get hurt in the portrait, and you're able to see her, and her to see you."

"I don't know anymore. Every time I go to her, it's like she's more and more distant. Like she's fading into the background of the picture and... I'm just scared that by the time she gets out, it'll be too late."

"It won't," Artemis shook her head. "I promise you it won't. Look, I don't think you need a quill at all, I think you just need to start taking your calming draughts again. That might help you stop worrying about Beatrice so much that you can concentrate on revision, and you and I can catch up on the schedule together now that I don't have Quidditch practice to go to."

She let go of Penny, who took a deep breath and nodded. Barnaby was still staring at the ground, his jaw tense. Artemis looked at him, then around at the small crowd around Jae. She smiled apologetically at Penny, before taking Barnaby by the hand and leading him out of the kitchens, down the corridor and into an empty classroom.