A little over two and a half years had passed since the night Jacob Hexley had walked down Lovelace Crescent and disappeared into the dark. The Ministry Of Magic had some of their best Aurors and Witch Watchers looking for him, but every lead they discovered ran cold, every trail lead to nowhere. Eventually, they gave up the search. Jacob Hexley had gone without a trace, and where he was now was anyone's guess.
The little girl he had left behind had started her own investigation, of sorts. Jacob had never once locked his bedroom, and once his sister returned from their Great-Aunt and Uncle's (apparently, her mother needed some time to herself), she had turned the room upside-down looking for a clue, any clue at all, that might help her work out where her brother had gone.
Artemis' mother seemed to have completely given up hope of Jacob ever returning. Most of the time it seemed that she had given up, full stop. Sara Hexley had barely left the house since Jacob went missing. Artemis couldn't remember the last time her mother had hugged her, or asked her a question, or even looked at her.
It wasn't that Artemis didn't mind the fact that she had to look after herself these days. She did mind, very much, but she had to admit that being close to invisible had its benefits. Well, it had one benefit: as long as she kept her promise to Jacob that she would look after her mother, and made sure that she never let anyone know that she was a witch, she could do almost anything she wanted.
The back gardens of Lovelace Crescent backed onto the canal, and in the back corner of the Hexleys' garden, a large tree had branches that overhung the path beside the water. It was this tree that Artemis would climb almost daily, step onto the garden wall, and jump down to the canal path. Once she was out of her mother's house she was completely free.
In one direction, the canal led to Camden Town, where Artemis could watch the passersby and guess from their clothing whether they were Muggles or witches and wizards, something that was often harder than it should have been. The Muggles in Camden wore clothes that wouldn't have looked out of place in Diagon Alley.
In the other direction she could go to the wide avenues and meadows of Regents Park, in which there was a zoo. Artemis had found that if she really, really thought about it hard enough, she could slide through a gap in one of the fences, despite it being much too small for her to fit through, and go to see the animals. This might have been her favourite thing to do. Her Great-Uncle, who she had lived with twice - once following her father's death and again after Jacob left home - was a renowned Magizoologist, and had instilled in her a love of creatures, magical and otherwise.
It was from the zoo that Artemis returned home one evening in early July to find an unfamiliar owl perched on the kitchen windowsill, holding an envelope in its mouth. Artemis took the owl inside and placed it by Athena's open cage. Athena ruffled her feathers, but shuffled over to make room for the newcomer to eat and drink.
Artemis had been waiting for this owl to arrive ever since she could remember. She took the letter from it, and her heart skipped a beat as she read the envelope's emerald green cursive:
Miss Artemis Hexley,
The Attic Room,
5 Lovelace Crescent,
Regents Canal,
London
Artemis opened the envelope, knowing full well what the letter would contain. Upstairs, in a small box beneath her bed, she had a very similar letter, identical other than the name on the address. She knew the letter by heart, but still she read the contents.
Dear Miss Hexley,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
She ran to her mother. Sara Hexley was having one of her good days; she had put on clean clothes, brushed her dark hair - which was much less unruly than Artemis' own - and was writing in her study. Perhaps, thought Artemis, she would even be excited. She brandished the letter under her mother's nose.
"Look, Ma. I'm going to Hogwarts!"
"That's good," Artemis' mother said, not looking up from her parchment. "Well done."
Artemis stopped herself from sighing. She shouldn't have hoped for more of a reaction than this. Even if her mother had gone to Hogwarts herself (being American, she had gone to a different school altogether), nothing had excited her since Jacob had gone missing.
"There's a whole load of stuff I'm going to need to get," Artemis said. She couldn't tell if her mother was listening. "I'll have to go to Diagon Alley. Will you come with me?"
"You know I can't abide Diagon Alley," her mother bristled, still not looking at Artemis. "Too many crowds. Why don't you write to Aunt Tina?"
"Aunt Tina and Uncle Newt are in Norway, remember? They won't be back until December, that's why I went there for my birthday instead of over the summer this year."
"Then you'll have to go by yourself. I'll make sure you have a note for Gringotts to let you take out plenty of money to cover everything."
Artemis sighed. There was no point in arguing.
"Can I at least borrow Athena? If I send her up to Hogsmeade tonight they'll be able to sort out posting a letter for Aunt Tina to Norway by the end of the week."
Her mother assented, and Artemis wrote to her Aunt and Uncle to let them know the good news. She wondered whether her mother would let her take Athena to school with her, but knew that the answer would probably be no. Her mother relied on Athena too much now that she rarely left the confines of the house. Finishing her letter, Artemis felt a little deflated. If only there were someone she could celebrate with right now. An idea popped into her head, and she went back out into the garden, climbing the tree again, and sitting on one of its larger branches.
"Reggie!" She called out to a tall, dark-skinned man sitting on the deck of a canal boat moored on the canal behind the wall of her garden.
"Hello, Tiny," Reggie said to her in his deep, melodic voice. "You're looking very happy. What have you done this time?"
"I've not done anything. I just found out I got into the school I wanted to go to."
"Ah," Reggie nodded. "The boarding school. You going to live out your Enid Blyton dream at last, then?"
"I think so, yes," said Artemis, not understanding the reference. "I'm going on the first of September."
"Make sure you say goodbye to me before you go," Reggie told her. He ducked into his boat and opened a few windows. "Now, this calls for a celebration. What record do you want to listen to?"
Artemis grinned. Since Jacob had left, Reggie was probably her only friend in the world. He loved Muggle music almost as much as Jacob had, and if he thought anything was strange about a small, skinny, scruffy-looking girl wanting to sit by his boat and listen to music with him, he never said anything about it. Artemis felt bad that she could never answer any of his questions entirely honestly, but that was the problem with not having any friends of her own age, or friends who were witches and wizards. She only hoped that would change once she got to school.
It wasn't often that Artemis ventured to Diagon Alley, and she had never made the journey alone. She had been with Jacob and her mother, before he disappeared, and a few times with her Aunt and Uncle since. Luckily, Artemis was not the sort of person to linger too much on what could go wrong, so she felt far more excited than nervous to be going to buy her school supplies, even though she would be doing it by herself.
The Leaky Cauldron pub was as familiar as always. Tom, the barman, recognised her as she walked in.
"Well, if it isn't little Artemis!" he boomed.
After some brief small talk about her aunt and uncle, and how much Artemis had grown, Tom helped her tap out the correct pattern on the bricks on the pub wall so that the archway into the bustling Diagon Alley opened before her.
She went straight to Gringotts Bank and presented the letter her mother had signed to the goblin at the desk. The goblin's unreadable stare unnerved her, but she held his gaze, chin lifted. After what seemed an age, he spoke to one of his colleagues, and they presented Artemis with a small sack of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.
Artemis purchased her trunk and cauldron first, thinking that she would be able to fit all the rest of her shopping inside, seeing as she had no one to help her carry anything. Her Potions supplies she bought at the same time as the cauldron, before going to the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. She had a whole list of books she needed to take with her to school, including, she noticed with a grin, one written by her own great-uncle. She started to browse the shelves of the bookshop, but stopped suddenly when a small stand of acid green books caught her eye. She did a double-take, re-reading the title of the books. No, she hadn't been mistaken.
Cursed by Name, Cursed by Nature: A History of the Ill-Fated Hexley Family.
Artemis picked up a copy of the book and turned it over, reading the blurb:
Five years after the death of Leander Hexley, the details of the Unspeakable's demise are still unknown. Accident, suicide, murder? No one knows. And what of his son, Jacob, who disappeared without a trace in the aftermath of Harry Potter's triumph over You-Know-Who? Is Jacob Hexley mad, bad, dangerous, or all three? Find out all about the Hexley family's series of misfortunes in this latest exposé by journalist Rita Skeeter.
Artemis slunk into a corner of the shop, and started to flick through the book, the words flying around her head.
Found dead in the Department of Mysteries... his Muggle mother kept under lock and key... the wife's addiction to Calming Potions... Jacob Hexley's obsession with the legendary Cursed Vaults... his descent into madness... his expulsion... his disappearance... the Most Feared Wizard in Knockturn Alley... the youngest member of the family, Artemis...
She slammed the book shut, her heart racing, her mouth dry, her breath ragged. She leant against the side of the bookshelf, the world spinning around her.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice said from below her.
Artemis looked down. A girl of her own age, possibly a year older, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking up at her over the top of an open book with an expression of concern.
"I'm... I think I am. Yeah."
"It's so busy and noisy, isn't it? I had to come and get some quiet, too." The girl smiled. She had light brown skin, black hair and silver glasses that framed large, friendly brown eyes. "Are you by yourself, too?"
"Yeah, my mum hates crowds. I thought I'd be okay buying everything by myself but..."
"Well, I've just finished this chapter, so I could help you pick out your books if you like. I've still got my robes to buy, too, if you wanted to do that together, too? I'm guessing you're a first year like me."
"I am. And I would, thanks," Artemis smiled. She already liked this kind stranger.
"It's Rowan, by the way," said the girl, standing up. She was tall, with long legs and a slightly hunched posture through her shoulders. Her movements were slow, and she had an awkward sort of grace. She reminded Artemis of one of the giraffes at the zoo in Regent's Park. "Rowan Khanna."
"I'm Artemis," Artemis said. She quickly placed the book about her family down on the bookshelf, hoping that Rowan hadn't seen the cover, before adding, "Artemis Hexley."
"Hexley?" Rowan asked, eyebrows shooting up. Artemis' heart sank. She had seen the book cover after all. Rowan's doe-like brown eyes flicked at the book cover, and she nodded slowly. "You're related to Jacob Hexley."
"My brother."
"That must've been hard for you and your family, your brother going missing like that. And now, with what that horrible Rita Skeeter woman's been writing about him."
Artemis shrugged, and said nothing.
"I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it," Rowan smiled. "Come on, there's nothing like buying books to make you feel better. Do you like reading?"
Artemis nodded, though it wasn't so much reading that she enjoyed as stories themselves. She loved the tales of far-away places, adventures, daring deeds, heroes and heroines. It turned out that Rowan liked reading a lot more than she did; she even liked non-fiction books, which had never really interested Artemis that much, although her brother had always devoured them, wanting to learn everything he could about every possible topic.
Rowan gave Artemis a lot of book recommendations as they wove their way around the bookshop, finding and picking up the books from the list that came with the Hogwarts letter.
"Oh," she said, looking at Artemis' stack of books as they got to the counter to pay. "You've not got Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them yet. Let me go back and get it for you."
"Don't, I already have a copy at home."
"You do?" Rowan asked. Artemis nodded, not mentioning why she already had a copy. "Me too, it's great isn't it? Newt Scamander is amazing."
"Yeah, he is," Artemis grinned and looked away.
Rowan and Artemis stuck together in Madam Malkin's robe shop, too. This turned out to be the part of the trip that Rowan had dreaded the most. Rowan's family owned a wand wood farm, in a very rural location. Rowan didn't spend much time with witches of her own age.
"I've got a bit of extra money," she said to Artemis. "I'd like to get something to wear outside of lessons. I just don't know what is fashionable and what will make me look like even more of a dweeb!"
"I have no idea what's fashionable, either," Artemis admitted. "I just wear what I like." After they had both been measured for their school robes, during which process Artemis realised how short she was in comparison to Rowan, they picked out a lilac cardigan and stripy scarf for Rowan.
"It's bound to be cold in Scotland," Artemis told her, "and it suits you."
"You think so?" Rowan said, looking at herself in the mirror. "I just don't want everyone to think I'm too weird to be friends with."
"I don't think that," Artemis said. "Then again, everyone thinks my brother is mad, so they will probably think I'm too weird to be friends with, too."
"We can both be weird together."
"I'd like that very much," Artemis grinned at her new friend.
Before Rowan left her, she took out a newly-purchased quill and piece of parchment. "This is my address. Let me know if you read any good books over the summer, and if you want to meet me at Platform Nine and Three Quarters to get the train together. It would be nice to have a familiar face."
"Even if it's a weird familiar face?"
"Especially if it's a weird familiar face!"
Artemis and Rowan said their goodbyes, and Artemis realised that she had one final purchase to make before she went home. It was the item she had most been looking forward to buying: her very first wand.
Ollivander's wand shop was quiet, dark, and musty, with narrow boxes lining the walls. It was eerily quiet. She approached the counter.
"Hello?" She called out.
A silver haired, silver eyed man appeared in the doorway.
"Mr Ollivander?"
"Artemis Hexley," he said. It wasn't a question.
"How did you -"
"I remember you coming in here with your brother when he came in to buy his wand," said Mr Ollivander, his eyes glittering behind silver half-moon glasses. "Maple and dragon heartstring. A beautiful specimen, if I do say so myself. I dare say it was snapped after his expulsion? A terrible business."
"Yes," Artemis said. After seeing Rita Skeeter's book in Flourish and Blotts, she didn't really want to talk about Jacob's expulsion.
"Such a shame, a very bright boy. Exceptionally talented, so they say," Ollivander paused, "although, they do say a lot of things about Jacob Hexley these days."
"Not everything people say is true," said Artemis, staring stubbornly at the old man. "My brother is a good person. He didn't deserve to be expelled, and when he's found, everyone will know that."
"You have a lot of faith," Mr Ollivander smiled. Artemis didn't like his smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "You and your brother must have had a very close bond."
"We did," Artemis replied. "We do."
"Hmm..." Ollivander turned away from her, and started scanning his shelves, pulling boxes from them. "You know, Miss Hexley, that the wand always chooses the wizard, or in this case, the witch. It is my job not only to create wands, but to try and find them their ideal match. I wonder if one of these three wands might just suit you."
He opened three narrow boxes, revealing the wands inside, and gestured to Artemis to take her pick. She reached forward, and picked one up.
"Twelve inches, acacia and dragon heartstring, pliable. Give it a wave."
Artemis did so, and nothing happened. She frowned for a few moments, then suddenly from behind her came a smashing sound.
"Perhaps not," Ollivander took the wand from her and placed it back in its box. He gestured towards the second wand. "Let's try the vine one, shall we?"
The second wand was shorter than the first, and more rigid. Artemis had hardly raised the wand, however, when Ollivander took it from her.
"I hadn't finished," she told him.
"Vine wands are quick to choose their owners," Ollivander said. "If it had chosen you, we would know by now. Last but not least, Miss Hexley, we have this. Nine and a half inches, spruce and dragon heartstring, whippy."
Artemis took the third wand, which was the smallest of the three, and waved it. A burst of gold and silver sparks burst from the tip, spiralling in the air over her head and slowly falling to the ground around her.
"I think this one likes me," she said to the Wandmaker.
"It does, indeed," Mr Ollivander said, his eyes glittering. "Quite a marvellous match, I believe. I did suspect that one of these three might choose you."
"Why?"
"These three wands all have one thing in common," Ollivander told her. "Dragon heartstring cores. Heartstrings from the same heart, in fact. There were three more made from the same dragon, but the rest have all have been sold. One of them was sold to your brother."
"My brother's wand had a heartstring from the same dragon as mine?" Artemis asked, a smile creeping across her face.
"The very same," Ollivander said. "It is still unclear exactly how and why wands choose their witches and wizards. Sometimes, their choices still astound me, even now. Your wand and your brother's are brothers themselves. It is curious, don't you think?"
"No," Artemis said, still holding her wand. It already felt like a part of her, an extension of her arm. "I don't think that it's curious at all."
Artemis had never known time to drag as slowly as it did over the next month and a half. She couldn't wait for the first of September to arrive, so that she could finally go to Hogwarts.
Thankfully, she had some reading material to get through in the meantime. Firstly, her new friend Rowan wrote to tell her that she'd already finished reading Bathilda Bagshot's A History Of Magic, and that she would thoroughly recommend it. She also sent a copy of Gilderoy Lockhart's latest book, which Artemis read from cover to cover, only realising after finishing it that it wasn't fiction. She flicked through it again, unable to believe that the story was true.
A week or two later, a reply came from her Aunt Tina in Norway, congratulating her on her school place, and telling her all about Uncle Newt's latest antics, which were much more believable than Gilderoy Lockhart's, despite being equally dangerous. Her Uncle had written a postscript, in which he wished her luck, promised to buy her a pet as soon as he returned from Scandinavia, and told her that he hoped she would be sorted into his own beloved Hufflepuff house. Aunt Tina had added a second postscript, in which she informed Artemis that she was to feel no pressure about which house she would be in, and that she would "find her crowd" wherever she ended up. Aunt Tina, like Artemis' mother, had gone to school in America. Of course it didn't matter to her which house Artemis would be in. It did matter to Artemis, though. She had already made up her mind as to where she wanted to be.
She wrote her final letter of the summer to Rowan a few days before the start of term. The train would be leaving Platform Nine and Three Quarters at 11am. She suggested meeting at Kings Cross station at a quarter to eleven. That would give them more than enough time to get on the train and find their seats. Artemis sent the letter off with Athena, and, filled with excitement, started to pack her trunk. She quickly realised how much she was having to take with her, and sighed heavily. She was going to need help.
"Ma," she said, approaching her mother in her bedroom. She knew this was not the time. Her mother hadn't drawn the curtains and was staring at the ceiling. Still, she persevered. "I've just been packing and writing to my friend Rowan."
"Who?"
"You know, the new friend I told you about. I met her at Diagon Alley," Sara Hexley gave no indication that she recollected this. "I'm going to meet her at the station to get the train together to school on Saturday."
"That's nice."
"I thought you might like to come with me to help me with my things."
"What?"
"My school things," Artemis said, trying to keep her voice level. "It's close enough to walk, but it's a lot to carry by myself, and I could really use the help. Seeing as Aunt Tina won't be here, I thought that maybe you could..."
There was a long pause. Eventually, Artemis heard her mum speak.
"Okay."
Artemis was pleasantly surprised by this response. She was even more surprised when Athena returned on the morning of the thirty-first of August with Rowan's reply. It turned out that Rowan didn't think that quarter of an hour would be long enough to find their seats. She suggested meeting at twenty-five past ten. This seemed to Artemis like a very precise time, but Rowan did seem like a very precise sort of person. Athena hooted gently and pecked Artemis' arm as she re-read Rowan's letter.
"Athena, don't lie. It says right here that Rowan's mum gave you plenty of food before you came back," Artemis shook her head. "Anyway, I need you to fly straight back to let Rowan know I can meet her earlier."
Artemis gently stroked Athena's tawny ear tufts as she wrote her reply to Rowan.
Dear Rowan,
Of course I can meet you earlier tomorrow. I'll probably be up at the crack of dawn, I'm so excited! Mum has said she will walk me to the station, which is great - I thought I might have to carry all my things by myself... I vaguely remember how to get to the platform from when we took my brother, I think it's through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. I'll meet you near the barrier tomorrow morning at the time you suggested. Can't wait to see you again! Love from your fellow weirdo, Artemis Hexley
Artemis put the letter in an envelope and sent it off with Athena, watching as the owl swooped and soared into the sky, flying further and further away until Artemis could no longer see her. Artemis smiled to herself. Tomorrow she would be the one flying away. Remembering the promise she'd made to Reggie the Muggle, she slipped into the garden, climbed up the tree and sat on the wall to talk to him. Her stomach dropped when she saw what he was doing.
"Oh," she said, watching as the boatman stowed away the items he usually left on the deck. "You're going away."
"Don't look at me like that, Tiny. You're the one who decided to go away first," Reggie stepped off his boat and leant against the wall next to where Artemis sat.
"Yes, but I'll be back for the holidays," Artemis said. "Will you be back?"
"Maybe," Reggie answered her, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe not."
Artemis looked at her feet, a mixture of emotions rising in her, none of them pleasant. Reggie was her friend. He wasn't supposed to leave. The boatman must have sensed her sadness, because he nudged her knee with his elbow.
"You are disappointed?"
"Sort of," Artemis said, frowning. "I guess I'd gotten used to you being here, that's all."
Reggie let out a deep chuckle.
"Aren't you a charmer?" he grinned. Artemis smiled in spite of herself. If only Reggie knew about the Charms she'd soon be learning. "I'll miss you too, Tiny. Probably more than you'll miss me, once you go to your fancy new school and start making friends with girls your own age."
"Do you know where you'll be going?"
"I have a few ideas. When you live on a boat you can find home wherever you go," Reggie said. "Maybe you will find home where you are going, too."
Artemis nodded slowly. She hoped that the Muggle was right, that she would find home at Hogwarts. But it wasn't just home that she wanted to find. More than anything, she wanted to find her brother.