(The second year time-table)
Don't let schooling interfere with your education - Mark Twain
The Hogwarts castle
Scotland, Great Britain
September 1 1992
Artemis walked into the Great Hall, which was already filled with the returning students, catching up with each other.
Just when she was about to sit down at the Gryffindor table a loud crash was heard. Everyone immediately stopped talking, listening carefully. They didn't hear a thing after that but Professor Snape still got up and left the Great Hall, probably to find the cause of the racket.
Somebody ran into Artemis from behind as she twirled around to see a tall, fourth-year Hufflepuff, smiling apologhetically down at her. "Sorry," he said, scratching the back of his neck.
"Ced! Come sit with us!" A pretty blonde called, waving him over.
And with one last smile, the guy left and went to sit with his friends.
"Oh, wow!" Elizabeth said appreviatively as she watched the bloke leave. "He can bump into me anytime."
Artemis rolled her eyes and dragged her best friend towards the Gryffindor table.
"Hello, it's nice to see your pretty face again. How was your summer?" Jace had joined them and was looking down at Elizabeth with a boyish smile on his face.
"About as well as that lame attempt at flirting, Other Lupin." Elizabeth said, rolling her dark eyes. She put her hands in her sides and looked at Jace with the most annoyed look she could manage.
"Other Lupin?" Jace repeated, pouting slightly. "Is that how you see me, love? I'm hurt."
Elizabeth sighed in frustration as she pinced the bridge of her nose. She was too tired to deal with him. "Can't be that bad to hurt that enormous ego of yours."
"I'll have you know I'm not a Lupin, I'm the Lupin."
"Don't let Ara hear." Elizabeth said, scoffing.
A few of Jace's classmates were apparently starting to miss having the annoying git disrupt their peace, because they were calling him over. "I should probably go sit down. It was very lovely to talk to you again, Effie."
"Save your breath, Jace, your charm isn't going to work on me. Not now, not ever." Elizabeth said seriously, before moving over to her own classmates and sitting down.
It took another five minutes for Professor McGonagall to lead the first years in. They looked so tiny...
"Matthews, Bibi!" Called out Professor McGonagall. Artemis watched as she walked away from the line of terrified-looking first years. Bibi appeared uncommonly confident as she sat down on the three-legged stool. Her light-blue eyes searched the Gryffindor table and Artemis saw her wave at Luca. Then her eyes disappeared under the hat and not even five seconds later, it called out. "Gryffindor!"
As soon as Bibi was seated next to Luca, Artemis looked out of the window and almost fell off the bench when she saw two boys staring back at her. The tallest had blue eyes, freckles, a long nose and vivid ginger hair and the other had green eyes, black hair, and glasses. "Hermione, look!" Artemis whispered urgently, nodding towards the window. "Am I hallucinating or do you see them as well?"
Ron waved at them and they just raised an eyebrow. Ron, then noticed the empty seat at the High Table and he and Harry said something to each other.
They suddenly turned around but Artemis couldn't see more through the dark. Her only guess was that Snape had found them. They left after that, dragging their trunks behind them.
"Weasley, Ginevra!" Professor McGonagall called out.
Ginny was the last one to get Sorted and she shakily sat down on the stool. It took the hat only a second to decide before it shouted. "GRYFFINDOR!" Ginny sat down next to Artemis and Hermione at the red and gold table.
"The wait took forever." Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.
Dumbledore got up and cleared his throat. The Great Hall was immediately silent and nobody seemed to move. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts." Like last year he opened his arms wide, smiling brightly. "I would like to wish our returning students another pleasant and educational year. For our new students and some older ones too..." He, once again, glanced at the Weasley twins before moving those sparkling sapphires onto Hermione and Artemis, who giggled silently in response. "The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for all students. Entering it can be extremely dangerous and may as well cost you your life." He said seriously, pausing to look down every table.
"We have a change in staff this year seeing as our Defence Against the Dark Arts post has been...emptied last year." A few people whispered and glanced back at Artemis and Hermione. People were also starting to notice that Ron and Harry weren't there.
"We are pleased to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart!" Lockhart got up, dressed in robes of aquamarine and beamed down at the students, his pearly-white teeth shining even brighter under the light of the thousands of candles floating above the tables. Hermione blushed brightly when he winked at the Gryffindor table and she quickly hid her burning cheeks behind her bushy, brown hair.
"Tuck in!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and immediately the empty golden plates filled itself with the piles upon piles of delicious food.
Artemis noticed Snape slip back in the Great Hall and whispered something in Professor McGonagall's ear. Her face turned red in anger and she got up from the table, following Snape out again.
"I don't know what they did. But whatever it was - it's probably going to get them expelled." Artemis concluded as she turned back around to face the girls.
"You mean...they caused that crash?" Giselle whispered.
"There was a loud crash and Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were nowhere to be seen when it happened..." Elizabeth said, tapping her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Of course they are behind the crash. That's something only they could do. They didn't think...as usual." She rolled her eyes.
"I really hope Professor McGonagall isn't going to expel them." Hermione said, anxiously. "They really did it this time. Whatever they did wrong."
"Look, even Dumbledore is leaving the room." Victoria said. "Oh Merlin,...this is bad. This is very bad."
"He looks so sad." Artemis said, biting her lip. "That can only mean one thing, can't it?"
A few minutes passed, and all of the teachers had returned. Snape had been glaring at everyone and everything, Professor McGonagall had her lips pulled up in a thin line and Dumbledore just looked...disappointed.
"Did you hear...?" Jace leaned in. "Apparently Harry and Ron flew here with the Weasleys' Ford Anglia and crashed into the Whomping Willow."
"That's ridiculous, Jace, not even they would do something like that. They must have realised what trouble it would bring."
~~~~
"You did WHAT NOW?" Seethed Artemis, her hands on her hips and quite the disappointed look on her face.
"We-" Repeated Harry in a small voice, eyeing Artemis fearfully. "We...used Mr. Weasley's car..."
Artemis was silent for a moment. She seemed to be swelling up with anger. "Have you lost your minds? Do you not realise what could've happened? What may have happened because of your stupid actions? What were you thinking? Wait, don't answer that. You weren't thinking at all, were you?"
"Skip the lecture." Said Ron impatiently. "We're tired. Could you just tell us the new password before Hermione sees us."
Artemis just raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're tired, are you? Well, in that case, of course, I'll leave you two alone. It isn't as if you just broke the law, destroyed a tree...and a car...and were nearly expelled, five minutes ago. I can't leave you two alone for a minute, can I?"
"Ara, please..." said Harry, yawning. "It wasn't exactly a fun trip."
"I do hope you've nearly died at least once. Because maybe that will teach you not to do something so stupid again."
"Ara, could you-"
"And no, Ronald, I'm not distracting Hermione for you. Get in there, and face her like a man. Because if you can drive like one, you should pay the price like one." She turned towards the Fat Lady. "Wattlebird."
The portrait swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into a circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for Harry and Ron to arrive.
"Brilliant!" Yelled Luca Matthews. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years..."
"Luke..." Artemis glared while people patted Harry's shoulder. "They almost got expelled."
"Relax, Ari, they weren't. So let it go." Someone said from behind her.
"They were seen by seven Muggles, Jace. You can hardly expect the Ministry to just forget about that."
Jace rolled his eyes as he hugged her. "Don't pretend you weren't worried sick the entire time. Just let them enjoy their moment of glory. Knowing them, they'll ruin it again."
"That is what I'm worried about." Artemis pulled back. "Just behave this year, Jace. I don't think I can go through this again."
"Says the girl who lost us 200 points last year because she was smuggling a dragon out of the castle." Jace whispered.
"No, we lost 200 points because we were out after hours..."
"To smuggle a dragon out of the castle." Repeated Jace, smiling his infamous mischievious smile. "You little troublemaker."
Aurora rolled her eyes and ducked away as Jace tried to ruffle her hair. "I'm going to bed. Night, Jace."
"Sweet dreams." Jace winked before pushing his way back into the crowd.
Artemis walked up the girl's staircase, all the way to the top, and at last reached the door to their old dormitory, which now had the sign on it saying:
SECOND YEARS:
Elizabeth Bouchard
Lavender Brown
Victoria Dunbar
Hermione Granger
Giselle Longbottom
Artemis Lupin
Parvati Patil
They entered the familiar, circular room, with its seven four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks already stood at the end of their beds.
The door flew open, just as Artemis was slipping into her bed, furtest away from the door. "Unbelievable!" Victoria beamed.
"Amazing." Said Giselle awestruck.
"That's what I call an entrance! How did I not think of that? And hitting that wretched tree too...We should give them a medal."
The last one was, of course, Elizabeth, who - now that she knew they weren't going to get expelled - had lost all her seriousness and just looked impressed.
The Hogwarts castle
Scotland, Great Britain
September 2 1992
The next morning, Artemis noticed that the ceiling of the Great Hall was a dull, cloudy grey. "Ugh," She huffed. "I hate rain in summer. Rain has autumn. Snow has winter. Spring has wind or whatever and summer has sun. That's what I signed up for. Not this...Typical British...sappy...ugh!" She sat down in between Harry, who smiled at her and Hermione, who barely acknowledged her as she was reading her copy of Voyages with Vampires.
"Are you ever going to put that down, Minnie?" Said Artemis, frowning at the book. "It's absolute rubbish."
"No, it's not!" Protested Hermione, looking quite angry at the suggestion. "It's beautifully written and-"
"It being beautifully written does not necessarily mean it's school material. What is it you always say? We should learn facts, not silly stories?"
"Well, I think Lockhart's amazing and I also think we learn more from actual experiences than theories." Hermione said, before her caramel-coloured eyes disappeared behind her book again.
Artemis stared at her. Appreciating Lockhart's books, especially as school books, was just so unlike Hermione.
"Mail's due any minute..." said Neville. "I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."
And indeed, soon after, a big, lumpy package was dropped on his head. Giselle burst out laughing at his face before helping him open it. "Again, Neville! Seriously, I put that book back in your suitcase at least a thousand times already? Why do you keep removing it?"
"I didn't!"
"No, it just walked out on its own." Giselle rolled her eyes.
A second later, something grey fell in Hermione's drink, spraying them all with milk and feathers. "Errol!" Ron exclaimed, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak. "Oh, no..." He gasped.
"It's all right, he's still alive." Hermione said, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.
"It's not that, it's that." Ron pointed at the red envelope. Harry looked at it in confusion while Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode. Which it was going to if they didn't open it soon.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked.
"She's....she's sent me a Howler." Ron looked ready to faint.
"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and...." he gulped at the memory. "It was horrible."
Harry looked at the petrified faces. "What's a Howler?" He asked.
Ron and Neville didn't say anything. Artemis leaned towards Harry. "You'll see." She winked and returned to her porridge with a big grin on her face.
"Open it." Neville urged when it had begun to smoke at the corners. "It'll all be over in a few minutes..." Ron stretched out his shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak and slit it open.
".....STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE...."
Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the Hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.
"..LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY, COULD BOTH HAVE DIED..."
The whole letter made their eardrums throb painfully.
"...ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED....YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."
A ringing silence fell. The red envelope burst into flames and curled into ashes Harry and Ron sat stunned as though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few people laughed and eventually people started talking again.
Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at Ron. "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you-"
"Don't tell me I deserved it." Ron snapped. Harry pushed his porridge away, looking extremely guilty.
"Well, if she won't, I will. You deserved it." Said Artemis.
Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out timetables. Artemis took hers and saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first.
Most of the Gryffindors left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. They waited outside for Professor Sprout. "Why is it so cold?" Artemis pouted, rubbing her arms, trying to warm them. Harry smiled a little and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Immediately heat shot up her spine like lightning and she shuddered before her body warmed up.
It was strange. She didn't have usually a response to someone's touch that quickly. It took quite a while for her to warm up. But Harry always managed to heat her body up in no time. Not only that, but she felt strangely relaxed in his arms. As if wrapped in a blanket near the fire.
She wondered Harry seemed to have such an affect on her. Was he just warm or...or could it be-?
No, no, Harry was just warm.
Artemis was so deep in thought that she barely noticed Professor Sprout striding across the lawn, accompanied by Lockhart. Professor Sprout's arms were full of bandages and Artemis assumed she had been tending to the injured tree.
Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair. There was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her hands could never really get rid of the dirt. Her fingernails black and broken.
Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise (he apparently only wore blue), his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming. "Oh, hello there!" He called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is!..."
"Believe me, that's the last thing we're thinking." Elizabeth whispered to Artemis and Victoria, and they giggled.
"I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels..."
"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Said Professor Sprout, who was looking disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self. There was a murmer of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before... greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants.
Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Harry and Artemis were about to follow the rest inside when Lockhart's hand shot out. "Harry! I've been wanting a word...and I still don't know your name..." He looked at Artemis.
"It's Artemis Lupin." She answered.
"Artemis..." he spoke the name slowly, as if tasting it on his tongue. "Not really what I had expected but I like it. The name of a goddess..." He repeated her name. "Do you mind if I borrow your Harry for a moment?" He asked both Professor Sprout and Artemis.
Artemis shrugged, "Do with my Harry whatever you like." and she walked into the classroom while Professor Sprout looked like she did mind. "That's the ticket." He closed the door before their Herbology teacher could say anything else.
A few minutes later, Harry slipped inside the classroom. His face blank. He took his place beside Artemis and ignored her questioning look. "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today, Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"
To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air. "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative." Said Hermione.
"Why does she always sound like she swallowed the textbook?" Elizabeth said from Artemis's other side.
"It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state." Hermione finished.
"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor." Said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?" Hermione's hand narrowly missed Harry's glasses as it shot up again but this time she wasn't alone.
"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it." Artemis answered, rolling her eyes at Hermione. Some things never change.
"Precisely, another ten points to Gryffindor." Said Professor Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young." She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look.
A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in colour, were growing there in rows. "Everyone take a pair of earmuffs." Said Professor Sprout.
There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered." Said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them. I will give you the thumbs-up. Right...earmuffs on." Artemis snapped the earmuffs over her ears. They shut out sound completely.
Professor Sprout rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly and pulled hard. Instead of roots, a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.
Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in the dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands and gave them all a thumbs-up, removing her own earmuffs.
"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet." She said calmly as though she'd just done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. "However, they will knock you out for several hours and I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it's time to pack up. Four to a tray...there's a large supply of pots here...compost in the sacks over there...and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething."
"Right, that plant again. Yippee!" Elizabeth said sarcastically. She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder. "Really missed those red spots on my arm."