Artemis Hexley and the Mystery at Hogwarts

Chapter 10: More Questions Than Answers

That night in the dormitory, Artemis and Rowan told Penny and Tonks all about Merula, the Cursed Ice, and the room of hidden things, and Penny and Tonks told them all about what they'd missed in the Quidditch stands.

"Your idea with Stinksap was even better than we'd planned," Tonks said, sniggering. "The Gryffindor changing rooms were covered in the stuff. Filch had to wear a peg on his nose while he cleaned it."

"It's a shame about their poor Seeker, though," Penny sighed. "She got Stinksap right in her eyes."

"Was she okay?"

"Oh, yes. But she had to pull out of the match because she couldn't see her own broomstick, let alone the Snitch."

"It was brilliant. I've never seen anything like it," said Tonks. "They called a time out, and the captains were shouting at each other on the pitch, and Madam Pomfrey came out and washed this girl's eyes out in front of everyone. Then Professor McGonagall went off into the stands and literally dragged Charlie Weasley down to play in her place, and he wasn't wearing Quidditch robes, so he had to play in his normal clothes because there wasn't time for him to get changed. And he only went and caught the bloody Snitch, didn't he? So Ravenclaw lost the match, and they were not happy about it at all, what with Charlie only being in first year like us, and not even properly on the team. Erika Rath threw her bat on the floor and everything," Tonks exhaled, clearly pleased with herself. "It was so dramatic. Best game of Quidditch ever."

"Wait, did you say Weasley?" Artemis wrinkled her nose. "Do you mean Weasley from our flying class?"

"Yeah," Tonks said. She gave Artemis a suspicious look. "Artemis, have you ever spoken to anyone in our year other than us and Ben?"

"Yes," Artemis said, indignantly.

"Merula doesn't count."

"Oh..." Artemis thought hard. "Well, I spoke to a girl called Chiara once. And I was partnered with one of the Gryffindor boys in Charms for a couple of weeks in first term."

"Ah," Tonks nodded, smirking. "Which Gryffindor boy was that, exactly, Artemis?"

She and Penny exchanged wry looks as Artemis struggled to answer Tonks' question.

"You know, I don't think I ever asked his name..."

"I think we need to work on your social life," Penny said. "Maybe you could join the -"

"No, Penny," said Artemis, "I don't want to join the Potions club."

"How did you know I was going to say the Potions club?"

"Lucky guess."

"Well, I do think it would be good for you to get out a bit more," Penny continued, undeterred. "You too, Rowan. You've both missed out on so much this year, and it would be so wonderful for you to be more involved in things."

"Can we at least focus on our exams first?" Rowan asked. "I've got so much revision to do. I'm a whole two days behind my schedule, and they start in sixteen days. I just don't know when I'm going to get to catch up."

"Sixteen days?"

Rowan's reminder of how close the first year exams were looming provided Artemis and Penny with the motivation to start doubling down on their revision. They spent the fifteen days in the library with Rowan, trying to cram as much information in their heads as they could. Tonks, of course, was non-plussed.

"Honestly," she said, the night before the exams started, interrupting Rowan as she was testing them all on the lives of Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball, "if you don't know it by now, are you really going to know it by tomorrow? Really, you should all just try and relax."