Artemis Hexley and the Portrait of the Vault

Chapter 1: Badges

It was early morning, and the sun had finally risen over Charcombe Regis. A little way out of the town, in the garden of a house perched on top of the cliffs overlooking the beach, a cat-eyed teenager stood barefoot on the dewy morning grass watching the waves crash against the shore, the sunlight reflecting off the water, her mane of dark hair being lifted by the sea breeze. Around her shoulders was draped the purring body of a marmalade-coloured cat, and at her feet a pair of terrier-like dogs were growling playfully at one another and wagging their forked tails.

This was one of Artemis Hexley's favourite places: the beach and the cliffs that formed the backdrop to her great-aunt and uncle's house. In the summer, the place was usually packed, however, this early in the morning, she was the only person around. Or, at least, she would be for now.

From the sky, a shadow descended, making its way down towards where Artemis was standing. She raised her gaze to the sky, and a grin spread across her face as the shadow quickly took the shape of a boy her own age, diving towards her on a broomstick, the August sun threading golden strands through his flaming red hair.

"Only you today?" Artemis asked Charlie Weasley, as he dismounted his broom and bent down to pat the two Crups that were bounding up to meet him.

Artemis and Charlie were in the same year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and now that they were friends, Charlie had become a regular visitor to Charcombe Regis over the past month. This was the first time he had visited alone, however, as he was usually accompanied by his older brother and Artemis' friend, Bill.

"Only me," Charlie shrugged, smiling up at Artemis. "Sorry to disappoint."

"I'm not disappointed, just surprised," Artemis frowned. "I thought you were still banned from flying by yourself."

Earlier that summer, before the end of the school year, Artemis and Charlie had landed themselves in quite a lot of trouble after they flew into the Forbidden Forest to break into a Cursed Vault. Artemis had landed herself in detention indefinitely, and the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had written to both their parents. Sara Hexley, as indifferent to her daughter's exploits as ever, hadn't even opened the letter, as Artemis had found it still sealed in the kitchen when she returned home at the start of the holidays. Charlie's mother, however, had been livid.

"Well, Mum's finally forgiven me," Charlie stood back up and walked over to Artemis, pulling something out of his pocket as he did. "Think it might have had something to do with this."

He held his left hand out to her, palm up, revealing both an old Crup-bite scar and a red-and-gold badge. Artemis laughed, and reached into her own pocket, pulling out a similar badge of her own, though hers was yellow and black.

"Snap!" she said loudly, making Fergus the cat jump. She put the badge back into her pocket, and tilted her head. "Funny, I wouldn't have thought they'd have made either of us prefects, not after the trouble we caused. Do you think they've forgotten?"

"No, they definitely haven't," Charlie shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Didn't you read the last part of the equipment list? 'First years aren't allowed to bring their own broomsticks'... I think that's definitely our fault."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Artemis sighed. "I thought for moment there I'd maybe gotten out of detention."

"Doubtful."

"I know, it was too good to be true. Your mum must be well chuffed, though, two prefects in the family."

"Actually, it's one prefect and a Head Boy," Charlie told her.

"Bill's Head Boy?"

"Oh, yeah. That's hardly a surprise, he got twelve O.W.L.s, and five of them were Os."