Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 9: What Was Lost

"What is that?"

Sickleworth seemed to take Corey's question as an insult, sitting back on his haunches and huffing at him. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"He is a Niffler," she said, picking up Sickleworth and cradling him in her arms.

"I know that," replied Corey, sitting up straight. "I just don't know why you wanted me to see it."

"Let me show you."

Artemis stopped cradling Sickleworth, and instead held him up by his back legs. A few coins fell out from his pouch, and he reached out his paws in an attempt to catch them. Knowing fully well that the Niffler had stolen a lot more than that, she shook him gently, until at her feet she had a small mound of trinkets, money, and white feathers. Corey's mouth dropped open.

"We're pretty sure that Sickleworth is the one who stole everything from around the castle," Charlie told him, as Sickleworth snorted and tried to reach his collection. "It's what Nifflers do, it's in their nature to steal things."

Corey seemed to regain his composure somewhat. Artemis had assumed that he would be happy to have caught the thief, but if anything, he looked even more annoyed than usual.

"What now?" she asked, glaring at him.

"I was thinking that the thief might know who they'd stolen things from," Corey tutted. "Now I'm going to have to sort through all of this myself. This is going to take ages."

"You've got to be joking!" Artemis felt her temper start to rise. "We just found the bloody thief that you have been asking everyone to help you look for all term, and you're not even grateful! All you care about is how much work you've got to do."

"How about we help you?" offered Charlie, before Corey could say anything to make Artemis' anger grow. "We know the feathers belong to Flitwick and the gold pin with a Snitch on is Murphy McNully's."

Corey sighed heavily, as if Charlie were trying to make his job harder, rather than easier. It was only a shake of Charlie's head that stopped Artemis from snapping.

"Fine," she muttered. "I can take Flitwick's feathers and Murphy's badge back." Her eyes fell on a beaded item in the pile with yet another white feather on it, and she added, "That necklace, too. It's Talbott's."

Relieved to be free of Corey at last, Artemis took Sickleworth up to Ravenclaw tower to find Talbott Winger, and outside, bumped right into Victor Ketsueki who was wearing dark sunglasses, even in the hallway.

"Is Talbott in?" she asked him, and he turned his head slowly to look at her.

"What's it to you?"

"I'm trying to return this to him," Artemis said, holding up the white feather necklace. "We found the stolen stuff, I thought he might want it back."

"He will," Victor lowered his sunglasses and looked at Artemis over the top of them, holding out one hand. "I can take it to him." When Artemis didn't hand the necklace to him, he smirked at her. "You really don't trust me, do you?"

Artemis pursed her lips. "Not really, no."

"Even though you know now that I'm not the thief?"

"How did you-"

"I hear things," Victor gave a nonchalant shrug. It irritated Artemis. "Interesting that you thought of me, though. Why?"

"I dunno," Artemis frowned, eyeing him sceptically. "I just feel like you're hiding something, that's all."

"Fascinating."

"Not really."

Victor and Artemis held one another's stare stubbornly for a minute, until Victor scoffed, pushed his sunglasses back up his nose, and turned away from her to go up the stairs to Ravenclaw tower.