An Unlikely Duo 2: The Chamber of Secrets

DO SOMETHING?!

Hazel had only been alive for a few days, but she had already come to a very important conclusion:

Life sucks, no matter what century you're in. 

Hazel had felt helpless many times in her short life, but never before had she felt so useless. She knew that her brother's friends were trying their best to keep her existence a secret, and she would be forever grateful to them for it, but she felt so bored! Her new-found brother was in a coma, for the love of the gods! She should be out there, doing something! 

For the millionth time that week, she cursed her lack of knowledge regarding godly remedies. The freaky vampire boy, Artemis, had told her several times that no one was really sure what was wrong with Nico, and until they figured out the cause, there was nothing they could do.

"It's the most peculiar thing," he would say, "He seems to be fading in and out of existence for no apparent reason. I hate to admit it, but I simply can't seem to make any sense of it."

'What's the point of being a genius then?' Hazel would retort scathingly in her head, taking care not to vent her frustrations in front of her brother's friends. After all they had done for her, it would be ungrateful of her to react so rudely.

 While Hazel's poor acting skills probably weren't convincing anyone, keeping up the act helped her feel like less of a dead weight, at the very least.

*******Line Break********

Five Days.

Nico had been in a coma for five whole days. 

Artemis sighed as he made his way out of the dormitory, dressed in one of his signature Armani suits. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, exhausted after yet another sleepless night spent reading medical books under the covers, in the hope that he would come across something to explain Nico's situation. His late night reading had yielded no results, leaving him even more frustrated than he had been the day before.

Artemis couldn't remember the last time he had felt so frustrated. At least with the fairies, he hadn't had a time limit! He had known that the fairies would be a tough nut to crack, and had planned accordingly. It had been a challenge to himself. Frankly, he had enjoyed it. There had been nothing at stake. He could always have figured out an easier and quicker way to raise money to save his father, after all.

This... this was pushing his brain to the limits without any of the fun that came with a challenge. 

To be fair though, he was 99 percent sure that he was missing a very crucial piece of information. A missing piece of the puzzle. Without it, he couldn't see the full picture.

Well, until he found that missing piece, this puzzle would be very, very difficult to solve.

*****Line Break*****

By the time Artemis made it to the Quidditch pitch, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams seemed on the verge of war.

After relentless nagging from Draco, Artemis had agreed to watch the team's first practice of the year, a decision which he was now sorely regretting.

"Flint!" Oliver Wood bellowed at the Slytherin captain, "This is our practice time! We got up specially! Youcan clear off now!"

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood." Flint smirked, having far too much fun with the Gryffindor boy.

"But I booked the pitch!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint, "but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. I, Professor S. Snape,give the Slytherin team permission to practise today on the Quidditch pitch, owing to the need to traintheir new Seeker."