A Piece of Mind

Chapter [7]

Artemis walked up the dirt path to the castle, which towered over the stream of students now that they were closer. Yellow lights from the windows and the contrasting dark shadows gave it the eerie appearance of a haunted house. The chatter around Artemis as he was jostled and pulled with the crowd filled his ears. He made his way to the imposing wood doors at the entrance, not having anyone to walk with.

After the encounter by the thestrals, Artemis had successfully found a carriage with three nervous-looking first years, who paid him no attention as they tried to guess how they would be sorted into houses.

Harry's question had sprung on him unexpectedly, and until he could be alone Artemis decided it would be best to not think about it. Holly's death, although not permanent, haunted Artemis' thoughts more than he'd like to admit. Logically, he knew that she was safe in Haven, as were the others who had fallen in those few seconds of disjointed time. But if he had been one second slower... she might not have come back. And it would have been his fault entirely.

Whenever it crossed his mind, he consciously shut that part of his brain down in an effort to avoid the minefield that was his memory.

Logic he could manage, it made sense and was surmountable. Emotions were like an uncontrollable river tossing your tiny rowboat from side to side while you helplessly cling to the seat; vision impaired, ears clogged, and no sense of direction to call upon.

As he stepped into the entry hall, he was greeted by a warm rush of air and a tall witch in a pointed green hat and matching robes.

"Mr. Fowl? Please follow me." Her voice was crisp, her bun pulled tightly behind her head as she walked briskly down an empty hall. She turned right, then left, leading him further into the castle. Finally, she stopped mid-stride and turned to open a door on their right.

He followed her inside, watching carefully as she lit the candles in the room simply by waving her wand. The desks and chairs were pushed against the sides of the room, under rows of snoring portraits. Artemis had seen the moving pictures on the Chocolate Frog cards, learning that this was a common occurrence in the wizarding world. In the center of the room was a three-legged stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.

"My name is Professor McGonagall. Please sit." Ah, a familiar name. And a rather fitting appearance. She gestured to the stool as she carefully lifted the hat by the brim.

He sat, folding his hands over his lap as he mentally prepared himself. He had guessed how they were sorted into the four houses but had not been certain until that moment. It was a magical hat, one which looked into the wearer to decide their personality. This matched Artemis's expectations of Hogwarts so far.

He relaxed his shoulders, which had unconsciously tensed at the prospect of having his mind read. Yet there was still a pulsing fear pressing against his skull. For goodness sake, Foaly and his team picked through his memories with a fine-tooth comb and erased them. Perhaps this irrational fear was because he did not know the hat that was preparing to rifle through his memories. Conversely, because of this unfamiliarity, he might be worried the hat would discover one of his secrets or, worse, The People's secret. Or possibly his brain knew that what Foaly did was heavily reliant on technology and science. This was pure magic.

He took a deep breath and focused his eyes on the closed door as the hat was placed on his head. It wasn't quite big enough to slide over his eyes but made a brave attempt as it came to rest on his neatly trimmed eyebrows.

"Oh, a tricky one, eh?" mumbled the hat in Artemis' head. He closed his eyes to focus. "You are a criminal, ambitious, and love gold. But family and friends are a close second. Hmm..."