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#-Rowan Khanna probably

hphm-jeniferltheman · 2 years

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Task 3: Forest by @slytherincursebreaker

In contrast to the second task, Jeniferl was the last to finish in this one. She spends some time wandering the forest and assisting some of the champions along the way.

Later, she discovers a familiar clothing covered in numerous spider webs on the tree's corner. She was frightened by what she saw…

Rowan in the forest and unconscious....

for some reason gives Jeniferl a great sense of ժׁׅ݊éյׁׅà vυׁׅ.

"We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss" Jeniferl then finally understand this task about

Acromantulas are starting to attack. It didn't matter for her to use fire spells on them( which she's scared to use). She didn't care if her clothes were torn, she was too focused on saving Rowan. And as soon as they reach the starting point (thanks to Torvus), Rowan then wokes up. Jeniferl was so happy that she didn't notice that tears started to fall from her eyes.

In this story,Task 3 happen on the same date as year 6 chapter 18 on the game. But instead of that tragedy, this happen... it's an alternate universe after all.

#I just miss Rowan 🥺#You thought it was Ben to be the hostage that Jeniferl matters the most but it was them...Rowan Khanna!#Bros over Hoes amirite?#-Rowan Khanna probably #...i just got back for a few break and my humor is already broken...#hphm #hogwarts mystery #jeniferl theman #hphm fanart #rowan khanna #torvus #hphm rowan #hphm torvus #goblet of fire au #goblet of fire #imma head out again got math quizes to take

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the-al-chemist · 1 year

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Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 25: In the Beginning

A/N: it’s a funny title for the last chapter of a half a million word-long series, but I hope you’ll see my logic by the end. The end. Wow, it feels weird to say that. There’ll be an epilogue, but the bulk of Artemis’ story ends… here. And what a journey it’s been. Featured characters include Ellie Hopper @thatravenpuffwitch and David Willows & Amelia Booth @that-scouse-wizard. Warnings: mentions of violence, death and betrayal, an incredibly nostalgic and somewhat bittersweet ending. I cried writing the last few paragraphs, and you might just cry reading them. Sorry.

News always spread quickly around Hogwarts, and it did not take long for the school to begin whispering about Artemis Hexley and her friends’ heroic defeat of the cabal and destruction of the infamous Cursed Vaults. With each passing day, the rumours and stories grew increasingly far-fetched, and by the time the school gossipmongers had moved on to the latest scandal - namely, Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup after they cheated their way to victory over Gryffindor in the final match of the year, much to the obvious chagrin of Professor McGonagall - Artemis was surprised that anyone even believed in the Cursed Vaults or the Circle of Khanna anymore.

Not that she really cared, of course. She and the other seventh years had bigger things to worry about: their N.E.W.T. exams. Having spent the majority of her final term breaking curses, Artemis had not put as much effort into her revision as she should have. She had attempted to study as hard as she could in the few weeks that followed the night she had destroyed the Cursed Vaults and preceded the exams, but she had found it harder to focus on the N.E.W.T.s than she had the O.W.L.s. She was not sure whether that was because the subject material was more complex this time, because she no longer had Rowan there to motivate her with revision timetables and long library sessions, or because she was still unsettled by what she had discovered in Dumbledore’s pensieve. Probably, it was a combination of everything.

Still, she had managed to struggle through her written exams and, as always, she fared far better in the practicals. She could only hope that she had done enough to get the grades she needed to get onto the Curse-Breaker training scheme at Gringotts.

Merula Snyde had also applied for the programme, however, she didn’t seem concerned about her exam results at all.

“They won’t care about grades,” she told Artemis as they left their final, abysmally difficult Ancient Runes exam. “Not when I’ve already given them something better.”

Artemis frowned. “What?”

“Let’s just say I managed to get a pretty convincing letter of recommendation for my application,” Merula said, her eyebrows raised. “After all, I know someone whose opinion on Curse-Breakers gets taken very seriously.”

“Who, Bill?”

“No, dungbrain. I mean Madam Rakepick, obviously.”

“There is nothing obvious about that,” replied Artemis. “How did you even-”

“I wrote to her in Azkaban. They are allowed to receive letters, you know.” Artemis didn’t know, but she nodded anyway, and Merula continued, “I told her that after the Buried Vault and what she did to Khanna, she owed that much. And seeing as she took the three of us on as apprentices and got Bill a place, it was only fair that she do the same for us, too.”

Artemis blinked. “Us?”

“Yeah, I told her to write a letter for you as well. She sent me back one for each of us, basically saying that they’d be idiots not to take us on, and I forwarded them on to Gringotts. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I just don’t remember the last time you did anything this nice for me, Merula,” Artemis replied. “Actually, I don’t remember you ever doing anything this nice for me.”

Merula rolled her eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”

“You mean, you don’t want us to be work friends as well as school friends?”

“We’re not friends at all, Hexley. I barely tolerate you.”

Artemis laughed out loud, and as she walked away, she could’ve sworn she saw Merula smirking to herself.

On the last day of term, the final years were asked to meet with their Heads of Houses. When the Hufflepuffs arrived at the greenhouses, Professor Sprout was already there, smiling at all of them with a look of mingled sadness and joy in her eyes.

“Thank you for taking time out of your last day to sit and listen to me,” she said. “There are a few things I wanted to say to you, and I’m not sure that there will be time before the leaving ceremony tomorrow morning. I expect that you will want to spend that time with your peers and with your families, and not your head of house.

“However, as your head of house, I do want to spend a little time with you. I remember your first night at the castle, when you all were first sorted into Hufflepuff. You were all so nervous and you looked so small under that hat, and now, look at you all. All grown up and ready to leave.”

“To be fair, Professor, some of us still would look small under that hat,” said Tonks, and Artemis stuck her tongue out at her.

“Hufflepuff house has always valued hard work, patience, dedication, fairness, loyalty, and kindness,” Sprout continued. “Now, I know what some say about our house, and those of us who are sorted into it. I believe the word ‘duffers’ gets thrown about fairly often, and I suppose that next to the bravery of Gryffindor, the wisdom of Ravenclaw, and the ambition of Slytherin, our house does seem a little bit humble in comparison. But, what those people fail to understand is how there is brave you must be to truly care for others, how hard work requires ambition, and how treating others fairly is always the wisest choice. Our values are nothing to be sniffed at. You’ve done a great job at upholding them whilst you’ve been here, and I do hope you’ll continue to uphold them after you leave. Remember, there is strength in being kind.

“Now, obviously, there is one less person here than there should have been. I don’t want to linger too much on sad events when you’ve all achieved so much to be happy about, but I’d like us to take just a few moments to remember Rowan.” Professor Sprout paused, placed one green-fingered hand over the other, and bowed her head. Several others followed suit, including Artemis. After almost a minute, Professor Sprout spoke again, “I think Rowan would be as proud of you as I am. And I am so very, very proud of you. I’m sorry to see you go, but I can’t wait to see how you’ll continue to make me proud in the years to come.” She smiled and wiped a single tear from her cheek. “I’ll let you all get on. Murphy, Diego, Artemis. A word, please.”

“Did we do something wrong, Professor?”

“Not at all, I just need to take back your prefects’ badges and Captain’s armband,” she told them. Diego unpinned his badge and gave it to her. Artemis waited until he had gone to do the same. Professor Sprout squeezed her hand as she pressed the badge into her green palm. “And you thought you wouldn’t make a good prefect.”

Frowning, Artemis’ nose wrinkled. “Did I make a good prefect?”

“You made an interesting one, I’ll give you that,” Sprout chuckled. “But overall, I think you did a good job. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Professor Sprout. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, Artemis. Now, have you sent off all your invitations for the ceremony tomorrow?”

Artemis shook her head. The following morning, the final years would take part in the annual leavers’ ceremony before returning home, and they had each been given a set of invitations to send to their families. Artemis had already posted invitations to her great-aunt and uncle, along with the newspaper clipping detailing the results of the magizoological photography competition she had entered earlier in the year, but had yet to send out the other two.

One she had thrown into the bin, having decided that her mother probably wouldn’t want to come, and not being certain that she wanted her to come, either. The final invitation was meant for Jacob, but she still didn’t know when he would be released from Azkaban. She had kept hold of it in the hope that he would be allowed out in time to attend, but it was looking less likely by the hour, despite several written requests to Kingsley Shacklebolt that he try to hurry the process along a bit.

“There’s still a little time,” Professor Sprout told her gently before she let go of her hand. “Murphy, your armband?”

Murphy handed it to her. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

For the first time in seven years, Murphy had nothing to say. He simply shrugged his shoulders, a look of glum resentment on his face. Professor Sprout sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Murphy, when I said just now that I’m proud of you all and your achievements, I don’t just mean the big wins. You were faced with an opponent that was not playing fair, and you chose to stick to your principles rather than stoop to their level. As far as I’m concerned, that was a great achievement in its own right. Besides, Quidditch shouldn’t just be about winning. It should be about being part of a team and having fun with your peers. And you know, even though you’re adults now, it’s okay for you to do things you enjoy just for the fun of them.”

Artemis’ eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

“I almost forgot!” she blurted out. “Murphy, I’ve got an idea. Can you get the Quidditch team together? Tell them to meet on the pitch right after lunch. I’ll make sure Andre and Charlie know to come, too.”

And so, with Penny’s help spreading the word, several assorted members of the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor Quidditch teams and the entire Circle of Khanna met on the pitch, ready to play one final game while they still could.

“But there’s too many of us,” said Andre, frowning at all the people who had gathered around to join.

“So? We can have more Chasers and Beaters, or we’ll just swap players in and out as we go.”

“That’s actually against the rules,” Murphy told her. “You’re only allowed to substitute players after the beginning of the match if the game goes on for more than-”

“Sod the rules. This is just for fun. Anyone who wants to play can play. Who’s in?”

In the end, they managed to sort out two teams of nine players, made up of students from all four houses, with both Murphy and Lee Jordan sharing the commentary.

It was chaos. With more players on the pitch (many of whom did not usually play Quidditch), two commentators, and no team robes to distinguish who was who, Artemis found it hard to follow what was actually going on, even from the vantage point she was using in order to look out for the golden snitch.

"Egwu saves, but Diego Caplan picks it up on the rebound," announced Lee Jordan. "From what I hear, this is something of a speciality for Caplan, who-"

"Caplan passes to Hopper," Murphy interrupted him wearily, "who flies back to the scoring zone. Hopper has a remarkable shooting record in the past, so Egwu will have his work cut out for him. But what's this? One of the Weasleys-"

"I think it's Fred. Could also be George."

"It's a fifty percent chance either way. Weasley aims a Bludger at Hopper, but it looks like... Yes, Bludger is deflected by Lee. Excellent defence from newcomer Lee there, leaving Hopper free to shoot. She shoots, and she scores!"

"Ten points to... Which team is that?"

It was not Artemis' team that had scored, but she applauded anyway as Ellie Hopper flew away from the goalposts and smiled at Barnaby, who blushed and dropped his Beater's bat.

On the other side of the pitch, Artemis thought she could see a flash of something gold, so she flew closer to investigate. She wasn't the only one. Charlie Weasley must have seen the same thing, for he flew in the same direction.

"You saw it too, then?" he asked her, his eyes scanning the pitch.

"Dunno what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't."

Artemis stopped feigning ignorance and grinned before squinting to try and see the snitch, to no avail.

"I think it's gone," she said, frowning.

"I think you're right," replied Charlie, but he kept looking for a few more seconds before shrugging and turning to her. "What's the score?"

"You're asking the wrong person. I think my team is winning, though."

"For now, maybe. Ow! That's a foul, you know."

Of course, Artemis did know, but she didn't care. She laughed and zoomed away from Charlie, leaving him to rub his upper arm where she had just flown into him sideways. She took both hands from her broomstick and held her arms wide as she accelerated, raising her face to the sunlight and feeling the breeze filter through her outstretched fingers. She was going to miss this feeling.

The sound of applause from down below drew her attention back to the game, and she saw that Beatrice Haywood had managed to score a goal for her own team. She clapped her hands, and scanned the pitch once more for the Snitch.

And she saw it.

There, near the other team's goalposts, the tiny golden ball was flitting around the hoops, weaving its way between them. Artemis put her hands back on the broom and accelerated towards it, the wind whipping her face and hair as she flew faster and faster through the air. She was focussing so hard on the Snitch that she almost didn't notice Charlie in her peripheral vision, but she just about managed to catch a glimpse of his distinctive red hair. She pushed further forward, descending into a dive as the Golden Snitch spiralled down the length of the middle goalpost.

Having nearly reached the ground, the Snitch shot out across the middle of the pitch, flying so low to the ground that it was almost touching the grass. Artemis pulled out of the dive and swerved to follow it, and so did Charlie.

Her broom was the better model, more suited to sharp turns than Charlie's, but he was the more skilled flier. He turned with pinpoint precision, and accelerated after the ball. Artemis flattened herself so low to her broom that her chin almost touched the handle, willing it to fly faster, but Charlie was gaining speed, and now they were neck and neck, and the Snitch was so close, so very close.

Artemis reached out her hand to catch it, but it ducked under her hand and dodged sideways, closer to Charlie. In desperation, she slammed her hand down, hard. She did so with such speed and force that she forgot to brake and her broom slipped out from beneath her, but she didn't care. Beneath her right palm, the Snitch's left wing was trapped and pinned to the ground. Unfortunately, however, the other wing was also trapped by another hand. As she had fallen from her broom, Charlie had jumped from his own, and had also managed to trap the Snitch by holding it down to the ground.

“Now what?”

The other players flew down and dismounted their broomsticks.

"Well, I think the fairest thing to do would be to see who touched it first," said Penny. "After all, don't Snitches have flesh memories?"

"They do, but this one is second-hand. It'll say I caught it, regardless of who did this time."

"So, what do we do?"

Charlie turned to Artemis. "Tie?"

That was good enough for her. "Tie."

Murphy and Lee Jordan called out the final scores, but Artemis was no longer listening at all. Not just because she didn't mind about winning or losing, but because from under the stands, she could see someone emerging who looked incredibly familiar, even from the distance.

"Hey, Hexley, isn't that..."

"It's my brother," she said. "It's Jacob."

She waved the others ahead and walked across the pitch towards her brother, who began to clap his hands as she approached him.

"Not bad," he grinned. "You're a decent flier."

Artemis shrugged. "I was just taught well."

"Humble, too. No wonder the hat put you in Hufflepuff," Jacob looked across at Artemis' friends, many of whom were surreptitiously watching the pair of them. "Want to get out of here?"

Together, Artemis and Jacob made their way through the grounds to the covered bridge, which gave them a clear view over the Forbidden Forest in one direction and the Black Lake in the other. Jacob looked out at both as if he'd never seen them before.

"I don't think I'll ever get over these views," he said. "Although any view is an improvement on what I've been staring at for the last ten months."

Artemis looked at her brother properly. He was paler than he used to be, his robes hung from his body as if they were too big for him, and his cheekbones were more pronounced than ever. His eyes had dark circles beneath them, and his smile didn't quite reach them.

"I'm sorry I didn't write to you. I would’ve done, but I didn't know they let you send letters to Azkaban," she told him. "When did they let you go?"

"Late last night."

"But Dumbledore asked them to release you weeks ago!"

"Yes, but because lying in a court of magical law is also a crime, I had to finish a shorter sentence before I could leave," Jacob explained. "So last night it was. Didn't want to be alone, so I stayed at Newt and Tina's. I came here as soon as they stopped telling me about your photo competition. Uncle Newt is incredibly pleased that you are the second-best magizoological photographer in the country. He's had the article framed and everything."

"He has?"

"Twice. Apparently one of the Crups ate the first frame."

A small laugh escaped Artemis' mouth, and the fine lines in the corners of Jacob's eyes deepened as his smile widened.

"Did they tell you about the leaving ceremony tomorrow?" she asked, and he nodded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her last invitation. "Do you want to come?"

"Definitely. I think I've missed enough already," Jacob said. He took the invitation from her and wrapped his arms around her. "It seems very strange to think of you being old enough to leave Hogwarts."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do next?"

"What I'm good at," said Artemis. "Curse-breaking. I've applied for the training position at Gringotts." She frowned. "What will you do? Where will you go?"

"I want to solve mysteries. The mysteries." For the first time since Artemis could remember, Jacob's eyes brightened. Not understanding his meaning, her eyebrows furrowed deeper, and he explained, "Mysteries that have been around for so long that people have forgotten they ever even existed. Like the Chamber of Secrets or the Fountain of Fair Fortune."

"Those are just stories. They're not real."

"Muggles believe that Merlin is just a story. We were told that the Cursed Vaults weren't real. They are, they've just been talked about so much that people have stopped believing in them. In every legend there's an element of truth, and so I want to find out exactly how much truth there is in everything we now consider to be a legend. As for where that will take me, I don't know."

Artemis swallowed. "So, you'll leave? And I won't know where you'll be going or when you'll be back?"

"Or you could come with me."

"You really mean it? You and me, going around the world, and working together?"

"Why not? Between us, we managed to do the impossible with the Vaults. What's to stop us from doing more impossible things?"

Artemis could scarcely believe her ears. This was everything she had ever wanted to hear, everything she had longed for in all those years of searching and missing her brother. And yet...

Perhaps it was just that it felt too good to be true, or perhaps it was because she already felt homesick for Hogwarts, or because so much had changed, but she felt suddenly apprehensive. It was as if she were being pulled in two different directions, and she didn't know which way she should go. So, instead of agreeing, she asked:

"What about Gringotts?"

"You don't have to go to Gringotts. I doubt you'd like it, anyway. They have a lot of rules their curse-breakers have to follow, and there's a lot of studying and paperwork you'd have-"

"You don't know that," Artemis said. "You've never worked for Gringotts."

"Patricia used to talk about it."

"Patricia? Oh, Madam Rakepick," Artemis nodded, and gave a little shudder. "It's so strange hearing you call her that, thinking how you were friends, after everything she did." Jacob made a humming noise, and Artemis continued, "Did you know Merula wrote to her about Gringotts and asked her to write us both recommendations?"

"No."

"Yeah. She actually did it as well. Wrote the letters."

"Makes sense," said Jacob. Artemis stared at him incredulously. "She saw something of herself in you. I think she was quite fond of you."

"Yeah, she seemed really fond all those times she tried to murder me."

"She was fond of you, but she cared about the Vaults more."

"Like Dad?"

She hadn't meant to say it. She had been so happy to see Jacob that she hadn't wanted to bring up everything she had seen in Dumbledore's Pensieve the night she destroyed the final Vault. She didn't want to feel angry at Jacob, not after he had just spent months and months in Azkaban to keep her safe, without her even writing him a letter.

"You know about Dad?" Jacob asked, his body stiffening.

"Yeah. Dumbledore told me-"

"He shouldn't have done that."

"- and Ma gave me back my memories." Jacob didn't respond, so Artemis elaborated. "You know, the ones you stole from me."

"Look, you don't…” Jacob sighed. “You were six years old, Artemis. You were confused and scared, and it was better that you didn't remember what happened. You were better off without those memories."

"I don't care. They were mine. You had no right to-"

"Actually, Artemis, I did have the right. After Dad died, I was left in charge of everything, including you."

Artemis glowered at him. "This is the part where you're supposed to apologise."

"I'm not going to apologise to you for doing the right thing," Jacob told her. "You might not like it, but I did it to protect you. Every single thing I have done has been to protect you, and some of it might not have been to your liking. Some of it wasn't to my liking either, but I did it anyway, because there is nothing - nothing - that I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

He stopped talking and turned his face away from her to look out over the grounds. Artemis frowned. His words echoed in her ears, reminding her of something someone else had told her, not too long ago. Duncan Ashe.

She bit her lower lip before asking in a quiet voice: "Like betray someone to R, you mean?"

"What are you talking about?"

Jacob asked the question in a level voice and with only a moment’s hesitation, but in that split second before he spoke, what little colour her had left in his cheeks drained from them entirely, and even in profile Artemis could see that his eyes had widened, just a fraction.

"I'm talking about Duncan," she told him, and he exhaled. "He thought that you betrayed him, had chosen him to die over me. He said that you'd told him yourself, and I thought he had just gotten the wrong end of the wand, but..." Artemis shook her head. She had just seen the truth on Jacob’s face. "You did, didn't you? You deliberately made it seem like he was the person you cared about more than anything or anyone else, just so that the Cabal wouldn't come after me."

Slowly, Jacob nodded his head. "It was the only way, so I... That I will apologise for."

The look in his eyes was one of genuine guilt. And something else, Artemis realised, as he looked at her properly. She narrowed her eyes at him and he looked away again. As he did, she realised what it was.

Relief.

"What else?" she asked him, her blood running cold as she did so. She wasn't sure whether she really wanted to know the answer, but she still repeated her question. "What else did you do?"

Jacob said nothing, just continued to look out at the grounds. There were tears in his eyes. Something in the front of his neck moved up and down. Artemis followed his gaze and saw that it was focused on the Forbidden Forest. She closed her eyes.

"The letter," she murmured. "The one Corey found. The handwriting, it... I thought it looked funny. Different. I assumed it had been written in a rush, but..."

She opened her eyes, but she was still unable to see the forest. Even Jacob was blurry through her tears as she looked at him and asked him:

"Was it you? Jacob, did you send that letter to Rowan?"

"Artemis..."

"You did. You sent it. All this time I thought it was my fault, and all of this time... It was you." Artemis' sense of cold dread was draining from her. She was growing hot all over, almost burning with rage. "You plotted it, all of it. You and Patricia. You're the reason Rowan was there in that forest that night, and you're the reason she..."

Jacob looked her in the eye and told her: "I'm sorry."

"Would you do it again?"

Artemis' question hung in the air, unanswered.

"Then you're not sorry," she said, half-spitting the words at him. "And I don't have to forgive you."

"I didn't ask you to forgive me."

"Good, because I don't, and I never will. I'll never forgive you." Jacob closed his eyes, but Artemis' stayed open, staring at him in contempt. "You know what? You should just leave and not tell me where you're going or when you'll be coming back. I don't even care anymore. And I'll be having this." She snatched her invitation from his hands so furiously that it was a miracle it didn't rip in half. "I don't want you at the ceremony. I don't want you anywhere near me or my friends. Here, you can have this back instead."

Her fingers trembled as she removed the watch Jacob had given her for safekeeping all those years ago, making her fumble as she undid the clasp. Jacob watched her with his eyes wide.

"I don't want it," he said gently.

"Neither do I. I don't want any part of you."

Finally she managed to take the watch off. She threw it at Jacob's feet, not even caring if it broke, and glared at him, daring him to contradict her.

"You'll always have a part of me, Artemis. Like it or not, I'll always be your brother."

"I already have a brother. His name is Bill."

She had nothing left to say, so she turned tail and ran away, down the covered bridge, out past the stone circle, and through the grounds, her heart pounding and aching and breaking.

Nearing the owlery, she stopped and half-threw herself down under the red-berried tree outside. Her head on her hands and her elbows on her knees, she let out a strangled scream, not caring if she startled the group of Thestrals that were grazing on the grass behind her.

Her whole life, everything she ever had been, had been defined by the Cursed Vaults. And now, the Vaults were gone and she was leaving Hogwarts, and she wasn't Jacob's younger sister anymore, nor was she the Cursed Vault girl, or even the Hufflepuff prefect or Seeker. She was just... Well, she didn't really know who she was without all that. So, what was she supposed to do now?

She unfolded herself from the ball she had curled herself into and looked up at the branches above her, adorned with red berries and green leaves. The last two times she had come here had been on New Year's Eve - Rowan's birthday - and the tree had been almost bare. Now, it was full of life, but it would be bare again by December. That was just how things went. They kept going on. And so would she.

She looked down at her hands, still clutching the invitation to the leaving ceremony that had been meant for Jacob, and an idea came to her. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the invitation in her hand, duplicating it wordlessly, and carried the invitations up to the owlery. As she stood in the doorway watching two owls fly away from her, one due south and the other in the direction of the village, she wondered why it had taken her so long to send them, and hoped that she hadn't left it too late to do so.

The clock tower bell chimed seven times, and she returned back to the castle, her home for one last night, where the end of term feast would soon be beginning.

The sun rose early the morning that Artemis awoke in her dormitory for the final time, and so did she and her friends. With seven years’ worth of textbooks, clothes, assorted knick-knacks, and a single bat having having found a home in the room, sorting everything out had proved to be somewhat of a challenge, and they still had the last few items to pack before they could attend the leaving ceremony.

“Whose scrunchies are all these?” Chiara asked, holding up five hair bands for the other girls to claim. “And that scarf isn’t mine, either.”

She pointed to a striped cardigan that was draped over the end of her bed. Fergus lay belly up beneath it, batting the pom-pom tassels with his forepaws. Artemis stopped unpinning the photos from behind her headboard to look at it, her chest tightening as she did so.

“It’s Rowan’s,” she said. “She bought it in Diagon Alley the day we first met.”

“Do you want to keep it?”

“I… Not if anyone else wants it.”

“Nah, you take it,” said Tonks. “You were there when she bought it. She was your friend from the beginning.”

Penny, whose face had been pink and eyes dewy since the night before, promptly burst into tears. Artemis let go of the scarf.

“You can have it if you like, Penny. I don’t mind.”

But Penny dismissed her offer with a shake of her head.

“It’s not the scarf, I just…” she sniffed and looked around the dormitory. “It’s just that we’re really leaving, and we won’t come back in September and all be here together. I just… I can’t believe it’s all ending. It feels so… so…”

Artemis swallowed hard as Penny’s voice tailed off. She understood all the feelings her friend was struggling to put into words.

“We were always going to leave eventually,” said Chiara. She put down her packing and walked over to hug Penny. “And it’s not like we’ll never see each other again.”

Penny wiped away her tears and nodded. “Well, yes, okay. But you have to promise, all of you, that we will all stay friends, no matter what happens. We will write to each other, and we will make sure that we meet up whenever we can, and you’ll all come and visit me in Paris.”

“Eh,” Tonks shrugged. “I’m probably just going to find some new friends. Honestly, I’ve spent the last seven years waiting to get rid of you.”

She winked at Artemis, who tried to keep a straight face as she told Penny: “Yeah, about Paris… I think I might be busy that week, actually.”

Penny reached into her trunk, pulled out her favourite slippers, and threw one at each of them.

“You’re both horrible!” she shouted, but she was at least laughing now.

The girls’ laughter carried with them as they left the Hufflepuff common room one last time and made their way up to the Great Hall, where the professors, all dressed in formal robes and ornate hats, were gathered with their families. Floating trays of sparkling liquid in tall glasses drifted between the guests, the benches had been arranged in rows facing the top table, and stacks of black pointed hats had been placed on the daïs.

Penny was quick to find her family and drag them over to greet Chiara’s parents, and Tonks made her way over to where her mother and father were chatting with two older witches who each had an arm around Tulip Karasu. Artemis went to greet her own guests, pleased to see that all four of her invitees were in attendance; not just her great-aunt and uncle, but Madam Rosmerta and Kingsley Shacklebolt as well. She hugged each of them in turn.

“I thought you might not be able to make it,” she said to Ros and Kingsley. “I left it so late to send the invitations.”

“I wouldn’t have expected anything else from you, Tiny,” replied Kingsley, with a deep chuckle. Madam Rosmerta squeezed Artemis’ shoulder.

“You know I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Now, where’s your camera?”

Rosmerta wasn’t the only adult wanting to take photos. Once she and Artemis’ friends’ family members were satisfied that they had enough photos of the graduating students, Professor McGonagall tapped her glass with a spoon, and the guests took to their seats. She held out a scroll of parchment, and told the students:

“When I call your name, you will come to the daïs, and have a hat placed on your head before you sit down. Ali, Badeea!”

One by one, each of the students approached the daïs and had Professor Dumbledore shake their hand and put one of the smart black pointed hats placed on their head, while the rest of the hall applauded gently. Once Talbott Winger’s hand had been shaken and a hat placed on his tawny-haired head, McGonagall rolled up her scroll, and Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat.

“And so, that’s that,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling behind his gold-rimmed glasses. “Every year we greet a new set of students and say goodbye to another, and it appears that we have come full circle, once again. This is always a bittersweet moment as educators. Even our more stoic members of staff” - Artemis could have sworn that he glanced at Professor Snape - “have forged strong bonds with the young people sitting before me today, and we will miss you all sorely, just as I flatter myself to think that you will miss us in return.

“For the last seven years, Hogwarts has been a place of safety - by and large - and a home away from home for you. I understand how unsettling it can feel to leave, to be sent out into the world and all the uncertainty that it holds. I can tell you all I like that Hogwarts will always be your home, but as true as that is, I fear that it will be little reassurance to you. So, instead, let me say this:

“You may have heard it said that circle has no ending. This is true, however, it is also true that a circle has many endings. In fact, it has a multitude of endings, an infinite number of them, but,” Dumbledore paused, his lips twitching slightly, “each of those endings is also a beginning. And so, while this may feel like the end, it is not. It is merely the beginning.

“In that spirit, it is time for you all to return to the place where you began, ready to end this journey and begin a new one, wherever it may take you.”

The doors to the Great Hall swung open, and Professor McGonagall led the final years out into the entrance courtyard, where Hagrid was waiting for them, with tears in his eyes and Fergus the cat in his arms.

“I reckon ‘e was worried yeh were goin’ ter leave withou’ ‘im,” he whispered to Artemis, who grinned and let Fergus climb onto her shoulders.

“I could never do that.”

She stayed near the front of the procession of students, teachers, and guests that followed Hagrid down the cliff path to the Black Lake, where the boats were ready and waiting on the shore.

“Four to a boa’!”

As Penny and Chiara climbed into a boat with Jae and Ben, Artemis and Fergus climbed into an adjacent one with Tonks and Charlie, Hagrid steadying the boat as they climbed in.

“We’re missing a fourth person,” said Tonks, her pink eyebrows furrowing. “Should we ask-”

“No,” Artemis shook her head and pulled the pom-pom-tasselled scarf from her cloak pocket and placed it on the bench next to her. “This seat is taken.”

She avoided looking either Tonks or Charlie in the eye by watching others as they began to float away in nearby boats. Murphy McNully had joined Andre, Tulip, and Badeea in one, while the Slytherins - Merula, Ismelda, Ben, and Liz - were in another. Diego and Corey were sharing a third with Talbott and Victor Ketsueki, who raised his eyebrows at Artemis. She rolled her eyes at him but smiled to herself once she’d looked away, back at the shore where the guests had gathered with the teachers.

Bill Weasley waved to her with the arm that wasn’t wrapped around his mother’s shoulders as she cried into a handkerchief, and Kingsley nodded to her before conjuring another handkerchief and passing it to little Beatrice Haywood, who had been using her sleeve to wipe her tears from her face. Madam Rosmerta was smiling, and two Crups were yapping at her Aunt and Uncle’s feet. Professor Dumbledore bowed his head to her, and the clock tower bell chimed ten times.

The sun was not yet high in the sky, but its beams burst through the scattered clouds of the midsummer morning, illuminating the castle and basking it in a soft golden glow. Artemis smiled to herself.

This was how she wanted to remember Hogwarts: golden, glorious, and finally at peace, for however long that peace would last. She kept her eyes on the castle that had been her home as the little wooden boats carried her and friends away towards their yet unknown futures, across the still and slightly glittering waters of the lake that no longer held a Cursed Vault.

#artemis hexley #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #the hexley saga #merula snyde #penny haywood #nymphadora tonks #chiara lobosca #murphy mcnully #charlie weasley #jacob hexley #bill weasley #madam rosmerta #kingsley shacklebolt

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 1 year

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These so called “friends” of MC’s suck. I swear I lose faith in more and more of them with every new chapter. At least we can see who our true friends are I guess since they still manage to be supportive even with any doubts they might have. Too bad there’s very few of them now. Some of them still support Merula but not MC and that stings ngl. How can they stand with her even after everything but can’t do the same for MC? Fuck them.

Whoa nellie, I got like a dozen different messages expressing similar sentiments to this one, including at least a few that specifically targeted Ismelda and/or Beatrice. And hey, you're not in the wrong for how you're feeling, though I'm not sure I agree.

The main issue here is that The Circle of Khanna is treated as a collective. That's been a problem in how our friends were written for quite some time now. What, every single one of them wants to withdraw at the beginning of Year 7? I don't buy that. Penny, sure. But Tonks? Ben? No way in hell. The group is treated as a singular entity which ignores a lot of the nuance and conflict that would arise from this. I suppose something similar happened with the D.A. in the books, and in general, writing large groups of people can be tricky, but still. This is the reason why The Circle (initially) turns on MC. Because they are the embodiment of honoring Rowan. How could they not? I am glad to see that it was only temporary, though.

At the end of the day, I don't think that it's so much that MC is Peregrine's child so much as it is that MC knew and kept it hidden from The Circle. In general, it's not handled brilliantly, because MC didn't know about Peregrine until just a few chapters ago, and I think they can be forgiven for taking some time to process how they feel about this - but then again, the various members of The Circle may also need time to process it, and let their brains catch up with what it might mean. In particular, Barnaby's reaction was probably frustrating for a lot of folks (though it was no surprise to me, at this point) that he had to work out if MC was bad just because their Dad was. Obviously, of all people, he should know better...but then again, does he truly comprehend his own family as being "bad?" Maybe he does and I'm just being stupid, but I don't know. Trying to figure it out is all.

Ben's reaction was the most upsetting to me, but it's not like it doesn't make sense. The Circle of Khanna began that night in the Forbidden Forest, and it began with him, Merula, and MC. Ben is likely feeling quite isolated right now because of these twists and turns. Merula is one of them, and MC might be as well. True, it's not their fault that their Dad runs R, but why didn't they say so? Can he be truly certain that MC is on his side? Because Merula wasn't. Ben hasn't said anything to this effect (yet) but he is the last founding member of The Circle who remains safe. The others are compromised, no two ways about it. MC now has a conflict of interest, and Merula sure as hell does too. How is Ben supposed to feel about that? How is anyone?

As for Beatrice and her line about how "interesting" things have gotten...yeah, that was bizarre. I can offer no interpretation of it that puts Bea in a good light, so I'll just refer to my classic escape route that I've used before and argue that flavor text isn't necessarily canon. It's not part of the main scene, so therefore I choose to ignore it. That might be a little silly, but it's the best I've got. I've talked about Ismelda in previous posts, but the short answer is that I feel like, given her extensive history with Merula...she's perfectly allowed to feel uncertain about this. If MC can feel uncertain about Peregrine, I think that's only fair.

Speaking of Merula...yeah, it is strange that The Circle is more divided about her than it is about MC. But, if it's any consolation, I think time heals all wounds. The Circle of Khanna was initially confused and horrified to learn about MC's lineage, but they came around and pretty much universally sided with them (except Ben) understanding that none of this was MC's fault. Which is a lot more support than Merula got. She only got 50% of the Circle to let her stay. Not to mention, there are pragmatic reasons to keep her around as well. There's no reason to assume that everyone who voted for Merula automatically forgives her, the way the gang seem to have forgiven MC.

It's just a lot to handle. These characters are young. They've lost so much, and grown up in an atmosphere of uncertainty, never knowing who they can trust. Betrayal has been a huge theme in this game. Ben was suspected from Year 2 to Year 5. Rakepick betrayed everyone in the Portrait Vault. Merula has been a spy since at least Year 6. The question of how shady Jacob may be has been central to the entire story. Not to mention that MC has always been a little ambiguous in their nature. They are and have always been a trickster. It's just how the game is written. For better or for worse, they have a lot in common with Jacob, (who went rogue) as well as Peregrine. (Enough said...) Like, MC has the same quality of talking people into doing things for them. We now know where they get that talent.

The Circle of Khanna learned the truth, and experienced a creeping doubt about Jacob's Sibling. But it didn't take long for (most of) them to shake it off and learn to trust MC again.

#The Circle of Khanna #HPHM Analysis #Ben Copper #Merula Snyde #HPHM Jacob's Sibling #HPHM Peregrine #HPHM Jacob #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery #HPHM Spoilers #Beatrice Haywood #Ismelda Murk

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gaygryffindorgal · 1 year

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hp ladies appreciation week: day 06

event by @endlessly-cursed

favourite female friendships

verna malinda and rowan khanna

rowan and verna are an og friendship, and i adore their relationship a lot. while i headcanon rowan to be nonbinary, i think that they identified as a girl, since she probably didn’t have the vocabulary to voice their gender identity as a pureblood wizard in the 80s and 90s.

max avery and ginny weasley

max and ginny are dormmates and don’t start out as friends but they grow closer throughout their fifth and sixth years at hogwarts.

ethel malinda and irene quinn

the holmes and watson of the fantastic beasts era! i adore their relationship, especially how it gets complicated later on and how irene’s issues affect both of them.

josephine “josie” edwards ( @slytherindisaster ), selina fawley ( @gcldensnitch ), lavinia “vinnie” wakefield

my hufflepuff girlies<3<3 one of the first friendship dynamics i have in the fandom, they don’t have a lot of lore but i like their relationship!

#hpwomenaw #verna malinda #rowan khanna #max avery #ginny weasley #ethel malinda #irene quinn #josie edwards #selina fawley #vinnie wakefield #*mine

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hphmmatthewluther · 2 years

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Back to School Challenge: Day 1

Here we are with day of @cursebreakerfarrier ‘s Back to School challenge! Today, we see everyone’s favourite poor little meow meow Matthew Luther try to contend with making new friends on the trip to hogwarts! This story also features @stupendousbookworm ‘s Ara Black!

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑: 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑱𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑵𝑬𝒀 — is this your OCs first time at Hogwarts? Or their last? Or maybe it’s just the beginning of another eventful year. Create something that tells the story of your OC’s magical trip to Hogwarts!

Matthew Luther had thought the scariest thing about his trip to Hogwarts was going to be that trick wall he’d been told about, that he’d had to run through in order to get through. Then he saw the amount of people, the amount of kids and teenagers who were also getting on the train, and promptly decided that this was scarier. It wasn’t that they looked scary, it was just the looming fact that he would get to know all of these people, or, rather, all these people would get to know him. They probably knew about his brother. He’d had enough of that in Diagon Alley. He pushed the hair out of his face and slowly moved towards the train, his suitcases rolling along the platform behind him. He saw that many of the others had pets, some with cats, a lot of them with owls. This made Matthew feel slightly worse, seeing as there was no way they would have been able to afford a pet. His stomachache grew slightly worse. It had been there since he’d got up that morning.

He got onto the train, more stomach pangs happening as he did, apologising as he almost bumped into several people as he moved down the train, including a girl with snow-white hair and a kid with face paint on. At some point, he did bump into a person, a girl with far more luggage than he did. “Gah!” she yelled, moving to the side in shock. “S-Sorry…” he began, but the girl shook her head. “Nah, uh, I had more stuff, ‘smy fault. Just…watch where you’re walking, yeah?” she said, a Scottish accent breaking through as she moved past him, muttering to herself. Matthew walked on, relieved she hadn’t been too mad at him . He’d never met anyone with a stripe of orange hair before.

Eventually, something happened that reduced the gnawing feeling in his torso. In a compartment that was half full was Rowan Khanna, who Matthew had met a few weeks ago back in Diagon Alley, who had helped him with getting everything he needed. Matt waved through the window, and Rowan beckoned him in. He slid open the compartment door and moved past the other kid in the compartment, apologising as he did so.

“It’s good to see you, Matt!” Rowan said, smiling as brightly as they had when he’d first met them. “How was getting up here?” “I-It was ok, um…” Matt replied, shrugging, “I didn’t have to go that far.” This was true, he’d been to London many times (and he’d been able to do it on his own since he was 6). “H-How are you doing?”

“Great!” Rowan exclaimed, gesturing for him to sit down as the train pulled out of the station, “I said goodbye to Fuzzclaw, our pet cat, and we used Floo Powder to head into the Leaky Cauldron, and from there we got to the station! The Muggle world is crackers, though! I knew there’d be cars, but I wasn’t expecting so many!”

As they passed by green fields, the other kid shuffled in his seat. Rowan turned to him, then back to Matthew. “Oh, right, Matthew Luther, this is Victor Ketsueki. He’s starting at Hogwarts too!”

Victor smiled at Matthew softly. He had his black hair up in a bun, and was wearing a purple turtleneck jumper. Matthew smiled in return.

“Nice to meet you.” he said, nodding. “You too.” Victor smiled, before pausing. “Wait, Luther…you mean-” “Yeah, yeah…I’m his brother.” Matt suddenly found the floor very interesting and proceeded to stare down at it. “Ah, right…sorry about your brother, mate. I hope he’s ok.” That was a surprise. Matthew looked back up, unsure what to say before finally managing a “...thank you.”

Eventually, an old lady appeared outside their compartment, sliding open the door. “Anything off the trolley, dears?” Ah. Here was that “lack of money” problem again. Matthew only had a couple of Galleons in his pocket, but Rowan and Victor were paying for things, and the chocolates there looked incredibly delicious. Matthew got up and decided to get something small. Didn’t want to go too far. On the other side, just by the opposite compartment, was a girl around Matt’s height with long black hair, who was negotiating with the trolley lady. “Oh, please! Just one freebie! I’m your best customer, like you said!” she pleaded. Matthew saw that she had bought a grand amount of chocolate, enough to last a normal person a week or two (though Matthew suspected he would get through it in a couple of days.)

The girl then noticed him. “Oh! Were you buying something?”

“S-Sorry, yeah, I just wanted a chocolate frog, um…”

“Why are you apologising?” she asked, looking at him quizzically. “Uh…um…” “Look, don’t worry, I’ll just…” the girl moved all her stuff over to his side of the carriage, dropping it in the compartment in the empty seat next to Matt’s. “I’ll go here, and you can get what you want! I’ll even share some with you!” “Th-that’s…” Matthew couldn’t force her to share her chocolate, but felt like he was holding up the trolley lady, so bought a chocolate frog and sat back down in the carriage.

“That’s all you’re getting?” Victor asked, innocently.

“I-I didn’t want to waste too much money…” Matthew sighed.

The girl looked at him, and proceeded to push several chocolate-looking items towards him. “It’s not a waste of money if you enjoy it, that’s what I say! I’m Ara. Ara Black.”

Rowan and Victor looked at each other, but Matthew, having no idea about what the Black family were, simply smiled. “N-Nice to meet you. My name’s Matthew. Matthew Luther.” “So you’re-” “His brother, yeah.” Matt nodded, opening his chocolate frog. “Hmm. Ptolemy.” Rowan’s eyes widened. “No way! That’s a really rare one! You must have amazing luck!” Matthew shrugged. Judging from how his life had panned out so far, it certainly didn’t seem that way to him.

But then something else occurred to him. He looked around, at three other kids his age, his friends, all of them enjoying chocolates together. Matt had been expecting to spend the entire trip in silence, being ignored, and sure, that probably wasn’t going to last, not with his luck, but right now, at least, things seemed to be going ok. So far, so good, Matthew thought, as he, Ara and Victor listened to Rowan explain just how much of a brilliant wizard Ptolmey was. Matthew found it fascinating, his stomachache now gone. Mostly.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #back to school challenge #matthew luther #rowan khanna #victor ketsueki #ara black #hphm fanfic

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missnight0wl · 2 years

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Sorry not sorry, but the whole drama with Merula is absolutely hilarious.

Part 1 of the commentary!

Bitch, the only reason why you’re “a founding member” is because you were present when Rowan died. And the only reason you were present is because Ben insisted you’d go with us.

It couldn’t be more meaningless.

I’m surprisingly on your side with this one, Merula. I don’t see how it matters either.

In the meantime, the Circle of Khanna about Merula:

Also, the way they nominated MC to actually talk to Merula:

Yeah, people really care about you, Merula...

Alright, alright... So, let’s make it clear what happened.

Y5Ch28:

AFTER THE PORTRAIT VAULT

Merula: I was just betrayed and tortured by the woman I idolised and looked up to. Now, my Aunt who never particularly cared about me, claims that she cares about me very much. She promises me revenge. I suddenly care about her, too, and maybe even look up to her... I don’t see what can go wrong!

*IT TURNS OUT TO BE A TRAP!*

Also Merula:

You know, while Merula is a badly-written character, you have to appreciate how consistent Jam City is about her. I don’t think I can think of a character who’d be as stubborn as her about NOT learning anything from their experience.

Honestly, Merula is an embodiment of the Bike Fall meme.

Back to the chapter, though!

I mean, it was painfully obvious that it was a lie. If you believed it... that one is on you.

Wait, is it exactly what she said? Because if so, Merula didn’t have to lie at all. MC met the leader probably shortly after they were born. Verucca should’ve said that Merula can’t tell the truth until MC knows who the leader is.

Y’know, for someone allegedly so powerful, and cunning, and scary, and whatnot... Verucca is just THE WORST when it comes to the wording of things.

Are you, though? Because it seems to me like you’re still alive, so... 😐

#long post #hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm spoilers #hphm mc #merula snyde #anti merula #verucca buckthorn #patricia rakepick #circle of khanna #year 7 #Y7Ch45 #playing hphm

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carewyncromwell · 2 years

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Liz 🤝 Carewyn

Requested by Anon

In classes, Carewyn most commonly sat with her best friend, Rowan Khanna, and her fellow Slytherin, Barnaby Lee, the second of whom often needed extra help in class. One of the exceptions to this, however, was in Care of Magical Creatures. In that class, Carewyn Cromwell, Barnaby Lee, Charlie Weasley, and Liz Tuttle were absolutely inseparable. Those four also were widely considered Professor Kettleburn’s favorites in their class, though no one got higher marks in the subject than Liz. She was a natural with just about every creature on the planet, magical or otherwise. Even when the fifth year Care of Magical Creatures class was first introduced to a unicorn, Liz was the first person to coax the unicorn to eat out of her hand.

Carewyn came over to lean her arms on the edge of the paddock, watching Liz feed the unicorn with a smile.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” she said admiringly.

Liz’s face lit up. “I know! Her coat’s a wonderful sheen -- it’s just about fully turned white, but you can still see the slightest silvery undertone...”

Carewyn raised her eyebrows with interest. “Really? She must be pretty young, then.”

“Yes!” Liz said eagerly. “Unicorns turn pure white once they reach adulthood...but with how beautifully her horn’s grown in already, I’d say Lumina’s probably six years old.”

“How old would you say that makes her, in human years?”

Liz considered this. “...Well, horses are usually full grown by the age of four...but unicorns aren’t considered full grown until the age of seven.”

“So I suppose that makes Lumina a teenager,” Carewyn said with a smile.

Liz’s black eyes lit up gleefully behind her round glasses. “Like us!”

The unicorn gave Liz’s curly hair a light sniff. The bespectacled Slytherin turned gradually so as not to startle her, before carefully extending a hand for her to sniff. Once Lumina had given a light huff through her nose, Liz rested her hand on her snout and gave it a gentle pet.

Carewyn watched silently, her smile spreading further seeing how well Liz and the unicorn interacted. The attention made Liz smile awkwardly.

“Oops! I’m sorry, did...did you want a turn, Carewyn?”

“It’s okay,” Carewyn said kindly. “Lumina likes you best, so far -- I don’t mind waiting until she’s more comfortable with me.”

Liz smiled a bit self-consciously. “I’m sure she’ll like you too, Carewyn -- I mean, everyone else does...”

Carewyn bit back a laugh. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

“Why not?” said Liz, a bit surprised. “I mean -- you are really popular, Carewyn. Everybody at school likes you -- all the students, the teachers...”

Carewyn giggled behind her hand. “Liz, I’m Jacob Cromwell’s sister, remember? There are plenty of people who don’t like me -- Ismelda, Emily Tyler, Erika Rath, Pitts, Filch, Madame Pince, Snape...even Dumbledore I don’t think likes me as much these days, considering that I keep going after the Cursed Vaults even when he’s told me not to. Frankly I think the only reason Merula hasn’t hexed my face off yet is because Rakepick told her to play nice with me for whatever reason...”

“Mm...yeah, I suppose,” Liz granted awkwardly.

She looked a bit sheepish. Carewyn raised an eyebrow at her curiously, and she brought a hand up to rub the back of her neck.

“...I guess I just forget that you’re ‘Cursebreaker Cromwell’ sometimes,” Liz admitted. “I mean, you’re always so nice, and you’re always so gentle with the creatures in class...”

She smiled.

“It’s a bit hard to imagine someone like that also going around breaking curses and unlocking ancient secrets.”

Carewyn gave a smaller smile in return.

“...Well, it’s certainly not what I thought I’d be doing, when I got to school,” she replied.

I wish I didn’t have to do all that stuff...

Liz blinked. “What would you want to do instead?”

“What we’re doing right now,” Carewyn said as if it were obvious, gesturing to the paddock. “Going to classes, learning new things...”

She beamed.

“...Having fun with my friends.”

Liz’s face brightened, clearly touched.

“I know what you mean, Carewyn,” she said. “It is really fun! Talking with you, I mean. Especially while petting a unicorn,” she added with a brighter grin than ever, stroking Lumina’s snout affectionately. The unicorn gave a happy murr.

Carewyn’s smile broadened enough to show teeth.

“There’s a really pretty song I know about unicorns,” she said. “Do you think Lumina would like it, if I sang it for her?”

“Oh, yes!” Liz said eagerly. “Creatures often respond well to music -- I’ve even read that some Muggle scientists think that it can prompt brain waves in animals that are shockingly similar to the ones in our own brains!”

“I guess that’s why they say that music has charms to soothe the savage beast,” Carewyn said amiably.

With this, she settled herself down on top of the paddock fence, turning her focus to the unicorn Liz had started to gently brush.

“When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain, And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain, In the shadow of the forest -- though she may be old and worn -- They will stare unbelieving at the Last Unicorn. When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing, And you look to the north and a pale moon is rising, And it seems like all is dying and would leave the world to mourn, In the distance, hear her laughter -- It’s the Last Unicorn! I'm alive! I'm alive...”

Friendship Drabble Prompt!

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #friendship drabbles #liz tuttle #carewyn cromwell #barnaby lee #charlie weasley #silvanus kettleburn #merula snyde

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maleliddell · 2 years

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Me toca 🤝

Para Adalia ♥️

Para Malena ♠️

[Aparte de charlie xd]

Para las dos ~

Miamorrr 💗💗💕

Adalia

47.

Adalia probably doesn't understand where the funny is xd

32.

It may not be noticed but Adalia loves sweet things and has a weakness for homemade desserts, so if this woman gets friends, she will ask to go to a coffee shop to taste sweets and have a good time.

19.

Adalia is usually very shy when she is with people her appreciates and loves, so if there are romantic/platonic feelings involved, that shyness increases. But at the moment she is not interested in that, she wants a sincere friendship more than anything else.

Malena

65.

Ignoring Charlie, Malena adores Bill. She can't help but see him as Jacob when they were little kids reading in their secret room. She is also very fond of Ron, they both share a phobia of spiders, so Malena sometimes forces herself to be braver for Ron to fight her fear and protect him.

But to be honest, Malena loved all the members of the Weasley family, they welcomed her with open arms at every stage of her life, she was already a Weasley even before marrying Charlie xd

41.

Malena would surely like to visit Beauxbatons or Castelobruxo.

Adalia y Malena

71.

Probably Adalia would be calm the first few days and would follow the established sanitary regulations but after several weeks or months she would get a little angry, she would not admit it but she would miss going to Hogwarts to see her friends and learn more about the magical world Possibly she would try to contacting Ivy or Daniel, she'd even think about coming out of isolation for a change of scenery.

On the other hand, Malena can be more complicated...

If he had to spend a health emergency in isolation with his parents, he would probably not stand it, he would try for a couple of weeks but in the end he would break the isolation so as not to listen to his parents anymore.

but if by chance of life,s he has to complete the isolation with Rowan for example, it would be fine. Malena feels happy and safe next to her best friend and they spend their isolation at the Khanna farm pleasantly together 💕

94.

Jojojooooo Adalia definitely cheated on a test or two 😈

Malena may have thought of doing it, but she has Rowan explain what she doesn't understand or finds harder to learn.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #male liddell #hpma #magic awakened #adalia untermann

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unfortunate-arrow · 2 years

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Meddlesome

Note: Day 7 (Love Potion) for @lifeofkaze’s Valentine’s Day challenge.

Summary: “Love potions are nothing but trouble.” Or, Tonks, Penny, and Rowan attempt to meddle with Sara and Barnaby’s romance.

Setting: Hogwarts, 1989

The three Hufflepuff girls sat huddled together in the artifact room at Hogwarts, their heads pressed together. A small vial of a bright pink liquid sat between them, glittering whenever the light hit it.

“Are you sure that you brewed it correctly, Penny?” Nymphadora Tonks, the mastermind, asked.

“Of course, I did, Tonks!” Penny Haywood snapped. “Do you really doubt my potions abilities?”

“No. Of course not. But it needs to be perfect, if we’re going to pull this off.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea. What if something does go wrong?” Rowan Khanna asked, pulling her glasses off to clean them against the fabric of her robe.

“Nothing will go wrong, Rowan.”

“The potion will wear off within an hour, Rowan. So nothing bad should happen,” Penny replied.

“I also think we’re forgetting what might happen if Sara finds out. She’s one of our best friends,” Rowan added, as she slid her glasses back up into her face.

Tonks waved her hand. “Sara doesn’t hold grudges. And are you really sure Sara’s the O’Donnell that you’re worried about pissing off?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I like all four O’Donnells equally.”

“To be fair, they are rather hard to be around this year,” Penny said, shrugging.

“Please! Everyone knows that you’ve got feelings for Ryan, Penny!”

“If we’re seriously going to do this, then we need to actually do it,” Rowan said, interrupting Tonks before the pink-haired girl started rambling.

“Let’s do it! We need to get them to stop dancing around their own feelings!”

Tonks jumped up off the floor, knocking the vial over. Penny and Rowan froze, their eyes widening as they watched the vial tip. They both let out a sigh of relief when the vial didn’t break, just rolled over in an odd circle before coming to a stop. Penny reached over and gently scooped the vial up, putting it into her bag. The three girls exchanged a conspiratorial smile as they left the room.

Tucking the loose pieces of hair behind her ear, Sara took a look around the courtyard. It was completely empty, but it had been decorated to resemble something out of a muggle fairy tail. Lights were strung up everywhere, twinkling. There was a table set up on the far end of the courtyard, away from the castle. She frowned, surveying the courtyard a second time. Then, her eyes landed on a familiar figure. He was tall, taller than either of her brothers… and broader as well.

“Sara?” he asked, confusion coloring his voice.

“Hi, Barnaby,” she replied, a smile growing on her face.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“No. Penny and Rowan just told me to meet them here.”

“Tonks told me that too.” His brow furrowed in confusion.

Sara sighed, shaking her head. It wasn’t hard to figure out what her friends and roommates were trying to do. They wanted to force her relationship with Barnaby.

“What?” Barnaby asked, his brow furrowing deeper.

“Penny, Rowan, and Tonks set us up on a date. I’ll bet there’s more though. Tonks wouldn’t go for something as simple as a blind date,” she replied.

“Oh. What do you think that they have done?”

“I don’t know. But if I am remembering correctly, they asked Professor Snape a lot of questions about love potions recently.”

“Oh, that’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t. Love potions are nothing but trouble.”

“I don’t like the idea of someone playing with my feelings. They’re mine!”

Sara smiled, reaching over to squeeze Barnaby’s hand. He squeezed back and they both smiled.

“I really like you, Sara. And this feeling is all mine,” Barnaby said, after a long while.

“I really like you too, Barnaby. I know that feeling is yours. We haven’t touched anything yet… and I don’t think we should eat or drink whatever it is that Tonks put out,” Sara replied, squeezing his hand again. He smiled at her and it resulted in her own smile.

#sara x barnaby #saraby #sara o’donnell #barnaby lee #nymphadora tonks #penny haywood #rowan khanna #hphm #hogwarts mystery #valentine challenge 2022 #my writing #my aesthetic #oh this had a rewrite from my first idea #sara & barnaby are unofficially dating at this point #their interest is well known but they’re both worried about screwing up their friendship and losing the other #they actually get together after the owls… so uh penny tonks & rowan are just a few months off #i adore sara & barnaby… slytherin-hufflepuff tragic backstories height differences friends to lovers #I would love to be asked about these two more often #(don’t tell the others but sara & barnaby are probably my favorite o’donnell ship)

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adellovesrowan · 9 months

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i dont think ill ever be posting much here anymore, but if you want to keep up w adel n rowan in my original story i sometimes post ab them on @raineadey. and other fandom stuff

#probably important to note that this is not the rowan khanna u know. this is rowan my oc now unironically #not maintagging this just for mutuals to see

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the-al-chemist · 2 years

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Artemis Hexley and the Circle of Khanna

Chapter 4: The Lost Boys

A/N: While Charlie struggles to tell Artemis his secret, Fred and George are keeping one of their own. The Daily Prophet has an update on Rakepick, and Artemis comes up with a plan which backfires… Warnings: A whole lot of angst. Not my usual thing, but there’ll be more before the year is out. Get used to it.

As for what Charlie had wanted to discuss with Artemis, she was still none the wiser for another two days after their walk back from Hogsmeade village, both of them having been kept busy with homework and Quidditch practice. On Monday afternoon, however, Artemis had Charms for her last lesson, one of the three classes she shared with Charlie. Charms was generally a good lesson in which to hold a private conversation, due to the fact that it was usually rather loud and lively, so as the students filed into the classroom, Artemis made a point of stopping to talk to him.

“I was thinking,” she told him, without saying hello first, “if I swap seats with Levi or Gloria today, then we can chat.”

Charlie frowned, as if considering the idea, before shaking his head.

“No,” he said. “I don’t think that either of them will be too keen on moving seats.”

“Well, Rowan probably wouldn’t mind switching places with you for one lesson.”

“I don’t want to put Rowan out.”

“Charlie,” Artemis looked at him pointedly. “When I say chat, I meant that you can tell me about this secret thing you mentioned on Saturday.”

At Artemis’ words, Charlie looked at the ground and almost smirked.

“I know that’s what you meant,” he half-laughed.

“You do?”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to talk about it here. Look, can we hang out before dinner instead?”

“Sure,” Artemis nodded, and went across the classroom to sit with Rowan, who looked up from her textbook quizzically. Artemis shook her head by way of response. “He didn’t want to say anything here.”

“I wonder why not,” Rowan muttered, her eyebrows raised.

“I dunno. Last time he was so secretive about something he was trying to get hold of a dragon egg and release it into the wild. Hopefully it’s something that cool this time, too. What?”

Rowan said nothing, just tutted and sighed again.

By the time the lesson finished, Artemis had thought of several ways in which she and Charlie might improve their dragon-rescuing skills following their botched attempt at doing so the previous year. The two of them walked down past the Great Hall to the shore of the Black Lake. The lake was completely still, other than a very slight stirring near the water’s edge.

“Maybe we should stay clear of the water itself,” Charlie suggested. “Hagrid said that the Grindylows are still being really aggressive. Neither him nor Kettleburn can figure out why.”

“Strange. I guess we’d better avoid them, then,” said Artemis. She turned away from the water to look expectantly at Charlie. “So…”

Charle cleared his throat awkwardly, a look of apprehension on his freckled face.

“So. Alright. Well, we’re friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good, so you know I wouldn’t want to do anything that would hurt you on purpose.”

“Charlie, what’s going on?”

“Alright. So, the thing is-”

The sound of thundering footsteps and their names being called out interrupted Charlie and Artemis for the second time in two days. Turning around, they saw Jae Kim running towards them, his cheeks flushed and expression worried.

“Jae! What’s wrong?”

“It’s your brothers, Charlie,” Jae panted. “I was going to meet them to sell them some… Well, it doesn’t matter what, but they didn’t meet me to make the transaction. I went to find them, and that little Hufflepuff boy from their year, Digby or Digley-”

“Diggory?”

“Might be, yeah. Anyway, he said he saw them head out to the grounds at the end of their lessons. From the looks of things, they headed into the Forbidden Forest.”

“What?” Charlie’s face turned a pale greenish colour, and his eyes widened in horror. “No. They wouldn’t be that stupid.”

Artemis and Jae shared glances. Charlie himself had snuck out to Forbidden Forest more times than Artemis could count, and he was usually less of a troublemaker than either of the twins. She would not have put it past Fred and George to attempt venturing into the Forest.

“Visibility isn’t great, Charlie,” said Artemis, thinking quickly. “If we fly low, near the treetops, we wouldn’t get seen. It might be worth taking a look, just in case.”

Charlie swallowed and nodded, but the colour didn’t return to his cheeks.

“Charlie, mate, I’m sure they’ll be-”

“Jae,” Charlie interrupted his friend mid-sentence. “If Artie and I fly out to the forest to look for the twins, do you mind keeping Percy out of all of this somehow?”

“Of course not.”

“Thanks. Artemis, I’m guessing you do want to help-”

“Yeah.”

“- look. It’s alright if you don’t.”

“I do want to,” Artemis smiled at him. “You know, I’m very good at looking for brothers.”

Charlie didn’t return her smile, but he exhaled and looked a little less tense. The three of them ran back to the castle, where Jae set off in search of Percy Weasley, and Artemis and Charlie retrieved their broomsticks from their respective common rooms.

They set off into the sky from near the Quidditch pitch, staying as low as possible as they flew over the treetops. It was already starting to get dark.

“It’s not a full moon, at least,” said Artemis, in a voice that she hoped sounded reassuring.

“It’s not just werewolves though, is it? There’s all sorts in the forest, like that Red Cap and the centaurs. And what about Hagrid’s Acromantula colony?”

“They can’t have gotten in as far as the Acromantula colony, they’ve not been gone long enough.”

“Still,” Charlie shrugged. “Even the Thestrals might be dangerous if they’re frightened. It’s not like Fred and George would be able to see them coming. And there’s regular wolves, too, and-”

“That’s it, Charlie! Sonorus,” Artemis swooped lower down into the trees, and hovered a few metres above the forest floor. She placed her hands on either side of her mouth and howled loudly, mimicking a wolf.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting us some help, hopefully. Join in, will you?”

Charlie looked at Artemis as if she was mad, but he used his wand to amplify his own voice and began to howl too.

Artemis called out, “Borf? Borf, if you’re there, we could really do with your help!”

Moments later, a large grey shape stepped out from among the trees. Artemis lit her wand, casting light on the newcomer. Looking up at her from the leaves, was a young adult wolf.

“Is that you, Borf? Do you remember me?”

“Borf!” the wolf nodded.

“He understands you?” Charlie asked, leaning in towards Artemis and lowering his voice, as if he didn’t want to offend the wolf.

“He’s a second generation werewolf, he understands everything,” Artemis whispered back, before speaking to Borf once more. “You’ve gotten a lot bigger since I last saw you. Does Chiara still bring you scraps of roast beef on Sundays?”

Borf nodded his head and wagged his tail excitedly, before tilting his head and letting out a low, concerned whine.

“Yeah, we do have a problem. I thought you might be able to help us, actually. My friend Charlie - oh, this is Charlie, by the way.”

“Hi,” said Charlie.

“Borf,” said Borf.

“Well, Charlie’s brothers, they came wandering into the forest. I thought you might have seen them. They have red hair and they look identical to each other.”

Borf’s feet padded quickly on the ground, he sniffed the air, and pointed his snout towards the trees.

“They went that way?”

The wolf nodded and walked away in the same direction he had been pointing to. He walked a few steps deeper into the trees before looking back at Artemis and Charlie, his head tilted slightly.

“Borf!’ he told them.

“Of course, we’ll follow you. Thanks, Borf.”

Artemis and Charlie flew after Borf he led them through the trees to a small grove, much smaller than either of the ones Artemis and Charlie had flown to before. Standing in the middle of the grove, their backs to them and their wands alight, were Fred and George Weasley.

At the sight of the twins, Borf barked once, before returning into the depths of the forest. The noise made the twins jump, and they looked over their shoulders at Charlie and Artemis.

“Drat,” said Fred, turning to face them with both hands behind his back. “What are you two doing here?”

“Looking for you, of course,” Charlie said, his eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and relief. “What the hell are you two doing here?”

Artemis watched as George pointed his wand at Fred’s hands and whispered something. Fred caught Artemis’ eye and immediately shoved both his hand into his pockets.

“You’re one to talk,” said George, crossing his arms across his chest. “We know that you two both got caught sneaking out to the forest before.”

“Yeah, we just wanted to see what the fuss was about,” Fred nodded. Artemis narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’re lying.”

“We’re not!

“Yes, you are,” Artemis turned to Charlie. “They’re lying, I know it.”

“Alright, why are you really here?”

“Because…” Fred faltered under the hard stares of his older brother and his friend. He looked at George, and both twins sighed heavily.

“We saw your brother coming in here,” said George, tuning to talk to Artemis.

“Jacob?”

“Yeah. We would’ve come and got you, but he was moving pretty quickly and you were all the way down by the lake, so…”

“So we decided to follow him.”

“Which way did he go?” Artemis asked, her eyes scanning the trees in case Jacob was standing amongst them. “We could still find him maybe, if we-”

“Artemis,” Charlie interrupted her. “We can’t go wandering around the forest at night looking for your brother.”

“Why not? We’ve done it before.”

“That was different.”

“What do you mean? Why is it different now?”

“Because now my brothers are with us, and they shouldn’t be here,” explained Charlie, his eyes filled with worry again. “They’re eleven, Artemis, they need to go back to the castle where it’s safe.”

“Fine,” Artemis said, frowning. “You take Fred and George back and I’ll-”

“I’m not leaving you to go off by yourself in the forest.”

“It doesn’t look like you have a choice!”

“I…” Charlie sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Look, we need to get Fred and George back quickly, and we only have two broomsticks. If you stay here either I won’t be able to get them both back or you’ll be left without a broomstick or a map in the forest in the dark. Alone.”

“I’ll have Borf.”

“And I don’t know if either of these two can fly your broomstick back without you,” Charlie continued. “I know you want to go looking for your brother, but this really isn’t the time.”

Artemis gnawed on her lower lip, and looked desperately out at the trees.

“Please, Artemis. Come back with us.”

There was no sign of Jacob in the branches nearby. If Artemis was going to find him, she would have to go looking. But if she didn’t have her broomstick, how would she find her way back? And if she took her broom with her, how would the Weasleys get back? Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes back towards Charlie.

“You’re right,” she told him, a strange sort of guilty relief settling in the back of her mind. “We should go. Jacob can wait. He’ll have to wait.”

By the time the twins were found and safely returned to the castle, dinnertime was almost over. In a hushed voice, Artemis told her friends about what had happened in the forest.

“Are you sure they weren’t lying?” Rowan asked, her eyebrows furrowing behind the silver frame of her glasses.

“I really don’t think so. They looked like they were telling the truth,” replied Artemis. “I think they really did see Jacob. Which means that he’s close by.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“It sort of does. Jacob did say that he’d be in contact.”

“That’s not what I meant. Think about it,” Rowan shook her head. “Fred and George have never met your brother. How could they have known it was Jacob?”

“I… I dont know. Maybe because he looks like me?”

“Perhaps, but why would you assume that straight away? And surely you would’t follow someone into the forest on just a hunch; you’d want to know that it was actually them first. It just sounds a bit odd, that’s all.”

Artemis thought about it. Rowan was right, of course. Why would Fred and George have followed someone into the forest just because he looked like he might have been Artemis’ brother?

At the end of dinner, Artemis made a beeline for the twins, stopping them as they reached the top of one of the flights of stairs that made up the Grand Staircase and pulling them into a nearby corridor.

“Are you sure that it was Jacob you saw going into the forest?” she asked them. Fred and George nodded their heads in response. “It was definitely him?”

“Yes!” Fred rolled his eyes. “Honestly, it’s like you don’t believe us.”

“We saw him with our own eyes,” George added, nodding emphatically.

“How do you know it was him?”

“We just said, we saw-”

“But how do you know for sure that it wasn’t someone else?” Artemis repeated her question, and the boys frowned at each other. “You’ve never met Jacob. How do you know that it was definitely him?”

When neither twin answered her, Artemis’ questioning stare grew harder, more accusative, until George sighed.

“Okay, okay,” he said, with a sideways look at his brother. “Fred, we’re going to have to show her.”

“Show me what?”

“This,” said Fred. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blank sheet of parchment.

“Is this a joke?” Artemis wrinkled her nose.

“No, it’s… Look. Just look,” Fred opened the map, and George pointed his wand at the central fold.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

At George’s words, lines of ink started to spread across the parchment, spiralling outwards from where the tip of his wand rested against the central crease. In the middle were the words: Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present The Marauder’s Map.

“A map? A map of the school?” Artemis asked. Surely enough, as she looked at the map, she could make out the familiar outline of the Great Hall, the courtyards, and the moving staircases.

“Not just of the school.”

“Everyone inside the school. See?”

Artemis looked closer. On the point of the map that correlated with the spot where she and the twins were standing there were three tiny sets of inked footprints, labelled Artemis Hexley, Fred Weasley, and George Weasley. Artemis lifted her right foot, and one of her footprints on the map disappeared. She lowered her floor to the ground again, and it reappeared.

“You saw him on this?”

“We saw him coming out of the Forbidden Forest,” Fred pointed his finger to a point on the map where the trees started, and trailed his finger across the grounds. “He went to the Quidditch pitch, loitered in the changing rooms for a bit.”

“By the time we’d made it out of the castle, he was heading back to the forest,” George continued. “We followed him, but after he got so far into the trees, he disappeared.”

“Either he apparated away or whoever made the map never went far enough into the forest to make the map reach there. We don’t know.”

“But you’re sure it was him? And he was in the changing tents?” Artemis asked the twins, and when they both nodded their heads, she looked over her shoulder towards the Grand Staircase. “Right. I’d better go there, then. Thanks for your help, boys.”

“You’re welcome,” said Fred, pointing his wand at the map. “Mischief managed.”

“Wait,” George frowned at Artemis. “You aren’t going to tell Charlie about this, are you?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“You can’t!”

“This map is our most treasured possession.”

“We stole it from Filch’s office, if anyone finds out we have it…”

“Charlie won’t… Hang on,” Artemis reconsidered. “Tell you what. I promise not to tell Charlie about this map, on the condition that you two stop getting into so much trouble.”

“But that’s boring!” the twins chorused.

“I’m telling you to not get into trouble, not to stop making trouble,” muttered Artemis. “Just be better at not getting caught. You don’t have any excuse not to be, now that you’ve got that map.”

Artemis left the twins and went straight down to the Quidditch changing tents. She shone her wandlight around, but there was no sign of anything being disturbed.

“Jacob?” she called out. There was no answer.

Disappointed, she turned to leave, but as she walked past the pigeon holes where the team players stored their clothes during matches, she stopped. She went to the pigeon hole with her name on, and shone her wand inside. Sitting in her pigeon hole was a single item: a black quill. Artemis grabbed it, and held it in her open palm.

“Reparifarge,” she said, pointing her wand at the quill, which instantly turned into a scroll of parchment. Artemis unrolled the parchment, and read the message scrawled on it, written in her brother’s familiar spiky handwriting.

Rakepick escaped Ministry custody last night. I’ve done some digging, and the things she was trying to get hold of from Knockturn Alley held some hefty curses. I think she possibly intends for you to find them. Stay around the castle, don’t go opening any suspicious looking packages, and don’t tell anyone about this letter. I’ll be close, keeping an eye on things for you. J.

Artemis had every intention of following Jacob’s instructions and not telling anyone about Rakepick’s escape, but as it turned out, everyone found out the next day anyway. The following morning, the story was featured on the front page of the morning’s Daily Prophet.

“‘Rakepick defeated the three ministry guards tasked with escorting her to the Wizengamot, where she was due to be interrogated regarding her involvement with the criminal organisation ‘R’. Reports of Rakepick being sighted in Dufftown-”

“Dufftown?” Penny’s blue eyes widened. “That’s quite near here!”

“-are so far unconfirmed, but have led to widespread conjecture that she may be looking to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Kingsley Shacklebolt refused to comment, but fellow Auror Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody has advised individuals to practise constant vigilance,’” Rowan finished reading aloud and lowered the newspaper to the table. “If she’s really been in Dufftown, she might well be coming here.”

“Why, though?” Tonks asked with a wide yawn, as she poured herself a second bowl of Unicorn Flakes. “The Cursed Vaults?”

“I expect so. Unless….” Rowan’s voice tailed off as she glanced at Artemis. “Well. Never mind that. But until she’s found again we should be careful, just in case.”

“Tell Artemis this, not us.”

“Hey!” Artemis flicked a CheeriOwl at Tonks with her spoon, and Tonks knocked over her cup of tea as she ducked out of the way.

“I don’t just mean Artemis, though,” continued Rowan, ignoring her friends’ antics. “She’s interested in the Vaults, we’ve all been inside the Vaults. We know about R, in a way. Her coming here could be dangerous for all of us, especially the people who were closest to her.”

Artemis stopped dodging the cereal Tonks was throwing at her, and frowned deeply. Rowan was right. Rakepick would stop at nothing to get to what she wanted; she had proved that on several occasions. And if she wanted to harm Artemis…

“I need to go,” said Artemis, standing up from the table. She suddenly didn’t feel hungry anymore.

“Go where?”

“I dunno, somewhere I can think. Maybe write to Bill. Yeah.”

“Do you want one of us to come with-”

“No,” Artemis shook her head. “I’d like to be by myself. Just don’t open any suspicious looking packages, okay?”

As she turned and walked out of the Great Hall, Artemis could feel her friends’ eyes watching her back. She didn’t look back, instead kept going through the entrance hall to the courtyard outside, where she sat in the cloisters and took a few deep breaths.

Why had she not thought about this before? She wasn’t the only one in danger from Rakepick. Her friends knew about the Vaults, about R, about all of it. And it was hardly like Rakepick had qualms about collateral damage. She had even used Artemis’ friends to get what she wanted in the past. Rakepick was just as much a risk to them as she was to Artemis herself, if not more so. And Artemis was the reason why.

“I guess you’ve seen the news, too, then,” said a voice from above her, and Artemis looked up to see Ben Copper standing over her. “Are you scared?”

“Sort of,” Artemis muttered. She did feel afraid, but not for herself. “You?”

“No,” said Ben. “I’m not scared of anything anymore.”

“Right,” said Artemis, her eyebrows furrowing. “So what are you doing here?”

“I came to reassure you,” Ben nodded, and puffed out his chest. “You won’t be in any danger. You’re my friend, and I’m going to keep you safe. I swear it.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“Who are you worried about?”

“Everyone. You, Rowan, Tonks, Penny, Charlie. Tulip and Barnaby. Merula,” Artemis sighed. “All of you. Rakepick doesn’t care who she hurts, especially not when people are standing in the way of what she wants.”

“What does she want?”

“To hurt me. Kill me, probably.”

“Like she did in the Cursed Vaults last year.”

“Yeah. At least, that’s what my brother thinks,” Artemis bit her lip. Jacob hadn’t wanted her to tell anyone, but what did it matter now? “He left a note for me last night. She’s after me, and as long as I’m here-”

“Then she will want to be here, too.”

This time, the voice that spoke didn’t belong to Ben. It was higher, harsher, almost scathing. Both Ben and Artemis turned to see Merula Snyde looking at them, a peculiar expression in her violet-coloured eyes.

“Exactly,” said Artemis. Hearing the words out loud made her realise something. “Which means that… That means I should go.”

“Go?” Ben took a step backwards from Artemis. “Go where?”

“I dont know, anywhere! Anywhere where I’m not so close to you all that you’re all in danger because of me.”

“You mean… Leave Hogwarts?”

Artemis swallowed, hard. She didn’t want to leave Hogwarts, but if it meant keeping her friends safe…

“Yeah,” she said decisively. “I need to leave Hogwarts.”

“You can’t do that, Artemis!” Ben looked aghast. “You’ll be putting yourself at risk!”

“Better just me than all of you.”

“But-”

“As much as I hate to say it, Artemis,” Merula drawled, “Copper is right. You shouldn’t leave. We need you here.”

Artemis’ eyes widened. She was genuinely touched by Merula’s comment.

“Wow. Thanks, Merula. That’s… You know, after all these years, I’m really happy that we’ve finally managed to-”

“Stop embarrassing yourself, Hexley. I just mean that we need you to stay put so we can use you as bait.”

“Bait,” Artemis blinked.

“Yeah. If you’re here, it’ll lure Rakepick here,” Merula said, completely straight-faced. “And then I can take my revenge. I’m more than ready, I’ll take her down.”

“And I’ll help,” Ben chipped in, before Artemis could disagree with Merula. “Like I said, I’m not afraid of anything anymore. Not even her. I’ll protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection! The best way to protect everyone is for me to not be here.”

“Oh, come on, Hexley-”

“No, Merula. I mean it. I’m going to have to leave.”

Artemis stuck her chin out stubbornly. Ben and Merula exchanged glances, before Ben reached down and took hold of Artemis by the wrist.

“Let go! What are you doing?” she said, trying to wriggle free of his grasp. But Ben tightened his grip, and started to walk out of the courtyard, pulling Artemis with him. “Where are you taking me?”

“To someone who’ll actually be able to talk some sense into you.”

Ben took Artemis through the castle to the training grounds, where the Gryffindor Quidditch team were just returning from their morning’s practice session. At the sight of them, a look of concern came over Charlie Weasley’s face, and he waved his teammates ahead.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he approached Ben and Artemis. “What’s happened?”

“Artemis is going to do something stupid.”

“I’m not,” Artemis scowled at Ben, before sighing and turning to Charlie. “Rakepick’s escaped. They think she’s coming here.”

“Alright,” Charlie swallowed and nodded his head, his red eyebrows starting to knit together. “Who is they?”

“The Daily Prophet. And Jacob. He was leaving a message for me when Fred and George saw him on- in the forest.”

“Did he say why she’s coming here?”

“She’s after me. Like she was in the Vaults. She still wants to open them and for that she needs to… Well, you know.”

Charlie took a deep breath.

“Yeah. I know,” he almost whispered. He looked between Ben and Artemis. “So what’s the stupid thing you want to do?”

“It’s not stupid.”

“It is,” Ben contradicted Artemis. “She wants to run away.”

“What?”

“It’s not running away, Ben. I just…” Artemis shook her head. “We all know what Rakepick’s like. What she can do, and she would do. If I stay here, then she’s going to come here, and what if she hurts someone? Someone who isn’t me, just because… Because they’re here? Because they know about her or the Vaults? It’s not stupid, me going away if it keeps everyone else safe.”

“No, it’s not stupid,” said Charlie, a pained expression on his face. “It’s bloody ridiculous.”

“But-”

“You aren’t seventeen, Artemis. You aren’t even allowed to do magic out of school, how the hell do you think you’re going to keep yourself safe?”

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll-”

“Where are you going to go?” Charlie asked. “Where do you have to go to?”

“I…” Artemis tried to ignore the sting of Charlie’s words as she struggled to find an answer to his question. “I’ll go to Jacob. He’ll look after me.”

“Really? Will he?”

“Yes! He’s my brother, I’ll be safe with him.”

“It’s hardly like he’s kept you safe so far.”

Artemis opened her mouth to argue but Charlie wasn’t done.

“I know he’s your brother, but you need to stop making excuses for him,” Charlie shrugged. “You know what he’s done, and what he’s like. You know what Rakepick’s like, too. Jacob won’t be a match for her, even if he does want to protect you.”

Artemis felt her temper start to rise. “What do you mean, if he wants to protect me?”

“What I mean, is that he’s not got the best track record for sticking around, has he?”

“You said that leaving doesn’t mean not caring.”

“I know, and it doesn’t, but…” Charlie sighed. “Look, Artemis, I know it’s hard for you to keep your head together where your brother’s involved, but will you please just think about this? Think about the castle and the enchantments it has to protect it, and all the people here who can keep you far safe, far better than just Jacob could.”

“See?” Ben piped up at last, an expression of triumph on his face. “Charlie agrees with me, Artemis. We can protect you.”

“I was more talking about Dumbledore and McGonagall and all the other teachers, Ben. You know, the people who actually stand a chance against Rakepick.”

“I could stand a chance, too,” said Ben.

“Yeah,” Charlie half-laughed. “Alright.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I-”

“Oh, I get it,” Ben’s face dropped. “You know, Charlie, I’m not just some pathetic coward anymore. I’m just as good as you are.”

“I know.”

“Just because I’m not a prefect or a Quidditch captain and I don’t want to go off chasing after dragons, that doesn’t mean that you’re better than me.”

“I didn’t say that I was,” Charlie frowned.

“No, but you think it! Everyone thinks it, and you’re the worst,” Ben’s features were now contorted with a mixture of hurt, rage, and something that looked almost like fear. “Now that Bill’s gone, you think that you’re just as great as he was. Well, guess what? You aren’t.”

At Ben’s words, Charlie’s face went pale, and he looked almost wounded.

“Don’t say that, Ben,” Artemis said, already angry on Charlie’s behalf. “Don’t you dare say things like that.”

“Artemis, it’s alright…”

“No, Charlie, it’s not alright! Ben, Charlie’s never thought that he was better than you. He’s stuck up for you and believed in you, always!”

“And he told you that, did he?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Of course, because Charlie tells you everything,” Ben said, a note of pain in his voice. His eyes narrowed. “Has he told you that he’s leaving yet?”

Artemis suddenly felt cold all over.

“What?” she asked, her voice quiet and horse.

“He’s leaving Hogwarts. Leaving you, me, his brothers…”

“No. No, that’s not true. Charlie wouldn’t do that, would you, Charlie? Charlie, tell him it’s not true.”

But Charlie did no such thing. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were looking straight at Ben.

“Ben,” he said softly, “how do you know about this?”

“I saw the letter, the one from the dragon sanctuary.”

“You’ve been reading my letters?”

“I had to,” said Ben. “After what happened with Rakepick, I wasn’t sure who I could or couldn’t trust.”

“I’m your friend! You are supposed to trust me!”

“You mean it’s true?” Artemis felt as if her stomach was plummeting inside her abdomen. “You’re leaving?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Where are you going?”

“A dragon sanctuary,” said Charlie, at the exact same time as Ben said:

“Romania.”

“Romania?”

“I…” Charlie grimaced slightly. “That’s what I wanted to tell you before.”

“But you never said a thing!”

“I’ve been trying to tell you, but-”

“Well, you haven’t been trying very hard, have you? It’s not like we don’t see each other every day, or have lessons together, or live in the same building. You could have told me at any time, just like that, ever since you knew,” Artemis narrowed her eyes at him, as he looked at the floor. “How long have you known?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“How long have you known?”

“I applied for the job in the summer holidays,” Charlie admitted.

“In the summer holidays? But I was at your house then. I was right there, that whole time, you could’ve… You shouldhave told me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” Artemis shook her head angrily. “No, you can’t say you’re sorry and have it be okay, because it’s not okay at all! First Jacob leaves, and then Bill, and now you want to leave, too! And then you go and say that I can’t rely on Jacob because he left, and you have the nerve to say that I’m stupid for trying to leave, and this whole time you are going to go to bloody Romania, and you never even cared enough to tell me!”

“NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, ARTEMIS!”

Artemis recoiled from Charlie. She had never known him to raise his voice to anyone, let alone to shout at her before. Surprised, shocked, and hurt, she glared back at him.

“Bill would have told me,” she said, her voice laced with a quiet fury.

“Yeah, well,” said Charlie, shaking slightly, “I’m not Bill, am I?”

“I wish you were.”

She had known as she said the words that they were the very words that would hurt him the most, and perhaps that was why she said them, but the second she saw the pain in Charlie’s eyes, Artemis wished she could take them back. But it was too late for that.

“Right,” Charlie nodded. “Great.”

“Charlie, no. I didn’t mean… Wait.”

As Charlie started to turn from her, Artemis reached out to put a hand on his arm. He shrugged it off.

“Don’t,” he said, the hurt audible in his voice. “You’ll just make it worse.”

“That’s it, Charlie,” Ben called after him as he walked back up the path towards the castle. “Run away!”

Charlie didn’t even look as he called back:

“I’m not running away. I’m walking.”

#artemis hexley #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #charlie weasley #fred weasley #george weasley #ben copper #merula snyde #rowan khanna #nymphadora tonks #penny haywood #borf

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 1 year

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The whole “keep people guessing” thing they’re trying to do with Merula is so annoying though. They’ve done it so often that people are getting tired of it. I hate to say it but even when they did it with Rakepick it wasn’t this level of irritating. I mean at least with her we’re not forced to still care about her and be encouraged to “save” her and bring her to the right side after she did something to wrong us. Unlike Merula, that’s exactly what they’re doing. She’s treated MC appallingly from ever since I can remember yet we’re still forced to call her a “friend” and look out for her, it’s total bs. We give her chance after chance no matter how many times she fucks up and whether players actually want to or not. They’ll probably do it again after ch 38 even though there’s literally no reason why they should. It’s just the same thing over and over again with her, I’m so sick of it.

For better or for worse, I'm gonna say that Merula is the single most important character in the game, apart from MC.

I'm not even talking as a Merula stan right now. The rose colored glasses are off. I'm looking at this critically, and analyzing the narrative, and it's clear to me that Merula is the character who the story revolves around the most, by far.

Jacob is also significant but he kind of stopped mattering much at all after he was rescued from the Portrait Vault. The idea of Jacob was central to the first five years of the story, a guiding light. But as an actual character, he offers nothing to the narrative that MC doesn't already provide at this point. (Apart from answers, but for whatever reason he doesn't want to give answers, and MC has stopped asking.)

All of the Year 1 characters offer significance to the main story, at least to some degree. Well, apart from Penny. (Seriously, if you ignore any and all sidequest content, Penny's actually surprisingly irrelevant to the tale of Hogwarts Mystery.) Rowan, like Jacob, is significant to the plot more in concept than in presence, but this time I think it was intentional. The Circle of Khanna, Rowan's death, was the first time they'd played a major role in the story since Year 2. Not that I'm saying this is a good thing, but a significant part of Rowan's death was how it furthered Ben's character arc. Ben is probably the second most important character after Merula - there's a reason the two of them, alongside MC, were the Circle's founders.

But Merula. Oh god.

She's established in the first two chapters. She's been a constant presence ever since, a thorn in MC's side. She literally has her own track in the OST. (Though it's shockingly underused.) The only other character who does is Jacob. (And his theme is dreadfully overused, to the point where it's just a general "emotional moment" theme now...) I think Merula, and her character, were always significant to the story the writers wanted to tell. And, yes, part of that story is showing us her human side.

Honestly, I know I compare Merula to Draco a lot these days, but it's not like there isn't reason to. The further we get into the story, the more I feel like Merula's character is almost written as a response to his, and/or a kind of wish fulfillment for everyone who was rooting for him to be redeemed. (Merula canonically has a hawthorn wand, same as Draco, which is noted for choosing people going through "turmoil" and "inner conflict.") Because I do expect Merula to be redeemed. Yes, even now, I'd argue that the signs are pointing in that direction more than ever. Which is also a good thing for a number of reasons, but among them is this: Merula as just a straight up one-note antagonist would get pretty boring after a while. Draco, as a one-note bully, had already gotten stale by OOTP, until HBP fleshed him out. Showing us another side of Merula is a good way to develop her as a character significant to the story.

The thing is, there's no way to show us another side of Merula if the heroes aren't willing to listen. As a result, MC and the Circle simply have to listen. This can be frustrating when the characters arguably have no reason to hear her out, and plenty of reason not to...but I think the writers are banking on the idea that after everything MC has been through with Merula, it's not unreasonable that they might have developed some amount of fondness for her, or pity, if nothing else. Even if it's just pity, just MC being a good person - I realize how irritating this is for people who are sick of her, but, again, something else I've said before is that Jacob's Sibling is not ours. We get to decide a lot of what is true about them, personalize them, but at the end of the day their lines and reactions are still pre-written by Jam City. I think it's clear that Year 5, and especially "About Merula" were meant to signal a change in how MC sees her. The player might not agree. But unfortunately, I think we all just have to go with it.

#Merula Snyde #HPHM Analysis #Fandom Analysis #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery #The Circle of Khanna #HPHM Spoilers

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