Chapter Text
The summer holidays always saw large crowds at the beach at Charcombe Regis. As soon as the weather turned balmy, tourists and locals alike flocked to the pebbled shore, with the beach quickly becoming an obstacle course of towels, buckets, and inflatable rubber rings.
With so many swimmers, sunbathers, and dogwalkers around, no one would really notice a small and skinny, dark-haired teenager lying on a towel, eating an ice cream and reading a book. Or, at least, they wouldn’t unless they looked closer and realised that she was sharing a towel with a particularly laid-back cat with fur the colour of marmalade, and that the book she was reading had the title ‘Mesopotamian Maledictions: An Introduction to the Ancient Curses of the Levant’.
Artemis Hexley and Fergus the cat had been staying in Dorset with her Great-Aunt and Uncle for almost three weeks whilst her school, Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was closed for the summer. Two of those weeks had been spent with her best friend and top student, Rowan Khanna, who had immensely enjoyed reading her way through her Uncle’s large collection of books on magical creatures. The other two girls who shared a dormitory with Rowan and Artemis, Penny Haywood and Dora Tonks (who preferred to be called her by surname only), had also joined them for a week. All three of Artemis’ girlfriends had now gone back home to their own families, but Artemis had stayed in Dorset, desperate to avoid going back to her mother’s narrow terraced house and silent stares in London.
“They should be here by now, Ferg,” Artemis mused, closing her book and sitting up to check the golden watch on her right ankle. It was an unusual looking watch, with five swinging hands and several dials. Artemis herself didn’t know what half of them were for. “How long does it take to fly less than twenty miles to the coast?”
Fergus merely purred in response and twisted his ginger furry body to soak up some more of the sunlight. Artemis squinted into the distance, her hand held across her brow to shield her eyes from the August sun. Further along the beach, she could just about see two boys around her own age walking in her direction, both of them with distinctive red hair.
“Bill!” she called out. She leapt up and waved, sending a shower of sand over a disgruntled Fergus. “Over here!”
Bill Weasley was one of Artemis’ closest friends and confidants, despite being two years her senior and in another house at school. They had bonded in Artemis’ second year over their mutual love of curse-breaking, and together had battled to enter and investigate the first of Hogwarts’ infamous Cursed Vaults.
“Alright, Artemis,” Bill said as he approached her. “Oh, ‘Mesopotamian Maledictions’. You know, I could have leant you that one, Rowan bought it for me for Christmas last year.”
“I know she did,” Artemis nodded, ducking away from Bill as he reached down to ruffle her already messy hair. “She thought it looked interesting, so she went back to Tomes and Scrolls to buy herself a copy as well. Which means that it is basically half mine, seeing as we pretty much share everything anyway. How are you, Charlie?”
“Not bad,” Charlie, Bill’s younger brother, was in the same year as Artemis at school. They had trained two Crup puppies in their Care of Magical Creatures class the year before, both of which now lived with Artemis’ aunt and uncle. This would be the second time the two boys had flown over to visit Artemis and the Crups, Scully and Dragon. “It’s packed down here, isn’t it?”
“I know, I was hoping we could take the Crups down here for a walk, but it’s pretty hot for them, and besides, there’s far too many Muggles,” said Artemis, looking around the crowded beach. Crups were known for being aggressive to non-wizards. “We might just have to sit with them in the garden at Aunt Tina’s.”
“Sounds good to me,” Bill said. “I’m happy with whatever, as long as I get an ice cream at some point.”
“I’ve got some Muggle money on me, I’ll get you one,” Artemis gave her half-finished ice cream to Bill to hold as she rolled up her towel. “They’re not nearly as good as the ones at Florian Fortescue’s in Diagon Alley, mind you. Come on, Fergus, time to go back to the house.”
“Talking of Diagon Alley, have you seen the set texts for Defence Against the Arts this year?” Bill said as they started to walk up the beach. “Sounds like the new Professor could be interesting.”
“Can’t be worse than the last three, can they?”
It was almost a tradition at Hogwarts for a new teacher to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts job each year. All three of Artemis’ previous professors had each been as useless as the one before.
“I’m not sure,” Bill frowned. “Three books by Gilderoy Lockhart and ‘Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don’t Deserve to Live’. Not exactly promising, is it?”
“I just hope Penny doesn’t get too upset, you know how afraid she is of werewolves,” Artemis sighed. It was common knowledge that werewolves were Penny’s greatest fear, although only the other Hufflepuff girls and Penny’s friend Talbott knew the exact reason why. “Whoever this new Professor is, they seem to really love them.”
“Or really hate them,” muttered Charlie.
“Yeah, that sounds more likely,” Artemis shrugged. “To be honest, I’m more interested to find out who this Curse-Breaker is that Dumbledore’s hired.”
After Artemis and Bill’s exploits in the Vault in her second year, and Artemis’ venture into a second Cursed Vault with several other friends only a few months earlier, the headmaster had decided to hire a professional Curse-Breaker to investigate the school. Given Artemis’ interest in the Cursed Vaults, and the fact that Bill wanted to become a Curse-Breaker himself when he was older, the idea of a real Curse-Breaker at Hogwarts was thrilling to both of them.
“I was thinking the exact same thing,” Bill grinned. “Hey, maybe you and I can offer to help her with her investigation?”
“I’d love to,” Artemis sighed. “But Professor Dumbledore told me to stay away from the Cursed Vaults.”
“Yes, because that has always stopped you before...”
The rest of August flew by, and soon Artemis had to return to her mother’s house in London. Sara Hexley treated her daughter’s arrival home as she did everything else that Artemis had done since her brother Jacob went missing six years previously: with complete indifference.
“Aunt Tina sends her love. She says you’re welcome to stay with them for Christmas this year,” Artemis said, not sure if her mother was listening or not. “If you do, you’ll be able to meet the Cruppies. Though, they’re not really Cruppies any more, they’ve gotten so much bigger.”
Sara Hexley did not respond. Artemis continued, not really knowing why she was bothering to do so.
“Scully’s finally stopped chewing all the doorframes, so that’s good,” she said. “And you should’ve seen the look on Bill’s brother’s face when he met Uncle Newt. Did you know that Uncle Newt tried to train dragons in the Ukraine one time? He told us all about it. He’d never told me that story before, but Aunt Tina said that’s because it’s supposed to be classified information and he’s not actually meant to tell anyone about it at all. Has he ever told you? Ma?”
Artemis’ question received no answer. Frustrated, she turned her attention to a glass vase shaped like a Horned Serpent on a bookshelf. Her hand gripped tightly around her wand, she narrowed her eyes at the vase, and it shattered loudly. Her mother jumped at the noise.
“Oh, so you can hear, then,” said Artemis, and she stormed up to her bedroom. She and Sara didn’t utter a single word to one another for the few days that remained of the school holidays.
Excited to go back to school and see her friends, Artemis woke early on the first of September, and left Lovelace Terrace for Kings Cross station before she heard her mother stirring. Before she walked out of the house, she left her mother a note on the kitchen table to wish her goodbye until the end of term.
At the station, she was reunited with Rowan, Penny, and Tonks, and after sharing hugs with each other, and polite greetings to each other’s parents, the Hufflepuff girls climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express and found an empty carriage. A quarter of an hour after the train had pulled out of Platform Nine and Three Quarters, they were joined by Tulip Karasu, a Ravenclaw girl in their year who had joined them last year to help break into the Cursed Vault.
“Wotcher, Tulip,” Tonks greeted their friend and swung her feet off the seat to make room for Tulip to sit down. “How was your summer?”
“It was okay,” Tulip smiled. “Mum and Dad were as strict as always, so didn’t get up to much that was fun.”
“Don’t worry, Tulip, we’ll soon make up for it,” Tonks grinned. Both she and Tulip shared the same talent for troublemaking. “Tell you what, I have some dungbombs in my trunk. Fancy taking them down to the Slytherin carriage in a bit?”
“Absolutely,” said Tulip, a mischeivious smile creeping across her face. “Why wait until after lunch?”
Cackling, Tonks and Tulip slipped away down the train, their pockets full of dungbombs.
“Really?” said Rowan as she watched them leave over the top of her book. “We’ve not even left London and Tonks is pulling pranks already.”
“I think that might be a new record,” Artemis laughed.
“I just feel sorry for the Slytherins,” sighed Penny, as kind as always. “Poor Barnaby Lee will be in that carriage, and he’s our friend.”
It wasn’t long before the girls were joined by Barnaby, a boy from Slytherin House with a tough-looking exterior and a heart of gold.
“Please can I sit with you guys?” he asked politely. “Someone’s stunk out our carriage.”
“Of course you can,” Artemis smiled warmly. “Fergus, move over so Barnaby can sit down.”
“Thanks,” Barnaby sat in the seat that Fergus had been occupying. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“My Uncle Cecil is coming to work at Hogwarts this year,” he told them, as he picked up Fergus and cuddled him, much to Fergus’ obvious displeasure. Artemis tried not to laugh at the look on her beloved cat’s face. “He’s going to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.”
“Oh, the one with the werewolves?” Rowan asked, putting her book down to talk to Barnaby, as Penny took a shaky breath. The previous summer, Penny’s cousin had been attacked and killed by a werewolf right in front of her. Artemis offered Penny a supportive smile, which her friend returned.
“Yes, he used to work in the Ministry as part of the Werewolf Recapture Unit,” Barnaby continued. “But he left this summer.”
“How come?”
“He says he was overqualified for the role,” Barnaby said, matter-of-factly. “So he’s coming to teach here instead.”
“What’s he like?”
“Nicer than my dad.”
No one spoke for a few moments, and Fergus wriggled out of Barnaby’s arms and climbed up on to Artemis’ lap, glaring at him.
“Wotcher, Barnaby,” Tonks interrupted the silence as she crashed back into the carriage. “Sorry about the smell.”
“Where’s Tulip?” Artemis asked.
“We got caught by the trolley lady, so we had to split up and run away,” Tonks explained breathlessly as she sat back down. “I’m sure she’ll be back later, once everyone’s had lunch.”
But by the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Tulip had yet to return to the carriage.
“Hopefully she didn’t get caught by the trolley lady,” Tonks frowned.
“I’m sure she’s just with the other Ravenclaws,” Penny said, her smile fading slightly as they climbed into the horseless carriages that took them from the station to the castle. Artemis knew why; the carriages were pulled by Thestrals, winged horses that could only be seen by those who, like Penny, had witnessed a death. “Look, there’s Ben. Does he look upset to you?”
Artemis turned to where Penny was looking. The fourth year Gryffindor boys were climbing into a carriage several metres behind them. Among them was their friend Ben Copper, an incredibly nervous boy who had suffered memory loss as the result of being caught in the Cursed Ice during their second year. Penny was right, Ben looked even more anxious than usual.
“He’s always upset about something,” Rowan muttered. Artemis sighed. Rowan and Ben had once been close friends, but they were no longer on great terms, as she had always been sceptical about the extent of his memory loss.
“Don’t worry, Penny,” said Artemis, “I’ll check on him after the feast. I hope there’s Bakewell tart!”
The start-of-term feast always began after the Sorting Ceremony. The four girls took seats at the Hufflepuff table to watch the first years sorted into their houses.
“Does it always take this long?” Tonks asked, her stomach rumbling, as ‘Clearwater, Penelope’ was sorted into Ravenclaw house. “I’m wasting away here.”
As Penny and Tonks pondered what food they would soon be eating, Artemis scanned along the top table where the staff sat. A tall, broad-shouldered man with a brown handlebar moustache and preposterously high cheekbones was seated at one end of the table.
“He’s got to be Barnaby’s uncle,” she whispered to Rowan. “They look so similar.”
“Does that mean that she’s the Curse-Breaker?” Rowan hissed back, her eyes focused on another unfamiliar face at the opposite end of the table.
Artemis followed her gaze and found herself looking at a lady in red robes who was watching the Sorting with a calm, almost disinterested, look on her face. The lady was tall and lean, and beautiful, with strong facial features and hair even redder than Bill’s. Artemis turned around in her seat and craned her neck to see if Bill had been looking, too, but she didn’t see him at the Gryffindor table.
“Must be. Do you see Bill?”
“No,” Rowan also looked down the length of the Great Hall. “He’s probably having to do some important Prefect duty.”
“Probably,” Artemis nodded. “That’s a shame, he’d have loved to have seen a proper Curse-Breaker.”
Artemis spent the rest of the Sorting Ceremony watching the red-headed lady at the top table. She was reminded distinctly of a big cat poised ready to pounce. Eventually, ‘Weasley, Percy’ and ‘Wood, Oliver’ were both sorted into Gryffindor House, and the Sorting was over.
“Another Weasley?” said Murphy McNully, a Hufflepuff boy in their own year, sitting in his chair the other side of Penny. “I didn’t know Bill and Charlie had another brother.”
“Oh, yeah,” Tonks told him. “There’s bloody loads of them, like twelve or so. I think their parents might be Catholic or something.”
“Shh, Dumbledore’s starting his speech!”
“Welcome, welcome, welcome,” said Professor Dumbledore. He spread out his arms and his eyes twinkled over his half-moon glasses, “to another year at Hogwarts. Now, I do not want to keep you much longer from your delicious meal, but I do have a few announcements to make before the feast can commence.
“Firstly, I would like to introduce to you, Professor Cecil Lee, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Lee comes to us having spent the last seven years working in the Beasts division of the Ministry of Magic, and I am sure will be an excellent asset. Secondly, Mr Filch the caretaker has asked me to remind students that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, and that there are five Zonko’s items that have been added to his list of contraband, taking the number of items banned from school grounds to a grand total of three hundred and twelve. A complete itemised list is available from Mr Filch upon request.”
Tonks groaned loudly, and Artemis thought she saw Dumbledore’s eyes rest on her friend briefly before he continued.
“Thirdly, and finally, I would like to introduce Patricia Rakepick. Madam Rakepick was once a student of Hogwarts herself, and is now the highly accomplished Head Curse-Breaker at Gringotts Bank. Gringotts have very graciously let us borrow her, and her vast wealth of knowledge and expertise, in order to investigate further the mysterious Cursed Vaults. I must again stress with great seriousness that any students found to be meddling in the Vaults will be punished most severely.”
There was no doubt about it this time, his eyes definitely rested on Artemis, as did those of Madam Rakepick. Artemis took a deep breath, before defiantly raising her chin to meet the stare of the Curse-Breaker.
The corners of Madam Rakepick’s mouth twitched into a small smirk, and she broke eye contact with Artemis, instead turning her gaze back to Dumbledore. She rose from her seat, and Dumbledore bowed his head gently.
“It is my understanding that our honoured guest wishes to say a few words,” he said, smiling at the woman. “Madam Rakepick, the stage is yours.”
Professor Dumbledore stepped aside as Madam Rakepick strode to the front of the daïs. Her movements were as powerful as they were graceful, and she carried herself with a sort of confident consciousness, as if she were aware of every single pair of eyes that were currently fixed on her. She was clearly someone who was used to being looked at, Artemis thought, and was comfortable with people looking. Possibly, she even enjoyed it.
“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, for your glowing introduction,” said the Curse-Breaker, in a voice that was at once clipped and resonant. She gave the headmaster a curt nod of her head, and raised a single arched eyebrow. “Personally, I am still shocked that you invited me here, after all the trouble I gave you as a student.”
She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips into a mischievous smirk, as a smattering of quiet laughs echoed through the Great Hall. Behind Rakepick, Artemis saw Professor Snape scowling. As the laughter died down, Madam Rakepick continued her speech.
“As the headmaster has already informed you, I am the Head Curse-Breaker at Gringotts Bank, but I will be spending this year at Hogwarts investigating the Cursed Vaults. I understand that many of you have had dealings with the Vaults already. Perhaps you have been a victim of a Curse, perhaps you have even entered one of the Vaults. Either way, it is likely that you will be of interest to me,” Madam Rakepick pushed her cloak back from her sides, and placed her hands on her hips. The room was silent. “I will be conducting a number of interviews, and possibly even looking for assistants to help manage my paperwork. If you are helpful to me, I will make sure that I am helpful to you.
“However,” her face grew hard and dark as she continued, “I will not tolerate unsolicited interference from anyone, student or staff. I must therefore warn each and every one of you to stay away from the Vaults, and more importantly, stay out of my way.”
With that warning, Madam Rakepick swept away from the front of the daïs. It wasn’t until she had returned to her seat, Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands together, and food magically appeared on the four long tables, that the whispers began to echo through the Great Hall.
“She seems delightful,” Tonks scoffed.
“She’s obviously a very powerful witch,” Penny said, diplomatically, “but did you see Ben’s face when she walked up and started talking?”
“No, why?”
“He went as white as a sheet,” she bit her lip. “He still looks shaken up now.”
All four girls turned their heads towards the Gryffindor table. Even from the distance, they could see that Ben Copper was trembling.
“Maybe he knows her,” Rowan said. “I keep saying he’s more clued up about the Vaults than he lets on.”
Before Artemis could respond to Rowan’s comment, she and her friends were approached by Andre Egwu, a Ravenclaw student in their own year.
“Hey, lovelies,” he said, leaning on the table, his eyes narrowed with concern. “Where did Tulip go when she got off the train?”
“Not a clue,” Tonks frowned. “I thought she was with you lot.”
“No, she stayed with us until we all changed into our uniforms, but then she said she was going to find you guys again,” said Andre. He was looking more worried by the second. “None of us saw her after that. We thought she was with you.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Rowan muttered into her mashed potato.
“We should go and look for her,” Artemis stood up, her plate still half-full. “Are you coming, Andre?”
“Of course,” he said, and the two of them walked towards the door out of the Great Hall. “It’s not like Tulip to miss the start-of-term feast. I hope she’s okay.”
As they left the Great Hall, they bumped into Bill Weasley.
“Artemis!” he said, sounding surprised. “I was just coming to look for you.”
“You were? Why?”
“Well, there’s been a bit of a situation,” he said, and he cast a suspicious look at Andre.
“We’ve got a bit of a situation, too,” Artemis told him. “We’re looking for Tulip Karasu. She never made it off the train.”
“Oh, she made it off the train, alright,” Bill said, raising his eyebrows. “I think you’d both better come with me.”