Chapter One – The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
King's Cross Station was packed with muggles, as usual. Men, women, and children alike milled about, trying to find their platforms and get on their trains to find seats. Trollies were pushed around with large suitcases, bumping into people at times and disrupting the flow of foot traffic through the train station.
Artemis Avery was one of those people, accompanied by her parents and younger brother, Janus, except that none of them were muggles. She pushed her own trolley, upon which was her large trunk with a single A on the lid, a book bag filled with her first year books purchased from Flourish and Blotts several weeks earlier, and a gilded cage with her barn owl, Meg. Her other school supplies were packed neatly in her trunk, including her heavy cauldron for potions, golden scales, gloves, her school robes, and everything else she or her parents thought she would need between September 1st and Christmas break.
"Platform nine and three quarters!" Artemis heard somewhere behind her. A quick glance over her shoulder showed her the matriarch of the Weasley family, Molly, and several of her redheaded children making their way to the platform, not far behind the Averys. Artemis had heard stories of the Weasleys - her parents called them bloodtraitors - and knew that they were easily identifiable by their bright red hair, old clothes, and second-hand school supplies. She didn't know the names of the children, although she knew that several Weasleys were already Hogwarts students and another one would be starting year one with her.
Madame Avery rolled her eyes and ushered Artemis and Janus forward until they stood just in front of the platform entrance, blocking Artemis's view of the Weasley family. "That hideous woman needs to stop yelling about the platform unless she wants the aurors to show up."
Master Avery patted his wife's arm soothingly. "Don't worry dear, no one is paying attention to her - and even if they were, no one would worry about the ramblings of a woman in tattered clothes in the middle of a train station." Taking his attention from his wife, he leaned down to his eleven year-old daughter and put a hand on her shoulder, gesturing forward. "You remember what we talked about to get onto the platform, yes?"
"Yes, papa," she said, staring at the brick wall positioned between platforms nine and ten.
"Then let's go," he said. He reached around her and grasped the handle of the trolley next to her hands, and they set off at a brisk pace toward the wall.
Artemis felt a stab of fear as they neared the wall. She knew how to get to the platform of course; she'd been told several times growing up and had accompanied one of her older cousins to the train one year, but even with magic, she did not like running directly into a brick wall.
Into was the perfect word, for Master Avery and Artemis did not hit the wall, but merely ran through it like it was nothing more than a cloud. Artemis's eyes cleared quickly as they arrived on the platform for the Hogwarts Express.
The large red train awaited them, steam billowing out of a pipe at the front of the train. They continued walking in the direction of the rest of the families gathering, and Madame Avery and Janus appeared behind them moments later.
The Avery family was relatively early to the station. Madame Avery insisted that they avoid the crowds - whether to avoid people who might turn them in for dark magic or seeing more muggle families with magical children than ever before, Artemis did not know. She was glad that she would get the first choice of compartments, however, and she was excited to find Draco.
Draco Malfoy, one of her only childhood friends. Artemis and her brother were only allowed to interact with other children of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and even then, Madame Avery was determined that they would not be around the children of bloodtraitors. She also spent quite a bit of time with Pansy Parkinson, a girl Artemis found altogether dull, and the Greengrass sisters. Daphne would be in Artemis's year as well, and Artemis was not particularly looking forward to sharing a dorm with her, assuming that they both were sorted into Slytherin.
If their parents had any say in it, there would be no other option for any of the Malfoy, Greengrass, Parkinson, or Avery children - they would all undoubtedly be in Slytherin.
Artemis had her luggage loaded into the train, keeping her small bag that included some money her parents had given her for the term, her lucky medallion, and probably some dried nettles floating around the bottom of the bag. Her wand (walnut, eleven and one quarter inches, thestral hair, unbending) was tucked inside the long sleeve of her shirt for easy access. She didn't know many spells, only lumos, nox, and alohamora, since it was technically illegal for an underaged witch or wizard to do magic outside of Hogwarts.
However, she knew that it was also illegal for her parents to have served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, so she figured that her learning a few of the most basic charms before classes actually began was a relatively low risk.
Madame Avery pulled Artemis aside after her things were loaded into the train. "Now, Artemis, I wanted to make sure you understand your role here," she said, her voice high and cold. Artemis couldn't remember a single time in her life that she heard her mother's voice as anything besides high and cold.
"Yes, mama," she said, keeping her voice meek. Over the years, she had come to realize that while her father was the head of the household, her mother held all the power (and all the money) of the Avery family and was to be treated with the utmost respect unless she wanted to be disowned by her entire family. Keeping a meek persona around her mother allowed her to glide through the house like she was their golden child, when in reality, all she wanted to do was talk to people her own age who didn't want He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to rise to power. Draco was a good friend, but he was easily swayed by his father's ideals.
"I expect that you will be sorted into Slytherin as every Avery before you has been," Madame Avery said, "and that you will get high marks in every class. I have already spoken to the Malfoys and Lucius has talked to Draco's godfather, the potions master at Hogwarts, to keep an eye on the both of you and make sure that you two stay out of trouble."
Artemis thought that getting Severus Snape to watch over them at school was a bit extreme - they had only snuck off and used some magical fireworks once that summer and their parents had separated them until school began. It was enough of a punishment - next time they wanted to do something fun, they would know better than to just sneak out. By next summer, they would surely know spells that would help them meet up - and spells that would be far more fun that just a few firecrackers.
However, she was excited to learn potions from her best friend's godfather. She wanted nothing more than to be potions master one day. She'd spent most of her allowance on potions books and ingredients, practicing in her bathroom at home. She had almost mastered the fire-breathing potion (she couldn't get much more than sparks to come out of her mouth, but she knew she almost had it) and had a small stock of swelling solution that Draco had asked her to brew up if she could to use throughout the school year. He would likely want to prank people, and she told him she would help where she could, but she mainly wanted to study potions.
If she had it her way, she would become the best potions master in the world and invent new potions. Maybe something to allow temporary mind reading or a potion that mimicked the effects of gillyweed without having to choke down slimy leaves. Something wonderful that would make her mark on the world and give some pride back to the Avery name. She didn't want to be associated with a family whose name was best known for helping He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but if she had to be, she would do her best to distance herself from it.
"I'm sure you will make us proud," her mother sniffed.
"Of course, mama," Artemis said.
There were no hugs goodbye except between Artemis and her younger brother, who looked to be only barely holding back his tears that she was going to Hogwarts without him. Janus was only six years old and would be starting Hogwarts when Artemis was getting ready to take her OWLs. She knew that after this, she likely wouldn't have much time for him, since she wasn't planning on returning home for holidays if at all possible. But out of anyone in her family, she certainly loved her brother.
"I'll write you every week," she promised him. "You can send all of your notes back through Meg."
Janus sniffed but nodded and hugged her again.
Their mother chided him as he did so. "Stop making a fuss," she hissed under her breath so no one else would hear.
Artemis climbed on the train with one last farewell wave and began to walk down the corridor to find Draco, whom she was sure was already on the train.
She was right. He was already seated in a compartment with his two other friends, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and they were trading chocolate frog cards.
"Hello, Artemis," Draco said when she entered the compartment. He looked like he almost wanted to get up and hug her, but didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his friends. "Good to see you again."
It felt so formal, Artemis thought. It had only been a few weeks since they'd seen one another, and they'd written since then. She hated how cold he was becoming, likely because of his father.
Artemis sat down lightly on the edge of her seat, wishing that she'd gotten into trading chocolate frog cards long ago (her mother had forbidden them in the house, saying they were disgusting creatures). She watched them trade for a while, not making her own input and just observing. Draco made snide remarks when Crabbe tried to offer him a Dumbledore card for a Merlin one that Draco had been holding onto for quite a while.
Soon, the train started up and quickly picked up speed. Artemis noticed several red haired boys walking down the hall outside their compartment headed in different directions, and she felt strange watching the Weasleys make their way to compartments on the train. The youngest, Artemis figured, was the one peeking into each compartment trying to find a place to sit. He had dirt on his nose and looked slightly miserable, which she thought was fair. They were toward the back of the train and there were obviously few places left to sit.
Once the foot traffic settled down, the only sounds Artemis heard were the roar of the train and Draco making an exchange for a Salazar Slytherin card.
"Did you know that Harry Potter is going to be at Hogwarts this year?" Draco asked her after a while, finally ending his trading session.
She looked up suddenly from where she had been fiddling with her wand. Sparks dripped, tiny and lazy, from the end of it onto her lap and disappeared. "Mama had mentioned something about it," she said, "but I didn't know for sure."
"He's probably on the train right now," Draco said, glancing around slyly like Harry was hiding invisibly in their compartment. "I wonder where he's been all these years. I wonder what he looks like."
Unlike other children their age, Draco and Artemis never played make believe that they were the Boy Who Lived. Not only would their parents have forbidden it had they found out they had, but neither child was particularly interested in pretending to be Harry Potter. Instead, they speculated who he was, where he was, and what adventures he'd gotten into since defeating the Dark Lord. In their make believe games, they went on adventures, fighting giants, killing trolls, riding dragons, and anything else they could come up with. They hadn't played such games since they were small children, and now that they were a bit older, they knew how ridiculous it was that a boy their age was off on those adventures, but it was the best they could do.
After they stopped playing make believe, they had started with magical firecrackers, but they found the latter to be much more fun.
"I heard he has a scar," Artemis added, pointing to her forehead. She had heard her father saying something about it not too long before heading to Hogwarts. "It's shaped like lightning."
Draco's eyes widened. "I think I met him," he said, thinking back to his robes fitting in Diagon Alley a few weeks prior. "He was with that half-giant that works at Hogwarts."
Artemis's eyebrows furrowed. "The half-giant?" she asked. Her parents had mentioned odd "creatures" who worked at Hogwarts, but she couldn't remember any mention of a half-giant.
"The gamekeeper," Draco explained. "I don't remember his name, Mum was talking about it with Father a few months ago when I got my letter. Father was debating having me go to Durmstrang instead, but decided that Hogwarts was a Malfoy legacy and I just had to go. I don't remember them mentioning a name."
Artemis nodded, taking in this new information. She thought she'd learned everything about Hogwarts that she could, and here she was, on her way there and still learning new things.
She already knew about the different Houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, and where their dormitories were located. She knew about the Sorting ceremony, who the Heads of Houses were, how the points system worked for the House Cup. She knew that when she became a second year, she would try out for the Quidditch team and that she wanted to be a beater (and that she wanted to wait until the coveted Nimbus 2001 came out before asking her parents for a new broom). She knew that her family expected her to be in Slytherin but that she didn't necessarily want to be, if only to intentionally disappoint them. She knew that there were secret passageways in the castle that could help her and Draco with pranks, should they be able to discover them, and that to get into the kitchens, she would have to tickle the pear in a portrait in the dungeons.
She also knew about the people, at least in general. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, and his deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Professor Snape, Draco's godfather, the potions professor, and the Head of Slytherin House. Various other professors she knew she would encounter at one point or another in the next seven years, along with the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch. Her parents had complained about him being a squib for so long that she felt she had already met him (and had decided to stay as far out of his way as possible). She had not, however, heard anything about the gamekeeper being a half-giant.
"I don't think many people know," Draco finally said with a shrug. He turned to look out the window, watching the scenery roll past as they sped toward Hogwarts. "Seems rather unfortunate to me."
Artemis said nothing. She knew the stigma against giants, and half-giants, especially to families like her own and Draco's. Obviously, it was a very well-hidden secret if even her father didn't know, or if her mother had managed not to say it.
They were quiet for a while. Crabbe and Goyle continued trading cards back and forth for a while as the train roared on.
Sometime later, a girl their age with bushy brown hair and already wearing her school robes slid their compartment door open. "Have you seen a toad anywhere?" she asked, her voice sounding rather pretentious as if she were on a very important mission. "A boy named Neville's lost one."
Draco was already rearing back with a sneer, likely to tell her to shove off and that obviously they hadn't seen a toad since their door had been closed, but Artemis cut him off. "We haven't," she said, "the door's been closed since we started moving."
The girl looked disappointed, but nodded and closed the door again.
"She didn't look familiar, did she?" Draco asked, eying the door.
"No," Artemis confirmed.
"Must be a mudblood," he muttered under his breath.
Artemis froze. She had heard the term out of her parents' mouths dozens of times, even out of the Malfoy family's mouths, but she'd never heard Draco use the slur.
He noticed her shock and shrugged. "It's true," he said. "I'd recognize a pureblood, or even a half-blood student. The only ones I don't know are mudbloods, for obvious reasons."
Artemis glared at him. "You shouldn't use that word," she said angrily. "It's cruel."
He looked at her for a moment and then had to look away, going back to staring at the landscape. He didn't reply, but it seemed as if he'd caved to her wish.
At least for now.