Artemis Lavender Riddle was not impressed.

Her best friend Heather Smith was a crying mess and she didn't know what to do. It was the last day of year six and she had been drowning in the tears of other people for over six hours. Honestly, she didn't understand: a week ago, everyone had been declaring how much they couldn't wait to leave but then today they had all been messes.

Primary school had always been too easy for Artemis and all she wanted to do was to go home and watch television. She was pretty sure they'd be showing a new episode of her favourite cartoon and wondered what animated adventures the characters would be getting themselves into now.

Alas... She had to deal with Heather and her tears. Heather who hadn't stopped crying from when they had walked to school in the morning to now when they were walking home in the mid-afternoon. Artemis didn't know what to do. She almost wished that Heather's lips would close entirely so she wouldn't have to deal with it any more. She practically willed for it to happen but much to her dismay, it didn't.

Sometimes strange things happened around Artemis when she wanted them to. This one time her mum had forced her to wear a pair of shoes three sizes too big to school. She just knew she would be the laughing stock of year four and kept on wishing that they would shrink. In the morning, they were her perfect size which meant that either her feet were now the size of boats or the shoes had actually shrunk. Her mum had been so baffled but let it slide because she didn't know how to explain it.

This other time she had gone on a school trip to a bird sanctuary just outside London. It was barely a 'sanctuary' considering the fact the birds were all caged up and looked pretty annoyed. During their lunch break all the cages mysteriously opened simultaneously and chaos erupted as the birds were free to make their great escape. Funny enough, every time she brought it up, everyone looked at her as if she were crazy and gently ignored her. It was as if they had all forgotten the incident entirely.

After depositing Heather at her block of flats across the estate, Artemis went home. Her mum wouldn't be home for another two hours or so, which meant she'd be alone to do what she'd like for a blissful while. She slung out her key and shoved it into the lock, whistling a low tune as she did so. Her foot kicked at a whole stack of letters as soon as she entered the door and she looked at them without any interest. They were all probably bills and the more there were, the crabbier her mum would be during dinner so their very presence would end up being a hassle to her anyway.

Not bothering to look at them, Artemis picked them up and put them on the side table before dumping her bag underneath the coat hooks. She made herself some toast and lounged in front of the television, feeling both accomplished and free.

A few hours later, her mum came home. Artemis saw her shadow through the living room door and took her feet off the sofa to avoid that argument. It was only a matter of moments before her mum would start complaining about something.

"Artemis! Could you please not keep your bag on the floor?"

"Sorry," She muttered in response and flicked the channel from cartoons to the news.

Her mum came into the room and turned on the lights, looking through the letters with disdain clear on her face. Her nose scrunched up and she stretched one letter out to Artemis.

"This is for you," She said, barely glancing at the front of it.

"Me?"

"It has your name on it," Her mum dropped it in her lap and opened a bill with a frown.

Artemis picked up the weird letter with her own little frown. The envelope was old fashioned and had bright green cursive handwriting on the style. She thought it was pretty but didn't take much time to admire it because her attention shifted to something a little peculiar.

"Mum," She started, peering at the letter with sheer confusion.

Her mother, who had just opened a window and was in the process of putting her hair up looked back at her. "Hm?"

"Why does it say my surname is Moonley?"

Her mum froze. Her hair dropped. And then all of a sudden, she was across the room and snatching the letter out of Artemis' hands. She blinked at the empty space that had suddenly appeared between her hands. Her mum had never ever moved that fast before, not even at the parents run during sports day.

"Mum?" She questioned. Her mother was now proceeding to tear the letter into thin little strips, avoiding a thick red seal that Artemis hadn't even noticed.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry dear, this is just spam mail. I didn't think they still sent it by bills but there we go!" Her mum let out a forced laugh.

"Why did it say Moonley though?" Artemis pulled on a particularly long strand of her thick dark curly hair, still not appeased. Something - something other than the fake laugh that followed after the excuse her mum gave her - was making her feel like there was more behind this.

Her mum simply shrugged. "Probably them mixing up your last name with someone else's. Yeah, that's what it was." She nodded to herself as if to reassure that she was right. "I mean, Moonley? What a name."

Artemis shrugged. She could tell her mum didn't want to talk about it anymore so she dropped it, put her feet up and watched the very boring news man with the bright tie talk about current affairs.

It happened two weeks into the summer holiday.

Artemis had all but forgotten about the strange letter her mum ripped up on her last day of school. Her days were consumed by waking up late, being lazy, eating snacks and sometimes playing in the park behind her building. Even her mum had relaxed a little.

One day, however, she was awoken very early by a sharp tap on the door. Artemis figured it was the post man and turned over in her bed. It probably wasn't that important anyway. But when the tapping didn't stop, she forced herself out of bed to go and yell at them. Artemis grumbled to herself all through the hallway and yanked the door open but nobody was there.

She peered at the empty balcony with confusion and then rubbed her eyes. Maybe someone was playing a joke on her.

Just as she was about to close the door, Artemis heard a loud and definitive hoot. She looked down and jumped back in surprise because there was a very fat barn owl sitting just outside the door and blinking its big eyes at her. It hooted, probably after realising that she was staring at it.

Artemis didn't know what to do.

"Uh, hello."

The owl looked at her blankly. She bent down until she was at knee level with it. It made a squawking sound and took a few steps back, revealing a padded old looking letter. She frowned. It was the same letter that she had received two weeks before.

Artemis picked it up and peered at her name on the front. It still said Moonley as her surname. Something was definitely off here.

"Is this for me?" She asked the owl. It almost gave her a sceptical look back, as if it were saying 'do you think I can speak?'

She opened it up, still crouched down outside and took out the first letter. It was written in cursive green inked handwriting that made her eyes hurt slightly because it was so bright.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Miss Moonley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Fillius Flitwick

Deputy Headmaster

Hogwarts? Witchcraft and Wizardry?

Artemis shifted uncomfortably. Something was telling her that this wasn't actually a prank, and if it were, it was an extremely elaborated one. Personally, she didn't have the time or the effort to pull of something like this but people would be people, she concluded.

There was another two letters behind the first. Now sure that she was being pranked, she looked at the second letter. Just out of curiosity of course. She didn't actually believe it was real.

UNIFORM

First year students will require:

- Three sets of black work robes

- Plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

- Pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

- A winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

There was a list of books for the course with brilliantly farfetched titles such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them or A Beginner's Guide to Transfigurations. Artemis had never heard of Newt Scamander or Bathilda Bagshot before but their names made them seem like very important people. After the books, there was an array of equipment that was necessary, ranging from a wand to a pewter cauldron. The very end said that she could bring a cat or a toad or an owl.

Wow.

Lastly, Artemis got to the third letter. It was the only one not written in bright green ink and the handwriting looked fairly boyish. It was still neater than hers but she found it kind of weird that it was handwritten and not typed up on a computer. She read it through one time and didn't absorb anything it said. Then she read it again and she almost fainted, right there on balcony in front of the owl who was pecking at her feet.

"Hello Artemis!

This came in the post today and I figured it was because it didn't even reach you which is unlikely because Hogwarts is very good at tracking people down! You probably don't know what I'm nattering on about but well, it's me. Your dad! Your mum's probably already told you all about me and being a wizard but if she hasn't then hello! I'm a wizard, you're very much a witch after this letter and I'm very excited to tell you that you're in Hogwarts! Welcome to the family, Artemis! Well done on becoming a witch and getting into the best Wizarding school in the world - I'm biased of course but who wouldn't be?

You'll need to send the owl back to me with a confirmation of your attendance at Hogwarts. If I get it, I'll be over this afternoon in order to sort things out with your mum. I imagine she'll be very excited and we'll get everything sorted tonight!

Johnny Moonley

(Dad)"

This had to be some sort of joke.

Her mum had always said that Artemis' dad took a trip to Egypt and then died in a freak camel incident. It had been a tragedy. One that had made her burn all evidence of him in her mourning and move from Up North down to London. It sounded ridiculous but that's what she had been told and that's what she had grown up to believe.

So there Artemis sat on the balcony, the very epitome of shock and confusion, wearing only her pyjama shorts and a t shirt. The owl had flown up and was now perched on the balcony railings, looking around but not leaving.

Why was it even around? Weren't owls nocturnal? Didn't that mean that they would be sleeping now?

Artemis shook her head and stood up, picking up the letters and the envelope. She tapped at the red wax seal with her pinky finger and rushed to get a pen and paper. The only thing she could find in her hurry was a pink crayon and a post it note.

She figured that someone was actually making her the butt of an extensive joke and it wouldn't be too much of a hassle if she played along. She wrote in her small scratch ''I'll go to Hogwarts'' on the post it note and stuck it on the front of the main letter then shoved it into the envelope rather roughly and somehow attached it to the leg of the owl.

"Send it back to whoever sent it." She said then paused. "If that makes sense."

The owl cooed, flapped its wings and went off.

At twelve midday, there was a knock on the door. Artemis had been dreading this really, because it all seemed too real yet unreal to be happening. After the whole drama, she had phoned her mum, who had picked up on the first ring. She told her mum what happened and she'd been silent over the line before declaring that she was coming home

Her mum had been oddly silent and pretended to read a magazine. Artemis was itching to ask an obvious question but decided it was for the best to keep quiet. She didn't want to add to the already building tension in the air.

When the knock had rung throughout the whole flat, her mum rushed to the door and yanked it open. Artemis also hurried but then stopped at the doorframe. She peeked around to see who was there.

There was a man with a big toothy grin on his face. He had short dark hair and was wearing a black suit with a deep purple tie, looking around the entrance with a very big smile on his face. All in all, he looked very shiny and untouched like a new toy.

"Hello!" He said enthusiastically. "Hi Rach!"

In response, Ms Riddle hit him over the head with the magazine. "You were supposed to disappear!"

He held his head. "Ow?" She hit him again and then yanked on his arm so he was in the hallway. Then she closed the door. They started speaking to each other in hushed tones about things Artemis couldn't quite catch.

Suddenly, they stopped and straightened up. They both looked towards where Artemis was watching and her eyes widened at the prospect of being caught. The man smiled while her mother folded her arms and pursed her lips.

"Hello Artemis!" He said. She came out from behind the safety of the doorframe and presented herself nervously.

"Hi," She said. "Who are you?"

He laughed out loud but she hadn't made a joke. "I'm your dad! Who else would I be?"

"Mum said my dad is dead and that he died on a trip to Egypt one month before I was born." She blurted out.

His eyebrow quirked and he looked at her mum, who rolled her eyes and gestured for him to answer her. "I'm pretty sure I witnessed your birth, darling."

Amazing.

"Mum?" Artemis asked.

Her mum rolled her eyes once more. "It's true." She bit her lip before continuing. "Your dad was... a little eccentric for my likings so we fled in the night."

Brilliant.

The two adults stared at her and then at each other for an extended period of time. She didn't know what to say or to do so she did what she did best.

"Does anyone want tea?"