The Golden Egg and Song

Bastet purred in Artimis' ear, loudly like a motor, as the girl curled around her pillow and the cross bred feline. Opening an eye the girl looked at the bedside table. There were a few Christmas presents sent by Bubble and Dobby. Pulling herself out of her warm bed and grabbing at the closest one Artimis smiled, it was a gift from Mrs. Weasley. Inside was a vibrant red knitted jumper with A.K sewn into the top in yellow, it was obviously oversized in every aspect. But it was warm looking, and would make great winter laze around clothes and winter pajamas. She folded it up and placed in beside her.

Another was from Mythal and 'Draco', according to the note. Inside was a tiny box filled with different colour hair pins, Artimis snorted at her friends way of saying, 'Fix that god damn HAIR!' Another was a pair of black woolen and fur gloves and beany from Dumbledore. It was one of those kinds of beanies with the long pom-pom dangling bits that hanged to the elbow and had patterns, this one was red and covered with white stars. There was also a red scarf with forest green florally patterns on the ends from the Golden Trio. Finally there was a gift from 'Padfoot' which consisted of a letter, a Witch's Weekly and two Daily Prophet's that had pages about her within them.

The letter had read that the jewelry for the Yule ball was her early gift, but he wanted to give her a little light reading material. Opening the first one to full she read the front page, it was about their interviews and Dragon Test. On the front there was an image of Hermione hugging Harry then two of Artimis. One was her with the adults with the egg in her hand, she stuck her tongue out and disappeared out of the picture, Dumbledore's eyes were laughing at her. The other was her casting her Patronus and faded to the image of the Thestral flying around the Dragons head.

Through the Daily Prophet and Witches Weekly it had pages set up for each Champion's interviews, most of them exaggerated, especially on her and Harry's part by Rita Skeeter. Now Artimis understood why Draco and others were giving the two of them hell, they were reciting Rita's words. Artimis snorted as she read the lies about her and sighed, why was everyone so fascinated with that Lupin and Snape rumour still? Was this Rita's secret way of trying to tell the reading audience she's a werewolf?

Placing it down, deciding she was over thinking it, she picked up the other one. The front page once again seemed to pay much attention on her and Harry, she felt a twinge of awe watching herself dancing around with Dumbledore. Somehow one of the cameramen had caught an image of her fake swooning as the headmaster asked her hand to dance, which Rita in the Witch's Weekly had gobbled up instantly. 'What kind of relationship does the two have? Is there a reason why Dumbledore had let the older girl into Hogwarts?' In the midst of the page there were pictures of her dancing with important men. Dumbledore, Snape, Igor, Moody, Krum, Neville was there as well in their opening dance which Rita had seemed to enjoy bagging out Artimis for her choice in her Article. But looking at the image of them dancing in the Newspaper did not match her words in the Witch's Weekly, the two of them danced so well together and Neville looked like he was radiating an aura that said 'he was the leader and could bloody dance.'

Throwing the paper aside after reading about Harry, Krum and Hermione AGAIN she picked up her golden egg from where it sat beside her bed, looking around her large room she pulled away her covers and walked into her bathroom.

Hanging the jumper beside the door Artimis entered the warm water quickly without a care of it scorching her skin. She held the egg under the water and opened it, the egg seemed to glow a faint golden light and movement inside sent ripples of gold. Bobbing her head under the surface she listened to the song and basked in the gentle voices as they lulled her almost to sleep. She didn't bother trying to memorize all the lyrics, knowing Harry will do it.

"They really are confusing words…" Artimis agreed with Harry as he recited the song word for word. "I guess what they mean by the first lines would be water? So the lake then… I guess…" Harry nodded his head as he wrote the words down when Artimis asked him too. Treating the song like it was an English subject she used bracket like shapes and lines to write in the sides of the paper, both trying to determine the secrets of the song. Artimis knew what was going to happen but she wanted to still study the song just out of interest.

Harry added his ideas under her red pen ones in perfect writing with his black quill. Artimis snorted, her writing looked like the writing of a younger kid compared to Harry's. "My writing with a pen sucks… if I was using a pencil you would at least be able to read it…" Harry laughed as she spent some time testing her writing with a quill and judging it to her pen. "I guess a quill is just epic…"

"Sure Art, what do you think we should do? Do we have to go underwater?"

"I'm guessing so, and for a whole hour by the look of things… we have to 'search' for something? Will they steal something from us… like a diary? No… unless it is spelled by some kind of bubble thing it must be water proof?" Artimis read the last few lines carefully as she chuckled before leaning back, the Library was silent as many students had gone to Hogsmeade for the weekend. "I guess we have to search the library for books about water based spells…" She stood up with a heavy hearted sigh as Ron and Hermione joined them. She decided to leave the trio to their work and left the library with arms full of books.

Through the next couple of days found Artimis turning twenty years old then another few days sitting with Snape as he made some kind of potion, she laid her head sideways on her folded arms and watched him stir with the bitter taste of the Bane on her tongue. "Miss. Knight, don't you have something else to do other than stare at me?"

"Not really… all I can do is think about the next test and it just makes me feel more uneasy. All the stress is making me ill…"

"And watching me makes you, what, feel better?" He glared down at her as she watched his hand stir slowly with a metal rod, the other held his next ingredient he needed to add.

"I'm not watching YOU, I'm watching the potion being made…" She gave him a halfhearted glare before returning to watch him brew with half lidded eyes. The potion was bubbling but was milky white and scentless. "What is the potion anyway? I missed half of the ingredients…"

Snape hesitated as he kept stirring, pouring a small amount of the grey powder from the small jar. "It is Veritaserum."

"Oh I see, does it go clear after a month is up?" Snape seemed to look momentarily surprised before covering it up with a blank expression.

"That is correct, it will change from white to grey before becoming clear." Artimis traced a finger over some of the wood grain. "I suggest going to the next room now." Artimis nodded a wrapped her robes around her body tighter as Snape let his Potion simmer for a moment.

After her painful transformation and entering his office again on four paws, she heard Snape rushing around in his storage room a few rooms away, trotting out she tilted her head at him and whined. The professor looked surprisingly startled and angry. "Someone has stolen from my supplies… Again…" Artimis lifted her nose and sniffed the air, it smelt familiar. Snape paused as she stuck her nose to the ground before following her to unlock the door when she scratched it then trailed her up the stairs as she moved like a hunting hound.

There was an angry voice just outside the dungeons yelling out Peeves' name. It was Filch and Mrs. Norris. Artimis paused and looked back at Snape before scanning the area. In Filch's hand was a golden egg and further away was Harry's Hogwarts map. Snape spoke swiftly to Filch, and then Moody as the man appeared around the corner.

Moody's eye moved away from where Harry hid under his cloak to spot the werewolf before she made her way into the light. Filch jumped away from her with wide eyes, he stopped his Peeve speech quickly as he seemed to whimper off in fear. Artimis tilted her head up to meet Moody's eyes and sent him a warning growl as he came closer to inspect her. Showing her pearly fangs as she drew back her lips, her growls sounded deep and frightening even to her own ears. Snape watched curiously as the short man limped back with shock.

"What a horrible creature! Why is such a thing in this castle, no… even better… in your possession, Snape? What are your plans with that thing, and why couldn't I see anything in your office when I inspected it!" Snape sneered in anger as the shorter man turned the suspicion to him.

"She is not my pet if that's what you're getting at, Moody. Ask Dumbledore if you want an answer." Artimis bristled at the idea of being a 'pet' and growled deeper. Her blue eyes silted. "And she can hear every word you say right now, so I suggest being more… appropriate to one of your students." Moody seemed to stand back, Snape giving the man a small grin of success.

"Student? That THING is a student? You mean… a werewolf?"

"You're the 'Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher if I am not mistaken, Moody. I would think you could recognize one easily." Artimis snorted with humor and laid her head down on her paws, watching as the three men carried on like children before finally Moody one the last game over the egg and map.

Filch looked at Artimis before leaving, Snape looked down at her. Seeing the words in her eyes he left her with the snide words. "Be quick about it, and get back to my office before I have to waste precious time to search for you."

When gone Harry removed the cloak and hugged Artimis quickly around her fluffy neck. "I promise to explain later." He turned to Moody who looked curiously between them both, trying to put the pieces together. Artimis snorted and rushed after Snape, catching up to him before the darkly dressed man could reach his door.

Snape watched with narrowed eyes as she sniffed about his storage before she hid in his room and curled up beside his bed. Knowing she probably would get into his bed after turning back, Snape grabbed his coarse fur blanket and sat in his armchair with it over his knees and a leather bound book in his hand.

Scent's and names

In the morning Snape questioned her if she had smelt Harry in his storage. "No, Harry hasn't been near the storage for quite some time. The last time maybe being… three or four lessons worth?"

"Then who could you smell?" Snape looked sour about the idea of Harry not being the perpetrator and gave her a look that warned her that if she was lying she would suffer.

"I… have to think on it for some time. It was a strange one, mixed almost like it was under some kind of spell… I can't tell what the newest scent was besides yours." Snape snorted at how unhelpful she was and sent her away, she left as he turned his attention to his potion again.

Artimis joined Harry, Ron and Hermione in the library. The four of them spoke about last night and the ones they suspected for putting Harry's name in the goblet. Ron instantly suspected Snape which the three others shot down quickly. Artimis suggested Igor, even though she knew the truth, the three nodded and thought about it before turning the attention to Artimis.

"Did you catch the scent that Snape was talking about last night?"

"There were many smells in Snape's storage and the classroom, it was difficult to pinpoint the latest one. But I informed him it wasn't you Harry, and boy was he sour!" The four of the chuckled at the idea of Snape's face turning down like he had eaten a lemon. "There was one strong scent that was there recently, I don't know if it was that person… I will keep my eyes open. It is difficult to catch a scent when I haven't met many people in THAT form…"

"Ah Miss. Artimis!" McGonagall appeared around the bookshelf. "I overheard from Severus and Albus that you wish to know about Human Transfigurations! Come with me and I can give you some specific books." Artimis covered her surprise with a huge grin.

"Oh, thank you Professor! See ya guys later!" Quickly gathering her items she followed her House Head down the halls. Artimis thanked her again when following McGonagall into her office where she started days of hard training to learn to transfigure some part of herself by studying the many books.

The Second Test

It had been days now and the next test was to start. Artimis shyly tugged down her long thin shirt lower down her legs. Looking around she couldn't see Mythal and Draco stood alone looking around for his girlfriend too with a worried expression, Artimis stared down into the darkness with terror. Was Mythal down there, in the darkness…?

"Quit fidgeting Art, you're making me more nervous." Harry whispered into her ear.

"I'm sorry, I just hate being around crowds in barely any clothes… and Moody's eye keeps scanning me… I think he had worked out about me from THAT night." She gave Harry a mortified look and the two turned to stare at Moody who had turned his attention away to something else. "Ah, do you have the Weed… that sounded so wrong…"

"Yeah did Dobby tell you that, have you got your spell down right?"

"Yes~ I have practiced in my swimmers too…" She held her a hand tightly on her wand harness around her forearm as she waited for Bagman to start the test.

"On your mark...! Get Set…! BEGIN!" Harry quickly gobbled up the weed as the game started. Artimis quickly dived in without a care about her shirt, once casting her spell she waited for Harry to fall in with deep breaths through a pair of gills. Sure enough he did with an awe inspiring belly flop, the two stuck their thumbs up… or Harry tried with his webbed fingers.

Artimis swished her tail and let her gills take in the water, the pair swam down into the darkness using their wands to light the way. Down and down they swam for ages before they reached close to the bottom. Artimis stuck her glowing wand between her teeth and used her hand to pull softly at a small bunch of Harry's hair to get his attention. She pointed ahead of them and then pointed to her ears. Harry paused and listened with her.

Somewhere in the distance they could hear a song, beautiful but dark. They followed the sound, Artimis kept Harry away from the dark seaweed. Mouthing to him that it's dangerous she pointed her wand down to spot the many glowing eyes underneath them and made him gulp with terror.

The song grew louder as the pair kept swimming, they were mass group attacked only once by the creatures whose names escaped Artimis' memory. 'They were Grindy-something… Grindylow? Lupin showed me and Harry last year in his tank…' The creatures tried to curl their long fingers around the pair's legs or tail a couple of times only to get an electric spell in the nozzle.

Finally Harry spotted four figures in the water held down by thick rope with many Mermaid shapes around them. He jabbed Artimis in the arm checking to make sure she could see them as well and that he wasn't seeing things. Artimis nodded her head in agreement and followed him over, they were almost out of time. The two of them stopped near Ron, Hermione and Mythal. Harry reached out for both of his friends only to be stopped by a merperson. "Only one!" It hissed in a voice much unlike its original singing. Artimis held Mythal's hand with terror for her best friend. Quickly she used her wand to snap the rope. Mythal drifted up with help from a steady push from Artimis. She was prepared to take her friend to the surface, until Krum appeared.

Krum was with Harry, cutting away at Hermione's rope with a rock Harry lifted up for him. Up she went with Krum, who nodded his shark head at Artimis and held Mythal under his other arm to help her reach the surface. When she was sure her friend was safe she joined Harry, both looked at Fleur's sister with worry. Harry pointed to her then Ron, Artimis nodded. Harry used the same spell Artimis did to snap the rope and the girl took Ron in her arms. Harry did the same with Fleur's sister, a Merperson jabbed at them with a trident trying to keep them away from a meal only to get slapped back by Artimis' almost mermaid like tail. The two quickly rose up to the surface as quickly as they could, they knew they were well past the time limit. As Harry's Gillyweed wore off, Artimis quickly grabbed Fleur's sister and Ron similar to how Krum did and let Harry wrap his arms around her hips to help him rise up due to a lack in swimming experience.

At the top Harry and Ron swiftly got kisses on their cheeks from Fleur as the two helped her sister get out of the water. Artimis hid from her nose down staring up at them. "What's wrong Art?"

"I don't want to get out…" She sobbed as Dumbledore and Moody stood over her.

"What's wrong Miss. Knight? Too shy to get out of the water looking like a mermaid? Or is it because of your swimmers again?" Moody joked as he dropped a towel on Harry's head.

"All the above sir… can I just swim to the water edge and get out of here?" Mythal joined Fleur and the others at the edge.

"Oh come on Art, get out here and give me a hug!"

"What? I smell like a fish… wait back track, forget I said that… YOU smell like fish…" Mythal was holding her head down as she laughed, Draco leaning over her with worry visible on his usually sour face. "FINE! Help me up and grab a towel!" She held her arms up and both Krum and Moody pulled her up. She flicked her long tail over the edge and sighed as Harry threw a towel at her which she wrapped around her waist before she undid the transfiguration. She watched the almost pearl like tail fade till they became a pair of legs again.

Standing she congratulated Harry, Krum and Fleur. The French Witch instantly thanked Artimis and gave her two big kisses on her cheeks, Artimis slammed her fists into the air and yelled, 'My dreams have come true! Am I in Heaven? Oh my Angel please regale me with more!' All the Champions and friends laughed and did happy cries as the second test ended.

End of Chapter 10