CHAPTER ONE: My Mother, the Mirror

Artemis flopped through the doorframe onto the stone floor, panting heavily. She was covered in sweat, her heart racing from exertion. Why was she tired?

She pushed herself up onto her knees, taking in her surroundings. A wrinkled grey and black uniform was soaked in sweat, clinging to her frame. She reached up to her neck, loosening her tie. Why was she wearing a tie? She hated ties. Why was she wearing a uniform at all, for that matter? What sort of uniform was it?

'The requisite unsorted Hogwarts school uniform.'

The thought came into her head unbidden, but was welcome nonetheless. She was in a school. A very old one, if the stone pillars and ornamentation were any indication. It was nice. Very castle-y.

'Mixture of Norman Romanesque, Gothic, and Gothic Revival architecture'

She nodded her head, glad that her thoughts agreed. Very very much castle-y.

Why was she in a castle? She didn't know. Was she a princess? A knight? An evil dragon in disguise? She continued to think, but no answers came.

Artemis stood, brushing off her skirt and turning around. A mirror stood behind her, taller than a fully grown man, with a thick, gilded frame. Backwards writing was inscribed along the top of the mirror.

She was struck with the strangest feeling of home. Or emoh, as the mirror would have put it.

Artemis glanced at her reflection in the mirror. A face stared back at her. She wasn't sure how to describe it–

'Long, chestnut colored hair, approximately six inches longer than the average female her apparent age. Large green eyes, minimal pupil dilation despite the dim lighting. Higher cheekbones than average. Eleven years apparent age.'

Artemis nodded. She had no idea what any of those descriptors meant, but it came from her head, so it seemed like a trustworthy source.

She turned on one heel before skipping out of the room, humming as she dragged a hand along the wall. It was time to explore.

–∆–

12.95 minutes later...

Artemis came across a cluster of people standing on a short staircase outside of a large doorway. A stern looking, bespectacled woman with silvery-gray hair, and flowing green robes stood before the crowd of children. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, gesturing to the space around them.

Artemis joined the back of the crowd, doing her best not to look unbearably confused. First impressions were important, after all. But how did she know that, if she'd never met anyone before?

The stern, elderly lady clapped her hands together, drawing the attention of the group. "Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates." She spoke with a confident, yet clipped tone, as if she were rehearsing a speech that had been given many times before. "But, before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses."

The woman pulled out her wand, waving it in the air. "They are Gryffindor," a ferocious golden lion appeared before her, roaring and sparkling with light. "Hufflepuff," the lion was replaced by a confidently strutting badger. "Ravenclaw," a raven flapped its wings majestically, peering out across the crowd. "And Slytherin," a silver serpent coiled in place of the raven, flicking its forked tongue out as it coldly gazed at the students.

Artemis enjoyed the light show, but she enjoyed the stern woman's accent even more. Artemis had never heard an accent before. She had never heard speech before. Just the sound of the thoughts inside her head.

"While you're here," the woman took a breath. "Your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn new points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cu-"

The woman was cut off by the gasp of a round faced boy at the front of the crowd.

"Trevor!" He waddled forward, scooping up a frog. Artemis didn't know if it was possible for a frog to look mischievous, but this one seemed to be pulling it off quite well.

The boy stepped back into his spot, swallowing before staring at the ground. "Sorry." His apology did not stop the chortles of his classmates.

The stern lady cleared her throat. She spoke with a clipped tone. "The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." She turned to stalk off down the hallway, leaving the students to themselves.

Artemis waded through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of the frog-boy duo. She reached a finger out, poking the frog on the nose. 'I want to make friends. How do I make friends?'

"Hello," she said. "I'm Artemis."

But the Frog did not answer.

"H-hello," the boy replied, clutching the frog a bit tighter. "I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom. This is Trevor. He's my toad."

Artemis looked up at the boy, then back down at the toad, whose eyes were beginning to bulge out slightly. "My apologies, Mister Trevor. I thought you were a frog. Terribly sorry. Poor manners on my part, really."

The boy shifted uncomfortably. "I-it's alright. He's a smooth-sided toad so he looks closer to a frog than most. We, um, we all make mistakes."

Artemis thought the toad looked quite close to popping, now. It wouldn't do for Neville to tighten his grip. She frowned.

The boy rocked back on his feet, eyes widening. "T-that's not to say that you've made a mistake or anything! I just meant that, in general, mistake making is something that people do!"

Artemis needed to calm him down. Any further stress might result in the poor toad going kablooie. She smiled calmly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Do we? That's nice. I quite like you. Very informative."

The boy's entire face went scarlet. If anything, he began to clutch the toad even tighter. Yikes. She was rubbish at comforting people, apparently. Artemis rubbed her brow.

Just as she began to flounder, looking for a way to detach the boy from the tortured animal, someone knocked Neville's shoulder as they swept past, flinging the toad out of the boy's hands.

"Trevor!" Neville cried, running down the hallway after the toad. Trevor hopped, quick as a flash, onto walls and pillars and back onto the floor before turning a corner and scampering out of sight. Artemis smiled, turning towards the conflict that was now brewing. 'I am Artemis: Savior of Toads!'

"It's true than, what they're saying on the train."

A blonde-headed boy with a slimy grin pasted on his face spoke loudly to two others at the front of the group, drawing the eyes of the crowd. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," he finished, a smug grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Artemis was rather confused. They were at a school, weren't they? So why would a tradesman be here? And what was it about said Potter that made them hairy? Why did they call them the hairy potter? What could fashioning ceramics possibly have to do with one's hair? Were they a wereworlf?

She stepped forward, brow furrowed. "Excuse me, but what, exactly, is a hairy potter?"

The blonde-haired boy looked her up and down, taking in her sweat-covered, disheveled appearance. He sneered at her, moving so that he was blocking her sight from the other two boys with his back. "Muggle-borns," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Artemis frowned, confused. Had she done something to offend the boy? Perhaps she was interrupting? Interruptions were supposedly rude. Was she rude? Was that the kind of person she was? Rude?

The boy resumed his conversation with the others, nodding to two others on his right. "This is Crabbe. And Goyle."

Now Artemis was even more confused. There were no crabs here. And what was a Goyle? Her brain provided no answers. Perhaps she shouldn't be dropping eaves.

"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He stepped forward, invading the personal space of the boy he was talking to. He was stood in place, seemingly waiting for recognition to set in, when a snicker came from the red haired boy nearby.

"Think my names funny, do you?" His eyes narrowed into slants. "No need to ask yours. Red Hair. And a hand-me down robe. You must be a Weasley." The red haired boy looked like he had swallowed something unpleasant.

Artemis was baffled by the Malfoy. Crabs and weasels? What kind of company did he keep? Where were these animals he kept finding? Was he trying to insult the red-haired boy? Was weasel a derogatory term?

Draco turned back to his original conversation partner. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort."

Artemis nodded to herself; this made sense. Crabs and weasels and whatever a Goyle was did not seem like good friends. They had sharp teeth and claws and probably smelled funny. She preferred Toads.

"I can help you there," Malfoy said, sticking a hand out to the hairy potter boy. The hairy one did not look happy any more. Any joy created by Trevor the Toad's daring escape had melted away into annoyance.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks."

Draco swelled up, looking affronted with the people around him. He was about to say something, probably derogatory judging by the look on his face, when the stern old lady returned, tapping him on the shoulder with a scroll of parchment.

The lady cleared her throat, looking across the collection of children. "We're ready for you now, follow me."

They were lead down a hallway, collecting Neville and Trevor along the way to their destination. Artemis happily skipped along, staying close to Neville for the time being. He seemed easier to talk to than the hairy Potter or the Malfoy.

–∆–

The stern lady, Professor McGonagall, as Artemis learned she was called, went down a list of names, calling students to the shabby hat in the front of the hall, where their house was called for all to hear.

Artemis didn't know why a talking hat was the determining factor for who one should call family in the coming school year. Though it wouldn't be her strangest family member. Her mother was a mirror, after all.

Professor McGonagall paused in her reading for a moment. She craned her head closer to the parchment, then bobbed back. She adjusted her spectacles, then craned forward again.

"Flamel, Artemis."

The chatter in the hall died down among the older students at the tables, before picking up again in harsh tones.

"Miss Flamel? Are you here?"

The other children glanced around, as if looking for someone. Neville nudged Artemis with an elbow, and she stumbled forward. Was that her?

Artemis walked forward. McGonagall peered down at her over her spectacles. "You weren't on the boats with the other first-years, miss Flamel."

Artemis wrung her hands together, wracked with nervousness. What was going on? What was she supposed to say here? "Ah, um, no, professor. I was... uh... preoccupied."

McGonagall stared at her a moment longer, before lifting the hat. "While unusual, there is no problem with skipping the boat ride. On the stool, please."

Artemis clambered onto the stool as the hat was lowered over her head, the brim covering her eyes.

'Oh? What have we here?'

Artemis jolted a bit, startled. 'Are you in my head?'

The hat seemed to chuckle to itself. 'I'm afraid not, no. I'm nothing more than a talking piece of magically enchanted clothing. And you... you're something new entirely.'

Artemis blinked. 'Ah... I'm sorry?'

'It's so blank in here...' The hat hummed to itself. 'There's nothing for me to go on. Still, it could be worse.' The hat seemed disgruntled.

'Have I offended you, Mister Hat? I didn't mean for my brain to be so empty. I only crawled out of the mirror recently, you see.'

The hat seemed to shake its nonexistent head. 'No, no. Quite alright. It actually makes my job easier, believe it or not. Although, the mirror is another matter. The Headmaster ought to be notified.'

She frowned to herself. This was unsteady ground, and she wasn't sure how to approach anything. 'Have I done something wrong?'

'Nothing that can't be rectified, given friends in the right places.'

The hat hummed to himself again. 'You know nothing about your current situation. You don't know who you are, or why you're here. Yet you've managed to stay reasonably calm throughout all of it. You're handling the situation rather well.'

Artemis nodded, slowly. 'I just went with the flow, to be honest. It's hard to be scared when you don't know enough to know what to be scared of. And I enjoyed the exploring bit.'

'A lack of fear and a thirst for adventure. Interesting.'

'Ah, is that good? Adventuring?' Artemis cocked her head.

'Indeed. It means I know exactly where to put you.'

The hat straightened on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alex didn't know what gryphons and doors had to do with one another, but was inexplicably pleased nonetheless.