Artemis and Draco could not meet each other directly, in case any of the suspects were watching, so they recruited the help of Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini.

"Give us an excuse to come in contact with each other – Lucius Malfoy does not approve."

Blaise had laughed. "Since when did Draco's dad ever approve of anything?"

Theodore wanted to stay out of it, but agreed to do at least that much. "Sure, I guess."

Artemis could easily tell that both of their friends were innocent. Blaise was simply too sincere in his annoyance at Lucius Malfoy, while Theodore was always easily concerned. Neither of them would be a good choice for Lucius as a spy, no matter how close to Draco they were. Artemis was good at reading liars, and besides, both Blaise and Theodore had agreed, surprisingly, to the Confundus treatment.

Logically, of course, it was the best thing to do – they were innocent already, so it wouldn't make a difference, and it prevented any future slip-ups.

During lunch, Artemis slipped Draco a copy of the list of potential suspects. These are the people you have to watch out for. Our plan is to question them, but not to take them out so that your father will have to replace them. Hopefully we can persuade our spies to start working for us instead – if they feed your father faulty information you will have more freedom.

Draco was grateful, but annoyed at the long list. He replied, This is practically all of Slytherin House. It would take an extremely long time to track everyone down. We should invent some sort of standardized insult code to verbally communicate, like we did during that Quidditch match, in the meantime. Passing too many notes might seem suspect.

That was actually a rather intelligent idea. You know more insults than me, he wrote back. Make your own list. Tell me the translations later.

Defense Against the Dark Arts

"It's all right, everyone," Lupin said, appearing more haggard than ever as he returned from yet another absence. "You don't have to do that work Professor Snape assigned you.

Everyone cheered, except for Granger, who wailed, "But I've already finished mine!"

"You can turn that in for extra credit, then," Lupin smiled.

"In that case, take my essay, too," Artemis said, handing his own scroll in, along with a few other more diligent students. The rest of their classmates scowled at them.

"Like you guys need any extra points."

For today's lesson, Lupin had brought in a live Hinkypunk. It didn't seem like much – a short, wispy, figureless creature which tottered unsteadily on its one leg while carrying a large lantern with its long, spindly arms. Despite its diminutive appearance, it was still dangerous, as it had a habit of luring lost travelers at night off the safe roads into swamps and bogs. Normally Artemis would have been interested in such a deceptive creature, but his mind was currently divided. Consciously, he was paying attention and taking notes that he probably did not need, like a model student, but in the back of his head, he was trying to think of a way to talk to Professor Lupin without adding to Professor Snape's already foul mood.

Professor Lupin was reasonably talented – he knew his material and was a fairly engaging teacher compared to the former Defense professors Artemis had had the misfortune to deal with (though given the nature of his predecessors, that wouldn't have taken much effort anyway). At this point, he had no reason to be untrustworthy – though it couldn't hurt to be on guard all of the time.

The other teachers weren't likely to trust a Slytherin, especially one as intelligently devious as Artemis – no matter how fair McGonagall was openly, she was still a practical woman. Artemis couldn't blame her; while each House had its fair share of intelligent students, Slytherin House usually ended up getting the most…political ones. Besides, she was too strict and would never give out anything classified.

And while Professor Snape would normally be happy to surreptitiously drop hints for his students, Artemis was sure that the man was not in the mood to appreciate prowling at the moment. In any event, Lupin, being the newest teacher, seemed the most open to the students and thus the most likely to get any sort of information from. Also, Artemis just needed to talk to Lupin personally. Artemis already knew the other teachers well, but as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers never lasted longer than a year, he had had little time to interact with Professor Lupin. And not having this sort of information could prove to be a dangerous oversight in the future. Logically, in any group or organization, the newest members should be scrutinized.

"Professor Lupin, I would like to ask you something about Sirius Black," Artemis said, purposefully looking like he was getting straight to the point, but hiding his underlying motives in reality. There was no beating around the bush (because the first question was still a genuine concern), but this wasn't Artemis' primary objective, either. It was a handy method of extracting information – being upfront enough to seem harmless, so that when the real questions came, it did not seem so unusual.

"What is there to know, Mr. Fowl?" Professor Lupin replied.

"How do you suspect he managed to sneak into the castle?" Artemis was not trying to be malicious or manipulative in any way – but he needed inside views from Black's own generation if he was going to find anything out. If he was going to keep himself safe – which meant keeping Harry Potter safe by proxy – he was going to have to know as much as possible. Artemis already heard the official story, but there was not much about Black's past or his psychology in there.

"Why ask me now?" Ah. Lupin was a careful man. Well, Artemis wasn't worried.

"I couldn't very well ask you when you were out of class, ill, could I?" Artemis pointed out.

Lupin looked at him oddly, with a mixture of distrust and…fear? Interesting. It would take a few more months, to confirm the theory, but for now, Artemis would keep quiet. Hogwarts may have had a history of untrustworthy and terrible Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, but Artemis did not want to accuse and possibly ruin an innocent man – especially one who was actually competent.

"But that is beside the point. I have my theories on Black, and only need a bit of confirmation."

Lupin looked worried. "Please don't tell me you intend to do what I think you are intending to do."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "I am not Harry Potter, Professor. I value my own life. And that is why I want to know this. Of course we cannot tell him, because he is sure to react violently, but somebody has to carry the secret."

Lupin nodded. "Very well. To be honest…I shouldn't be telling you this, but I suppose that since I am not specifying where and undoubtedly you already know of their existence…Hogwarts has several secret passages in and out of the school. A great deal of them lead to Hogsmeade. There are Dementors there, but they simply patrol the perimeters and do not enter any shops or homes. Black could have easily hidden in one and entered Hogwarts from there, undetected."

"I see. And no one ever made a point to close these passageways?" Artemis asked.

Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose. "The problem is, no one knows exactly how many there are or where they are. Most of the secret entrances to Hogwarts have been discovered over generations of troublemaking students out of bed at night, and even they haven't discovered everything. The teachers know about a few and they have been patrolling those areas more frequently, of course, but you should know that Black has gone to this school like any other wizard. After all, even Voldemort was once a schoolboy, here."

It took all of Artemis' willpower not to react to that. He knew all too well what the schoolboy Voldemort was like.

"Despite his actions, he was a talented wizard, and knows how to manipulate the system quite well," Lupin continued.

"I suppose you know him, then," Artemis concluded.

Lupin seemed half sorrowful, and half annoyed at himself. "I suppose you could say we've met."

So…Professor Lupin was connected to Black. Professor Lupin was also connected to Professor Snape, somehow. Artemis wouldn't be surprised if, at the end, this all turned out to be one big triangle of hate. From Lupin's expressions and emotions, it seemed as if he was regretful and angry about something – so perhaps a spy, perhaps not, but a former acquaintance all the same. He had too little evidence to make any proper conclusions right now, so his work was just mostly all speculation, but suspecting everybody should be enough to account for that.

"All right – if I call you a blood-traitor it means at eight because 'traitor' sounds a bit like 'eight' – but if I add 'filthy' in front of that it means that it's actually 8:00 P.M.," Draco passed Artemis a note under the table, trying not to snigger. Artemis sighed. Working out their little code got rather childish and immature, as it turned into a real insult war, but it was also slightly fun. Artemis could now somewhat understand why people enjoyed performing such puerile actions – not that he condoned anything of the sort, of course.

"If I retort 'icy snob' it means that we should meet in the Astronomy Tower," Artemis wrote back. "And if I say that you are just like your father, go to the dungeons instead. But if I say that we should take it outside or continue it later and walk away with my nose in the air, we should go back to the dormitories."

"What are you guys smiling about?" Theodore asked curiously.

"Stop it, Artemis, you're creeping me out," Blaise said nervously, carefully watching the vampire grin as Artemis maliciously passed the note back to Draco. His grin widened when he saw his friend's eyebrows shoot up in offended shock. Draco angrily scribbled another insult onto the paper and passed it back.

"We are having an insult war," he said loftily, "as usual."

"Sheesh, and I was hoping this year would be peaceful for once."

They talked to Crabbe and Goyle first. Artemis safely deemed that it would be fine to use Legilimency on those two, since they were probably too inept to notice either way. It was easy, too – the fools just stared ahead blankly, without blinking. Artemis left the questioning to Draco while he took a quick peek in their memories.

Nothing but food, grunting, scratching their unusually small heads (did they have some form of microcephalae?), and more food. Their fathers were the same way, and their mothers didn't care much. Definitely innocent.

"I wouldn't trust Crabbe and Goyle with any spying, either," Draco said, but they were Confounded just in case.

Artemis talked to Pansy next, since she was always trying to cling onto Draco's arm (much to his annoyance). Actually, he did not talk to her – he barely said the word "Draco" before she began talking and talking about how wonderful and amazing he was and how they were definitely going to get married in the future. Then, she began gossiping about how much she hated this one Ravenclaw girl and how some other girl did this and that.

What a drama queen. He decided that he was too short on time to question her any further, and simply performed a quick Legilimens on her. She had nothing to do with Lucius Malfoy, either, but she, too, had her memory modified, in case she met Lucius Malfoy on some chance occasion and inadvertently revealed something she shouldn't have.

He crossed her name off. Running after every suspect was getting extremely tiring, but they had to be thorough. Everyone with any relation or contact to Lucius Malfoy was dealt with. Down they went on the list.

"Marcus Flint? Are you serious?" Draco asked.

"Unfortunately."

They cornered him – they probably did not look very threatening to him – two small third-year kids – but he was smart enough to know their influence and intelligence. "What's up, guys?"

Draco cut to the chase. "Did my father promise you a spot in professional Quidditch after you graduated?"

"Why yes. He's a great man."

"And what did he ask for in return?"

"What do you mean? It's just connections. Anyone who wants to be in Quidditch knows that."

"Anyone who know Lucius Malfoy knows that he doesn't do any favors without later payment," Artemis pointed out. "Don't play around, Flint. Let's save both of us some time and answer the question that we both know I am about to ask."

"Don't you dare threaten me – "

"I have every right and ability," Artemis said, smiling. "I know for a fact that no matter how fast you are on a broom, Mr. Future-Quidditch-Star, you can't escape a well-placed Body-Bind Curse."

Flint glared at him and loomed over Artemis like a giant. Perfect. Just where he needed him – they were making direct eye contact and the other was probably too angry to notice what Artemis was really trying to do, if he was intelligent enough to know at all.

"We've caught a rat – well, one of them anyway," he told Draco.

"What are you insinuating?" Flint snapped. Artemis drew his wand. "Confundo!"

Flint went into a confused daze. "From now on, Flint, you will always report to Lucius Malfoy that Draco only associates with pure-blood Slytherins and avoids blood traitors, Muggle-borns, and any other person unworthy, regardless of his real actions."

"I will always report to Lucius Malfoy that his son associates with the right crowd no matter what," Flint repeated dully.

"You will never question your own report afterwards, because you are always right when you say Draco is doing fine."

"I will never question my reports."

"You will walk away and forget this ever happened."

"This never happened."

Sure enough, after Artemis released the spell, Marcus Flint simply walked past them without sparing them a second glance. "I suppose that did work, after all."

"That was brilliant. Now let's find the others."

After a bit more running around, they cornered Daphne Greengrass. She was not as resistant as Marcus Flint, though, so there was no need to pin her down or duel her or anything. Obviously, she was cleverer – she knew that Artemis was a hell lot more dangerous than he looked. And Artemis looked pretty dangerous.

"Listen, I'm sorry I was spying on you, but I never meant to do harm. I really just told your father that you did your homework and hung out with Fowl sometimes. Sorry if he yelled at you for it," she said.

"Why don't you just conveniently forget that I associate with blood-traitors and Muggle-borns sometimes?" Draco suggested. "Having to insult people all the time is a pain."

"I'll try…I don't know if he'll believe me, though."

"Hey, I've been better – meaning more disdainful – call it a great improvement. He gave me a talk over the summer; he'll think that it actually works," Draco said.

"Do you know any of the other spies?" Artemis tried.

Daphne lowered her voice. "I'm not supposed to. But I know that there's at least two more because of a mail mix-up. One of theme's Flint – your Quidditch captain, Draco – "

"Already got him," Artemis sneered.

Daphne looked rather taken aback and swallowed nervously. "He's actually using a Gryffindor, too – Cormac McLaggen. I don't know if there's anyone else."

"Thank you." Cormac McLaggen did make sense – he was on the list that Foaly had helped pull up, after all. A Gryffindor, though – Artemis supposed that he was a pureblood with connections for the prejudiced man to even consider using him.

"Can I go now?"

"Yes. You may leave. Thank you for your cooperation." As she turned around and walked away, Artemis pointed his wand at her back and Confunded her, too. "Sorry for catching you off-guard with a sneak attack like that," Artemis said to the dazed girl, "but you should know better, being in Slytherin House."

As she walked away, Draco hissed to Artemis, "We should just go and beat up that idiot. I hate him – he's more arrogant than Weasley. The oldest one still here, anyway."

Artemis could understand his friend's disdain for the eldest Weasley. The twins were childish, and Ronald sometimes became annoying because he was so hotheaded, and Ginny – well, she was still rather shy, but she had gotten better – but Percy was just an absolute blockhead. He even had the impertinence to have once treated Artemis like an inexperienced child who did not know anything (Artemis probably knew more than he did, anyway). He was a complete iron man when it came to the rules, which Artemis found extremely inconvenient, because he preferred bending them until he found a loophole.

"At least Weasley is somewhat competent," Draco muttered. "McLaggen is a complete buffoon – why did my dad even pick him?"

"Perhaps he wanted an opinion from a different House," Artemis reasoned. "He might have been afraid that the Slytherins would be too easily influenced by us, so he picked a Gryffindor who would be less likely to have his ideals bent for us. I assume that McLaggen is one of the rare, pureblood Gryffindors from an actually influential family."

"Well, McLaggen's the only one I know who fits that. Personally, if I had to pick a spy from Gryffindor, I'd pick Dean Thomas – he's extremely easy to manipulate and he doesn't stand out much, either. But, of course, he's Muggle-born, so my father wouldn't even spare him a second glance," Draco stated.

"How unfortunate it is that prejudice interferes with good judgment," Artemis said.

"Unfortunate for him, maybe," Draco muttered. "Good for us."

McLaggen was slightly more difficult to catch because they had no idea where to get him to an empty, secluded place for questioning, but eventually, they caught him sneaking up to the owlery one evening.

"That's a lovely letter you've got there," Draco drawled. "Mind if we see it?"

"It's none of your business," McLaggen snapped, trying to get away.

"Oh, I think that it is," Draco said maliciously, advancing on him. "Writing lovely stories about me to my father, aren't you?"

McLaggen's eyes grew wide and grabbed the nearest owl, attempting to attach the scroll to its leg. Artemis' eyes widened. If the owl got away, Lucius Malfoy would probably find out what they were up to.

Out of nowhere, Hecate swooped in and began attacking the other owl, beating her wings and clawing at it with her razor-sharp talons, all the while screeching hideously and pecking at the school owl with her hooked beak. The fight was not exactly fair – a giant eagle owl versus a rather smaller-than-average sized barn owl. The poor animal tried to fly away from its adversary, but it was stopped. Hecate grabbed the letter attached to her victim and finally sent the other creature away with a final blow. She deposited the little scroll in Artemis' hands.

"Smart owl you got there," Draco commented lightly. Artemis unrolled the parchment and took a look at it. This was definitely their third spy.

"So, here we have our final rat," Artemis said.

"And you know what snakes do to rats," Draco sneered, laughing.

"That was actually not that bad."

McLaggen, though cornered, still tried to maintain an air of bravado. "What do you creeps want?"

"We want you to stop spying on me and just pretend like I'm a perfectly good boy who doesn't associate with lesser blood," Draco said. "Is it too hard for you?"

McLaggen gulped. "Why not. It's easier for me to say what Mr. Malfoy wants to hear anyway. Now let me go."

Artemis stared at him. His reaction was too quick, too nervous. He was easily lying. He just wanted what Lucius Malfoy promised and was not taking any second chances in case he was discovered to be lying.

"Of course you may go," Artemis hissed. "But not without a bit of…persuasion, first."

He received the Confundus treatment just like Flint.

"I still think that we should hex him," Draco complained.

"Quit whining," Artemis scolded. "I helped you get rid of three rats, didn't I? Now you can leech off Hermione's History of Magic homework again without fear of another big fat lecture from Father."

"Are you really calling her Hermione now? Ooooh," Draco teased, at the expense of sounding like Blaise.

"Shut up."

"Oh, what an eloquent response."

"You are so immature. I can call anyone I please by first name."

A/N: I'm sorry for putting more restrictions on your wonderful ideas…I've had several people ask about a fairy Patronus and unfortunately I don't think that would be feasible. I actually considered it before it was suggested, but it wouldn't work out too well for Artemis. People would probably be wondering, "What is that thing? It's got arms and legs but it isn't a human, and it has wings or something," and explanations would get awkward quickly.

So, unfortunately, please make the suggestions something that all the Hogwarts people can see and immediately go, "Oh, I know what that is, and it makes complete sense for a guy like Artemis."