Ch. 9-The 20 Years
Not much is known about Artemis during his twenty years as a muggle. All that has been recovered are notes, journal entries, and random pieces of parchment that have been put into what is believed to be their true chronological order. However these random records do not seem to start until about 3 years after he lost his powers. He was pretty good at dating his entries; however some of his scribblings are difficult to place on the timeline. Most of his revenge plans were not found, most likely destroyed by Artemis himself after committing them to memory or taking them with him. Large amounts seem to pass between journal entries, although evidence proves that there are several journal entries in between, some suggest these are the only ones he wanted us to find. Some pieces were scattered and only recently recovered, some were destroyed, by whom we are not sure; however some were confiscated by the Ministry as they were seen as far too disturbing.
This first entry was no doubt his first as well, it is clearly stated how he wishes to keep a journal in order to keep his sanity; somewhat of a laughable concept really.
March 19th 1961,
It occurred to me yesterday night that I don't want to lose myself in this experience, or whatever you want to call it. I have decided to keep this journal, to keep me sane, to remind me of what I have endured, or perhaps to never lose the spark of revenge I now possess. I have decided to mark down important ideas, events, and breakthroughs during my time here.
These first three years have been…rough. Adjusting to muggle life, living on my own, establishing a system; I found that the best way to keep me sane and to give myself purpose. I have taken up exercising more than usual, even hunting for animals; for food and killing experience. Get myself used to being the predator to prey. The rest of the day is set aside for meditation and planning; daily meditation allows me to think clearly, and to allow my mind to be at its peak while planning my revenge. I only travel into town, to buy food or supplies, or books. A lot of my time has been spent reading books, books of knowledge, not just wizard books, muggle books; something called encyclopedias, the entire set. Books of fiction, history, mathematics, science, books on every subject you could imagine. Over these past few years I have become much more knowledgeable than I was before. Although with no one around to test it against there really is no telling just how smart I am.
Company is something strangely don't miss, being alone was always something I cherished, and I thought being alone for years would drive me mad. But that's not the case, I don't feel lonely or depressed, I welcome the solitude. The only person I wish to see is my love Adora. What has become of her? Questions like this have haunted a few many of my nights. Day after day I have wondered about Adora, Lucius, and Dobby; worrying for them, hoping. Others that I think of do not merit the same kind of sympathy: Abraxas, Tom, Broderick…all in good time.
The next entry we see is not for about a year later, once again from his journal.
October 2nd 1962,
I have come across a bit of a revelation, an epiphany if you will. It came to me while recalling the events of July 27th 1958 and what had been done to me. As usual I became blinded with anger and thought only of what had been done to me. But that's it, what had been done to me. The spell Broderick used on me, in order to steal my powers. If Tom's ultimate goal was to send me to Broderick in order for him to take away my powers, the question is; why didn't Tom just do it himself? This question buzzed through my head, like a swarm of bees. Until finally after parking aside my anger I meditated and allowed the veil of anger to cease and I came across my answer. The Corripio Factultas curse is by definition illegal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic. I quickly searched for a book on wizard-law and finally found one. It was a law book set down by the Ministry that I was able to retrieve from some occult bookstore run by some man with a hundred conspiracy theories about some secret government agency called the Ministry of Magic. Of course all his theories were complete rubbish, but my true answer was from an excerpt of illegal spells. There are of course different levels of illegal spells.
First we have our unforgivables, which of course get you sent straight to Azkaban with no leniency or exception, even in cases of self-defense. Than we have the somewhat less severeInflictables. Which will get you sent to trial in which case you will most likely either be sent to Azkaban for a short while in the Spartan wing, for the less severe criminals or land you a hefty fine and perhaps house arrest. Than finally there are the Fineables, the proverbial parking ticket of the wizarding world; which will essentially land you a slap on the wrist and a fine. However I couldn't find the spell anywhere, however I did find the spell under a list called Grantables. These are spells in which you must be granted special permission by the ministry to use, after which they will take your wand to a wand maker, who will refine it to have the special ability. The curse was listed as a parasitic spell, which is why I didn't at first recognize it.
The answer was here all the time; Tom didn't take away my powers because he couldn't. He didn't have the ability. At the time though, neither did Broderick. But the music, Mozart's Requiem, Tom revealed later that he had given me the music. But I never thought anything of it, I saw it simply as a way for him to open my eyes to my endless possibilities. Bollocks! He knew when I tried it, that the results would be disastrous and that the Ministry would no doubt get involved. The next day when Broderick tried to take away his powers in the cellar; he must have been given the grantable spell that day by the Ministry, and when he attempted to use it Tom stepped in. Once he had saved me, he had me; he fed me his lies in order to use me from the beginning. Than when I had become too much of a threat he sent me like a lamb to slaughter, knowing Broderick would use it on me. Damn them all!
But the real revelation of all this, is the fact that I thought, my list of enemies, consisted of Abraxas, Tom, and Broderick, however I need to add one more. The ones truly responsible for the spell used to make me a muggle. The Ministry of Magic, and the Minister himself, they must pay.
This next passage is a note discovered along with many others like it. It was an excerpt torn from a book spells; either found or invented, and waiting to be tested; the following was not an original spell. Through research we have traced this excerpt from a book called "For Your Enemies".
Scelero-Causes your target to begin bleeding uncontrollably from the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. Extremely painful, target dies from either blood loss, or drowning in blood. In scientific terms the spell causes all the victims organs to expel any blood they have within them, and sucks all the blood from the muscles, skin, etc. and channels it to one of the orifices in the head. The spell also multiplies the amount of blood that escapes the body in order to make the scene even more gruesome. There is no known way to stop this spell, the only kindness someone could do to stop the pain would be to kill them.
The only thing written on this page by Artemis was just one word; Abraxas.
June 12th 1966,
Today I decided to go out for an evening, the decision came when I purchased a Victrola and some records of classical music, however the muggle shop-keeper suggested a record from a new musical called Hello Dolly. After getting home I realized I rather enjoyed the music and decided to go see the show. It was the first time I had been out of the woods in a long while. I didn't go all the way to London, but fairly far to a nearby theatre. The show starred Mary Martin as Dolly. It was about this woman called Dolly, whom everyone loves. Then there were these two funny boys Barnaby and something else, I can't seem to remember his name. They travel to New York, where one of the two boys falls in love. She reminded me of Adora, the woman who played her. Their song they sang was called It Only Takes A Moment, While the song played and I listened intently, I saw something; the lights on the sides of the theatre began to flicker. I looked up to them and when the song ended the lights returned to normal. The instant the performance ended I rushed home and dug up my wand, and tried a spell. Nothing, a coincidence perhaps.
However this disappointment was short lived by a large bright explosion outside the window. I looked out the window and saw a figure standing himself up. He must have stepped on the exploding stones. They were supposed to be fatal, damn things. I couldn't tell who it was, but I saw a wand wave and all of the stones explode. I prepared myself, I got my revolver and stood behind the door and pointed it right at the door. I waited and remained silent, than I saw the door crack just slightly and a wand poke through. I struck down on the wand knocking it out of their hand, than flung the door open and pointed right for his head. We stood at a silent standstill for a while, until he made a move toward me, and I shot. The bullet ripped through his head and left a large red splatter on the door.
I looked in his pockets, a picture of me, and last known whereabouts, also a map, with some sort of route drawn on it leading to a large circle that had written next to it, somewhere in here. The bastard tracked me down, but who the hell was he? I looked further and found nothing. Than at his wand; I didn't recognize the wand but I did recognize the initials on it "CV" Charles Vanderguild, the famous bounty hunter. He probably sensed me when I left my protective barrier, and most likely followed me from the theatre. This was good and bad, it meant that they were indeed looking for me, but since he is a private bounty hunter, he most likely tell anyone else where he thought I was. I buried the body and put his wand in another mirror lined box.
No more long trips to town.
August 1st 1968,
Half way there, I have had other attempts on my life since the bounty hunter. All of them are now dead, and have joined Vanderguild in the ground. Before when I used to kill thousands at a time, I never felt much. But now killing men right in front of me, some with my bare hands; I feel myself feeling…less. Altogether, just empty.
And why not? Feelings will only get in my way; feelingsare what got me into this hell. The plan is coming along famously, ever detail fitting together perfectly. Although I've a long way to go.
In Chapter 1, it was stated Artemis had but one friend at Hogwarts, and that we would mention him at a later time.
September 19th 1971,
When I said I feel nothing, it was not true.
I made my monthly trip to the market, and while I was waiting to pay the clerk, a voice behind me yelled. Artemis Gridlock? I reached for my gun hidden in my coat, and spun around and was met with a man, at first I didn't recognize him. He didn't seem to be hostile though, I told him I didn't know who Artemis Gridlock was. He insisted I was him, and that he knew me. I hurriedly paid the clerk and left with him close behind. He told me he was Arthur Carrow, and instantly I recognized him, my old friend. My only friend at Hogwarts, what the hell was he doing here? He followed me and as he called my name I could see people staring, God were one of them looking for me, he's going to give me away. I told him I didn't know him, but he persisted. Remember me Artemis I was your friend, how have ya been? He followed me all the way to my car that I parked in the nearby alley. I told him to just forget me and go away before something bad happens, why didn't he listen? I opened my trunk and put my supplies in, but I could hear him still going on. You have to remember me; we were best friends at Hogwarts. I had no choice.
I grabbed the straight tire iron out from the trunk, and spun around and gave him a straight blow to the head. He went down, blood spewing from his head. He made some sort of gargling noise and his eyes rolled back and he shook. I hit him again, and again, and again. Blood sprayed on me, all across my face. Finally after a barrage of hits, his head was left in a bloody mess and he finally stopped thrashing.I gave a look around, no one saw. I threw him in the back seat and drove home. I buried him, and the car, without a single thought. Than as I saw myself in the stream cleaning his blood off of my face. I yelled, angrily I just screamed, and screamed. Then I rolled myself into the small stream and cried,it had been a long while since I had actually cried. I thought of why I did it, why I had to do it, and none of it helped. Nothing helped at all.
May 29th1973,
I often think of Arthur, my only friend that I had murdered in order to protect my revenge plan. I had gotten over the guilt, but still my memories of him back at Hogwarts still haunt me from time to time.
I was considered a freak at Hogwarts; no one wanted anything to do with me. Back then I had a hard time controlling my magic; I accidentally hurt a lot of people. Children can be quite cruel; many times I had to wipe away the blood when they threw rocks at me. I always kept to myself never asked a lot of questions, sat by myself in the great hall. I heard that the strange were welcomed in Gryffindor, but I was in Ravenclaw. I met Arthur in potions class, he was my lab partner and a Ravenclaw as well; I never talked much back then, mostly because no one wanted to talk to me. So when Arthur first talked to me, I was confused. I nearly didn't know what to do. Hi, I'm Arthur Carrow. I just looked at him, as everyone around me giggled and chortled at my reaction to friendliness. He had short black hair, an innocent face, and bright green eyes. He extended his hand and I just looked at it, this was all very foreign to me. Finally I shook it, and said; I'm Artemis.
The rest as they say is history. We were the best of friends, Arthur didn't have many friends either, and he lost most of the ones he had, when he became friends with me. He said he didn't like them anyway, but I could tell he missed having other friends besides me. We did everything together, we went to class together, and spent time together, even got in trouble together. More than a few times, we took the fall for one another. But any teacher there knew if one of us was in trouble, the other had something to do with it. When our first year ended, we could hardly bear being away from each other, and once we were reunited, it was the best feeling ever, and our adventures began again.
Even in my second year, I was still a freak, but that just made Arthur and me closer. We had a dance coming up, some sort of ball; I always stayed away from those kinds of things. I was never welcome, and I never had anyone to go with. Arthur told me to ask this pretty girl in our house to the dance, I didn't want to, but Arthur was persistent till the end. Of course I did, and she turned me down, her name was Veronica Vanderguild. I wonder how she'd feel knowing I killed her father not too long ago. Anyway me and Arthur had decided to go together as friends. The night of the dance, we dressed in our best dress robes, other kids yelled words of hate, and I never understood why they hated us. We were all each other had, we weren't dating. We only went together because we had no one else to go with. Although Arthur never asked to go with anyone besides me, but at the time I thought nothing of it.
It was later that night when he first tried to kiss me, and I didn't really do anything to stop him. What could I do? I was confused, we both were. He apologized so many times, and I told him it was okay. He was convinced we would no longer be friends after that. But I explained to him that I didn't feel like that about him. He realized he didn't either, I suppose it was just the lifelong rejection of us two bursting forth, looking for someone to love, looking for someone to love us back.
The day I told Arthur I wouldn't be coming back next year, he insisted it was his fault; that I wanted to get away from him because he kissed me. It took a lot of tears and explaining to convince him it was not the reason why. It was because Hogwarts wasn't helping me at all, and I now had a private teacher. I don't think either of us had ever cried that much before in our lives. We continued to write to one another, but we never saw each other. Until that day, the day I killed him. I wish I didn't have to do it, but I did, I had to. I'm sorry Arthur, I'm sorry.
The above letter was recovered from under the floorboards, hidden away. Apparently we were not meant to find it, and he didn't have the heart to destroy it. Some part of him was still human.
November 9th 1974,
The death of my friend has brought me another friend, I was reading poetry one night, and it just so happened to be the works of one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allen Poe. It was almost in some great plan that I was reading The Raven. When just as in the poem, "While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping", I peered out of my window wand in my hand expecting an intruder, it wasn't so much tapping as a sudden thump. As I looked out the window I saw, a raven, sitting on the window sill. I opened my window and saw his wing was broken; I felt as though this was some sort of sign, my patronus was a raven and had always wanted one. I took pity on the creature and brought him inside, for a few weeks now I have been mending his arm without magic, which I've come to realize is very difficult. When finally he was healed I tried to let him go, but he wouldn't leave, he stayed. Most people think of ravens as dark creatures, but he is very lovable and affectionate, he is like me. Misunderstood, viewed by the world as an undesirable, looking for someone to understand.
I decided to name my new companion Amicus, a friend.
June 15th 1975,
I have come to the conclusion that Arthur's death wasn't really my fault, it was theirs. Broderick, Tom , Abraxas the Ministry itself. They were all responsible! They will pay for what they made me do, I hate myself for doing it and I think of him often, and then I think some more. Think about how Tom had betrayed me, and Broderick had lied to me since I was twelve years old. How Abraxas had taken me in as a son and casted me aside the moment I was no longer useful. It was because of them I had to kill him, because of them I'm here in hiding. I hate them all! They will pay!
The plan is nearly complete…
Three years to go…
The following was another excerpt found among his various notes, later found out to be from a book, although record of the specific book has been lost, the flowing was written in his own writing.
FusemVirgae (Wand Fusion)
It is possible for a wizard to take the power from one wand and combine it with another, by means if FusemVirgae. This allows for wands that are given a certain purpose to be combined with wands of a different specialty to perform at peak performance on both levels. Somewhat difficult to do, will render previous wand useless.
This could come in handy…Muldoon
January 23rd 1977,
Only one year to go, and the revenge plan is completed, it will happen just as I have seen it. And it will be glorious, to see my twenty year revenge plan take fruition.
I have studied more subjects than I would ever seem possible, I have become smart, smarter than brutes like Abraxas, or rats like Tom could ever hope to be, and I have no doubts when my powers return I shall be more powerful than all of them. Powerful enough to take down the ministry of magic itself. I am fit, strong; not of just body, but mind. I have memorized every song of the classical age, and I have special music picked out for each of them. It will be a glorious return to power, but alas not everything is in place, but it will be done. Just in time for my homecoming.
July 26, 1978,
Finally, the day has arrived, tomorrow my powers shall return to me, and I will be a force for fear once more. No more shall I cower at the presence of my enemies. They shall cower and tremble before me! No longer shall I be subjected to the ways of filthy pathetic muggles. No longer will I suffer here; no longer will I write in this journal, they will write of me, me and my power and how I changed the world. A mere twenty four hours separates me from ultimate glory. And it shall be glorious. When the clock strikes twelve, I shall rise, like the phoenix from the ashes of defeat and death. Only unlike the phoenix, when I arise it shall be to reign death on this world, and to those who have wronged me. I will be reunited with my love again, and when I have achieved my revenge we will go away together. All preparations have been made, and everything is in place for my return. All those who stand in my way will die along with my enemies, and all those on my list will die, horrible deaths that have been chosen for them carefully by the grim himself, by death, by fate. I will be the hands of fate, and justice will be brought to all.
This is my declaration, let it forever be written in the annals of history, from now until the end of time, and it is you, you reading my letters, reading my notes, you who have the extreme pleasure of recording this in the fabrics of time, to never die, to be a force for fear in the hearts of my enemies. Go now and share these with the world. Go now and share my destiny
July 27th, 1978,
I'm back…