"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, or the ability to make objects fly." Professor Flitwick tells the class. "Uh, do you all have your feathers? Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hm? The swish and flick. Everyone."
"The swish and flick." The class repeats, waving their wands. Harry sits next to Seamus, Ron next to Hermione, and Artemis next to Neville behind them.
"Good. Oh, and enunciate. Wingardium leviosa. Off you go, then." He adds.
The class begins trying to lift their feathers and Artemis notices Hermione stopping Ron. She pauses to watch, knowing Hermione can already cast the spell and Ron probably hasn't even opened his book yet.
"No, stop, stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out." Hermione tells him. Artemis laughs and Ron leans forward to glare at her. "Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's levi-osa, not leviosar."
"You do it then, if you're so clever." He replies. Hermione looks to Artemis who laughs and nods, encouraging her to prove him right.
"Wingardium leviosa." Hermione says, waving her wand. Her feather lifts into the air and Ron stares.
"Oh-ho! Well done! See here, everyone, Miss Granger's done it!" Professor Flitwick exclaims.
Hermione looks to Artemis, silently telling her to show everyone too. She casts the spell, and her feather rises off the desk. She moves it forward and drops it onto Harry's head. He turns and laughs with her, grabbing the feather off his head and setting it back on her desk. They turn back as there's an explosion from the desk next to him.
"I think we're going to need another feather over here, professor." Harry says, staring at the singed spot on the desk where Seamus' feather used to be.
"Neville, would you like some help?" Artemis asks as she notices him struggling. He blushes and nods, grateful yet embarrassed at the same time. She gently grabs his wrist and guides him through the movement. "Try again." She encourages.
"Wingardium leviosa." Neville says. He gasps as his feather lifts a few inches before dropping back down onto the desk. "I did it!" He exclaims.
"Of course, you did! I knew you could do it!" She tells him, smiling at him.
"Thanks." He replies, smiling back at her.
***
"'It's levi-o-osa, not leviosar'." Ron mocks as they walk through the courtyard after class. "She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends."
Hermione sobs as she rushes past them, and Artemis smacks his arm as hard as she can with her books.
"What is wrong with you, Ron!" She shouts, glaring at him. She glances at Hermione before turning back to Harry and Ron. She digs into her bag and pulls out a small bouquet of wildflowers she'd picked earlier that day. "I was going to wait until dinner, but Harry, these are for you. I know Halloween's probably a difficult day for you, so I wanted to make it better."
Artemis hands him the flowers before turning back to Ron, glaring at him. She sets her books into her bag and shoves it at him. She pinches his arm hard before she turns and follows Hermione.
"What's so bad about today?" Ron asks, looking at the flowers in Harry's hand as he adjusts his twin's bag on his shoulder.
"It's the day my parents died." He answers, looking up from the flowers to watch Artemis rush after Hermione, grateful for the gift.
***
"Hermione, please. Open the door. Ron's an idiot, and he's just jealous that you're better than him." Artemis says. She'd been trying all day to get her to come out of the bathroom stall, but nothing had been working.
"He's right! I don't have any friends!" She cries, sniffling.
"I'm your friend!" She replies. Hermione's quiet for a moment before the door opens. She sniffles, wiping her eyes as she steps out of the stall. Artemis hugs her before pulling away and wrapping her arm around her shoulder to lead her out of the bathroom.
The two girls scream as they spot the troll standing in front of them, rushing back into the stall and huddling together on the ground. The troll swings its club, destroying some of the stalls. They scream again, covering their heads as the pieces fall on top of them.
"Move!" Harry shouts as he and Ron enter the bathroom.
The girls start crawling, covering their heads as the troll smashes the rest of the stalls. They both start yelling for help, realizing that they don't have their wands. Harry and Ron start throwing the broken pieces at the troll, but it ignores them until Ron shouts.
"Hey, pea brain!" He yells, throwing another piece. It hits the troll in the face as he turns to look at the sound. Hermione and Artemis use his distraction to crawl over to the sinks. He spots them and swings his club, shattering the sink next to them as they scream.
"Help!" They both yell, looking at the boys. Artemis mimes waving a wand and Harry pulls his from his pocket. He rushes forward and grabs onto the troll's club as he swings it backwards.
"Woah!" He exclaims as he's lifted off the ground and dropped onto the troll's shoulders. The troll moves around, trying to dislodge Harry, but he hangs on, accidentally shoving his wand up the troll's nose.
"Ew!" Ron groans. The troll continues trying to knock Harry off, but eventually grabs him by the ankle.
"Do something!" Harry yells at Ron. The troll swings at him, but he lifts himself out of the way, making the troll miss.
"What?" He asks, looking around.
"Anything!" He replies, dodging the troll's club a second time. "Hurry up!" He adds as Ron grabs his wand.
"Swish and flick." Hermione tells him, miming the wand movement.
"Wingardium leviosa." Ron casts the spell.
The troll swings, but his club is now floating above his head. He looks up, confused, and Ron ends the spell, dropping the club on his head.
"Cool." He says.
The troll drops Harry, and he scrambles backwards as the troll sways. He gets out of the way just as the troll hits the ground, unconscious. Hermione and Artemis stand, slowly approaching them.
"Is it...dead?" Hermione asks.
"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry answers. He retrieves his wand and groans in disgust. "Ugh! Troll boogies." He wipes his wand clean as the teachers rush into the bathroom.
"Oh, my goodness!" Professor McGonagall exclaims as she spots the troll on the ground. "Explain yourselves, both of you!" She points to Harry and Ron, who both begin to stammer, trying to come up with a good explanation.
"It's our fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione interrupts.
"What? Miss Granger? Miss Weasley?" She asks.
"We went looking for the troll." Artemis says. Hermione nods.
"We read about them and thought we could handle it. But we were wrong." She adds.
"If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found us...we'd probably be dead." She finishes, telling the truth this time.
"Be that as it may it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I would have expected more rational behavior on your parts, and I am very disappointed in you two." McGonagall says. She examines the two, unsure if she believes their story. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement." She turns to Harry and Ron. "As for you two gentlemen...Well, I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first-year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points...will be awarded to each of you...for sheer dumb luck."
Professor McGonagall leaves the bathroom, Snape close behind. Professor Quirrell encourages the four to leave as well, staring at the troll. As soon as the four split off from the professors to head towards the common room, Artemis throws her arms around Harry and Ron.
"Thank you." She tells them, hugging them tight.
YOU ARE READING
The Wrong Weasley | Harry Potter
FanfictionAs Artemis Weasley grew older, she began to realize that she wasn't truly a Weasley. She had brown hair instead of red, not a single freckle, and didn't really look like any of her siblings, especially her twin, Ron. Although she now knew she wasn't...
