We arrive at our next class, Care of Magical Creatures- surprise!- late. 

As expected, Hagrid wasn't too pleased. 

What was a surprise was Artemis. "Sorry, Professor, it's just that Clover and I saw a Bowtruckle on the way here. Well, it was Clover, really," she added with a quick, almost shy glance at me. "There were even some fairy eggs we saw it eat, and I got a decent sketch. " She held her notebook open to a page with a remarkably realistic Bowtruckle on it. When had she done that? And more importantly, what drugs was she on?! I mean, Artemis,  telling a white lie (erm...not so white, I guess) to a teacher? 

"Er- tha's wonderful." Hagrid grunted, beaming for one fibber to the next. "Yer have to show me where yer found him sometime." 

I glance over to the pumpkin patch, trying my best to not meet his eyes. Even I ditch class often, I always feel so guilty afterwards. 

I frown. "Our- our badger thing is there, right? That's what the black and white blob on the pumpkin is?" (Let it be noted: the pumpkin was bigger than the badger.  I'm not one to be scared of vegetables, but holy cow, that thing is huge.) 

"Oh, yeah," Hagrid said enthusiastically. "She's been a real treat to have around- she's growing so fast with all those weasels, I reckon'-" he suddenly stopped talking. 

"You reckon?" Artemis prompted. I stepped closer. The badger was lying on her stomach, but sprouting from her back were small, furry...wings? 

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Er, Professor, would you happen to know anything about her sprouting...wings, by any chance?" 

"Errm," Hagrid looked uncomfortable. "See, the thing is..." How did he even do that? Some potion, maybe? Regardless, small, white wings, about six inches long, were fluttering lightly as she slept. 

"I actually like her better with wings," Artemis said suddenly. "They give some character."

"Me too," I said, although I wasn't quite sure why, "A little spunk, you know?"

"We'll have to mention it in our logs, though," Artemis said pointedly. 

"Maybe we should get that now?" I said hopefully. Behind Hagrid, students were wrestling..were those leashs? Onto the skrewts. 

"Okay," Hagrid looked slightly disappointed. "Yer'll be missin' a real good lesson."

To my great surprise, he actually let us go. It might have something to do with someone's skrewt exploding ( how that is even possible, I have no idea) and him rushing off, waving his arms- it mattered not, for we were off.

"Nice," I said. "The Bowtruckle, I mean."

"Thanks," Artemis said, grinning. "I've never done that before." Her smile, bright enough to substitute for the sun, faded and after a pause, she added, ''I feel kinda bad about it, actually."

"Same, sorta. We didn't hurt anyone, though. And now we can just have a misplacement and boom, no more skrewt walks. For today, at least."

"True," Artemis agreed, and then silence filled the air once more. 

"Are you excited for the schools coming?" Artemis asked after a couple of minutes of our trek back to the castle. 

"No," I said flatly, glaring at a tree root. 

"Oh-right-sorry." Artemis looked at the ground again. "I forgot."

"Lucky you."

"Why don't you like the Tournament so much?" she frowned. Her voice was cautious, as if she knew what dangerous waters she was swimming towards. 

"It's a stupid idea, and it gets people killed!" I almost shouted, and then let out a torrent of colorful adjectives as I  tripped over the tree root I had been giving such a venomous look.  

"Stupid tree," I muttered, accepting Artemis's hand to help me up. Her skin made my hand feel tingly. 

A blush was creeping up on Artemis's cheeks, and the girl I met on the train at the beginning of the year would have dropped it. But this Artemis, staring determinedly at the ground, said quietly, "The real reason, Clover." 

There was a long pause in which words gathered in my mouth, but it was some time before I let them out. "My parents were....not good people," I began in a choked voice.  "Which is why it shouldn't have mattered, really, that he died. But I like to think that if he had still been alive, he would have kept my mother from..from..doing what she did. He would have changed what happened." But what I think is normally wrong, I think bitterly to myself.   "Why do I hate it? Because it took him. Because it killed him." To my horror, tears are rising in my eyes. I blink away the blurriness. Not here. Not now. I refuse. A warm hand slips into mine, pulling me up from the darkness these memories hold. 

Artemis shot me an anxious glance, but when I said nothing, her hand remained firmly in mine. After serval shallow breaths I continue. 

"I hate it because they're all blind to how much work went into it."

I can see Artemis tip her head to the side in confusion. I stop walking, knowing that the castle in just beyond the trees in front of us. I'm not ready to go out, not yet.

"Not this time. I mean before. They tried to start it before. That's when everything went wrong." I know my words make little scene, but I feel too numb to care. 

"What?" Artemis was alarmed, she turns to face me. "You mean they started the Triwizard Tournament before? How did that kill your fath-"

"Shut up!" I hissed, and instantly regret it when Artemis flinches.  "Someone might hear you," I said, calmer. "Then they'd all know."

Suddenly there was a long DING! DONG! DING! DONG! 

"The bell," I sighed. 

"The other schools!" Artemis squeaked, grabbing my arm and sprinting to the gates, where the other years were already assembling. I could barely run fast enough to keep up. 

"Oh!" she gasped, pushing our way to the front. "Look!" Flying through the air was a huge, blue..pumpkin? 

"That looks like a pumpkin," Artemis said dubiously. 

"I don't think it is," I squinted at the blue sphere, bumping its way down to Hogwarts. "A carriage, maybe?"

"A coach?" Artemis suggested. 

"Look, horses!" someone called. 

"Ohh," Artemis said dreamily, pointing to the white-gold four-legged blobs that appeared to be pulling the carriage. 

"Santa's very distant cousin, who prefers horses over reindeer, butterflies over elves, and a pumpkin-shaped coach over a sleigh," I muttered to myself. "Personally, I would go for a sleigh, that sounds much cooler," I added, once again talking to myself (probably because no one else was listening). 

"What?" Artemis said. "Who's Santa? Can I have a reindeer?" 

"Just a Muggle thing." 

The great blue thing had finally landed, revealing it to be very much a carriage and not at all a pumpkin. The door swung open and a great woman, at least a foot larger than Hagrid ( who was twice the size of a normal man and three times as large) who padded out and over to Dumbledore. 

"Dumblee-dorr," she purred. 

"Madame Maxine," Dumbledore bowed and kissed her hand, although it was already almost up to his shoulder. "What a pleasure, as always." 

They talked briefly, then Madam Maxine gestured to the carriage. The door swung open, and twenty to thirty women, in pale blue uniform with swishy skirts and tightly up-done hair spilled out. They danced their way towards the door to the castle, blue butterflies pouring off them. The boys stared at the women of Beauxbatons and the girls (the straight ones, anyway) giggled and cooed over the insects. 

"Told ya, fluttery butterfly ladies," I said to Artemis, who, to my great satisfaction, snorted in amusement.  The air seemed so uncomfortable between us after I...talked. Please, just forget it, I prayed to whoever was listening. Forget I ever said anything, just go back to whatever we had. 

One of the horses- which turned out to be huge, for such dainty little maidens- let out a nervous whiney. The two heads of school conferred once again, then Madam Maxine swept into the Great Hall behind her students. 

"Jeez, wonder how big Dumstrang's horses are," Artemis muttered, and I nodded in agreement. 

"Where's Scarlet and Alura?" I asked. She shrugged. 

"There! In the lake!" Someone cried. Heads whipped. 

"Oh!" I pointed to where a long pole was sticking out of the inky water. 

"It's a...stick?"

"Maybe a bedpost," I offered as more came out of the water. (Artemis cast me a strange look). 

"Oh." I peered closer. "It's a ship!"

"A massive ship," Artemis said, awed, as it docked and red blobs began to trudge towards the castle. At their front was an odd man.

Well, perhaps he himself, wasn't odd, what was odd was I've...seen him before? 

I grabbed Artemis's hand and pulled us closer towards him. He was wearing a dark fur coat and hat that hid some of his greasy dark hair. 

"Clover, where are we going?" Artemis yelped. "Are you okay?" she added, noticing me staring. I was waiting for his head to turn, as soon as he was done talking with Dumbledore I could see his face...Now!

Long, rather an oily nose, proudly worn goatee, hard, brown eyes pointed teeth bared in what may look like a smile to everyone else but was that familiar snarl to me......

"Oh my God." I did know him.  I could feel my knee buckling as a lunged towards him, someone was screaming, an awful, high noise, someone was in pain, it might have been me. My mind was whirling, there were flashes of darkness in my vision..my eyes were open but I saw nothing, then there was another wail and a thump as my body hit the ground. And then everything went black.