Trespassing the Dungeons

[Artemis Jackson]

Artemis Lawrence Jackson woke up in the morning in such a grumpy mood. She rolled to her side while still lounging on her ancient four poster bed. The silky green curtains were still on their place, exactly where Artemis pulled them at place just last night. Artemis woke up in the second year Slytherin dormitories for her first time. Today was the day that was for the newly arrived first years to handle at their own hands. Around two days ago, the first years were sorted and some were still not contented with their own Hogwarts House. It was just unbelievably stupid for them to do that since that is where they belong. It is impossible for them to actually transfer their house, can't they? Sometimes, it was actually hard for them to actually realize that they were put in the Slytherin House because of their families. Artemis sat up from her bed, rubbing her sleepy blue eyes and yanked the curtains away too see if everyone had gotten up. It looks like she wasn't alone in her dorm, thank Merlin. Artemis got up from the bed and groggily walked up to the bathroom, barefoot. It could have been funny, but Artemis was not in the mood for some euphoria at the moment. She wanted the feeling of cold water against her whole body ongoing. The moment that she was in the showers, she felt instantly relaxed. Her grumpiness was watched away and all the dirt from last night's sleep vanished. Artemis just lounged in there for about thirty minutes just enjoying the water on her body. It was such an relieving moment.

The tap of the shower was closed after a few minutes of wasting it. Artemis got her bathrobe and wrapped herself in it. The soft cloth touched the second year's skin so softly and gently, it made Artemis shiver. Before turning the knob going out of the bathroom, she stopped to take a look at herself in the mirror, and saw her own self just frowning back. Artemis hair was almost dried up. At least, it wasn't dripping wet from the shower. Immediately, her hair grew into frizzy locks that the Slytherin wouldn't want. She frowned at the sight of it, and looked at her own self with concern. Never did she know that she was thin. Or maybe it was because of the stupid thing called, "puberty". That stage was loathed by the blonde. She did not want to experience "physical changes" ongoing in and outside of her body. Artemis rolled her own eyes at the sight of herself and stepped out of the bathroom. Thankfully, she left that room cleaned with no drips of water on the tiled floor. Artemis rushed to her trunk and sat on her bed while looking for something to wear for the day. Momentarily, there wasn't any lessons yet which Artemis was grateful about. But she was pretty sure that lessons would come anytime soon. Artemis found a random set of clothes under the bottom of her trunk that was perfectly ironed by the elves. If this was all she managed to find, she couldn't care any much anymore. The second year walked back to the bathroom to wear the clothes on her petite and thin body. It fit perfectly on her, emphasizing her pale complexion because of the dark colors of the clothes. Artemis wore her necklace that had the letter "J" resembling her surname. She also combed then tied her hair into some lazy bun with some excess hair at the side.

The trip to the Great Hall wasn't exciting as always. In fact, it was more of a danger because of the small first years that were running around and seemed that they had the time of their lives. Artemis walked past them and discovered that they were playing with one another once she past a group of them, possibly Gryffindors because of their excitement about the secret passages in the castle. She accidentally bumped into another new face of the castle who did not mind even apologizing. Artemis pushed passed them and immediately arrived at the Great Hall only to be greeted by numerous faces around, eating at their respective tables silently. Artemis sat down at the Slytherin table with no appetite at all. There was a first year boy just next to her and Artemis made no move to actually converse with him. The witch grabbed a piece of toast and buttered it with speed. After, she poured some water inside her goblet. She liked doing this the normal way. Not the magical way. It took her exactly seventeen minutes to finish that small piece of toast by nibbling at its end until it was finished already. The first year took a last gulp of water and stood up, ready to leave the Great Hall. There was actually nothing particular to where she could go, but perhaps she could just lounge around in the Dungeons. She smiled to herself and headed to the spiral staircase heading there.

The idea of going there was actually great, since Artemis did not need any company at the moment. Her thoughts wondered to Alliyah whether she saw her at the Gryffindor table. Obviously, not because she wasn't in the mood to ask her sister how she was doing around the castle. The dungeons were quite dark when Artemis entered, resulting her to get her wand immediately. Just a little far away, the portrait leading to the Slytherin common room was there. Artemis wondered whether she could just laze around in her common room but she thought that maybe some time in the Dungeon could be spent alone, by herself. The Dungeons were indeed dark except for the dim light. The weather wasn't being helpful either. It was dark outside in the clouds and the wind was quite harsh. The Slytherin walked up to the window and watched the sky thunder dangerously. She looked at a small stool that was located at bit far from her. Just to do a silly prank, she thought of an idea. To be honest, she got the spell from the library and she also wanted to try it on, on something and somebody. "Animare." Muttered Artemis lazily, pointing her wand to the dusty stool. The stool immediately sprung to life and walked around the place, waiting for another person to surprise.​

 

[Mima Scarlet]

Due to being cloistered away at the Scarlet manor for so long, Mima felt completely lost in a place where she didn't know every single area like the back of her own hand. It was rather disheartening at first, but Mima simply came to the conclusion that the only thing that could be done was to learn her way around. She was doing okay so far. She knew where the Entrance and Great Halls were. She knew how to find Hufflepuff house, and she had learnt her way around the outside of the castle yesterday. Not the Forbidden Forest, but at least the lakes, the gardens, the lawn and the cliffs.

Now, however, was her time to learn her way around the inside of the castle, and her morbid curiosity drew her to the dungeons first of all. Not before eating, of course. Breakfast was such a huge affair at Hogwarts. All meals were, really. Mima was used to eating by herself. The housekeeper would prepare meals, and breakfasts, Mima always ate alone. Sitting with a whole bunch of others left Mima feeling somewhat uncomfortable. She simply kept to herself while she ate toast and drank juice, merely nodding if someone asked her something. She preferred not to talk. Mealtimes were for eating, not socialising, in Mima's opinion. Jumping up as soon as she finished, Mima scurried off to where she believed the staircase down to the dungeons were. Her robe billowed out behind her plain, yet elegant clothes, making the eleven year old feeling somewhat regal. Heels clicked on the steps as she wandered downstairs, and Mima found herself realising that it was actually quite dark, and she wasn't 100% sure on how to cast a spell for light. She knew she possibly should've studied and looked up how to do it, but Mima hadn't spent much time with her books, especially since getting to Hogwarts. She had bearings to gain.

Something hit her in the leg, and she looked down to see a moving stool. Although her house was magical, there wasn't much in the way of charmed objects floating around. "Ow!" Mima exclaimed, frustrated, as it butted against her other leg. "Hey, what gives?"

 

[Artemis Jackson]

The dark color of the sky seemed to move from, "absolutely normal" to "worse". Nevertheless, Artemis still made an effort to love that kind of typical day wherein a brief storm will occur for about a three straight hours. After that, it is permanently gone. It will move on with the muggle world. Artemis crossed her arms just in front of her chest with a temporary scowl set up on her pale yet normal features. Her lips were absolutely frowning. It curled downwards, just like what it does when she was in deep thought. Soft thunders rumbled through the sky which made her lips curl upwards this time in the very slightest form. She loved it when the day was like this. At least, the weather matched her perfectly well done mood. Artemis sucked in a deep breath and let it out immediately with her eyes still watching the sky make its moves preparing for rains to fall underneath the heavy contained clouds. The fluffy white shapes that used to make Artemis cheerful now had a grey color and small sparks of light erupting at any place it wanted to go too. The weather made her brain go a little fuzzy, resulting her to become sleepy again and gain the idea of going back to her four poster ancient bed back in the Slytherin dormitories which were just a few steps away from where she is currently located. Artemis sensed no form of any living thing except for herself and the object that was just put to life by Artemis with a simple charm for it. It was moving around randomly with absolutely no direction at all in its own small little brain implanted there by the Slytherin. If ever there was, anyways.

It remained still and calm yet dim in the Dungeons. Artemis still stood there with a huge window that had no glass at all between her and the outside world. The bottom of the window was high enough for her to entwine her fingers and lean against it. The position was something that made her look totally focused on the weather's offered events outside. Her brown blouse was being blown away going at the same time with the wind's direction. The excess of her blonde hair that was tied into a bun were also being blown by the wind very faintly. Her facial expression was relaxed and just utterly relieved that she was able to get away from those first years who liked to crowd her just like what happened to her during her trip to breakfast in the Great Hall. Artemis, who always loved being alone during times that were busy, just had found the perfect spot to relax and not be bothered by anyone at all. The second year closed her eyes momentarily and breathed in the fresh air of the wind that was going to be soon rushing with the raindrops. She momentarily forgot about the stool that was charmed to life which was just walking around the Dungeon aimlessly. A little voice then spoke in a pretty much irritated tone for her voice. The Slytherin snapped her eyes open with just the sound of her voice with a scowl forming on her pink lips. She turned around only to find a new face around the castle that was accidentally hit by the stool who was walking around on its three legs. Fortunately, she caught the second scene wherein the stool seemed to hit the girl on her other foot which seemed quite amusing for the Slytherin. She smirked evidently and spoke out for the other witch to hear. "Enjoying it?" Smirked the blonde, with an apparent look that she was enjoying the scene just before her eyes. The question was of course rhetorical and Artemis expected a silly answer that will make the scene even more amusing than she thought. ​

 

[Mima Scarlet]

Hey, are you a Scarlet or what? We don't stand for this!

Marielle was right. Mima Scarlet wasn't pushed around. She was a wealthy pureblood. Nobody should dare boss her around - even if she was but a small first year. The Hufflepuff wasn't scared. She dealt with ghosts on a daily basis. And the person causing this annoyance was probably just another student, maybe a year or two older. Anyone older than 3rd year, she was told, would be far more mature than to pull pranks on hapless first years. Not to mention far too busy with schoolwork.

Hearing a voice pipe up, Mima scowled. Marielle was anxious and ferocious. Don't stand for it! Beat the living tar out of her! Of course, Mima didn't have the physical strength to do something like that, and Stella had told her explicitly not to pick fights. Alice, on the other hand, would've pulled some fancy manouver to get the other girl back. But Alice had been a pranking and hexing genius. Mima didn't know how to retailiate. Not yet. But boy, she wanted to. An eye for an eye, her cousin Valerian had said (about Durmstrang, anyway).

"Isn't it obvious? Make it stop, now."

 

[Artemis Jackson]

Before the piece of scum appeared, Artemis was such in a terribly good mood. Her spirits were high for something exciting that will come sometime later in the morning. Around eleven o'clock exactly on the dot. But Artemis did not have her wristwatch right now. If she just had it right now, it would be much more easier to determine the time that was already ticking off. Artemis could not just run to the Slytherin common room to get the watch. Her legs weren't fast enough to carry her in that kind of speed. Besides, she's got a three legged stool to watch at the moment. The second year also wanted to try this absolutely new spell to use and see its effects. So might as well try it on something at the same time, use it on a person. Her mood was on for some pranks, which was quite rare to be honest. Artemis took out her wand and twirled it around her fingers with a smug look on her relaxed pale features. "And why should I? It is not bothering me anyways." Countered Artemis with a dangerous flash in her intense blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dimly lit dungeon. Now, Artemis fully turned just to look at a small girl who is probably a first year, with black hair and a fair complexion. She had the same scowl that Artemis is wearing, except that it was quite irritating. Artemis' now contained a lazy look that made her exceptionally relaxed and smug about something. She watched as the stool walked around again in circles, casually bumping the girl's legs just to irritate her further enough to amuse Artemis. ​

 

[Mima Scarlet]

Calm down, Mima, she heard Stella's voice say in her ear. Mima wasn't exactly the most even tempered of girls. She could be quite obliging and polite at times, if she remembered to be. Of course, if she listened to Alice, or Marielle, she wasn't. Instead of doing what Stella had told her - to ignore the girl and walk away, Mima was holding her ground. Why, nobody pushed a Scarlet around. It was simply unheard of. Valerian had told stories of Durmstrang, while Mima had quietly sat at the dinner table. It was a source of so much pride to her aunt and uncle that Valerian never backed down from a fight and was, indeed, getting a formidable reputation. As a pale and much weaker girl, Mima wasn't sure she could do the same. But she wasn't going to back down, that was for sure. Too much of the Scarlet pride in her blood.

Still, Mima was quite frustrated that she couldn't retaliate with spells of her own. All she'd read ahead to learn was how to levitate things, and that wasn't exactly going to help. Or maybe it was...

"Wingardium Leviosa," she said, carefully, moving and shuffling the stool. Okay, it didn't move very far, but she hadn't really learnt the spell properly yet. She sighed and glared back at the other girl. "Low class scoundrel," she murmured, repeating something she'd heard her uncle often moan at the table as he read the papers. "Typical."

 

[Artemis Jackson]

The Slytherin chuckled at the witch's lame attempt to insult her. Artemis never experienced being fought and called by names and this person was her first one in her whole life. But nevertheless, Artemis knew that she would be able to counter that lame insult that was thrown to her by this small student. Probably smaller than her by a few inches. But still, this girl has got a nerve. Artemis took the advantage to observe her more while the other student was recklessly levitating and moving the stool using such a useless charm. Artemis averted her sight to the moving stool, smirking while watching it. The charm was indeed pathetic, more pathetic than anything she has ever seen. Once done, the other witch spoke again this time, with more venom in her tone. Artemis was actually pleased to discover that she has made a scene out of a first year with the lame attempt to get rid of the stool. Artemis immediately knew that this girl still contained the racism for other bloodlines such as Halfbloods and muggleborns. "Low class charm." Mimicked Artemis, with the same tone that the other student used. She did not even know her name, so why converse with her? Artemis' blood and temper strangely remained calm and did not even raise a single degree yet. The twelve year old eyed the other student lazily, with a smug smirk on her pale features. Her hair was already flying around in lazy directions because of the strong wind from outside. Artemis stepped to her left side just near the torch that was lit by flames. "Name?" Asked the Slytherin lazily, wishing she wore the badge of her house to show what house she came from. No one would dare insult the Slytherin house. No one, or else, Artemis would be extremely offended. Artemis continuously twirled her wand around her fingers with her whole undivided attention to the wand. Meanwhile, only her ears were for the girl. Artemis did a final spin of the wand which was very fast. Artemis felt the wind that was being pushed by the wand's force. When the twirl was done, she lazily aimed the girl with her wand and muttered, "Lumos."Artemis' lazy smirk turned into a serious look but somehow, it was kind of lazy. She was not in the mood to look like a serial killer so she just toyed around with the girl who probably did not know. Artemis wanted to keep the scene intact, and took her time before saying something again. "You sure you don't want me to make the stool lifeless again?" Artemis said, with the same old smirk appearing on her pale yet delicate features in a sarcastic tone that was apparently audible.​

 

[Mima Scarlet]

The Scarlet blood bubbled and boiled underneath her skin. Mima was, as her name suggested, the most peaceful of the Scarlets, but the influence of Marielle sure didn't help matters. She clenched her fists, taking a deep breath. Peace, Mima. Peace. The eleven year old didn't like being bossed around, but she could control her temper better than other members of her family. It was a struggle, but she could do it. Sort of.

Mima didn't understand people very well, but she'd been told that by her status she was better than most of them. And if anyone tried to undermine that...well, it was her duty to set them straight. The latter part wasn't something she'd been explicitly told, of course, but she gathered as such from Valerian's behaviour. "Mima Scarlet," she hissed, when asked her name. "Yours?" she added. "Your wand tricks are hardly impressive, by the way," she added, bored by the girl's wand twirling. "You seem to be trying to make yourself in to this big bad monster when I'm sure you're hardly qualified for that role."

Mima was a lot more talkative when throwing insults, it seemed. It was a skill she'd learnt from the portraits in her house. Particuarly of her grandmother, Cecelia. Cecelia had an incredibly sharp tongue and a very serious outlook. Quite the wit, but it was a very dry wit. "And I don't seem to recall you asking to do such a thing. It would be a nice thing for you to do, but I'm going to guess that you're a Slytherin. And as such, you want to live up to the stereotype that you're not nice at all."

 

[Artemis Jackson]

Watching the smaller student was actually fun. All the things that Artemis said were making the student boil up. Artemis watched her, unbelievably calm with the situation. She raised an arrogant eyebrow when the girl clenched her fist. Both fists, to be exact. At this point, Artemis immediately knew that she was making the girl angry already and there was pride that bubbled inside Artemis. A victorious one, indeed. Once hearing her name, Artemis did not know whether she should bow in front of this person or just laugh about it. Scarlet is a color isn't it? Artemis instead just nodded with nothing really set up on her mind. "Scarlet? Never heard of that." Artemis wondered, watching Scarlet at the corner of her eyes what will her reaction be. She knew that the small girl might even lounge and attack her but Artemis doubted that. She did not look she had enough physical strength to do so. So does Artemis anyways. One punch and she might get knocked out of consciousness. "Artemis Jackson." Artemis hissed back at the girl at the same fashion she just did. She liked mimicking the small student. It was actually fun to do it. She expected Scarlet to snarl at her because her name wasn't exactly famous in the wizarding world. Artemis did not exactly care anyways. Their family had the right amount of money to claim. They were high middle class, if ever categorized.

The second year wasn't offended about her tricks. She actually did this to prank somebody, not to impress. "I'm hardly trying to impress you anyways." Answered the blonde, with another dangerous expression on her pale features. She used the charm just to try it out. "Maybe you're the one for that kind of role." Artemis said with another smirk hanging on her pink yet small lips. It was just so amusing to watch this girl shoot back some more insults. But when things get serious, Artemis might get serious too. The Slytherin is quite unpredictable about her feelings. Especially when it comes to enemies. The blonde shook her head when the other student talked again. Being a Slytherin did not mean that they needed to be cruel all the time. Slytherins were only mistaken for being cruel because they were mostly misguided sometimes. "Only to you," Artemis replied. "And which do you belong in?" Artemis said, trying to hold back a sentence that would be even more foul than ever. She wanted to say something like, Which unfortunate house took you in?​