Her hand still gripping the Hospital Wing curtain, Artemis glared at the person sitting on top of the hospital bed, their skin covered in cuts and bruises, hair in disarray and strewn with willow leaves, and a look of mild contempt in their violet-coloured eyes.

"What was me, Hexley?" Merula drawled, and Artemis' nostrils flared.

"You're the one who's been taking messages to and from the Whomping Willow. To and from the Cabal," she said, shaking slightly. "You... You..."

Merula rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Hexley. You don't have a clue what you're-"

"You mean, you deny it?" asked Artemis. "You mean, you haven't been the one hanging around the Whomping Willow and passing messages?"

"Oh, no. I have."

"So what, you're working with them now? With R?"

"No," Merula shook her head. "Give me some credit, Hexley."

"Credit? Merula, you've been acting as a messenger for the people who killed Rowan!"

"No, I haven't."

"You just said that you have!"

"Actually, what I said was that I'd been passing messages at the Whomping Willow. I specifically said that I am not working for R."

Artemis frowned. "What? I don't understand."

"Shocking," Merula muttered. "Hexley, sit down before you hurt yourself. You look like crap, by the way." Artemis did not sit down, just glowered at Merula, who sighed before continuing, "Ugh, whatever. Look, yes, I've been hanging around the Whomping Willow, and I have been taking messages to and from there, but it's not what you think. I'm not working with R."

"Then why-"

"I'm working against them. The messages I've been taking, they're real messages between R and Shiratori. The messages I've been leaving, they're all fakes. Don't you see? I'm not passing messages for them, I'm intercepting and replacing messages to sabotage them."

Artemis narrowed her eyes at Merula, looking sceptically into her violet eyes. The expression in them was completely guileless. She was telling the truth. At last, Artemis sat down.

"Tell me everything," she said.

"That's what I was trying to do," muttered Merula, but she sighed as Artemis raised a single eyebrow at her. "Okay. So, you know that prisoner from Japan? Shiratori?"

"Yeah."

"Well, R arranged for him to come over here. They want him to help them break a member out of Azkaban for them."

"Rakepick?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing so," Merula shrugged. "He was hiding out in London, but got moved up here shortly after. I've been trying to catch him, but I've not found him yet. Judging by the fact that he's leaving and taking messages, he's still around here, though. Has been all year."

"And you've been intercepting the messages that whole time?" Artemis asked, and Merula nodded her head. "Were you the one who brought Sickleworth to the castle?"

Another nod of the head. "Yeah. I was doing work experience in Barnaby's dad's office when the Curse-Breakers came. Sickleworth recognised me, and I thought he might be useful to have around. And he was, he was able to steal the messages from the Shrieking Shack, no problem." Merula sighed and added, "Obviously, they weren't the only things he was nicking. I should have remembered how much of a sodding pain Nifflers are to look after. That very first day I took him, the bloody thing ran off into the Department of Mysteries. I thought I'd lost him for good. That's why I thought it would be a better idea to become an Animagus, that way I could give him back to Gringotts and carry on without him."

"Wait, that's why you were trying to become an Animagus?"

"Yes, Hexley. Do keep up."

"You said you wanted to do it just to prove that you could."

"I lied, obviously," Merula tutted. "The Whomping Willow stops trying to whomp you if you press a knot in the trunk, and it's easier for a small animal to get to. Plus, it's so much easier to get around unnoticed as an animal."

"Yeah, it is," Artemis' eyebrows remained furrowed; Merula had answered many of her questions, but there was still one major question that was unanswered. "Merula, how do you even know all this?"

Merula looked at her with an expression of mingled weariness and determination, as she said:

"Because I found R."

Artemis' eyes widened, and Merula gritted her teeth.

"Remember what Rakepick said when she was arrested last summer? How she called me 'little bird'?" she asked. Artemis wasn't sure that she did remember, but she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head anyway. "Well, that was what my mum used to call me, before she was put in Azkaban. It was her nickname for me, and only she ever called me that. The fact that Rakepick knew, that made me think that maybe she had known my mum, or someone close to her maybe. So, when I got home, I decided to break into my aunt's study, see if I could find some clues."

"And did you find some?"

"Oh, I found more than just some," Merula said, with a short, harsh laugh. "She had a drawer in her desk that was full of papers about the Cursed Vaults and black quills, just like the ones your brother used to leave. I transfigured one, and it was from Rakepick, saying that she had contacted Hexley, and that he had come up with his own way to fulfil the prophecy about the Vaults, and that she wished to follow through with his plan, if the Director would allow her to."

"The Director?" Artemis' nose wrinkled. "The Director of R?"

"The Director of R, Madam Verucca Buckthorn," Merula scowled. "Or, as I call her, Aunt Verucca."

Artemis' mind was reeling. She knew that Merula and her aunt did not have the best relationship, but she would never have thought that R's leader might have been related to one her... well, maybe not friends, but...

"Wait," Artemis shook her head. "If your aunt is the leader of the Cabal, why did you have to start doing all this spy stuff? Why didn't you just report her to the Aurors?"

Merula let out another harsh laugh. "Yeah, right. Because the Aurors have always done so much good for me in the past..."

"I know, but-"

"But nothing, Hexley," snapped Merula. "The Aurors are the reason I'm living with my aunt in the first place, remember? They put my parents in Azkaban."

"Because they were Death Eaters!"

"Yeah, they were. I'm the child of two criminals, one of whom killed an Auror. Meanwhile, my aunt is the head Healer of St Mungo's Hospital. Think about it, Hexley. What Auror is going to listen to me?"

In spite of everything, Artemis smiled. She could think of one Auror who would definitely listen.

***

The following weekend, Artemis and Merula met with Kingsley Shacklebolt in Hogsmeade, where they gathered on the pavement outside the Shrieking Shack.

"Are you sure we can trust this bloke?" Merula muttered as they drew closer.

"At this point, Merula, I trust him more than I trust you," Artemis hissed back at her. "I mean, he's never locked me in a room with a Devil's Snare."

"That was one time, Hexley!"

Despite Merula's scepticism, she greeted Kingsley politely enough. Kingsley gave both girls a small smile, but beneath his usually calm exterior, there was a look of concern in his dark brown eyes.

"First things first," he said, his voice low and level, "I just want to check whether or not either of you told anyone about Madam Buckthorn." Both Artemis and Merula shook their heads, and he sighed deeply, "That's what I was afraid of."

"What do you mean?"

In response to Artemis' question, Kingsley pulled a newspaper out of his pocket and handed it to her. Frowning, Artemis began to scan the first article.

ST MUNGO'S MISPLACES HEAD HEALER

Madam Verucca Buckthorn, Head Healer of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, was today reported missing. Concerned colleagues of Madam Buckthorn arrived at her family home in Kent yesterday afternoon after the Healer failed to arrive at work for two consecutive days, behaviour which is - according to colleagues - 'completely out of character'. The Hospital director's home was found empty and in a state of disarray, her study having been completely ransacked. The Auror Office has yet to make a formal statement regarding Madam Buckthorn's disappearance.

"I can't believe it," Merula hissed. "She's done a runner."

"She must've known that we suspected her," said Kingsley, shaking his head sadly. "Which means that someone tipped her off. And if neither of you told anyone, then it must have been someone in the Auror office."

"Who in the Auror office would be working with R?" Artemis asked, and Kingsley raised his eyebrows.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know, Tiny."

"Told you there was no point talking to the Aurors," Merula said, throwing down the newspaper. "If her study's been ransacked, that means she's taken all of the information about the rest of the Cabal and the Cursed Vaults with her. Now we have no way of finding out exactly what it is R are up to."

"Actually, we do," Kingsley said calmly. "You say Shiratori has been using this spot to send messages to R?"

"Yeah, but I've never actually seen him here."

"Perhaps not, but we at least know that he will be here eventually," said Kingsley. "Moody and I can find a way to keep an eye on the Shrieking Shack. If he comes here, we will know. And once he does, we can capture him, ask him what he knows."

"You might struggle to understand him," Merula said, still eyeing Kingsley suspiciously. "All the messages he's sent and received have been in Japanese. I dunno if he even speaks English."

"Wait," Artemis turned to her. "You said that you'd been forging messages. Since when have you been able to write in Japanese?"

"Since never, Hexley. I've been getting Ketsueki to help me."

"Victor Ketsueki?"

"How many Ketsuekis are there around here?" Merula rolled her eyes. "Of course, Victor Ketsueki."

Artemis shrugged. "I just wouldn't have expected him to want to help you, that's all."

"He didn't. But I told him that if he didn't help me, then I'd tell everyone in the school what he really did this summer."

"What did he really do this summer?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," Artemis said. "I'm just curious. That's all."

"Do you think that Victor Ketsueki would be willing to translate for us if asked?" Kingsley's question cut into Artemis and Merula's conversation. Merula nodded. "And would he be willing to keep anything he hears a secret?"

"Oh, yeah. I can probably get him to do anything, trust me."

"I trust you, Merula," said Artemis. "I can't believe that I'm actually saying that, but I do. Victor, though..." She turned to Kingsley and told him, "I dunno. I just don't like him."

Merula smirked. "Sure, Hexley..."

***

It was a full two weeks later that Artemis awoke on a Saturday morning to the sound of Fergus hissing at a pillowcase-clad house elf perched on the end of her bed.

"Shush, Ferg," she said, placing a hand on his ginger shoulders to calm him as she frowned at the elf. "Um, can I help you?"

"Yes, Miss," the house elf nodded its tiny head so fast its ears flapped. "Mr Shacklebolt asked me to fetch you. Artemis Hexley is needed at the boathouse."

Artemis jumped out of bed and pulled on the first set of clothes she could find, before running through the castle to the Great Hall to find Merula, but Merula was nowhere to be seen. She sighed, and went over to the Ravenclaw table, where she found Tulip Karasu throwing Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans at her pet toad Dennis for him to catch with his tongue.

"Tulip," she said quietly. "Can I borrow you? I need your help with something."

Tulip's head tilted to one side and her almond-shaped eyes flashed mischievously.

"With a prank, I presume?" she grinned. "Well, Artemis Hexley, you have come to just the right-"

"It's not a prank, it's... Well, I can't tell you here."

"You're lucky that I enjoy a juicy mystery," Tulip said, already rising from the table. "Talking of mysteries, what's Merula up to this morning?"

"What do you mean?"

"Some house elf came up to her at the Slytherin table, she came and whispered something to Victor, and both of them ran off somewhere."

"Did they now?" Artemis muttered through her teeth. "I expect they're doing the exact same thing as we are."

Artemis' suspicions were proved correct, for when she arrived at the boathouse with Tulip, she found not only Kingsley Shacklebolt, but Merula and Victor Ketsueki as well, all gathered on the shore outside.

"I see you brought a translator," Merula said, with a dirty look at Tulip.

"I see you did, as well," replied Artemis. She glared at Victor as Tulip and Merula followed Kingsley into the boathouse. "You won't tell anyone about this."

Victor smirked. "You make that sound like it's not a question."

"It isn't," Artemis told him, and he looked even more amused. "What does Merula know that makes you so willing to do anything she says, anyway?"

"Ah, you see, I would tell you..."

"But then you'd have to kill me?"

"Bit dark," Victor grinned. "No, I just don't want to be at your beck and call as well. Merula's bad enough." He gestured at the boathouse door and whispered, "Witches first."

Artemis scowled, but stepped through the door in front of him and into the boathouse, where Mad-Eye Moody stood with his magical eye and wand directed at a wizard bound in thick ropes. He was tall and finely built, clad in robes of pure white, with fair skin, cropped black hair, and eyes so dark they looked almost beady. He was younger than Artemis had expected, no older than Jacob, and possibly even younger.

"Here he is," said Moody, glaring at the captive. "Kazuhiro Shiratori. The White Ghost. Now, who wants to say hello?"

Tulip and Victor shared glances, before both started to speak to Shiratori in fluent Japanese. Though Artemis did not understand a word, even she could tell that Shiratori was speaking far less than either Tulip or Victor.

"Ask him about the Cabal," said Kingsley, as soon as the conversation slowed to a complete astop. "R."

Tulip framed the question, but Shiratori did not say a word in response.

"Tell him that he will be punished less severely if he co-operates with us and answers our questions. There's no point in lying, we know that they helped him get here and that he's one of them now."

This time, after Tulip spoke, Shiratori replied with a harsh laugh.

"What did he say? What's so funny?"

"He said that you don't know that much," Victor answered for Tulip, leaning back against the wall of the boathouse with the nonchalance of someone who was used to interrogating criminals daily. "He isn't a member of this... Cabal at all. He wants to be, but at the moment he's just a hired hand. If he does his part, they will let him join their ranks as they achieve their goal."

"What goal?"

"He won't tell you. If he does, he won't be able to join R, or get what was promised to him."

Moody made a noise almost like a growl. "He won't get anything regardless."

"Maybe don't tell him that, exactly," said Kingsley, frowning slightly. "Ask him what R is paying him."

"Nothing you will be able to give," said Tulip, after Shiratori had replied. "They aren't paying him with money, they're going to help him... break a curse, I think?"

"The Cursed Vaults?" Artemis asked, but Tulip shook her head.

"No, something else... Victor, you like Defence Against the Dark Arts, what kind of curse is he talking about?"

Victor raised an eyebrow and stood up straight. He began to speak with Shiratori, and as he did, a look of realisation came over his face.

"Ah," he said. "I get it."

"Spectacular. Care to enlighten the rest of us, lad?" Moody asked gruffly.

"It sounds like he's got a blood Malediction," Victor told them. "It's a curse that affects all the members of his family and he's been searching for a way to break it."

"We all know what a blood Malediction is. What's it got to do with the price of Flobberworms?"

"Well, that's why he got expelled from Mahoukatoro, because he started dabbling in dark magic in the hopes of breaking the curse, and it's why he's agreed to help this Cabal. If he helps them, they've promised to help him."

"What curse would be so bad that it's worth joining up with R?"

"He says that he can turn into a swan."

"So, he's an Animagus?" asked Artemis, wrinkling her nose. That didn't sound so bad to her.

"No, he's a Maledictus," Victor corrected her. "At the moment, he can control the change, but one day soon, it will be harder to turn back, and he will become a swan forever. So will his little brother, which is why he's joining the Cabal. It's too late for him, but it might not be too late for his brother. He says he'll do anything to keep him safe."

Artemis swallowed. She looked at Shiratori again, and this time, when she looked into his black eyes, she saw the desperate expression in them. She recognised that expression. It was the same as Jacob had had in his eyes, that night in the Sunken Vault, when he had begged Rakepick to spare Artemis' life. She felt a small swell of pity for the wizard, who was of a similar age to her brother, and whose life had followed a similar path.

"Tell him they're lying," she said, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. "R don't care about helping people. They don't care about anyone, none of them do. They only care about whatever is in the Cursed Vaults."

Victor raised one eyebrow, but he spoke again, and Shiratori replied to him enthusiastically.

"He says that the thing R seeks is an ancient force, something as old as time itself, and more powerful than anything in imagination. He says if that can't cure the Malediction, nothing will. R is his only chance, but he needs to help them so that they can help him in turn, because without him, they won't have their leader. Without their leader, they cannot access the power at all, because the prophecy-"

"Hang on a minute," Merula interrupted Victor, her violet eyes narrowed. "I thought my Aunt Verucca was the leader."

"Clearly you thought wrong."

"So," Kingsley folded his arms across his chest and looked Shiratori in the eye. "If Verucca Buckthorn is not the leader of R, who is?"

Tulip posed the question to Shiratori, who answered with a single word, one that Artemis did not need anyone to translate for her:

"Hexley."

***

The interrogation of Shiratori did not last much longer, as most of the questions he was either unable or unwilling to answer. He did not know any more names of the Cabal's members, nor could he put faces to them, for he had only ever communicated with them via letters disguised as quills. He did not know what the Cursed Vaults contained, only that it was incredibly powerful. He did not know anything else about the prophecy he had mentioned, only that it spoke of the Cabal's leader guiding them to the power within the Vaults.

After a seemingly fruitless interrogation, Moody and Kingsley escorted him off the grounds, and Merula, Tulip and Victor returned to the castle, all three looking more confused than Artemis had ever seen them before. Artemis wasn't in the mood to return to school just yet, and so she tailed Moody and Kingsley to the boundaries of the schoolgrounds, and watched Moody Apparate away, taking Shiratori with him.

"You look like you could do with a drink," Kingsley chuckled, casting a look down at Artemis. "Come on, Tiny. Let's see if Rosmerta can rustle something up for her two favourite customers."

He led Artemis through the streets of Hogsmeade to the Three Broomsticks, where they a seat at Artemis' favourite table and watched Ros and Charlie serving the punters. Artemis rolled the base of her bottle of Butterbeer on the table, her chin resting on her other hand.

"What are you thinking, Tiny?"

"I wasn't, really. I don't really know what to think," Artemis sighed. "It just seems every time we get closer to finding something out about R or the Cursed Vaults, it goes nowhere. And for every question that gets answered, there's another five that need to be asked."

"Oh, yes. That's been the way of this investigation from the start."

"How have you not given up?"

Kingsley gave Artemis a funny look before replying, "The same reason you haven't given up. I believe that this must be important. And I want to keep the people I care about safe."

"Just like Shiratori," said Artemis, gnawing at her bottom lip. "And my brother."

"Not quite. I'm trying to work against R, not with them."

"Do you think it's true, what Shiratori said? That my brother is their leader?"

"He seemed to think so, but I doubt it," said Kingsley. "It would make sense as to why the Cabal want him released from Azkaban, but why would Jacob condemn himself the way he did if he were truly their leader? No, I don't think that is it." He took a sip of his drink, clearly deep in thought. "Shiratori mentioned a prophecy."

"Yeah. I think Merula said something about the letters in her aunt's study mentioned a prophecy, too."

"Hm. Perhaps the cabal believe that your brother is the person the prophecy references. I could ask if there's any way of accessing the prophecy record, but..."

Kingsley's voice tailed off, and a doubtful look crept into his dark eyes.

"But what?" Artemis asked.

"The Department of Mysteries has always operated in complete secrecy. Even the Department of Magical Law Enforcement doesn't really know what they do, because the Unspeakables govern themselves, mainly. They aren't too amenable to Aurors poking around down there."

"But what if you had... I dunno, a warrant or something?" suggested Artemis. "Or just tell them that it's to do with a really important investigation, then they'd let you inside, surely."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Kingsley shook his head. "But no. Even then, it's tough. Even after your father - rest in peace - died, only the Head of the Auror office was allowed inside to collect evidence form the crime scene. Though, given that one of their own was eventually charged with his murder, it would make sense that they weren't... Sorry, Tiny. I shouldn't be telling you about all this."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to upset you."

"You're not upsetting me," Artemis said, completely honestly. "I don't really remember anything about my dad, he's not even really like a memory to me. And mum never likes to talk about... well, anything, really, so all I know is what Rita Skeeter wrote in that book that one time."

"You read that?"

"Parts of it. Everyone at school had a copy in my first year, I swear," Artemis said, and Kingsley looked at her pityingly. "It's fine, Kingsley. I'm fine. I just... Well, I'd rather hear about this stuff from you, someone who actually knows about it."

"I'm not sure that I know an awful lot. I wasn't allowed at the scene, after all, so all my knowledge is second-hand," Kingsley admitted. "But what I do know is that at first, the death was ruled as suicide. It was only after Rookwood was convicted of turning traitor for the Death Eaters that it was suggested that he was the killer."

"Why the change?"

"Well, it was always theorised that it might have been murder. There were marks in the room that were suggestive of spell damage, so there may have been a confrontation, but no marks on your father's body. Of course, the Killing Curse doesn't leave a mark, but there was no evidence of another person having been there, and like I said, the Department of Mysteries is designed to keep intruders out. So, it would have had to have been done by someone who had been there before, who knew the department well, or who Leander had brought in there himself, at night, when the Ministry was empty. Considering how particular Unspeakables are about who is allowed to witness their work, that seems unlikely. So, we were looking at either another Unspeakable, or suicide. Once we found out what that particular room is used for, it was eventually presumed the latter, but-"

"What is the room used for?"

"They call it 'the Death Chamber'," said Kingsley. "Apparently the place where your father was found is a peculiar location, where the divide between the living and the dead is thin enough to allow Unspeakables to study death itself. But, if you get too close and cross that divide..."

"You die."

"Precisely. Something that Leander Hexley would have known, as an Unspeakable."

"So, either he went there deliberately to cross over, or he went there and found Rookwood doing something he shouldn't have, and so Rookwood pushed him across," Artemis said, and Kingsley inclined his head. "Maybe he knew that Rookwood was up to no good, so he went there to catch him in the act."

"Maybe. Of course, Rookwood always denied that it, but then again, he denied doing many of the things we know for a fact he did do," Kingsley raised his eyebrows. "But, the point is, it won't be easy for me to be allowed to access the Department of Mysteries' research, and now that we know someone in the Auror office is leaking information to R, it'll be even harder. I'll talk to Moody about it."

"Why don't you try Olivia?" Artemis asked. "Olivia Green, she testified against Jacob, remember? She works with the prophecies and she hates R as much as we do."

"Not a bad idea, Tiny," Kingsley finished his drink and looked out of the window. "We've apprehended Shiratori, but Buckthorn and Burke are still around. Want an Auror escort back to the castle?"

Artemis shook her head, before looking in the direction of the bar. "It's alright. I'll spend some time with Ros and go back with Charlie. I'll be fine, Kingsley. I'm a good duellist, you know."

"Oh, I'm not surprised," Kingsley chortled. "Must be a talent that runs in the family."

Kingsley left by the front door of the inn, and by the time Artemis and Charlie did the same, it had grown dark. The two of them walked back to the castle in companionable silence with their wands lit, the grounds around them empty aside from the Thestrals grazing on the twilit grass.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked eventually. "You're really quiet." Artemis made a humming noise in response, and Charlie nodded before adding, "Well, you don't have to tell me what's up, but you know you can if you want to, right?"

"Yeah. It's just..." Artemis sighed. She hadn't really told any of her closest friends about the lingering threat of R, not having wanted to worry them unnecessarily, but now that she was here in the dark with the Thestrals, she reconsidered. After all, she had never told Rowan how much trouble she was in the year before, and look how that had gone. "Fine. But it's a long story."

Charlie shrugged his shoulders. "I've got all evening."

It was strange, but as soon as Artemis started to tell him about the Cabal, about Rakepick and Jacob's trial, and Merula's aunt, and Shiratori, and the prophecy, and the Department of Mysteries, she found herself unable to stop. What had seemed like a long story ended up being told in a very short time frame, and when she reached the end, Charlie was silent for almost a minute.

"So, yeah," Artemis said, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah," was Charlie's only response.

"Basically, we are now just relying on Kingsley to find some way of getting into the Department of Mysteries so that he can access this prophecy. Until then, we know nothing."

Charlie frowned. "Why can't he just go in? He's an Auror, after all."

"Apparently, they only let people go down there if there's a really important reason."

"Like a Niffler stealing crystal balls?"

"Yeah, just like that," Artemis grinned. "And apparently, it's really hard to get into unless you know where you're going."

"Oh, yeah. I remember when we went down there to find that Niffler," said Charlie, and Artemis stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"

"Charlie," she said, an idea forming in her mind, "you don't happen to remember the way around the Department of Mysteries, do you?"

"Vaguely, maybe. I mean, it's... Why?"

Artemis tilted her head, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. Charlie shone his wandlight at her face, and sighed heavily.

"Go on, then," he said, his voice laced with both resignation and anticipation. "What's the plan?"