The Halloween Feast had been just as much fun as Artemis had expected, and she was grateful to Merula for persuading her to go. She was even more grateful the next morning, when Merula approached her at the Hufflepuff table over breakfast and promised to keep an eye on Victor Ketsueki's mysterious extracurricular activities for her.

"Really?" said Penny, with a sigh. "Honestly, Artemis. I really don't believe that Victor is the thief."

"And I really believe that he is."

"That's only because you don't like him. Why would he even steal all those things?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's to pay for all his stupid new clothes," Artemis suggested.

"But Jae said half of the things weren't even that valuable. You know what they all were, though?"

"Shiny?"

"Reflective," Penny corrected her. "Which means that it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever for Victor to take them, because vampires don't even have a reflection."

Artemis sighed. There was no point in arguing. At least this month there would be a good distraction from the search for the thief and the endless N.E.W.T. preparation: along with the dark nights, cold winds, and morning frosts, November brought with it the first two matches of the Quidditch season.

The first match saw Andre Egwu's debut as Ravenclaw Captain, and his team's defeat by Gryffindor. The following weekend marked the Hufflepuff's first game, in which they were up against Slytherin.

"Last week's match was a relatively close run thing, which means that although Gryffindor is in the lead, it is only by a small margin," said Murphy, as the team gathered in the changing tents before the start of the match. "Now, I've been hearing the odd rumour about the Slytherin team's strategy this year-"

"Penny told me that they're planning on cheating!"

"There are only so many fouls they will be able to get away with," Murphy said. "Keep level heads, work steadily on getting that points advantage, and the match should be ours."

"Will be ours," said Tonks, a confidence in her voice that didn't quite match the white knuckles that gripped her Beater's bat.

"Well, we can't know that for sure. There are no certainties in Quidditch, after all. But you're a strong team, and our strategies are sound. I'd say that the probability of our success is fair to good."

"Thanks, Murph. Great pep talk."

Murphy beamed at the compliment, and led the team out onto the pitch, where the whole school had gathered to watch the match. Up in the commentary box, a second year Gryffindor boy had taken over Murphy's former role, and Artemis saw Murphy's eyes flicker upwards as the boy began to speak.

"And here comes the Hufflepuff team, captained by Murphy McNully, who taught me everything I know. The Hufflepuffs actually have the greatest ratio of female to male players, with Beater David Willows being the only wizard on the team. A very lucky bloke, if you ask me. I'm sure that he's been having the time of his life in those changing tents..."

"Jordan," a second voice, which Artemis recognised as that of Professor McGonagall, growled into the microphone.

"Sorry, Professor. What I meant to say is that I'm sure David Willows has been behaving like a perfect gentleman, and that this respectful behaviour is bound to carry through onto the pitch," the new commentator said quickly. "Whether the same thing can be said for the Slytherin players remains to be seen. New Captain Marcus Flint has put together a rather formidable side, but I have been reliably informed by one of the final year girls - I didn't catch her name, but she was very pretty, blonde, great-"

"Jordan!"

"- personality, Professor McGonagall. I don't know what you thought I was going to say there. So, my charming seventh year friend told me that someone else told... Anyway, rumour has it that Slytherin's Bakari Nyoka has quit the team after a disagreement with Flint over some of his more unorthodox strategies for the game. Whether Flint has anything dodgy up his sleeve, and whether new Seeker Terence Higgs will go along with his shady schemes... Wait, what was that, Professor?" There was a dry whisper through the microphone, before Jordan sighed audibly and added, "Professor Snape has asked me to point out that these comments are merely - what was the word? - conjecture, and that there is no evidence to suggest that the Slytherin Captain intends to engage in any form of foul play. Okay, but I'm just saying what I've heard, Professor. What now?"

As Jordan continued to have a hushed argument with Professor Snape in the commentary box, both the Hufflepuff and Slytherin teams lined up in the centre of the pitch. Murphy wheeled over to shake hands with Flint, the Slytherin Captain, who made a point of bending down to reach him, a patronising smirk on his face. Behind him, a couple of the other players sniggered. Artemis glared at all of them, especially the Seeker, Higgs.

"I'm going to catch the Snitch from right under his big, ugly nose," she murmured to Tonks.

"I'll throw my bat at him," Tonks concurred, already brandishing the Beater's bat.

"Isn't that a foul?"

"Dont know, don't care."

The two of them, along with the rest of the players, rose into the air, high above Madam Hooch and Murphy, who remained in the centre of the below. Madam Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth, and took hold of the Quaffle in her hands. With the blow of the whistle and an upwards throw of the Quaffle, the game began.

"Look at them go!" Jordan shouted. "Hufflepuff's Ellie Hopper takes possession of the Quaffle, dodges a near-tackle, passes to Beatrice Haywood. Haywood takes the Quaffle towards the Slytherin goalposts - oh, that was close - and she passes to Cordelia Costa. Ooh, tough luck, Hufflepuff! Pass intercepted by Flint; Slytherin now in possession."

The Slytherin Captain passed the Quaffle to one of his fellow Chasers, who carried the ball towards the Hufflepuff goalposts, flanked by Flint and the third Slytherin Chaser. She kept hold of the Quaffle, not passing to either of her teammates, and therefore not giving the Hufflepuff Chasers a chance to intercept. Ellie Hopper flew beneath the group as Bea Haywood attempted to fly into their formation, clearly looking to knock the Quaffle out of the Slytherin Chaser's hands for Ellie to catch, but she was elbowed out of the way so hard that she was almost knocked off her broom.

As the Slytherins approached the scoring zone, Flint suddenly accelerated towards the goalposts, where Amelia Booth was guarding the three hoops. Her eyes widened as he flew straight at her, and seconds later, he had collided with her, knocking her clear out of the way of the goal as the Chaser with the Quaffle took aim. With no Keeper to stop it, the Quaffle flew through one of the empty hoops, and a roar of applause rang out from the Slytherin stands.

But above the din of the spectators came a sharp whistle. On the ground, Madam Hooch was calling to the Slytherin Chasers and Amelia, beckoning them down to the ground to talk to her. Keeping one eye out for the Snitch, Artemis flew lower so that she could hear what was being said.

"I didn't know it was a foul, Madam Hooch," Flint was telling the umpire. "That's how my family always used to play."

Madam Hooch pursed her lips. "Stooging has been a foul for a long time-"

"Since 1888," Murphy interjected.

"- a fact which you, as team Captain, should be well aware of," continued Madam Hooch. Flint opened his mouth to argue and she held up a hand to stop him. "And don't think I didn't notice the excessive use of elbows on Miss Haywood, either. I know that you know cobbing is a foul, Flint, I've penalised you enough for it over the last two years."

"It's not my fault she got in the way of my elbows..."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle again, drowning out the Slytherins' protests, and the players took to the sky once more.

"Slytherin score, but because the goal was the result of a foul, it is disallowed," Jordan announced. "Hufflepuff is awarded two free penalties, one for the foul of Keeper Amelia Booth, and one for the foul of Beatrice Haywood."

Bea and Cordelia lined up to take their penalties, and though the Slytherin Keeper saved the shot that Bea aimed at the goal, the Quaffle soared past his outstretched fingers after it left Cordelia's hands and went straight through the hoop behind him.

"Costa scores!" shouted Jordan, over the applause from the Hufflepuff stands. "After all that, the score is ten points to Hufflepuff, nil to Slytherin!"

Artemis took both her hands off her broomstick to clap, but quickly replaced them as a Bludger soared past her, the turbulence it caused in the air buffeting her sideways. She frowned, looking in the direction from which the Bludger had come. The Quaffle was not back in play yet, which meant that the Beaters should not have been aiming Bludgers at other players.

It seemed that once again, however, the Slytherins were not playing by the rules. Behind her, one of their Beaters still had his bat raised, a hard expression on his face. But it was not Artemis that his glare and his Bludger were aimed at: it was Cordelia. Artemis' mouth dropped open.

"Cordelia, look out!"

It was too late; the Bludger that had just flown past Artemis continued its trajectory, soaring through the sky towards Cordelia Costa, who was facing the other way. The Bludger hit her over her hip, and the force with which it did so sent her lurching forward and to the side, and off her broomstick. She fell downwards, slowing magically as Madam Hooch put down the Quaffle to cast a spell.

Artemis turned back again to look at the Beater who had aimed the Bludger at Cordelia, but he had already lowered his bat and was looking the other way.

"Ouch! A rogue Bludger makes contact with Costa, knocking her off her broom and out of the game! What a rollercoaster this game is turning out to be!"

"What's a rollercoaster?" Tonks asked Artemis, flying to her side.

"No idea," replied Artemis, "but that wasn't a rogue Bludger, it was that Beater hitting it at her!"

Tonks' yellow eyebrows furrowed. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

"We need to tell Madam Hooch."

But with Artemis as the only witness, and the Slytherin Beater swearing blind that he hadn't done it, Madam Hooch was unable to do anything about the foul.

"It's one person's word against another, I'm afraid," she said, eyeing the Beater sceptically. "As you were, everybody."

The match recommenced, but now it was more like a battle than a game, with both teams fighting tooth and nail to get a lead over the other. Though the Hufflepuffs were down a Chaser, they were able to hold on to their point advantage. Thanks to the combined efforts of Tonks and David Willows, the Slytherin Beater who had knocked Cordelia off her broomstick suffered the same fate himself, and due to several incidents in which the Slytherin Chasers were caught cobbing Beatrice and Ellie, they were awarded even more penalties.

"Hopper scores again, making the score seventy to thirty," Jordan informed the crowd. "But what's this? It looks like Hexley has eyes on the Snitch!"

Jordan wasn't wrong; Artemis had indeed seen the Snitch, and was already in hot pursuit of the little golden ball, accelerating across the pitch in order to catch it before Higgs the Slytherin Seeker, who was already on her tail. But Artemis was faster, and she was gaining on the Snitch, almost there now, so close to reaching out and -

"HEY!"

Artemis shouted as Marcus Flint the Slytherin Captain moved straight into her flight path, too quickly for her to brake in time before she hit him. Luckily, she had her body flattened against her broomstick into a diving position, so rather than being thrown off it, she was able to grip and roll with the broom as she veered off course. In doing so, however, she had lost sight of the Snitch.

Unfortunately, Higgs had not, and before Madam Hooch had the chance to blow her whistle to award Hufflepuff yet another penalty, the Slytherin Seeker had captured the ball. The game was over.

"Flint blocks Hexley, allowing Higgs to get the Snitch! Hufflepuff end the game with seventy points, but Slytherin win with one hundred and eighty!"

The Slytherin stands erupted with cheers, and the Slytherin players all soared over to Higgs to congratulate him. Meanwhile, the Hufflepuffs flew back down to the ground and trudged back to the changing tents dejected, disappointed, and angry.

***

"I don't understand why there can't be a rematch," said Chiara, frowning over the top of her Butterbeer. "If the Slytherin Seeker only caught the Snitch because their Captain tried to knock Artemis off her broomstick, then why wouldn't they say that it didn't count?"

"Because that's not how Quidditch works," Penny informed her. "Besides, Snitches have flesh memories. They are issued for each game, so they know exactly who caught which Snitch when. They'd have to order a new Snitch to call a rematch, and it's not like they're cheap. And anyway, Marcus Flint has already been telling everyone that he didn't mean to block Artemis, he was moving out of the way of a Bludger, and that's why he ended up in her way instead."

"But that's a lie!"

"Well, yes, I know that. But it's what he told Laila Farhat and Waveney Wiley, and they seemed to believe him when I spoke to them."

Artemis rolled her eyes and finished her Butterbeer. One week after the Hufflepuff's defeat, the match was still anyone could talk about in the Common Room. She had hoped that going out to the Three Broomsticks would give her and her friends something else to discuss, but clearly, she had been wrong.

"Anyone want another?" she asked, seeing that Rosmerta was free at the bar. "It's my round."

Madam Rosmerta greeted Artemis as if she hadn't seen her in years rather than in weeks.

"I've been hoping you'd pop in," the landlady told her, after she had released her from a tight hug. "I'm starting to really book up for Christmas, and I was wondering-"

"If you can rent out my room?"

"Whether you wanted to stay here over the holidays," Madam Rosmerta said pointedly. "If you don't, I'll rent out the room, but I thought I'd offer it to you first."

Artemis wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

"Because I like having you here, love."

"Oh," Artemis bit her lip. "The thing is, Ros, my friends are all staying at the castle, because it's our last year to do it, so..."

"That's what I thought," Rosmerta smiled. "I just wanted to check."

"I can still come and visit you, though. Because we're seventeen we can leave the grounds as long as we sign in and out and are back before curfew."

"I'll look forward to it," said Ros, summoning over a set of pint glasses. "Four pints?"

"Five," Charlie Weasley walked out from behind the bar and placing another glass on the counter. "I'm just going on my break. I'm guessing you lot won't mind me joining you?"

"As long as you don't mind everyone talking about last week's Quidditch match," Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we lost. I don't know why we need to keep going on about it."

Charlie's lips twitched. "You know, you can't catch the Snitch every single time you play Quidditch, Artemis."

"I know, I just... Hang on. You've never played a game and not caught the Snitch."

"No, that's why said you can't do it. I obviously can," Charlie grinned. Artemis pulled a face at him.

"I liked you better before anyone fancied you," she said, before sighing heavily. "Anyway, it's not my fault that Flint got in my way."

"No, he definitely blocked you on purpose. But luckily the point margin was fairly low, all things considered."

"That's what Murphy said. He's gone through the numbers and if we manage to do well in the next couple of matches we can still win the Cup."

"That reminds me," Madam Rosmerta stopped pouring out Butterbeers and reached into her pocket. "Talking of winning... I saw this and thought of you."

She handed Artemis a folded scrap of newspaper, and frowning, Artemis unfolded it and read aloud:

"'This marks the Daily Prophet's Forty-Ninth Annual Photography Award, and this year, the theme is 'Beasts'. Entries due by the thirty-first of December 1990. First prize award of fifty Galleons.'"

"I thought you might like to enter," Ros smiled. "Put that camera of yours to good use, maybe win yourself some money."

"Yeah. I might be able to take a photo in Care of Magical Creatures class," said Artemis, nodding slowly.

"Or you could try tracking something," Charlie suggested. "Your Great-Uncle must be great at tracking."

"Yeah, but he's not back from South America until the new year, and the competition closes at the end of December. He took me with him tracking a couple of times when I was little but I never learnt that much. Not enough to find anything by myself, anyway."

"Well, I could go with you."

"You wouldn't mind?" Artemis asked, and Charlie shrugged in response.

"Course not. It would be good to get some real practice in," he said. "We can take our broomsticks into the forest tomorrow evening, if you like?"

Artemis smiled and pocketed the newspaper.

"Hopefully, I'll have more luck getting this photo than I did getting that Snitch," she muttered darkly.

***

Unfortunately for Artemis, it quickly transpired that tracking was much harder than she remembered it being.

"Any luck?" she asked Charlie, who was crouching next to the roots of an old and incredibly gnarled tree.

"None," he grimaced. "Sorry, mate. I was expecting to find more than this. Maybe we should come back some other time."

"Might be for the best. We've been here for three hours and all we have is one picture of an owl and a few of Borf."

"I really like the ones of Borf."

"They're good, I just don't know if a wolf is what the Prophet means by 'beast'. They might be looking for something more magical," Artemis frowned. "And anyway, I don't think they're good enough to win."

"They might be," Charlie shrugged. "Tell you what. How about we go to the next clearing and if we still haven't found anything, we try again next weekend?"

It was worth a try, Artemis supposed, and so the two of them made their way deeper through the trees to the next clearing. It was lighter here, and the shadows of the trees cast abstract shadows on the ground, which was strewn with the remains of the autumn leaves, their fiery colours contrasting with the still green pines. If it had been the scenery alone she needed to photograph, she would have been happy, but sadly, there was not a beast to be found.

Or was there? From somewhere in the undergrowth came a rustling noise and the sound of of a twig snapping. Artemis looked across at Charlie, her mouth already open ready to ask him if he had heard the noise, but he placed his finger to his lips, frowning. Clearly, he had already heard it.

"What's the matter?" whispered Artemis. "Why do you look-"

Artemis' question was answered before she had finished asking it. From out of the trees stepped a centaur, his dun coloured fur blending into the tanned skin of his bare chest. Recognising the centaur's face, Artemis breathed a sigh of relief, and she saw Charlie's shoulders relax as he did the same.

"Torvus," said Charlie, lowering his head slightly as he addressed the centaur. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

"Unsettled," came the centaur's answer.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"We live in unsettled times," replied Torvus, and his dark eyes rested on Artemis momentarily. "It has been a long time since we last saw each other, Charles Weasley. You are grown. You must take more care in the forest, now."

"I will do so. Thank you," Charlie nodded.

"As must you, Artemis Hexley. You must take particular care."

Artemis' nose wrinkled. "Why?"

"We live in unsettled times," Torvus repeated himself. "There are many who might blame you for this. Thankfully, many others will see that you could be the one to find the solution, and will protect you as such. Do you still have the amber I gave you when you were a foal?"

"Yeah, I do," Artemis said, choosing not to mention that she had never been a foal.

"Do you have it with you now?"

"Um, no..."

"You should have it with you every time you venture into the forest," said Torvus, and his dark tail swished. "Why haveyou come to the forest?"

"I'm taking photos," Artemis told the centaur, holding up her camera to show him. Torvus shifted on his hooves, frowning at the camera.

"Photos?"

"Yeah, I have to take a photo of a beast. It's for a competition, you see."

"I do not see," said the centaur. "What are photos?"

"Oh, right. Well, a photo... It's a sort of picture, but not painted or drawn or anything, it's real," Artemis' eyebrows furrowed. "It's like you can capture something you've seen, a memory, and hold it so you can keep seeing it, so you don't lose it or forget it." Torvus still looked confused, so Artemis held up her camera once more and told him, "Here, let me show you. Just stay still a moment."

Artemis raised her camera to her eye and pointed it at Torvus, who tensed up, eyeing the item with a look of mistrust on his face and one hand instinctively resting on the bow at his hip. She pressed the button, and when the photo printed from beneath it, held it against her chest for almost a minute before looking at the result and handing it to the centaur.

"Here," she said. "This one is of you."

"It is like a reflection," Torvus murmured, looking at the photograph of himself. "The likeness is uncanny."

It was a good likeness, and an excellent photo, far better than the one Artemis had taken of the owl, and even better than her favourites of Borf. The dappled light was shining on Torvus' fur, his muscles tensed and his face hardened as he looked directly at the camera. He looked dangerous and wise and wild, human yet animalistic.

"Torvus, I was just wondering... As a centaur, would you say that you are a being or a beast?"

"A beast."

"Why is that?"

"To menfolk, putting a name to something is a step to understanding it. For them, understanding something a step to controlling and exploiting it. We centaurs understand that there are many things that we will never understand, nor be able to control. We abide by the laws of nature, not those of men. If that makes us beasts in the eyes of wizards, I would prefer to be a beast." He scraped one hoof on the ground, his tail whipping suddenly. "I understand now. You wish to use this likeness that you have captured for this competition of yours."

"No. Well, not necessarily," Artemis shook her head, although now that Torvus mentioned it, she realised that she could well do just that. "I was just asking because I meant to ask you the first time we met, and I never did. I should have done, because my friend wanted to know. She was interested in the answer, you see, and now... Well, she died, and now she won't ever know, but I still wanted to find out for her, even though she's gone."

"This friend meant a lot to you," Torvus said quietly, and Artemis nodded her head. "You have suffered a great loss."

He held the photo out, offering it back to her. But even though Artemis knew that it could well be the photo to win her the competition, using it - using Torvus - felt wrong somehow.

"You can keep it," she said to him. "It's a photo of you just as you are now. One day you can show it to your foals and they will know what you looked like when you were young."

Torvus placed the photo into his saddlebag, a pensive look on his face.

"Perhaps I was wrong about you, Artemis Hexley," he murmured. "Maybe we need not be so wary of you, after all. We shall meet again, I am sure of it. Take care of yourself, Charles Weasley."

"You too, Torvus," said Charlie, but Torvus had already turned from him and returned to the trees from whence he had come. Charlie watched his leave with his head tilted to one side. "That's strange."

"I mean, he's always been a bit strange," Artemis replied.

"Not his behaviour," Charlie shook his head. "I just thought I heard something on that side of the clearing, and he came out from this side."

He fell silent and seemed to be listening for something. Artemis followed suit. Charlie was right. There was a noise coming from the other side of the clearing. The two of them exchanged dark looks, and both raised their wands as they walked across the clearing to investigate.

At the base of a tree, a patch of ferns was rustling, and a soft snuffling sound was coming from it. Charlie pointed at Artemis' camera, and she held it in position to capture another shot. She nodded at Charlie, who waved his wand, and the foliage parted to reveal...

"A Niffler?" Artemis said out loud, lowering her camera. "What in the name of Merlin's hairy back is a Niffler doing here?"

"I dunno," Charlie said, and the Niffler ran up to him, snorting at his boots. He frowned deeply. "Artemis, I know one Niffler looks very similar to another, but... You don't think that this one looks really familiar, do you?"

Artemis tilted her head as she looked at the Niffler, who looked at her and chirped excitedly.

"Sickleworth, is that you?" she asked it, and the Niffler jumped up and down, making a noise like coins jingling as it did so. "It is you, Sickleworth!"

Sickleworth ran over to Artemis and leapt into her arms. He had not grown since she had last seen him, but he was heavier than she remembered him being. Far heavier. Frowning, she reached into his pouch, ignoring his indignant snorts, and took out the first item her fingers reached: a gold pin-badge shaped like a Snitch. She rolled her eyes and laughed quietly. Why had no one thought of this before?

"You know, Charlie, I think we've just captured our thief."