(December 15th, 1991, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland)

Scotland was a lot more snowy than Ireland. That's not surprising, I just hadn't thought about it until I saw how deep the snow got in such a short time. The castle, being as old as it was, lacked proper heating and insulation, which meant that many of the towers and corridors had average temperatures around 10°C. That didn't sound like a big deal, but it was a slow and constant wear that was driving half the students insane.

I made a point to make sure that all my friends were strongly on the other half of that divide. Professor Flitwick was already teaching us Castakeen Fium, the warming charm, but that wasn't enough. The professor only enforced a certain level of mastery, and with that mastery someone could, for example, keep a drink warm for six to seven hours. The trouble was that the human body was a lot larger than a drink, so someone could warm themself up, but then they would lose the heat because they weren't continually reapplying the charm.

If they tried they would quickly feel the onset of magic exhaustion. But if I helped train everybody's mastery of the spell to be higher, then they would have the efficiency needed to cast the spell continuously.

It took a week and a half of daily study meetings, but everyone was finally getting near enough efficiency to match their recovery rate.

Previously the study sessions were hosted in the Hufflepuff common room, but after some time the older Puffs decided to kick us out, so we had to change the meeting location. That had been a mild inconvenience at the time, but by the next Sunday I had already finished refurbished one of the many empty classrooms that littered the castle. The room was decorated in much the same way as the Hufflepuff common room, with plush further and way too many pillows, but there were some differences as well. The floor was carpeted with a fluff that I had designed myself, and the colouring of everything was much more multifaceted than the house based colouring of the common rooms.

I couldn't exactly add a fireplace to the room, so instead I made a chandelier out of Ămūrîn heartstone shards. The heat and soft wind that it generated made lying down on the carpet feel much the same as lying on the grass in summer, which I was very proud of.

All of that was just background context to explain the current situation. I was standing in front of Janet, Eileen, Gabby, Hermione, and Reynold, and behind me was a blackboard with, ‘Society of Practically Educated Adolescent Rapscallions.’ written out on it.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath inwards, and then unclosed my eyes. “So… this will be our, um, last meeting this year. All of us are going home for Yule, or in several cases Christmas… I- I'll miss all of you, a lot.” I did my best to make sure that my voice didn't crack. “I e-ex-” sigh, “I expect everybody tuh finish masterin’ yer warming charms. Just because we won't b-be having meetings doesn't mean thet I'll let any of y’all slack off, okay?”

Without saying a word, Eileen stood up, walked over to me, and gave me a hug. She was then quickly followed by the rest of the group as they piled onto me in a group hug, each saying how much they'd miss our little club.

I spoke up again after we had lost our balance and were sprawled out laughing on top of each other on the floor. “Thanks guys,” I said to the group.

“Of course, this is what friends are for!” Eileen replied from her place buried underneath Janet.

“Right, thank you, again. All of you are just… the best!” I said, as I pushed Gabby off of me, which elicited a small yelp from the girl. I patted myself down as if clearing imaginary dust from my robes after I stood up, and fixed the positioning of my glasses with a smile on my face. “I won't leave any of you too alone over the break. I'll pop in whenever I can, but Mom'll get peeved if I'm spendin’ too much time out n’ about.”

I started helping pull people to their feet, and soon we were all sitting in chairs proper, like we were before. “It's only a couple weeks, it won't be too long until we're back together. In the meantime, I'd like to keep practising until I can finally do that charm in my sleep.” Hermione spoke up. All of us Hufflepuffs had dorms deep underground where it was warm year-round, but Hermione and Rainy both slept in the towers which were much less insulated.

From there everybody started studying, and the SPEAR meet went much the same as the last few. I spent most of the time fixing the tiny imperfections that anyone still had when they were casting. I heavily doubted that Hermione would learn to cast in her sleep anytime soon, but she was definitely at the head of the pack in terms of proficiency. Though Janet wasn't too far behind. Both of them had already managed to consistently silent cast Castakeen Fium, and I would likely be able to start teaching them to do it wandlessly once the spring term rolled around.

If that did happen then it might actually be easier to teach them a more generic ‘heat target’ spell, or maybe even something radiation based? No, that would inevitably go wrong if they ever tried to tweak it, so definitely not. The actual wanded spell had limitations for safety that helped cement it as a spell, which was good for beginners as a more cemented spell is easier to learn, and a more specific spell is more powerful. But that only applies to wands. There are a few spells that have been cemented as spells done wandlessly, but most of the time wandless magic is just ‘magic’.

The important bit from all that exposition is that Castakeen Fium isn't cemented wandlessly, so it would be easier to teach them normal kinetic based wandless heating without any limitations, and then warn them to be careful about burning stuff. ‘Hmmm, I might have to teach them secondary level thermodynamics first, else they may have trouble visualising how the energy is meant to be applied. Eh, I'll let future me handle it,’ I contemplated.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

(~4pm in the afternoon.)

After the study session was done, I went out to the lake to do some ice-skating. I mostly just fluttered about in large circles near the coastline. My hands were wearing fingerless pink mittens and my neck had a similarly coloured scarf, but other than that I didn't have any snow protection. The rest of my outfit was composed of a white blouse, grey knee length skirt, and black thigh high socks.

I was currently experiencing hypothermia. There were a variety of ways that I could negate said hypothermia, but it wasn't dangerous to me either way, and I liked the tingly feeling that the cold caused.

There were several other students on the ice with a wide span of houses and years- ‘Oh!’ I recognised one of them, Katie Bell, we met on the train at the start of the year. I skated my way over to her, and followed her in parallel.

“Katie!” I greeted with a wave. “It's been awhile since we met on the train, I saw that you got onto the quidditch like you wanted. Congratulations!” I chirped up beside her.

The slightly older— significantly older if I were to count using my real age— girl had a moment of confusion before recognition lit up her face. “Oh- you're that girl from the train! Athena right? Took a second to recognise you with those glasses. I like them, they're cute.” she said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I chuckled a little at her blunder. “Artemis actually, but I suppose Athena is pretty close considering we've only spoken to each other once, like, three and a half months ago!” I skated out in front of her, turned 180° to where I was ice-skating backwards, and then offered my hand for shaking. “Artemis Artwork Atterberry, at your service m'lady.” I said, bowing slightly.

She grabbed my hand and shook it modestly. ““Katie Bell,”” we both said at once. “But clearly you already knew that,” she said with a grin. “Say, you wouldn't happen to be the same first-year named Artemis that Hermione's been gushing over since Halloween, would you?” Katie asked.

I shrugged. “Maybe~”

“You are! You've been the talk of the school for over a month, it's a wonder that nobody's been able to find you.” Which was because I turned myself into a mildly antimemetic cognitohazard, but that was hardly relevant to the conversation. She then frowned minutely. “I'm sorry, this is unrelated to the current conversation, but you don't seem to be wearing much snow gear and your lips are blue. Also your hand was really cold. Are you okay?” asked the brown haired as she decelerated.

I deftly continued to stay exactly two metres in front of her, whilst still ice-skating backwards with my hands in my skirt pockets. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just like feeling cold sometimes.”

She looked me up and down, then raised her eyebrows at me. “I'd argue that you're more than just ‘cold’, but… are you sure you're fine?”

I snorted a bit. “I'm sure they'll teach us about it at some point. Wizards are kinda made of magic, in the same way that magical beasts are distincted from normal creatures, and some of us are born with special abilities. Like metamorphmagi and parselmouths, or half-breeds which retain traits of their ancestry. So, don't worry, I'm perfectly healthy.” I insisted with a smile.

Katie was obviously still doubtful, but figured that I seemed to be doing alright, so she just let it be. She re-accelerated back to normal speed, as she shifted subjects. “So how'd you turn a whole mountain troll to cinders?” she asked.

“Magic, duh,” I stated the obvious.

She giggled a little, and asked “All you always like this? I can't imagine Hermione tolerating being around you with answers like those,”

That actually gave me pause, and my position stopped being perfectly stationary relative to Katie's for a moment. Why was I being evasive with Katie? “Hmm… We, right now, are having fun. There are times for fun and times for knowledge, and during a time of fun I prioritise fun. My less-than-direct answers are more fun than direct answers would be, so I prioritise them.” I said, with one hand holding my chin and the other on my hip.

Katie nodded. “Yeah, I suppose I can respect that. By the way, how are you skating like that?” She gestured towards me, still backwards and only moving my legs as the rest of my body was perfectly stationary from her perspective.

“An unfair amount of skill,” I replied.

“Huh, I was expecting you to say ‘magic’, because there is no way that whatever this is—” once again gesturing at me. “—isn't magic.”

“Well then, I suppose you'd be surprised by what one can achieve without magic.” I said smugly. “You've heard Hermione complain about me explaining stuff away as ‘magic’.” I concluded out loud. “But that's enough about me. How's the quidditch team, is it everything you were hoping for it to be?”

She took a deep breath of the chilly air around us in preparation. “It certainly is! The team is great, Angelina and Alicia, the other two chasers, have been really friendly at practice. Oliver is a good captain, and Harry has surprisingly good tracking for someone who needs glasses. I've been having a lot of fun getting the hang of things, and I've learned a lot already!” She went on to tell me all about it, babbling for an hour about quidditch and I myself only occasionally saying a few words. It was fun. I was glad that I decided to chat with her.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

(December 20th, 1991)

I didn't take the train. We were supposed to pack our things, let the house-elves load said things onto the train, and then ride for eight-ish hours till we hit London. But I really didn't have the emotional energy for that right now. I had to leave my friends, but I also missed my mom just so very much that I didn't want to wait around. Thus, I didn't. In a moment of privacy I absorbed my things before the house-elves would begin moving them to the train, then— later in the day— said goodbye to my friends one last time at Hogsmeade Station. After that it was a simple matter to phase through dimensions into the Fae Wilds.

Olea landed on my shoulder. I grabbed her gently and hugged her to my chest. ‘I know you're nervous, but don't be. I've had plenty of experience. It'll be over before you know it. One moment I'll be holding you in my arms—’ In a single instant I absorbed her body, latched onto her soul, and tucked her softly into stasis.

My body and clothes shifted into a winged metal spear that I liked to use for long distance travel. White light filled the forest of frozen crystalline trees as I revved my thrusters, and when I took off their roar could be heard for leagues around.

In a scant few seconds I shattered the speed of sound, and thanks to the wobbly nature of distance in the Fae Wilds, I reached the ranch in a matter of minutes.

Shifting to my human form midair, I skidded to a halt in front of the house, and reformed Olea in my arms. ‘—And in the next, we'll be there.’ She took a moment to look around in surprise. She sent me a thought saying how obvious of a trail I'd left. ‘Hehe, yeah,’ I sent back.

I called out as I walked towards the house. “Mom, I'm home!” As soon as I opened the door Olea flew into the house and landed on Mom's head, who herself was sitting on the living room couch.

She was reading some muggle biology book, but that was quickly cast aside as she rushed to give me a hug. I reciprocated and buried my head into the crook of her neck, as she emptied my lungs from the strength of her embrace. “You've grown,” she said quietly.

I patted her back a few times. “Yes, I have,” I confirmed.

“I already miss when you were just a wee babe, one day yer going to come back home and be taller than me. Can't ye just stay cute n’ small forever?” Her voice frayed at the end there.

I disengaged from the hug and grabbed Mom's shoulders. Looking into her eyes, I sincerely asked “Please do not tempt me,”

She nodded and cupped my cheek with her hand. “Right, sorry, I just missed you.” she apologised.

“It’s alright, I missed you too.” From the coffee table my phoenix let out a few chips. “Olea says that you're still her favourite grandma,” I translated.

Mom laughed a little. “I would hope so, the others aren't exactly personable.” she said, referring to the various creatures that we contributed to my creation.

“I dunno, Mercy's awfully nice, and I know some of her blood was used to help make me. There's also my other grandparents, aunts, and uncles which she'll be seeing later this break. Most of them are… some of them are alright. You have more competition than you'd think.” I retorted.

Mom scowled slightly. “I still don't like those folks,” she said.

“I know,” I looked over to the contents of the coffee table, then back to Mom. “Now why don't we watch something on the telly, I have a whole season's worth of news clips piled up.” I offered, growing a VHS tape from my hand.

“Sure,” she conceded easily.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

I spent much of those days during the Yuletide with Olea. She had seen the ranch, of course, but never in snow as it was. I still mostly remembered my first couple winters. The memories were formatted differently than my new methods, but I still cherished them just as much as I cherished the memories I was making now. She and I did chores together, cooked together, played together, and every night we would curl up in bed cuddling. It was very pleasant, all of it.

On the day of the solstice I took her out before dawn and explained to her how the magic of the world flowed as winds ether, of how the stars’ power was but idle thoughts in that wind, and of how magic was anything she could imagine yet still everything she couldn't.

I didn't think she understood everything I said, but that didn't really matter. We were having fun either way.

We visited Mercy a few times before the day of Yule, and I got a few more blood samples. They were near pure, but the hormones were just a tad off in a way that hinted at her malady. I still wasn't sure of the severity of her condition, though I suspected I would be soon enough.

We also saw many of the other creatures that lived on the ranch. From mundane animals like sheep and chickens to great dragons and fearsome kelpies. There was even a new addition. Somehow Mom had managed to get a Skrittnuer out of Australia. When I checked out the logs from her overwatcher I was baffled. But upon asking about why she didn't tell me that she’d gone spider hunting, she said “Well… I dunno, just didn't seem very interesting of a story.”

“Mom, you snuck out of the country, repeatedly evaded detection of the various governments that you broke the travel regulations of, hunted down and trapped a giant spider that's most well-known for being the reason Australia doesn't have dragons, and then managed to smuggle the very unhappy man-eating arachnid halfway around the world… and no part of that stood out as potentially being story material?” I rebuked.

“… Yes?” she responded. “I get that if you say it like that it sounds all dramatic, but it was actually really boring.”

“Mom… I'm going to make an action film.”

“Umm, okay. Best of luck, Sweetheart,” she said with some confusion.

“I am going to recreate your misadventures in movie format, call it an action film, and then put it in the cinemas.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. “Cuddlebug, I love you and will support you in any endeavours you choose to take. My only spat is that you maintain plausible deniability.”

I nodded. “Of course, and thank you,” She patted my head. Mom's casual disregard for the disruption of the film industry that I was about to unleash left me with a warm fuzz in my chest as I started plotting my plot.