Chapter 1: Diagon Alley
Artemis Fowl II was in his study, as usual. Butler was in the kitchen, preparing lunch, as usual. Juliet was in the gym, as usual. And Angeline Fowl was upstairs in her room, asleep, as usual. It was a completely typical day in Fowl Manor. Until now. Artemis was quietly in his study, the blue light from his computer lighting up his face, his pianist fingers moving too fast to make out.
When suddenly a snowy owl appeared at the window. Artemis stood up quickly, knowing exactly the reason why this owl was here, he had been waiting for this moment since he was a baby. He unrolled the parchment attached to the owl's leg and read it, here is what it said:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock)
Dear Mr. Fowl,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. The Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Uniform
First year students will require
1. One set of dress robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Course Books
All student should have a copy of each of each of the following
1.The standard book of spells (Grade 1)
By Miranda Goshawk
2.A History of Magic
By Bathilda Bagshot
3.Magical Theory
By Adalbert Waffling
4.A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration
By Emeric Swich
5.On Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
By Phylidda Spore
6.Magical Draughts and Potions
By Arsenius Jigger
Artemis called for Butler and Juliet. As they rushed into his study Artemis showed them the letter from Hogwarts. Inside he was celebrating, but on the outside, none of these emotions showed. Juliet was clapping for him and Butler was smiling and told him that he should get ready for the trip to Diagon Alley.
Artemis dressed in one of his nicer Armani suits and he and Butler set out for London in the Bentley. They stopped at a dingy pub called the Leaky Cauldron. They went inside and Butler took his wand and tapped the brick wall. Suddenly the wall opened and there stood Diagon Alley, in all its glory. At one end stood a large building that Artemis knew to be the wizard bank, Gringotts. Butler said, "We'd better go to Gringotts to open up an account for you and put some money in." When they went inside, the goblins immediately turned their way, abandoning other customers when seeing the expensive suits on the man and boy. Artemis couldn't help but let a smirk find its way onto his face.
Artemis said to the goblin, "I would like to create an account under the name of 'Fowl'. The goblin nodded and asked, "And how much will you be depositing today sir?" "20,000 Euros" Said Artemis. The goblin looked shocked, as well did a few other people eavesdropping on the conversation, but he quickly composed himself and said, "yes, sir"
As they left Butler said, "First we should go to Calcon's Custom Robes to get you your school robes. The ones at Madame Malkin's are good, but not enough for high class purebloods like you." They entered the store. At first Artemis was a little awed at the sight, but quickly composed himself. The walls, floor and ceiling were wood with swirling gold patterns. Robes of all sizes covered most of the walls from floor to ceiling, some normal, some silk lined, some fringed, some patterned.
A middle aged, haughty looking man entered and focused on them. After seeing their wealth, he put on a smile and greeted them kindly. "Hello, and welcome to Calcon's Custom Robes. I assume you have seen our supply. Is there any specific style you prefer or would you like a recommendation?" Artemis said, "I would like the silk lined ones for regular school robes, and the gold patterned ones for dress robes." "Very well" said the man.
After they had left with the robes, Butler said, "now to get your books" As they headed over to Flourish and Blotts, Artemis saw another boy about his age walking next to a man who looked like the older version of the boy. They both had blonde hair and looked very haughty and rich. "Oh, there are the Malfoy's" said Butler. He strode over and said "Hello, Lucius, Draco." "Hello, Butler" said the blonde-haired man, whose apparent name was Lucius. Butler introduced Artemis. "This is Artemis Fowl II, you have not met him. And Artemis, this is Lucius and Draco Malfoy. The Malfoys are a rich, pureblooded family but you have not met them because they live in in Europe." "Hey Artemis" said Draco awkwardly, and the two boys blushed. Butler decided quickly to change the subject to help the two socially inept boys. Well, now I know that they have something in common.
"Well, we are off to Flourish and Blotts to get Artemis his books." "Yes, we shall be going over to Calcon's for some robes for Draco." Lucius looked at each boy in turn. "We will be seeing each other later I suppose, I hope the best for you Artemis, after all, you are a rich and influential pureblood." Then, Lucius left with Draco tagging quickly along.
"Ok, now to get your books" said Butler. They headed to Flourish and Blotts and after they had bought all the assigned books along with a few that Fowl Library did not have, including Hexes and Jinxes: A Guide, Top 5 Darkest Wizards of All Time, and The History of the Unforgivables.
After leaving Flourish and Blotts they headed over to Eeylops Owl Emporium. There, Artemis quickly found a proud looking golden owl that he named Aurum, the Latin word for gold. Butler had to stifle a chuckle at Artemis's picking of the gold colored owl and then naming it gold. But he knew better than to laugh at his young charges picking.
They then headed over to their last stop, Ollivanders. They entered to shop and Ollivander appeared. He looked Artemis over and picked out a wand from the stack next to his desk. "Walnut, 11 ½ inches, Dragon Heartstring" He recited and handed the wand to Artemis. Artemis, being trained from near birth on the handling of magical objects, flicked the wand. Five windows shattered. Ollivander shook his head. "Maple, 13 inches, Unicorn hair." A shelf collapsed. "no, definitely not." murmured Ollivander. "Cherry, 12 ½ inches, Phoenix feather." His desk blew to smithereens. This continued until a pile of wands began piling up next to Artemis. He thought to himself, Does Ollivander even notice his shop is being destroyed more with each wand I flick? "Birch, 12 inches exact, Phoenix feather and Basilisk scale." He handed the wand to Artemis. But this time, when Artemis flicked the wand, green and black sparks came from his wand and Butler swore the room grew 5 degrees colder. Ollivander noticed, and shivered. "That will be 10 Galleons please." He said. Artemis paid and were nearing the door when they heard Ollivander say, "There is a lot of power in you, my boy, use it wisely."
After Artemis and Butler returned home, Artemis immediately went to his study to read the books he had gotten, and to start practicing the spells with his new wand. After Artemis had gone, Butler went to work making lunch. All he wished for at that moment was that Artemis was not casting some high level dark magic that was completely banned and the Ministry of Magic would show up at their doorstep. Butler entered the room a few hours later to find Artemis casting Imperio on one of his lab rats. "Artemis!" Butler yelled, and Artemis turned and paled as he saw Butler at his doorframe. "Artemis, you should not do dark magic of that level, you know that! At your age, you should not even be able to cast a spell of that level!" Butler stopped, trying, and failing, to calm himself. Artemis said coolly, "Butler, I was just testing some of the spells I saw in one of the books I got at Flourish and Blotts. I did not want to harm anyone, so I tested it on one of my lab rats." Butler sighed. "Ok, Artemis. Just please refrain from anything that dark." "Ok Butler" Then Butler brought Artemis his lunch and left.
Artemis was left to himself in his study. He decided to entertain himself by preforming an expanding charm on his Hogwarts briefcase. He then proceeded to cast stinging and boils hexes on the briefcase so anyone who tried to go through his stuff would receive a nasty surprise. He then triple locked it with a separate password for each lock. All this protection would make anyone a little curious or suspicious on what exactly he had in there.
Truth to be told, he did have his fairy computer, C-Cube and other entertaining technology in there so he did not exactly want some other kid rifling through his bag and then proceeding to take his tech up to Professor Dumbledore and saying he found it in Artemis Fowl's briefcase. He respected the Headmaster, but he knew that nothing good would come from a bunch of wizards trying to figure out the C-Cube.
When Juliet entered the room she asked jokingly, "How many hexes have you got on that briefcase of yours?" "Only two" Artemis replied coldly. "I just came in to tell you that you will be leaving for the Hogwarts express tomorrow, so you should probably pack all of your gear and get some rest. It's a big day tomorrow! Remember to make friends with Draco. Your father and his father were friends back in their day at Hogwarts." Artemis flinched at the mention of his father. Juliet suddenly looked very sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Artemis. I should not have mentioned that." She got up to leave. "See you tomorrow, Artemis." "You too, Juliet."
Artemis got up a few minutes after her. He thought, perhaps I should get some sleep. After all, I am heading to Hogwarts tomorrow! Probably should not be tired on first day. That won't set a good impression with the teachers." He headed up to his room and got dressed into a pair of silver silk pajamas. He laid down and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
End Chapter 1