Chapter Two
As the teens entered the castle, they heard Caroline gasp. "Wow this place is soooooo cool! Look at the ceiling!" she cried excitedly. "Where do we go now?" She went on raving about Hogwarts until Hermione said, "Calm down, were going in the Great Hall. I guess the first years will be sorted first."
Right there, McGonagall popped out and told Caroline that she and her brother would be sorted out first. The Sorting Hat sang his traditional song and everyone clapped. Then they were sorted.
"Fowl, Artemis." summoned McGonagall. Artemis strutted up looking like the snobby rich brat he was and sat on the stool expectantly. The hat didn't call out immediately. They were having a conversation.
So what house should I put you in?
Whatever house that you deem right for me. Preferably Ravenclaw or Slytherin.
Hmm, let's see. You're right, you are an exceptional genius,(Arty smirked) yet, cunning and devious for Slytherin. You have all the qualifications for both houses, but what matters is, what do you want?
Arty thought for a minute and said,"Slytherin. After all, forming cunning plans is my specialty.
So be it. "Slytherin!" the Hat called out.
"Just as I thought," muttered Caroline and the trio at the same time. Lissette smiled slightly. People clapped.
"Fowl, Caroline!" McGonagall said.
So you two are twins, I see.
Yup, but I'm nothing like him. Family and looks maybe, but nothing else.
But you were in Calandra at Salem. Slytherin and Calandra are quite alike. You don't have that exceptional genius, but you do have the cunning and brilliance you know. "Sly-!"
WAIT! NO! I want to be in Gryffindor!
Is it because of the friends you have made or because of your hatred towards your brother? the Hat asked slyly.
It's not. I-don't want to be in Slytherin.
Alright. "Gryffindor!"
Applause erupted from Gryffindor Table. "Now it is turn for First years." said McGonagall, "Aalto, William"
Caroline was relieved that she could change the Hat's mind. She sat next to Ginny and grinned. They turned back and watched the rest of the sorting.
As soon as Zurek, Gregory was sorted, (Ravenclaw) McGonagall announced the usual. "Welcome new and old students. I am Headmistress McGonagall for those who are new. Because of the cruel and surprising murder of our former Headmaster Dumbledore by Severus Snape, we have two new teachers: Professor Jack Sparrow, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Lily Chang, who will be teaching Potions. Please welcome these two amazing teachers. As always, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students, and…" she went on.
Professor Sparrow had brown hair that came up to his shoulders and sharp blue eyes. He was tall and tan, and had many scars on his face. Basically, he looked like an evil pirate. (Hint Hint) Professor Chang was petite and pale and looked quite opposite from Sparrow. She was Asian and had black hair which was also shoulder-length, and intelligent dark brown eyes.
"So two new teachers then, hey?" whispered Ron to Harry "I wonder how long Sparrow will last. 'Cuz the post cursed, you know. As for Chang, she looks…fragile."
Hermione then told Ron to 'shut his pie hole or else.'
"…and let the feasting begin!" finished McGonagall. "Finally!" said Caroline while Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yummy yummy food!" and they began stuffing their faces with that amazing food.
After they had eaten all they could, they went up sleepily to the Fat Lady.
"Password?" she requested.
"Hinkypinks," replied Hermione. "Now, I better get to my dormroom."
"Oh yeah! Hermione, you're the Head Girl! I almost forgot." Harry said.
"Can we visit it? Puhleeze?" begged Caroline.
"Okay. By the way, the Head Boy is—"
"Please, not Malfoy." said Ron. "It's not us." said Harry.
"Not Ernie" said Ginny.
"Who?" asked Caroline. "As I was saying before you all interrupted, it's Zachary Schmidtt. Ravenclaw, by the way."
"Oh, he's cute. You're lucky, Hermione!" said Ginny. At this, Hermione blushed.
"Ooh! Hermione, you're blushing!" teased Caroline.
"C'mon, you guys, let's go." she replied. They went to a painting that was near the kitchen door painting (me: lucky) and Hermione said, "Algernon". They entered a common room that was purple. (why?) It had plenty of sofas and a fireplace.
"I'm going to use the bathroom." called out Hermione from behind them. There was a rectangular coffee-table-like table in the middle. They walked around to see a door. There was a plaque on the door that said 'Head Girl' in golden letters. They looked and grinned at eachother and at the count of three, burst inside. Hermione looked surprised and yelled a bit too.
"Whoa! This isway better than our ugly dorms!" observed Ginny.
The room was crimson with curtains which were a different shade of dark red with gold lining. Behind that was glass doors and a balcony to top it off. Her bed was a high four-poster with the traditional Hogwarts crest on it and soft, thick covers with Gryffindor's crest on it. It had tons of pillows which were gold and crimson. The rest of the room had a mahogany bookcase and desk, a walk-in closet and a bureau with a full-length mirror. Even the carpet was gold! They walked into the bathroom which had a bathtub much like the one in the prefects' bathroom. It had many knobs where colorful, bubbly water came out. It was about 5 feet tall in the inside, and had many, many towels on the stands/hangers. It had a huge sink and a toilet, (of course) and also a shower. (Am I overdoing it?) The teens were breathless and Caroline exclaimed, "If the bathrooms in our dorms are like this, I'm going to be really happy! Cool! Lookee at all the knobs!" She became less excited when Ginny explained to her that the bathrooms were nothing close to this.
They went back out to the common room and found Zach Schmidtt there. "Hi Arry!" greeted Harry. Zach was the Ravenclaw Seeker and Captain. He and Harry were good friends and had this name rhyming game between them.
"Hi! I don't think all of you are head girls…" he said with a welcoming grin.
"Yeah, you can see that, they wanted to come over," Hermione answered turning to her friends, "and only people whom the Heads want in can come in, by the way. There's a Head password, and one for their/our friends. Yours is 'Algernon'. This is so that you can only come in when one of us in with you or in here"
"Hermione, could you have chosen a more random password?" complained Ron.
"Well, we've got to go now, so see you guys at breakfast!" said Harry.
"Toodles Hermione, Arry." said Caroline, waving her fingers before she exited through the portrait along with Harry.
"Bye Hermione! Have fun unpacking!" said Ginny as she followed suit.
"Er, good night!" said Ron as gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left. Hermione blushed a little and muttered goodnight to Zach before going back to her room. With a sigh, she began unpacking. She found the stuffed animal that her parents gave her for her birthday when she was three. "Found you," she said to the doll softly. 'Well, today was a big day,' she thought. Soon after, she got ready to go to bed, and jumped onto the big bouncy bed. She fell asleep at once, while thinking how comfortable the bed was.
Harry and the rest, however met Artemis on their way back.
"I seem to have lost my way." He said stiffly, for Artemis did not like to ask for help, especially not from his twin sister and her friends.
"Well we wouldn't know where you should go because we aren't in Slytherin, as you have amazingly perceived. Why don't you ask your friend Malfoy or someone?" Caroline replied coldly. She did not like Artemis very much either, even though they were twins.
"Caroline, I would appreciate it if you just shut up, or started acting more mature, for you don't know very much." he answered in that infuriating way of his. Caroline couldn't take anymore of him and was reaching exploding point. With deceptive calm, she told her friends, "Get back to Gryffindor Tower. I can find the way back. Go. Your friends will wonder." Harry and the others were unsure, but Caroline sounded really angry, so they decided to leave. "Okay, we'll be waiting." said Ginny as she left.
As soon as they were out of earshot, she cast a silencing charm around them so they wouldn't wake up the whole school.
"YOU ANNOYING LITTLE BRAT! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO COME TO HOGWARTS AND RUIN MY LIFE! HUH?! YOU SHOULD'VE JUST STAYED HOME WITH BUTLER OR GONE TO DURMSTRANG AND MAKE SOMEONE ELSE MISERABLE! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? AND DON'T YOU DARE BLAME MOTHER, BECAUSE I KNOW IT WAS YOUR CHOICE! IF YOU WANTED TO COME, YOU SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST TRIED TO BE NICE TO MY FRIENDS. YOU'RE JUST A SNOBBY LITTLE KID, YOU KNOW THAT? I WONDER HOW WE'RE EVEN TWINS, BY FROND! OH BY THE WAY, I KNOW WAY MORE THAN YOU IN MAGIC AND I COULD HEX YOUR ASS OFF SO DON'T ACT MORE SUPERIOR THAN ME. IF YOU DESPISE ME SO MUCH, THAN JUST DON'T CONVERSE WITH ME. JEEZ, WHY DON'T YOU GET A LIFE ALONG WITH SOME REAL FRIENDS? HONESTLY, DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE AMAZING ARTEMIS FOWL HERE? WELL, YOUR NOT, SO DEAL. DON'T EVER FUCK WITH ME AGAIN. " with that and a vehement glare, she turned and walked away.
During this moment of confrontation, Artemis was silent and portrayed no emotions. But inside his emotions was in turmoil. No one could talk to Artemis Fowl II like that but his sister. And he was pissed that such a yelling triggered his emotions. He tried to contact her with a meek 'Caroline?' but her mind was blocking with a steel wall. With a sigh, he trudged around to look for his dorm.
They, Caroline and Artemis were once the best of friends. She didn't mind his holier-than-thou attitude and smarttalk. She had always encouraged and participated in his many experiments. She was the only one who could read his blank face like a book and knew what he was thinking. They shared a connection that no one else had and were inseparable. That is, until Caroline received the acceptance letter.
Artemis of course had gotten jealous that his sister was magical and he was only left with his brains. This was another reason why he became so interested in magic and fairies. He became bitter towards her and treated her as a freak sister. Most people who knew him since or after he became ten didn't know he was a twin. She was, afterall at school the majority of the year, and wasn't in Arty's life much. Artemis was never a social person, and became even more introverted and developed a criminal lifestyle. All this at the tender age of ten. But I digress, back to the story.
Caroline reached the Fat Lady and growled 'Hinkypinks.'
Inside, Ron handed here a butterbeer and said, "So what's up?"
"Nothing much. Just the usual screaming at your brother thing." she answered casually. She drank the last of the butterbeer in two large gulps and set it down on the table with so much venom that the bottle broke. "Whoops, my bad." Caroline said. With a wave of her wand and a 'reparo' the mess was cleaned up. I'm heading off to bed, see y'all in the morning!" she said cheerfully with no signs of her previous anger. Ginny quickly stood and said she was tired and went off to bed also.
While she was splashing water onto her face, she felt Artemis try to reach her, but blocked her mind against him. 'He deserves it, the way he's been treating me for what, 7 years?' she thought bitterly. Caroline was tired and jumped on her bed, sighing. Ginny entered the dorm and jumped onto Caroline's bed and closed the poster. She asked, "What happened?"
"Oh it was nothing. Seriously, I just yelled at him a little bit. He needs that once in a while, and no one else screams at him, so it's my duty." she answered jokingly.
"Why do you guys hate eachother so much?"
"Like I told you, I was accepted first, he was jealous, became evil, and blah blah blah."
"Well, tell me about your old life at Salem and everything."
"Okayyy, but it's gonna be long and boring." Caroline said while casting another silencing charm on the curtains. With a lumos, she began her lifestory.
Dawn streaked through the windows. Two girls were sleeping peacefully on one bed with illuminated wands in their hands.