Chapter 4: A Bittersweet Reunion
Neville knocked on the back door and it instantly flew open. There in the doorway stood a lanky, red-headed young man with a huge grin on his face.
"Neville! How nice to see you!" said George Weasley. "Come in! Come in!"
"I've got a visitor with me, George," Neville informed as he pointed back at Artemis. George's face instantly became stern as his eyes met with Artemis'.
"There's a problem...isn't there?" he asked.
"Yes, George. There is," said Artemis. "Is Harry in there?"
"Yeah. Ron and Hermione too."
"Good. May I come in with Neville then?"
"Of course."
George's chipper attitude returned but he still had a blunt tinge behind it. Artemis nodded curtly and followed Neville through the doorway.
There was a small table inside covered in plates and cups. The smell of coffee and cauldron cakes filled the air and Artemis couldn't help but indulge his nose in the wonderful aromas. He longed for a good cup of coffee. Three people in their late teens sat around the table. One was a boy with messy, long black hair, glasses, green eyes, and a lightning bolt-shaped scar. One was a boy with long red hair, freckles, and a tall, lanky structure much like George's. The last one was a girl with bushy brown hair and a somewhat small structure. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger turned from each other to face their new arrival. Their expressions were happy and calm when they saw Neville but their expressions instantly became shocked, joyful, and frightened at the sight of Artemis.
"Artemis Fowl," said Hermione. "This is a surprise."
"Really, Hermione? A surprise? I would only assume that all of you were anticipating my arrival," stated Artemis bluntly. Hermione blushed and turned to Harry. Ron snorted and then followed it up with a forced laugh.
"Well I wasn't expecting your arrival oh great Artemis Fowl," said Ron. "I didn't think that we'd need to be graced by a surprise visit from you."
"Well I'm sure that Harry was expecting me at one point or another. Weren't you, Harry?"
Harry Potter glared teasingly at the 16-year-old criminal mastermind before him and gave a forced laugh similar to Ron's.
"I, honestly, haven't given you much though recently, Artemis. But, yeah, I guess I was expecting your arrival to some degree," replied Harry.
"Well I'm not surprised by that since you canceled meeting with me and the others for our monthly meetings."
"It's not my fault, Artemis. Things have been pretty busy for me and the others."
"Busy? Busy? You think you are the only one who's been busy? I've been losing my mind over the past few days just trying to decode Opal's plans!"
"Opal? Opal Koboi? That deranged pixie that you keep talking about?"
"Yes. She's been causing little distractions and setbacks for me and the LEP for several months now. I've been trying to figure out her real plans. These things are obvious distractions for some big plan that she's cooking up. I will uncover her secrets...but then you and the others decide to cancel the meeting!"
"The others? You mean everyone else canceled too?"
"Yes. I guess everyone's been busy of late. But even with all the crap that I'm going through right now...I was still able to come here and visit you. Even Twilight found some time in her busy schedule to come and visit you!"
"Twilight? Twilight's here too?"
"Yeah. She's in the shop with Dennis Creevey, who's probably playing 199 questions with her right now."
"That's Dennis for you," Ron chuckled.
"Anyway...I'm here to find out just what's been going on recently," said Artemis. Artemis turned his attention between Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and George and waited for his answer.
"Well?" he asked. "Am I going to get an answer?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "The DA, the Order, the Ministry, and us believe that...someone's trying to create another army of Death Eaters with fairy technology on their side."
Artemis' smirk faded into a stern glare.
"Is there any proof of this?" he asked.
"I've been training with some of the aurors. One of my mentors, Eric Bates, arrested a group of snatchers and found a bunch of Neutrino 3000's on them," said Harry.
"You're positive that the weapons they possessed were Neutrinos?"
"Yes. We're certain."
Artemis rubbed his fingers through his hair and delved into a state of deep thought. This was defiantly Opal's work. But why would she be selling fairy technology to wizards in alternate dimensions and, for the matter, how was she able to do this anyway? Did Opal possess some form of technology that allowed her to travel between dimensions? The only people who should own any technology like that should be either the people in the League or their allies. What was Opal to gain from this? Artemis' face tightened and he groaned in frustration.
"Opal," he muttered. "What in the world could she be up to?"
"That's what we'd like to know," stated Ron.
"Do you have any theories, Artemis?" asked Hermione.
"Only a couple possible scenarios," replied the teenage mastermind. "At first, I assumed that she'd simply try to break her future self out of prison and then go after me, Holly, and the rest of the LEP. Now I'm not really sure what her plans could be. This pixie has given me hell before but now she's giving me hell on a psychological level and, believe me, I've had enough psychological trauma to last multiple lifetimes."
"You can say that again," chuckled Harry.
Just then, the sound of shattering glass and screams echoed from the other side of the door. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and George all immediately pulled out their wands and Artemis pulled out his personal Neutrino 3000. George was the first through the door but he was instantly hit by a violent force. He was flung across the shop and smashed into a cabinet containing a shipment of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. The shop was instantly filled with a cloud of thick, black smoke.
"George!" called Ron as he burst through the open doorway. "Are you okay?"
There was no response from George but the sounds of screaming customers still echoed throughout the shop. An evil laugh then emanated from somewhere in the darkness.
"Dennis! Run!" said the voice of Twilight.
"Twilight!" called Dennis. There was a loud thud and then the sound of more splintering glass off towards the entrance of the shop.
"Dennis!" screamed Twilight. "Who are you? Oh dear Celestia! It's you! Artemis! Harry!"
"Twilight!" yelled Harry. "Lumos!"
A bright light emanated from the tip of Harry's wand but it wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the darkness. There was another loud punching sound and a groan.
"I've got the unicorn. Take care of Fowl, Potter, and whoever stands in your way," ordered a demanding female voice. There was then a flash of light in the darkness and Artemis knew what this meant.
"TWILIGHT!" called Artemis.
"Evanesco!" said Hermione. Instantly, the thick fog of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder began to clear, and in turn it revealed a horrific scene.
The shop was in ruins. The unconscious bodies of several customers lay throughout the wreckage, several cabinets, stands, book cases, and display tables had been reduced to shreds, the front windows and door had been smashed, several types of liquids were splashed on the floor, and in the middle of it all was a massive black humanoid figure with a large muscular body, sharp fangs, and an intimidating white spider imprinted on its chest.
"It can't be," choked Artemis.
"Yes dear Artemis Fowl. We are Venom and we shall destroy you, precious Potter, and the rest of your worthless League!" cackled the symbiotic villain.
