Lawhammer

WHEN: September 2nd 2010, 13:15

WHERE: Auror's Office, Ministry of Magic, London – Briefing Room

"Alone the name sent me shivering, when I heard it," Ron said.

Naturally, everyone in the room knew the name "Artemis Fowl the Second". After all, a 19-year old freshman in Hogwarts? Never happened before. But no one had thought that a freshman, untrained and raw, could have enough energy and talent to blow up a warehouse.

The Auror Department had clearly failed here. To their rescue, there had not been any precedent in known magic history for this. It was considered widely impossible that anyone could possess such an amount of power without any training. Even the former Dark Lord needed decades of learning and practice to become the feared warrior and ruler. Young children of Muggle origin were known to do small-scale magic - stuff like wishing opponents with their underpants on a tree. But not total mayhem.

"Well, we won't have to worry about the Muggles, anyway. They think they found the culprit with the former owner and are leaving the case at rest. This Spiro is sitting for life anyway," Annie said.

"Yes, and that is the best news we have at the moment. Still, it leaves our world. We must somehow cover it," Kingsley said.

Everyone knew why: the memories of the Great Wizarding War were still fresh for many. Even after twelve years, families mourned for their dead and the damage dealt was still visible all over the Wizarding World. The Muggles were faster in rebuilding their stuff, mostly because the damages in the Muggle world were limited to psychological terror; a couple demolished bridges, buildings and vehicles were fast to replace or rebuild. The main joy of the Death Eaters was not to destroy, but to torture and kill.

And now, a school child could be on the verge of causing a massive panic.

"We cannot even prosecute him. He does not even know that displaying magic with Muggles witnessing it is illegal," Redstone said.

"And if it were to become public that a school kid is able to demonstrate such power, the public would want us to execute him. No one wants another Voldemort, truth be told," Harry added.

They all knew the conflicting interests: Law explicitly forbade the Auror Department, or for that matter the entire Ministry, to interfere in Hogwarts affairs. And as long as Artemis Fowl the Second resided in Hogwarts, he was a Hogwarts affair. No way out. But the public needed a satisfying answer to the explosion.

"We could claim it was a secret weapons development," Maria Flint interjected. She was the newest member of the Auror team, having graduated two years ago. "We can disguise the ten days it took to 'resolve' this as 'we needed ten days to clear the red tape'. Everyone knows that the Ministry is working strictly by the books now, and most people expect us to build something secret in case the next Dark Lord arises."

The idea had hit, Maria knew it.

"But what if someone asks for a demonstration? Or worse, a situation unfolds where we might need a... weapon like this kid?" Ron asked.

"Well, if this kid is anything like what I gathered from these Muggle newspaper archives, then he will help us out. For now, I believe this to be the only viable course of action. In case we get another problem, we will solve it then. But there is no need to let this mountain grow any bigger. The more days pass without an explanation, the more difficult it will be to pass this off," Kingsley said.

"Let me prepare the paperwork and a speech for the public. I guess someone here will volunteer talking to Minerva in Hogwarts?" Annie asked.

Of course, Ron and Harry rose their hands. They had longed for an opportunity to talk with Minerva McGonagall since months, but the chaos and the work did not make it possible.

"It is decided then. We will disguise and protect Artemis Fowl from public blame for now, and Ron and Harry will arrange a meeting with him through Minerva to get his intentions," Kingsley said.

Everyone nodded.

The meeting was over.

Crisis averted.

A/N: Ohai, didn't expect you so soon ;) Well, a couple liters of coffee and a decent amount of time later, I have finished the revision of HM.

Thank God I was able to avoid a total rewrite and keep the major plot line. I fixed lots of styling issues, typos as well as some logical problems and missing information. Especially the oldest readers are invited to re-read from the beginning. Might be that some mysteries will be solved now ;)

Also, I have digged through all 105 reviews and found quite some unanswered ones. So, here are your answers:

Guest: Unicorns will come in later, I am not sure if I'll put them in the first book.

Artemis la Sol: Yes, in the books Ravenclaw has riddles; in my timeline these were replaced with standard passcodes because of the cruel abuse by the Carrows.

rebecca85: Of course the hat can be heard - if it wants to be heard, that is. The timeline deviation has been fixed now, took me some time though. Thanks for the hint with the ticket being for 2011, fixed too. For the "out of character" issue: see my A/N for chapter #22. All the positive influence and 2.5 years of psychotherapy are bound to have an effect on Artemis.

Wrothmonk: thanks for the typo fixes. Unfortunately, the 3 should be a heart symbol but FFnet's ridiculous filter rejects the "lower-than" character instead of escaping it. Stonehenge is closed... for the public. Not if you're LEP or Artemis Fowl.

RRW: Accident maybe, but Artemis is of-age and rich, so he can be expected to pay for damage he caused.