CHAPTER 15: JUST DESSERTS

Just my luck, Artemis Senior had his first stress-induced headache in a while, I go shopping with my boys, and Lucius pops up right away. He assumed all the Death Eaters had been caught with Voldemort gone, but apparently it was not so. And now he wants to know about Angeline!

Lucius was the former friend who joined the Dark Lord's anti-Muggle cause. Obviously, there would be trouble if he found out Mrs. Fowl was a Muggle.

He might've changed, the worried man hoped, but it's best to avoid him for now. He found himself approaching Eeylops. There was a snow-white owl in a beautiful cage, and a large man was contemplating it with interest. "Rubeus Hagrid!"

Indeed, there was no mistaking the giantesque profile, the wild black hair, or the old umbrella he carried. Hagrid turned around to see who called him. His eyes widened when he saw who it was, and Artemis immediately found himself enveloped in a giant bear hug.

"Well, if it isn't the one an' only Artemis Fowl!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Where yeh been this whole time? I thought somethin' terrible mighta happened to yeh."

"Life is a crazy thing, Hagrid," Artemis chuckled. At least this friend was trustworthy. "My two younger sons are going to Hogwarts this year. Are you still the gamekeeper?"

"That I am," he could have sworn Hagrid wiped away a tear before puffing out his chest proudly. "As a matter o' fact, I'm here on official Hogwarts business."

"Is that so? Let me guess…" the former criminal emperor thought back to what he heard that day, "are you with Harry Potter? I heard he's in the area."

"That I am," Hagrid nodded, "He's a right sweet kid, an' it's his birthday, so I figured I'd get him a gift." He motioned to the snowy owl. "What do you think about this here owl?"

"I'm sure he'd love it, but I think it would be fun to take him here and let him choose one himself," Artemis Senior said. It really was a beautiful owl, though. "I'd love to meet Mr. Potter sometime."

"You an' James did have a weird relationship goin' on," Hagrid reminisced. "Yeh were always makin' trouble fer each other."

"I'd like to think of us as friendly rivals. Anyways, it's because of his son that I came back right now."

"That so? What happened?"

"You-Know-Who's forces were getting too close for comfort, and that's why I decided to disappear for a while. By the way…" this was his chance to ask something important, "why is Lucius still around? Weren't the Dark Lord's followers apprehended?"

"Aye, most of 'em were, but Lucius and some others say they were under a spell."

"Hm…" Mr. Fowl still didn't feel right about Lucius.

"I still don't know why yeh'd ever associate with the likes of him," Hagrid added, waving his umbrella a bit. "Yeh were always too nice ter the likes of me for 'em." Indeed, it was Artemis Fowl Senior who had the idea to turn Hagrid's broken wand into a magical umbrella, and he offered the gamekeeper higher-paying jobs multiple times.

"For power's sake, Hagrid," Artemis smiled, "but my days of chasing power are gone now."

"Glad ter hear it!" Hagrid said with conviction. "I'd better get ter buyin' some ice cream, so's he can have it after his robe-fittin'."

"I was just about to get my sons ice cream," Artemis remembered the promise he made to the twins. "Shall we go together?"

"Sure thing, Fowl!" Hagrid threw his arm around him, and the two went to the ice cream parlor. Artemis Senior felt much lighter after this conversation. He was in such good spirits, he insisted on buying Hagrid and Harry jumbo-sized cones in addition to his sons' ice cream sundaes.

PERSONAL AFFILIATIONS: though he obviously hung out with the lofty pureblood crowds, he never truly considered them real "friends", since he did that mainly for power. So, he had no problem reaching out to people they would have considered "inferior". This was more a lowkey thing, done mainly by charitable acts and—in the case of James Potter and his crew—rivalries he secretly found fun. In Hagrid's case, Artemis Senior felt really bad for him when he got expelled, and it was his idea to have his broken wand put into an umbrella. Artemis Senior also occasionally protected Hagrid from being abused or degraded by elitists. Hagrid was very grateful for this, which explains his joyful reaction to seeing him again.

As for James Potter, that is explained a little bit in the next chapter.

Despite not interacting as closely or as frequently with Hagrid as he did with Lucius, Artemis Senior—especially now—would choose him over Lucius as a friend any day. It's a little sad to me, that he spent time associating with someone he now wishes he hadn't, while not spending enough time with the people who would've been true friends.

I do not own Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl.