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A Shard's Worth of a Mirror ImageChapter Two: The Chess Board is Revealed
It already had been two days and even Madame Pomfrey, famous for keeping in students a bit longer than necessary for bedrest (handy for escapists who just wanted a break from Professor Snape's wrath), even grudgingly released Artemis Fowl from the Infirmary.
It had been a heated matter for debates whether he should be allowed to roam around Hogwarts but the staff finally relented to see Hogwarts as it is. It was difficult enough to hide the fact that the place was magic for a day, let alone for a possible year.
On his way out of the Hospital Wing and towards the Headmaster's Office, Artemis could not help but marvel at the scenery, one which rushed up to Artemis himself the moment he opened the door connecting the Hospital Wing to the Hallways of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Clad in his Saint Bartleby's School for Young Gentlemen uniform which has been restored and cleaned ("Not as clean as faerie-clean, though," said Artemis to himself), he padded along the Hallways looking like a Hogwarts student lacking uniform robes. In fact, Filch accosted him for this very reason.
"You! Boy! What are you doing without robes?" Filch spat the moment he caught sight of Artemis walking through the Charms corridor. Dragging his mop along with him as he approached Artemis, he looked like the Devil's lackey indeed. The Devil being Professor Snape, as Artemis would later find out.
Finding his unease behind his black expression, he at once broke into a vampiric smile, one which sent shivers down Filch's veteran spine, which is no mean feat. "Hello, sir," he said with dripping courteousness, "I was wondering where the Headmaster's office is. Would you care to show me?"
"Harrrumph," Filch huffed, an indignant look on his face. Who was this boy trying to trick? Everybody in Hogwarts knew that there were no visitors at this particular season, which is already approaching winter. Besides, he could somehow place the boy's face…he knew he had seen him before, but could somehow not jog it out of the deep recesses of his brain. "You trying to trick me, boy? Eh?"
"No," Artemis said simply, smile replaced by a somber expression. He could not comprehend how a human being could be that narrow-minded. Surely that is a trait of one who is furiously dedicated to one's profession, and that this particular person he is facing right now had suspending and giving out detentions to students as his passionate mission in life.
"You want the Headmaster's Office, I'll get you the Headmaster's office," Filch muttered, quickly dragging Artemis by the arm. He continued on his half-hearted tirade, as there were more things to do. "Damn students, now they're not wearing uniforms, what's the world coming to, eh? Damn, blasted…"
Artemis sighed. Surely there was no end to the surprises. Well, at least, he would be in the Headmaster's office in no time, being dragged by the school janitor like he did his mop.
He passed by students who in turn looked at him as if he was about to be given the death sentence. They wore blazers, all right, but over the blazers they had wizard's long robes and scarves of four different color combinations. There were students with red and orange scarves, some with deep and pale green, students with yellow and black, and yet more others with scarves of royal and pastel blue combinations. There was one main similarity among these students: that they were looking at Artemis like he was doing to be put down anytime soon. But somehow, some of those of the deep and pale green scarves were somehow…grinning at his predicament.
Artemis only tried to keep his being dragged look a bit more dignified. But the stairs, which they took downwards the inner bowels of the castle, were threatening to trip him, so he gently tried to pull his arm away from the offending janitor. "Let me go," said Artemis, whose patience was beginning to fray.
"And get away? Hah!" Filch cackled, a sound which Artemis found extremely distasteful.
"I am going to the Headmaster's office anyway, sir," Artemis coolly said, regarding Filch with the slightest contempt. He put a note in his mind to let Butler adjust this particular man once he returns…
Artemis winced. Of course, there is a remote chance that Butler would not come back.
"There," Filch stopped by the hardwood door in the midst of the dungeons, just by the stairs. "We're by the office." Artemis could not miss the malice in the almost-demented man's voice.
"Finally," Artemis could not stop himself from saying it, but Filch still would not let go of his now-aching arm. And to think I was confined for a couple of days just to get this healed.
Filch rapped on the door. "Professor Snape!"
Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing one very exhausted man clad in black wizard's robes and with circles under his eyes. "What, Filch?" Then he saw the boy Filch was holding by the arm.
Just as Filch was going to tell him of his latest 'catch', Snape dismissed whatever he had to say with a wave of his hand and said, "Filch, that boy you are manhandling in not a Hogwarts student."
"What?" spluttered Filch. "But—aren't there…"
Snape rubbed his temples, a sign that he was unduly exasperated, yet, remarkably, trying to hold it in since he saw Filch as an invaluable partner in the pursuit of errant students. "This is a special case, Filch, now, if you please…"
Filch reluctantly let go of his quarry. "Very well, if you say so, Professor,"
"Thank you, Filch," Severus sent the janitor on his way, and once out of sight and earshot, he turned his attention to the boy in alien uniforms. "How are you feeling, Artemis Fowl?"
"Fine, sir," Artemis curtly replied. I recognize that voice somewhere…
"Well, since you are here anyway, come in." Severus stepped aside to let the boy in. As he watched Artemis Fowl approach the fireplace, he could not help but admit one thing:
Well, he certainly looks like me, Snape thought, except for the blue eyes.
"Sit down," Snape motioned towards a comfortable chair by the fireplace. Artemis complied without any words, still trying to place where he heard the man's voice before.
"I am Severus Snape, Potions master here in Hogwarts, and I would want to know what business you had in the Forbidden Forest the day you were accosted by the Death Eaters," Snape said, driving home to the point. He remained standing, his elbow propped on the mantle above the fireplace, Artemis sitting just across him. It was a typical interrogation position, albeit this one was undoubtedly very informal when it came to Snape. The small voice in his head told him though that there is little chance that the boy would reveal his botched itinerary.
Silence.
"I was going to…conduct business with the Goblins until your group decided to have a little…fun, sir." Artemis finally broke the silence.
Snape hid his barely suppressed shock beneath hooded eyes. "My group?"
"You have the right to remain silent," Artemis murmured, half-mocking, half-thoughtful. Of course the man would not admit it, but he is positive that he is one of them. Artemis looked down towards his newly-polished shoes, thinking for the right course of action. But there was no room for thought, really.
"I do not know how you came to that conclusion, but yes, you are right," Snape answered, knowing full well that denial would only worsen the situation. "But you should throw accusations after you have pieced together the facts, boy. A person of your intelligence should know that."
Did he just give me permission to investigate? Interesting, Artemis thought.
"You are welcome to stay here, Fowl, until you recover your companions. Yes, them," Snape said as he noticed Artemis' eyes flicker with silent hope. "I searched for your male friend, but he was nowhere to be found. He probably escaped somewhere."
Artemis did not know what to make of the present situation. Here was a man clearly guilty of being one of those men who abducted Juliet, but this one spoke no denial and even hinted that he tried to rescue them. He is in one very compromising situation, Artemis observed. Not that he often found himself in several compromising situations himself.
"You should go to the Headmaster for more information you would need in your stay here," Snape abruptly said, straightening himself up. He could not milk out more information from the boy, since Artemis knew all along that Snape was one of the Death Eaters. But, at least, he knew now what his purpose was. A deal with the Goblins. At least that was a start.
Snape started to dismiss him, but then thought the better of it and just escorted Artemis out the door.
In the inner bowels of his mind he somehow felt that this particular boy would haunt him for the next days, months, or even a year, if Artemis Fowl would not leave Hogwarts as soon as possible.
Is it me, or is my past rushing back to me?
Artemis stood in front of the stone gargoyle one of the students pointed out to him and, with great unease, spoke out the password given him.
"Jellyworms."
Like magic, the stone gargoyle stepped back and let Artemis go through the guarded threshold. Inside were numerous contraptions some of which Artemis recognized as models of prototypes of machines made in the Medieval and Renaissance ages. At the far corner was a bird with resplendent gold plumage resting in an open cage. Artemis walked towards the bird and reached a tentative hand towards it, and he was rewarded with a beautiful-sounding cooing of the bird as he gently ran his palm over its body. Artemis felt as if he could go on patting the strange bird forever and listening to it's beautiful cooing, when he heard footsteps behind him.
Artemis turned around, and he saw a noble-looking old man with the longest beard Artemis had ever seen in splendid blue velvet robes, accompanied by a young man with shabby brown robes but with, Artemis was surprised to note, amber eyes that he could swear on the spot that they could glow in the dark. That feature alone compensated for the scruffiness of the man's clothing.
"Hello, Artemis Fowl," the Headmaster reached a hand towards him which Artemis accepted graciously. "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster here at Hogwarts, and this is," he gestured to the genial man beside him, "is Remus Lupin, resident Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."
Artemis shook the professor's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, let's go to the matter at hand," Dumbledore said, walking towards his place behind his large mahogany desk and sat down. Lupin motioned for Artemis to follow suit and sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "A lemon drop?"
Artemis politely refused. Remus, on the other hand, took one and sucked contentedly on the candy. He had such a sweet tooth for a werewolf.
"As you could see, this is Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore started. "I hope you didn't find the fact that wizards are in fact, real, too shocking."
Artemis shook his head. "No, since I have already consorted with the Lower Elements in the past. But what I find surprising is that this…subculture is decidedly separated from scientific technology. Even the faeries had their technology superior to the human's."
"Yes, but I think our magic compensates for everything." Lupin commented.
Dumbledore smiled at that and regarded Artemis as if he was one of his favorite students. Actually, he felt as if he was looking at Severus' younger version again. In a twisted sense of déjà vu, he somehow felt compelled to right the wrongs he had done to Severus in his youth, and Artemis would be the means to that possible end. He was so much like him.
"I think you should masquerade as one of the staff's relatives," Dumbledore said. "It is going to be difficult, of course, since you are non-magical but it would have to do especially since we do not want the Death Eaters knowing your true identity. I think…I know to whom you should be supposedly related," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. If Artemis didn't know better, he would have sworn that that light was mischievous. Even Lupin looked the same, and that effect with the amber wolf's eyes was decidedly scary.
"You look like his spitting image," Remus Lupin chuckled. "Except for the blue eyes, of course."
"So, is this arrangement all right for you?" Dumbledore asked the boy whose hands were carefully folded on his lap, and who was obviously reviewing the available options in his head.
Artemis nodded mutely. He had kidnapped a Faerie captain, had a hand in suppressing the Goblin insurgence, and then he was going undercover in a school full of wizards on his way to recover his stolen gold? Such a full life he was living.
"Yes," he agreed, "It should suffice."
He was going to say something in relation to the goblins, but was interrupted by a loud explosion from the outside. The shabby professor shot up and darted through the door, shouting "I'll go check, Albus!"
What is happening? Artemis thought as he gripped the armchairs, thoughts of the night he was separated from Juliet and Butler rushing back to him.
"ALBUS!" Minerva McGonagall's voice resonated from outside. "An attack! The Death Eaters!"
Harry Potter, fifteen years old and a member of the House of Gryffindor gripped his ward, holding it in the same position as he would it in a Duel, with Ron Weasley and Blaise Zabini at his back. They were surrounded by Death Eaters, their faces obviously grinning menacingly despite the white masks covering them.
"Damn it, could we do anything else?" muttered Blaise, whose wand arm was shot by one of the Death Eaters and made it shake slightly. But no matter. What was more important was that his back was supported by two other, even though they may be Gryffindors.
"I could try an Unforgivable," Harry muttered back darkly. "But Dumbledore will have my head."
"Better for him to have your head than them," Ron retorted. "Try!"
Harry shook his head. No. Not even in these circumstances, because he had something else in his mind. The Severing Charm.
"DIFFINDO!" Harry shouted, a purple flash shot out of his wand and hit one of them by the throat. Hard. Blood spurted out of the artery that was hit, and the masked man fell down. Possibly dead, but Harry had no time to ponder it. The Boy Who Lived was trying to Survive.
Ron followed suit, but his Charms were comparably weak to Harry's so he resorted to the proverbial Petrificus Totalis, but that was easily shielded away by the Death Eaters.
"Oh, fuck," Blaise whispered with the sharpest edge he could muster. If they could shield magic, very well then. He was going to do things the dirty way. Tranfiguring his wand into a sharp five-foot long platinum blade, The best, thought Blaise with morbid pride, he charged at the stupidly complacent Death Eaters and hacked away, guts and blood sprayed onto his bloodthirsty robes. Hah, they could not defend themselves against a sword with their wands. Pathetic.
"We don't have playing with them!" Barked one of the masked men. "Find the boy. Now!"
Harry, as busy as he was casting Severing Charms and aiming them at Death Eater necks, still could not miss that particular sentence. They're looking for a boy…who isn't me? What is Voldemort up to?
From behind a suit of armor, Artemis watched the whole spectacle. He fondled his watch, whose bezel is hollowed out and embedded with a 20-foot radius wide charge of the Blue Rinse, the biological bomb he filched from his past jaunts in the Undergrounds. Captain Holly Short would kill him, not to mention Commander Root, for unauthorized use of a high-level bomb, but he couldn't help it. The situation unfolding in front of him was just proof that there are legitimate reasons to use the bomb. In his case, of course.
The Blue Rinse was called such because of the blue color it emanates. The beauty of this contraption was such that it kills all of the life forms within its radius of effect, but leaves the surrounding environment untouched. A cleansing agent.
A dangerous beauty, but Artemis decided that now could be the time to put the bomb to use. He would have to lure one of them out, of course, for interrogation purposes. And there was the matter of getting Harry and the other two out of the scene, or they would be Blue Rinsed as well.
Very well then. Pulling himself out of his hiding place, he first tried to catch Harry's eye and motioned for him to get out, along with the two others, at the count of three.
He raised a closed fist, then opened his index finger. One.
The middle finger. Two.
Finally the ring finger. Three.
Harry suddenly pulled at his companions' sleeves and shouted, "GET! GET OUT OF THE WAY! QUICK!" though he himself even had no idea what to expect from Artemis Fowl. They ran away as far as they could, but the dazed and not to mention wounded Death Eaters were at a loss of what was happening.
Taking their momentary confusion into his advantage, he pushed the blue button of his watch-bomb and turned it clockwise, them threw it towards the Death Eaters.
"Eat that," breathed Artemis, then bit his lip. Using clichés was very, very unlike him.
After a few seconds the watch dissipated and in its place a blue orb formed, then expanded to approximately 20-feet radius, effectively closing in on all the Death Eaters, but one. That one was the Death Eater Harry had rendered almost lifeless, but Artemis assessed that he probably still is alive judging by the shallow breaths. "That's for Juliet."
I am in big trouble, perhaps… Artemis knew that a Blue Rinse activation would be sensed by the LEPrecon controls center and would be traced here. Artemis could expect company from the Lower Elements anytime soon, possibly Captain Holly Short, but that was part of the plan.
Good plans come out of the air, Artemis mused.
From behind him, a hand patted him on his back, and Artemis instinctively turned around, about to punch whomever it was who snuck up on him, but the man caught his flying fist before it connected with his face.
Severus Snape held Artemis' closed fist and put it down, gently.
"I think a Sorting Ceremony is in order," he said, face grave.
Artemis could tell he did not like it one bit, but, as all circumstances go, had to.
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