The Family Name, Chapter 2
By Elbereth in April
Timeline:
All the events in Artemis Fowl Book 1 have just recently happened. He is aware of Holly and the other People (although they won't be mentioned in this story right away)
Takes place just before Harry Potter Book 2 (Chamber of Secrets)
"This way then." Dumbledore led him down the passages to his office, explaining about the shifting staircases, the Forbidden Forest, Filch and Mrs. Norris, the four Hogwarts Houses and their founders, all as they walked along.
They reached the statue that stood guard to the Headmaster's office. "Sweet tarts," Dumbledore said, and the statue moved aside as a staircase rotated into view.
Once inside his office, Dumbledore waved Artemis to a seat. "While you are here this summer, you will need to catch up with the other students of your year. That means a crash-course in all the first year subjects. Intensive training until you're ready for second year to start."
"Fine. I've already started reading the books."
Dumbledore nodded. "And the library will of course be open for your disposal. Except the Restricted Section, obviously. You will be taught by Prof. Snape, Prof. McGonagall, and myself. I have your schedule right here." He held up a slip of paper. "But. . . you wanted to know about the delay."
"Yes."
Dumbledore regarded him for a moment. "Your magic started showing up at age 7. That's early for a wizard. Children are capable of doing great damage at that age because they have not learned control. Your magic was blocked by the Ministry until you reached school age. Fairly standard procedure. Except they left it on a year longer than they were supposed to. For one thing, your father had just disappeared, and your mother. . . had not yet recovered. It was felt you needed time to adjust."
"Was it." His tone did not make this a question.
"But mostly, Artemis, the Minister was afraid."
Artemis had not expected this. "What?"
"Your genius is well known, Mr. Fowl. As is your penchant for crime and plots for wealth. It was felt that another year might bring you greater maturity. No one wanted you to use your magic on poor Muggles to, say, try to take over Ireland for its treasury. Truthfully, the Minister might have never lifted the block on your magic if it hadn't been for one thing." He peered at Artemis over the top of his glasses. "It started fading on its own. This almost never happens. Either your magic is particularly strong or you ran across some outside magical influence."
'The fairies,' Artemis realized. His presence around all the fairy magic.
"The Ministry decided that it would be detrimental to you to try to reapply the block a second time. So they knew your magic would be coming back to you, anyway. They lifted the block, but they were still worried. They wanted you put where closer surveillance could be kept on you. Namely, here."
Artemis frowned. "I have no intention of being spied upon by the Ministry of Magic or anyone else."
"Ah, well, happily, I agree with you. You must be allowed to make your own choices, not watched like a bug under glass. I told Cornelius Fudge no Ministry spies would be present in my school, and I wanted no part of it. I said they'd had no right to continue the block and it was high time it was removed and you were allowed to come study at Hogwarts like any other 12- year-old. I argued until the Ministry and the Council eventually agreed with me and removed the block. And I invited you here."
There was a great deal about this story and this situation that Artemis did not like. However, he couldn't do a great deal about most of it. Indeed, most of it was past, over and done with, no use lamenting. . . time to work it to his advantage. "I see."
"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered, taking a bag of sweets from his desk drawer.
"No. Thank you. So I won't be. . . watched?"
"No more than any other student. I see no reason to treat you differently."
"Why didn't you just start me as a first year?"
"I wanted you to be with students your own age. Granted, a year's difference isn't that much, but you'll already be far more intelligent than most of them. Why widen the gap and make it harder for you to get along? Students should enjoy themselves as well as learn. Friends are important."
Artemis stared at him, rather uncomprehending. "Whatever. At any rate, I'm here now. I can handle cramming a year's lessons into one summer. I'm ready to start."
"Good, good. One more formality then. You need to be sorted into one of the four Houses."
"OK. How does that work?"
Dumbledore stood up and from a high shelf took down a battered, pointed hat. "The Sorting Hat!" he proclaimed. "I put this on your head, and it tells us where you fit."
"A hat?" Artemis asked in disbelief, but just then the Hat in the professor's hands burst into song. 'O-kaaay,' Artemis thought. 'This is my life from now on. *What* have I gotten myself into?'
When the song ended, Dumbledore placed the hat on Artemis's head. He heard it speaking, although apparently the Headmaster did not. "Hmm," it said. "What have we here? An awesome intellect, instinctual arrogance, cunning, long-range planning, towering ambition, and a basic ruthlessness. True, you're also loyal and fairly brave, but the choice is clear. Slytherin!" it finished in a loud voice.
"As expected," Dumbledore murmured, removing the hat from his head. Artemis smoothed back his hair.
"Very well then. You belong to Slytherin House. You will be given a bed in their dormitories. Prof. Snape is the Head of Slytherin. You will be meeting him next. Here, take your schedule."
Prof. Severus Snape examined his new pupil. "Fowl," he mused. "I've heard that name before."
"There've been a number of wizards and witches in the Fowl line," Artemis said.
"Yes." They stopped in front of a plain, bare wall. "The password is cobra," Snape informed him, and the as the word left his lips, a hidden door in the wall slid open. Snape led him in.
They entered a long, low underground room with rough stone walls. Green lamps hung from the ceiling. An elaborately carved fireplace was set in one wall. Old high-backed chairs, and a wide couch, and a few tables were spread around the room.
"The Slytherin Common Room." Snape waved his hand. "The right hand passage leads to the girls' dormitories, and the left to the boys'. You will, of course, stay strictly to the left. I'll show you the chamber for second years where you'll be staying."
More stone. Stone walls, stone floor, stone ceiling. A number of four- poster beds with curtains, with trunks at the foot, and a couple of cupboards along one wall.
"Where's my owl?"
"Sent off to the Owlery. Feel free to explore the castle. You don't have any classes until tomorrow, except for broomstick instruction after dinner."
Artemis had explored the castle sufficiently enough that he found the Dining Hall in time to eat. One long table was set up in the middle of the room. A number of grown-ups were seated around it already. He recognized Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Snape.
He approached the table. "Hello, Mr. Fowl," Dumbledore greeted him. "Sit down, sit down."
He sat on the end farthest from Dumbledore, putting him across from a woman in what looked like a nurse's hat, and next to a short gnome-like man.
"Let me introduce everyone," said Dumbledore. "This is Professor McGonagall," indicating the woman next to him. "This is Madam Hooch and Madam Pomfrey. Hagrid and Professor Snape you already know. This is Professors Sprout and Flitwick. Ah, and here's the food."
The food platters magically appeared in front of them.
Artemis stayed on his best manners during dinner. It was a bit strange to be the only student with all these teachers, but he was used to hanging around adults, so it didn't bother him too much. Besides, Artemis Fowl *never* lost his composure. Still, he caught them glancing at him and then each other sometimes, and wondered what they were thinking.
After the meal, he stood with Madam Hooch out in the courtyard, a broomstick lying on the ground in front of him.
"Ready, Mr. Fowl? Then hold out you hand to command the broomstick. It should rise when you say 'Up.' Try it."
"Up." Nothing. "Up," more forcefully. The broom obeyed.
Artemis smiled and caught the broom with his hand.
"Very good. Now, mount the broom and rise just enough to hover above the grass. Then come back down. Ready? Push off with your feet. . ."
Artemis followed her instructions and found himself floating in the air about ten feet above the instructor. "Whoa," he said out loud, then smiled, unable to help it. He'd been doing an appalling amount of smiling lately, and couldn't even manage to feel disturbed about it. Everything was too exciting, too intriguing-too potentially advantageous. OK, flying honestly made him a little nervous, but he was doing it.
"Very good!" Madam Hooch called up to him. "Come back down now."
He did, then looked at her expectantly.
"You're going to get the hang of this quite nicely," Madam said, smiling at him.
"Thank you. I like it."
"They were wondering if you were evil," she told him frankly. "But you don't look it to me."
He hesitated. "I'm Slytherin. Apparently, that's the wicked, depraved House."
"Nonsense," scoffed Madam Hooch. "Well. . . granted, most of the wizards who turned to You-Know-Who were in Slytherin. But that doesn't mean just belonging to that House predestines you for evil. Why, I dated a Slytherin once, back in school, for two years. Only broke up because we graduated and he moved to Canada." She looked off in the distance and sighed, then cleared her throat. "Anyway, I don't think you're evil. Do you?"
He hesitated. She gave him a shrewd look. "Not-not irredeemably evil," he answered at last.
She quirked another smile. "I was in Ravenclaw myself. Probably the least studious Ravenclaw to come through this school. My mind was always on Quidditch."
"I keep hearing that mentioned. It's some sort of sport, right?"
Madam Hooch laughed. "Well, Mr. Fowl, when your flying lesson is officially done, I'll teach you about it."
"Seven players to a team," Artemis repeated. "Keeper stops the Chasers' quaffle. Beaters hit their bludgers at everybody, game ends when the Seeker catches the snitch."
"Do you play sports, Mr. Fowl?" Madam Hooch asked, putting the balls back in their case.
"No. But now that I'm aware of the basics, let's talk strategy."
Madam led them over to the Quidditch spectator stands and sat down in the first row. She had been anticipating a boring summer, and was quite enjoying the distraction. "All right. Let's."
Artemis didn't go back to the Slytherin dungeons until dark. He consulted his schedule for the next day. He had Potions with Snape right after breakfast, then History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Dumbledore, then Transfiguration and Charms with McGonagall, then lunch. During his free hour after lunch, Artemis wrote in, "Talk to M. Hooch more."
He had, for reasons he was still unsure of, quite liked Madam Hooch. Dumbledore he didn't trust, and Snape was too. . . too. . . secretive, and he went out of his way to be intimidating, instead of respected.
He sat down at the table in the Common Room and wrote on a piece of parchment with a quill. "Dear Butler, I can't believe I am not using a computer or a cell phone for this, but I thought that since it's not urgent, I'd send my first owl, and see how it works. I have met the Headmaster and a number of teachers. I have been Sorted into Slytherin House. Tomorrow I begin lessons. I'm certain things will proceed just fine." He paused and tapped his quill thoughtfully, not sure what to tell Butler about the block that had been put on his magic. Finally he sighed and decided not to mention it for now. "I will keep in touch. Artemis."
He walked to the Owlery, making mental maps of the castle as best he could. He found Aureus perched peacefully up in the rafters amongst the other owls, seeming content enough.
He called her down and attached his message to her leg. "Go deliver this to Butler," he instructed. "He's in Hogsmeade. I'll give you a treat when you get back."
Aureus hoo'ed and flew out the window.
It was two weeks later when he got company. Snape led two boys, carrying trunks, into the second years' dormitory.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle," Snape introduced them in his usual dry, almost sneering voice. "They are here to-retake a few courses in order to qualify for passing their exams and graduation from first year. Boys, this is Fowl. He's for classes, as well, although for an entirely different reason."
Artemis made sure the special lock on his trunk was secure-covertly, of course. He sat down on the bed with his copy of "Hogwarts: A History" and looked them over.
They'd be as big as Butler some day, but they'd never be as smart, or as capable, that was certain. "Crabbe and Goyle," he repeated.
Snape left the boys put down their things and stared at him. "Never seen you before," remarked Crabbe.
"Why are you here?" demanded Goyle.
"I was abroad last year," Artemis told them smoothly. "I have a little catch-up work to do before second year starts."
"What were you doing abroad?"
"Committing felonies, taking advantage of people, arranging miracles, and just generally being naturally intelligent and wealthy, thanks for asking."
Their mouths fell open and their eyebrows lowered, somewhat like frowning goldfish. Artemis could figure it out for himself now-these two were too stupid to pass, but too rich to be allowed to just fail. Probably had stupid but influential fathers. Just his lot to be stuck with them.
A/N: The name of his owl, Aureus, means Golden in Latin. And to answer a question, oh yes, there will be couples, but he's too young yet.
Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! Feel free to go read my other Artemis/Harry crossover, "Blood to Gold."