The Family Name
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 29
The chimaera picked up speed and bounded toward them.
Holly and Butler both started shooting.
The chimaera ignored the shots as if the bursts and bullets were simply annoying, insignificant gnats. It kept moving closer, roaring. Then it breathed out a jet of fire.
Everyone dived to the floor.
"Malfoy, shouldn't it listen to you?" Holly shrieked.
"It's not a pet! She only obeys my father."
It roared again, showing off its pointed fangs, and swiped at Butler and Holly with its tail with enough force that they would have slammed against the wall and broken several ribs if they hadn't hurriedly dodged.
Butler picked himself up and tackled it from the side, holding it by its goat middle and its neck. Its tail thrashed and its legs moved wildly as it tried to turn its head far enough to breathe flame on its attacker.
Butler had it pinned in place. Draco tried to cast Stupefy on it, but it seemed to be resistant to magic as well as gunfire. Butler just kept squeezing.
"Do you have to kill her?" Draco asked, sounding concerned.
"Unless you prefer that it kills us!" Holly screamed at him. "It's an unnatural creature of dark magic, anyway!"
The beast succeeded in throwing Butler off with a mighty heave of its body. It immediately darted in to sink its teeth into his shoulder. Butler gave a hoarse cry.
"Impedimentia!" Artemis shouted, and that spell stuck, giving Butler enough time to pull away and scramble to his feet.
Holly swooped in then, and fired at it point blank in the face. It roared and moved back.
"It's not actually impervious to bullets or magic," Artemis deduced. "It's just really tough. It takes awhile to wear it down enough to affect it."
His efforts at calculation were put on hold abruptly as the creature swung her spiked tail at him, and Butler knocked him out of the way.
Immediately after, the chimaera breathed a gout of fire at Holly, who used her wings to get above it. She could still feel the heat pass underneath her, singeing her boots.
Draco darted in as soon as the fire cleared. As the monster opened its mouth again, he pointed its wand straight down his maw. "Aquarius!"
The chimaera drew a breath and Draco dove back out of its path and came up rolling. The beast gave a look of surprise as smoke came out of its mouth and nose.
"Did that actually work?" Draco asked, face screwed up in wonder.
"Until he can build up his fire again," Artemis said. "You've successfully quenched it for the moment." He sounded honestly admiring.
Draco grinned broadly.
Holly and Butler repositioned themselves in front of it, then resumed firing. The beast roared again and charged at them. They dodged, but the monster's momentum carried it forward so that it ran into the wall with enough force to knock a few bricks loose.
It shook itself and turned back around. Draco stared at the bricks on the ground. His two talents were potions and transfiguration. This would be a little beyond his current grade level, but he figured desperation would help. He shrugged, raised his wand, and concentrated on a brick.
Capt. Short and Butler were still shooting. Artemis was able to magically bind the dragon tail. He had come to the conclusion that each part of the animal's body was like a separate creature and therefore required a spell for each part. He renewed the Aquarius spell for good measure.
He looked over at Malfoy, who had just turned the brick into a wooden block. Now as he watched, the block was rapidly elongating into a long, thin rod. Now the rod was becoming very pointy on one end.
The chimaera came galloping towards them again. "Butler," Draco called, "catch!" He threw the newly made pike. Butler planted the base against the ground and impaled the monster with it as it charged.
It twitched for awhile, still alive. Holly fired a few more rounds into it until it finally stopped moving. Butler reloaded his guns.
"Pretty smooth," Holly congratulated Butler.
"Perhaps, Captain, now would be a good time for you to heal him," Artemis suggested.
Holly put her hand on Butler's torn shoulder and let her healing magic flow through her into him. "Mind, I don't intend to make a habit of this."
"Thank you," Butler said when she was done.
"That was awesome! You just got rid of the wound--completely! Without a wand or anything!"
"Yet another way fairies are superior to you Mud Men."
Butler cleared his throat. "We'd better hurry."
They reached the door that separated the dungeons from the manor. Draco stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "You promised not to harm my father, remember?" He stared at each of them in turn.
"Regrettably, yes," Holly replied with a look of disdain.
"Or your mother, if she's there," Fowl added unexpectedly.
Draco swallowed. "Or my mother."
Butler simply nodded.
"Right then." Draco opened the door.
With a feeling of déjà vu, Butler saw Lucius Malfoy standing haughtily, dangerously, in a doorway.
The tall blonde man lifted a pale eyebrow. "Draco. Well, well, this is a surprise."
Draco took an involuntary step back, smacking an elbow into Artemis's side by accident. Artemis hid his grimace, concentrating on Malfoy Sr., whose eyes met his.
Lucius gave an amused sneer. "And Artemis Fowl, the Second. On reflection, that doesn't surprise me. But the two of you together. . . Draco, I believe I made my feelings on this matter clear."
"Oh shut up, you malicious human," Holly snapped at him, shoving through the doorway. She kept her gun pointed at him. Lucius only laughed.
The other three crowded through the door. They discovered Mr.'s Crabbe and Goyle Sr. behind Lucius. Artemis was still levitating Kelp's unconscious body.
"I see," Lucius said. "You've found my leprechaun. I suppose you're one of them, as well." He examined Holly.
"I don't feel like talking to you, Mud Man. Say goodnight." She moved to pull the trigger.
Lucius negligently waved his wand and her gun simply shattered in her hand. She cried out, dropping the bits that remained.
"Muggle devices," Lucius sneered. He turned to the hulking goon on his left. "Crabbe, see to it that my son is kept out of this fight. Unharmed, of course." He smiled unpleasantly as Crabbe moved forward and grabbed Draco by the arm.
The portrait of Septimus Maximus Malfoy broke in. "Quite right, quite right. Must keep the Heir to the Malfoy line safe."
Everyone threw him an annoyed look.
"Yes," Lucius said dryly. "Goyle, you take the big one. Now would be good."
Goyle charged. Butler moved. Artemis tried to cast Stupefy on Lucius.
"Petrificalus Totalus," Lucius intoned lazily, and Artemis found himself in a full body bind, unable to move.
But while Lucius's attention was elsewhere, Holly levitated using the wings, and did a roundhouse kick to Lucius's wand hand. He dropped the wand.
Goyle had tried to take Butler without magic, a mistake on his part. He had thrown his arms around him in a wrestler's hold, preparing to squeeze, but Butler was fast enough not to get his arms pinned. He delivered a chopping blow to Goyle's neck and Goyle staggered back and fell to his knees.
"Use your wand, you idiot," Lucius snapped at him, as he tried to fend off Holly, who was maneuvering to kick him in the face.
Butler heaved Goyle back up before he could draw his wand, though, and with a few quick punches rendered him unconscious. Lucius grabbed Holly's leg and pulled her down. Butler turned to Lucius.
"Watch out!" Draco cried as Crabbe raised his wand. Butler turned back around but Crabbe had already hit him with a stunning spell. Butler dropped.
Artemis watched Butler fall, outraged and feeling completely helpless. He tried to move, but couldn't even wiggle a finger. This could not be happening to him! He was never helpless, never!
Draco pulled at Crabbe's wand, trying to get it away from him. As Crabbe was so much bigger and stronger, this proved ineffectual. But while Crabbe was minding him, he couldn't cast any more spells.
Lucius was struggling to keep Holly from flying away and renewing her attack on him. He pulled her in closer, holding onto her arms. She bent her neck, and then rammed the top of her head under his chin. He let go, seeing stars.
"You little hoyden!" the portrait shouted at Holly. "Unfeminine wench!"
Holly gave it an incredulous look.
"Be quiet, Septimus!" Draco yelled at it.
Septimus expressed shock. "Draco, how could you fight against your father like this? You're obviously under evil influences. Come back to the Malfoy fold, young Heir!"
"I'm not against him," Draco quickly denied, eyeing his father. What he saw made his breath hitch.
Holly had been distracted for too long, or Lucius recovered too fast. For the next thing she knew, he had shoved around her and swooped up his wand from the floor.
"Let me see," he said, "two fairies for the price of one." He was smiling in a most dangerous yet charming manner.
"You don't have me, you filthy Dark wizard," she hissed at him, "and you won't have Kelp much longer." She met his eyes squarely and layered her voice with the hypnotic mesmer. "You will put up your wand and surrender to me now."
Lucius Malfoy laughed. "Feel free to try that for however long you like. It won't work on me."
Curious, Draco asked him, "Are you spelled against it?"
"Of course. I am, as she helpfully pointed out, a Dark wizard."
Butler was moving. Just small twitches, but he was definitely waking up, fighting off the effects of the stunning hex by sheer will.
"Impressive," Lucius commented. "Now that's a true bodyguard. Take notes, Crabbe."
"They'll be mis-spelled," Draco sniffed, tossing back his head and looking disdainful.
Lucius smirked. Holly charged him.
Holly fought her way through blackness. She opened her eyes and looked around. Butler was standing in front of Artemis, trying to figure out how to release him from the body bind. Artemis had reached a point where he could talk and wiggle his fingers and toes. The portrait was cheerfully insulting them. Draco, Kelp, Lucius, and his two henchmen were conspicuous in their absence.
"D'arvit! What happened?"
"Lucius hexed you, Butler woke up, Lucius took Draco and disappeared, Butler stood up, Crabbe grabbed Kelp and disappeared. Then Butler held a gun to Goyle's head and woke him up. Good interrogation, by the way, Butler. After that, he tossed Goyle down the dungeon stairs. That brings us to now."
"Can you unfreeze him?" Butler asked her.
"Did you really break out of a Stupefy spell through a sense of duty to return to your employer?"
"Yes."
Holly sighed. Butler would insist she unfroze Fowl. She really, really wanted to leave him like that, though. "Not perfect, are you, Mud Boy?"
"You do want to know what Goyle told us, don't you?" Artemis countered, barely hiding his irritation.
Holly frowned at him. "Shut up and be grateful." She reached out and touched Fowl's arm, concentrating. After a moment, he felt her magic washing over him, and he could move again.
"All right. You can apparate within Malfoy Manor, which they did. Goyle assumes they went somewhere that they could Floo to another location. The three of them had been en route to the manor even before we set the wards off. They had been ordered to bring Kelp to Riddle immediately."
"Riddle?" Holly scrunched up her face in confusion. "Tom Riddle? But Voldmort doesn't have a body. That's the whole point."
"Yes, well, apparently before Ginny Weasley entered the Chamber of Secrets that last time, she ripped some pages out of Riddle's enchanted diary and hid them so that he couldn't be completely destroyed. A back-up plan, if you will, a second chance at life."
"Aren't you going to tell her that it was your threatening Riddle through the diary with fire that gave him the idea?" Septimus asked loudly with a wicked grin.
Artemis's eyes narrowed. "You burn next."
Septimus squeaked and shut up.
"The important point is that we need to return to Hogwarts right away. Riddle has possessed another person and could be getting revived even as we speak."
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 29
The chimaera picked up speed and bounded toward them.
Holly and Butler both started shooting.
The chimaera ignored the shots as if the bursts and bullets were simply annoying, insignificant gnats. It kept moving closer, roaring. Then it breathed out a jet of fire.
Everyone dived to the floor.
"Malfoy, shouldn't it listen to you?" Holly shrieked.
"It's not a pet! She only obeys my father."
It roared again, showing off its pointed fangs, and swiped at Butler and Holly with its tail with enough force that they would have slammed against the wall and broken several ribs if they hadn't hurriedly dodged.
Butler picked himself up and tackled it from the side, holding it by its goat middle and its neck. Its tail thrashed and its legs moved wildly as it tried to turn its head far enough to breathe flame on its attacker.
Butler had it pinned in place. Draco tried to cast Stupefy on it, but it seemed to be resistant to magic as well as gunfire. Butler just kept squeezing.
"Do you have to kill her?" Draco asked, sounding concerned.
"Unless you prefer that it kills us!" Holly screamed at him. "It's an unnatural creature of dark magic, anyway!"
The beast succeeded in throwing Butler off with a mighty heave of its body. It immediately darted in to sink its teeth into his shoulder. Butler gave a hoarse cry.
"Impedimentia!" Artemis shouted, and that spell stuck, giving Butler enough time to pull away and scramble to his feet.
Holly swooped in then, and fired at it point blank in the face. It roared and moved back.
"It's not actually impervious to bullets or magic," Artemis deduced. "It's just really tough. It takes awhile to wear it down enough to affect it."
His efforts at calculation were put on hold abruptly as the creature swung her spiked tail at him, and Butler knocked him out of the way.
Immediately after, the chimaera breathed a gout of fire at Holly, who used her wings to get above it. She could still feel the heat pass underneath her, singeing her boots.
Draco darted in as soon as the fire cleared. As the monster opened its mouth again, he pointed its wand straight down his maw. "Aquarius!"
The chimaera drew a breath and Draco dove back out of its path and came up rolling. The beast gave a look of surprise as smoke came out of its mouth and nose.
"Did that actually work?" Draco asked, face screwed up in wonder.
"Until he can build up his fire again," Artemis said. "You've successfully quenched it for the moment." He sounded honestly admiring.
Draco grinned broadly.
Holly and Butler repositioned themselves in front of it, then resumed firing. The beast roared again and charged at them. They dodged, but the monster's momentum carried it forward so that it ran into the wall with enough force to knock a few bricks loose.
It shook itself and turned back around. Draco stared at the bricks on the ground. His two talents were potions and transfiguration. This would be a little beyond his current grade level, but he figured desperation would help. He shrugged, raised his wand, and concentrated on a brick.
Capt. Short and Butler were still shooting. Artemis was able to magically bind the dragon tail. He had come to the conclusion that each part of the animal's body was like a separate creature and therefore required a spell for each part. He renewed the Aquarius spell for good measure.
He looked over at Malfoy, who had just turned the brick into a wooden block. Now as he watched, the block was rapidly elongating into a long, thin rod. Now the rod was becoming very pointy on one end.
The chimaera came galloping towards them again. "Butler," Draco called, "catch!" He threw the newly made pike. Butler planted the base against the ground and impaled the monster with it as it charged.
It twitched for awhile, still alive. Holly fired a few more rounds into it until it finally stopped moving. Butler reloaded his guns.
"Pretty smooth," Holly congratulated Butler.
"Perhaps, Captain, now would be a good time for you to heal him," Artemis suggested.
Holly put her hand on Butler's torn shoulder and let her healing magic flow through her into him. "Mind, I don't intend to make a habit of this."
"Thank you," Butler said when she was done.
"That was awesome! You just got rid of the wound--completely! Without a wand or anything!"
"Yet another way fairies are superior to you Mud Men."
Butler cleared his throat. "We'd better hurry."
They reached the door that separated the dungeons from the manor. Draco stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "You promised not to harm my father, remember?" He stared at each of them in turn.
"Regrettably, yes," Holly replied with a look of disdain.
"Or your mother, if she's there," Fowl added unexpectedly.
Draco swallowed. "Or my mother."
Butler simply nodded.
"Right then." Draco opened the door.
With a feeling of déjà vu, Butler saw Lucius Malfoy standing haughtily, dangerously, in a doorway.
The tall blonde man lifted a pale eyebrow. "Draco. Well, well, this is a surprise."
Draco took an involuntary step back, smacking an elbow into Artemis's side by accident. Artemis hid his grimace, concentrating on Malfoy Sr., whose eyes met his.
Lucius gave an amused sneer. "And Artemis Fowl, the Second. On reflection, that doesn't surprise me. But the two of you together. . . Draco, I believe I made my feelings on this matter clear."
"Oh shut up, you malicious human," Holly snapped at him, shoving through the doorway. She kept her gun pointed at him. Lucius only laughed.
The other three crowded through the door. They discovered Mr.'s Crabbe and Goyle Sr. behind Lucius. Artemis was still levitating Kelp's unconscious body.
"I see," Lucius said. "You've found my leprechaun. I suppose you're one of them, as well." He examined Holly.
"I don't feel like talking to you, Mud Man. Say goodnight." She moved to pull the trigger.
Lucius negligently waved his wand and her gun simply shattered in her hand. She cried out, dropping the bits that remained.
"Muggle devices," Lucius sneered. He turned to the hulking goon on his left. "Crabbe, see to it that my son is kept out of this fight. Unharmed, of course." He smiled unpleasantly as Crabbe moved forward and grabbed Draco by the arm.
The portrait of Septimus Maximus Malfoy broke in. "Quite right, quite right. Must keep the Heir to the Malfoy line safe."
Everyone threw him an annoyed look.
"Yes," Lucius said dryly. "Goyle, you take the big one. Now would be good."
Goyle charged. Butler moved. Artemis tried to cast Stupefy on Lucius.
"Petrificalus Totalus," Lucius intoned lazily, and Artemis found himself in a full body bind, unable to move.
But while Lucius's attention was elsewhere, Holly levitated using the wings, and did a roundhouse kick to Lucius's wand hand. He dropped the wand.
Goyle had tried to take Butler without magic, a mistake on his part. He had thrown his arms around him in a wrestler's hold, preparing to squeeze, but Butler was fast enough not to get his arms pinned. He delivered a chopping blow to Goyle's neck and Goyle staggered back and fell to his knees.
"Use your wand, you idiot," Lucius snapped at him, as he tried to fend off Holly, who was maneuvering to kick him in the face.
Butler heaved Goyle back up before he could draw his wand, though, and with a few quick punches rendered him unconscious. Lucius grabbed Holly's leg and pulled her down. Butler turned to Lucius.
"Watch out!" Draco cried as Crabbe raised his wand. Butler turned back around but Crabbe had already hit him with a stunning spell. Butler dropped.
Artemis watched Butler fall, outraged and feeling completely helpless. He tried to move, but couldn't even wiggle a finger. This could not be happening to him! He was never helpless, never!
Draco pulled at Crabbe's wand, trying to get it away from him. As Crabbe was so much bigger and stronger, this proved ineffectual. But while Crabbe was minding him, he couldn't cast any more spells.
Lucius was struggling to keep Holly from flying away and renewing her attack on him. He pulled her in closer, holding onto her arms. She bent her neck, and then rammed the top of her head under his chin. He let go, seeing stars.
"You little hoyden!" the portrait shouted at Holly. "Unfeminine wench!"
Holly gave it an incredulous look.
"Be quiet, Septimus!" Draco yelled at it.
Septimus expressed shock. "Draco, how could you fight against your father like this? You're obviously under evil influences. Come back to the Malfoy fold, young Heir!"
"I'm not against him," Draco quickly denied, eyeing his father. What he saw made his breath hitch.
Holly had been distracted for too long, or Lucius recovered too fast. For the next thing she knew, he had shoved around her and swooped up his wand from the floor.
"Let me see," he said, "two fairies for the price of one." He was smiling in a most dangerous yet charming manner.
"You don't have me, you filthy Dark wizard," she hissed at him, "and you won't have Kelp much longer." She met his eyes squarely and layered her voice with the hypnotic mesmer. "You will put up your wand and surrender to me now."
Lucius Malfoy laughed. "Feel free to try that for however long you like. It won't work on me."
Curious, Draco asked him, "Are you spelled against it?"
"Of course. I am, as she helpfully pointed out, a Dark wizard."
Butler was moving. Just small twitches, but he was definitely waking up, fighting off the effects of the stunning hex by sheer will.
"Impressive," Lucius commented. "Now that's a true bodyguard. Take notes, Crabbe."
"They'll be mis-spelled," Draco sniffed, tossing back his head and looking disdainful.
Lucius smirked. Holly charged him.
Holly fought her way through blackness. She opened her eyes and looked around. Butler was standing in front of Artemis, trying to figure out how to release him from the body bind. Artemis had reached a point where he could talk and wiggle his fingers and toes. The portrait was cheerfully insulting them. Draco, Kelp, Lucius, and his two henchmen were conspicuous in their absence.
"D'arvit! What happened?"
"Lucius hexed you, Butler woke up, Lucius took Draco and disappeared, Butler stood up, Crabbe grabbed Kelp and disappeared. Then Butler held a gun to Goyle's head and woke him up. Good interrogation, by the way, Butler. After that, he tossed Goyle down the dungeon stairs. That brings us to now."
"Can you unfreeze him?" Butler asked her.
"Did you really break out of a Stupefy spell through a sense of duty to return to your employer?"
"Yes."
Holly sighed. Butler would insist she unfroze Fowl. She really, really wanted to leave him like that, though. "Not perfect, are you, Mud Boy?"
"You do want to know what Goyle told us, don't you?" Artemis countered, barely hiding his irritation.
Holly frowned at him. "Shut up and be grateful." She reached out and touched Fowl's arm, concentrating. After a moment, he felt her magic washing over him, and he could move again.
"All right. You can apparate within Malfoy Manor, which they did. Goyle assumes they went somewhere that they could Floo to another location. The three of them had been en route to the manor even before we set the wards off. They had been ordered to bring Kelp to Riddle immediately."
"Riddle?" Holly scrunched up her face in confusion. "Tom Riddle? But Voldmort doesn't have a body. That's the whole point."
"Yes, well, apparently before Ginny Weasley entered the Chamber of Secrets that last time, she ripped some pages out of Riddle's enchanted diary and hid them so that he couldn't be completely destroyed. A back-up plan, if you will, a second chance at life."
"Aren't you going to tell her that it was your threatening Riddle through the diary with fire that gave him the idea?" Septimus asked loudly with a wicked grin.
Artemis's eyes narrowed. "You burn next."
Septimus squeaked and shut up.
"The important point is that we need to return to Hogwarts right away. Riddle has possessed another person and could be getting revived even as we speak."