Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this chapter

Chapter 8

Knowledge Awaits

Artemis Fowl woke up as usual at seven and thought about roaming the corridors. He would find where the classes were in the morning by asking directions from ghosts and go to breakfast at eight. Well, that would be it, he thought.

Having found out where all the classes were, Artemis was interested to do magic. He already knew perfectly how to do each and every spell they would be learning in this year, of course, only the theory. Artemis (as you all would know!) was always the strategy man. By the looks of it, it seemed that wizards had never been able to devise a spell that enabled them to fly unaided, as was given in Quidditch Through The Ages. But what with levitation charms and all, it did seem quite possible that devising a spell for flying unaided wouldn't be so difficult. But before he started to do it, he needed to learn more. It seemed that though wizards were gifted with magical abilities, most of them were not at all equipped with mental abilities. It was given in a book on Muggle Studies that 'muggles have always been cleverer than wizards.' But Artemis felt it should not have been like that. It should have been 'wizards have always been more foolish than muggles.'

After a bit of roaming around the school and observing passageways that led to various places, Artemis came for breakfast. Their course schedules were handed over and Artemis saw that they had Double Transfiguration with Hufflepuffs first thing that day. Then they had Charms with Gryffindors and they had the afternoon off.

Artemis had learnt that Transfiguration was going to be taught to them by the Headmistress herself, as they had been unable to find a suitable candidate for the job after the war had ended and the newly appointed Headmistress was only glad to continue teaching her subject. They would be taught Defense Against the Dark Arts by Professor Dean Thomas, who had taken up the job four years after the war had ended. Charms was to be taught by Professor Filius Flitwick. Care of Magical Creatures was to be taught by both Professor Rubeus Hagrid and Professor Wilhelmina Grubblyplank, who divided their students. Potions would be taught by Professor Horace Slughorn, who had also worked earlier for several years before retiring and had now rejoined, during the war. History of Magic, which was supposed to be the most boring subject, was to be taught by a ghost, by the name of Professor Binns.

Transfiguration seemed to be quite interesting, though they were now only at the basic levels. They were supposed to turn matches into needles, which Artemis had done at the very starting of the class in a perfect fashion. Professor McGonagall had been very impressed and asked him to proceed further. By the end of the class, Artemis had finished what was supposed to be finished by the students in three months' time. It is all far too easy, he thought. But the other students didn't seem to think that way. They said that it was a record and that no student could have done that in their very first class. Some of them even started raising doubts if he was a dark wizard who had disguised himself as a student, to spy on Hogwarts. Of course, all this went under the teacher's nose. Only Artemis seemed to have finished even their first assignment, of turning matches into needles, and all the rest were given homework to practice it. The Hufflepuffs, were indeed hardworkers as they were supposed to be, but the problem was, though every Hufflepuff tried hard, the matches wouldn't budge and remained as they were, though some of them managed to make it go slightly silver and pointy, which the Professor had appreciated.

Charms was an interesting subject, as it was one of the main category of spells. But Artemis was dejected that they would not be doing charms, only study about them first. As he already knew everything, he answered all the questions Professor Flitwick asked just as he had in Transfiguration. The rest of the students looked at him dumbstruck in awe as Slytherin house made fifty points on the very first day of term, thanks to Artemis Fowl. The Gryffindors stupidly blinked at him, unable to comprehend the fact that Slytherin had taken the lead in the House championship at the very beginning of the year, after seven years. In the afternoon, Artemis practised all the charms for their first year, which, surprisingly, he could do very easily. The next two days being a Saturday and a Sunday, and hence holidays, Artemis immersed himself into the second year and third year books in the libraries. At least they seemed quite advanced to his level.

Life proceeded in the same way. The homework given to them in the various subjects seemed only too easy. Artemis found that Potions (which they took with Ravenclaws) was a very interesting subject, which involved liquids (Chemistry was one of his favorite subjects in his muggle-school). The power of the delicate liquids which seeped through into the veins of the body was incredible. The Professor was astonished by Artemis's intelligence. He invited him to what he called the Slug Club, where he was allowed to bring anyone he wished during the parties; there he used to blabber about his connections with high-ranking Ministry officials, and how he had influenced many students in joining the Ministry. Often bored, Artemis would take Jack or Steve with him (who was considerably normal with him nowadays).

History of Magic was indeed, the most boring subject. Only Artemis Fowl managed to stay awake till the end of the class, noting down the important points. They were trivial for practical life, but would help him get better grades, he thought.

Control of Magical Creatures turned out to be a not-so-interesting subject. Professor Hagrid was teaching their batch, which included the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. Artemis only wanted to see the animals from a distance, so did most of the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors seemed to actually care for the beasts. He still earned points for Slytherin even in that class (for he was the only student who both knew all about the beasts and didn't want to approach them).

Then, there was Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was his most anticipated subject. It was very interesting, in fact, involving boggarts and all that stuff. Artemis Fowl was impressed.

They had Astronomy at midnight, where they would gaze at the stars and constellations using their telescopes and note down their positions (already quite adept at the subject in the muggle world, Artemis didn't have any difficulty).

Finally, Artemis came to the class where he was nowhere near sure if he would be even ok: flying. There teacher was Madam Hooch, and they were supposed to use broomsticks to fly. Though Artemis knew everything about flying and Quidditch (obviously in theory), still he was doubtful if he'd be able to fair as well when reallyflying. They were having their flying classes with the Ravenclaws on Thursday evenings.

Their first flying class had gone in the strangest way Artemis could've dreamed of. They were supposed to say 'up' with their right hands on top of the brooms kept to their right side (which, as always, Artemis knew). He was both surprised and happy that he was the only student to have been able to do that on his first turn. Then they were asked to mount their brooms and hover slightly above the ground for a few seconds. Artemis knew he was going to hate this. He had never really liked heights.

Willing to give a try, he took off into the air. It was at that precise time, that he felt something he had never felt before. On a broom, in the air, he felt comforted. It was as if he had always liked flying in brooms, only he was trying after a long gap. It was the bestfeeling he had ever had, flying. And it was so easy.

Suddenly, a figure swooped past him just inches from his face with such a great pace that, for a moment, Artemis was terrified. He then realised it was only Alexis Burke, the raven-haired Ravenclaw. She was from a renowned wizarding family, her grandfather being a founder of the famous dark artifacts shop Borgin and Burke's in Diagon Alley. It was only now that he realised why she had carried out the so-close-to-him act. She had stolen his pen. He had missed out entirely the fact that a hand had swooped close to his pocket, for he was then nothing but terrified. Now, he was outraged. But Artemis knew better. He kept his emotion to himself and slowly floated toward her, and said calmly, "Give it back to me."

"Ooooooo…," she said, "what is this, Fowl? I've never seen anything like this before. It was leaning out of your pocket, so I thought I should pick it up and give it a glance," all the time trying to find out what it could be.

Artemis replied, "That; is none of your business. So if you would now hand it over to me," holding out a hand. But he regretted ever doing it.

"Oh really, Fowl? Well, then, that indeed is none of my business. And you think you're so clever just because you answer the teachers' questions correctly and all that? I'll show you, Fowl. Ravenclaws can never be beaten at intelligence. And you asked for your… this stuff, right?" she asked, holding out the pen as she said the last line. At that moment, Madam Hooch, who was possibly seeing all this, said that everybody should now come down. Burke continued, "Here you go…" she said, throwing the pen backward casually, and moving toward the ground.

The pen was falling, falling and falling… it would hit the school wall if it went, and surely be broken. Artemis could easily repair it, but seeing it broken would break his heart in the first place… no, he wouldn't let it happen; for all his anger, he might have even shouted at the girl for her stupidity, but he, as always, knew better. Hoping beyond hope that the pen not hit the wall, Artemis raced with his broom for the pen… he flied at an extraordinary speed, going straight toward the falling pen, not knowing that the entire class was watching him, with Burke sneering at him. He caught it just before he it hit the wall, and managed to turn around before he could suffer the fate the pen did not. This pen was no normal one. It was his final gift from his father. Before his last school exams, his father had given him this pen. Now he still had the empty pen only because it was his father's lastgift… oh no, he shouldn't think like that, his father would be still alive… then when he returned to the ground, he was met by an angry Madam Hooch.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? You could've been severely injured. Twenty points from Slytherin for your foolish tactics, Mr. Fowl," she said angrily.

"It was her, Professor," Artemis replied calmly, but before he could continue further, Madam Hooch replied, "I know, and ten points from Ravenclaw for that, " she said, nodding at Burke, before continuing, "but why in the name of Merlin did you do such a stupid thing? It could've been easily repaired. You could've hurt yourself terribly, boy."

Artemis preferred to reply later, after the rest of the class was gone. When she asked them all to go, they left leaving Artemis and Madam Hooch alone, when Jack and Steve came back panting, "Aren't you coming?"

"I wanted to ask how to gain better control of the broom and such sort of questions. I'll just come in five more minutes," Artemis replied. The boys left and Madam Hooch's eyes narrowed.

Artemis said to her looking directly in the eye, "Professor, I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't have been injured at all. None in my family have been wizards or witches, but I just feel like… I'm where I should be, when I'm in the broom. It feels normal. But I've read that for muggle-borns, it is always a strange feeling, that it takes them some time to get accustomed. Is it possible that a muggle-born can feel normal with brooms from the starting? Even when I was going to catch it, I didn't feel any fear… I just… knew I would be safe. How is that possible?"

"I have no answer to that, my boy… but I would prefer if you would try out for Seeker in the Slytherin Quidditch team. We can arrange for a broom if you get selected. I've never seen such skill since Harry Potter himself…," she said, "but do you know –"

Artemis cut her off, "Yes, Professor. I know all about Quidditch."

"Still, I'll prefer that you do not try that stunt again, Mr. Fowl. You may leave," she finished.

Artemis rethought about what he had said to Madam Hooch before sleeping. All of his questions were true, he didn't have a hint about them. None in his family had been a wizard or a witch…that was true. Was it, now? He only knew his parents hadn't been wizards. What if, what if, any of his ancestors had been? And what if they had produced squibs, and theywere never taught about wizards, and their descendants remained muggles? It surely was a possible theory, but possible in the very least…

Over the next three weeks, he found himself exploring all the wizarding genealogy books in the library, including the Restricted Section, for searching which, he had obtained permission from Professor Thomas, who had accepted at once his now-favorite student's position. He had talked about becoming a Seeker, with the Slytherin Quidditch captain, who had said he would think over it, as their current Seeker was not the best, and asked him to come to the trials in January, and he might get the reserve player seat if not the main one.

Halloween came, bringing with it a glint of snow. Everyone woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors as they woke up in the morning. Even Professor Flitwick had announced that they were ready to practice Levitation Charms now. Artemis had practiced it in his free time, and it was interesting enough. By doing it first in the class, he earned twenty points for his house.

The Halloween decorations were more beautiful than whatever Artemis had seen till now. Bats fluttered from the walls, and many more swooped over the tables. The candles in the pumpkins stuttered and the Halloween feast appeared on the golden plates in front of them. Artemis ate to his fill and went to bed.

The next week, Artemis finally found what he'd been searching for nearly a month now; he was not entirely a muggle-born wizard. He had a wizard for an ancestor, far before in the medieval times, one who was known as Fingal the Fearless. His only child was a squib. And he had decided to not introduce her to the wizarding world, and instead, let her live her life as a muggle. She had supposedly been married to Aoibheann Fowl, an Irish businessman. Artemis knew about this one. Aoibheann Fowl was amongst the most famous Fowls, his name being derived from an ancient one, and he being the first one to start the criminal activities that Fowls were reputedly involved in. Fingal the Fearless was an Aingingein champion, which was an ancient broom game. But that is more related to a Chaser, Artemis thought, but Madam Hooch had told him that he would make a good Seeker. Whatever, he knew why he felt it normal on brooms. That was one thing you'd get if you were the descendant of an Aingingein champion.

The days passed; Artemis had, by mid-December, finished the third-year's portions. Christmas was approaching, and so was his return to Fowl Manor. Artemis started noticing the huge difference in the size of the wands of different people and how they varied with their effects on various objects and when casting different spells. Artemis found wandlore interesting; for wands were what you mainly did magic with, and they varied as one wand had more power than another. Even in the entire world, very few were actually experts when it came to wandlore; for he came to know that wandlore was a complicated subject. But if he did manage to come across the secrets of wandlore, he might be able to procure a wand whose powers were unmatched, and one which would be able to win any duel for its owner.Come across?He was being childish. He was going to make sure that he was the greatest wizard of his age, and wandlorewasn't going to stop him from being who he was, who he would be… he needed to study wandlore, but after Christmas. He had the People to attend to. He resolved to meet Ollivander during Christmas to ask more about the properties of wand, when sleep overtook him on the day before the holidays began.

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