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Chapter 10

Chamber, snitch and the match

Slughorn was thinking over his mistake in telling the boy about the Sorcerer's Stone. No. it wasn't a mistake anyway, because he had told him about something that didn't exist at present, Dumbledore had seen to that. There wasn't a Sorcerer's Stone in the world as far as he knew, he who had access to all the Ministry officials, then how could the boy know anything about an existent Sorcerer's Stone? The boy was clever, yes, for after all he was a Slytherin, but no living person on Earth could make a Sorcerer's Stone. If they had, they'd have come out already. It wasn't something that people hid, of course, for it was a legendary substance.

Slughorn never wanted to blame himself for anything; he would always try to escape from whatever the problem was, unless his dignity depended on it. He was a Slytherin, and this was what Slytherins did, which was correct, of course (according to him). Similarly, here he ignored his mistake, assuming that it wasn't even a mistake, but the consequences of this were more far-fetched than anything Slughorn's little old mind could think of. Only one person on Earth knew how effective this knowledge could be, and that astute, discerning, and ingenious virtuoso was presently engaging himself in a fifth year book on Transfiguration in Professor McGonagall's class.

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The days passed on; Artemis had thoroughly searched the library for books on alchemy. He had at last found the reference. He had never even thought earlier of searching books on Alchemy. Alchemy was concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with the astonishing powers that Slughorn had said. But Slughorn was wrong, the Stone didn't transform anything into gold; only metals into gold. This clearly illustrated the incompletion of Slughorn's knowledge about any topic. As Slughorn had said, the Stone produced the Elixir of Life, the drinker of which would become immortal, unless the Stone was destroyed.

The only Stone in existence had been Nicolas Flamel's, which had been destroyed because Lord Voldemort had been after it, and the Sorcerer's Stone in the possession of Lord Voldemort was something the wizards, specifically Albus Dumbledore, did not approve of (who in their right minds would?). Hence the Stone had been destroyed. And Sluggy had said that the Stone was something between Dumbledore and Flamel. How much more wrong could he be? Artemis had simply asked what a Sorcerer's Stone was, and Sluggy had started about the last Stone in existence. Maybe, Sluggy never knew that more than one Stone could be made. Sluggy was knowledgeable, but he didn't use the knowledge for any good. Artemis would use his knowledge, and use it for his own good.

One fine morning, also the morning of the first Quidditch match of the season, Artemis decided to ask Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets. Though he was sure it existed, for otherwise it was impossible to deduce the reason for the death of the muggleborn in 1942 and the kidnap (if it could be considered that) of Ginny Weasley, he thought he'd like to hear it from a teacher's point of view. And as Binns was the History of Magic teacher and always insisted on a factual point of view in everything, this should put him in an awkward situation. The Chamber was considered a myth, a legend. Not based on facts (Artemis had read about the Chamber in a library book, which only said that Salazar Slytherin had created a secret Chamber in Hogwarts unknown to the other founders, and which only his true Heir could open. It was believed to house a monster which only the Heir of Slytherin could control.) at all. But the years of '42 and '92 were solid proof of the Chamber's existence.

When Artemis entered the staff room, only Professor Binns was occupying the place. No other teacher was present. Good for him.

Being a ghost, you couldn't sit on anything solid. But Binns was at least appearing as if he was sitting. Unless you knew that ghosts could not feel anything solid, at least not completely solid, you would have sweared he was sitting on a chair. Artemis Fowl knew better (as always), but it was not a matter of importance for him. What was important for him, and concerned his thoughts, was the Chamber of Secrets (as any sentient being would have known).

Professor Binns sat (not exactly sat, as you well know) gazing lazily at the ceiling lost deeply in his own thoughts. He did not acknowledge the presence of a twelve-year old genius in the room with him, possibly because he did not know of the presence.

Artemis knew that unless he spoke first, his Professor would never know he was even there. And he carried out this knowledge into action, "Excuse me, Professor," he spoke politely. Professor Binns suddenly looked at the boy who had interrupted his thoughts. He studied Artemis for a moment and then spoke, "Yes, Mr. …?"

"Fowl, Professor. Artemis Fowl. I was curious if I could have a question answered from you, Professor," Artemis ended, waiting for the response. Professor Binns never remembered any of his students' names. But he did have a knack for remembering utterly useless names, like those of goblin rebels and historical characters. Sanity was something that he was not well-endowed with, as far as Artemis knew. But believe me, Artemis always knew better than most.

"Fire away, Mr. Fowl. But I am sure this is in concurrence to the History of Magic and is based on facts?" the Professor asked.

"Indeed, Professor, it is. I wondered what History and facts have to tell us about the Chamber of Secrets."

The Professor gave a look of utmost bewilderment. He had, of course, not expected this. He had expected the boy to ask something like whether Godric Gryffindor had indeed stolen the sword from Ragnuk the First or the name of the first goblin rebel who had betrayed the goblins to ensure his survival and joining the winning side of the war. He collected himself and responded, "The Chamber of Secrets is a myth, a legend. Salazar Slytherin had supposedly created a secret chamber inside Hogwarts unknown to the other founders to ensure his ideas of only purebloods being taught magic to continue well after his demise. The school has been searched many times, and no such thing has proved to be true. It is all nonsense and stupid rumours –"

Artemis interrupted, "Thirteen years ago, Professor, the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the second time in History by the Heir of Slytherin, after fifty years' gap. The first time it was opened, a muggleborn died. The second time, a girl was taken into the very chamber itself, where she was saved by the famous Harry Potter himself. Are these not enough facts to prove that the Chamber exists, Professor?"

Binns was stunned. Something that rarely happened. This boy knew enough truth about the Chamber to convince anyone of its existence. It was the truth. How he collected the information, Binns knew not. But the knowledge was dangerous. Unworthy of being passed on.

"Very well," Binns replied, "it is true, indeed. It is not something that should be spread around, this information about the Chamber. I myself did not believe it at first, but there was enough evidence of its existence. Dumbledore had said it existed, and so now even I believe it does. But –"

"Thank you, Professor. I wanted to know if the facts did actually coincide with the truth here. My doubt is cleared. I seek permission to leave," Artemis replied in an impassive tone, but if you carefully observed it, you could have heard an excitement ringing through the voice.

Wanting no more than to escape the company of this Boy-Who-Knew-Everything, Binns said in what looked like a grunt, "You may go."

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Professor Binns had confirmed his suspicion that the Chamber of Secrets was a place of great importance. Artemis knew already everything about the Chamber that a normal person, who was not the Heir of Slytherin or Slytherin himself and didn't have access to either of them could know without visiting the Chamber itself. The visit to Binns' had been only to confirm the Chamber's importance, and his attempted lie at first gave him away. He had already made out many things a normal person wouldn't; like the only unique quality in Slytherin was that he was a Parselmouth (one who could talk to snakes) and that he hated muggles and muggleborns. The fact that he hated muggles and muggleborns couldn't be used to guard a Chamber. But the use of Parseltongue could be used. The ability of speech with snakes was a unique gift to few in the world. Only very few wizards in history were recognized as Parselmouths; Salazar Slytherin himself, Herpo the Foul (reputedly the first known creator of a Basilisk), Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter and about a dozen more.

1942 was the year when Lord Voldemort had been in his fifth year, by references. His real name had been Tom Marvolo Riddle. As soon as Artemis read his real name, he understood where from Voldemort had chosen his new name: Tom Marvolo Riddle could be rearranged to be written as 'I am Lord Voldemort'. Innovative and clever, this Voldemort was. No doubt he had been such a great wizard, no matter how Dark.

So who better than Voldemort himself to open the Chamber of Secrets? Voldemort hated muggles and muggleborns as much as Slytherin himself. The wrong person, Rubeus Hagrid, had been expelled (Artemis was surprised by this news, believe me). But the real doer of the mischief had never been caught (though it was more than a mischief).

And who greater than Harry Potter, another Parselmouth, to enter the Chamber and rescue the girl? It was clear that the monster in the Chamber was something which would be controlled by Parseltongue. But it wouldn't be a mere snake, or a Runespoor, for that matter. It had to be the only other creature which conversed in Parseltongue – a Basilisk. And it would fit the description of a monster.

So with a greater knowledge than many about the Chamber, Artemis was trying to find a way of somehow entering the Chamber to find the secrets of the founder of his House. An unnecessarily big risk for a nearly futile issue, but he was determined nonetheless.

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Nearly every student was out in the grounds as eleven o'clock approached. Even all the teachers were there to watch the match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Artemis had practised with his team; all of them were very good, only they said that they hadn't had such a good Seeker as Artemis for over a decade-and-a-half. They were curious as to how a muggleborn (the Slytherin usually refrained from calling their own House students as 'mudblood') such as him could be so good. Artemis had thought it was better that no one knew about his ancestry. He had even written to Butler using his owl all about Quidditch and how he got selected as a Seeker, and also about his ancestry. The reply from Butler had startled him. Butler had nearly forgotten that people in the wizarding world used owls for communication, and when he had seen the owl banging at the window at first, he'd been shocked to see an owl at broad daylight. He'd tried to avoid it, but it had kept banging, and losing patience Butler had tried to shoot it. Luckily it had escaped and only when he'd seen the parchment tied to the owl's leg had he realised that it would be Artemis's owl.

Artemis was no exception to the other students; though he might have preferred reading more books in the library, he had to see two of their opponent teams in a match to work out a good strategy for winning against them (he had already given his team basic strategic ideas against any team; but against specific teams, specific strategies would work better). Though he had seen in their practices, he thought that it would be better to watch the match as that would be where all the players would show their actual skills and abilities. The captain said that the Slytherin team was now loads better than the teams they'd previously had, owing to their new Seeker in two ways; one, he was a very good Seeker, and two, the new ideas and artifices that he had shown them had improved the team by a long way. He had even suggested new types of possible fouls that were not mentioned in the list of the seven hundred fouls in Quidditch, which way, the Slytherins would be more than a match for their opponent teams. (He'd also advised them not to try these at the practices, lest they be seen by the other teams. They should do it when no one was watching other than their House, preferably early morning when no one would be out on the grounds.)

Artemis was sitting in the stands with Jack and Steve by his side and a load of other first year Slytherins, Jennifer and Burke included. Jennifer was not highly talented, but mediocre at least. Burke was good, she was intelligent, but cocksure; she always tried to undermine others (especially Artemis, after the Quidditch trials, but she miserably failed, for he always proved his worth well). She was arrogant and loathed Artemis, he could tell it from her eyes. Failing to undermine him, she had now started to avoid anything even related to him, shouting at those who even mentioned his name. Artemis didn't care. But then, why should he?

The players arrived; the commentator, William Jones (a Hufflepuff), was shouting out loud their names. The Hufflepuffs first, then the Ravenclaws arrived. His excited tone when shouting the Hufflepuffs' name and bored (kind of) voice while shouting Ravenclaws' names clearly (clearly for Artemis, though not so for the others) showed his allegiance; but that was to be expected, he was a Hufflepuff after all. The Gryffindors were supporting the Hufflepuffs (this is an understatement; the cheers were so loud, that the commentary was barely heard over the noise), whilst Slytherins were supporting the Ravenclaws (this is an overstatement; most Slytherins weren't supporting any side at all, for they hated all the other Houses, so there very few who supported the teams at all, mainly first, second and third years. Amongst them, most were supporting Ravenclaw.).

Madam Hooch, already in the air, whistled loudly and released the balls. A Ravenclaw Chaser quickly caught the Quaffle and headed off toward the goals. The Hufflepuff Chasers made an attempt to snatch the Quaffle from her, but failed; she went on and passed it to another of her teammates, and then –

"Keeper Molson dives," Jones commented, "but he misses – I can't believe this – Lascar scores, Ravenclaw lead 10-0…"

Artemis missed out the commentary after that, for at that very moment, he had seen the snitch. Neither of the fools calling themselves Seekers on both the teams had seen it, both of them too lost in their own joys and grieves of scoring first or not being in the lead and whatever it was on their minds at the time. Against these stupids, he could easily catch the snitch before they even had any idea what was going on.

Artemis kept watching the snitch and noticed something; a pattern. The snitch was moving in a pattern. But it was a very complex pattern, something nearly like the shape of the universe, which couldn't be easily defined. No doubt any Seeker or wizard, for that matter, had failed to observe this. It had taken a full hour before Artemis Fowl had noticed that a pattern existed. This was excellent. But he would not tell this to anyone. If he kept this secret to himself, he could become the greatest Seeker to have lived. Though he never considered Quidditch as a profession, he could at least gain fame. Before even a minute would be over, in every match, he could catch the snitch, now that he knew its movement. All very well, of course.

After nearly two hours of the match, when the score stood 170-30, Ravenclaw still in the lead, Artemis was starting to feel bored. All this while, he wasn't really intently watching the match, but using the intellect he was so well known for to plot more plans for restoring the Fowl fortunes. He had to do something.

In the early fifteen minutes of play, he had, apart from observing the snitch, made note of the ways the players of the teams played, and the tactics they employed. It was childish. With the way the mighty Slytherin was now, they would well be crushed. Hufflepuff Chasers were stupid, and they had only managed to score three goals as the Ravenclaw Keeper was even more stupid, and the stupidities sort of cancelled each other. The Beaters of both the teams were doing a terribly poor job, and most of the time they tried to hit a Bludger, they'd miss and the Bludger would hit them. When they did manage to hit a Bludger, it would be an aimless shot and would most often hit their own teammate. The Seekers, it seemed, were at last starting to search for the snitch. What they'd been doing for this long, alas, even Artemis didn't know. Artemis wasn't observing the snitch now, for he was lost in his own thoughts, but he would locate it now and then to confirm his theory that the snitch moved in a pattern.

A shout from the commentator and a roar from the crowd had awoken Artemis from his thoughts. The Seekers had, at last, seen the snitch; they were darting forward on their brooms, each from the opposite sides. All the Chasers and Keepers stopped in their tracks to watch the Seekers plunge towards the snitch.

The snitch, as if it knew it had been seen, changed course and kept moving. (Artemis knew it had not changed course, only moving along in its pattern. This was part of the pattern, but no one else knew it, so for all others, it would seem the snitch had changed course.) It was then that the Seekers noticed that they were flying towards each other. Before either could turn away, they crashed, Hufflepuff Seeker knocking his opponent out of her broom. She fell, but no foul was called. It was an accident, after all. But Professor McGonagall caught the girl with a spell which left her hanging upside down in midair (don't worry, it wasn't Levicorpus).

Meanwhile, the score was 200-60 just before the Hufflepuff Seeker, wanting nothing more but to lead his team to a win, caught the snitch, not having been diverted by his falling opponent. Though the crash had left him like he was subjected to a full Body-Bind Curse (after he'd caught the snitch, for he'd managed to stay sane till he caught it), he looked fine. The match was over, and Hufflepuff had won by a mere ten points.

More than half of the crowd was leaving the stands, while the rest were going to see what had happened to the two Seekers (which included none of the Slytherins, but most of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and a few Gryffindors). Artemis had already seen that the one who had fallen was already taken to Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing, which he yet had to visit (for injuries, as he'd already observed the place). Knowing that it wouldn't be long before the Hufflepuff Seeker joined the Ravenclaw Seeker, Artemis left for the common room, his mind dangling with wonderful new ideas that had just struck him. Today was going to be a long, long day.

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How do you like this chapter? Or don't you? Criticisms of mistakes or faults in the story are not unwelcome. Please R&R!