The specially made tranquilizer dart flew straight and true into the veins of her neck, right into the sliver of skin showing between her thermal suit and her helmet. Holly was awake long enough to have her eyes widen in shock and betrayal as she glared at him, before her head slipped down and she was unconscious. The mechanical wings on her back, without her steering them, kept her hovering there in the air. Butler loaded a real bullet into his gun and fired again, destroying the wings and dropping Holly a few feet to the ground. He knew she was fine; it was only a few feet and she had landed on snow. Her suit was doubtlessly thermal. However, Butler did know that he and Cygnus had to get out of there before more showed up; he could hear Foaly panicking from her helmet. Butler gently picked up Holly's body and deposited her on the far side of a large boulder. He kicked a bit of snow over her to cover her up before returning to the hut and shouting to Cygnus.

Within an hour, every sign of life was gone from the hut except for a single tracking chip, left sitting on the table.

Artemis flipped through the poetry book once more blearily. He had woken up fairly early that morning, having wanted to be rid of the blasted thing as soon as possible. In addition to that, a small jaunt to the library an back seemed like a good way to wake him up. It wasn't too far, so it wasn't strenuous, but it was enough of a walk to get his blood pumping. Handing the book back to Madam Pince, and now down to the four books which he had originally retrieved, Artemis stepped out of the library.

He'd hardly taken a few steps when a small pink paper airplane came flying towards him. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he opened the paper airplane. Sure enough, it was the time and date of his 'inspection' from Umbridge. Today, during his fourth year class. Silently folding up the letter, he put it into his pocket and began to walk back towards his office.

Artemis sat down at his desk and looked carefully at the small treasure he had nearly finished. He had another half hour until breakfast, so there was plenty of time to finish. Picking up the pieces he had so painstakingly made the previous night, Artemis carefully pieced them together. He checked over every section before connecting them to make sure that they still worked. When he finally got all the pieces together, he had a single, slightly odd looking, cell phone in front of him. Artemis allowed himself to smile at his accomplishment. It was a carefully made amalgamation of fairy and human technology, ultimately designed to work specifically in magical areas.

The reason that most muggle devices stopped working in magical areas was because magic ruined the flow of electricity, making it more erratic and unpredictable than normal. This normally manifested itself in the electrical flow not following the circuit in the way it was supposed to, causing it to fry. Other times, it manifested itself in the battery itself, causing it to spontaneously gain energy, loose energy, change to positive or negative charge (which could fry the cathodes), or other similar scenarios. The first step to solving this problem had been the power source, which Artemis had decided to make magic. He constructed a fake battery, containing no electricity but instead a potion for magic storage (normally used to increase the potency of various potions or as a quick energizer for wizards). He then used fairy technology to adjust the circuit boards and the overall construction of the phone to adapt it to running off of magic instead of electricity.

Overall, simple. Artemis knew it would work in magical areas, but the battery would die within minutes of being taken outside of a magical area. It looked like the real challenge would be in constructing a phone that could be used in magical and non-magical areas. However, this would work for now.

Leaning back in his chair, Artemis dialed Butler's phone number. Checking the time, he decided that he should leave in the next few minutes if he wanted to have enough time to comfortably eat breakfast. The phone rang for several seconds, but all Artemis received for the wait was a voice mail.

Artemis looked at the phone for a few minutes, wondering why Butler wasn't picking up his phone, before he shrugged it off. Butler must have been busy for some reason. Artemis didn't think that there was anything going on in Butler's life right now that was so stressful and hectic that he couldn't answer the phone, but he could be wrong. It was rare, but possible. Artemis placed the phone on the edge of his desk before leaving to eat.

Artemis would later look back on the class and think to himself that he should have known ahead of time. It was, after all, during his fourth year class. Fours seemed to be having a recent habit of being bad for him, however illogical it might seem. After all, four was just like any other number. Even if 'Umbridge' has eight letters, two times four, and it was during his fourth year class, and he had four pages of class notes in preparation for the day. Four fours. Four squared. Four was just a number.

That's right, Artemis would later look back and ask himself why he didn't see the signs, but at this moment Artemis was blissfully unaware of the disaster which would soon start. Artemis, instead, was taking attendance.

His four pages of class notes were stacked nicely on his desk, memorized. Umbridge sat in a corner, looking at him with those beady eyes settled in the pudgy folds of her toad-like visage. The fourth year students were sitting nicely in their desks, looking up at him with their usual half blank half attentive looks. Artemis didn't really care too much about whether or not they were paying attention, it wasn't his problem if someone wanted to remain an ignoramus. It just made it easier for him to take advantage of them. After all, that's all most of these students would become; customers. A way for Artemis to increase his power and wealth.

But that's not all they were, was it? Artemis had made sure to make it his business to know what was going on in the student's lives. It's always good to know how to make a person emotionally unstable. It made them open, vulnerable, ripe for conning. As Artemis spoke on emergency response routine, he slowly paced in front of the desk.

"The first thing you need to do when you discover an injured person is check their status." Why? It seemed like the far more practical thing would be to insure that whatever hurt them isn't still around. Set up your defenses, then take care of the injured.

"It does not take much time, do you all know the life detection spell?" Several heads nodded. Good, they should have learned it in second year. He didn't want to have to review what should be age old information for the students. He never really did fully understand how some people could be so lazy as to forget basics.

"You should cast it immediately, to figure out whether or not someone is still alive, before working to protect yourself and the person." A light hem hem interrupted his point. Artemis stoically nodded towards Umbridge. "Is there something you would like to say?"

"Yes. Professor, what do you mean by 'still alive'?" Umbridge spoke, her smile becoming a little tight. Artemis blinked.

"I mean exactly what I said. You should always check if someone is still alive, there's no point in trying to protect a dead body" He replied.

"Yes, when you say protect, from what do you mean, exactly? Who out there would want to harm schoolchildren?" She asked.

"I am teaching them the proper legal procedure for emergencies. It is designed to be applicable to all ages with specific adjustments depending on a wizards capabilities" Artemis responded, trying to stay away from the bait. If he stuck with legal reasoning, there was nothing she could do against him. Although, he had thought that she was on his side. When he had spoken with her at Potter's detention, she had seemed relatively fond of him. Had something happened to turn her against him? Was someone undermining his manipulations?

"There is no reason why fourth year students should need to respond to emergencies. That is a job belonging to Aurors." Umbridge spoke, her smile turning thinner and her face a little blushing with anger.

"I am just trying to make sure that the students are capable of taking care of themselves if something happened . Emergencies can happen anywhere and at anytime, that is why they are called emergencies. They tend to emerge where you least expect it," Artemis said, trying to calm her down

"Are you threatening me?!" Umbridge barked. Artemis froze. Never before had his words been so horribly misconstrued.

"Not at all," he tried to placate her, "you are entirely correct, fourth year students should not need to deal with life or death situations, but sometimes something bad happens and I don't want any student to lose a friend because they did not know what to do." The image of Butler lying on the ground flashed in front of Artemis' eyes. Bleeding out from the bullet in his chest. The panic, the fear that had filled his mind(though he managed to maintain his logical facilities). That's right. That's why you had to check for life first. Because that person on the ground might be important to somebody. You not checking for life first might mean their death. Even another second later for Butler could have meant his death. Would have meant his death. Artemis knew that he could technically live past Butler's death, even get himself a new bodyguard (that is, after all, what Juliet is training to be) but he didn't know if he could survive emotionally. Contrary to popular (Holly's) belief, he was not heartless. He was not emotionless. He just chose logic over emotion at all times.

"Then you should be teaching the students to call for the Aurors, not to respond themselves!" Umbridge nearly shouted. If Artemis had waited for Holly to get there, Butler would have died. He had to respond himself at the time, he had to do whatever he could to ensure Butler's life.

"Sometimes there isn't enough time to call for Aurors first, if a student is in danger they need to be able to protect themselves" Artemis said, maintaining a calm atmosphere. He refused to lose his temper to this woman's horrible attempts at manipulating him. Umbridge smirked, as if she thought she had caught him.

"When would a student be in danger?" She asked smugly. She was practically daring him to bring up Voldemort, but Artemis knew better. By far.

"Two years ago, there was a werewolf on campus which nearly attacked some students," Artemis said, working to construct an argument, but he was interrupted.

"Don't you bring Professor Lupin into this!" Creevey jumped up.

"Yeah, he was the best DADA teacher we ever had!" Weasley added. Artemis wanted to roll his eyes. He had never met his predecessor, he didn't care to, and whether or not he was a good teacher was completely irrelevant to the current debate.

"Mr. Creevey, Ms. Weasley, sit down," he said sternly, turning to Umbridge to see her making a note on her paper. Probably something about how he couldn't control his class. Why had she turned against him? He could have sworn that he had won her over at Potter's detention. Who had manipulated her against him? Should he be worried about this mysterious puppeteer?

"That was a tragic error on the part of the Headmaster, one which helped to further prove the Ministries point of Hogwarts being in desperate need of reform. It will not happen again. So I will ask again, what danger is there to students?" Umbridge asked, smiling a pinched smile. The argument she had presented was a blanket argument that covered all dangers on Hogwarts grounds, and she would refuse to acknowledge other situations with her Auror argument. It was a brick wall not built on logic, but built on stubbornness.

Artemis despised that kind of logic for the simple fact that it were formed on blind faith, and was therefore impossible to tear down. At least, not without more time and power. Right now, the further he pushed, the more she would resist, and he wanted to keep his job. Besides, he always won in the end.

"You're absolutely right," He said quite calmly. Umbridge paused and looked at him with confusion. "Don't worry, I will continue the lesson appropriately," he assured. And he did, telling the students about how they should contact Aurors. Still useful information, at least, though it wasn't the main thing he wanted to cover until the next class period. Luckily, there were only a few minutes left of class, so it wasn't too much damage done and Umbridge would only be sitting in on one or two of his classes. However, at the last minute, he waved his wand to conjure a sheet of paper on everyone's desk.

"This is your homework assignment, I expect it next class," he said. Across the top of the paper, it read;

Research the emergency response routine according to ministry regulations and write 6 inches explaining what you are supposed to do as 4th year students if you encounter an unknown hostile opponent.

Artemis went about cleaning up as the students hastily stuffed the paper into their bags. He was quite sure that Umbridge hadn't seen it as she shuffled out of the class, smiling. However, she clearly suspected something of him. The next day, Artemis was quite sure that someone had shown her the homework or that she had seen it.

He was going to breakfast when he saw Filch out in the hall hanging up a new educational decree. He paused to read over it.

'Educational degree #35

Teachers are to only assign homework directly relevant to the topic they covered in class'

Three plus five equals eight. Artemis read over it coldly. It didn't really mean much because his homework assignment was related to what he had been teaching in class, but it was clear that it was an attack against him. Artemis narrowed his eyes, but walked into the Great Hall proudly, as he did each morning. The next few weeks went by quickly. Umbridge dropped in on another class, so Artemis improvised quickly to look like he wasn't teaching them anything of worth. He then assigned them 10 inches of homework to make up for it. His forays into the wizarding market seemed to have gone well, but he was still having difficulty getting into touch with Butler with his phone, having to rely on the slow speed of owl post.

It was actually rather frustrating; Artemis didn't doubt that Butler was probably making some decisions that he shouldn't be making based on his inability to contact his employer. He had actually begun to look around to see if there was someone else he could hire with more business experience, but no one he found seemed trustworthy enough. Every one of them would stab him in the back and take over the young company he had founded. It seemed Artemis had no other choice but to desperately hope Butler was actually following his orders.

Time came and went and it wasn't long before it was time for the first Hogsmeade trip.

Artemis had decided not to go. It was not terribly exciting as teachers were allowed to go to Hogsmeade anytime they wanted. Soon enough, it was a full Monday of classes once more. He was just leaving the Great Hall after breakfast when he heard Dumbledore speaking with someone. Ducking behind a statue, he silently thanked his genetics for his small size.

"A defense group?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, apparently the students are worried that they are not prepared enough for Voldemort," said the other man. Dumbledore 'hm'ed and Artemis could picture the old man stroking his beard.

"I see..." he said, clearly lost in thought.

"Well, I thought you should know. See ya," the other voice said, before retreating.

"Ah, thank you Aberforth!" Dumbledore called out, though there was no response. The other guy seemed pretty eager to leave. Artemis could hear Dumbledore walking down the hall towards him, so he back-pedaled down the hall he had been coming and walked back past the Great Hall towards his office. He absently noted that a new educational decree was up, telling everyone to disband student organizations. A defense group to fight Voldemort? There was only one kid who could and would pull off something like that, and that was Mr. Potter. Why, though? Did the kids not trust in his teaching capabilities? Was he a bad teacher for some reason? Why didn't they trust him?

Artemis pursed his lips slightly. If someone didn't trust you, you couldn't trust them. Artemis wasn't sure why he ever thought he had student's trust. Of course they didn't trust him! He was a new teacher, taking up the post where many teachers had failed beforehand. He was comparatively young, it probably made many of the older students unsure. What about the younger students? Well, peer pressure is a much stronger influence on most people's minds than that of teachers, they were probably following the older students like sheep. Thinking about the educational decree, Artemis realized that she had to know about the defense group. How? Did she have some way of spying on the students? It had to be better than Dumbledore since he didn't know until today, but Umbridge knew soon enough to get the paperwork through for the new decree posted this morning. Could she spy on the teachers as well? Could she spy on him?

Artemis opened the door to his office and stalked over to his desk, sitting rather demurely and not betraying his inner, conflicting thoughts. However, those thoughts ground to a halt when he looked down at his desk. Hadn't there been five writing utensils there when he left his office last night? Yes, there had been. A black pen, a blue pen, the feather quill gifted to him by the headmaster, a mechanical pencil, and a 'signature Jade Princess' pen from Juliet. His blue pen was now missing. Frowning, Artemis scoot his chair back a little, looking around at the floor to see if it had fallen. Indeed, it had, it was about a meter from his current location having clearly rolled across the floor. Artemis stood, walked over, and picked it up.

How did it fall? He did not bump into his desk coming in, and he was quite sure that he did not do so on his way out. However, pens do not fall off desks without provocation. They were not anywhere near a fault line, so the chances of a micro-earthquake happening while he slept were very small. The single window in the room was shut and bolted, just like always, so wind couldn't do it. That ruled out the weather. That left two other options; either a pet had come into the office or a person had come into the office and Artemis was inclined to think it was the latter. There was no way for an animal to get in, but a person could force his door open.

Artemis gently replaced the pen on his desk, carefully lining it up to be parallel with the other writing utensils. Who could have come in without leaving a mark on the door? The teachers, perhaps, or maybe even some of the upperclassmen. After all, though Artemis had passed all the official tests and had done his own forays into magical theory and defense, he didn't know everything. He was a genius, true, but he had only been studying magic for about a year and a half. The upperclassmen had much more time and practice under their belts, experience which may be able to thwart Artemis' locking skills. The teachers even more so.

Who would sneak into his office? Who might have the motivation? Again, students; they could look at grades, tests, or even try to prank him as a joke. Had Umbridge come in? But she had access to Ministry records, there was nothing she could learn from his office that wasn't in the Ministry except for his research. Come to think of it, it could have been another teacher as well. They could be after his research. He had started publishing under his own name in order to start building a reputation since he was now old enough to be believed by most readers as being a person of authority.

He really should have known better. He had made himself a target for research theft by opening up too early. All it would take would be one person, just one person to publish some of his research and claim it as their own. His reputation would be flushed and he, as the younger and therefore the one who was more likely to steal, would be forever labeled as a thief. He may have once been a thief, but he was one no longer and he refused to be labeled with such a demeaning title when he didn't deserve it.

If his reputation was trashed, the Fowl empire would slowly crumble from dissatisfaction and a lack of confidence. After all, if the 'genius inventor' is stealing his ideas from other sources, he was going to get sued five times over and that might drive the company to bankruptcy. Or, even worse, if they stole his research and knew about the possible consequences for him, they could use it as blackmail and he would be forced to obey or risk his entire operation. Artemis refused to take orders from anybody.

Whipping out his wand, Artemis quietly spoke the password to open his drawer. After, he removed one of the few rings he was wearing, clicking the outer shell on it back to reveal a small key. Pulling it out, Artemis shoved the key into a small hole in the side of the desk, unlocking the drawer and causing it to pop out. Artemis quickly picked up his papers and flipped through them. Counting silently to himself, he nearly sighed in relief when he realized he still had all 75 pages of experiment notes and his two main reference books. He had to put them somewhere safer. Artemis had put a lot of time into designing and installing the key system in his desk, though, and it was the safest place he knew of. Ignoring the uneasy feeling in his stomach, Artemis replaced the papers and books and locked up the drawer once more.

The question remained then, if the perpetrator wasn't after his research, what were they after? Why would they come into his office? What did they want from him? Artemis slowly began conducting a thorough investigation of his office, opening various drawers carefully as he tried to find hints of the culprit and the crime. However, as he was unable to find anything, Artemis stepped into the center of the room, giving a cursory glance to see if he had missed something. The moment he did, though, he felt the slightest slip of his foot, as if he had stepped on ice, lasting for only a moment. A detection spell! And one that wasn't his! Quickly pulling out his wand, Artemis ducked down and rolled away from the spot to avoid being hit by whatever curse the trap had activated.

Looking back at the spot where he had been, Artemis saw a bucket of bright pink paint fall to right where he had been standing, covering the floor. Artemis stood up slowly and walked over to the pink mess. A single note was fluttering down from where the bucket had been. Artemis didn't chase it, knowing he didn't have the dexterity to catch a paper in the air, and instead waved his wand. The paper flew up and hovered in front of him. It was just a stick figure smiling and sticking his tongue out.

Artemis absently muttered as he waved his wand, vanishing the note, paint, and the bucket, though a persistent pink stain remained on the floor. Artemis narrowed his eyes, a cursed trap indeed! How could he even think that a cursed trap was his primary theory? He was in a school, a school with a few notorious pranksters, why would his first instinct be to suspect it was a life-threatening trap?

Perhaps it was because of the way the last several years of his life had been. Life-threatening situations happened more often to Artemis than he was comfortable with, perhaps it was just his first instinct to assume danger than not? Besides, those instincts had saved him from being dyed a terrible shade of pink. Far more dignified to react to a false danger than to not react and be caught off guard. Artemis sighed. It was going to be a long day.

"...bio-sensors in your suit say that you're not in life threatening danger, so I can't send you help unless you respond! Holly, say something!" The panicking voice of the centaur greeted Holly as she slowly woke.

"Ugh..." He groan seemed to shock Foaly into an even greater frenzy.

"Holly?! Oh D'arvit, you had me really worried! Your bio-sensors said you were fine, but you wouldn't respond and what in the world happened?!" Holly sat up, shaking snow off her shoulders and suit. She reached down where she saw a few objects surrounded by a couple red specks. Picking it up, she started growling.

"Do you know what I am holding right now Foaly?" She asked. He paused in his speaking for a moment to let her continue. "I am currently holding a dart. Do you know who shot me with this dart Foaly? Butler." Foaly let out a barely audible breath over the headsets.

"If Butler shot you, then he's trying to keep Artemis' movements secret, which means that whatever Artemis is doing is probably something we would disapprove of," Foaly realized, echoing Holly's own thoughts.

"I am going to kill that Mud Boy," She muttered.