Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl: Weapons of Magic Chapter Five
Yay! It's almost Christmas! Happy Holidays to everyone!
They arrived in Ireland and Butler came to pick them in the Bentley.
They saw Butler's giant form hulking by the docks. They took care of docking the boat and went to meet Butler.
"Hi," said Snape. "Butler, you've met Ron, Hermione and Harry before right?"
Butler nodded. "Yes, I've met you all at least once before."
Butler knew Harry hadn't been scarred up last time they met. Artemis had told him that Harry had been taken prisoner and had been missing for the past three months. It was obvious he'd been tortured and had somehow escaped.
They all piled into the Bentley and drove to Fowl manor. As they pulled up the long drive, Butler told them they could go inside while he parked the car.
They went into the foyer where Artemis was coming down the stairs.
Greeting them, Artemis invited them to his study. There were refreshments set out.
"I hope you had a good trip over here?" asked Artemis.
"Yeah, except the whole island thing," said Ron.
"Yes, Snape told me in email about your new powers Harry and that's how you managed to defeat the Creatures," said Artemis. "May I see them?"
"Yeah, I guess so," said Harry, he took off the light jacket he was wearing, revealing the scars on his arms. Artemis looked at them and didn't like to think about what Harry must have endured during the three months he was missing.
Harry let his claws and wings out. Artemis came out from behind his desk to look at the claws and wings. "I self heal too." He pricked his finger on a blade and showed it to Artemis. A blue spark popped out and healed it.
"It's like fairy magic!" said Artemis, staring at it. Even Holly looked impressed.
"You don't have any fairy in you!" said Holly.
"No, it's the Pimante," said Harry. "It was injected into me. I don't know much about it except that it's magical. I don't know where Aeron gets it or how it works exactly."
"I asked Foaly to look it up. He's never heard of it, but he's looking it up, trying to find info on it." Artemis put his hands together. "I need to know what happened when they kidnapped you. I need to know what happened, who was there, things they may have said. We need as much information as possible so we can figure out what's going on."
Harry paled slightly. "I'd rather not."
Artemis took a deep breath. "Harry, I'm not trying to be difficult, and I know it will be hard-"
"I can mesmerize him," interrupted Holly. "That way it'll be easier. It'll relax him."
Artemis thought a moment. "Yes, that would work, if Harry will consent."
Harry thought a moment. He would have to tell somebody about the girls, eventually. But maybe he could just tell about the other stuff, and sort of work around that. He wasn't sure how they'd react.
"Okay."
Artemis asked everybody to leave the room. Only Harry, Holly, and Artemis remained. Artemis set out a voice recorder and prepared to make notes in his Power book.
"Now just relax and look at my eyes," said Holly, sitting in a chair opposite him. "Okay?" her mismatched eyes locked with Harry's green ones and she spoke, her voice layered with the Mesmer. "You're feeling very relaxed. Very calm."
"Very calm," repeated Harry, his worries sliding away. What a beautiful voice Holly had…
"You're going to tell us about what happened when you were imprisoned," said Holly.
"Yes, the imprisonment," said Harry. Something nagged at him in the back of his mind. "After the fight with the wizards we found, they knocked me out and when I awoke, I was in a dark cell. The only light came from the tiny barred window in the door. There was some dim light in the hall. The door opened and a man, who I later learned was called Gary came in. I didn't have my wand and couldn't fight except with my fists. Gary attacked me and I fought back, but Gary was much bigger than me, very strong, and eventually beat me down. He dragged me out of the room and into a bigger room, where there was machines and people.
"Aeron was waiting for me. He introduced himself to me and told me he had some magical ore that he would use to make me into a strong powerful weapon. I would work for him and help him rid the world the Muggles. He wants fairies to be able to come to the surface to live, without being in fear of persecution from non magical people who would exploit them. Witches and wizards could live freely without worry about Muggles. He wants to rule the world, a world of only magical beings and fairies. That's why he wanted me, to turn me into a weapon. He said he had tried already with others, but they hadn't turned out quite the way he wanted. He said the process was extremely agonizing and a couple of people cracked from it and became useless."
"What other people did he try?" interrupted Artemis.
"Who else did Aeron try to change?" asked Holly.
What a lovely voice. But Aeron never mentioned anyone at all specific. Something tugged at Harry's brain again. The girls. His eye twitched slightly. "He never told me. I'm guessing he disposed of them, since they would be useless to them." A muscle twitched in Harry's neck. "Aeron tortured me several times with the Crucio curse. Said he had to test me my mental stability and would need some time so he could torture me, to see how strong my mind was."
"What curse is he talking about?" asked Artemis.
"Harry, can you explain what the curse is?"
Harry swallowed. "The Crucio curse causes intense agony, like being stabbed all over with burning knives, being torn apart, your bones all breaking at once. Aeron did it to me several times that day and just about every other day. He would have Gary beat the crap out of me. Gary enjoyed it a lot. He would beat the shit out of me with his fists, or other things. At first I would fight him back, but he would just beat me harder. He liked using a crowbar on me too, broke my bones a lot. They'd heal my limbs but usually left other bones, like my ribs, broken. Broke my jaw once, left it for three days before they healed it. Gary would sometimes cut me with knives. The treatment is why I'm covered in scars. Gary got his in the end." Harry paused.
"What happened to Gary?" asked Holly.
Harry's left hand twitched slightly. His claws slid out. "I killed him with these, because he came after me with a crowbar after my transformation."
"Keep going along the timeline," said Artemis. "Who else was there?"
Holly repeated Artemis.
"There was Aeron, Amadae, Gary, a couple of other guys who tortured me a few times, and-" Harry stopped. The girls. He didn't want to tell them about them. A muscle twitched in his neck.
"Go on," said Holly.
The muscle twitched again. Harry didn't say anything for a moment. He told about the process and how he killed Gary and tried to kill Aeron and how the lab exploded and Snape found him. His hand with the claws out shook a bit, like he was holding something back. He was. The person I killed. But I didn't mean to.
"You skipped a bit, tell me about Amadae," said Artemis, observing Harry.
"Tell us about Amadae," said Holly.
"Amadae was a slut," said Harry, his eyes locked on Holly's. "She would screw anybody, and for some weird reason, she wanted me. She would have Gary drag me to her room and she would give me wine or pot, and would be half naked. She would try to seduce me, and told me she'd give me good food if I fucked her, but I refused. She was a whore and looked a bit like Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman who killed my godfather. She would get anger and gave me this scar on my jaw with a wine uncorker." He fingered a scar along his jaw line. "She was upset because she'd always been able to get anyone she wanted except me, so she'd torture me with the Crucio curse. I still refused. She was revolting to me. I hated her."
"Who else was there?" asked Artemis.
Holly repeated the question.
Harry's neck muscle twitched again. The girls-but he didn't want to talk about that. But Holly's voice was so lovely, he almost wanted to tell her.
"The girls-" began Harry, the mesmer making him to talk about them, but he stopped.
"What about the girls?" asked Holly, curiously.
Harry's eye twitched and his face took on a grimace. "I-a person-" he stopped. Holly told him to go on, but he just sat there looking at her.
"I-" began Harry, his hands shaking. He gripped the armrests of the chair, his one set of claws still out, shining lethally in the light from the windows.
"Harry, calm down," intoned Holly, layering on the Mesmer more thickly. "You don't have to be afraid. You can tell us everything. You want to tell us everything."
Artemis was looking at Harry. His face was tense, his eyes looked sad and angry. He was shaking a bit. Artemis had never seen anybody fight the Mesmer so hard.
Harry broke into a slight sweat. Holly's voice is so pretty. Like bells... I should tell her-no! No! I can't! They'll think I'm a monster. I already am a monster! Harry jerked forward slightly. "STOP IT!" he screamed at Holly, startling her. "STOP MESMERIZING ME!"
Holly leaned back in surprise. Her eyes flicked to his blades, Harry blinked and looked away from her. Butler, waiting outside, banged into the room, a fierce expression in place, his hand on his Sig Sauer.
"It's okay," said Artemis, raising a hand. "Were fine."
Butler looked at Harry, sitting in the chair, shaking and sweating a bit, one set of claws out, gripping the chair tightly.
"Are you sure, Artemis?" he asked, eyes locked on Harry. Harry looked pale, making the scars stand out more.
"Yes," said
"You broke my Mesmer, said Holly.
Harry retracted the one set of claws. "Sorry."
"Harry, what is that you don't want to talk about?" asked Artemis.
"Nothing," said Harry, trying to calm himself. He kept his eyes on Artemis as he said it.
Artemis tried to read Harry's body language, but all he could detect was the nervousness. He couldn't tell if Harry was lying or not.
Harry told him a few other bits of things that Aeron had said during his time there, but nothing about the girls.
"Harry, how did you break the Mesmer," asked Artemis, looking at Harry intently.
Harry thought a moment. "I don't know. I don't like talking about what happened. I was tortured for three months, everyday! You think I like talking about that?"
"I'm sorry," said Artemis. "Holly tried to make it more relaxing for you."
"I told you everything," said Harry. "I was pretty much just tortured day in and day out. Aeron didn't talk to me about his plans every day."
Artemis finished making notes and shut the voice recorder off. "I still wonder how you broke the mesmer."
Harry shrugged. "The device that I told you Aeron put on the back of my head, it wasn't working, and I ripped it off. So maybe my brain is too strong for it."
"Could be," said Holly.
Artemis's Powerbook buzzed.
"Hi, Foaly," said Artemis. He turned the laptop around a bit so everyone could see the screen.
"I found some stuff on the Pimante," said Foaly. "Apparently it was a material used in olden times by witches and wizards to raise dead bodies. It's not from Earth though. It comes from space, where exactly, is not known. But when it fell to Earth, they would use it to bring the dead back, and sometimes other things, all dark spells though. There is no record of anyone using until now. Apparently Aeron found some and figured a way to refine it down so it could be placed in Harry's body, and change him. Who knows what else Aeron could do with it? The bad news is that some is due to fall near Stonehenge, a sizeable chunk, and tomorrow at midnight."
"How do you know?" asked Holly.
"Simple," said Foaly, smugly. "I ran a scan from space and found what I thought was just a little meteorite debris. I ran a closer scan and found it was the Pimante. The cells of it match some of the stuff we found in the bodies of Creatures."
"We need to get it," said Artemis. "Aeron probably knows about it and will go and get it, so we must be ready. Although, more likely, Aeron himself will not get it, he'll send some lackeys to do it."
"He doesn't need to create anymore people like me," said Harry.
"So we're going to Stonehenge," said Holly.
Stonehenge, eleven o clock
The group hid in a camshield tent, hidden from everybody else that was around. They had been there since the night before, using cam foil to get everybody and everything up there and remain invisible. They didn't want Aeron's lackeys to get there first.
"Stonehenge used to be a pizza shop," said Holly. "Did you know that, Harry?" Butler smirked.
"No it wasn't," said Harry, sure she was pulling his leg.
"It was," said Holly. "Some guy realized a lot of fairies forget their packed lunches when they go aboveground so he set up a shop. The ground got too soggy from all the cheese and one of the service windows collapsed, so they closed shop."
Harry just raised an eyebrow at her.
"She's right," said Artemis looking through a window with fairy night vision goggles strapped to his head.
"Pizza?" muttered Ron. "I could go for some pizza."
"Not now," said Hermione. "We have to be ready."
"I want some pizza too," Juliet whispered, fingering the jade ring in her ponytail. Snape rolled his eyes.
At 11:45, Artemis sent Holly out. She was wearing her suit and her helmet, her Neutrino ready in head, set to a high setting, in case someone needed frying. She used her magic to go invisible and left the camshield tent.
Harry knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if he seen Aeron. He hadn't told the others, because he didn't want to get left behind at the Manor, but if he seen Aeron, and he knew he could do it without risking the others, he would kill him.
"Fairies disappear by making themselves vibrate at such a high speed, the human eye can't follow it," Hermione was whispering to Ron. "Isn't that fascinating?"
"Yes," admitted Ron. "It's cute; my darling wife is still a nerd."
Hermione pretended to punch him in the arm.
"Hush," said Artemis. "I'm watching Holly." He could see Holly through the goggles, since they were made from fairy tech. Butler kept his hand on his Sig Sauer.
Holly crept closer to the Stonehenge. She kept a sharp eye out, looking for anybody or anything that might be lurking about. She glanced up at the sky, hoping the Pimante didn't fall on her head.
She knelt by a fallen stone, her gun ready, and waited.
Minutes passed. Holly looked around and then up. The moon was three quarter full and the area was actually lit up by it. She checked the time on her helmet screen. Almost midnight. Thankfully it was a full moon, or there'd be hippy fairies everywhere, dancing around the Stonehenge, the ones who had left their lunches at home wishing the pizza shop was still here.
Her helmet detected something falling from the sky. She looked up. She couldn't see anything until it got close. Something dark, about the size of a soccer ball was falling. It thumped into the dirt in the middle of the stone circle.
She knew the others would be rushing out of the tent, hidden in cam foil. She crept close to the chunk. It looked golden, although it was hard to tell in the moonlight.
Somebody appeared out of nowhere next to the chunk. They must have apparated there from a nearby location. Holly aimed her gun and fired.
The figure jerked to the side and screeched.
"Lumos!" the figure sounded female.
Light appeared from the tip of the wand. "Who's there!?"
The rest of the group was creeping in. Harry recognized Amadae voices. Perhaps Aeron had told her to go get it, since she failed to kill them at the island.
Hermione sent a spell toward Amadae. Amadae blocked it and ran to the chunk of Pimante. Holly did too and they both knocked into each other and Holly fired her Neutrino and Amadae twisted to the side, barely avoiding it. She send a spell and Holly fizzled into view.
"Shit," she muttered.
"Expelliarmius!" shouted Snape.
Amadae's wand flew out of her hand and landed somewhere in the dark. Nobody could see where.
"CREATURES!" shrieked Amadae.
A troll came running at full speed toward Stonehenge, having appeared, it seemed, from nowhere. Harry cursed and released his wings and flew toward it. Butler fired his Sig Sauer at it, which caused to the troll to pause for a moment, since one caught him in the eye. Harry swooped in and jabbed his claws right into its heads, through the brain. With a nasty went sound, he pulled the blades out. The troll roared and fell down, cracking a fallen stone.
Three more creatures came leaping out of the darkness. They looked almost like werewolves.
"Balverines!" shouted Hermione.
There claws glinted in the moonlight, like silver. The creatures attacked. One leapt toward Artemis. Butler shoved Artemis out of the way and told him to back to the cam tent. Artemis tripped over his feet and landed on his back, getting tangled in the cam foil. Butler shot the creature. The bullet barely made the creature pause. Hermione sent a spell flying toward it and the balverine fell down.
Harry swooped in and stabbed it in the back. The creature whirled and stabbed Harry with claws and started running, driving Harry backwards with its intense strength.
The claws were rammed into his belly. He yelled in pain and suddenly felt sick. He felt himself crash into the stones with a thud. He could feel his claws going back into his arms, against his will. His wings went back in, which hurt as they always did when retracting. The pain in his stomach was worse.
The creature was pushed to the side by a Neutrino blast. A claw snapped off and remained lodged in Harry. He fell to his knees and tried to pull it out, gritting his teeth in agony.
He expected the sparks to pop up to heal him, but nothing happened. He figured it couldn't around the item lodged in him, but the others claw holes weren't healing either.
"What the fuck…?" moaned Harry.
He felt weak and sick. He couldn't get it out , the claw was hooked and wedged in too deep.
He slumped onto his side. He pulled as hard as he could, and with a cry of pain, finally managed to get it out.
He dropped the claw, blood soaking his hands. Two more balverines leapt into the circle of stones and lunged toward him. The hesitated for a second and jumped at him.
One slashed viciously at his chest and side, tearing off chunks of skin and flesh. Harry screamed and noticed another balverine lunging at Hermione, knocking her down. Another went for Ron. Holly was blasting the one whose claw had broken off in Harry.
My friends are going to die, he thought desperately. NO!
He felt a warm feeling envelope him. He thought it was the sparks that popped up to heal him when the attacking balverine reared backwards for a moment.
He jumped up suddenly, despite the wounds. His claws were longer and hooked now. He felt fangs grow in his mouth. His wings erupted out his back and they were white now. He jumped toward the Ron, being viciously attacked by a balverine. He grabbed it and ripped it off and flung it into one of the nearest stones. It crashed into it and he ripped the other one off Hermione and flung it the same way. The second balverine crashed into the first one and the first swiped at it without thinking. Harry lunged and stabbed them both in the neck. Blood spurted out, covering Harry in it.
Ron and Hermione were moaning on the ground, covered in slashes. Another one lunged for Butler and they rolled for a second on the ground. Butler was a formidable opponent, but even a balverine could take him down. Harry ran and jumped at it, knocking it off crashing with it into a stone. Snape sent a spell flying at the same time, and when they crashed into a stone, it wobbled and cracked.
The remaining balverine, seeing Harry as a formidable threat, tried to attack. But the cracked stone was supporting a horizontal one and it fell on the creature, crushing it. The one Harry attacked fell to the ground, its neck half split off. Harry jumped back, to avoid be crushed and crouched by the Pimante chunk.
Holly had used her magic to heal Ron, and was in the process of healing Hermione.
Amadae was up against a stone, looking at Harry, terrified. Then he noticed everyone else was staring at him in horror. Holly finished with Hermione and noticed Harry and she too looked frightened.
Harry was covered in blood. His wings were now white and splattered with it. His hair was slicked back with and it was dripping from his face. The sparks hadn't finished healing his injuries and they were bleeding. His mouth was open and he had fangs.
Harry realized everybody was looking at him like he was a wild animal, ready to attack at any second.
"What?" he snarled, his eyes flicking to Amadae, who looked up and smirked suddenly, before turning and fleeing into the night.
A balverine had leapt quietly onto a stone. No one but Amadae noticed it at first because they were all too busy staring at Harry, who looked like a vicious animal, coated in blood. The balverine leapt down and Harry heard it and readied his claws to jab it. The balverine landed on him. Harry sank his claws into its neck with a vicious roar. The animal's momentum knocked him onto his back and a silver claw punctured his side.
Harry felt the energy leave him again. The creature slumped to the side, dead. Harry's claws retracted. He felt the fangs retract too and the wings went back inside him. He lay moaning on the ground. The sparks hadn't finished with the rest of his wounds yet and they stopped with the claw stuck in him.
He lay, completely covered in blood, gritting his teeth in pain. Everybody rushed over.
"Why isn't he healing?" asked Holly frantically. "I don't have any magic left! I used it all on Ron and Hermione."
"Take the claw out of him!" shouted Artemis.
Butler removed the claw as gently as could. As soon as it was free, the sparks popped merrily and went to work again.
Harry moaned in pain and realized everyone was still looking at him with a bit of fear.
"What?" he grunted. "I'll heal."
"Just relax," he heard Holly say, but it sounded far away. Blackness was eating the edge of his vision.
"The Pimante," he mumbled.
"Just rest," he heard Ron say, very far away now.
He passed out.
Fowl Manor
Harry woke up and felt something soft touching his chest. He thought it was Amadae, trying get him aroused. He jerked and flung a hand out.
"Watch it!" said a voice. "It's just me."
Harry blinked and seen Holly, holding a bottle of something and a cotton ball, looking worried.
"Were at Fowl Manor," said Holly.
Harry realized he was a bed, wearing only pajama pants, and no shirt.
"What were you putting on me?" he asked, warily.
"Just some special lotion that supposed to help scars fade," said Holly. "Ron and Hermione got it. Said you might feel better if they were faded a bit."
"That was nice," said Harry. "Here, give it to me, I'll do it."
Holly handed it over.
"Did you get the Pimante?" asked Harry, rubbing the lotion on his chest. "Man, were gonna need buckets of this stuff for me."
Holly smiled slightly. "Yes, we got it. Artemis put it away somewhere safe. Amadae got away and all the balverines are dead. Butler had to carry you out."
Harry put some lotion on his face. "I don't know how to explain it, but, I changed back there. My claws got longer, my wings turned white. I felt stronger too. Is that why you were all looking at me like I was a crazed animal?"
Holly's eyes widened. "Harry, you were covered in blood, and your eyes were glowing red! You had fangs! And your wings were white and so was your hair! We didn't know what was going on! You didn't tell us you could do that!"
"I didn't even know!" said Harry. "The balverines claws made me feel sick and weak. It was weird. And I seen Ron and Hermione getting attacked and when I got the first claw out me, I started to feel different. I wasn't going to attack you!"
"It was just eerie to see you like that," said Holly. "Ron and Hermione are okay, but they got some scars. I had to go do the Ritual to top myself up again."
Harry put a shirt on and went to see Artemis who was downstairs. Everyone was eating a mid morning snack at the table. Harry guessed he must have been out for a while.
"Harry!" said Hermione, who now had a scar running down her cheek to her throat. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," replied Harry. "Holly said she healed you guys up."
"Harry, why did you go all weird looking?" asked Ron.
"You're eyes were glowing red," said Snape. "You had fangs. You looked like a vampire."
"I know," said Harry. "According to Holly, I was eerie."
"I have a theory," said Artemis. He had in front of him on the table the broken balverine claw. "This is pure silver. Those balverines weren't normal."
Holly nodded. "Normal ones have just normal claws, very sharp of course, but not of silver."
"So, I think Aeron created special ones and sent them after you. I think silver maybe your weakness." Artemis carefully lifted it up. "When you killed the last one, and that one's claw stabbed you, your blades went back in, your wings as well, and the rest of you went back to normal. No sparks came to heal you. When the Butler pulled it away from you, the sparks popped up and began the healing process."
"But what made him go all red eyes and fanged?" asked Ron.
"That, I'm not sure of," said Artemis. "I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. We were at Stonehenge, which is a magical place. The moon was out, but not full. And we were in grave danger, which may have prompted an instinct in you to grow stronger and protect your friends. You did quite viciously attack the balverines."
"What else would I do?" shrugged Harry.
"We could test the silver theory," said Artemis. "But you would have to hurt yourself to do it, and I'm not going to try and force you to do that."
"What would I have to do?" asked Harry.
Artemis picked it up. "Put out your wings and claws, and stab it into yourself. If your claws go back and your wings too, and no sparks pop up, silver must be your weakness and you'd best stay away."
Harry sighed. "I guess it's better to know for sure." He made his wings and blades come out. He took the balverine claw. Just touching it made him feel uneasy.
"I don't like holding it," said Harry. "It makes feel, a bit anxious like. Well here goes."
He stabbed the sharp bit into the underside of his forearm. The pointy end went into the flesh, making it bleed. His blades and wings retracted.
"Ugh," moaned Harry. "I feel sick and weak."
"Well, silver must be it," said Artemis.
Harry took it out but still held it. Weak sparks popped and began slowly healing. Harry dropped the claw on the table and the more sparks popped. The gouged bit was quickly healed.
Artemis picked up the cloth and wiped the blood off the table and the claw with a napkin. "Please no blood on the table. Mother would not be pleased."
"Sorry," said Harry, quickly letting the blades out and them putting them back in.
"Where are your parents?" asked Harry.
"At an eco conference in America, then they're going to another one being held in China. They'll be gone for a while. Father and Mother know about the Order, though they aren't joined."
"They didn't care?" asked Harry.
"I am an adult," said Artemis. "I can do what I please, although I did have to promise Mother I'd stay safe. I didn't let them in on all the dangerous details. So, you best stay away from silver, Harry. As for your transformation, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, I suppose."
"What are we to do with the Pimante?" asked Snape.
"Send it down to Foaly," replied Artemis. "He can keep it safe in Haven. Holly will be taking it and making a report at work, keep them up to speed."
Holly rolled her eyes. "Paperwork."
Holly left later with the Pimante safely in tow. Snape made a report to the Order, keeping them up to speed on the latest events. Some of the other Order people had gone to help some fairies deal with a troll that was attacking Moscow.
"What?" asked Harry. "A troll?"
"They got onto it quickly," said Artemis. "Nobody was killed. They doing mass mind wipes now."
"Aeron is doing that," said Harry. "Sending out beasts to get a head start on the Muggle population I bet."
Artemis nodded. "We've been told that our group in is charge of keeping track of possible Pimante dropping to Earth. Foaly got a report of two chunks falling within the next week. One is in New York, in some back alleys. The other is a few days after, in the mountains of Switzerland."
"Guess we better start preparing," said Harry.