Hey, Im sorry for my incredibly long absence. Im an ROTC Cadet and I'm studying Chinese. FF doesn't exactly live at the top of my list of things I must do.

The Character Challenge still stands. If you guys have anything you want to say to me, be it something you liked, or something you didn't, or just messages about the cake being a lie, my email is arcaon56 (Reviews are good too :P )

I'm back ladies and gentlemen!

Same rules from previous chapters still applies.

Almost One AM, Malfoy Manor.

Two men sat in a sleek black Audi in front of the Manor gates. They wore plain black suits, and each had a heavy black bag in one hand.

"How much longer?" One asked.

"Two minutes. The grab team should be in place by now. The call is supposed to come in at one."

"You see anyone on the grounds?"

"No. Empty. There is one guy on the ground floor, a bodyguard. He should be in the entrance hall."

"Okay, hold up." The first man's companion pulled a cell phone out of his breast pocket. "Time to go."

The men exited the car.

Just after One AM, Hogwarts Library.

Artemis Fowl put down his cell phone, and returned to the book he was reading; a very old copy of Spirits and Sorcerors, a book on Gaelic wizardry.

The Gael Sorcerors were unique amongst the wizards of the British Isles for their propensity for both wandless magic, and their fondness of the other magical races, going so far as to teach magic to a tribe of Centaurs which was later wiped out in the Scottish Centaur wars of 1345. The magic of the Gaels was controlled through language rather than through wands and staves like the English wizards of the time. The magic was said to "belong in the blood", according to several sources, only through immense concentration and through pure Gaelic wizarding heritage could Gaelic magic be mastered, although any wizard with knowledge of Gaelic could use their wandless techniques.

Artemis paused, placing the book pages down on the table and opening a glossary of Gaelic magical vocabulary. He paused, took a deep breath and extended one hand.

"Solas" a small beautiful blue light formed at the tip of his index finger, shook, then vanished.

One Ten AM, Malfoy Manor.

The door of Malfoy Manor swung open silently. The two men entered. The solitary bodyguard was there as promised, dozing quietly in a chair.

"Do the guard. Where's the fire place?"

"Round the corner, in there."

"Make it quiet."

The men split up, one going into a room off of the entrance hall. The second walked up to the guard and drew his wand, gently placing the tip between the man's eyes.

"Hi Kevin." The guards eyes opened. "Bye Kevin." the man's eyes were illuminated by a green light and closed. A whooshing sound came from the side room. Four men walked out with the first.

"Hey Cutter."

"Hey kid. The guard gone?"

"Deader than Merlin."

"Where's Malfoy?"

"Third floor, last door at the end of the hall on the right of the stairs. There's a fireplace in the room."

"The office?"

"Same thing, all on the left."

"Dan, you take these two and clear out the office. The Employer wants everything. You two, come with me."

Thirty minutes after One, Hogwarts Library

There were dozens of books on the table. Artemis flitted from section to section, whispering apologies to books from the forbidden section to keep them quiet. The piles of books grew higher and higher. Umbert's Compendium of Ancient Magicks, The Sorceror's Dictionary, and dozens of others.

Artemis Fowl had discovered something. He only paused to glance at a text that came up on his cell phone.

-Job Done.

- Cutter

Thirty One minutes after One, Malfoy Manor.

"We have a problem."

"What?"

"Read this."

I opened the gate like you asked. I gave the name as you asked. I gave you what you asked for my servant. Now I expect you to give me the boy.

"Who's this from?"

"Not sure. But it was on Malfoy's desk."

One of the men pulled a canvas hood from the head of a disheveled Lucius Malfoy.

"What does this mean?" Malfoy stared blearily up at him, not understanding.

"Crucio." Malfoy screamed. Beside him, his wife mewled in terror, blind beneath her hood.

"What does this mean?" The letter was presented again. Malfoy's red rimmed eyes flickered over it. Then he laughed, a hoarse dry laugh. Then he looked up, his face cracked into a wide grin.

"It means there is a Basilisk roaming free over Hogwarts tonight."

The tallest of the men, Cutter, scrambled for his cell phone.

Thirty Two minutes after One, Hogwarts Library.

Artemis glanced down from his new book to check his buzzing phone.

"Cutter? Is there a problem?"

"Sir..." an irish accent said hurriedly on the other end of the line. "Malfoy had a letter. There's a basilisk in the school. Its on the loose now..."

HHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Artemis hung up, ripping his wand from his pocket.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

There was something in the walls. He could hear it. The walls groaned all around him as the...thing...moved behind them. The bookshelves swayed dangerously. Artemis Fowl placed his wand deliberately on the library table, and turned back to the book he was reading.

Of all the dangerous magical creatures that exist in our world, the Basilisk, also known as the king of serpents is perhaps the most dangerous. With a body that can grow as large as half a kilometer in length, the Basilisk is armed with a paralyzing toxin and an equally harmful gaze. The man that looks into the eyes of a basilisk can expect to die within seconds.

BOOM

The candles guttered out.

In total darkness, Artemis scrambled for his wand, knocking over his chair as a deep rumbling hissing filled the Hogwarts library.

"Lumos."

A small bright white light appeared at the tip of Artemis's wand, illuminating dark scales.

The basilisk was here.