Darkness, dripping moldy darkness. Endless passages of stone, crawling with bugs and filled with debris. Twisting, twisting until up is down and down is up. Directions become meaningless and wrong. Wrong, everything is wrong. Following a shadow, a cloak, a snake. Leading him to his doom. There is light up ahead, but this light holds no comfort. No joy. This light holds daggers and danger and cruelty. Death and pain. He tries to turn back but as he turns around he is suddenly in the room, standing in front of a gaunt snake-like man. Eyes meet and pressure stabs into his mind. Relentless and pressing, it probes for weakness but eventually it fades. Anger leaps from red eyes and Pain, unendurable Pain crashes down. Down he falls. There is no escape from the knives crawling over every nerve, every inch of skin.
With a gasp Artemis wakes, shuddering and too warm. Sweat has pooled under him. Not a pleasant awakening, but one he is growing used to.
Harry Potter now hated Snape more than ever! ARG! The useless git was 'supposed' to teach him Occlumency. Tonight was the first lesson and it had been nothing but headaches, pain and Snape prying into his personal memories. The only really useful thing he had learned is that apparently that Oath he made with Artemis prevented Snape from seeing anything that he had agreed to keep a secret.
Now that he knew people could just read others minds like that, it made him realize just how vulnerable any information he had was. But he also knew the counter to it as well. If the Headmaster was not sharing info with him just because he was afraid Harry would be mind read, why not just have him swear an Oath to keep it a secret?
First Dumbledore avoided all contact with him and stopped his friends from giving him info over the summer. Now these useless lessons from a teacher who hated him. Harry was starting to realize that if he was going to get anything useful done, he was going to have to do it himself!
He was glad that Susan had passed on a message in class earlier today, that in two days they would have the next secret defense lesson. He needed to talk to Artemis about how as a spy he protected his mind from spilling secrets. There was a good chance he would know Occlumency just as good as Snape did, or have some kind of magical item that could be bought to do the same thing. Then Harry wouldn't have to continue with the embarrassing 'Remedial Potions' lessons. One set of secret meetings a week was enough.
Harry tried to make himself calm as he lay in his bed with the curtains drawn, but it just was not working. His head felt raw and irritable. He tried to think about something more pleasant. Hmmm.. how about his friends? Yeah, they were good friends. He thought with a smile.
Harry had of course tried to tell them about Artemis the spy and Death Eater, but the Oath stopped him from saying anything. But with his vague hints that he thought something was up with Artemis, and that he was a bit of an odd character, Hermione and Ron were warned to keep an eye on him. Then he had 'oh so innocently' changed the subject to magical Oaths, and asked about what they knew about them, and if they were used a lot to help people keep secrets. It was funny to see how Hermione's eyes widened as she put two and two together, although Ron was of course oblivious.
She had nodded at Harry vigorously, and then had to explain it all to Ron. Ron quickly got alarmed and concerned for Harry, it was heartwarming to see how seriously they took it. Harry had to put up with some questions from them, but since the Oath made him not able to reveal anything else, they all got frustrated very quickly. But at least they knew that he couldn't tell them something important and who it was about.
Harry did think briefly about trying to warn Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, but then he remembered that Professor Flitwick seemed to be in on it so he probably already knew about it. And if they didn't know, Harry didn't want one of the best teachers in school to get fired, not when they would probably be replaced by another person like Umbridge. He shudders at that thought. One was bad enough, imagine if there were two! Besides, its not like Dumbledore was letting Harry see him or talk to him anyways. Not even any eye contact at supper.
The Order had its secrets it refused to tell Harry? He was allowed his own! He was the one who always kept ending up in dangerous situations and the adults never ended up being helpful. It was kind of nice to get back at them for withholding information from him, by now being unable to tell them something. He felt a bit guilty at that thought, but it was true.
So a few days ago Harry had told Hermione and Ron to not tell anyone else about 'how neat magical Oaths were', that it was important. Ron agreed right away, and Harry was pleased to see that Hermione only hesitated a bit before agreeing as well.
Alas, the soothing thoughts of his friends loyalty and cleverness quickly faded as Harry had a strange feeling of malicious glee wash through him. With a sense of dread he realized that it was Voldemort, and that something had happened to make him happy. This could not be good.
Headlines the next morning confirm Harry's feelings of dread from last night. Ten Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban! The great hall is a buzzing with talk and speculation, many students looking grim or worried. Some Slytherins look proud, but dark looks from the rest of the school keep them from saying anything aloud.
Hermione also notices in the paper something about the death of the guy they briefly saw in St Mungos. They had even been there when the guy got the deadly potted plant! If only they had noticed it... He thinks sadly. The three all end up feeling a bit guilty as they talk about it, thinking that they could have done something.
After some speculation and arguing, they agree that Voldemort probably had something to do with Broderick Bode being strangled by Devil's Snare. But with no idea why, there isn't much that can do about it.
This was just not going to be a very good day.
Luckily for Artemis, Harry had yet to discover the listening bug that he had planted on him after the little 'incident' before term started. Short range only, but within the confines of a castle, very useful. The morning after Harry had alerted Hermione to the "Oath Problem," Artemis had done his usual brief scan though the record before sending it on to Foaly through a LEP satellite for a more thorough analysis.
This means that Artemis knows precisely how clever and sneaky Hermione was in putting together the clues Harry had dropped a few nights before. He is relieved that they didn't plan to tell anyone else yet. Having to try to sneak into their dorms to Obliviate them would have been very risky. Although it seems that he might have to find a way to get them to swear Oaths as well.
I do wonder if I could recruit Potter to help me with my little 'mission'... He muses as he pulls out a quill with red ink and gets to work maintaining his cover.
Otherwise removing the prophecy for the Dark Lord will be much more difficult. I may be a very good thief, but there is no reason not to use a shortcut if it will save me the hassle. Especially since this fake wand cannot cast any spells that are too strong for it, meaning the powerful Nihil Potentia spell is forever out of my reach. Such a pity, it would have defeated most of the protections that they have in place. But it takes a strong Warlock of the People to cast that one.
Thank Frond I was able to prove I can be useful to the Dark Lord without being able to cast the Unforgivables. He remembers with a suppressed shudder. Still, at least the idiot is giving me till the end of June to get it or die in the attempt. Generous given that I am sure I will be done near Valentines. He smirks to himself as he finishes marking some random child's essay, appalled at how mind numbing the task of marking 50 essays on the same subject is.
Filius is sitting at the same table in their peaceful but small room, marking more essays with him. It is a companionable silence as they both get along quite well, for a human and an elf anyways.
Unfortunately the silence ends up broken eventually, as the sun is setting and twilight descends upon the world outside the windows. Artemis lets out an angry sounding D'Arvit as the Dark Mark on his arm heats up to painful levels. Suddenly intuitively knowing exactly where the Dark Lord is without words, not enough to name a location, but more of an internal pull. This is the first time I have been called since initiation, he thinks. I wonder what he could possibly want. It is far too soon, I was expecting this call much later in the year. It has only been a few weeks!
Artemis rushes around in haste, fearful of being late and punished painfully, he has no wish to ever feel the Cruciatus ever again.
As he grabs items he knows might be useful, he feels the pain of the mark fade slowly away. A bag is quickly packed with numerous emergency potions from the cabinet, secret compartments in his robe are loaded with tracking bugs, listening devices, emergency portkeys and more. He stands taller and changes his body language to be more menacing. Facing a mirror on the wall he conjures himself a silver mask similar to the ones he saw in use last time, sticking it to his face with a simple charm.
Turning to Flitwick who is looking on nervous and looking speechless, Artemis commands, "I need you to make me a portkey with no destination set."
"What? That, that's dangerous Artemis! It's suicidal! If you fail to have a proper destination set, you could end up anywhere, kill yourself or worse!" Flitwick responds in alarm.
Trying to be reassuring Artemis explains, "I cannot Apparate and there certainly is no Floo destination to go to. From what I can sense it is too far to fly there on that broom. The Dark Mark serves as a beacon allowing anyone to apparate or set a portkey to the location. Since the portkey spell is too powerful for me to program into my wand, you must be the one to cast it.
I know it is risky to have to set the destination myself, but I did program that ability into my wand specifically for this problem. Any blank portkey I can direct to any place I know. I am fully aware that using my own mind instead of a fixed spell matrix is dangerous and could injure me, or worse, my mind."
Flitwick hesitates to reply, still looking concerned and unsure. The masked figure in front of him looks as cold and deadly as any other Death Eater he has ever seen, bringing back bad memories. The clever, helpful teen of a few min ago is gone, as if he never was.
Artemis sighs, face obscured by the mask but exasperation creeping into his tone.
"Unless you are willing to attempt to Apparate me repeatedly around the countryside as we play 'Hotter or Colder'... And of course risk the Dark Lord seeing you play chauffeur? I think not. I would prefer if you did not risk yourself or your cover when it is my problem to handle. I assure you I will be fine."
Resigned, Flitwick nods and turns a random quill on the nearby table into a portkey and hands it to Artemis. Since a portkey made by a Hogwarts Professor can go out through the wards, he won't have to go beyond the gate to leave.
"Activation word is 'Good Luck'." Flitwick tells him with a quick and clever smile.
Behind his smooth silvery mask Artemis smiles back and says, "Good Luck." Whirling away into nothingness, he disappears.
Artemis Fowl Sr. looked back fondly on the last few months, it was a pity that things likely would not continue to be as nice and calm.
Angeline Fowl had been having so much fun meeting witches at parties, mingling and making friends over the last few months. She was always a caring soul and had already taken up the non-human cause and was busy campaigning away for their equal rights. Hosting dinner parties was her new thing as well, the manor had been positively filled to the brim for New Years.
The political side was humming along nicely. In the muggle world, advertising efforts were stepped up to entice blood donations from the public all across Europe, and Artemis Sr. already had started arraigning for a small subset of the blood to go to the new private 'Hospitals' meant for hungry vampires.
Artemis Sr. had even initiated his own side project and purchased a large amount of swamp land to be turned into a magical ingredient 'farm'. Plenty of magical plants grew in swamps and were normally hard for wizards to acquire. In a few decades many of the useful plants will have taken root and spread, and there was be a lot of profit to be had in magical ingredient sales.
But now Artemis Fowl Sr. is worried, very worried. Pacing back and forth in his office, he looked up at the clock and noticed that soon it would be so late that his lovely Angeline would scold him when he came to bed. He would have to make sure to calm down in time, or else risk her ire. He didn't want to alarm his dear wife.
His son has been regularly reporting to him through the quite helpful portrait of Chao, he would then pass it on to the People and anything they had for him would be passed back through the painting. But the latest news from his son about having infiltrated the Death eaters was disturbing on many levels, especially the lack of details that his son 'forgot' to provide. Artemis Sr. knows they are a nasty terrorist organization, and he fears what sort of 'initiation rites' they might have made his son do.
Angeline was already unhappy that her son's spying was keeping him away from home for the holidays, and this would only upset her further. He hated upsetting her now that the family was whole once more.
The reason he was so agitated? A clandestine night-time phone call from the People has just warned him that ten Death Eaters have broken out of Azkaban. Arty might have been involved, he just didn't know yet. Arty wouldn't be reporting back in until tomorrow night so Artemis Sr. had no way of knowing if his son was alright, if he had been exposed to Dementors, or was safe in Hogwarts.
Apparently the People already had a list of who broke out, but their location is unknown and will likely stay that way unless Arty finds out with his new connections. They want Artemis Sr. to use this news to quietly urge the Irish Minister for Magic to increase funding for the Auror's division, and to hopefully use this to get the British Minister to follow suit. At the very least, if the Irish Minister was prepared the Death Eaters would not be able to expand until they completely have Britain under their thumb.
Artemis Sr. finally manages to get his usual charming poker face in place, and heads off to sleep.
AN: Baaack! :D
I did some fixing up of previous chapters, fixed a few date errors and whatnot. And nope, this story is still alive. Just very... uh... slow... *sheepish grin* EDIT: Also changed the order of the scenes to make it more clear.