Fowl Meets Potter (Chapter 1)

Butler knew something big had happened as soon as he walked into the room. Artemis Fowl II, his young charge, had called together a meeting in the lounge upstairs, and it seemed he had called all the important people with whom to share his discovery. Juliet and Butler were there, of course. Minerva as well. Then there were the more supernatural visitors: the elf Captain Holly Short of the LEP, No1 the demon warlock, and the dwarf Mulch Diggums, who was raiding the mini-fridge in the corner. Each person had their own seat with a name taped to it. Mulch and Holly, being shortest, were in the front row, while Minerva and Juliet were with Butler in the back row. It was a bit like a stage in front of the chairs, a clear area of floor with a small projector on the floor in front of a white screen to show the images. The Fowls were going low-tech, much to Artemis's disapproval, so the unsophisticated projector was the best option they had. 

As Butler strode over to his seat, however, he spotted a familiar face he had not seen before. A hairy, tombstone-toothed face shining out from the depths of a small portable plasma TV that was perched on a stool directly in front of him. Butler sat down properly, then leaned forward and rotated the TV to face him.

"Foaly!" said the bodyguard, smiling. "Long time no see, old friend."

"Oh hello Butler," replied the centaur distractedly, experimentally twiddling some buttons on the control in front of him without looking up. "How's the chest?"

"Bullet-proof as ever. But it's getting a little easier to breathe, thanks to the Haven medicine you sent. Thanks again for letting me use some."

"The pleasure was all mine," said Foaly absently, scribbling a complex formula onto a notepad that lay next to a screen that displayed a slow-motion loop of a kraken shedding. "That was a test we really needed to do. Make sure it was safe and all that. We share a lot of DNA, so we figured it'd be fine. There is a small private hospital in Atlantis that's using it on some pixies who are chronic asthma patients as we speak," the centaur stopped working and looked up at the screen for a moment, chuckling. "You share a lot of treatments with pixies, don't you, Butler? For example, the face--"

"Shut up," grunted the bodyguard, unable to control himself from glancing over at Mulch. Something clicked in his head. "Wait, you never told me the medicine was experimental..."

Mercifully, before Foaly had to answer, a cold voice from the door said, "If I could have your attention, I am ready to begin."

Artemis walked into the room and hooked up his modified laptop to the projector, looking rather uncomfortable in his new jeans. The Irish youth was used to fine suits, and this was a huge change. He had managed to get away with a reasonably fancy shirt, but his mother had been pressuring him to try to act more his age. He would have refused to put the wretched garment on at all, but his mother was not someone to trifle with, especially not since she was choosing to withhold the information about fairies from the rest of the family until she saw fit. Angeline Fowl was a scary woman when she chose to be. Butler turned the TV to the front again, filing the medicine conversation under "Continue Interrogating Later" and focusing on Artemis's demonstration.

"I have summoned you all here today to tell you about a discovery I have made that could change the world. As everyone here knows, I keep tabs on everything, shall we say, less than legal in most of the continents of the world. I recently became aware that the views of the security cameras in King's Cross Station were all facing away from a certain spot. The cameras had been delicately tampered with, and none of the staff seemed to even notice. On further investigation, I found that this was the spot in question." Artemis flicked a picture of a regular train station barrier onto the screen. On one side was the number 10, and on the other, the number 9. 

Just loud enough for everyone to hear, Foaly taunted, "How utterly shocking! A normal human wall, made of bricks, too! I may need to sit down, Arty, this is a bit much for me." 

"Yes, it looks normal enough, doesn't it? I was perplexed. What importance could it possibly have? Well, I was curious and had some time on my hands, so I set up a tiny camera pointed directly at it, and this," Artemis said dramatically, "is what I found."

Onscreen, a video played, displaying a group of children of various ages standing in front of the barrier, pushing carts laden with strange books and bags of supplies, some even bearing an owl in a large cage. But this was not the oddest part. With a sweep of her hand, their mother shepherded them forward, and they rolled their trolleys right through the rough brickwork. Then the parents followed. Everyone gasped simultaneously and leaned forward.

"That can't be real!" said Mulch. "I mean, wouldn't it be easy enough to make it just look like they went through the barrier? Y'know, digital editing... stuff."

"Certainly," said Artemis cooly. "But only Butler and I knew that the camera  was in place, and the technology was absolutely undetectable on any human or fairy sweep. So I was forced to conclude that the video was genuine. There are several more families who go through, but I thought the first would be enough for this particular presentation."

I was wondering what that camera was for, thought Butler. He had chosen not to ask, because he knew that his charge would only reveal information when he chose, usually in a melodramatic fashion like this.

"Is it magic, then?" asked Minerva curiously, looking at Holly.

"Not any kind I've ever seen," Holly muttered. "Can you play it again? I want to look at the wall as they passed through."

"Certainly," said Artemis, and rolled the small film again.

As it ended, Artemis spoke up again.

"There is something very interesting at work here. The next day, I found my camera wiped and disabled, which should be impossible, seeing as the world outside of this manor should not have known it existed. I only kept the video from the previous day because I had it saved in several places. I ended up having to hire someone to watch it, but nothing unusual happened. I called it off. But then I got rather bored one day, so I hacked the cameras that were already there and swiveled them to point at the barrier, only to find a dozen or so janitors and engineers of some sort disappearing through the wall! When I looked at the calender, I even found that the day after next is September First, the very day I found the footage from before. I must find out more about this strange situation. So," said Artemis, clapping his hands together and smiling. "I have made a plan."

Holly groaned. "When Artemis Fowl says 'I have a plan', something is about to go horribly wrong."

"On the first of September, I will attempt to sneak through the portal," said Artemis, ignoring Holly, "perhaps using CHAMfoil, if you could lend me some. Then I will try my best to infiltrate. Not my best plan, I admit, but it was rather hastily made."

"Brilliant," whined Foaly. "More misuse of my beautiful equipment. I don't know why I put up with you."

"Well, I do have another thing to show you," smirked Artemis, pulling up another short video on his computer, "in case you weren't convinced enough by the first part of the presentation. I am extremely interested in this clip."

Again, everyone faced the screen. On it, a small girl of perhaps eleven was panicking because her trolley was broken. She tried in vain to drag it towards the barrier, but was making no progress. A man who looked like her older brother stooped to look at the wheel. He glanced towards the cameras, then, seemingly satisfied, drew a long, thin piece of wood from his coat, and tapped it on the cart, which fixed itself immediately with a small flash. Again, everyone gasped.

"Holly, have you ever heard of something like this?" whispered Juliet.

"No," Holly admitted, flummoxed. It was the second time in as many minutes someone had asked her a question she couldn't answer. "This is incredible."

"I have!" blurted No1 excitedly, glowing and bouncing up and down in his seat for glee. "Using an already magical object to help channel magic. It makes the power much more focused. I suppose that some humans never lost their magic after all! Incredible! They must be even more powerful than most fairies! There are probably magical humans doing magic all over the world right as we speak!"

"Exactly," said Artemis. "They are still using magic all the time, right under our noses. It's another reason that it would be easiest for me to infiltrate. Ever since I was, ah, brought back, I have been in possession of magic again. This time it is much more focused than when I stole it. I think I could fit in quite well. Furthermore, some of the most influential families in the world seem to be magical. I ran a face recognition program with the video I got and found some very interesting matches indeed. But we can go into those later. For now, we must prepare."

"Whoa, Artemis," objected Butler, speaking up for the first time. "This is a huge deal. No way I can send you into a strange, possibly hostile environment alone, and definitely not unarmed."

"Oh come now, Butler. I'm a big boy now, you can let me go explore. This is one of my biggest discoveries to date! Besides," said the Irish boy, grinning wolfishly, "I wasn't planning for a second that I would go unarmed."

So, what do you think? I'm considering continuing this, but I know it needs work. This could be my first proper novel if you like it. I would really appreciate a review!

(By the way, I do not in any way, shape, or form own these characters, so please don't sue me. Thanks!)