RE-EDUCATION

First Contact

Disclaimer: the only thing I really own is my school uniform. Who would like that huh?

A/N: 'Blah' is thoughts "Blah" is speech. This is my first attempt at posting on Please be kind. All flames and flamers will be placed in my human-hangi pit. Hint hint. Please tell me about any mistakes that are in here. The closest thing I've got to a beta is a friend that reads it before I 'type it out. And without further ado, the story

Artemis looked down at the letter that had come through the post with no small amount of shock. 'A magic school?' Artemis wondered. He reread the letter carefully.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc, Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards.

Dear Artemis Fowl the 2nd,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. As you are from a non-magic family a teacher will arrive Tuesday the 19th of July to explain about what is entailed in attending Hogwarts.

Professor McGonnagal

Deputy Headmistress

Is this just Foaly and Holly's idea of a very big joke?' He thought to himself before dismissing it. 'Holly wouldn't joke about me having magic; she doesn't know that I still have a spark left'.

He looked down at the bottom of the letter again. A teacher will arrive Tuesday the 19th to explain. 'Hmm, if this community have knowledge of magic, do they know about the People?' He snickered at his thinking before becoming serious again.

He thought he was the only human who knew about the People but if he slipped up then they would be in trouble and he didn't want to endanger his friends. These witches and wizards would have more at their disposal but just as many idiots who would try and exploit the People.

'Like I did, but I'm not like that anymore.' He mentally berated himself, 'I have friends and family that care. And know.' His face twitched downwards. He didn't have the heart to mind-wipe his mother and father, especially after his greeting once he'd walked back into the manor. He was still shocked that he was a big brother. A brother, him! So all of his family knew about the fairies.

Holly nearly blew a gasket when she found out about it but thankfully she never told anyone. 'God, what's Holly going to say about this?' He glanced at the communicator that Foaly had given him after the debriefing. They would have to know about this. Artemis prepared his ears for shouting; this was not going to be a happy conversation by the time it was finished.

There was stillness across the line then Holly's voice came across

"So let me get this straight: 1) you still have a portion of fairy magic left meaning you lied to me; 2) as if that wasn't weird enough, there is apparently a mudman school and they want you, Artemis Fowl evil incarnate, to attend." There was an uncomfortable silence then, "Do they want the world to be destroyed?!"

Artemis was hurt. "I'm not like that anymore Holly, I've changed a lot." He quietly said.

Holly realised what she'd said and was about to apologise before Foaly butted in.

"You need to go Arty. We have no idea whether our magic acts like theirs; will you need to do the Ritual? Will the other fairy rules apply? This could all go spectacularly wrong."

Another silence descended on the conversation.

"Well at least this is something that my parents are allowed to know."

"I'll see what I can find out, I don't understand how I didn't know about this, and I have the best detection system both above and below ground." the pride in Foaly's voice was evident.

"Just keep us in the loop Arty; I don't want to lose a friend." Holly slipped in.

"I will." he replied softly knowing that was the closest he was going to get now the moment had passed. "I'll talk to you after the person comes" and with that he shut down his end of the line.

The next morning at breakfast found Artemis playing with his toast.

"What's wrong Arty darling?" His mother asked him.

Placing the toast back on the plate he pulled the already creased letter out of his pocket.

"I got an odd letter."

"Oh?" His father's tone showing that he didn't give a full answer.

"It's from a magic school; apparently they would like me to attend."

The silence descended on the room again. 'Deja vu' Artemis chuckled to him. He slid the letter across the table towards his mother plate. She lifted it up with slightly trembling hands. Artemis looked at her eyes as they went back and forth across the page.

Passing it the senior Artemis she locked eyes with Artemis. "We only just got you back," She whispered.

"I know"

"Do you want to go?" His father asked.

"I'll listen to what the teacher says and think it over. But I won't decide without you."

Artemis didn't want to mention what Foaly had said to him. His parents didn't like to be reminded of the fairies; it reminded them of his 'absence' as it had come to be called. Though they had been happy to see him the shock at seeing him the same age as he'd left was never forgotten. He played with the rest of his toast then dropped it back.

"May I please be excused? I want to go think."

They looked at him concernedly.

"Of course" his father said wearily, "what are we going to do when they come?"

"The letter said Tuesday afternoon so we have got the weekend to decide how to act." And with that he stood up and left the room.

The weekend passed quickly with Artemis trying to find out as much as he could about Hogwarts. This was not much using only legal sources. It was like nothing existed, it just wasn't there. Not even a mention. He made a note to ask Foaly what he had found out about it.

Tuesday afternoon rolled around and the entire household had decided to put out a united front, down to the twins Helena and Hermia playing on the floor and Butler hiding in the corner. Now they were just waiting in the drawing room most of them introspective when the sound of something hitting the door shocked them out. Artemis stood up the quickest and walked out to answer it.

Professor McGonagall stood at the main entrance too what was obviously a very large manor house. She tugged at the blouse, uncomfortable in muggle clothing. With one last check to make sure her bun was all in place and tidy she knocked on the door and waited.

A teenage boy, dressed in what even McGonagall could see was semi-formal clothes. He looked to be about 15 of so. 'In Harry's year if he was at Hogwarts' McGonagall's thought turned to her favourite student, though she'd deny that she had favourites of course.

The boy had black hair as well but his was tidily cut. His eyes reminded her of a hawk, with piercing intelligence. He stood there, making McGonagall speak first.

"I am the Hogwarts representative," she said primly.

"Well thank you for coming." He said and stood to the side allowing her to pass through.

Angelina Fowl stood up to greet her guest.

"Hello I'm Angelina Fowl and this is my husband, Artemis the first." She said pointing round to everyone. "That's Butler and the two terrors on the floor are Helena and Hermia, you've already met Arty"

"I am professor McGonagall, the deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am here to talk to you and your son about the choices in front of him." She looked around the room, glancing from the twins on the floor to Butler in the shadows and Artemis sitting on the couch, Artemis piped up just as her eyes hit him.

"Why haven't I heard of this school before? I believe in magic, that's not the issue here, but we are not going to make a decision with out some more information."

"Arty!" his mother admonished him.

"Where is your other son? We shouldn't talk with out him here. It does concern him after all."

Artemis raised his eyebrow at his parents. "Other son? Do you have another son tucked away somewhere? Oh dear." His voice was cool and amused sounding.

"Why do you think that we have another son, the letter was addressed to Artemis?" This question was directed by the older Fowl.

"No offence, but you are not a first year student, they are eleven, and you are too old. We would have sent him a letter when you were. Accidental magic would have alerted us to the fact that we would need to talk to you."
"What if I wasn't magical at the age of eleven?" The professor sighed.

"If you didn't start displaying magical abilities then it is unlikely that you ever will."

Artemis' pocket started to vibrate.

"Arty, that should have been turned off. That's very bad manners."

He checked the screen. "It's Foaly," he commented standing up. "If you'll just excuse me, mother, professor."

He flipped open the phone and double-stepped it out of the room. "What have you got for me Foaly?"

"A black hole in my sensors that's what!"

Artemis could hear the frustration and contempt in the centaur's voice. "The dumb thing is that you can tell where they are by where the spaces are. The largest one is in Scotland, its large enough to hide an entire town in. there are some smaller spots around London and the other the main centres. Then house sized spots. I have to find out how they did it though. You get me more info about what they're using to clock. LEP would go nuts if they knew that my system has a hole. It would be suicide to send an officer in."

"But I'm alright to get rid of then?" Artemis said jokingly.

"No, but they won't expect you to have fairy tech on you."

"Ahh, well, I've been away long enough for the teacher. She was a bit surprised that I wasn't eleven for some reason. I will talk to you later."

He stood in the doorway watching his parents convincing the professor that he was Artemis. He gave Butler the signal that meant Foaly didn't have any information that they could use and strode back in.

"Sorry about that, my friend is, "he paused slightly, "out of the country." He smirked. "Now what were we talking about."

McGonagall stood up. "I was just going to demonstrate to your parents a bit of magic."

Artemis leaned back on the couch. "Demonstrate away professor, I'd like to ask you a few questions afterwards though."

The professor nodded and pulled a small stick, (a wand?) Out of her pocket. With a muttered incantation she tapped the teacup in front of her, turning it into a small, brown, snuffling hedgehog.

Artemis leaded forward and placed his hands in the classic Mr Burns pose. "Interesting. Is the wand real necessary for the magic?"

"Very good question young man, most people run screaming right now. To answer your question yes, for most magic it is. However some very powerful people can do wandless magic and some disciplines like herbology don't require much wand work." McGonagall looked intently at him.

"Just how old are you exactly?"

"15," he said promptly.

Angelina and his father both made sniffling noises. Then his father said in a raw voice, "18, you're 18 Arty."

McGonagall could see the conflict written on Artemis' face. "Yes, I'm 18. Sorry professor, I'm officially three years older than I remember."

"Did you lose your memory?" McGonagall asked, thinking of the Obliviate.

"No, I had a run-in with a bit of time-travelling. My hypothesis is that the encounter is why I only just now showing up on whatever it is that senses magic."

The professor gave him a long hard look.

"Could you hold my wand for a moment please?" Blue sparks erupted from the tip almost as son as Artemis' fingers touched the wand. They fritted out as he grasped it better.

"Hmm," he murmured then quietly chuckled. "There goes one question."

He looked across the room at Butler, "Can you imagine Holly waving around one of these during her shift?"

Butler's lips twitched upwards. "No." he commented simply.

"Neither cans me."

The professor was quick to ask to obvious question. "And who is Holly? You can not tell anyone outside your immediate family about this."

Artemis thought for a few seconds. "Not even if they already know that magic is real?"

"Unless they are a witch or a wizard then the answer is no."

"So there are other types of magic then?" Artemis already knew the answer but he wanted to see if the professor knew it as well.

"Yes, there are different magical creatures that have magic. House elves for example, have magical abilities that are suited to what they do and don't need wands to do it."

'That's doesn't sound like the fairies I know and love, let's ask another useless question just to make sure.' "Are there leprechauns?" he asked with a laugh.

The answer she gave surprised him.

"Yes, almost exactly like the ones in children's tales with shamrocks and top of the morning. There was a group of them with the Irish Quiditch team at the world cup last year."

Artemis burst out laughing. His laughter stopped however, when a very familiar female voice spoke, one that hadn't been in the conversation so far.

"And what exactly is so funny about that Fowl?"

Holly shimmered into the visible spectrum. "I'm just glad I wasn't here when that happened, time travels well for some things aye?"

"How long have you been listening in my dear captain?"

"Since the professor came in. you gave me a blanket entry to your house which you never took off."

Artemis looked irritated. "So others know?"

Holly sighed and sat beside him. "In Foaly's digging we hit a red flag and I got called to the council chambers. The council has contact with people in their society."

Artemis was lost for words.

"Artemis, I didn't know. You know that if I did I would have told you."

"I believe you Holly" he said softly.

"Foaly's right, you need to go. You have the councils backing if that doesn't make you angrier."

Artemis leaned back and closed his eyes thinking. "So how many others got included in my little club? Judging by the professor's face she doesn't know. So who do I need to avoid?"

Holly laughed at his turn of phrase. "Why do you think you'll need to avoid them?" she asked innocently.

He laughed too. "Because the council has never been a fan of my work. They mind-wiped me remember? And if it wasn't for Opal then I wouldn't be in this position."

Holly snickered "Oh yeah."

"So..."

"You're still in a select group; there are only two of them. But unfortunately one of them you are not going to be able to avoid. It's your headmaster."

Artemis groaned. "This situation just keeps getting better and better, what next? You're sending me in alone?"

"I'd need an invite before I could get into the building and I may not be allowed to go."

"Better and better."

"Arty," came his mothers concerned voice.

"I'm sorry mother."

"Arty," her voice was tearful.

"I'm sorry mother." he stood up and shook Professor McGonagall's hand. "Thank you for coming professor. I'll be in contact later on in the week for more information."

She stood up as well "I won't say I understood most of what's going on here today but thank you for letting me come. I think I'll have a little chat with the headmaster when I go back to school."

"He will not be allowed to tell you anything, so don't get too disgruntled at him." Holly remarked.

With her exit the room was left in an uncomfortable silence. Artemis shook him out of the numbness he was feeling. Others knew. He got himself mind wiped to keep the fairies secret and others knew. Okay, so it was only two but this changed everything. Holly watched Artemis's face as it went through varied emotions. 'Shouldn't have told him like that. I should have braced him for the revelation.' all the other people in the room also looked in different states of thought.

Read and review please!

Morange