Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I do not own any of the recognizable characters in any shape, size or form.

Note to beginners: This is the sequel to 'Artemis Fowl and the New World'. I strongly recommend reading it first for beginners.

Chapter One

A Summer Well-Known

What happened in the summer holidays is not a profoundly arcane recondite. Artemis Fowl the Second had at last found out the Book of the People, which was logically the Fairy Bible. He had translated the Gnommish text using modern technology, kidnapped a clever young fairy, claimed a lot of ransom money (gold, actually), then set the fairy free, who had cured his mother well very, and hence was solved the first sprite mystery.

Artemis had missed Butler more than ever in his life. Butler was his closest associate and he'd had live away from him for long. It was the same with Butler; Artemis was not only his principal, but more than a son. Though bodyguards were not to have any emotional attachment with their employers, Butler had broken this rule. But he felt he had no choice.

Artemis's mother had been cured by the fairy with her magic. But it would take months for the brain to actually realize that it was not disturbed anymore and for it to return to the present. With some precise calculations, Artemis Fowl had guessed that she would return to her normal mind around Christmas time. But he didn't know that it would be exactly on Christmas day. He would, when time came.

Artemis Fowl had survived the bio-bomb by escaping the time-field, which even fairies didn't know how to do. Now that his fairy ventures were over, he was into searching for news about his father again. But he wasn't having much luck over the issue.

He was, at present, trying to understand the mechanics of fairy technology, which was without a doubt more advanced than any technology that humans had. When they had abducted Holly Short, Artemis had taken her helmet and other equipments. Also, when the LEP Retrieval One had come to rescue her, Butler had taken some of the fairy accoutrements.

As far as Artemis knew (and he knew much, you know), fairy technology, if mixed with some of the human technology could revolutionize the world of technology and applied science. Whatever that was manufactured would well be decades, why, centuries ahead of what man (or woman, if you are very feminist) could fabricate. He could build Fowl industries and take every renowned commercial enterprise out of business.

So this was his main plan for the vacation. Though he wouldn't be able to do it all in these mere fifty days (around ten were wasted in the abduction affair), he was confident that including the vacation during Christmas time and all the weekends he would get, if he worked on it quite hard, he would be able to make a technological phenomenon.

Also, he needed to improve his magical skills. There was so much you could learn and practice, even without a wand. There were things like Legilimency and Occlumency, highly useful skills (you know about them, which is why I will not go into detail here, or maybe anywhere, for that matter). Legilimency would be very useful. For there were few who could do it, and hence no need to fear that those few would always try to pry on your mind. Obviously I am trying to tell that the clever and adroit and everyone-knows-what-else Fowl boy wasn't much interested in learning Occlumency.

Artemis was not at all getting bored by fairy technology. Learning new things was his thing. And he liked it very much.

But also, today was the day of an online chess tournament for accomplished chess masters. In it could participate all players who had a certified elo rating of 2200 and above, that is, if they qualified in the least as a Candidate Master, or if they were FIDE Masters (2300 and above), International Masters (2400 and above) or International Grandmasters (2500 and above).

Naturally, Artemis Fowl, a consummate grandmaster himself with an elo rating of 3044, higher than that of anyone alive or dead from the past or present, was eager to participate to test his skills. And now it was time.

Actually, his elo rating or chess genius was not known to the world. He'd calculated it himself after his matches with rated opponents by standard FIDE procedure. As far as the FIDE knew, he was a young grandmaster with a rating of 2512. It was always better if your opponents knew less about you or you were underestimated.

The tournament was a one-match contest. The player who finished his game with a most spectacular win would be the winner of the competition.

Artemis's opponent turned out to be Evan Kashoggi, who was the European chess champion.

They played for over one hour; and Artemis made his seventeenth move and his opponent was out of the game. Kashoggi resigned.

Artemis Fowl won the tournament.

But this was the least of what Artemis did in his holidays.

Artemis had patented twenty-three inventions and was planning on going public over four more of his inventions.

Also, as you all know, he won the architectural competition to design Dublin's new opera house.

Similarly, he had forged over a dozen Impressionist paintings, about which too, you would all know well.

But what you all wouldn't know is what he did relating to magic during his vacation. He'd gone to Diagon Alley and bought everything a second-year needed, and also bought dozens of books.

Artemis Fowl would have bet a year ago that he'd read more number of stories and novels than any teenager ever had, but not now. Wizards and witches had their own stories to account for, and he'd have to study each and every tale to see the world from the point of view of wizards. Of the dozens of books he'd bought for a bit of extra reading, half were storybooks. It was a strange sight for Butler, watching the greatest genius of his time studying a storybook.

Reading books turned out to be useful; he learnt more magical theories. But now he had a confusion that needed to be solved.

The perturbation did not come from learning magical theories. It came after interacting with the fairies.

The magical world aboveground had creatures like centaurs, trolls, gnomes, pixies, elves and goblins. So did the magical world underground. In addition, the underground fairies included demons, dwarves, sprites and gremlins.

How was it that in both cases of magical creatures, centaurs and trolls couldn't do anything magical? It seemed as if they were related to each other…

The only plausible explanation to this was that when the fairies went underground after fighting with humans during the Irish War, some of them had remained behind. And after thousands of years of evolution, each creature had changed considerably in appearance and abilities. Like underground goblins were moronic, while the aboveground ones were wily and knavish.

Also, the type of magic used by them was considerably different. The magic used aboveground was stronger than that used by the leprechauns, and was resistant to muggle stuff like electronic objects, that is to say, such things didn't work in the presence of this type of magic. Even Foaly's most advanced technology could not be effective near places of the superior magic aboveground.

Additionally, leprechauns could run out of magic. But wizards or witches couldn't. The most that could happen to them was that they lost or destroyed their wand.

Humans must have acquired magic somehow by forcing a magical creature that didn't have any magic left in it to reveal magical secrets, Artemis thought. And the creature must have really been in love of its life, for it had betrayed to humans a sacred secret that had been guarded for millennia.

And since humans were new to magic, they couldn't directly use magic efficiently without equipment. Hence they used magical substances to direct and concentrate their magic; wands.

The knowledge Artemis Fowl had uncovered and reasoned in under a minute was something most humans would give anything for. Importance of the knowledge was not what mattered to him, but. It was the very knowledge that mattered.

ooooooo

By the time Artemis had patented his four new inventions and finished reading each and every book bought in Diagon Alley, the summer vacation was over. In fact, tomorrow he was going back to Hogwarts, and tomorrow he would be thirteen. Not that it mattered much to him; I'm talking about the second part. The first part mattered to him unconscionably, immoderately, unduly, inordinately or whatever term you prefer.

When he awoke next morning, he smiled. It didn't happen often, yet it happened now. For we all know what today was for him. A return to the world of magic. A return he most fervidly lying in store for.

This summer had been very interesting; all the events that led to the titillation of this summer are very well known and need no mention de novo.

In no time (that is not correct, if you want to be precise) Artemis was sitting in the Hogwarts Express in an empty compartment and Butler was waving him good-bye. Artemis thought he saw a drop of the limpid, saline fluid secreted, in small amount, by the lachrymal gland, and diffused between the eye and the eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion in Butler's eyes (if you didn't get it, he saw a tear forming in the eyes of the old bodyguard).

The jaunt was eventless. Artemis kept himself immersed in Overture to Non-verbal spells. When at last the train stopped, Artemis stepped down from the train, and so did hundreds of others.

This time, they were to go to school in carriages driven by thestrals, as books said that all Hogwarts students except first-years reached the school that way. And books had rarely been wrong. But they had, though it doesn't matter here.

Artemis could see the thestrals, and he knew why; only those who'd seen a person dying directly could see them. Very few students could, as he understood by the expressions on their faces. And Artemis had seen a death. One that had affected him quite badly. One that actually changed his life in many ways, though he never realized that.

He looked up to see the eminent and towering castle above him, more beauteous than any building he'd ever seen before. At that moment, he felt an ardor in him like he had never felt before. The fervor nearly made him feel kind-hearted. Nearly. I'm turning good, he thought.

He entered the school. The Headmistress spoke the same words as in the year before. There was the sorting ceremony and then the feast, and then all the students were heading to their dormitories. This term's password was Hairy Ailments, which was suggested by Artemis as he told them that it was a perfect anagram of I am a Slytherin, and all of the of the Slytherins accepted it grandly. He was, from then on, considered a genius by those who knew him and those who didn't (very few) alike.

Artemis Fowl thought of all that he could and would do now that he was back at school. All warmth that he had felt when he'd seen the Hogwarts castle from a distance vanished as the criminal genius inside him awakened again. Maybe, there would be time for warmth later.

The thoughts swirled in his mind for as long as consciousness would allow, until weariness let sleep claim him.

ooooooo

Author's Note

Thus begins the sequel! How was this? I know you're all choleric as I've not mentioned Butler much, but he doesn't play much part for now. Everything will happen as it does in the books released by master writer Eoin Colfer, only they will be adjusted within this concept. And the Time Paradox is coming soon, so do you think it'll answer some of the many unanswered questions? Anyway, next chapter shouldn't take long… and please R&R!