Disclaimer: The primary characters are based out of the work of Eoin Colfer and JK Rowling. The secondary characters are based out of the work of... well, me.

CHAPTER NINE

Herbology

Winter was coming in earnest, even as November flew by without a trace of trouble. Slytherin had won back to back games and was hot contender again this year for the Quidditch championship. In the light of Quidditch, midterms and upcoming holidays, most of the school had forgotten the dragon incident, much to Artemis' relief.

"Today we will be studying Leaping Toadstools. If you will please open page no. 395 of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, we can get started," said Professor Longbottom.

Artemis made a show of opening his book, but instead of touching the book he simply made an action of opening it with his hand inches away. The book unfurled itself, stopping at page 395.

"Wow. That was cool!" quipped Anna, a stunned Ravenclaw second year sitting next to him.

"It's simple really," he replied with an annoyed shrug. He never saw her face turn green. Listening to the conversation from the side, Jack and Steve fought to control their sniggers.

"Page no. 395, Mr. Winters," said Professor Longbottom, flicking his wand at Jack's book. The book quickly flipped itself to the correct page. With a playful smile he added, "And I assume Mr. Regan has already completed his study of Leaping Toadstools?"

Steve's laughter died in his throat. "I forgot to bring my textbook, Professor. I was planning to share Jack's."

"That can be remedied," said Professor Longbottom, waving his wand at a bookshelf in the corner of the greenhouse. An old book flew like a bolt at him, causing students in the way to panic and scream. After hitting a student on the shoulder and another on the head, it came to him. Struggling to catch it, he somehow managed to land the book in front of Steve without dropping it. The whole class erupted into laughter.

"Sorry, sorry, hope no one got hurt," he said kindly before turning to Jack and Steve, with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "Well, I was never good at catching stuff anyway. Didn't even bother to ever go to Seeker trials," nodding at Artemis. Artemis glanced at the Professor with a well-practiced understanding smile, which he returned.

"So, Leaping Toadstools are magical mushrooms which can jump. I can't tell you how many smart wizards they've fooled and escaped. Tricky guys, they are. Did you know, that the highest recorded jump by a Leaping Toadstool is more than 100 feet? Of course, that's only the full grown ones. We'll only be dealing with baby mushrooms, the most you'll see them jump will be 5 feet, but still be careful…"

Artemis' mind started drifting. Artemis Fowl was lately immersing himself deeply in wandlore, a subject studied but by a few. This puzzled him greatly. Given that wands were the strongest instruments used to perform magic, it was odd that most of the knowledge about wands and their making came from the work of a handful of gifted wizards.

The magical folk have grown into a comfort zone because magic solves most of their problems, considered Artemis. They are still at a primitive stage when it comes to research, much like muggles were in the Middle Ages. There is much yet to be explored.

Across his study of wand woods and cores, the repeated references to the Elder Wand unsettled him. A wand that could not be beaten. The lust this inspired in the hearts of men. The fear it stirred in the hands of dark wizards. Of course, it made no sense that Death had given the wand to a man – but the fact that all wandmakers of repute had referenced the wand, and that the wand resurfaced with a bloody trail throughout history, indicated that there must be some truth to the rumors. At the very least, it was an extremely powerful wand.

Of course, it was well known that the wand was made of elder wood and possessed as its core thestral tail hair. Many attempts had been made over centuries to recreate it, but the difficulties were immediately apparent – elder wood was exceptionally difficult to master for wandmaking, and thestral tail hair was a very unstable core; not to mention the troubles most wandmakers had to go through to extract hair from a creature that was invisible to them.

Artemis' concentration was suddenly broken by a change in the tonality of Professor Longbottom's voice.

"Enough from the book now," said Professor Longbottom, "it's time for some fun. There is a Leaping Toadstool encased in front of each of you, and when you open the casing, they will try to jump and escape. You will all use the Impediment Jinx to immobilize them, catch hold of them and put them back in the case. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" came the prompt chorus response.

"Now, without drawing your wands, all of you, repeat after me… Impedimenta!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Good, very good. Just try to aim well. You can start right away."

Squeaks from the Leaping Toadstools filled the tables as scores of students popped their cases open. Shouts of "Impedimenta!" filled the room as the Leaping Toadstools took off to the air.

All of a sudden, Jack froze and dropped like a statue on to the floor. A misfired jinx had missed its target and hit Jack round in the face. Ravenclaws roared with laughter, and even some of the Slytherins couldn't control their grins.

"That's okay, it's alright, these things happen," announced Professor Longbottom, "he'll be up and about in a few seconds. It's a very effective jinx but it's harmless."

Artemis looked for the source of the spell. Even as Professor Longbottom was making sure everyone had caught their toadstools and put them back in the casing, and helping those who were finding it hard to do so – away in the opposite table, Simon was looking at Jack with a wicked glee, his own Leaping Toadstool still jumping around unattended. Artemis was enraged. He knew Simon and Jack never got along, but this was going too far. But he dared not try anything in front of Professor Longbottom lest he get caught. Maybe something slow acting, he thought. A mischievous smile formed on his face.

"Densaugeo Impedimenta!" he muttered under his breath, pointing his wand at Simon under the table so Professor Longbottom wouldn't notice.

The spell itself would grow his front teeth to an abnormally large size, but the Impediment Jinx added to the spell would ensure the process would happen slowly enough that no one would realize anything was wrong till the class was over. Artemis basked in his own genius, even as a dazed Jack came to his senses.

"Today was good," said Professor Longbottom, "just remember, once caught and domesticated, they can be used in a variety of concoctions, including Anti-Aging potions. They can save you even from the brink of death. Class dismissed."

Artemis was suddenly possessed by a desire to claim the Elder Wand for his own. Master of death it would make him, if he could get his hands on the other two Hallows, lesser known and even less sought after. Master of death… surely wizards had conceived of ways to evade death by magical means? Nicolas Flamel came to mind… there must be more. It would be a subject for another day.

Try as he might, Artemis was unable to track down the Elder Wand. History books went dark after Loxias, with divided opinions on the successors being Arcus, Livius or even Loxias' own mother. However, a series of dubious references pointed at an unlikely trail; Gregorovitch the wandmaker had claimed possession of the Elder Wand, though this seemed more like a business move than an authentic declaration of possession. Naturally, his business would improve if he told people that he was trying to replicte the qualities of the Elder Wand in his own wands.

Even if there was any truth to it, the details of who took the Elder Wand from him and where it went next became murkier. Multiple participants in the Battle of Hogwarts had mentioned the Elder Wand being discussed between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, but he could not see the dots connecting from Gregorovitch.

Unless…

Unless the rumors were true. It was said that Gellert Grindelwald had procured a wand of immense power before his terror run in Europe; the timelines certainly added up. Given that Albus Dumbledore had been the one to defeat Grindelwald, and that Dumbledore had been killed a year before Voldemort... could it possibly be?

Artemis' heart skipped a beat. What if, what if Grindelwald had taken the wand from Gregorovitch, and Dumbledore from him, and then Voldemort from Dumbledore? The connections were vague at best… but at least now he had a lead. If only there was some way he could find out what exactly Potter and Voldemort had discussed, without drawing attention to himself, especially from Professor McGonagall…

"Hey Arty, you coming?" Steve asked with a still dazed Jack by his side.

"Wha… yeah, I'll be right behind you, just had a doubt to ask Professor Longbottom," said Artemis, "And don't call me Arty," he said for the umpteenth time.

"Whatever, Arty. See you in the Great Hall then, don't take too long or you'll miss your lunch. We have History of Magic right after, I hope you remember," said Steve, walking away.

"Of course I do," said Artemis with a huff of arrogance, but he groaned all the same. He hated that subject. He knew it all anyway, and right after lunch it was just… drowsy.

Professor Longbottom was putting in the cases of Leaping Toadstools into a carefully prepared magically sealed box. Artemis approached him.

"Need any help, Professor?" offered Artemis.

"No, no, thank you boy, almost done here – thanks," answered Professor Longbottom, "are you looking for something?"

"I was reading something recently, and I was curious if you could help me understand it better."

"Of course, my dear. Anything on Herbology, I'm your man. Go ahead, what is it?"

"It isn't actually about Herbology, sir."

"Oh. What is it, then?" asked Professor Longbottom, his expression suddenly eager.

"I was wondering about the role you played in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Professor Longbottom's face turned blue and serious. "Dark and difficult days they were, Artemis. We lost many lives to that man. But we killed him. Actually, Harry killed him, though he'd never take credit for it – he always claimed that You Know Who killed himself. But we helped. It was hard but we did the best we could. I'm proud I was part of it."

"I was going through a few accounts of the fight, Professor. They said you single handedly defied Voldemort…"

Professor Longbottom cringed at the name.

"…And killed his monstrous snake. Some said that only a true Gryffindor could have pulled out the sword out of the Sorting Hat," Artemis finished.

"You know how it is. They always exaggerate," said Professor Longbottom with unbecoming modesty, beaming at Artemis and struggling to hide his pride.

Got him where I wanted, thought Artemis. "Professor, these accounts… they only paint a vague picture of what happened in my head. I really wish there some way for me to go back to that time and witness the legendary Battle of Hogwarts."

"There is a way. I shouldn't be doing this, but looking at your curiosity, I can't say no, Artemis. There is an instrument called a Pensieve, which allows you to recollect past memories and walk through them again. And the best part is, another person can let you into their memories too. Now because you want to see this so badly, we're going to go back to my memory and watch the battle."

"That sounds terrific, Professor! I want to see you kill that snake, and Harry kill Voldemort. I never thought this could become a reality!" Artemis lied naturally.

"Wait, let me find my Pensieve, it should be here somewhere… ah, got it."

Extracting a memory from the tip of his wand, he put it inside the Pensieve and motioned Artemis to come closer, "Come here, and touch this memory. I'll follow right after you."

Artemis knew all about Pensieves, but in theory. He had never used one before. He touched the memory and closed his eyes, not knowing what to expect. When he opened them, he found himself standing outside the Great Hall along with hundreds of others, looking at a procession of hooded wizards, a couple of giants, Hagrid clearly being forced to carry some weight and at the head of them all, a tall, cold man with a deathly pale face walking towards him.

"That," said Professor Longbottom, "Is Lord Vol… Lord Vold… He Who Must Not Be Named."