Nico blamed the Sorting Hat. Most Slytherins seemed to avoid him, apart from Fowl and his friends. Nico wished that anyone except Fowl would talk to him. Fowl just drove him up the wall and took pride in it. Nico still found it hard to believe that Fowl of all people had managed to make three friends in just a few hours. Maybe he bribed them? That made sense. He couldn't think of any other reason that anyone in their right mind would want to hang out with that stuck-up idiot.
Ever since he had been sorted into Slytherin, it seemed that Harry wanted nothing to do with him. He avoided Nico whenever possible and refused to look him in the eye. He couldn't blame him though. Harry had been warned that Slytherins were evil, just like the campers had been told that children of Hades were evil.
To be honest, Nico wasn't really seeing the whole 'evil' thing. The Slytherins seemed like normal people, albeit a bit cold. Nico had suffered the misfortune of being roommates with Fowl and his 3 cronies. He was starting to wonder how they always seemed to be together, they had only met each other a few hours ago! He could tell that the whole 'sticking together' thing hadn't been Fowl's idea, since he looked ready to bolt at a moments notice.
Fowl seemed as calm and collected as he always was, but Nico could tell that he felt just as awkward as he did. It wasn't very obvious, but there were little things that gave away his true feelings. Right now, all four of them were sitting on Fowl's bed talking about Zeus knows what. That made Nico feel even more alone than before.
He sighed, it seemed as though he would have to survive the school year alone. But that was nothing new, he had always, and would always be an outcast.
*************Line Break***********
Artemis was definitely ready for his first day of classes. He had spent an entire month reading every book about magic and the wizarding world that he could get his hands on. He had practiced most of the spells he would need to learn for their first year. Technically, he wasn't supposed to do magic outside school, but since Butler (who was his temporary guardian since his parents were...unavailable) was a muggle, he assumed that he was being let off the hook due to his so called 'ignorance'.
Their first class of the day was History of Magic, with the Hufflepuffs. By the first 15 minutes, half the class was asleep and the other half were either trying to impress their ghost teacher ,Professor Binns, or they were socializing.
The teacher seemed oddly upbeat when the Slytherins entered the room. He noticed the smile that Professor Binns gave di Angelo, who's name was apparently Nico. Nico was a confusing person. He snapped at anyone who dared to approach him in the common room, and most people learnt that it was best to avoid him. This seemed to make him even more depressed, and he skulked around like a ghost.
Artemis found the boy infuriatingly similar to him, and it made him despise di Angelo even more than he already did. They were both irritating, and Nico had proved that he was a lot smarter than he looked in Transfiguration. Apart from Artemis, only Nico and a bushy-haired Gryffindor girl called Hermione had managed to turn a matchstick into a needle. Nico was a sarcastic introvert who snapped at anyone who tried to make him come out of his shell. And yet, there was something about him that compelled Artemis to learn more about him. He simply couldn't understand it, how was it possible to want to know a person better and hate the said person in equal measure?
Potions with the Gryffindors was... interesting to say the least. Their Head of House, Professor Snape, had apparently decided to torment Harry Potter for the rest of the poor boy's school years. That was clear to all Slytherins the minute they saw the murderous expression on his face. They had met him the previous night, and had found him to be a rather reasonable person. But his attitude towards Gryffindors was completely different.
Perhaps if Professor Snape had been appointed as the head of Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, his students would have protested against his blatant favoritism. But Artemis and all other Slytherins knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, and decided to stay put. From the information he had gathered, Artemis could tell that Slytherins were looked down upon by everyone else, so who were they to protest against a bit of good luck? But no matter how much he tried to convince himself that his house deserved to get a bit of favoritism, he couldn't help the nagging feeling of guilt as he watched Snape chide Potter for not watching the boy next to him more carefully.
Where was this new-found guilt coming from? He hadn't felt this guilty about causing the extinction of a rare species of lemur! So why was he so guilty about something so small and insignificant? It didn't make sense. It's not like there was anything he could have done anyway.
'Yes', he thought, 'everything is fine. There was nothing you could do. Let the Gryffindors know what it's like to be singled out for a change.'
Immediately ,he felt terrible for even thinking that. Why was he thinking like this? He barely knew them! He made a mental note to talk to some Gryffindors. He knew better than anyone that books could be misleading. After all, that Granger girl seemed decent enough, if a bit enthusiastic.
He turned his attention back to the potion he was brewing, momentarily pushing his guilt aside.
**********Time Skip**********
" Artemis, you won't believe what happened!"
Artemis scanned the newspaper that Blaise had placed before him.
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. 'But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Artemis raised his eyebrows, so it was possible to break into Gringotts and escape alive. The vault couldn't have contained much if it had been emptied completely.
Just then, Nico walked up to the table ,looking even paler than usual, and grudgingly sat down next to him, since all other seats were occupied.
"Sleep well?" Artemis asked innocently.
Nico scowled but didn't reply. Artemis remained undeterred.
"Have you read the news?" , he asked, passing him the paper.
Nico's scowl got deeper.
"Dyslexia. Can't read English very well."
"Fine, I'll read it to you."
Artemis didn't know why he was trying so hard to talk to di Angelo, when he openly admitted that he despised him. After all ,he found great joy in getting on Nico's nerves. When he finished reading aloud the article, Nico looked horrified.
"Do you know anything about this?" Nico asked sharply.
Artemis was surprised at his sudden change in demeanor, but shook his head.
Satisfied, Nico grabbed a piece of fruit and turned to leave, presumably to find more newspapers.
Artemis surprised himself with his next action.
"Wait!", he said.
Nico turned to look at him impatiently.
"What is it Fowl? I've got better things to do."
Artemis took a deep breath.
"Let me help you."
A.N:
Hey everyone! Keera here(obviously)! I finally decided on an updating schedule. From now on, I update on alternate days, so my next update will be on Thursday.
I have no idea if anyone will bother answering this, but I'm going to put it out there anyway:
Should Percy find out about wizards, or should he stay in the dark?
Let me know what you think!
Also, I know that Artemis is acting really OOC, but I need him to get a conscience a bit earlier for this to work. Keera out!
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An Unlikely duo (AF/PJO/HP Crossover)
FanfictionArtemis Fowl had always known that he was different. He was a 10 year old criminal mastermind who was plotting ways to kidnap a fairy. It doesn't get much more different than that. But he was yet to discover exactly how different he was.... ...