An Unlikely Duo 2: The Chamber of Secrets

Introspection

Severus Snape wasn't having a very good day.

Granted, he very rarely had 'good days' at all, but today was certainly not one of them.

After a summer of not having to deal with hundreds of imbecilic students, he wasn't exactly thrilled to resume teaching. The very thought of having to put up with Longbottom's idiocy for another year made him shudder.

But, there were a few things that made up for the horror that was teaching Longbottom, Crabbe, Goyle and about three-fourths of Hogwarts' population.

One of these things was having the ability to yell at children for no particular reason, especially Potter. Despite knowing that it was wrong, Severus couldn't help but feel satisfied whenever he doled out yet another punishment to Potter. Handing out punishments to Harry Potter, made him feel as though he was finally getting even with James Potter, for all of the horrible things that boy had done to him. Perhaps it was wrong, but it certainly made him feel better.

Another one of these things, were the rare occasions on which he could feel proud of one of his students. McGonagall had  taken every opportunity available to let the entire school know how proud she was of her Gryffindors, always bragging about how one of her students had just qualified to become an auror, or how one of them had just saved the world from an evil tyrant, again. Even Flitwick and Sprout could be seen galivanting around the school letting everyone know about the latest exceptional thing that their students had done.

Severus Snape was so rarely given the opportunity to showcase his pride. While it was true that his students often went on to become well-known figures in the wizarding world, they were very rarely exceptional enough to warrant a school-wide-boasting-fest. Snape did not hand out praise generously, at least, not genuine praise. While other teachers handed out praise and admiration like candy, he only handed out genuine, heartfelt praise to a select few, the few of his students who rose above and beyond expectations. Unfortunately, most of those students went on to become Death Eaters, which made it hard to feel proud of them.

All he wanted was a student he could feel proud of, whom he could teach without wanting to bang his head on a cauldron. Was that too much too ask?

Surprisingly, it wasn't, as last year, Artemis Fowl the Second had been sorted into Slytherin House. 

Snape remembered the boy's father, Artemis Fowl the First, from his own days as a student. He had been a quiet boy, only speaking when necessary, but if you were unfortunate enough to displease him, well, it wasn't pretty. His paper white skin, piercing blue eyes and raven black hair gave him a resemblance to a vampire, and he had acted like one as well. Someone had even reported him to the Department of Magical Creatures once, believing that he was actually a vampire, which hadn't ended happily for that child, nor for the Ministry. Cold, uncaring, frighteningly intelligent with an equally sharp tongue, he hadn't really had many friends back in the day. 

His son was no different, if you excluded the fact that Artemis Junior seemed to have quite a few friends, something that Snape still found surprising, even after a whole year. Artemis Fowl the Second was every bit as cold, aloof and brilliant as his father, if not more so. The moment he set eyes on the boy, he had no doubt that he would be placed in Slytherin. Where else would someone with such a ruthless, conniving mind be sorted? In fact, if rumors were to be believed, he was currently on the path to becoming the next Dark Lord. However, Snape had never been one to believe rumors, and a few conversations with the boy had proved that he would never attempt to become the next Dark Lord. Not because he wasn't capable of it, or because he was too good to consider it.

No, Artemis Fowl II would never become a Dark Lord, because he was smarter that that. As far as Snape could tell, Artemis simply didn't think that it was worth putting in effort to take over an entire society, deal with constant rebellion and the other disadvantages that came with being an evil tyrant, when he could easily do the same if he so wished, from behind the scenes, without attracting any unnecessary attention or having to constantly worry that someone would betray him. While the Dark Lord would strive to become the master of wizarding Britain by fighting bloody wars, Artemis would do it by manipulating people behind the scenes in order to get his way, and the whole process would go so smoothly that no one would even notice that anything had changed. 

At least, that was what he tried to tell the rest of the staff. Oddly enough, they hadn't found that reassuring.

Regardless of the other teachers' apprehension, Snape had full faith that his prized pupil wouldn't go bad, like the rest of them had, and Artemis never showed any signs that made him think otherwise. And so, Snape found himself engaging in arguments in the staff room about whether Hermione Granger would ever be a match for Artemis Fowl. The two of them were some of the smartest students Hogwarts had ever seen, and ever since their first day at school, they had unintentionally sparked debates among the teachers about which one of them would end up more successful. Flitwick had been forced to agree that Artemis would easily surpass Hermione, much to Snape's delight, while McGonagall and Sprout had argued that Hermione had more potential, as Artemis didn't seem to care much except business.

Where had he been going with this again?

Ah yes, Artemis had soon become one of his favorite students. He was flawless at Potions, exceptional at Transfiguration and outstanding at Charms, despite never appearing to try very hard. His friend, Nico di Angelo, wasn't half bad either. While he was no prodigy, he was no idiot either, and despite his ADHD and dyslexia, was an excellent student. For someone with ADHD, he was surprisingly good at History of Magic. Suspiciously good even.

Anyway, he had bigger things to worry about than a student who was too good at History of Magic, classes would resume tomorrow, and the Sorting was about to begin. With a heavy sigh, Snape heaved himself out of his comfy armchair, preparing to head to the Great Hall. A swish from the window caught his attention. Snape's eyes widened in shock as he watched the scene unfolding before him. The Whomping Willow was attempting to squash a... blue car? He felt his heart leap to his throat as he watched helplessly from the window as two figures in Hogwarts robes tried to dodge the branched of the tree. Eventually, the figures seemed to escape the flailing branches and the blue car drove into the forest. Snape didn't even have the energy to wonder who was driving the car away as he rushed downstairs to find out which idiots had driven a car into the Whomping Willow.

A.N:

Hey there!

Ooh, lookie! An early chapter! 

This was more of of a bonus chapter than an actual chapter tbh. One of the most frequent questions I've been asked, is what Snape thinks of Artemis, hence this chapter.

As you can probably see, I don't really like Snape, but I don't hate him either. I understand his motives, but that doesn't mean I agree with his actions. He's certainly a complicated character, which makes him very interesting to write. The actual chapter will probably begin with Snape's POV as well, and will be out in a few days. 

Until then, please comment and vote!

-Keera(⌐■_■)