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After breakfast everyone returned to their rooms to unpack and rest for a while. Ginny and Ron ended up in Harry and
Hermione's room; the girls were playing with Conlan while Ron and Harry played a game of wizard's chess. There
was a sudden knock on the door and Harry got up to open it. He was surprised to see Phoenix and Pyrena standing there.
"Hello" he said, still trying to be civil for Hermione's sake "what's up?"
"It seems that Lucius Malfoy has sent some of his Death Eaters here to find the scepter of Zeus" said Phoenix, walking past Harry into the room.
"C'mon in" muttered Harry after Phoenix was already standing in the middle of their room. "Mr. Lupin has called a meeting in his room; we need to meet him there now." As soon as he finished speaking, Phoenix re-joined his sister out in the hall. The four teens looked at each other, and then made their way into the hall with Ginny taking Conlan. When they got to Remus and Tonks room, they noticed all of the adults in their group were already assembled there. When Tonks saw them walk in, she pointed to the bed behind her and said "have a seat. There's something we all need to discuss." The four walked over and sat down, noticing Remus and Arthur having what seemed to be a very serious discussion. Arthur nodded at something Remus said and left the room while Remus turned to the group.
"We just received word that there was an attack on Diagon Alley." Noticing the surprised faces, Remus said "One of Dumbledore's contacts in the Ministry just contacted us to let us know that Lucius knows about the scepter of Zeus. It seems Rookwood has been snooping around the Ministry; he was caught looking through some restricted files and those files mentioned something about the scepter being here in Greece." Everyone started mumbling and Remus said "quiet please. It seems the attack on Diagon Alley was a distraction; when the Aurors responded to the attack, another group of Death Eaters broke into the Ministry's file room and stole the restricted file on the scepter. That file contained the incantation that unlocks the scepter's power."
Everyone started talking amongst themselves as Hermione stated "so all they have to do is find it before we do and then they will be able to use it to give Voldemort his immortality?"
"Voldemort?" asked Phoenix "don't you mean it will give Lucius Malfoy immortality?"
Hermione looked from Harry and then to Remus, realizing her mistake. "No, she meant to say Voldemort" said Remus.
"Remus!" said Harry, getting up and walking right up to him. "Are you sure we can trust Phoenix and Pyrena with this information? For all we know, they could be Death Eaters themselves."
"They're not Death Eaters Harry" said Lupin "don't you think that Dumbledore, Arthur and I checked them out thoroughly before we came here?"
"So why don't they know about Voldemort still being alive?" asked Harry, who then jumped as Phoenix asked from behind him "Voldemort is still alive? How is that possible?"
"The same way it was possible for him to survive the first time he was supposedly killed by me" said Harry, turning around to face the man behind him. "I would appreciate it if you would refrain from eavesdropping on my conversations."
"You really are full of yourself, aren't you Potter?" asked Phoenix. Harry sat staring at him with his fists clenched at his sides, everyone's attention fixed on the two hostile wizards facing each other down.
"I am not full of myself" said Harry, trying his hardest not to punch this pompous ass that was standing in front of him. "I've dealt with too many Dark wizards to trust just anyone, especially you." Before things could go any further, Remus stepped between the two and said "look, this is not the time to be arguing amongst ourselves. Please sit back down Harry."
Harry stared at Phoenix a little longer and went to sit next to Hermione again. She gave him a reproachful look as he sat down and he mouthed "I'm sorry" to her. Remus cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention back on him and he said "we are going to have to push up our plans. Arthur has gone to gather the supplies we will need so we can go to the Parthenon this afternoon."
"So what will we do, go search for a while tonight and return again in the morning?" asked Harry.
"No; we're going to have to camp out in the tunnels for a couple of nights." When he noticed the looks of surprise he was getting he explained "we have to find out everything we can before Lucius's men get here. There was an unknown portkey used at the same time as the first explosion rocked Diagon Alley and it was traced to Paros, which is one hundred and twenty miles from here. More than likely they have a completely different travel schedule than us, but we can't take any chances."
Mr. Weasley came back into the room with a handful of backpacks and started to pass them out. He went to hand one to Pyrena but she said "Phoenix and I already have our packs in the car, packed and ready to go."
Remus said "ok then, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Tonks, Arthur and I will all get packed and meet you down in the lobby in thirty minutes."
Phoenix and Pyrena both nodded in approval and walked out of the room, Phoenix staring Harry down the whole way out. "What is that guy's problem?" asked Harry.
"I could ask the same of you" said Hermione "why are you so hostile towards him? He hasn't done anything but help us since we got here."
"I don't know; maybe some time in the tunnels will shed some light on our twin friends" said Harry, getting up and walking out of the room also. "We'll see you in thirty minutes" he said as he passed Remus, followed by Hermione, Ron and Ginny.
Thirty minutes later, Hermione's parents and Mrs. Weasley all stood in Hermione's room, waiting as Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Conlan. Hermione had Conlan's head resting on her shoulder, hugging him as tight as she could without hurting him, saying "you be good for Grandma and Grandpa ok? Mummy and Daddy will be back tomorrow night."
"Goodbye little guy" said Harry, walking up to Hermione and rubbing Conlan's back. "Be good and none of those lethal nappies you like to spring on us, ok? I don't think Grams and Gramps could handle any of those." While Harry talked, Conlan smiled and tears sprung to Hermione's eyes. "I don't want to leave him" she said.
"He'll be fine dear; we'll take good care of him" said Mrs. Weasley, reaching out to take Conlan from her.
Hermione turned to her parents with a very serious look on her face as she said "Mum, Dad if anything happens to Harry and I while we're gone, will you take care of Conlan for us?"
Jane Grangers face had a look of shock on it after Hermione said this. "Honey, you'll only be gone two nights" said Robert Granger "what could possibly go wrong in such a short period of time?"
Hermione looked at Harry, unable to speak because she was too choked up. "Mr. Granger, I don't think you understand exactly who we are dealing with" Harry explained. "Death Eaters are merciless people; they will murder whoever gets in the way of what they want. If they find us in the tunnels, they will try to kill us. That's why Hermione asked you to take care of Conlan if we don't come back."
After staring at the two teens in front of him, Mr. Granger said "then you can't go!"
Surprised by what her Dad had said, Hermione pulled herself together and said "I have to go Daddy. I am the only one who can use the scepter of Hera and that may be the only thing that helps us find the scepter of Zeus."
"So you're just going to go and possibly sacrifice yourself? What about your son, what will he do without his Mother and Father if you don't return?" her Dad asked, trying desperately to understand why she was jeopardizing herself like this. Being a muggle, he didn't have the exposure to Dark wizards like she and Harry had.
"Mr. Granger, my parents sacrificed themselves for me. I know what it's like growing up without parents and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, let alone my own son. But anything is possible while we're gone; I'm just glad he'll be with people who love him and I know will take care of him, unlike my Aunt and Uncle that raised me."
Harry wiped at the tears that had formed in his eyes as he spoke and took Conlan from Mrs. Weasley. He stood quietly holding his son for a minute, then handed him back to Molly and walked out the door, unable to look back. Hermione bent over and placed a kiss on Conlan's forehead, then said "I love you". Walking over to give her parents a hug and saying goodbye, she also walked out the door without looking back, for fear she wouldn't be able to make herself leave. She saw Harry waiting for her by the lift and walked up next to him, noticing the sad expression on his face. "That's the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, and that's saying something since I was the one who had to bring down the greatest Dark Wizard of our time."
Hermione turned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I know; it was hard for me to leave him too. We just have to make sure we do everything in our power to come back to him." Harry reached out and took her hand, walking with her into the lift and watching as the doors closed, silently saying goodbye to his son one more time.
Once everyone in their group was in the lobby, they walked out to the Ministry car and piled in again. Everyone was
quiet during the short trip, obviously thinking of the danger they could be walking into. The Death Eaters portkey may
have taken them Paros, but they could have easily apparated anywhere else by now, including here. Phoenix parked the
car and everyone climbed out, gathering their packs out of the trunk. As they walked away from the car, Pyrena muttered
a spell and the car vanished. When she saw everyone watching her, she explained "it's just invisible, that way
no one will know that we are here."
Ron and Ginny, who had been ahead of everyone, stopped at the base of a hill and asked "where is the Parthenon?"
"It's on top of the Acropolis" said Pyrena, motioning toward the hill.
"The Acropolis? I thought that was a separate building or something?" asked Ron, confused.
"The Acropolis is known as the sacred rock of Athens" explained Phoenix "On it there is the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea."
"So we're going to have to search through four buildings, plus the tunnels in two days time?" Harry asked, stopping where he was to look at Remus and Arthur. "How is that going to be possible? We don't even know what we're looking for."
"I'm hoping that this" Hermione said, pulling Hera's diary out of her pack "and this" she said again, pulling out the scepter "will help us." This was the first time everyone except Harry had seen the scepter, and they all sat staring at it in wonder. "When Ginny and I translated some of the diary last night, we wrote the translations down on parchment, then duplicated it until we had enough for everyone in the group. Hopefully it will help in some way; anyway here is a copy for each one of you." Handing them out to everyone, she said "maybe if we look for anything described in these transcripts we'll discover where the scepter of Zeus could be."
"We're going to split up into groups to do the buildings, and then we'll meet up at the Parthenon to go down into the tunnels" explained Remus. "Ok, now for groups; first group will be Arthur, Phoenix, Pyrena, Ron and Ginny. Group two will be Harry, Hermione, Tonks and I, that way each group has enough fire power in case anything happens. Group one, why don't you guys cover the Propylaea and the Temple of Athena Nike? We'll take The Erechtheion and the Parthenon; what time should we meet up again?"
"It's three p.m. right now; how about nine?" asked Arthur. "That should give us three hours to search through each building."
"Sounds good" said Remus. "Alright then, be safe and we'll meet up with you in six hours." Harry and Hermione watched as Ron and Ginny walked away with their group and Harry yelled "Ron, be careful mate!" Ron turned around and smiled at him saying "you too!"
"Well, let's be off!" said Remus, and they started walking up the path that led to the Erechtheion.
As they walked through the giant building, Tonks looked at Hermione and asked "what are we supposed to look for anyway? I mean, just the things described in your transcripts, or are there other things to keep our eyes out for?"
"Anything to do with Hera or Zeus" said Hermione "we really don't have much to go on; if I knew there was a file in the Ministry having to do with the scepter I would have asked Mr. Weasley to somehow obtain it, or at least get a good look at it himself."
"No one knew it was there; most of the members of the Order who work in the Ministry are Aurors" explained Tonks "we don't have anyone that works in the records department."
They walked the entire way through the building without finding anything vaguely important. After regrouping at the entrance, they made their way up to the top of the hill where the Parthenon stood. It was mostly just ruins; the sculptural decorations had been removed a long time ago and put in a museum. As each of them went in a different direction to cover more ground, Hermione walked the length of the building, feeling as if a hum ran through her body. She reached into her pack, pulling out the scepter of Hera and realized that was the source of the hum. A slight vibration moved through it and Hermione suddenly remembered something she had read in the diary the night before. It had mentioned how to activate the power of the scepter and how only a true descendant of Hera would be able to do it;anyone else that attempted to use it would be killed instantly. 'It's worth a try' she thought, praying that her parents were right about their family history. Walking into the middle of the room, holding the scepter in her right hand, she closed her eyes and yelled "Fainomai Sas Mystikos!" As she yelled this, a golden light seemed to emit from the scepter and engulf her; even her eyes gave off a golden glow when she opened them. It engulfed the entire room and then proceeded to fade completely. After the scepter returned to normal, Hermione sank to her knees on the floor, gasping for breath and shaking.
"Hermione!" said Harry, running over to where she was. Tonks and Lupin ran over also, wondering what the hell had just happened. "Hermione, are you ok?"
"I-I'm" she panted, sounding like she had just run a marathon "I'm fine."
"Um, Remus, Harry look..." said Tonks, pointing to the wall they were facing. On it, as if burned into the wall, were the words 'The Light Will Turn To The Dark While The Scepter's Twin Is Near.'
Ok, I'm sorry to leave it with a cliffie, but I have a huge amount of research to do before I can continue the story. I'm trying to make it as factual as possible, which means learning everything I never wanted to know about Greece. I'll try to post another chapter soon.