Ch 3: Acropolis
The next morning, Harry woke up to the sound of Hermione's voice inside his head.
"Wake up sleepyhead! We've got lots of things to do today." Harry found the voice rather annoyingly perky, especially this early in the morning. "I'm already to go. Hurry and get washed up, then we'll go grab some breakfast with my folks. I've already picked some places for us to go see today."
Harry grumbled as he got up, but went and did as he was told, slowly waking up in the hot shower.
After her long talk with her parents the day before, Hermione had slept very well and woken up early. Too excited to sleep further, she had gotten ready for the day. After waking up Harry, she looked at several travel brochures and tourist guides. She enjoyed reading and thinking about the various places they hadn't visited yet. She finally decided that the Acropolis should definitely be the first thing on their list of things to visit today. That decided, she read about it again in several of the different books she had brought with her and waited for Harry to finish getting ready.
When Harry finally emerged from the bathroom, they went across the hall and knocked on her parents' door. Then all four went down to their favorite café and enjoyed a pleasant breakfast while Hermione shared her ideas about the places she wanted to visit during the day.
"Actually, your father and I thought it might be nice for the two of you to spend some time together today. We'll probably take one of the tour buses around the city and then relax this afternoon at the hotel. Why don't we meet back at the restaurant we ate at yesterday about eight o'clock tonight?" Smiling at the wide grins on the young teens' faces, Mrs. Granger assumed they were both happy about her suggestion.
After they were done eating, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him into the street. "You're going to love it Harry. We're going to the Acropolis today. The main temple there is the Parthenon. During the time of Pericles in the mid fifth century B.C., following Athens' defeat of Sparta, the city rebuilt the temple and surrounding structures that had been destroyed earlier by the invading Persians in…"
"Is there going to be a quiz on this later, Mione?"
"No, now stop interrupting. I'm almost to the good part…"
Harry focused part of his attention on Hermione's background lecture on the Acropolis and the Parthenon as they walked to the hill on which it stood. The walk also gave him a few moments to reflect on the weeks since Voldemort's defeat and his own recovery from that battle. Exams had been canceled and the last few weeks at school had been full of fun despite their sorrow for their fallen classmates. None of the students and few of the professors were very eager to be in class. Every weekend the students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade and the Gryffindors and the other houses were up late nearly every night throwing victory parties. Indeed, the entire wizarding world had been caught up in vast celebrations following the Dark Lord's defeat for several weeks afterwards.
What also seemed clearer now to Harry were the reasons he had come to Greece in the first place. First, since Voldemort was no longer a threat, not even Dumbledore himself could have persuaded Harry to return to the Dursleys. One of the happiest moments of his life was when he sent Hedwig to the Dursley's home informing them that he would not be coming home for the summer. He was sure the feeling of joy had been mutual.
He couldn't stay at the Burrow either because it was still being rebuilt after being burnt down last fall. With Lupin's help, Harry had sold one of the Black's estates he had inherited and used the money to open a new account at Gringott's. Then, with Dumbledore's help, he had talked to the goblins about how to give the money to the Weasleys without them ever being able to find out. To his great surprise, the goblins offered to send a letter to the Weasley's announcing that part of Sirius' original will had left them 100,000 galleons in an account out of gratitude for their aid and support of Harry during the years he had been unable to look after him. Furthermore, they offered to send them a letter notifying them of this and explaining that the reason they hadn't been notified earlier was due to some clerical error and that they were terribly sorry and would award them the interest they deserved as well as an additional 10,000 galleons. When Harry, in shock, tried to offer them additional gold to cover what they proposed, the goblins smiled and politely declined. They explained that it was simply a token of their appreciation for what Harry had done for the magical world by defeating Voldemort. Before Harry could protest further, Dumbledore thanked the goblins for him and got up to leave. Dumbledore quietly advised Harry to simply accept the gift in gratitude and not risk antagonizing the goblins for their generosity. Harry then thanked the goblins for their gift graciously, which seemed to please them very much.
Harry had no desire to rebuild the Black mansion at Grimmauld Place, so when Hermione invited him to accompany her folks on a vacation to Greece, he jumped at the chance. He had never been on a vacation before with the Dursleys, and in fact, in the nearly six years since he had discovered the world of magic, he had scarcely enjoyed a moment of peace because of the various dangers caused by Voldemort. He thought he certainly deserved a little break away from it all.
In addition, the growing amount of mail and attention he was receiving from wizards and witches all over the world was beginning to wear heavily on his patience. It was only a few days after he had sent the wonderful letter to the Dursley's announcing that he would not be going back this summer that he managed to find the department in the Ministry that would solve his fanmail problem. Late one night, using the techniques he had already mastered to break through the Ministry's security systems, he adjusted the mail delivery system that all magical owls depended upon to deliver their mail correctly. He altered the identification charm that allowed owls to find him and placed it on his cousin Dudley. Instead of delivering owl mail to Harry Potter, future owls would deliver all letters and packages to his cousin Dudley Dursley. He then placed an altered identification charm on himself and set up a new account for under the name James Black for those friends he still wanted to be able to reach him.
Harry smiled widely thinking of how the Dursleys were probably handling the flocks of owls that were doubtless assaulting their home's windows daily. Knowing exactly what they would do with the mail, Harry had placed a simple transportation charm he obtained from the Weasley twins inside of the fireplace to transfer the mail to an empty vault at Gringotts. Though he didn't want to read it, he didn't want it destroyed either. Someday he would talk to Dumbledore to see if there was some magical way to sort through and respond to the mountain of letters he had received. He felt kind of bad ignoring the mail, but on the other hand knew there was simply no possible way for him to physically read it all himself. He doubted whether even Hermione could have accomplished the feat.
For the last ten minutes of the walk as he walked hand in hand with Hermione, he let his senses catch the various sights, sounds, and smells of the bustling world around them as Athens started its day. As they approached the high hill on which it sat, Harry's eyes took in the various buildings that Hermione had been describing to him as they strolled along. His jaw dropped in awe as he took in the view that unfolded before them as they climbed the steep ramp leading to the crown of the hill and passed through the Beule Gate.
Hermione pointed out some of the other important points that were visible from the hill. Following her pointing arm he listened with interest. "That's Areopagos hill, where St. Paul spoke with the Greeks in 51 A.D. That low hill to the west was where the Judicial Court of democratic Greece met and deliberated. And that hill slightly to the southwest of here called Pnyx Hill was where the Eklesia, the citizen's assembly of the 5th century met and discussed politics."
Turning away from the magnificent view offered by the hill, Harry and Hermione looked at the ruins that surrounded them. There were several buildings still standing on the top of the hill, but the one that instantly drew everyone's attention was the Parthenon itself. A massive building of marble that measured 230 feet by 100 feet and tall enough to house a forty foot statue of the goddess Athena, it must have been an incredible structure when it was first erected. It was still impressive, but during a seventeenth century battle between the Venetians and the Turks an explosion had nearly knocked the entire building down. Most of it remained standing, but one could now see through the walls into the interior. But it didn't take much imagination to picture the grandeur it had once possessed. Despite the lack of remaining paint, the still existing sculptures along the roof and the massive stone columns testified of the artistic and architectural genius that had created the magnificent building.
"It's a pity we couldn't have seen it in during its days of glory."
Harry paused and looked off into the distance as he thought for a minute. "Give me your sunglasses, Mione."
"What? Why?" she asked as she reached into her pocket.
With a grin on his face, he took the sunglasses from her hand and whispered "Trust me." He looked around quickly to make sure nobody was watching or listening as he cupped his hands underneath the lenses and muttered something very quietly.
Hermione heard a soft hum and hissed, "Harry, you know you're not supposed to…"
He gave her another infuriating grin and returned the sunglasses to Hermione. "Try them on and check out the view, Mione."
As she slipped them on, she gasped loudly. "Harry! What did you do? These buildings…they're amazing…have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"
"Not unless you lend me the glasses," he teased.
Hermione slowly turned around so that she could see all of the buildings in all of their former splendor. "Now this is what the Acropolis was meant to look like," she muttered in awe. At Harry's insistent tugging on her arm, she reluctantly took the glasses off and passed them to Harry. He put them on and looked around in disbelief.
"Wow, sometimes I amaze even myself," he began bragging when Hermione punched him in the arm.
"What spell was that, Harry? Some sort of divination charm? A discovery charm? No, no, uhh, some sort of restoration charm. But it has aspects of an illusion charm, because it doesn't actually physically transform anything. Or some sort of combination of the two-but that's very difficult to do with a wand. But of course, you're Harry and so obviously you can do it without a wand, and what are you smirking at?"
Trying to keep from laughing at loud, Harry struggled to respond, "Do you have any idea how fast you talk when a problem stumps you and you try to solve it out loud?" Then he burst into laughter.
Hermione slugged him in the arm again and asked, "So are you going to tell me or not?"
"Maybe if you stop hitting me. It's a simple variation on a spell that the twins have been working on. They're creating a new line of joke glasses that will, uh, well…"Harry paused as his face turned red, "Are you sure you want to know, being a prefect and all?"
"Probably not, but I suppose I better. I imagine I will be confiscating a fair number of these types of glasses when we return to Hogwarts?"
Harry tried to put on an innocent face. "Of course not, Mione. I'm sure they'll be put on Filch's list of banned items almost immediately."
"And why would that be? What is it they do exactly?"
Gaining confidence, Harry explained, "Oh nothing dangerous of course. They simply create various illusions for the wearer. Perfectly harmless fun."
With a dangerous glint in her eye, Hermione asked coolly, "And will these illusions portray scantily clad super models from the Muggle or Wizarding world? Veela, perhaps?"
Harry started, and then sputtered. "Mione! They're nothing like that. Honest. Some of the glasses would have put funny clothes on people or made them look ridiculous, like what Neville did with the boggart of Snape. Some would trick the wearer into reaching for doorknobs or trying to walk through doors that weren't really there. But now that you mention it, the kind that you mentioned might sell better," teased Harry.
"Harry," growled Hermione in a threatening tone as she stepped nearer.
"Kidding! Just kidding. Actually, we were also thinking about putting some Muggle TV shows or movies on some of the glasses, or replays of Quidditch matches like the omnioculars we got at the Quidditch world cup. It took us awhile to figure out the spells they used to enchant them, but…"
"And I suppose some of these glasses will let students read their textbooks and then recall the images in the glasses when they need them during an exam?" demanded Hermione.
"No, no. We hadn't thought of that, actually. Blimey, Hermione, we should make you a partner. You've got a great mind for this sort of thing. All those years hanging out with me and the Weasleys has thoroughly corrupted you. Just look at you now. You don't trust anyone, you automatically suspect the worst…" laughed Harry.
"Harry, this isn't funny. And don't think you can just talk your way out of it," glowered Hermione, but he could tell she wasn't as upset as she pretended to be. At least he didn't think so.
"Really, Mione, we haven't worked up any sinister or offensive illusions. But I have to confess, we are thinking about a line of glasses called Homework Helpers which would allow a person to recall images of the textbook that they had at least looked out, but…"
"Harry…"
"But the images they would actually recall would be slightly different from the real textbook. Imagine someone using them to cheat on a Potions examination and having the Homework Helpers tell them to add ten pinches of sulfur to a Potion of Mind Focusing instead of two pinches of lavender."
Finally cracking a smile, Hermione chuckled. "Well, they'd get exactly what they deserved. A mild explosion, a pounding headache, and a failing grade. Not to mention Snape's reaction. I guess I can live with that."
"Good. Let's check out the rest of the buildings." Harry pulled Hermione along, and they took turns with the glasses, taking in all of the sights.
As Harry moved closer to the Parthenon, Hermione grabbed his arm. "Nobody is allowed in the temples now. Nobody has been for about thirty years."
"Well, I guess nobody better see us go in then," smiled Harry.
"Harry, we really shouldn't."
"But you're not going to let that stop you, are you?" teased Harry.
"Just give me the cloak and make sure nobody sees us disappear."
With a chuckle, Harry reached into his pouch and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak for Hermione and prepared to disappear himself. Now invisible, both stopped and gazed in admiration at the temple they now saw before them. The pillars and walls were a nearly blinding white while the statues and carvings along the edges and just under the roof were brilliant hues of blue and red. As they entered the temple itself, they marveled at the beautiful furnishings and then stopped within the large chamber that had housed the statue of Athena. She wore robes covered with a thin layer of gold and the skin of her hands and face were ivory. In her right hand she held a small depiction of the winged god Victory and in her left a shield embossed with a large snake. The helmet on her head had three crests, one was the head of a lion, one an owl, and one seemed to be that of a dog.
"This is simply amazing, Harry. Do you realize who that is?"
"It's Athena, right?"
"Well, actually in this depiction, she is Athena Parthenos, the Virgin, the goddess of wisdom and war."
"It's beautiful isn't it? Did you notice the four animals that were depicted on her helmet and shield? They look like the same ones that represent the four houses at Hogwarts. Do you think there is any connection?"
"I don't know, there could be. That would make a very interesting research project."
"Uh, sure. Very interesting." agreed Harry dryly in a tone of voice that sounded far from convinced.
They continued to wander around the temple, taking in sights that they imagined hadn't been seen for centuries, appreciating the opportunity, even if it was only an illusion. Then they wandered around the other buildings and marveled at their beauty. Nearly an hour later, they left and headed west, towards a smaller temple called the Erechtheum.
Just outside of the temple, they saw a small patio that sheltered an ancient olive tree. They passed several pillars and then opened a small door, ignoring the sign that said "Closed to the Public." As they crossed the threshold into the darker chamber, both paused momentarily to allow their eyes to adjust to the gloomier interior. The golden lamps burning inside provided much less light than the bright sunlight outside. Right in front of them they saw a spring that smelled of salt. Off to their left, they saw three separate statues and small altars. Hermione described each one of them to Harry.
"The first is a statue of Erechtheos, the first king of Athens. The second is Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, and the third is Athena Polias, the patron goddess of the city of Athens."
"Ohh!" exclaimed Hermione as a darkly clad stranger emerged from the side of the Athena statue where he had been completely hidden by the shadows and looked directly at them, as if he could see through both the Invisibility Cloak and Harry's cloaking ability.
Harry quickly and silently stepped in front of Hermione protectively and with a flick of his wrist summoned his wand to his hand. The world around him exploded as his senses expanded, trying to provide him with the information he needed to understand the potential threat. Hermione shifted behind him and he could tell that she was reaching for her own wand.
"Wait a moment, Mione. There's only one. I don't sense anyone else. I doubt a Death Eater would even be wandering around here this far from home."
"I am deeply impressed my young friends. Let me guess, an invisibility cloak and a hmm…that seems like a variation on a disillusionment spell." Realizing the stranger had spotted them, Hermione removed the cloak and Harry dispelled his invisibility. The silence lengthened between the three as the stranger and Harry looked at each other, trying to get the measure of the other. Harry let his senses expand again, trying to gather any small bit of information that might provide him with a clue about the identity of the cloaked figure. The most startling discovery he made was that despite his best attempts to view him more clearly, the stranger's face remained in shadow within the folds of the hood that rested over his head. The stranger finally broke the silence.
"Good morning, Mr. Black. Or should I say Mr. Potter?" spoke the man in a low voice. Seeing the young man with long, dark red hair and flashing green eyes tense he continued. "You have nothing to fear from me, Mr. Potter, I mean you no harm. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. And I am doubly pleased to meet the beautiful young Miss Granger. I have heard much about the both of you." He then bowed graciously before the two. "I hope you are enjoying the sights of this beautiful city. It is a shame that you cannot see it as it used to be."
"Who are you and how do you know us?" demanded Harry still holding his wand at the ready.
The man's head darted from side to side, as if assuring himself that they were truly alone. "It would be too dangerous to the both of you and to myself to reveal my true name, but you can call me Corlyn. That is how I am known to one of your oldest friends. In fact, it is because of him that I know both of you-even you, Mr. Potter, despite your excellent Metamorphmagus transformation. He and I have often worked towards the same cause to protect the world from those who would seek to control it or destroy it, much as he has with the Order of the Phoenix.
Both Hermione and Harry gasped in shock. "You-you know Dumbledore?" stammered Hermione.
The stranger smiled and continued, "Yes. But there are other threats to the world besides Voldemort-though he was one of the worst our world has seen in ages. Yet these other evils, though less obvious, are no less dangerous and must be countered as well. And this is why I have come to speak with you despite the terrible risk. There are important matters I wish to discuss and I don't have much time."
"Very well," sighed Harry and looked briefly at Hermione before he returned his gaze to the stranger. "What can I do to help?"
The cloaked man laughed softly. "I'm not really sure how you could help, Mr. Potter, beyond protecting Miss Granger. While I appreciate your valor, Mr. Potter, it is not your courage that is needed most to combat this evil. It is the intellect and talents of Miss Granger that will be of most use in this task. Not all battles are won through brute force and sheer strength-or even raw magical power. No, wars are won by those with the intellect to plan for every contingency and minds adaptable and agile enough to take advantage of unforeseen developments."
The eyes of both Harry and Hermione widened in surprise, and Hermione blushed as well. Harry's face flushed briefly, then he locked his jaw and grated his back teeth, biting off any angry comments he might make. If the stranger noticed Harry's anger, he gave no sign. Harry fumed quietly and then rubbed his temple softly with his right hand.
Still somewhat flustered, Hermione asked, "I'm not sure I understand. Harry is the one who defeated Voldemort. I don't have any skills or powers that could…"
"My dear young lady, never sell yourself short. Your amazing intellect, your talent for research, and your ability to translate languages are powerful weapons-as I believe you have already demonstrated time and time again."
"I suppose so, but how-how did you know all that? And I still don't understand what it is you want. I'm not sure how you think I-we could help."
"As to the former question, your reputation precedes you. As to your second question, you know that there are artifacts of incredible power in this world. I believe you have had some experience with the Philosopher's Stone. Many of these powerful items have been lost, and most are better off that way. But occasionally they are found and all too often they fall into the hands of those who should never be allowed to use their power. It is not always the safest course to sit back and simply hope they stay hidden forever. Especially when there are agents of evil actively searching to recover items which should never have been created in the first place."
"So you want us to find some long lost magical item and destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands?" asked Hermione.
"I cannot tell you what to do," hissed the dark stranger sharply. "You must make your own decisions." He regained his composure and continued. "I apologize for losing my temper momentarily. I am sure you have heard of Atlantis, yes?"
"Of course. Though there aren't many sources besides a few writings by Plato, and those are second or third hand accounts if I remember correctly."
"Yes, Plato-one of the few muggles worth reading. But not about Atlantis. What have historians of the wizarding world said about Atlantis?"
"Well, very few seem to agree on which myths contain more truth. But most seem to agree that it was the pride of the human wizards that brought about its destruction."
The man in shadows laughed deeply. "Oh, it was the sin of pride that brought about the destruction of Atlantis. But not the pride of human wizards. What did the other historians say?"
Hermione looked puzzled. "Other historians?"
The stranger laughed again. "Why is it that humans continue to think the entire world revolves around them and them alone?" It seemed like a rhetorical question so Hermione remained silent. Harry, still rubbing his forehead, looked at the stranger curiously. "You, better than anyone else should realize that humans, both muggle and magical, are not the only living beings that can think and communicate, correct? When creatures can think and speak, they often develop some form of written communication as well, do they not? And if they can write, they can leave behind records. Humans aren't the only ones who keep records of the past."
Hermione looked at him in shock and then with growing comprehension. "But where would those records be stored?"
"Where are most historical records found?"
As Hermione opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off and continued. "I wish I could give you more specific guidance, but I know very little more myself and my time is almost up. These other historical records may provide more details-though most are unreadable now, except for someone with your particular talents. In your animagus form, Miss Granger, you may be able to unravel the ancient mysteries of Atlantis. And, I hope, prevent another cataclysm of the magnitude that sank Atlantis and nearly destroyed the entire world."
Harry looked in awe at Hermione while her mouth dropped in amazement.
The shadowed figure continued. "Unfortunately, I cannot help you further. But should you decide to pursue this quest, be very careful, Miss Granger. There are many who would love to recover some of the power from long lost Atlantis-no matter the cost. And I fear some are actively looking for the clues right now. And they will not let anything, or anyone, get in their way. Guard her closely, Mr. Potter. Good luck." He then melted back into the shadows and vanished from sight.
"Wait! What is it they're after? And who are they?" Silence was their only answer.
"Lot of bloody help he was," muttered Harry. "How did he know we were here? How did he see us-we were both invisible. And how did he disappear like that? I didn't hear him Disapparate."
"Maybe he's been following us…maybe he's got an eye like Mad-Eye Moody's…maybe he had a timed portkey…" replied Hermione, deep in thought.
"That's a lot of maybes, Mione. What he should have done was give himself enough time to better explain himself," complained Harry. Harry looked around a bit, looking for any additional clues that might help him better understand the mysterious stranger, but came up with nothing. Hermione just stood chewing her lip and thinking hard. Putting the cloak back over her head, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand as he disappeared and they left the small temple. Moving down the hill, they made themselves visible while nobody was looking. They sat down on one of the steps of the ramp with a wonderful view of the city and began discussing their strange encounter. To all appearances, they seemed to be a young couple holding hands taking in the magnificent view of Athens.
"Do you suppose he really was a friend of Dumbledore?" asked Harry.
"I don't know. But Dumbledore has some pretty odd friends, don't you think? Just look at the faculty and some of the members of the Order. I wouldn't feel comfortable with all of them if Dumbledore didn't trust them. Do you think we can trust him? Or anything he said?"
"I don't know right now. And I think I feel a migraine headache coming on."
"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
"Yeah, how about another SAP."
"Fine, here you go." She mixed a small amount for him and he drank it gratefully.
"Why don't you trust him, Harry?"
"Are you serious? He never even told us who he was, really. I couldn't even see what he looked like. But there was something else about him, something I could sense, but I'm not sure how. But he seemed to radiate great power. And death. I'm not sure how to explain it exactly. Did you sense anything odd about him, besides the obvious of course."
"No, not really. For some reason, I couldn't really get a sense of his thoughts or feelings-though I didn't really try. I was concentrating more on what he was saying."
"Hmm. Well I don't like him and I don't trust him at all."
"Are you sure you're not just mad because, well, because he said your skills weren't the ones that would be needed or…" As soon as she thought it she immediately regretted it.
"NO!!! Well, maybe a little bit. No, the thing that upsets me most is that if what he says is true, then you may be in the most danger. I'm used to that for me. But it scares me to death to think about you being in danger. It always has."
"Well, welcome to my world Harry. You've been dealing with that for what-ten minutes now? Try dealing with it for five and a half years. And for your information, Harry, I can take care of myself."
Smiling, Harry replied, "I know, I know. You're my princess but you don't need a rescue. But why all the mystery and vagueness? Why didn't he just tell us what to look for? And who was after it? For all we know, he could be part of some plot to get one of the lost artifacts of Atlantis."
"I suppose, but look at who doesn't trust anyone now and automatically suspects the worst…"
Harry grinned as Hermione continued, "And remember how Dobby tried to help you in our second year, but he couldn't come out and say anything directly?"
"Yeah, but Dobby seemed a lot less dangerous than this guy." Then Harry smiled. "Of course, Dobby nearly got me killed, or even worse, expelled, at least half a dozen times."
"Funny, Potter. But admit it Harry. You're dying of curiosity."
"Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one, Mione. But I think we should be very careful. Especially you."
As she squeezed his hand, she laughed as she thought, "The infamous Harry Potter urging caution instead of charging right in? I never thought I'd see the day!"
With a wry grin, Harry replied "Well, I've come to believe that reckless courage is way overrated. Haven't you ever noticed that most of the stories about heroes are told by someone else and not the hero himself? As for me, I want to be one of those few heroes who lives happily ever after. And who lives long enough to tell the stories himself."
Smiling back, Hermione thought, "So you're interested then, even if it sounds like lots of reading and research in dusty old libraries?"
"Let me get this straight. A mysterious stranger comes up practically begging our-well, mostly your help-to research some mysterious artifact from Atlantis and then find it before some bad, evil guys can find it and use it to take over the world and you're asking me what do I think? Of course I'm intrigued. But if we do try and find whatever he was talking about, I'm going everywhere and doing everything with you. I don't care if he doesn't think my skills would be that helpful. I happen to know that my snitch catching ability and bacon frying expertise have come in very handy in the past."
Hermione chuckled. "Good. Now when do you think we should start researching? Tomorrow morning or this afternoon? Personally, I favor…"
"This afternoon. I know. But I thought we were on vacation. Besides, I really think we should talk to Dumbledore first. I'd like to know more about this Corlyn character first and what his agenda is. Especially if he's supposed to be some old friend of Dumbledore's. Besides, it's not like we have the library at Hogwarts to browse through right now. What are we going to read?"
"Hmmm. Maybe you're right. We'll use this afternoon to make a plan to try and get in touch with Dumbledore. Then we can start first thing in the morning."
They spent the rest of the afternoon going over the strange conversation they had shared with Corlyn trying to unravel the clues he had given them and planning out some course of action they could take. They also discussed how they might get in touch with Dumbledore. They took a break when they met her parents later that night for dinner, and enjoyed a relaxing evening together. No mention was made of the mysterious stranger however.
After dinner, Hermione told her parents that she and Harry were going to walk around for a while before they headed back to the hotel. Her mother looked at her oddly for a moment but her dad just advised them to be careful and not to stay out too late. When they had left, Harry and Hermione continued discussing their plan.
"I still don't think it's much of a plan, Harry. Wandering around the streets until we stumble across a wizard shop or tavern-I mean, what are the odds of us actually finding…"
"Hey, this is better than most of the plans Ron comes up with," grinned Harry.
"That's not saying much, Harry."
"Besides, you haven't come up with a better one. Unless you know where the Ministry of Magic is located, or a wizard's home that is hooked up to the Floo network, I can't think of a better idea. You've told me it's too far for you to contact anyone there telepathically. And I don't know any of the special methods the Order uses to communicate. I guess I should have asked." Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "Wait a minute. Do you suppose they might have the equivalent of a Knight Bus?"
"I'm not sure. It's certainly a better idea than your first plan."
Harry led Hermione out of the restaurant and down a few blocks until they found a darker alley. Sensing only a few cats chasing each other down the alley, Harry led Hermione out of sight of the main street. He lifted his wand up in his right hand and whispered "Lumos."
A dull roar like distant thunder rolled through the narrow alley and then a small bus appeared beside the two young teens. The driver opened the sliding door and turned to look at them. Harry let Hermione do the talking, since he couldn't speak more than three or four words in Greek without Hermione's help. He pulled out twenty sickles from his leather pouch to give to the driver when Hermione told him and she directed the driver to take them to the nearest wizard inn. The driver looked at them with a look of surprise on his face. Hermione spoke to him as she mentally translated for Harry.
"He says it's not more than fifteen blocks from here. I just told him we were students visiting abroad and weren't very familiar with the local wizarding community. That seemed to satisfy him."
"Good thinking, Mione," replied Harry as he settled back into one of the seats for the short ride. Within a few minutes, they arrived at a seedy little dive. Reading the sign, Hermione translated the name to Harry as The Crooked Staff.
"Seems appropriate enough," he chuckled as he stepped out of the van. He helped Hermione to the street and glanced warily at the shadows as they walked to the front door.
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