章 56: The Order Strikes Back (I)
"Um… I was wondering… Can you breathe flames?" Gellert asked curiously as he turned around to look at Destiny who was walking behind him. Destiny simply quirked her head sideways and took a deep breath. Moments later, she opened her mouth and a stream of extremely hot flames poured out of her mouth.
After a few seconds, the flames finally stopped, and Destiny closed her mouth with a snap. Smoke came out of her nostrils and a displeased look appeared on her face. "Breathing flames always ruin the taste in my mouth" Destiny grumbled in displeasure.
"Does it hurt? I mean human throats aren't meant to breathe flames" Gellert asked as he handed her a water bottle from his backpack. Destiny grabbed the bottle and gave him a grateful nod.
"No, not exactly… I don't even feel discomfort in the slightest" Destiny said as she took a large swig from the bottle. "That is why I said you should have chosen a Nundu" Destiny reminded as she gave him a pointed look.
"I didn't want to kill someone by simply talking with them" Gellert deadpanned and grabbed the bottle from Destiny. "I am also not confident enough to think that I can take on a Nundu by myself. I am good, but even I am not that good" Gellert added with a scowl.
"At least you are aware of your shortcomings, old man" Destiny retorted innocently while looking around only to receive a scathing glare from Gellert.
"How long it is going to take us to find a Chimera?" Gellert asked with a groan as he flicked his Wand to clear the path.
"Don't know… According to the locals, this is where the Chimeras have been sighted. That is probably why we are the only ones here" Destiny wondered thoughtfully as she flicked the Elder Wand to cast an Anti-Insect on herself and Gellert. "The forest is getting denser" Destiny mumbled under her breath as she looked around.
"That is what I am worried about… Chimeras aren't the only ones we need to be worried about. There are so many things that could go wrong!" Gellert exclaimed with a grimace.
"Oh… Is the old man scared?" Destiny asked in an amused tone only to receive an irritated huff from Gellert. "Don't be such a baby, Gellert. A little hike won't kill you… Where is your thrill for adventures?" Destiny asked while giving Gellert an exasperated look.
Gallert couldn't help but roll his eyes at her… "Having you beside me is enough for me… That is adventurous enough for me" Gellert blurted out, looking tired and annoyed at the same time.
Destiny comically placed her hands over her chest and gave him a hurt look… "That hurts Gellert. I thought you loved me" She said as she clutched her hands and gave Gellert a pained look and once again, Gellert simply rolled his eyes at her.
Gellert still loved her… He loved her like a daughter, but he was never going to say that aloud or Destiny was going to tease him relentlessly. The two of them continued to make their way through the dense forest of Folóï oak in Greece. Chimeras are generally found in Greece so here they were and Gellert was also planning to meet his men in Bulgaria, which was one of the neighboring countries of Greece.
Then all of a sudden, Destiny stopped their banter and her face turned completely serious. Gellert also noticed the look and started to look around. "I don't know what it is, but it is pretty big… It is watching us. There" Destiny said as she pointed up the hill. Gellert also looked up and found two glowing eyes staring back at them.
"That's a Chimera…" Gellert muttered in a serious tone and Destiny couldn't help but give him an incredulous look. "I have been studying about Chimeras since last week. I didn't want to be taken by surprise" Gellert added when he noticed the incredulous look on Destiny's face.
'Motherfucker! He was studying about Chimeras for a week and I didn't study shit before I went Dragon hunting' Destiny cursed inside her mind. "Well, good luck… Happy hunting!" Destiny said with a grin as she started to float in the air and that was enough to startle the Chimera as it lunged on Gellert before he could even give her an answer.
"Don't worry, I will save you if you are about to be ripped into shreds" Destiny pointed out in an amused tone as she rose up in the air.
Meanwhile, Gellert completely ignored Destiny as he had more important things to deal with on his plate. Gellert had to cast a Magical Shield to protect himself. The Chimera collided against the Magical barrier and roared in anger. Moments later, the Chimera attacked the Magical barrier with his tail, but Gellert was already weaving through Spells.
He was already aware of the fact that he couldn't use the Killing Curse or most of the Dark Spells which would kill the beast in an instant as they would destroy the magic residing in the creature. Vines made of earth rose from the ground and started to wrap around the Chimera. The Chimera roared in anger and started to struggle. The vines immediately started to crack and Gellert twisted his hand to increase the power.
Chimeras are known to be extremely vicious, bloodthirsty creatures and that is why they are classified as XXXXX creatures by the Internation Magical Community. Chimeras are creatures with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail. Gellert already had a good plan in his mind to slay a Chimera without much of a hassle for his plan to work, Gellert needed to immobilize the creature for a few moments.
The creature swiped its claw at Gellert and the Magical barrier protecting him until now shattered like glass. The creature was way more stronger than Gellert was anticipating. Alas… He already had a plan in his mind. Before the creature could take a second swipe at him, Gellert erected another Magical barrier between himself and the creature.
The creature swiped its claw at the annoying barrier, but the barrier held strong even though a crack appeared on the barrier. Once again Gellert cast the Transfiguring Spell to create vines from the earth and this time, he used a lot more power than he used the last time. This time the vines were strong enough to immobilize the Chimera for at least a couple of seconds and that was enough for Gellert to act.
Gellert pointed his Wand at the Chimera and Conjured a thick plastic bag inside the Chimera's mouth. The Chimera sucked in a breath in surprise and the plastic bag got stuck inside its throat. The Chimera started to choke. This is what Gellert had planned from the beginning. The Chimera lost all of its will to attack Gellert and continued to choke and cough.
Even though the Chimera lost its will to attack, Gellert decided not to lower the shield for the time being. He wasn't going to take any chances as long as the Chimera was still in the world of living…
Meanwhile, Destiny who was floating up in the air simply goggled at Gellert with a gobsmacked look on her face. She never imagined that Gellert would be able to kill a Chimera so easily and she had to admit, it was an ingenious plan. She could have used this plan against the Dragon, but she simply didn't know enough about a Hungarian Horntail to employ this plan.
Now, Destiny was feeling kind of stupid for not studying Hungarian Horntails before she went hunting. It would have made her task much easier… After a few moments, she simply shrugged. The fight was a nice experience so she decided not to complain anymore, but the next time maybe she should do some research before jumping the gun…
<Line Break>
"Hello, Altair… It has been two days since I was trying to reach you" Harry said with a hint of anger in his voice and the divine woman simply gave him a cold him.
"It will do you well to remember that I have other things to do, instead of babying all of you all the time" The white-skinned woman snarked and Harry almost flinched back when a felt a huge amount of pressure engulf him.
While Harry was angry at the woman, he was quite aware of the fact that he couldn't do anything to her, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to question the woman. After all, it was them who were risking their lives, trying to stop a mad tyrant.
"I have my own duties, which cannot be left aside and I am already in a heap of trouble… If I leave my tasks unfinished then they will get someone else to replace me" Altair said colly as she Conjured a couple of chairs and a table for herself and her guest.
"Who are they?" Harry asked wryly as he sat down. Altair waved her hand and two tea cups along with a bunch of snacks appeared on the table.
"Higher Gods… Usually, they don't interfere, but after the war, the rules have been quite strict. We are free to summon Heroes into a world, but we aren't allowed to interfere directly. I had to break the rule or that monster would have ripped Albus' mind into shreds and now I am under close watch" Altair explained and Harry couldn't help but frown.
"Can you tell me where are they keeping Albus?" Harry asked as he picked up the teacup on his side.
"No… As I said, I could no longer interfere directly. None of us can" Altair shook her head with a frustrated look on her face.
"You are talking with me… Isn't it some sort of direct interference?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes, you are right, but you are one of my agents so it is fine. I was busy so a friend of mine stopped the Fidelius Charm from taking effect on all of you since you are from different realities, but that's it… With the Spell in effect, you won't be reveal her name to anybody" Altair explained tiredly.
"So… this is it? We lost?" Harry asked headedly only to receive another cold look from Altair.
"If you are giving up, then yes… You lost, but before you give up, there is something else I need to tell you" Altair said with a look of distaste on her face. She hated manipulating people, but sometimes, it was necessary… She has already rolled the die, so she couldn't have her agents backing out…
"She has made contact with one of the Higher Beings… You have no idea how much power she will gain if she accepts the offer. She will be able to travel to all of your worlds and rip them apart" Altair explained in a grave tone and Harry couldn't help but gasp in horror.
"Right now, I do not know who made contact with her, but whoever it was, they are simply way too high on the hierarchy. I should have been killed, but they want some amusement… That is why I was spared" Altair bit out bitterly.
For the next few minutes, neither of them said anything… "Harry, do whatever you need, but save Albus. He is barely holding on, but he will break… I am still protecting his mind, so Destiny won't be able to take the information from his mind, but if he ends up giving up all the information willingly, then I won't be able to stop him" Altair broke the silence with the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I know that too… It would be a disaster if she discovers how to create the talismans" Harry muttered while gritting his teeth. He wouldn't have left the boy in Destiny's tender care, but he simply didn't know where Destiny was keeping him. Back in their world, they tried to break the Fidelius Charm, but they didn't find a solution even after trying for years.
"Yes… And there is something else I needed to tell you. She has acquired the Elder Wand" Altair said and Harry lost all color on his face…
Harry no longer knew what to say… Destiny Grindelwald was already so much stronger than them, now how the hell were they going to defeat the woman? They needed an edge… They needed something to turn the odds in their favor.
"You said you were going to help us… We need help" Harry said, looking completely serious and Altair couldn't help but smile after hearing his words.
"Good… As I said, I cannot interfere directly, but I can point you in the right direction…" Altair said and a piece of paper appeared in her hand. "This is the location. I need you to remember the location as I can't allow you to take this" Altair added as she handed the paper to Harry.
Altair was asking to visit the Himalayas… What the hell was he even supposed to find there? "What are we supposed to find there?" Harry asked curiously as he returned the paper to Altair and instead of accepting the paper, the paper simply dissolved into thin air.
"A tribe used to live there, but they slowly died off due to inbreeding… While I would never want any of you to practice incest…" Altair said in an amused tone, making Harry grimace. "They did have some amazing Rituals… They decided that it was better to die off instead of revealing their Rituals to another tribe. That is the main reason why they practiced inbreeding" Altair explained and Harry couldn't help but grimace even more.
"Can we avoid Rituals? I don't want to commit to Rituals… They always come with a price" Harry said while looking quite uncomfortable.
"Yes, there is always a price when it comes to Rituals, but you don't have any other choice… Well, you will understand as soon as you see what I am talking about. Either way, I couldn't care less if you perform the Rituals or not… You asked for help and I provided you" Altair said and Harry was left completely gobsmacked by her nonchalant attitude.
He believed Gods cared, especially Altair, but apparently, he was wrong… "That's it?" Harry asked while glaring at Altair. He was barely restraining his anger… He didn't know what he might end up doing if he lost his control.
"Yes… That's it! I will be off" Altair said and before Harry could react, his surroundings started to dissolve and his world went black…
<Line Break>
"Harry. Harry!" Harry finally opened his eyes as he felt someone shaking him while calling his name. Soon, Hermione's bushy mane of hair appeared in his vision and he already knew who was trying to wake him up. A soft smile appeared on his face as he captured her lips with his.
Hermione kissed him back, but reluctantly she had to push him back as she couldn't allow the situation to escalate even though she wanted to. "Harry, this has to wait. Something came up" Hermione said softly and Harry groaned softly as he removed the covers.
"What happened?" Harry asked and Hermione also climbed down from the bed. Only now did Harry notice that Hermione was already dressed.
"Neville's group captured one of Quinton Moor's men" Hermione revealed and alarms went off inside Harry's head. This wasn't good… This wasn't good at all. Quinton Moor was one of Destiny's most zealous followers and man meant business. The fact that the man was extremely good at his job didn't help.
"Good, let me get dressed… Did Daphne interrogate him?" Harry asked as he rushed toward the wardrobe.
"Yes, they have been interrogating him since yesterday. He is still alive, but we can't get anything more from him" Hermione said with a shrug. Harry turned around to give her a look.
"Right… I might find a use for him in the future" Harry said as he rolled his shoulders dismissively. After a few moments of silence, Harry spoke up again. "I talked with Altair" Harry revealed and Hermione couldn't help but grimace.
"So, she finally decided to answer our calls… What did she have to say for herself?" Hermione almost growled in anger.
"She did have a lot of things to say and yes, she confirmed that 'she' used a variant of Fidelius Charm to hide her identity. Since we don't belong to this world, one of the Gods intervened and the Spell didn't affect us… much" Harry ended his explanation with a grimace. Even though they remembered her name, there was nothing they could do as they couldn't even utter the name in front of anyone except for their fellow Dimension hoppers.
"I see… So 'she' really modified the Spell" Hermione muttered with a look of horror on her face.
"That wasn't all, 'she' has acquired the Elder Wand too" Harry exclaimed sarcastically and Hermione lost all color from her face.
"Fuckkk…" It was extremely rare for Hermione to curse out loud, but whenever she did curse, it meant huge trouble for their whole group. "This will only make our task even harder" Hermione shook her head, looking extremely angry and frustrated.
"Yeah, I know exactly how you are feeling" Harry said while nodding his head. He was finally dressed and ready to leave.
"Is Altair going to help us?" Hermione asked with a hint of concern in her voice and Harry couldn't help but release a snort at her question.
"Yes, but apparently, she can't help us directly, or else she will be killed" Harry deadpanned and Hermione couldn't help but raise her brows at him in question, so Harry decided to continue. "She had to intervene directly to protect Albus' mind and even now she is protecting his mind" Harry explained with a roll of his eyes.
"Then did she tell us where Albus is being kept?" Hermione asked in an excited tone. While she was glad that Altair was protecting Albus' mind as it would have been a massive blow to their group if secrets were revealed, they needed to save Albus as soon as possible. After all, Altair might be protecting his mind at this moment, but there is nothing stopping Albus from revealing their secrets willingly.
"No, Albus is being kept under Fidelius Charm and yes, she does know where he is being kept, but if she revealed the Secret then she would be interfering directly" Harry grumbled in annoyance. "Let's go" Harry said while making his way toward the door.
"Really, Harry? You know what will happen if our secrets are revealed, right?" Hermione snapped in anger.
"Yes, I do know what will happen!" Harry snapped back at her. "What do you want me to do, Hermione?" Harry asked angrily. "I am not a genius like you. I can't even begin to understand how she modified the Fidelius Charm!" Harry grouched in anger.
Hermione also reeled back at his anger… It was quite rare for Harry to snap at her in such a manner, so Hermione realized that she probably crossed the line or Harry was probably just as angry and frustrated like her. "I am quite aware of the stakes too, but there isn't anything I can do right now… Altair practically told me that we are on our own even though her words were different" Harry said as he released a tired sigh.
"Then why are we even fighting, Harry? I mean we had our own war… I thought that was enough, but here we are, in a different Dimension, on our own. The Goddess who brought us here already abandoned us…" Hermione trailed off with a pained look on her face.
"I know, Hermione… I know. Do you really think I wanted to fight anymore?" Harry asked, but Hermione didn't bother to answer as she understood that it was a rhetorical question. "But I can't give up… Conflict is everything I have ever known and I simply can't watch from the sidelines as someone lights up the world in flames" Harry said while looking extremely old and tired.
Hermione couldn't help but curse Voldemort and the Death Eaters for destroying Harry's childhood inside her mind. "It's alright, Harry, I understand. I was there with you" Hermione said as she made her way toward Harry and pulled him into her arms comfortingly.
"I know and I am grateful for that… I would have never won if it wasn't for you and Ron" Harry said and Hermione couldn't stop a grimace from surfacing on her face. It has been so long since they lost Ron, but it still brought them so much pain every time his name came up. "Altair also told me that if 'she' won in this world then there is a chance that she will be able to travel to our world in the future" Harry revealed grimly.
Hermione paled after she heard his words and her eyes grew wide in shock… "How?" Hermione blurted out with a horrified look on her face.
"Didn't I tell you that 'she' made contact with a Higher Being?" Harry questioned as he raised his brows.
Hermione gave him a pointed look and Harry finally realized his mistake so he started to rub the back of his head while chuckling nervously. "Oh… I kinda forgot" Harry said sheepishly.
Hermione placed her hand on her hips and huffed loudly… "I can't believe you, Harry. You should have started the discussion with that" Hermione scowled.
"Sorry… Sorry. There is something else Altair told me. While she couldn't help us directly, she could point us in the right direction. We clearly need more power so pointed me toward the Himalayas… A tribe used to live there and apparently, they have some amazing Rituals" Harry revealed looking quite unhappy.
"I don't mind going through Rituals if they can help us… I mean I have read about Rituals, not every one of them is harmful to your sanity" Hermione mumbled thoughtfully.
"Really? You want to perform Rituals?" Harry asked incredulously while giving Hermione a bewildered look.
Hermione simply nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, we should. You saw yourself that 'she' was way more stronger than she was supposed to be and now she has acquired the Elder Wand. Do you think we will be able to defeat her?" Hermione asked heatedly and Harry's shoulders slumped down.
"I simply don't want to depend on borrowed power" Harry mumbled with a grimace and Hermione huffed in amusement.
"Honestly Harry, it is acquired power, not borrowed power. We will use every single advantage we can get, after all, this time you don't have a Prophecy hanging over your head so your luck may run out" Hermione pointed out with her eyes dancing in mirth. Harry grimaced but nodded his head in understanding as he realized that Hermione was right.
"Fine" Harry grumbled. "So, do you think I should tell the others?" Harry asked and Hermione started to tap her chin thoughtfully.
"Yes, I think you should tell them everything… I would have preferred if you didn't tell them about the Elder Wand, but the Elder Wand is quite distinctive and all of our fellow Dimension hoppers have seen the Wand in action from up close" Hermione finished thoughtfully, and once again, harry couldn't help but agree with her.
"Okay" Harry said while nodding his head. "By the way, I think we have wasted a lot of time, we should leave" Harry pointed out and Hermione nodded her head in agreement.
After that, without wasting any more time, the two of them started to make their way to the meeting room. Their other fellow dimension hoppers were already inside the room, chatting with each other. All of them noticed Harry's and Hermione's arrival, so all of them stopped talking and took their seats. Harry immediately turned toward Daphne so that he could get the meeting started.
"So, Daphne, what did you find?" Harry asked in a grave tone. He already knew that it was probably something serious as Quinton Moor was involved in the whole mess.
"We captured one of Quinton Moor's men and Quinton Moor is the one 'she' assigned on this mission, which means she seriously wants to kill Torquil Travers" Daphne revealed and everyone sitting at the table could only grimace at her words, finally realizing how serious the situation was.
"We have located their base of operations and I have also discovered that they are planning to kill Torquil Travers and all of his associates and frame religious Muggles" Daphne added, looking completely indifferent.
Even though Daphne wasn't on the opposite side, she would have to admit, it was a brilliant plan. In one fell swoop, Destiny would have destroyed any sort of Ministerial opposition in Britain. Unfortunately for Destiny, her plan was going to fail as her plan was discovered by them before it was too late.
For the next few minutes, nobody said anything including Harry as he was lost in his thoughts. "So, what now?" It was Sirius Black who broke the silence.
"We take them by surprise…" Harry said while nodding his head, looking extremely determined. "Until now, we have been consolidating our power, but after 'her' latest stunt, we are on our own. This is the perfect opportunity, we need to finally strike back and if we can kill Quinton Moor, then it will be a huge blow to her operations" Harry added with a growl, and a lot of members cheered in agreement.
"So, how are we going to do this?" James asked curiously. While he completely agreed with Harry, it was about time they hit back, he wanted to know how they were going to do it… After all, they couldn't go in Wands blazing.
"Uh… Sorry for ruining the mood, but what are we going to do about the Normals?" Before Harry could answer James, it was Scorpius who spoke up and he was right, his question really ruined the mood.
"Normals?" Hermione asked curiously as she raised her brows in question.
"Yes, they have made their base in an apartment building and they have put all the residents under the Imperius Curse. Quinton is ruthless enough to use them as meat shields when we attack" Neville pointed out thoughtfully and murmurs broke out.
"This isn't right…"
"So, what are we…"
"Going to do?"
Two red-headed twins spoke in sequence. Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully and turned toward Hermione. "Hermione, you remember the time we raided Jugson manor?" Harry asked and a small smile formed on his face.
Realization dawned on Hermione's face as she finally remembered the incident. The others simply gave the two of them confused looks. "Of course, of course!!" Hermione gushed out excitedly. "Guys, we can use the gaseous form of the Draught of Living Death to put everyone to sleep!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.
"Gaseous Draught of Living Death? Is that a thing?" Amelia Black asked as she inclined her head in confusion.
"No… not really. The Dumbledore…" Hermione cringed a bit as she realized almost everyone except for her and Harry weren't fans of Dumbledore. "The one from our world created an Alcemic version of the Draught of Living Death. The Alchemical version can be boiled into gaseous form, unlike the normal version which loses its properties when heated" Hermione explained slowly so that everyone could understand what she was trying to say.
"Even though we don't know Alchemy, we do know how to recreate the Potion" Harry picked up the explanation as he realized that Hermione lost a lot of excitement when she noticed that everyone became unhappy when Dumbledore came up. Harry would never understand why they didn't like Albus… The man was really annoying and irritating, but he was only trying to help.
Maybe Albus Dumbledore in their world was truly evil or manipulative, Harry couldn't say for sure. After all, people could have different lives and different backgrounds in different realities, he was quite aware of that. That is probably why he was the only Harry in this group. In his world, the Prophecy might have affected him, but in some other realities, it might refer to someone else…
"Okay…" Lily said while nodding her head. "If everyone falls asleep, then we don't have anything to worry about, and even if only the Normals fall asleep, we will be able to attack without worrying about the Normals" Lily mumbled under her breath. It was a good plan… It was the only plan they had, but it was still a good plan.
"How long they are going to stay down and how long does it take for the Potion to take effect?" Daphne asked curiously as she leaned forward on the table. She never liked Albus Dumbledore, but nobody could deny the man's genius.
"If they go down, then they stay down for quite long. We don't know exactly how long they will stay down, but know for sure that they will stay down for at least a day, and it takes somewhere around 1 minute 56 seconds to 2 minutes 31 seconds to take action from our experience… It might take a bit long for everyone to fall asleep, but according to Professor Dumbledore, everyone should fall asleep within 5 minutes and we haven't tested the Potion on Normals" Hermione explained while rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Does it have any odor?" Amelia asked, looking quite interested. If they had this Potion back in their world then it would have saved them a lot of hassle during the war.
"Yes, it does… So, they will probably notice, but it won't matter as long as they take a single whiff" Harry said and everyone nodded their head in understanding. "It will take nearly 5 hours to prepare the Potion" Harry added after a small pause, making everyone smile.
"So, we attack tonight?" James questioned, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, we attack tonight, but there is something else we need to discuss before we can start preparing for the attack…" With that, Harry started to recount his meeting with Altair to his fellow Dimension hoppers…
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