Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, reason, and strategic warfare. She also aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, and Jason in their endeavours. Her symbols are owls and olive trees. Over time, she has become an international symbol of wisdom, the arts, and classical learning.
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d r a c o
It was close to midnight when Lorcan and Susan finally returned. They gusted through the doors with grave expressions, bringing the chilly night air with them. Hannah leapt to her feet. "Well? Did you find anything?"
Susan stood before us. Her lips parted to say something, but the words could not seem to find their way out. "I'll go make some tea," she squeaked and hurried away. Our gazes shifted to Lorcan. He slapped a black file onto the table. "It's bad," he said.
I stared at it. What would it show me? That Angel was dead? Kidnapped and murdered by the escaped Barnabas? My hands were shaking as they moved to open it.
The first thing I saw was her picture, the one she had taken for her before starting her new job at the Ministry. She was smiling at the camera, a full smile that turned the corners of her eyes down. The same one she had given me a thousand times over, one I now realised I had not seen in months. My last memory of her was her steely expression, cut by a blade of anguish. I want you to leave.
I read what they had written next to the photograph. Details - everything they knew about her. Name, age, address, family, blood status, school, and even the house she was in. In 'Additional' at the bottom, they had described her role in the Second Wizarding War. Fought at the Viaduct Courtyard, provided healing aid to victims, saved husband Draco Malfoy from the Killing Curse (?)
I wanted to laugh. Angel Dawson was larger than a thousand galaxies. In her, there was neither beginning nor end, only a forever of in-between where strength and kindness lived undyingly. Yet, they had her neatly condensed onto a singular piece of parchment, a skeletal structure of information that suggested she was anything but heavenly.
"S.C. to L.M." Hannah was craning her neck to read. "What's that?"
Lorcan reached out to snatch the slip out of the paperclip, revealing a second folded piece of parchment under. Hannah's deft fingers beat mine to it. Her voice rang clear around the room, reverberating within me as she read its contents out loud.
It was a poem. Pretty words that spoke of an event to happen, and a baby born of love and sacrifice, to be condemned to death the second it leaves its mother's womb. None of the words meant anything to me. That was until-
"Serena Cheng to... Lucius... Malfoy," Hannah finished, lowering the parchment. Somewhere in the room, a clock ticked steadily. "It's Lucius Malfoy," she finally concluded. "That fucking sewer rat has taken Angel!"
"No, he hasn't," I argued. "Just because this- this message was given to my father doesn't mean anything!"
"No, mate, you don't understand." Lorcan stepped towards me, slowly, as if I were a wild animal. "It's a prophecy. We found it at the Ministry. It was tagged to Angel's folder."
I knew that. I just did not want to accept it. A dreadful feeling came over me, like I was tied to a boulder and thrown into the sea. An inevitable death I could not escape. I refused to meet his eyes. "So it's our baby, then."
Susan had reappeared, standing in my peripheral with the tea tray in her hands. I heard her sudden intake of air. "Y- you know?" she whispered. "She's told you?"
"Codrus," I snorted.
She set the tray on the table gently. "She didn't mean to keep it from you. Honestly. She was just... scared."
Her tone irritated me. I hated how they acted like I was some fragile creature, so afraid to offend lest my volatile temper would explode and impale them with its shrapnel. Even so, I could not even lift my head to nod.
Why did it seem like every unfortunate event wrought upon Angel circled back to me? Was I not her sworn protector? Had I not promised, in front of all our friends and family, that I would be her friend, lover, and keeper of her soul until every single star in the sky has burned out?
"Where's Lucius now? Anyone has any idea at all?" Hannah looked at me pointedly. "No," I sighed. "My parents recast the protection charms over the house after I moved out with Angel."
"So, you're telling me... you have no idea where your own bloody house is?"
"No."
"Why do you never know anything?" said Hannah hotly. "Has those years of slobbing about rotted your brain? Tell me, what do you know, Malfoy? Because while you've been kicking your feet up at home, Angel has been running about trying to juggle between working, keeping house, and wiping your shithole. And now she's gone! If you even care at all, you'd grow a pair and say something useful for once in your pathetic life!"
My insides boiled. It had barely been two days and I already fucking hated the lot of them. Hannah was insufferable, Susan a cowering mouse, and Lorcan was the most cocky git I had ever met. I would rather share the same cell in Azkaban with Harry Potter, Pansy Parkinson, and a Hippogriff than spend another second with them.
I was on the brink of unleashing a torrent of insults back at her when there was a tap on the windows, so soft I might have missed it if my head had not been buried in my hands in an attempt to block out Hannah's incessant yapping.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Shut up, Abbott," I said suddenly, stopping Hannah short mid-sentence. Tap, tap, tap. Her mouth fell open. "Excuse me? I beg your pardon-"
"Just shut up."
Tap, tap, tap.
Outside, the street was empty, illuminated only by the street lamps with a dull, ghostly glow. They watched as I moved to the windows, straining my ears. Tap, tap, tap. There it was again, louder now that I was nearer. A little shadow perched on the sill outside, just where the light did not shine.
I hauled the window open, and a flutter of brown feathers brushed past me into the house and onto the coffee table. It was a little owl, so small I could hold it in my open palm. Susan took the parchment from its beak.
"I don't get it," she frowned. "They're... numbers. Just a string of them and nothing else."
Lorcan, who had been peering over her shoulder, plucked it from her grasp. "No, it's not." He hurried away into another room, us following curiously.
Unlike the rest of the house, which had been kept rather tidy, this one room was in complete disarray. The desk and lamp were barely visible under the mountain of books and parchment that covered it. Tacked to the wall was a map of the world so large it spanned from one end to the other. A small stepladder leaned against it, to reach the top.
Hastily dunking a quill in ink, Lorcan climbed the ladder and marked a small cross high up on the map. "What is it?" Susan asked, the little owl nestled comfortably in her cupped hands.
He did not respond, clambering down to pull something else from under the mess - a smaller map. He pushed everything off the table and unfurled it flush against its surface. His head twisted back and forth between the owl's note and the map. His fingertips skimmed lightly over the grids, and once he found his place, marked it with another 'x'.
"They're coordinates..." he said breathlessly. "Look," he pointed to the map on the wall. "Fifty-seven dot four. Scotland." Then, holding out the smaller one for us - "Fifty-six, thirty-nine, fifteen dot four, thirty-five, thirty-seven. That puts us right in the middle of Rannoch Moor." He punched it with his finger. "Suzie, you said Serena Cheng lives in the Scottish moors. If I'm right about this, Rannoch Moor is where we'll find her."
"We have to go," I said, already turning away. "Wait!" called Susan. "We don't know where this letter came from. It could be a trap!"
"Well, you can stay here and make more bloody tea, then!" I growled, trying my best not to lose my temper at poor Susan, who fell silent immediately.
Hannah clamped a hand on my shoulder. "Susan's right. And how d'you suppose we get there, anyways? Look, Malfoy, I'm all for going to save Angel but can we at least attempt to not make any stupid mistakes?"
I hated when Hannah was right. And she was, far too often. Worst of all, she knew this too. "Now," she said to us. "We can't Apparate there because none of us have ever been. We don't have brooms, and Muggle transport would take ages. Ideas, anybody?"
Something tugged at the back of my mind. Something about the Second Wizarding War that my father had told us during one of the Death Eater meetings. When Harry had gotten the vision of Sirius in trouble at the Ministry, the Trio had to get there as quick as they could, and they hadn't used brooms. It was something else. Something faster.
"I have one," I said.
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The Thestrals were already there by the pond, their elegant necks dipped down to sip the silver water. Above us, the moon presided over the clearing with its boastful light.
"By Helga..." Susan muttered under her breath. It was enough for them to notice us. They startled at the sudden presence of so many people at once, some backing away.
But their attitude changed once more, suddenly becoming curious again. Their white pupil-less eyes shone as they began to inch towards us.
It was then I noticed Susan was holding out a piece of raw meat. Where on Godric's good earth she pulled that from, I had no idea. Hufflepuffs bewildered me to no end, and I could only watch as they stepped through the pond, my favourite one now standing a mere feet away.
It took the meat from her hands and allowed her to stroke it. "I have more where that came from," she spoke to it softly. "Take us to Rannoch Moor, and you and your friends can have as much as you want."
It neighed in agreement, the same shrill, bleating noise. The others followed suite, turning the air around us cold as winter.
And so began our journey to the Scottish moors. We rode under the cover of night, the ridges of the Thestral's spine bumpy under me. We went faster than the fastest broom, and despite the circumstances, it was... enjoyable. Invigorating, even, if I had been given the liberty to say. We hooted, the roar of the wind carrying away our shouts of delight as soon as they left our mouths.
I remembered the time Harry had been selected to ride on the Hippogriff that one time in Care of Magical Creatures. It had always been Harry Potter. People and animals alike always flocked to him, never me, so I told myself I did not want that anyway.
All that changed when I met Angel. She gave me everything I never had, everything I never deserved, and more. Now, even in her absence, she was giving me an experience I would never have thought possible. There was a sudden and painful pang in my heart.
"Malfoy!" Hannah shouted across from her Thestral, turning my head. "This was a great idea! Perhaps the only one you've ever had!" She grinned at me, her golden hair blowing behind like a tiny stream of sunshine.
It was likely the smile I returned her was lopsided, but she did not seem to notice or mind. I supposed I could tolerate an hour in an Azkaban cell with her.
When the initial exhilaration had died down, we focused on the grey clouds ahead. The landscape behind us was changing. The cities had faded away, now replaced with rolling hills and snaking rivers.
Finally, it came into view. A solitary, dilapidated hut in the boggy moorland. It looked strange and foreboding in the middle of miles and miles of nothingness.
We landed with a thump and slid off the Thestrals. The earth was soft beneath our shoes, sinking half an inch with each step. It was quiet, but the lights in the house were on. We exchanged looks before knocking on the door.
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A/N: Hey guys! So glad Lorcan's Ravenclaw qualities got to shine in this chapter. None of them would've been able to figure out Amora's letter otherwise 😂 I know the plot is a little confusing so far, but the next chapter should provide more clarity and exposition. Thanks for sticking around! x