And again, fredfred deserves huge thanks for betaing. His help has improved the story a lot.
Chapter 11: The Great Escape
'Some scholars consider jinn and Veela related, citing the affinity for fire and air demonstrated by both species as a common link. However, this view ignores the fundamental differences between the two species. First, Veela are an all-female species who procreate with human males - muggles or wizards - with the female offspring always being Veela, and the male offspring taking after the father. Jinn, on the other hand, have both male and female sexes, and, while not impossible, interbreeding with humans is very rare, despite many Arabian wizards claiming to have a jinni ancestor. Second, the aforementioned affinity for fire and air expresses completely differently in each species. Veela can transform into a bird-like form which allows them to fly and hurl fireballs. In human form they lack either power. Jinn aren't so limited - their powers are not tied to their shape-changing talent. No matter their size, they retain their control over fire as well as their ability to fly. Third, contrary to some unsavoury rumours, Veela have no special weakness to being bound with magic, unlike jinn. And finally, the average lifespan of the Veela is roughly the same as that of witches while there are confirmed reports of jinn living as long as a thousand and one years. It is, therefore, obvious that the two species aren't related.'
- Excerpt from 'Magical Females - Myth and Truth' by Melanie Bauer, Berlin, 2000
Tunisia, Wizarding Tunis, Palace of Murad Bey, September 25th, 2001
Hermione Granger tensed, reaching for the ring that contained her wand, as the jinni stalked towards her and Ari, scattering the rest of the women. Should she draw it? Tahira hadn't grown to the size of a troll. Yet. And she wasn't trailing fire. But she most certainly wasn't happy to see Hermione. And the way all other witches fled wasn't reassuring in the slightest.
"You. Granger," she snarled. She was speaking English, Hermione noted.
"You. Hussy," Ari growled.
That seemed to startle the jinni. "What did you say? Who are you, anyway?"
"Ari," Ari replied with a snarl, baring her teeth. "Ron's mate."
"What?" Tahira grew half a foot. For a moment, Hermione thought she saw smoke coming out of the jinni's nostrils.
And Ari growled louder.
Hermione winced - she knew it was a bad idea, but she had to do something before their whole plan was ruined. So, clenching her teeth, she stepped between the two, mentally promising herself that she would make Ron pay for this, somehow. "Please! Please! I'm certain that we can talk this out like civilised witches and jinn."
To Hermione's own surprise - she had her finger on her enchanted ring - her appeal seemed to work on Tahira. The jinni drew back half a step and, although she didn't shrink down again, slowly nodded. "Yes. We need to talk."
"Talk?" Ari was still growling.
"Yes, talk," Hermione told her, baring her own teeth. Anything was better than a fight against the jinni. No matter who won, their cover would be blown. They weren't supposed to even have wands.
"About what?" Ari asked, scowling and not taking her eyes off the jinni.
"About what exactly you are doing here," Tahira said. She motioned with her head to the side door behind her. "In my room. Away from prying eyes and ears."
Hermione nodded. That would work for her and Ari. At least she hoped it would.
And if things went wrong, there would be no witnesses.
"...and then that backstabbing pirate tried to rob us." Harry Potter shook his head as he grabbed another date from the plate floating nearby - a relic from the early Ottoman Empire, as Bey had mentioned. "But we caught him in the act."
"What did you do?"
"Fed him to the sirens in the area," Ron said, "while we made our getaway."
"You've seen sirens?" Bey perked up. "Caribbean sirens?"
"From afar," Harry said, glancing at Ron. His friend should have known better than to embellish their tales with his own experiences.
"There is a market for them, you know." Bey smiled. "We have agreements with the Mediterranean sirens dating back centuries, back when we were still pirates and the help of a school of sirens was invaluable. So, they were taboo, so to speak. Nowadays, it's mostly tradition. But the Caribbean sirens? We never had any agreements with them, and, as far as I know, the Mediterranean sirens don't care about them, either."
"Well, if we had known that beforehand…" Harry spread his hands. "We'll keep that in mind next time we sail those seas."
"I'm also interested in Aztec and Mayan relics," Bey added.
Harry wasn't surprised. It hadn't taken him long to realise that Bey's main interests were old magic and young witches. And the man believed that Harry and Ron could provide him with both. Which had been the point of their cover - they needed to distract Bey from going to the harem until Hermione had freed Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens from the spells keeping her prisoner and they could beat a retreat from the palace.
And, perhaps, beat up Bey a little as well - Harry had quickly grown tired of the man's bragging about his collections.
He just had to be patient. Hermione would need more time.
"I feel we are kindred spirits, Mr Smith," Bey said, once more flashing that far too wide smile at them. "We both appreciate witches, don't we?"
Ron Weasley forced himself to smile in return even though he wanted to scowl. He wasn't like Bey at all. Ron didn't kidnap witches and keep them as slaves. And he didn't have multiple lovers at the same time, either. "Who doesn't?" he said, taking another tiny sip from his glass. The wine was good - he hadn't expected anything else given their host's fondness of luxury - but he couldn't afford to get drunk, of course.
"Indeed, indeed!" Bey nodded - he was drinking heavily, Ron noticed. That would come in handy later.
He resisted the urge to rub the enchanted pin in his collar again. It would vibrate when Hermione and Ari were ready to break out. Of course, it hadn't been long enough for Hermione to finish breaking the spells on Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens, much less the wards on the harem. Harry and Ron would need to distract Bey for quite some time for that.
Sighing inwardly, he put the glass down on the low table. He should regale the man with another fabricated tale of his alleged exploits, but… "I do wonder, though, how you manage a harem. In my experience, even one witch at a time is a handful."
Harry chuckled loudly at hearing that. "Yeah, you could say that!"
Ron glared at him. He knew Harry would claim he was just playing his role later.
"Oh, I'll tell you a secret." Bey smiled and took another swallow from his wine. "People think the harem's purpose is to keep other men away from your women. But the truth is, the harem's real purpose is to keep your women away from you!" He laughed loudly and slapped his thighs at his own joke. "I only ever see them when I want to see them, if you understand what I mean. The rest of the time they are on their own in the harem."
Ron forced himself to laugh. "Well, you can't exactly travel with a harem, can you? I'm afraid that wouldn't work for us."
Bey grinned. "Actually, I own a travelling harem. Late Fatimid Caliphate. Let me show you!" He all but jumped up and marched over to a side door. "Come, come - I would summon it, but my treasures are all protected, of course. Only I can move them."
Ron smiled, filing the information away as he and Harry followed their host. He had expected that, but confirmation was always nice.
The room into which Tahira led them was spacious - good Extension Charms, Hermione Granger noted - and luxuriously decorated. Far more so than the parts of the harem she had seen so far - and those had looked quite expensive. And each piece of furniture and decor complimented the others.
Hermione narrowed her eyes as Tahira cast a privacy charm. Mr Sayadi hadn't told them about the jinni's presence in Bey's harem. He would have if he had known - if he had wanted to betray them, they wouldn't have gotten this far. Which meant…
She raised her eyebrows at Tahira as the jinni turned towards her and Ari. "You've been bound, haven't you?" She cocked her head. "Impressive spellwork on the decor, by the way."
Tahira's eyes flashed for a moment with rage, then she scoffed. "And you sneaked into the harem to steal one of the girls."
Ari frowned. "She is bound?"
"Jinn are more vulnerable to being controlled by magic than humans," Hermione explained.
"Know that. Researched," Ari said.
Which probably meant that the other witch asked Ron about the jinn, Hermione thought - she hadn't mastered reading English yet, as far as Hermione knew.
"You are enslaved," Ari went on with a sneer. "No competition."
Tahira grew another half a foot in response, and smoke blew out of her nostrils once more. "Watch your tongue, barbarian."
Hermione cleared her throat. "I presume that you want us to inform your family so they can rescue you." It wouldn't be hard for Tahira's clan to force Bey to free her - as Hermione and her friends had found out during their last visit, the jinni clan controlled a lot of Tunis. She didn't think the Bey of Tunis would support his son's foolishness.
"No." Tahira sneered. "I want you to break the item that keeps me imprisoned."
"You mean 'enslaved'," Ari said.
"Please!" Hermione hissed at the other witch. As Ari snorted, Hermione addressed Tahira again. "So you want to avoid having your predicament revealed to your family."
"And you want to avoid having your plans revealed to the Bey's son," Tahira shot back.
"That would prevent your rescue as well," Hermione pointed out.
"We kill traitors!" Ari cut in.
Hermione clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. "No one is killing anyone," she said, more than a little forcefully.
"My situation will come to light sooner or later. Sooner, I would assume, if I alert the guards, since I have no doubt that your friends are in the vicinity as well," Tahira said.
Hermione thought the jinni was bluffing - but could she risk it? Ari would certainly attack Tahira if they couldn't come to an agreement. And that would alert the guards. On the other hand, she was heartily sick of being pushed around and forced into saving enslaved women. First Lockhart, now Tahira… But this was more important than her pride. "In exchange for freeing you from your bondage, I demand that you abandon your grievance against Ron."
"And give up Ron," Ari added.
"I don't think she wants him that way," Hermione said.
"Better make sure with jinn," Ari countered.
Ari might have a point, Hermione thought as she noticed Tahira's expression.
But the jinni princess nodded. "We have a Deal."
Hermione could almost hear the capital letter. Ron really owed her for this.
Bey led them through a narrower hallway lined with display cases, but Harry Potter noticed that within them were only lesser antiques. Nothing really valuable or magical, in his estimation. The room they entered afterwards, though… He didn't have to fake his impressed reaction.
Bey beamed. "The heart of my collection." He gestured at the weapons, wands and jewellery on display between what looked like a Fifth Dynasty sarcophagus, a Persian war chariot - probably enchanted to fly if the winged decor was any indication - several chests in various styles and a pair of pillars that might have been from Olympus. Although in the nineteenth century, when classic Greece had been in vogue in Wizarding Britain, enough 'original Olympian pillars' had been imported to Britain to construct three Olympian temples, so they were likely fakes. Perhaps they had been acquired when most of the British pieces had been quietly disposed of after the actual ruins of Olympus had been found in 1904.
Ron actually whistled. "That's the most expensive collection I've ever seen in one room."
"Oh, compared to the Sultan's collection, this is nothing," Bey replied, oozing fake modesty. "I am merely a passionate private collector." He waved them towards him. The two guards who had followed them stayed back at the entrance to the room. "Here, the Travelling Harem. One of my best pieces. It was originally constructed and enchanted for a merchant travelling the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Back then, there was no Floo network, you know, so he couldn't easily return to his home for the night during his travels. Later, it was the property of an officer in Suleiman the Magnificent's army."
That wouldn't have worked on a ship anyway, Harry knew. But pointing that out would be rude. "Have you used it?" he asked.
"Only here, out of curiosity," Bey said. "The times when brave men explored the unknown parts of the world are long gone, after all."
Shows what you know, Harry thought. There were still a lot of unknown, hidden enclaves to discover - not that Bey looked like he would be brave enough to explore anything but the depravity of his own mind. Harry nodded, though. "But there are still secrets to discover," he said.
"And treasure to acquire," Ron added. "So, how big is it inside?" he cocked his head, studying the chest.
"Let me show you!"
Harry took note how Bey used his wand to open the chest, revealing stairs leading down. Just in case. He waved Ron ahead and quickly cast a detection spell when he was on the stairs and out of sight of either the guards or Bey.
As expected, the harem was well-protected. If the actual harem had similar or better spells on it, they would have to wait a few hours for Hermione to break them. Harry wasn't looking forward to that.
"That doesn't look like a harem. More like a dungeon!" he heard Ron exclaim below.
Harry refrained from wincing when he reached the bottom. The Travelling Harem was larger than he had expected, given the period in which it had been created, but the decor…
"Well, the last owner had peculiar tastes," Bey explained. "I wanted to restore its original furniture, but…" He shrugged. "It would have devalued the piece."
Harry nodded as if he agreed. At least it didn't look like the devices had been regularly used. He was about to suggest they returned to the palace when the enchanted pin in his collar started to vibrate. The signal! No. It continued to vibrate. Hermione wanted to talk. Something must have happened!
Ron would have noticed as well. Harry looked at him, then glanced at the devices in the back of the room.
"Oh, what's this?" Ron said. "I've never seen anything like it! How does that even work?"
"Oh, I'm not entirely sure myself," Bey answered. "I've never actually tried the things, you understand. Other than the beds. But I think that this part is meant as a seat."
While Ron distracted Bey, Harry touched his collar and the pin. "Yes?" he whispered, crouching down as if to study the frame in front of him.
"Harry? We've got a problem," he heard Hermione's voice say.
"Big problem. Huge," Ari added from nearby.
"Tahira's in the harem. And she made me make a deal to get her out as well," Hermione whispered.
"Stupid deal."
"Be quiet, barbarian."
Yes, that was Tahira's voice. Harry wanted to curse. "So you'll need to break the spells on her as well." That would take even longer. Harry didn't know if they could keep Bey distracted that long.
"No," Hermione replied. "She's bound by a ring and needs it destroyed. Golden, early Umayyad Caliphate, with three fire rubies set into it."
A ring which wouldn't be inside the harem. Which meant Harry and Ron had to find it. Harry glanced at Bey. He wasn't wearing such a ring.
Great.
The plan had been simple. Relatively simple. Smuggle Ari and Hermione into the harem, distract Bey while Hermione broke the spells on Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens and cracked the wards preventing them from leaving, then break out with the rest. Rescuing a bound jinni princess hadn't been on the table when they started this.
Ron Weasley just knew that he would be blamed for this change in plans. Even if it certainly wasn't his fault that Tahira had been bound by Bey - or whoever the man had hired for that task; he certainly didn't seem to be an exceptionally skilled wizard. Exceptionally stupid, perhaps - binding a jinni was a dangerous undertaking under the best circumstances, but to bind the princess of the most influential clan of jinn in all of Tunisia? Was Bey suicidal? Ron didn't think so. But why would Bey do this? Was he trying to start a war? Or was this a case of infatuation?
Tahira was impressive and seductive, Ron knew that very well, but hers was not a face that would launch a thousand ships. And Bey didn't appear to be a man driven to foolish actions for a woman. He seemed greedy and vain, but not lovestruck. The man could be putting on an act, of course - but why would he do that for two American mercenaries of no special reputation?
No, Ron thought as he fawned over the man's collection once more, admiring an - admittedly impressively enchanted - circlet made in the thirteenth century BCE on Crete, there had to be something more behind this affair than mere lust. But he didn't seem to be able to think of what it might be.
Just as he and Harry didn't seem to be able to find the ring that bound Tahira. There was plenty of jewellery on display, but no ring that fit the description. And his detection spell, cast under the pretext of wanting to admire the enchantments on the various treasures, didn't reveal any hidden or transfigured rings either.
And a glance at Harry showed that, so far, his friend had also failed to spot the ring. Bey must have hidden the ring somewhere else instead of keeping it with his other treasures. Perhaps it was with his gold and other assets that didn't make for good display pieces? But would those be in a chest or vault in the palace? Ron hadn't heard of a bank in Tunisia, and if there was one, would Bey trust them with his wealth? Ron didn't think so.
Probably a private vault, then. In the cellar. A classic treasure chamber certainly would fit Bey's taste. But that wasn't the kind of thing the man would show his guests. Anyone could amass mere heaps of gold, after all, unlike a collection such as the one he was showing off.
Which meant Harry and Ron needed a distraction to be able to slip away and search the cellars. And Ron had something in mind.
He cocked his head, staring at an amphora - Roman, probably - standing in a corner, next to a Greek vase. "Is this an Everfilling Amphora?" he asked. "The enchantment on it seems different from the ones I saw."
"Ah, no, just an unbreakable and chilling one," Bey answered. "The wine in it had gone bad when I found it, so there was no Preservation Charm on it either."
"Are you certain?" Ron frowned. "The spells seem to obscure another enchantment, from what I can tell."
Bey's eyes widened. "Another enchantment? What can you tell? I never discovered any spells but the two I mentioned."
"It might need to be activated to be discernible, as interwoven as it seems to be. Perhaps the wizard creating the amphora made a mistake," Ron went on, twisting his wand a few times. "I could try to activate it." He held his wand still, its tip pointed at the amphora, as he looked at Bey. Come on, take the bait!
Bey licked his lips. "Well… Do you think it will be dangerous?"
"Well, you never know what kind of spells are on old relics, and you never know if the spells were miscast or went a lil' wonky. But if it were trapped, you'd have found out already, and probably the hard way. Curses tend to grow stronger and more dangerous with time, after all," Ron lied. "It might be an early version of a Preservation Charm, although I don't remember a precursor spell."
"An unknown spell?" Bey leaned forward, then withdrew a step.
"Perhaps," Ron said. A glance told him that Harry was hanging back, next to the two guards. Perfect. "Should I try to activate it?"
Bey nodded, slowly. "Yes. Yes, please do."
Ron nodded in return, then turned and silently conjured an olive into it before casting a Gemino Curse on it.
A moment later, the amphora broke apart, releasing a quickly growing wave of olives.
"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed.
And while Bey gasped at the olives starting to bury his precious display room under their weight, Ron slipped his free hand into his enchanted pocket and pulled out a few of his brothers' best inventions.
A moment later, smoke and explosions filled the room, followed by a dragon's roar.
Hermione Granger suppressed the sudden bout of guilt she felt when she saw Tahira, grown over eight feet tall, dragging Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens into the jinni's room, then pushing her towards Hermione with a shove that sent the scared young witch stumbling. That could have been handled more gently. But then, Tahira was the undisputed leader of the witches in the harem. If she dragged another witch into her room, none would argue or stand up to her. Or suspect anything, which they might if they observed a new arrival disappearing into Tahira's room with Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens.
Of course, Tahira calling out her name hadn't done their cover any favours, either.
"Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens?" She smiled at the witch.
"Y-yes?" The witch glanced over her shoulder at the jinni before looking at her.
"My name's Hermione Granger. This is Ari. We're here to rescue you on behalf of your family."
"What?" Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens gasped.
As she watched the young witch smile, then flinch, suddenly afraid again, Hermione wanted to hurt Bey. Very much. She nodded. "Yes. We've got friends outside the harem working with us."
"Also working on freeing her," Ari added, sneering at Tahira.
The jinni scoffed. "We made a Deal."
"Yes we did," Hermione said. She turned to Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens again, smiling. "With your permission, I'll break the spells keeping you prisoner here."
"You can do that?" The other witch gasped again, hands going to the necklace circling her throat. "But they said that tampering with it would kill me!"
Hermione did her best to radiate confidence. "Oh, I'm a professional Curse-Breaker. I've dealt with worse curses, trust me."
Judging by the way Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens slowly nodded, she didn't trust Hermione's skills.
Inwardly sighing, Hermione added: "I'm working with Harry Potter. The boy who lived."
"Ah."
Apparently, Harry's reputation wasn't as widely known in the New World as they had thought. Hermione forced herself to keep smiling. "And Gilderoy Lockhart planned all this."
"Lockhart?" Watching Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens's face light up, Hermione felt the sudden urge to hurt her former teacher as well. Very much.
Hermione Granger narrowed her eyes as she slowly moved her wand. The spells on the necklace were not quite as complex as she had expected, but there was definitely a curse on it which would be triggered should the necklace be removed or the Compulsion Charm on it broken.
"Can you break it?" Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens asked. Hermione saw her throat move as the other witch swallowed nervously.
"Oh, yes," she replied, as casually as she could manage. "It's a fairly simple spell - I've dealt with far worse curses."
"And this time, it's not your life that will end should you make a mistake," Tahira butted in.
Hermione glared at the jinni as the American witch froze in front of her. "Please keep quiet while I'm working," she snapped.
"Simply keep quiet," Ari added, unhelpfully.
"Hold your tongue, barbarian, lest you lose it."
"I like to see you try, hussy!" Ari growled in response.
"I wouldn't!" Hermione snarled. "Now both of you be quiet while I work, or I'll curse you!"
This was all Ron's fault.
She shook her head, then tried to calm Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens down. "It's alright. I've done this before. On my own necklace." That was technically correct. But it hadn't been active at the time - nor on her neck.
But the other witch didn't look like she were facing her execution any more, which was what counted. Hermione started working on the necklace. It really wasn't so difficult compared to Atlantean wards. If only Ron's current and past girlfriend would manage to remain civil for the duration…
Twenty minutes later, she sighed. "And done!"
"You are?"
Hermione nodded. Before the other witch could react, she moved her wand. "Diffindo!"
Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens gasped as the necklace slid down her front, crashing to the floor and rubbed her throat and neck. "You did it. I am… I'm free!"
"Almost," Hermione corrected her. "I need to deal with the wards on the harem first, before we can leave." She cast a Mending Charm on the necklace. "Best keep it on you, so you can wear it in case someone comes to check on us before we are ready to flee."
"Oh."
"Remember our Deal, Granger!"
"She isn't dumb. No need to mention it all the time!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She was really tempted to let Ari have it out with the jinni if only to shut both of them up. But she had a witch to save. And, alas, a jinni to free.
She stepped over to the room's window, which was covered by a decorative mesh of gilded metal. Prettier than iron bars, but as effective thanks to the spells on it.
"That leads to the garden," Tahira said. "What I need won't be there."
"I know," Hermione replied. "But I need to analyse the protections on the harem, and this is the best spot to do so."
The jinni huffed but seemed to accept that. Good. Hermione hated it when people who had no clue about Curse-Breaking tried to tell her what to do.
Ten minutes later, she was just getting a rough grip on the wards' structures when she suddenly heard explosions from outside and saw smoke billowing into the garden.
Harry! Ron! She drew a hissing breath through her clenched teeth. They needed help - but she had to crack the wards keeping them prisoner first. This was…
Her earring vibrated. She touched it, activating the enchantment.
"We needed a distraction to search the rest of the house. How are you doing?" she heard Harry whisper.
"Starting on the wards now."
"Good." She heard the spell end again.
"It's a distraction," she told the others - mostly to prevent them from doing anything foolish. "Everything's OK."
But there would be words about changing the plan on the fly. Once everyone was safe, of course.
Explosions rocked the room, pillars fell over, taking parts of the walls they were stuck to with them, and smoke filled whatever space in the place the tidal wave of olives hadn't yet swallowed - Harry Potter would have words with Ron after this.
For now, though, he was disillusioning himself and sneaking out of the room while Ron kept Bey distracted.
"Damn! That's a lot of curses!" Ron yelled.
"Vanish those… olives!" Bey yelled as Harry passed him and his guards at the door.
"No!" Ron yelled, "that could trigger another curse!"
"But they keep coming!"
"Conjure a wall to stop them!"
Harry quickly made his way through the hallway, towards a door leading to Bey's private quarters - or so the man had told them. He had to press himself against the wall to avoid two more guards rushing towards their employer, but other than that, he reached his goal without trouble.
A quick detection spell revealed that the door had a few spells on it - nothing fancy, just an advanced locking charm and some privacy charms as well as some basic protections.
Nothing that would stop an experienced Curse-Breaker for more than a few minutes. Or half a minute, in Harry's case. After a quick glance to check that there were no witnesses around, he opened the door and entered.
And winced. Bey's private quarters were decorated in what Auntie would call 'Early Bordello Style' and Hermione 'the combination of too much gold with too little sense'. There was more gold and silver on display than in Gryffindor and Slytherin's common rooms combined and lots of artwork chosen for its value, not style. Silk was everywhere not covered with artwork - cushions covered expensive Persian carpets, silk curtains hid mahogany paneling and silk sheets lined the sprawling bed, which was large enough to fit half a dozen people comfortably. And while Harry could appreciate the fact that Bey had kept all his furniture and decor in its original state, it meant nothing really matched. The gaudy shrine to Priapus in the corner was the crowning touch. It was the most expensive eyesore Harry had ever seen, and that included Sirius's attempts to recreate a seventies' muggle home.
Harry shook his head. He was here to find the man's vault, not criticise his lack of style. Now, where would the man hide the entrance to his vault? The two side doors led to a sprawling bathroom and a surprisingly austere office overlooking the interior garden which was currently being wrecked by fireworks and whatever else Ron's brothers had managed to think of.
Harry cast another detection spell and quickly checked the office. He couldn't see any spells hiding a door. A flick of his wand rolled up the carpet. No trapdoor there either. Back to the bedroom. Or boudoir. There were spells over every piece of artwork, including the carpets.
And Harry didn't have too much time - Ron wouldn't be able to fool Bey for much longer. He had to think. Bey wouldn't want to go to too much trouble to enter his vault. Wherever the entrance was hidden, it couldn't be too inconvenient. And he would want it to be impressive, even though he likely wouldn't show it to anyone. But he'd imagine showing off.
Trapdoor under the carpets? No. Harry looked at the statue of Priapus. No. Yes. He took a closer look. There were too many spells on the shrine to merely preserve it. He quickly looked the spells over. There were several curses on it, linked to… Ah!
Harry smiled. He had seen similar arrays before, in Roman tombs in Egypt. Not with that particular god, though. But the principles were the same. And Bey didn't seem to have changed the spells on the shrine.
Another explosion slightly shook the walls, and Harry frowned - that hadn't been a firework. But his pin didn't vibrate, so Ron didn't need help. Or was beyond help, Harry thought, then shook his head. He had his task to complete.
A flick of his wand and a few adjustments later, and the statue moved, stepping to the side and opening a door in the wall, revealing a narrow staircase that wound down to the basement.
Perfect. Despite hearing another explosion, and some shouting, Harry resisted the urge to hurry down the stairs. Such impulses got Curse-Breakers killed. Instead, he conjured another pig and sent it down the stairs before following it. The pig stumbled several times but wasn't killed, if the noises it made were any indication, and Harry found it at the bottom, sniffing at another door.
He vanished it, then took a look at the door and winced. Those were serious spells. And modern ones, not old spells that had grown powerful with age, but were relatively simple in design.
Bey must have hired a specialised Curse-Breaker to protect the vault.
There was no choice. Harry touched the pin on his collar and said: "I need at least an hour to get into the vault."
"We don't have an hour," Ron replied, before yelling: "Stop trying to vanish the olives, you're triggering more curses! I'm a professional, let me work!"
Harry had expected that. "Time for plan B then," he said. Ron wasn't the only one who had relatives with interesting things.
Ron Weasley didn't have to fake his distress any more after hearing Harry's announcement. Plan B! Ron clenched his teeth and dashed, or, rather, waded, towards Bey, the olives parting around his Shield Charm. "Watch out!" he bellowed. "Get out! Get out!"
"What?" Bey, protected by a Shield Charm of his own and standing behind his guards, stared at Ron. "What did you do now?" he screamed. "Stop this curse! This is all your fault!"
"I can't!" Ron yelled as one of the guards moved to block his path. "Get out of the way! It's going to blow!"
"What?" Bey screeched louder than Mum after discovering Ron and Ginny's night training sessions with the family brooms.
Then Harry's bomb went off, and the entire palace shook so much that Bey and his guards were thrown to the floor - and promptly buried under olives - as Ron struggled to keep his balance.
He lost the struggle when the floor suddenly tilted, and he and everyone else started to slide towards a growing hole in the interior wall from which a thick cloud of smoke rose. Harry must have overdone it again with the explosives.
Ron cast a Sticking Charm on his clothes to keep himself from sliding further, but couldn't conjure a wall or net in time before Bey and his guards had followed the olives down the hole. "Harry, Bey and two guards fell down into the basement!" he snapped at the pin in his collar.
"I noticed!" Harry replied.
Through the smoke, Ron saw red flashes below him. "Do you need help?" he asked as he dispelled the Sticking Charm and started to carefully climb towards the open door and the horizontal floor of the hallway behind it.
"I've got it handled!" Harry said. "No sweat...Oh."
That didn't sound good. "Oh?"
A deafening roar sounded, and the palace shook once more. Ron really hoped that the spells on the walls were as good as those on the rebuilt Burrow.
"Harry?" he yelled.
More explosions followed. More roars.
"Harry?" Hermione sounded even more concerned.
"Chimaera! Bey has a Chimaera guarding his vault!" Harry yelled.
"What? That's impossible!" Hermione yelled back. "They are too dangerous to be tamed!"
"It doesn't look tamed to me at all!" Harry yelled in reply.
Ron saw Harry dash through the door leading to Bey's bedroom. "Run!" he yelled.
A moment later, a giant lion's head broke the door frame and roared.
Ron conjured a wall behind Harry, then another one.
"Run!" Harry repeated. "I tried that already!"
A scaled tail smashed both walls into rubble. Ron turned and ran after Harry.
"We'll split up!" Harry yelled. "The one who doesn't get chased goes back and gets into the vault!"
"We're still stuck in the harem!" Hermione's voice warned them from the pin. "There are too many spells to crack quickly."
"I've got a plan!" Harry yelled, turning a corner. "We need to lure it away first, though!"
"What?"
"Just hold out! I'm nearly through the outer wards!" Lockhart's voice cut in.
Ron had almost forgotten that the author was still lurking outside.
"We don't have time to wait for you!" Harry replied, turning the next corner. Ron was right behind him. Unfortunately, so was the Chimaera. A dozen conjured caltrops didn't slow it down either - but seemed to make it even angrier. Fortunately, breaking through door frames too narrow to pass through did slow the monster down. Long enough for Harry and Ron to keep out of reach.
But Harry was leading them into the garden, where the monster's large size wouldn't be impeded any more! Ron conjured another wall, followed by more caltrops - larger ones - then followed Harry outside, already pulling out his shrunken broom.
"I'll lead it through the harem's door!" Harry announced, mounting his broom. "Get behind it and to the vault!"
Ron didn't reply - he was too busy unshrinking his broom and mounting it before the Chimaera reached him. Another wall, conjured by Harry, slowed it down for a second or two - just enough for Ron to gain enough altitude to avoid the monster when it charged him.
He felt the hot breath of the creature on his face as it barely missed him with its gaping maw before skidding through the garden and crashing into the walls of the harem.
Ron could hear shrieking inside the harem. "Bad plan!" he yelled.
"Yes, lead it away, not to us!" Hermione agreed. Loudly.
"Alright!" Harry flew a little lower and hit the monster with a volley of Piercing Curses that didn't seem to be doing anything to the beast's thick hide but making it madder.
Growling, the Chimaera dug its hooves into the torn lawn, then propelled itself forward into a running leap - towards Ron!
Gasping, he did the only thing he could - and dived towards the ground, rolling as he passed underneath the massive body. One flailing hoof hit his Shield Charm and slammed him to the side, almost pushing him off his broom and into the wall of the palace. He managed to roll again, hitting the wall with his boots first, then pushed off and rose.
Once more, the beast leapt, its massive jaws snapping shut so close behind Ron, it caught a few of his broom's bristles.
"Keep it busy! I'm going to get the ring!" He heard Harry yell.
"Keep it away from the harem!" Hermione chimed in.
"Keep safe!" Ari added.
"Don't you dare get killed before I get out of here!"
He winced at Tahira's rather ominous words as he pulled around, trying to lead the monster away from the harem and from Harry. A glance over his shoulder showed that he was succeeding - the Chimaera had jumped on the flat roof and was chasing after him, leaving a trail of broken, shattered stone plates.
He tensed as the monster sped up, gripping his broom shaft tightly. Almost… almost… It jumped, and Ron pulled hard to the left. The monster flew past him, straight towards one of the roof's domes. But its long, scaled tail wrapped around him, Shield Charm and all, and Ron was pulled along.
The dome shattered under the impact of the massive creature, throwing up a cloud of dust. Ron's Shield Charm shattered under the impact as well. Fortunately, he was thrown clear of the beast's tail and slid several yards over the stone roof before slamming into a broken piece of the dome.
He rolled on his stomach and jumped up despite the pain that caused his ribs and stuck his wand out. "Accio broom!"
His broom shot towards him, landing in his hand. A moment later, he was mounted again, grunting at the pain that caused, and shot back up into the air. "Why are you chasing me?" he yelled in frustration as he recast his Shield Charm.
"It's supposed to!" he heard Harry through the pin. "Keep it busy!"
"That was rhetorical!" Ron snapped back. The bloody beast was digging itself out of the rubble and looking even madder than before. How could anyone sane… "Harry! Search Bey for something that can control the beast!"
"After I get the ring!" Harry replied.
"I'm almost through the wards!" Lockhart chimed in again. "Hold on!"
Ron saw guards appear on the ground, take one look at the beast and flee. That was smart of them. But the Chimaera had seen them anyway and turned. Ron clenched his teeth. As much as he was tempted to do so, he couldn't let the beast run loose. He dived and cast two Piercing Curses at the monster.
That caught its attention again, and it whirled round, its tail slashing through the air, narrowly missing him once more. Just as he had wanted - but why hadn't it worked for Harry before? He jinked, leading the beast back to the broken dome, then had to dive and roll and pull left when it suddenly jumped off the roof and at him. But this time, the monster's tail slapped him down, right into the torn ground.
His Shield Charm saved his life once more, absorbing most of the impact. He still felt as if someone had driven daggers into his chest as he smashed into the earth. And in the time it took for him to recover his wand and push himself up, the beast had turned around, wrecking another part of the wall next to it with its tail.
It brought down its front hoof on Ron's broom, breaking it in half, then growled at Ron.
He saw the hooves dig into the soil, saw the tail twitch - the Chimaera would pounce in the next moment.
Then another roar sounded from his left - where the tail had broken the harem walls, Ron realised. The Chimaera jerked its head to the side, and a moment later, a jaguar landed between Ron and the monster, hissing and roaring.
The monster roared in response but didn't attack, not yet at least. Ron slowly got up. Why did it want him so badly? He hadn't done anything to it that Harry hadn't done, and Harry had been the one to break into the vault. What made the diff…
Ron hurriedly pulled off his bright blue overcoat and banished it to the side. A moment later, the creature pounced, its tail stabbing into the fabric before it landed on the coat and shredded it with its maw.
He had almost gotten killed because of his disguise as a mercenary from the New World. "Let's get away," he whispered.
But before he had taken more than a step, the Chimaera raised its huge head again and sniffed the air - then the shreds on the ground. Then it stared at Ron and growled.
"My scent…" Ron muttered a curse as Ari moved to put herself between him and the monster.
"Ron!" he heard Hermione yell behind him. "Dear Lord!"
"What did you do to the Chimaera?" Tahira asked, as if he had done anything to the monster.
The monster dug its hooves into the ground. Ron licked his lips. If he dodged and cast a Shield Charm…
The beast opened its maw, hissing. And its tail twitched again. "Now would be a very good time to get whatever Bey used to control it, Harry," Ron mumbled.
"He's got nothing on him!" Harry replied.
Suddenly, something flew towards the monster from above. The Chimaera whipped its head around and snapped it out of the air, then bit down and swallowed - only to cough and shake its head wildly before collapsing on the ground.
"Concentrated Lion's Bane hidden in a piece of meat!"
Ron looked up and saw Lockhart fading into view as he ended his Disillusionment Charm. The man was smiling brightly, sitting on his broom. "Guaranteed to take out any feline. I learned the recipe in India and always keep a flask on me." He flashed his far too wide smile. "It's a good thing you took my advice and held out until I arrived!"
He landed and dismounted without breaking stride, walking towards the breach in the harem's walls. "Miss Ainsworth-Aitkens, I presume. I am here to rescue and bring you back to your family."
The girl standing behind Hermione looked shocked as she nodded.
"And you must be Princess Tahira of the Jinn." Lockhart bowed and beamed at her.
"Yes, that's me." Was Tahira blushing?
"I'm Lockhart. Gilderoy Lockhart. You might have heard of me," the man went on. "As soon as I heard of your plight, I knew that I had to save you as well."
"Thank you." Yes, Tahira was blushing.
And Ron fought the urge to laugh when he realised that Lockhart had no idea about the trouble in which he had just landed himself.