CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SAND AND BLOOD

O

"We've got to go," said Harry, waving his hand over the map that Teddy had given him. "If we can find the pillar again, we may be able to figure out how it moves. I don't think this parchment is cursed or anything… Louis, Gil, could you triple-check for me, though?"

"You think Teddy would have cursed the parchment?" asked Louis.

"Well, probably not," said Harry. "But what are the chances that that was actually Teddy?"

"IMW again?" asked Lily. "Do you think he lured Siobor over here?" She frowned. "Well, that was mean! What if we lost to him? Someone could have died!"

"But he had an Auror signature," said Gil. "Louis and I detected the magical Auror signature on his body when he was approaching; it had to have been Teddy."

"And the person who stole the Bloodblade from Albus turned into Lucas's Animagus form," said Harry. "We don't know what he's capable of doing."

"But wait," said Louis. "If that wasn't Teddy, then that would imply…"

"That it's now possible for someone to copy an Auror signature?" said Harry. "Yes, and we have to be prepared for the possibility that the enemy could be able to do that, too. We'll have to step up our game, too. Playtime was over a while ago and we're going to have to figure out how to get serious."

"Is there any way for us to be sure whether it was Teddy or not?" asked Albus.

"I'll take a look at my memory of his arrival in the Pensieve I have back at home," said Harry. "I'll check his mannerisms and see whether they match up with the mannerisms I'm used to seeing from Teddy."

That made sense to Albus. Harry had some mannerisms, too—scratching his sideburns, for one. His father did that all the time. If Teddy had those sorts of mannerisms, and if the Teddy in the desert didn't show any of those mannerisms, then it was less likely that they were actually looking at Teddy.

"If he's acting too abnormal, it would be a big deal—it would mean the Asda can be fooled," said Harry. "The Auror Signature Detection Algorithm, that is. That's how we know when members of our team are being impersonated, or when another Auror is nearby. If the algorithm can be deceived into thinking someone is an Auror when they're not, then we should look into that… and we'll probably thank IMW for that, too, if he's pointed out a weakness we can fix before it's exploited too far."

"Bill and Fleur and Dominique will escort our friends to a safe area where they'll be questioned," said Harry. "I'll join them to see if they know anything about the Hourglass Empire that they can tell us. Louis, Gil, you'll join me and the kids to check out the pillar location that 'Teddy' gave us… but everyone, keep your hands especially ready to access your Portkeys when we do so. Just in case this location marked on the map isn't actually the pillar but something else that's dangerous. Everyone, after that, we're going to head back to the hotel, and Louis and Gil will join you kids in our room to keep you safe while I pretend to leave the country. We need the enemy to think we've finished what we were doing in Egypt, so I'll leave via Portkey. I'll come back on the Liner and ask Milo to neglect letting the Egyptian government know again."

"Is it safe to carry around that wand with you?" asked James quietly.

"I was only comfortable bringing it because no one knew I had it," said Harry. "I never carried it with me on most Auror operations because the enemy would be expecting it. No one expected me to have it here, but I felt it would be a good emergency tool. And then, of course, there's the fact that Dumbledore and Helio both suggested that I bring it here."

"Why?" asked Albus. Why was Wilcox suggesting all these strange things to bring—a cat and the Elder Wand? What did he know that they didn't, or what was he guessing that they couldn't?

"Dumbledore thought that there might be certain things about the Hourglass Empire which I could only do or reveal using the Elder Wand," said Harry, "because he thinks the types of magic used in each could be the same, and it's possible that these types of magic have strange properties when they encounter."

Only a Dev can overcome another Dev, thought Albus.

"But I'm going to have to return the Elder Wand to safe storage," said Harry. "Now that the enemy could know that I have it here, that is."

"You should give it to Bill so he can transport it away," said Albus. "Before we go check out the pillar, I mean."

"What makes you say that?" asked Harry. "If the pillar really is there… we might need the Elder Wand."

"But if that was IMW and not Teddy who gave you the map," said Albus, "he might be trying to lure you into a trap, to steal the Elder Wand the same way he stole the knife and the Invisibility Cloak. He returned both of them, but I don't know if he'd be so willing to return something like an unbeatable wand…"

"That's an excellent point," said Harry. "Thank you, Albus. I'll bring this to Bill right now, in fact." He mounted his broom. "Gil, Louis, stay with the kids until I'm back. Your parents will rejoin us at the hotel after we've transported these poor folk to safety."

"Assuming they're not working for IMW," said James. "You know—to lure Siobor here or whatnot? Maybe their task isn't done yet."

Harry planted a palm on his face.

"I hate this," he said. "Here."

He tossed the Elder Wand to James, who caught it and took a few seconds to realize what he was holding. He gawked at it and cradled it like a baby.

"You're of age," said Harry. "You can handle that, can't you? Just keep it safe and don't let anyone know you have it. They'll go after me first, so if you see anyone start attacking me, use the Portkey. And if you're in any danger at all, use the Portkey. Use it the moment you sense anything may even be the slightest, teensiest bit wrong. I know you've got a bit of an arrogant streak—and you deserve to have one because you're a superbly talented young wizard—but don't let it get in the way of your intelligence, because you've got a lot of that too. It may be called an unbeatable wand, but it's perfectly beatable, as Dumbledore proved. So don't lose it!"

"I won't," whispered James, gently running a finger up the precious wand.

"Again, I have to stress this," said Harry. "If we get to the spot marked on the map and somebody starts firing spells at us, we all Portkey out of there. If we get to the spot and somebody somehow manages to capture me right then and there—you leave without looking back. Got it?"

"Er—"

"Got it?"

"I will," said James, and he nodded.

"Thank you," said Harry. "Then it's time to go. James, also keep an eye on your Hocus-Focuser. Okay?"

"Er… my Ho-Fo is freaking out now," said James.

He opened his bag slightly to let out the compass, which soared into the air and thunked itself right against the Elder Wand.

"Ah," said Harry. "Interesting… All right, give that Hocus-Focuser to me and you can take mine."

"Can do," said James, tossing Harry the bulkier Hocus-Focuser as Harry tossed him a smaller one; both of the Seekers caught the Hocus-Focusers out of the air nimbly.

"Now we go," said Harry. "Everybody follow me."

Albus lifted off into the air with Harry, James, Lily, Gil, and Louis. They soared off, following Harry after Harry, Gil, and Louis replaced the group's Disillusionment Charms. Harry soared off with only a small bit of the back of his head staying visible so that they could follow him.

Silently, they soared onward. They remained extremely high in the air to avoid any notice or unwanted encounters. Harry began to gradually slow down as they approached their destination, and about a minute later, he stopped completely.

"I don't see any pillar here," said Harry quietly, turning around to face the group. "But I don't notice anything else, either… and I've got my Supersensory Charm on… Still, I think we should get out of here."

"Agreed," said Louis. "I don't like the thought of a map that leads us to nothing in the middle of nowhere."

"Ready to leave when you are," said Gil.

They turned their brooms and headed back to the hotel. Albus gripped his broom tightly, fully expecting spells or gunfire to start spraying out at them from the ground, but there was only the wind rushing in his ears, and the only thing beating on him was the desert sun.

O

Louis and Gil joined Albus, James, and Lily in their hotel room for protection while Harry pretended to leave the country. They decided to pass the time until Harry came back by chatting with Dumbledore's portrait about the recent events.

"And you didn't find the pillar when you followed the map," recounted Dumbledore. "You found nothing—not even a trap?"

"It's possible we came and went unnoticed," said Louis. "But not likely, given what IMW has done in the past."

"Do you have any idea what IMW might stand for, Professor?" asked Gil.

"I do not," said Dumbledore. "I like to keep my guesses educated, but we know very little about this person so far."

"His arms were pale and thin," said Albus, recalling IMW's arms coming into view. "We saw his arms."

"How did he hold his wand?" asked Dumbledore. "Do you know anything else about him based on his clothing, any markings on his skin?"

"He held Dad's wand comfortably," said James. "His arms were fully exposed but bare. He was either naked or wearing a T-shirt, I think. Not like that helps much."

"Any piece of the puzzle you can offer will help," said Dumbledore. "For example, it is not likely to be someone with pureblood fever. A pureblood supremacist would have been wearing robes. You say he was holding the wand comfortably?"

"We already knew he's a really powerful wizard," said Albus, "so it would only make sense that he was holding the wand very well."

"He's also very theatrical, it would seem," said Dumbledore. "The same things could have been accomplished without all of the razzle-dazzle but our IMW seems to enjoy being in the spotlight. He dueled his way out of several difficult situations, if I recall from what your Headmaster has told me. I'd suggest a young man with a knack for dueling and spell creation… and for some form of the expressive arts. Keep an open mind about that, though."

Albus rubbed his temple. Duelists… he couldn't help but immediately jump to Professor Desulgon as a conclusion. And Professor Desulgon was also known to be studying the Devoctrices… and he was a spell inventor. But would their Transfiguration teacher really have gone that far?

Did Professor Desulgon do anything artistic? That was the only part of the description he didn't seem to fit. Albus racked his brain, but he couldn't remember whether Professor Desulgon had said anything about anything artistic. Not that Dumbledore had implied this description was law.

There was also the fact that, on the day IMW had been caught in the Gryffindor common room by Gimmick, Albus had seen Professor Desulgon on the Marauder's Map. This, however, had been after IMW stole the Marauder's Map, so it could have been altered to display Professor Desulgon's location elsewhere… was he making too many assumptions again?

How many people did he know who were researching or had researched the Devs at some point? How likely was it that it was someone he didn't even know at all? Professor Desulgon had researched them with Professor Westerling… Wilcox seemed to know a little, but more as a side effect of researching wizarding mythology… his father appeared to know some things… Dumbledore might have known more than he was letting on… Herpo the Foul… Dismiusa had studied a few and it was probable that Gallen Ingot had been involved in them too.

Ingot and IMW both started with an I…

He felt he might have been over-thinking it. He returned to the conversation.

"…think it was actually supposed to be a map to the pillar, or just a distraction?" Gil was asking.

"I believe this IMW character may even want you to find the Hourglass Empire as badly as you would like to find it," said Dumbledore. "He may be pretending to know more than he does. Perhaps he knows nothing about what the Hourglass Empire is really like, and wants you to explore it so he can eavesdrop later and find out what the Empire is like without having to actually put himself in danger."

"Hey—Harry's coming back," said Gil, looking over to the door.

A few seconds later, the door opened. Harry walked in, still in his disguise as Mario Hanson.

"Hello, everyone," he said. "Fascinating talk with the Ganghausens. I'll tell you all about it… James, still got that Elder Wand safe?"

James peered suspiciously at Harry.

"Good boy, not answering immediately," said Harry, taking out his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver stag burst from the wand and cantered around the room briefly before fading away.

James nodded. "Yeah, I've got it here."

"There's another way you could check, by the way," said Harry. "Disarm me."

James blinked rapidly. "Huh?"

"Disarm me," said Harry, holding up his normal wand. "With the Elder Wand, I mean. Go on—give it a go."

"Expelliarmus!" said James, directing the Elder Wand at his father.

Upon the spell's contact with Harry, the Elder Wand leapt from James's grip and towards Harry, who snatched it out of the air.

"The Elder Wand doesn't like being turned against its true owner," said Harry, twitching it in the air with a smile. "I'm not going to bring it with me again—I'd rather not IMW get a hold of this, even if he's implying he helped us catch Siobor."

"Where are you going to put it?" asked James.

"I'm going to leave it with Wilcox," said Harry. "Professor Dumbledore?"

"Go on," said Dumbledore, smiling and standing up. "I've already notified Professor Wilcox that it is coming." With a wave of his hand, he pushed the armchair to one side of the picture frame, and he stood on the other, watching Harry.

Harry chucked the Elder Wand at the picture frame, and it vanished into the portrait.

"Whoa," said James, laughing. "Can people do that?"

"Nope, only objects small enough to fit through the frame," said Harry. "And it only works when Professor Dumbledore allows it. We didn't want anyone breaking into the Headmaster's office and chucking anything into our house. I'll pick up the wand again when I bring you back to Hogwarts."

"Cool," said Albus. "So—did you interrogate Siobor?"

"Yes, but we didn't find out too much," said Harry. "He's a very closed book. We're getting permissions for Veritaserum, the most powerful truth potion out there… He's resisted all of the others, but Veritaserum should get him talking at least a little. We did, however, find out something fascinating about the wands he used… he thought he was going to be able to escape in a heartbeat by summoning them back to his fingers."

"He can summon the wands back to his hands?" asked Lily, gasping. "How are you going to keep him locked up?"

"He thought he could summon them back," amended Harry. "But when I Disarmed him with the Elder Wand, I Disarmed him for good. Any other wand Disarming him would have been in vain, because he could mutter an incantation to bring the wands back. With the Elder Wand, though, it not only Disarmed him but it deactivated his ability to bring them back… I Disarmed him for good back there. And that's what the Elder Wand can do for you. When he realized he couldn't summon his wands back, he was so frazzled that the truth serums finally took hold of him for a moment and he was forced to explain what was wrong."

"No sympathy over here," said James. "So what did you find out from the werewolf family?"

"It was a father and daughter, and the daughter was a werewolf but the father wasn't," said Harry. "They live in Germany. Heinrich kept his daughter hidden away after Siobor surfaced. Frieda was about to go to school when Siobor became a threat in the world, and Heinrich decided not to let her attend, for fear of social rejection and also fear of Siobor finding out his daughter was a werewolf. Instead, he researched options for escape, and I guess he stumbled on rumors of the Hourglass Empire. He came here to see if he could find the entrance… he came alone first, in case Siobor was watching him, and he planned to find the entrance and then return with Frieda once he knew where the entrance was. And as it turns out—he found the pillar remarkably fast, and he marked its location and went back for his daughter. But when he returned to the location he'd marked on the map with Frieda… guess what happened?"

"The pillar had vanished," said Albus.

"Exactly," said Harry. "The pillar wasn't where he'd marked it, and he and his daughter spent a long time searching for it again. Siobor found them when they had searched long enough to drop… but we found Siobor before he got the chance to kill her."

"Well, thank goodness," said Lily. "But we still have no idea where to find the Hourglass Empire… if it even is that pillar we saw. Did anyone say anything about that?"

"No," said Harry. "I'm afraid we're still in the dark about that."

"Or perhaps," said Dumbledore, "your new information is starting to shed some light on the situation."

"Do you have an idea?" asked Harry, looking over to the portrait.

"I have a guess," said Dumbledore.

"Have at it, please!"

"Do you recall," said Dumbledore, "that you found the mysterious pillar on your first night of searching?"

"We did," said Harry, looking towards James.

"And Heinrich Ganghausen also encountered the pillar on his first night of searching?" continued Dumbledore.

"I think he did, yes," said Harry, starting to see where this was going.

"And Teddy was not with you when you encountered the pillar the first time," said Dumbledore, "but either he or IMW returned to you with a map marking the location of the Hourglass Empire, which he either found on his first or second day of searching."

"You think we should send Victoire or Fleur out to look?" asked Harry. "Can it only be found once? Will it vanish when we approach if we've already seen it?"

"It is possible that you must want to find the Hourglass Empire in order to find it," said Dumbledore, "but also that once you've found it, you must make your decision then and there: you would either enter it or not be able to find it again if you left. As to whether it would vanish once it's found… I would think not. If you send someone else out to find it, and if they do find it—which I think they will—then I think that as long as they stay in the general location of the pillar while you come to them, the pillar should stay there even when someone who has already seen it comes to check on it."

"Then let's get Victoire out there now," said Harry, looking at Louis. "Would you go get your sister and bring her one of our maps and the large Hocus-Focuser? She might even be able to find it by tonight. Wouldn't that be something? Siobor and the Hourglass Empire in a day?"

"What are you going to do once you've found it?" asked James, as Louis gathered up some materials and a broom and left with Gil.

"Study the pillar," said Harry. "See if we can figure out how things work. Maybe catch a few Sandbloods as they leave, if that's also the exit. We're going to see how it works before we send in a large team." He sighed. "It would have been a lot easier logistically if the entrance could have just been in one place—that's why I had this search party planned in the first place. Just to find the entrance. Then when I brought the whole of the Auror Office, the Sandbloods wouldn't have had any warning." He thought for a moment. "Though… if we station people here in shifts… then the pillar would never disappear. We could lock it to one location. Then we could confuse the Sandbloods who go out looking for it, because they wouldn't be able to find the pillar anywhere they looked like they usually can, and we could snatch up the Sandbloods wandering aimlessly in the desert. And we could keep the pillar there until we get a large Auror force to enter. We'll have to interrogate the Sandbloods we have in custody about how to get out, though… Oh! And if that's also the exit, then we can pick off the Sandbloods as they come out. This could be extremely good for us. This and Siobor—this could be the very turnaround the Auror Office needs!" He heaved a sigh. "Then, of course, there's Herpo the Foul, though. God, I hate diverting attention to him from this. If he makes a big stir before we can catch him, then that could give the Sandblood menace a time to bounce back. We'll have to do everything as quickly as possible."

"His magic is really outdated, though," said Albus. "You saw how badly Katarina Pinzel's daughter whooped his arse."

"But he's not likely to stay in the dark to all this new magic he missed over the years," said Harry. "He's a very powerful wizard—he'll pick up on the new tricks of his trade real quick. We can be sure of that. We might not see him for a while… but that won't mean he's laying low."

"But he's also been gathering dust for thousands of years," said James, rolling his eyes. "He's not going to catch up for a while. It shouldn't be too hard to kill a guy that old… he'll probably break a hip falling down his front steps."

Harry sighed. "Oh—and before I forget yet again… I meant to talk to Albus about something. Privately. Let's head to your room before Victoire finds anything so we have time for our chat."

He looked a little green around the gills; Albus wondered what this was about.

"Sure, Dad," said Albus, and they walked into Albus's room.

Harry turned and sealed the doorway with a glowing green spell; now neither party could hear what was happening on the other side of the door apart from knocking. Albus took a chair from his desk and placed it facing the door so that he could see if anyone was sneaking an Extendable Ear through, and Harry conjured a rigid chair that he sat down on with folded fingers and looked Albus directly in the eye.

"So, er, Albus," said Harry. "I kept meaning to mention this, but… this Holly girl… the girl who was possessed… er…"

"Yes?" asked Albus.

"Well, I may have heard tell that this—the possessing—possession—spread by, er, mouth-to-mouth contact," said Harry quietly.

"Oh," said Albus, cringing.

"And, well, I thought that maybe, you know, we might need to talk about… er…"

"Oh, Merlin," said Albus, pressing his hands to his face. It was plainly obvious where this conversation was going. "Dad… I was possessed!"

"Hey, now!" said Harry, holding up his hands. "I'm not—I'm not saying that you did anything more than kissing with this girl—but I think it might be wise to… to have this conversation before you do…"

"Dad…"

"This is an important conversation that every father needs to have with his sons," said Harry seriously. "I had this talk with James—he was a year younger than you when I had this talk with him, of course, but that was James we were talking about… er…"

"Dad, we really don't need to—"

"We do need to," interrupted Harry. "See, when you end up actually liking a girl, and when you end up liking a girl without a factor of ancient Dark wizards, you might be wondering what you're feeling…"

"Dad!" protested Albus, stuffing his face as far into every crevice of his hands as he could. "Dad, I don't have that feeling for girls…"

"Oh," said Harry. "Oh! Well—you—you know, your mother and I would be perfectly accepting of you, if you, er, you know—"

"No! No! I don't feel that way about boys, either! I just don't feel that way at all right now!"

"But it's important that we have this conversation before you do," said Harry. "Er… When you do finally start feeling that way, I don't want you to do anything stupid… without realizing what's going on or what you're really doing… see…" Harry put his face in his own hands.

Albus grimaced and hoped Victoire would find the Hourglass Empire sooner rather than later.

"See, Albus," said Harry, "there's—er… there's this thing called—er…" He took a deep breath. "There's—sex. There's a thing… er."

Albus's face returned to his hands. His father was very awful at this. He didn't suppose his father had gotten this talk where he had grown up.

"Goddamn," whispered Harry. "I can be Head of the Auror Office but I can't even do this talk right."

"Dad…" Albus sighed. "I think I already know everything you're about to tell me…"

"You do?" asked Harry, somewhat surprised. "Oh. Oh—please don't tell me James told you…"

"No, Alec," said Albus. "It's kind of hard not to know this stuff when you hang around with Alec."

"Oh," mumbled Harry. "Well… er… that's a relief."

They sat quietly for a moment.

"Well," said Harry loudly, startling Albus out of the silence, "if you ever have—er—if you have any questions or—or want to know anything—"

"—then I'll make absolute sure I don't let you know," finished Albus, grinning sheepishly. "Er… don't worry about me, Dad. Okay?"

"Okay," said Harry, just as the map he had left on Albus's desk began to buzz.

Harry snatched the map off of the desk and flipped it over to look at Victoire's handwriting on the back.

I did it! I found it! Come quickly!

"That was incredibly fast," laughed Harry. "Excellent! Let me get back to the easy part of my life… capturing dangerous criminals."

Since they were still in their disguises, there was no need to delay. They set off immediately, stepping outside the hotel and receiving their Disillusionment Charms and charms to protect them from the sun, the wind, and the notice of their enemies.

They pulled up to a stop high in the air, all of them invisible, so they only knew Victoire was there by her excited shouts when she saw them approaching on the map.

"Look, guys!" she said. "Down there! See it?"

They looked down at the ground; below them was the splotched stone pillar. They were hovering just about directly above it.

"Excellent," said Harry. "Fantastic! Let's investigate… and we'll need to station some people around it. If you're in danger though, everyone, remember—we can always find this again just by sending out someone who hasn't seen it yet, so don't feel bad about using your Portkey and leaving the pillar. We can apparently always find it again!"

Harry, Bill, Louis, and Gil dove down towards the pillar, their hands at the ready by their pockets, and investigated the pillar. Carefully, they examined the surface, cast some revealing spells, and dug down through the sand, only to find that the pillar appeared to stretch infinitely deep with a constant width. From the sounds of their spells and the lack of results, it seemed that they could neither move it nor raise it out of the sand, nor could they alter it in any way, even in color.

Albus looked up to see how his oldest cousins were reacting to this discovery, but both of them were holding hands above their eyes to shield themselves from the nearly setting sun and peered out into the distance.

"I… think there're people walking out there," said Dominique.

"Occoscopo," said Victoire, aiming her wand between her eyes. "Oh… interesting… it's a couple of people dressed in Muggle clothing… they've got quite a few scars along their arms… and each of them has a cat trotting alongside them. And there's more people further in the distance."

Gimmick poked his head out of the pack on Albus's back, and stared into the distance with Victoire. His head was the only thing visible in the air, so Albus closed the lid back on his cat to avoid notice. Gimmick yowled in frustration but quieted down when Albus shushed him.

"They could be Sandbloods," said Dominique. "Didn't Professor Wilcox tell Albus to take a cat to the search for the Empire? Maybe the Sandbloods thought the same thing. We should tell them below."

Dominique and Victoire dove down to inform the others; a few seconds later, they all rose up to the Potter kids again.

"We're going to go investigate those people over there," said Harry. "We're pretty sure they're Sandbloods. You three stay here, all right? Don't do anything rash—if they end up coming in our direction, we may want to watch the Sandbloods enter the Empire to see how they do it."

"But do they know the pillar is over here?" asked James.

"We don't know," said Harry. "But we aim to find out. We're going to go eavesdrop. James, protect your brother and sister. And don't do anything idiotic. If any more people come in your direction, fly towards us or use the Portkey and let us know via the map. I don't want you around this area of someone activates the pillar. All right?"

"All right," said James.

"This could be our last chance for a while to spy on some Sandbloods," said Harry. "Soon they'll inevitably catch wind of our arrest of Siobor… and even if they aren't working with him like we think they might be, they still might be wary of being around this area. So we've got to take this opportunity while it's here for us. Stay safe, you guys, and we'll be back very soon."

The adults of the group, minus James, flew away to investigate the several groups of Sandbloods roaming the desert.

Albus stared down at the pillar below them. Cautiously, he moved away so that he wasn't directly above it. Instinct told him that could end badly.

"So," said James. "Cuts on their arms and cats by their feet. Sandbloods, you think?"

"Probably," said Lily. "Are the cuts just battle scars? Or does that have to do with something else we don't know?"

The Potters were silent for a moment.

Albus used the silence to jog his brain into action. The connection was right in front of him… he could feel it. The Hourglass Empire… hourglasses used sand, and they were in the desert. "Sandblood" was a play off of Mudblood… but was there even more to the name than they had imagined? Was the connection to Mudblood advertised to hide the real root of their name?

"Blood," whispered Albus. "Sandbloods! That's it! That's the splotches and that's what their cuts are for! I bet you have to drip blood on the pillar to activate it!"

He had thrust his arm downwards, pointing at the pillar.

He had said "blood" one too many times.

The cut on his fingertip, the cut from Swait's knife, split open even wider than usual at the repeated use of the keyword. Several drops of blood flew from his fingertip when he pointed at the pillar, and they arced downward like missiles. One of the drops landed on the dead center of the top of the pillar.

"Oh, Merlin," whispered Albus, withdrawing his hand as the earth around them rumbled, and the sand began to ripple like a roiling ocean.

Answers to questions from chapters 19 and 20 are on my profile. You can still ask questions if you'd like!

Also... we are incredibly close to 1000 reviews. This is a milestone I've dreamed about since I first started uploading. I can't believe it's so close to happening! Remember, I won't only start uploading DAILY once we hit 1000 reviews (I'm reasonably far ahead in my writing), but I'll also tell you the name and chapter titles of Book 6, all of which I'm very excited about! Please review and I'll see you all very soon for Chapter 22: The Hourglass Empire!