CHAPTER 21

HARRY

'This trip was useless' Harry thought as he entered his home after apparating from the Ministry.

In Harry's opinion if not for the excursion in Heliopolis and forcing Zabini to spill out Nott's current whereabouts, the main purpose which prompted the three of them to travel abroad, "the Box", was still as much a mystery as before even if they had come up with many theories to solve its riddle.

So when Harry reached his living room he was surprised that his Floo had roared back to life as he had not informed anyone yet of his return. When he reached near the fireplace he saw Ginny's face which turned his surprise to shock in an instant.

"Harry! Can I come in, it's very urgent" Ginny said frantically, it was as if she was holding back a sob. 'Maybe she is coming to take out her anger at me about the break up with Zabini' Harry thought, before he answered, "Ginny, you can enter, but my Floo is not connected to the international network, so I don't know how you are going to directly Floo from Italy?"

"Harry, I am currently at the Burrow," Ginny said before the fireplace, emitted green flames and in stepped in Ginny. Harry observed her eyes were bloodshot, with tears streaking her cheeks, she was wearing the same dress as before, Ginny genuinely might have loved Zabini, as he had never seen her this upset.

"Ginny, if this is about Zabini then-" Harry was cut short by Ginny, who said with a highly aggressive tone,

"Potter, if you think I am this upset about Blaise then you don't fucking know me, I am here because after you three left, Mum Floo called me, she was in hysterics as she could not find Lily, Albus, Rose, James, Hugo and Victoire anywhere, she searched every inch of the property, called everyone from her neighbours to Fleur in France but no one had seen them, but then James and Hugo who were found hiding in the orchard behind the Burrow by her, told her that Victoire told them to run and hide there. They both managed to escape as they saw Victoire, duelling five men dressed in white and blue robes."

Harry's eyes widened in horror, 'whoever the fuck did this is going to pay with their life', Harry thought as Ginny continued, after choking on another sob, "Mum Floo called the Aurors, who are now searching for Magical Signatures and Residue on the Burrow grounds," Ginny was interrupted when the Floo brightened up again and both Ginny and Harry saw a sight that they would never forget, Daphne Greengrass with honest to Merlin, tears in her eyes.

Daphne fell into Harry's arms as she cried "Potter they took Alex, Derek and Scorpius! When I returned home, Aurors were everywhere and a team of Healers were checking on Astoria who was sobbing on the Living room couch when I asked Mum who I found crying on the armchair nearby while hugging Hayden as if her life depended on him, she told me that four wizards or witches attacked Astoria and the kids when they were all enjoying morning tea in the garden, Astoria managed to stun one who was grabbing Hayden but then they threw her off her wheelchair, they left without Hayden, Thank Merlin, he got mom from the house"

"This can't be happening," Harry muttered, trying to soothe Daphne, who like Ginny he had never seen so emotional and desperate.

He was broken out of his shocked state by Ginny when heard her say, "Get a grip, Harry, Daphne, this can't be a terrible coincidence, those fucking kidnappers planned this, so I am not going to be wasting any more time, you both need to control your emotions and follow me to the burrow, the entire Weasley family and Friends are going to be there."

With that said Ginny Apparated with a thunderous pop, and Daphne pulled herself away from Harry and said, "Potter you and me don't like each other but I know we both love Alex, so for him let's keep our past aside for once."

Harry did not have the time to answer Daphne as she too apparated away leaving Harry now alone, in the living room still trying to process the entire event. 'Ginny is right, I need to be at the burrow' with that thought Harry grabbed his wand from the nearby desk and Apparated to the Weasley family home.

When Harry reached the outer ward line of the Burrow, he felt despair run through him and the gloomy weather was not helping his mood. A rookie Auror came up to him and blocked his path as he entered the wards and said,

"Mister, only immediate family is allowed in", He knew the boy was only trying to do his job but Harry did not care, "Listen to me, you dolt, I am family, I grew up here so don't fuck with me, my children are missing so move aside or I will turn you into dust right now." The trainee looked terrified and scurried off.

By the time he entered the house, he had been stopped twice, both times by trainees who were put on perimeter guard duty, and the last one was being particularly stubborn, which ended in the trainee being stunned by Harry.

The scene in the living room in Harry's opinion resembled a Funeral; he could see Fleur, Angelina and Hermione comforting each other while sitting at the dining table, Daphne was talking to Charlie, Bill, Ron and George were arguing with the investigating Auror near the Fireplace.

Mrs Weasley was the first to spot him and she gave him a bear hug as she cried, "It all my fault, Harry I am so sorry," Molly Weasley was not in a good shape, her face looked ashen and her eyes dry with her voice hoarse.

"Mrs Weasley, Molly, none of this is your fault; you have to stay strong for your other grandchildren."

So Molly let go of harry and quickly made towards her husband Arthur, who wrapped his arms around her in comfort. Harry then made his way towards Ginny who was asking his son James and his nephew Hugo to narrate the entire incident again for her.

"Dad" "Uncle Harry" Both the boys ran towards Harry when they say saw him approach them. James only gave Harry a quick hug and the pulled away immediately.

Then he said "Dad I could not protect them as you told me, Victoire tried a lot and I could not do anything. I am not going to be a Gryffindor as I was not brave enough" James had a very regretful look on his face which no eleven-year-old should have.

"You are going to be a very good Gryffindor, you escaped and then told the Aurors everything so you are very brave James," Harry said while putting both his hands on James's shoulders. James nodded once, but the Father-Son moment was interrupted by Ginny who said, "Harry, James did tell me that the men were wearing White and Blue lined robes so I think that could be an important clue."

'White and Blue robes, could it be?' a sudden thought struck Harry before he let go of James and quickly ran over to Ron and whispered in his ear "Ron the kidnappers were wearing the same robes as those morons at the Temple of Atum in Heliopolis"

"Are you saying those fuckers are responsible for taking my baby girl" Ron whispered back in anger clear in his voice. Just as Harry was going to reply a Patronus in the form of a dove came in, and went straight towards Daphne.

"Ma'am the box is missing from your office. Head Goblin Shield Fang has ordered a full investigation, Please reply immediately" Harry knew it was Daphne's assistant's voice. Daphne then screamed at the investigating Auror Raymond, "Shit, Raymond you need to get out for a moment, I need to discuss something important and private with my family"

Daphne's use of the word family in the sentence was heard by everyone, and Harry knew like the rest of them it was a very serious situation which prompted her to say that. So Bill and George shoved Raymond out the door and spelt it shut.

Hermione was the first to say something while looking at Daphne, "Daphne what the hell is going on?"

Daphne was about to answer but Ron was the one to reply, "You all might have read the papers or if you work at the Ministry know the details about the massacre in the Temple of Atum, Heliopolis."

Everyone was now paying attention to Ron, "It was me, Harry and Daphne who had done it", 'Way to be subtle Ron,' Harry thought, as pandemonium broke out in the house as everyone was shouting, gasping at the same time, so Harry decided to intervene, "Will you all shut up, and hear the full story behind it." After Harry said it, together with Daphne and Ron, he narrated the entire incident at Heliopolis.

No one said a word for few minutes after they finished but it was Fleur who said in accented English, "So they kidnapped our children as revenge against you then?"

Fleur question seemed to resonate with everyone else in the house, but then Daphne said with a horrified face, "No that's where the box comes in, those bastards are not using them for revenge only but I am sure they will use them for opening the damn box."

"What Box, you did not mention any box till now?" Bill asked, to which Ron answered, "The box is the root cause of this mess, it is an Egyptian scroll box which has a Celtic runic curse on it, we believe that Cat Sidhe and Shezmu blood has been used to bind the runes on it. Now Harry observed that all wizards and witches in the room had gone pale.

Hermione was the first to connect the dots and she asked the dreaded question, "How do our children fit into the picture?"

No one answered till Ron suddenly dashed upstairs and quickly returned with a journal and parchment, "Harry what age does magical blood reach its maximum potency in witches and Fleur when do Veela reach magical maturity?"

Both Harry and Fleur were bit taken aback with Ron's questions but then Fleur answered first, " I don't know why you are asking this now but full-blooded Veela reach magical maturity at twelve that is when the allure starts forming, but for mixed-blood Veela like my mother, me and my daughters it is fourteen."

Harry spoke only after Fleur finished, "Magical Blood in witches reaches maximum potency at fourteen the double of seven the most magical number but for wizards, it takes seven more years that is the age of twenty-one, but you know this already Ron, every Rune Master learns this even if they are not Blood Mages."

Ron just gave a shrug in response and continued scribbling, then again looked up, now facing Daphne, "Greeny, what number is the most important number in Ancient Egypt?"

"That would be three and it's multiple, but 2,4 and 7 are also considered holy", "I knew it!" Ron directly shouted after Daphne's answer, startling most of the people in the room.

"What Ron, spit it out, stop wasting time," Ginny said getting irritated. Then he took a deep breath and with a grim expression Ron said, "They are going to open the box using the Children's blood and magic as a sacrifice."

Reaction to the line was instantaneous; Harry noted, as the room which observed pin-drop silence before was now a cacophony of various shouts, accusations and noises.

But then Hermione became the moderator and silenced the room with a sonorous, "Shut up all of you, Ron explain, we all are skilled enough to understand", the effect of this was also immediate, now all of them were looking at Ron, who Harry noticed had nervous sweat building on his forehead.

Then Ron finally blurted out, "The cult fuckers were actually here to kidnap Victoire as she has one eighth Veela blood, and is also a Fourteen-year-old Virgin. Her blood would work as the perfect catalyst to break the cursed enchantment of Celtic and Egyptian Runes which are sealing the box." But before Ron could continue further, Fleur interrupted him by saying,

"Veela are beings of Slavic and Serbian mythology, they don't have a connection to Celts or the Egyptians and are only related to the Greek nymphs and Sirens and that too distantly, how can you even think Veela blood, which is so dilute in Victoire 's case could break a cursed seal."

Ron's ears turned red, and he gave Fleur a glare, "I was about to explain that before you rudely interrupted me, I very well know which mythology Veela belong to thank you very much. Now as I was saying Victoire's blood would work because Veela blood, however, dilute has a direct connection to the Sun, as Veela are inherently creatures of Fire, they were worshipped as Fairies in Slavic myth but also were called cursed women of God in some Serbian tales."

"As the box has the symbol of Atum-Re on it in the runic scheme, it would make sense to break the seal with a being's blood of different mythology, but also to counterbalance the Wizard and the beast blood which are also present, a full-blooded magical being would not do. But a Cross would work perfectly."

Harry got what Ron was trying to say, others to like Hermione and Bill seem to understand what was Ron's theory, then Daphne said, "I get it now, Victoire fits quite a lot of criteria and in simple words, she also is a witch so not a full-blooded creature so she can negate the runic scheme but why kidnap the other kids, just for more leverage against us?"

Before Ron could answer, it was Bill who joined the ongoing morbid discussion and answered Daphne's question, "No not as Leverage, but as magical conduits."

"What do you mean magical conduits; no one in other kids has reached magical majority, hell they are not even old enough to attend Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, but this time Harry decided to answer,

"Ginny don't you get it by now, Ron asked Daphne about Egyptian sacred numbers which are also coincidently same as Celtic sacred numbers. The mastermind behind this playing a number game as his arithmancy to break the seal revolves around the count of three."

Harry would have elaborated further but then a haggard-looking Luna, Neville and Dean came bursting in through the Burrow's main door. Luna straight away pulled Ginny into a hug and said, "Ginny, Lorcan, Alice and Priya were kidnapped" "What the Fuck!" Charlie swore.

Then Neville who gave Harry a handshake, said "It was about Lunchtime today when Priya, had come to play with Alice for the day at the Longbottom manor whereas Lorcan and Lysander were already there in the Greenhouse looking at the new plants, they were all being watched over by Parvati who had come over with Priya. Luna and I were just bringing out lunch from inside when we heard a loud bang, the snatchers had stunned Parvati in the back after she put up a fight, she had managed to subdue six but in the end, the fuckers left with the girls and Lorcan, they put port keys on their defeated members. Thank Merlin Lysander is safe."

"Parvati is at St Mungo's Padma is with her, one of the Aurors on sight told us that you guys were also going through a similar ordeal, so we came here as soon as possible, Hannah, Rolf would be also joining us here soon," Dean added.

"That was the final piece of the puzzle," Ron said after hearing out Neville's story about how his and Hannah's daughter, Parvati and Dean's daughter and one of Luna's twins with Rolf Scamander were taken hostage in broad daylight.

"Care to explain What Ron is going on about?" Dean asked, so Daphne took the three newcomers aside and started briefing them about the entire situation.

"What is the final piece?" Charlie asked to which Ron answered, "As Harry explained earlier to Ginny, the rule of three, the basis of Celtic Runes is at work here. Rose, Alice and Priya are nine-year-old girls, whereas Albus, Lorcan and Scorpius are all nine-year-old boys. They are past the age of seven but now are an age which is multiple of three so their magic would support the ritual after Victoire's blood would open the seal while Derek who's seven will sustain the magical backlash if they use him"

"Alex and Lily, who are five and not seven, but have enough innocence and magic to remove the hybrid blood curse, as Fairy Cat blood would be neutralized by Lily and Alex's blood would satiate the Shezmu. Then there is Morrighan, the Phantom goddess who has been designated the patron goddess for the box's protection, her Crow rune would be the final hurdle to overcome, but I still have not found a way to manoeuvre that part. These zealots must have found a way across that and they chose our children as sacrificial lambs because whosoever is behind this has a personal vendetta against us."

As Ron finished his lecture, Ginny said, "Rituals like this need to be performed at a very powerful alter or a place of significant ambient magic, also a certain set of circumstances need to be kept in check, they must be having a powerful Arthimancer or a blood Mage on their side."

"Yes, Ginny is right the most ancient and sacred alter on the British Isles is Stonehenge, the Druidic and Celtic rituals have been performed there for centuries." Hermione said, but as soon as she said Stonehenge, a thought ran through Harry's mind about what Zabini said, 'Nott's been performing rituals at Stonehenge' and then Harry, Ron and Daphne shouted together "Nott!"

"Who the fuck is Nott?" Charlie asked, to which Daphne answered with Fury laced in her voice, "Theodore Nott, the sociopathic mother fucker who is behind this mess."

Harry noticed Hermione looked stricken on hearing Nott's name, after all, he tormented her more than Draco when they were at school, but then George asked, "But Malfoy's son was also taken, weren't they friends at Hogwarts"

"Nott was no friend of Draco; he was a loner who only talked to Blaise and no one else," Hermione answered George's question with such bitterness that Harry did a double-take to check if Hermione was the one who said those words.

"Even if Theodore is the mastermind who is pulling the strings, what grudge does he have against all of us?" Fleur questioned but no one answered her query, until Daphne spoke, "He has a schoolboy grudge against Ron, but I think he is mentally disturbed as I think no child would be sound of mind after seeing their father mercilessly torture their mother right in front of them."

"Even if Nott is a victim of childhood trauma and abuse as you said, what would he gain by opening the box?" George asked. "What else, then to cure his mother, Daphne you suspected a certain Cat goddess curse scroll was in the box, can you tell us more about it?" Harry answered looking at Daphne. At the mention of the Cat goddess curse, Bill gasped out, "You believe the box contains the Curse of Cats, that's bloody insane!"

"Yes, Potter I think you might be right even if The Curse of the Cat Goddesses is thought to be an enslavement and punishment ritual used against women, it could be modified to treat incurable mental illness as every cat goddess whose name is invoked during the casting of the curse also has a healing domain."

Hermione after hearing Daphne said something that chilled Harry's bones to the core, "I have read about the curse, and that despicable man would also need women who have blood heritage from all the cultures which bastardized the curse when they conquered Ancient Egypt. Nott would need to perform the opening of the box on a full moon's night which is in two days, as the box is protected by the Sun, it would be the ideal choice when its ambient magic defences are weak"

"So we should leave for Stonehenge immediately," Charlie said as he was moved towards to the Fireplace, but Harry stopped him by saying,

"Charlie look around you, everyone in this room is a magical powerhouse, I am a Healer and a Blood Mage, your sister was an ex-Hit-witch and an Auror, Bill and Daphne are the best Curse Breakers in Britain, Ron and Angelina are Rune Masters, Luna is a Magizoologist, Neville is a Herbologist, Fleur and Dean are renowned Spell crafters, you are a Dragon tamer, and let's not forget Hermione the bloody Minister of Magic, we don't need to rush into this, everyone wants the kids to be safe and back, these fools fucked with the wrong people, and we are going to destroy them but we need a proper strategy to tackle this and I promise all of you after I am done with Nott he would wish for death."

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

P.S: Please do leave a review. The story is reaching now its final phase, let's see what happens next, the next chapter is of Daphne. It is the longest chapter I have written.

P.P.S: To Hank1967 thank you for leaving a review on every chapter, as well as the Guest who pointed out the small error on in the summary. It has been modified.