Chapter 16

"Where to next?" Ginny asked. "There's nothing here at the Lighthouse."

They walked out of the Lighthouse. Hermione squinted her eyes and shielded her face from the slight breeze blowing sand into her eyes.

"There are a number of places he could be," Alex said, unfazed by the sand. "China, France, Italy, Germany; it's hard to predict his movements with the limited information we have."

"Halt! Who are you and why are you here! This area has been restricted on the order of the Ministry of Magic and the Magic Congress!" a new voice shouted.

They turned to see an Auror. The Auror's eyes widened when he saw Alex.

"Y-you're-!"

With a slash of magic, Alex blew the Auror back. He walked forward as the Auror sat up, wincing. He looked up and panicked, scrambling for his wand. Alex slammed his foot into the Auror's arm, breaking it with a loud crack.

"Alex! What are you doing?!" Hermione exclaimed.

Alex summoned the wand to his hand wordlessly and held it to the Auror's throat.

"If the Aurors are here in Egypt, that means they have figured out what Harry is up to, or at least partially," Alex said. "We need to know just how much they know."

Alex tilted the Auror's chin up so their eyes met. The Auror's eyes widened as Alex entered his mind none too gently. After a few minutes of digging, Alex released the Auror. The Auror gasped and his head sagged. His eyes were wide and he was trembling.

"They're going off of a theory right now. The pendant, before it came to that woman back at the bank, was originally found buried south of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. They think Harry is after more dark artifacts and Egypt is a common place to find them. Even I've been here a couple times as a Curse Breaker as well before that." Alex said.

Alex looked down at the Auror.

"Worse news, we can't let the Aurors know we were here," he said. "Wiping his memories would be suspicious and it can be reversed with a potion. Legilimency leaves a mark, especially considering I wasn't very gentle this time since time is limited."

Alex snapped the wand in his hands in half and threw the pieces to the ground. He pointed his index finger at the Auror, who was still in shock from the forceful mind intrusion.

"No!" Ginny shouted, running forward.

It was too late. A green flash hit the Auror and he crumbled to the ground, his eyes glassy.

"Alex! You didn't have to kill him!" Hermione shouted.

"Be quiet, you two," Alex snapped. "We have limited time to find Harry. I will not take risks, and if it means I must kill, I will do so."

"The other Aurors will find us if you keep killing!" Ginny exclaimed.

She pointed to the dead body behind Alex.

"That's proof enough," she said.

Alex snapped his fingers and the dead body burst into flames. Within seconds, there was only a pile of ashes left, which Alex mixed into the sand with his foot.

"Not anymore. Let's go," he said. "We have a lot of ground to cover and very little time to go."

Alex pulled out the portkey. Ginny hesitated, looking at him warily.

"You two came with me; you should've expected this," Alex said. "Do you still want to do this or should I leave you behind to be found by the Aurors?"

Ginny sighed before relenting and linking arms with him.

"Hermione?" Alex asked.

"I'm not going until you can promise me you won't kill anyone else," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"I make no such promises," Alex said. "I have no qualms about killing whoever gets in my way; you of all people should understand that. Now come on, or we'll leave you here to be discovered by the Aurors."

Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Come on, Hermione; they're going to catch us unless we leave right now," Ginny urged.

"Fine," Hermione growled. "But this isn't over, Alex."

"Yes, it is," Alex said as Hermione reluctantly linked her arm through his other arm.

They disappeared.

Ron fanned himself.

"It's too hot," he whined.

"Quit it," Eric said, glancing around. "We're supposed to be searching for any clues of Harry being here."

"Why are we in Egypt again?" Ron grumbled.

"Egypt is a common place dark objects are found," James said, coming towards them. "It's a popular place for Curse Breakers to work. Anyways, there's no sign that Harry's been here."

"James! Come over here for a second!"

James looked over and acknowledged his fellow Auror with a wave.

"Be right back," he said to Eric and Ron before jogging over.

"What about Alex?" Ron asked. "You think he was here too?"

"Don't know," Eric said. "I mean, we've only searched through the pyramids. There are still a ton of places in Egypt we need to comb through before moving on."

"They'll both be long gone by then," Ron said.

"But we still need to figure out what Harry wanted with that pendant. That old woman back at the bank said it was cursed with a strange type of dark magic. Not to mention, it was apparently found decades ago in Egypt, buried to the south of where the Lighthouse of Alexandria stands. Based on that, we can theorize that Harry's after more dark artifacts."

"But why would he need them? His entire being is basically made of dark magic," Ron said.

"Perhaps he needs it to do something he can't use his own magic for," Eric said. "That's the best reason I can come up with based on the little information we know."

Ron huffed.

"I never did like Harry," he said. "He was too creepy when we were still at Hogwarts."

"Well, I like him even less," Eric said. "He almost clawed my throat out."

Eric's hand subconsciously lifted to touch the four faint scars on his neck. They were jagged and diagonal, not clean like a regular cutting curse. Anyone who saw these scars would think Eric had been mauled viciously and was lucky to even be alive. Eric looked at the sky, squinting against the bright sun.

"How do you think everyone is doing back home?" he asked.

"They're fine," Ron said.

"We should send a letter, check in on them, tell them what's going on," Eric said.

"That sounds good," Ron said, sighing.

"Hey you two," another Auror called, jogging over to them. "The pyramids are almost done being searched. You two go on ahead to search the Lighthouse."

"Right," Eric said, nodding.

He looked at Ron.

"Let's go," he said.

Ron grumbled.

"Anything to get out of the sun."