Chapter 136: On The Way
Elizabeth was pacing to and fro in front of them, looking quite flustered. "I can't believe we still haven't come up with any solution!" It has been almost a week since they have met for the first time. "And He came to the palace and had a discussion with my father yesterday. Everyone in the palace was so worried for his safety." Her eye had gotten a little teary at the thought of her father's life at stake.
"We were thinking of using something from the future to defeat him. Did Zeus leave any hints about what we should use?" Stefanie gave Elizabeth a comforting hug.
"Not that I can remember." Elizabeth shook her head as she tried to remember the dream she had ages ago. "It was over a year ago, but I don't remember that he ever gave me the solution." She frowned at the thought. "I would have remember it clearly if he did." She muttered to no one in particular.
"Don't stress yourself first. He might have put it in a way that triggers your other thoughts or something. He must have told you the solution, but may not be the most direct way." Remus suggested in a softer voice. "A potion, or charm, or probably a spell from the future that you have not heard of?" Elizabeth placed her head in her hands, as if trying to search her memory for the forgotten solution. The rest looked at one another and each of them was deep in their thoughts when Sirius suddenly jumped up.
"It's lunch time." Sirius bounced in a strange cheery mood. "I'll get some food for us." He headed towards the door.
"I'll go with him to keep him away from trouble." James stood up and followed Sirius out of the room.
"Two troublemakers together, I highly doubt." Lily muttered under her breath. Harry and Ginny, who were sitting the closest to Lily, laughed silently to each other at her passing comment.
"Sorry, I really can't remember anything about the dream. Zeus told me not to write anything down and it has been so long.." Elizabeth apologized to everyone, looking crestfallen.
"Is it possible to have the same dream again?" Ginny asked. "Maybe you can look for the overlooked information again this time?"
"I only have that dream once, and that is after I drank the potion." Elizabeth told them. "No matter how hard I tried, I've never dreamt of it again. Is there any charms and potion in the future that helps to re-live a dream again?"
"I think I might have heard of a charm or spell that helps you relieve a dream again, during Divination or something." Remus said thoughtfully. "But it wasn't much of an impression."
"No recollection of it at all." Lily shook her head. "Can you remember the whole dream?" She turned to ask Elizabeth.
"More or less, I guess. I try to think about it everyday so the memory stays fresh in my mind." Elizabeth said. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Would you mind if I enter your mind to see your memory?" Stefanie asked. "I'll understand if you don't think-"
"Sure. Go ahead." Elizabeth closed her eyes to relive her dream while waiting for Stefanie to enter her mind.
"Alright, there goes." Stefanie took a deep breath and her mind entered into the Elizabeth's inner realm. Everyone in the room held their breath, keeping their fingers crossed and looking at the two women sitting in front of them with their eyes closed. The tension and uncertainties of the room was so strong that it could be sliced by a knife.
"I'll wait for James and Sirius outside." Harry whispered to Ginny before leaving the room as quietly as possible. He exchanged a look of understanding with Lily before closing the door after him.
X
"They will come and help you." Zeus voice was low and filled with wisdom. From Stefanie's point of view, it looked like she had already seen the vision of the future.
"How can I tell that it's them?" Elizabeth asked curiously. Stefanie watched the conversation between the two of them as Elizabeth tried to remember the dream. With long white hair and white robe, Zeus exuded an aura that was similar to Dumbledore – one that was full of wisdom and knowledge.
"You just know it. Sometimes your mind works in a way beyond you think." Zeus bent down and touched Elizabeth's head, patting her like a little girl. Stefanie listened to the conversation as closely as she could, trying to capture any possibility of missing hints. It was as if every sentence Zeus spoke had a hidden meaning waiting to be deciphered. "You must come up with a solution."
"What solution?" Elizabeth asked. "I've just found out my reincarnate of two thousand years later meeting me in the recent future. I don't know if I can handle this."
"You'll be able to handle this. Princess, you've the power to change the history. You're the one who can change this history." Zeus said gently. "Remember the butterfly effect I once told you. Killing a butterfly today will affect the world a billion-fold in a million year's time."
"How could I have the power to change the future? I've no idea." Elizabeth said in a more exasperated tone.
"You know you do. The answer lies within you." Zeus said. Stefanie listened to the conversation closely while trying to decipher the meaning behind the statement.
"The answer lies within me? What answer?"
"A sacrifice of love defeats an evil mind." Stefanie thought. What did he mean by that?
"What?" Elizabeth questioned the statement.
"The answer will come when the situation strikes."
"Master, please do not speak in riddles. I am confused." Elizabeth looked away. "I don't know how to handle all these. I don't want my parents to be at risk. Please tell me how I can solve it."
"The answer lies in the heart of your mind. It has always been there."
"My mind? My heart?" Elizabeth frowned.
"Your future. Your destiny." Zeus spoke with a tone of finality. "I've to leave now. Don't ever forget this conversation."
"Master!" Zeus vanished and suddenly everything became pitched black.
Elizabeth opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned and saw Stefanie who was frowning and deep in thoughts.
"How was it?" Remus asked Stefanie in a soft voice and poured a cup of water for her.
"The answer lies in your heart. A sacrifice of love defeats an evil mind." Stefanie told everyone in the room. Just then, Harry entered the room silently with James and Sirius.
"How was it?" Sirius asked chirpily. "Any bright ideas?"
"A sacrifice of love defeats an evil mind." Stefanie repeated. "That's the solution."
"Does this mean that someone has to sacrifice?" Ginny spoke the thoughts that ran through everyone's mind.
"Who said that?" James frowned and said in a firm voice. "We'll all make it back safe and sound, together."
"Zeus."
X
"If anyone had to be sacrificed, I should be the one. Without anyone of you, I wouldn't have existed." Harry spoke. It was almost a day since Elizabeth left them after Stefanie entering her inner mind. They were all gathered in the girls' room, barely speaking a word, hiding from the world and feeling the burden on them.
"No." All of them disagreed at Harry's suggestion.
"I would rather be the one to be sacrificed than you." James' voice was filled with anger, at the unfairness of the whole situation.
"But I'm the one who have a connection with them." Harry argued.
"Who cares about that?" Sirius interrupted. "I don't agree you being sacrificed for nothing."
"This is not nothing." Harry said in frustration. "This is about the entire well-being of the magical community."
"We may have mis-interpreted Zeus' words." Lily pointed out. "He may not be asking for a human sacrifice, it could be sacrifice of something intangible."
"Like love." Stefanie frowned at the thought of Zeus' words.
"Yes, my parents sacrificed themselves for my life." Harry was getting frustrated. "I ended up being an orphan for the last seventeen years. And I had to carry a burden of Voldemort's vengeance. Do you think I want to live it like that all over again?" Everyone of quiet at Harry's outburst. "I appreciate everyone for being concern about my safety and everything, but the point is, I want to change history. I certainly want a life where I grow up having parents who are alive and well." James and Lily exchanged a grim look. Harry was right, and they knew it.
"We know what you mean." Stefanie said sympathetically. "Harry's life was anything but happy. Vernon and Petunia definitely didn't give him the family he deserved." She looked at Harry, who was looking at the ground. "And the future is not something we want. We don't want Lily, James and Sirius to die, or Remus and Belle who live their lives alone and with regrets, or Ginny losing her brother."
"Or Stef's cease in existence." Remus added quietly. "That's why we are here for. If sacrifices must be made, as much as we hate to do it, we know we had to. Not because we want, but because we need."
"I don't know why, but I feel that I am going to disappear soon." Harry said in a low voice. "Perhaps the future had already been changed with all these hesitations."
"I've the same feeling too." Ginny admitted. "We didn't want to tell you all initially. But Harry and I did feel that, very soon, we will vanish and probably none of you would have remembered our existence, because we never existed."
"How long have it been?" James demanded. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"About two days ago, and the feeling is getting stronger, especially after what we heard Zeus's premonitions." Harry confessed.
"We have to take action as soon as possible, before anything else happens." Arabella said what was going through everyone's mind.
X
"Don't even think of testing this here!" Stefanie warned Sirius who was about to throw a small packet of harmless looking powder.
"I wasn't going to do anything, honestly." Sirius put his hands up surrendering. "Why would I waste my precious invention in here?"
"Don't give me that, I know what's going on in your twisted mind. Dungbombing my bedroom is one of your pranking fortes." Stefanie took the innocent-looking packet away from his hand and put in on the table among ten other identical packets.
"Caught red-handed." James chortled as he looked up with his pile of random transfigured items. He continued transfiguring another branch into a tiny smoke bomb.
"These goggles should be fine." Lily was trying out the charmed goggles that Remus had transfigured earlier.
"I wonder what will happen when they eat all these." Harry commented amusingly. Both he and Ginny were coming up with Fred's and George's idea of prank. They tried to follow the twins' recipe at conjuring poison to cause a person to get constipation, vomit, feverish, etc. The only problem was that, it was all transfigured items from what they remembered in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The results would remain unknown as none of them would be testing the products themselves.
"They will be too sick to get into a wizard's duel with us." Ginny replied as she grinded up the pills and divided them into eight transfigured vials.
"I can't think of any more charm to be place onto these clothes." Lily tried to remember all the protection charms they have learned. "Waterproofing, fireproofing, emergency floating, reflective.." She mumbled to the seven set of modern-day clothes that were spread in front of her on the bed.
"Accio Remus' wand." Remus was testing the pile of transfigured wands from twigs. They had spent fifteen minutes at the inn backyard and garden collecting all fallen leaves and twigs to be used as transfigured weapons. "Accio Stefanie's wand." Stefanie's wand flew out of her hand to Remus' left hand.
"Hey." Stefanie laughed as Remus threw the wand back to her.
"I gotta test to make sure they respond to everyone's wand." He placed the fifth wand to the pile while transfiguring the next twig.
"Fireworks, checked." Arabella was packing the randomly transfigured items into the eight sling bags. "And water.." Since they had no idea what would they need, they spent the day randomly transfiguring items that might come in handy when they start 'attacking' the School of Zar the next day. "And rope, checked."
"Engorgio." James held the enlarging baseball bat with both hands and cast a reduced-weigh charm on it. "Good. Reparo." The stool was broken by a gentle hit from the bat and was replaced instantly by magic.
"These are amazing." Lily grinned at James' palm-sized baseball bats.
"Wait till you try them out." James smirked. "These are more powerful beyond your imagination."
"I can't wait." Lily joked. The tension in the room was much lower than before. Everyone was working towards to create a success at their random plan to capture the 'root of all evil'. Despite the jokes and casual remarks, everyone was feeling nervous and unsure about the whole thing. The question of how to get rid of Salazar's stepfather, and probably even Salazar, remained a question.