The hunt begins

Within a meeting room deep within the ICW there was a gathering of powerful individuals. This group had been meeting for a while over the past few years, together they had been arranging an event that would coincide with the quidditch world cup that was being held by the british. The triwizard tournament was an event created to promote a friendly rivalry between the three oldest schools within the European continent and encourage the growth and advancement of said institutions.

Thus it was that the three head masters of the schools along with the foreign ministers of their respective ministries were present within the meeting room. The goblins were present at the meeting as the keepers of the artifact known as the goblet of fire as well as the overseers of contracts to make sure that everything was correct with the magic. The final person was a representative of the ICW to oversee the negotiations.

"The event shall be hosted at hogwarts" Albus said in his customary soothing voice to the room from his seat looking at his counter parts "after all we were next on the rotation before it was canceled." he finished making a sound argument that the others could not refute without undermining their position.

"Very well albus bit we shall provide our own lodging, I do not trust the British with my students!" the headmistress of beauxbatons said with a growl as she knew very well just what would happen if some of the more biggoted of the brits got their hands of some of her students that had some creature blood in them. It would not end well.

The member of the british ministry was about to snap an angry reply but was cut off sharply by karkaroff "yes i think that would be for the best if we do, it would also allow our respective champions to train in private." he mentioned nodding his agreement. Getting a nod from dumbledore. "Naturally the school library will be open to all"

The ICW representative looked amongst them, before bringing up an important topic "and security?" He asked curious about what the answer would be as over the past couple of years Dumbledore's influence had waned drastically till he was just a figurehead in the ICW. He had tried to interfere in other countries' affairs too often, trying to make them conform to his view on the world. It had led to the slow but sure deterioration of his powerbase.

" The wards of Hogwarts are strong enough to protect the students from any danger that should be posed" Albus answered with an airy wave of his hand. This caused a raised eyebrow from some of the members of the room. The goblin member of the delegation then spoke for the first time "and what about the colony of acromantula that you have on the grounds? I have reports that they have been growing restless and started….exploring." he said with a raised eyebrow. Getting looks of alarm from the others.

"WHAT!"

"ALBUS! WHAT ARE ACROMANTULA DOING ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS!" Bellowed the ICW representative, this was disastrous. Acromantula were incredibly dangerous, venomous, giant and carnivorous. They could live for a very long time for spiders and they bred very fast. It was a miracle that the school had not been invaded by them yet!

"They are not a threat as my groundskeeper has them under control." replied the headmaster. Only to receive a glare from the others.

"Albus I don't care they are dangerous and must be dealt with if they are starting to roam as was just stated. Otherwise Hogwarts will be shut by ICW sanction." He growled at the old man who looked less than amused at this, not that he cared as this would be enough to remove him from office.

Looking to the goblin "do you have any operatives that could deal with such a task, or can get in touch with someone who can?" he asked. Thinking about what to reveal he replied.

"I have contacts with the temple of artemis" he said simply. The statement going over their heads. So with a sigh he said "the temple of artemis are a sect of magicals who practise the old ways, the ways of the hunt. To be specific, they follow the path of the goddess artemis." this received a nod from those of the French and bulgarian delegations as they both had such sects in their schools and countries.

The sects of such type in England though had long since vanished from public light as they had been ostracized and hunted to near extinction, seen as barbaric and backwards.

The rep nodded "good, specialists then?" getting a nod from the goblin "yes it was one such member that took care of our werewolf problem last week" he grunted.

This caused the members' eyes to widen in remembrance and slowly nod in appreciation.

"Good, set it up. Now on with our talks"

Xxxxx

Albus was fuming how dare they not listen to him. Initially everything had been going well. Tom had been defeated, the country had returned to peace and the potters hailed as heroes. Only he knew about the spare. Then came knews about Lily's will. A locked will that will only open to a certain recipient. James had come to him furious about it not knowing who it was for but he had he knew it was for the girl, the girl that he had hidden. So when he had the time he had set up his own wards and alarms for the will being probated.

He needed to be able to intercept the girl before James could get to her. The last thing he needed was for her father to know that she was alive. He had considered setting up a marriage contract for the girl, he had even gone as far as writing it but never signed it. He had kept it as a back up, James had already agreed to that plan and there was no point in using the same one twice. He could always use her for political capital later when he luckily "finds" her after learning of her kidnapping. Yes, that could work.

His plans on the ICW however had been falling through as they refused to see the light on types of magic. Japan and their so called 'Seals' which were clearly dark, not to mention transylvania and their affinity with blood magic. So many countries walked down the path of darkness and they all ignored him.

It was with a heavy sigh that he looked at the order on his desk. More a contract really, It had a simple outline for a job.

Agent : huntress

Job :acromantula nest : size indeterminate

Location:forbidden forest scotland

Contact: gringotts

Timeframe : before school term begins

Pay : …..

Signed :

It was a quick and simple contract and one that annoyed him as it had been forced on him. Now he would have to host this 'Agent' from some barbaric society. They were going to kill intelligent creatures for no reason! Couldn't they see it was wrong! No, of course not any moral person would not join those barbarians.

Thus he prepared himself for the headache that was telling his staff for what was to come, and to reinforce his mental shields to better control his emotions as it would not do to show just how much this was affecting him.

Xxxxx

Atlanta had been in her tent relaxing from hunting a deer for her dinner when an owl arrived carrying her mail. The local newspaper that she used not only to keep an ear within the local magic society as well as in the no-mag community. Most of her mail went through the goblins so she was not surprised when she found a new job contract within the new delivery.

Setting it aside though she looked at the paper while she ate. And read about the up and coming world cup. That was a game that she had never had much interest in. The game made little sense with all of its different balls and the flying in the air. She would rather go on a nice hunt.

Reading the report she saw how the reporters were speculating about how the supposed boy who lived should be going along with his friends from hogwarts. It then gave a short history about the potters and their family, how they lost their mother and sister, how they were betrayed and attacked.

Personally she thought that the story of him defeating an accomplished wizard with years of experience like voldemort to be laughable. There was more to the story that people did not know. It could be as simple as childhood accidental magic or as complicated as the mother using a ritual she found somewhere. However she doubted that it was actually anything to actually do with the boy himself.

So with a snort of disdain as she saw a picture of the boy and his girth. She threw the paper aside and lifted the contract reading the details that had been included as per her contract with the goblins in their agreement for her to do jobs for them. They wanted her to clear out a nest of acromantula within a forest that was posing a threat to the local populace and to the guests that would be arriving there soon for the tournament that would be held there soon.

Xxxxx

Upon arrival within Scotland through Gringotts, she had moved quickly towards the old castle making quick progress. The village outside of the castle was empty due to the event that was taking place within the country at that time, she had deliberately timed it so that she would arrive during the world cup so that she could get the job done without interference.

It was also a good time to try out a technique, a powerful one.

Moving into the forest she jumped from branch to branch with an almost impossible speed and agility, showing a dexterity and accuracy of motion that should be beyond those of a human. Her bow in hand she stopped at a distance and reinforced her eyes using her magic so that she could observe the target.

A nest of spiders ranging from tiny to the size of a house, there were hundreds of them. Normally they should have moved and hunted beyond the forest by now; the only reason they hadn't is if the hive leader had ordered them not to. However by the looks of the beast it was not long for the earth hence why the more ambitious of its children were starting to push the limits of its orders. They could sense its death was near.

Retreating to a safe distance she pulled out two arrows and drew them putting mana into them. Remembering the mantra she began the chant and flooded her bow with the chant.

"With my bow and arrows, i respectfully ask for the divine protection

Of the sun god Apollo and the moon goddess artemis."

The two arrows started to glow. One gold and one silver, both at full draw whilst aiming at the night sky.

"I offer unto thee this calamity- Phoebus catastrophe"

Her chant completed and the mana for her technique completed she released the arrows into the sky, completing the ability. Now all she had to do was wait. It did not take long as not long after launch the sky lit up and a torrential rain of light, a light made of thousands, millions of arrows rained down upon the nest.

Controlling the torrential downpour to be larger than the area she needed to ensure that the saturation got the targets and that none escaped. She waited till it ended then went in to scout the target, ensuring that she had an arrow upon the string. Looking around she was pleased with the effects all she saw was the pinned corpses of the beasts. With a nod to herself she evacuated quickly hearing the local centaurs and what she did not doubt would be others approaching quickly, and she did not want her identity revealed so soon. She had a contract to turn in.

Xxxxx

Within olympus it was the summer council and the gods were sitting discussing matters of non-importance. From their domains to the demigods. Monsters and the mortals. Within the council unless a matter involved a god they tended to drift, each having their own way of passing their time. Artemis would check on her hunt, ares would peruse the ongoing conflicts, athena would do what a student would and pocket munch some sweets.

This time was different as all of the gods sensed an unknown power being invoked, however only two of the gods knew what it was and why. Apollo and Artemis heard a prayer, a chant and then a drawing on their power. However they could not tell where it was coming from.

Artemis could feel a sense of longing towards this voice, a familiarity. As if she knew it somehow. And that scared her. She had also felt this feeling of her power being drawn before. Just over a decade ago. This of course threw up some flags in her mind, she was going to have to do some research, something was going on and she was going to find out what.