It takes less than a span of time for Lamia to make her way from the fortress where the cup has been stored, to her home.
From her chariot, it's easy to see where her mother is still filling a wooden frame with a mix of sand and ash.
"Mother, I need your help!"
Kirke looks up from her work in confusion, especially when she sees the mortal in Lamia's arms, "Lamia, why did you bring a mortal here?"
Lamia looks down at the mortal in her arms, "A life for a life. She saved mine, and she probably won't survive the day without help."
Kirke swallows her first reaction and silently sends a prayer of thanks to Gaia for the fact Lamia has grown up into someone who cares about mortals. "Bring her to the house and remove her clothing, I need to see what we're dealing with before I can so anything else. Have you given her any treatment?"
Lamia nods as she keeps pace with her mother, "I gave her my bladder of nectar."
Kirke purses her lips, as the fact the mortal is still dying says volumes about the injuries they've taken. Coming to a decision, she quickens her pace, "Lamia, once we've got her inside, I need you to start making some ambrosia. It may be the only thing we can give her that will save her life."
As Lamia speeds off to the house, her tail allowing her to move faster than Kirke can run, a Nymph walks out of a nearby tree and starts to tend to the horses.
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Beth wakes up suddenly as a feeling like fire racing through her veins slowly subsides. As she opens her eyes, she looks around a single room stone house that is only slightly larger than her rooms at Hogwarts. Hanging from the ceiling is a brass or bronze platform with a single oil lamp sitting on it.
"Where am I?"
A young woman with blond hair gently holds her to the floor, "Μην κουνηθείς, ακόμα αναρρώνεις."
Beth tries to show her confusion while she mimes writing something, "I don't understand. Do you have a slate or something?"
The woman points across the room, to the fireplace where another woman is dipping a wooden bowl into a copper pot, "Η Μέδουσα σου φέρνει λίγο ψωμί και ζωμό"
Beth shakes her head and slowly rolls over onto her side, before using her finger to carefully draw out "Can I have something to write with." in Greek.
Looking towards the door, and the darkness outside, the woman calls, "Λαμία, φτιάξε μια πλάκα."
Before who ever was called can respond, the woman by the pot comes over with a wooden plate that holds a couple of flat loaves, as well a wooden bowl with a cloudy broth, that has bits of white and brown meat in it, along with some unidentifable vegetables.
Cautiously, Beth pulls a bit of the bread off a loaf and starts to chew it. It has a tough, grainy texture, alongside a slightly bitter nutty flavour.
As the young woman brings her own bowl over, and places it on the floor beside Beth, she chuckles and deliberately pulls of a large chunk of bread, before holding it in the broth until it visibly starts to swell.
Beth manages, following her hosts example, Beth dips some bread into the broth and waits patiently for it to start expanding. Once she has, the bread is far easier to eat, and the simple broth gives hints of some sort of game bird and a mix of unfamiliar herbs and the vegetables to give a satisfying taste.
Just as she's put her second piece of bread in the broth to soak, a teenager that looks like so many she's taught, or went to school with, walks into the house carrying a lump of clay and a stylus.
As she places the clay on the floor by the young woman, the teenager says, "Έγινε μάνα"
The young woman smiles at the teenager, "Φέρτε μερικά μαξιλάρια μαζί με το φαγητό σας"
Beth watches in awe as the woman deftly forms the clay into a tablet, and she's so riveted that she jumps as the teenager pushes a hard packed sausage cushion at her. Somewhat confused she takes the heavy cushion, and watches as the teenager lays on a mat and places her own cushion under her arm, allowing it to prop her up without using her elbow.
On the other side of the room, the other three women have started a game of some sort while they're eating.
Once the young woman has finished making the tablet, a few swift strokes of the stylus has a sentence neatly carved along the top of the tablet.
Beth carefully takes the tablet, and reads the line. #My name is Kirke# As she reaches out for the stylus, the woman uses the other end of the stylus to underline Kirke as she says, "Kirke"
Beth looks up in surprise and then takes the stylus from Kirke and slowly writes, #My name is Bathsheba, please call me Beth# before underlining the Latin characters and saying "Bathsheba, Beth"
An amused expression crosses Kirke's face as she hands the tablet to the teenager who looks at the tablet and frowns before writing #My name is Lamia. You can write but you cannot speak?#
Beth nods, and starts to write, #I am a Scholar…# she taps her forehead with the stylus after she writes out Scholar in English as ancient Greek doesn't have an equivilant term, eventually she settles on learner and historian as the appropriate words, #of history."
Kirke snorts, and swiftly writes back, #You're certainly no scribe, your writing is slow and clumsy#
Over the rest of the evening, the three women have a slow and painful conversation written on clay. With one or other of the two women leaving to make a new tablet when the current one gets close to filling up.
At one point, Beth asks for her wand, and Kirke's response is #No weapons in the house.# Then she adds, #Or the caves for that matter.#
At some point while the other women are preparing their beds under the guttering light of the oil lamp, Beth breaks the bottom of the current tablet off, and forms it into a thin tablet, that will be easily broken. There she writes #I swear that I will aid Lamia in reaching the cup, and will then teach her about the land I call home to the best of my ability#
Kirke looks at the thin tablet skeptically until Beth stabs the pointy side of the scribe into her thumb, and then pushes her thumb onto the clay tablet. Almost instantly the clay hardens, and gains a silvery hue.
At the same time Beth lifts her thumb to her mouth, Kirke takes the tablet off the floor and raps it sharply against the stone. Beth, however, never finishes putting her thumb in her mouth, as instead of the deep red blood she was expecting. Her thumb is instead bleeding a clear, slightly yellowish, liquid.
At the end of the other part of the original tablet, Kirke writes #You have my gratitude, but don't go doing that in the mortal world, unless you want to end up in the same position as Lamia#
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After a long day meeting with people who have far too much political clout for her own liking. Minerva stands up at the beginning of the evening meal.
"Good evening everyone. Before we can begin the meal I have some announcements to make. First of all, the entire school is now on lockdown, effective immediately. For the next few days you will be restricted to your dorms whenever you are not in class. Our visiting students will also be split amongst each of the four houses for the duration of this lockdown. This is for your own safety, and any student caught breaking this lockdown will be immediately suspended for at least a week. All meals will be taken in your common rooms, and you will have an escort of Aurors between classes.
"Secondly, the castles defenses will be activated outside the Entrance Hall, Great Hall and a direct route to the Headmasters office. As recognised students, the defenses will capture you and bring you to the Great Hall if you leave your class or dorm without an Auror escort. This is for your safety. If you value your lives, do not try to escape or disable the defenses, as they will treat you as an enemy if you do.
"Finally, until further notice, both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy have been cancelled."
As she sits down, she mutters, "And thank Merlin that they're the only two who got their resignations in before we could talk to them."
Around the great hall the conversation starts to ebb and wane, at no point ever falling below a susurrus. Beside her, the headmasters chair remains empty as, without access to the headmaster, or his office, there's no way to replace the Headmaster according to the bylaws. Bylaws that are enforced by magic.
Beside her, Moody finishes the battery of spells and tests that he habitually uses to ensure he's not going to be poisoned, including conjuring his own tableware and water. "You've done well lass, I hope the precautions aren't needed, but the most important thing is that we're keeping the students safe."
Minerva sighs, "But did it need to take so much talking? I swear everyone wanted to talk about anything but how we were going to keep the children safe."
Moody laughs grimly, "Half the board of governers should have been dosed with veritasium until it leaked out of their ears, the other half are greedy bastards who only want to milk the school for everything they can. There's a bloody good reason why the youngest member of the Department of Education is the same age as you, and it has nothing to do with the quality of education."
"Well, do you have any advice about how I should deal with Vector and Babbling?"
Moody pats Minerva on the hand, "Promote them. They've both proven that they have both the morals and the backbone needed to stand by their principles. Foist your own jobs off on them if you want."
Minerva shakes her head, "I hadn't considered that. What about you, aren't you worried about the curse?"
Moody shakes his head, "I'm not actually employed by the school, I'm just here as a favour to Albus to provide extra security for the school. I'm teaching as part of my spare time. He has some strange ideas about the Dark Lord, but he won't provide any evidence of his claims. He was always a secretive bastard, and I think the last war made him paranoid too."
Minerva picks at her dinner as she asks, "Do you think he was trying to kill the Potter heir?"
Moody shakes his head, "Not at all, but that doesn't change that it's attempted murder is they survive, and murder if they don't. As our laws only allow manslaughter for an accidental death, not for a pre-meditated action that results in death. Bones is spitting nails because she can't bring the Auror who started this mess up on charges, on account of being dead. Last I heard, she'd threatened to arrest both Crouch and Bagman if they didn't hand over the contract that they used on the goblet."
Now curious, Minerva asks, "Did they? Hand it over I mean."
Moody snorts, "What do you think? Bagman folded as soon as she mentioned Gringotts. The contract, if you can call it that, says three things, They are to compete in three events as already agreed on by the overseers. They are to be entertaining while they do it, and they are not allowed to speak ill of the Ministry of Magic. Get an early night tonight, as you've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
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The next morning, Lamia wakes up before the sky has started to appreciably lighten. But even so, she knows the moon is only a span below the horizon. As she thinks about it, the house is filled with the soft light of a full moon as her circlet appears on her forehead and starts to glow.
Silently she shakes her mother awake before padding outside to her chariot.
A few minutes later, Kirke joins her daughter and begins to help hitch the horses to the chariot, "What are your plans for today my daughter?"
Lamia looks around one of the horses, "Mother, I ask that you accompany me today so that you know where they have stored the cup in the event they are able to take me down before I reach it."
Kirke looks back towards the house, "What of Beth's belief that it is actually a school for scribes and scholars?"
Lamia shakes her head, "I believe that she believes that, but you don't make a mountain to teach scholars. I" she hesitates before she continues, "will give her a chance to see me safely to the cup. But if we are attacked again, I will try to retreat so that we can raze the mortal mountain to the ground and sift through the rubble for the cup."
"And me?"
"If I don't come out by noon, assume that either I've been captured or killed."
Kirke draws herself up, and her features harden until she appears to be the millennia old Enchantress that she is. "I will do as you ask."
Lamia nods, "Thank you. I'm going to wake up Beth."
Kirke nods as she turns to inspect her aunt's chariot for a moment, before heading to the caves to fetch a sack of clay powder and a few stylus'.
Once Lamia reaches the house, she shakes Beth rather roughly, only for the woman to turn over and mutter something in her sleep. With a sigh, she picks up the sleeping woman and walks out to the fresh water stream that they use for washing and bathing. Then she unceremoniously drops her into the cold water.
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Beth wakes up with a scream as the cold water shocks her awake. As she pushes herself to her feet, she starts to shiver in the night breeze as she realises that she's not even wearing her night shift. As she looks around, she can just about see the island around her, though the whole place is hidden in shadow against the steadily lightening sky. When she spots Lamia walking away with a silvery blue light, she scrambles to her feet and runs after her, wincing at each step.
As she catches up, she realises that Lamia isn't carrying a light, she is the light.
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As they get back to the house, Lamia shows Beth to the storage shed, where they keep the herbs, feathers, shafts, and the Gorgon's bows and arrows. For a moment she winces at the lack of her own bow and arrows, but she still takes her quiver from the wall and slings it over her back.
She can't help smiling when Beth makes a bee line to the leather bracer she was wearing, and pulls her wand out of the small opening. If you were going by her face, you'd think she'd just been reunited with a beloved pet and not just a weapon that can be used as a tool. Shaking her head, she reaches under one of the benches, and pulls out a spare tunic and belt before tossing them gently at Beth, as she's the only woman in the house that's as small and wide as Beth is. Even though her own build comes from her hours of hunting rather than a love of food.
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Beth jumps as a bundle of cloth lands on her head. As she pulls it off, she spins around only to see Lamia pointing at a basket under the table where her wand was. Turning around she pulls the basket out and looks inside with dismay, as all of her clothes are now only good for rags. With a sigh, she pulls her shoes out from under the bundle of rags, at least she doesn't have to go barefoot.
After quickly drying herself off with her wand, and applying a warming charm, she slips on the long tunic. Seeing that it comes down to her knees, she turns around to question the lack of undergarments with gestures, only to stop as she realises that Lamia's tail is stretching out of the doorway, "Oh right, tail. She probably didn't even think about it."
Shaking her head, she turns back to the table and picks up the leather belt that seems to lack both buckles and holes for the buckles to fit. With a sigh, she puts the belt back on the table, and instead puts her wrist holster onto her forearm with a sticking spell.
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Lamia pulls a wooden box down from the rafters and roots around for one of the spare cooking daggers that would also be suitable for hunting. When she comes across her own dagger, carefully wrapped in a rabbit skin, tears prick her eyes, and she carefully takes it out of the box, and places the box back in rafters.
As she turns back to Beth, she has time to see the confused expression on her face as she looks at the belt, before Beth fastens the wrist holster to her arm with magic. Shaking her head, Lamia moves over and picks up the belt.
Carefully, she holds the belt the way her mother used to while she was teaching her how to tie it herself. As she does, she names each part of the belt and the process that she's using to tie the belt. Finally, she unwraps her old dagger and slides it into an angled gap between the two layers of leather, that make up the belt, so that it sits at an angle that allows for easy access, but not weapon access.
"Your dagger is kept here because a dagger is a tool that can be used to defend yourself. It is not a weapon itself. If I find out that you've sliced your belt through carelessness, I will bend you over my knees and tan you with my belt until you understand you should treat your dagger with more respect."
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Kirke and Lamia both smile indulgently at Beth as she stares at the sea and land rapidly receding below them as Lamia guides her chariot up into the sky, high above the earth.
Shaking her head Lamia looks towards the moon with a smile, "It's funny, I was the same way yesterday. I can only imagine what I looked like."
Kirke nods, "My father once said that he used to bring me up in his chariot just to see the look of wonder on my face. Though he never too me high enough that the sky disappeared like this."
Lamia smiles as she looks at the stars that are becoming more and more visible as the sky turns from blue to black despite the fact it's a new moon, and they are racing into the daylight. "I think that Selênê and Grandfather both inherited the full measure of Hyperiôn's power, and maybe also some of Ouranos' power too as I can focus on the planets I can see."
Lamia points at Mars where it sits just to the left of the earth, with both the sun and moon behind them, "See, there's Mars. Over there is Saturn, and…"
Lamia trails off as she spots a chariot coming closer and closer to her own chariot. As it does, the glow of the sun also starts to appear around her mothers head.
With a large smile, Lamia places a hand on Kirke's arm, "See, I told you that grandfather would have wanted you to have his legacy."
All Kirke can do is nod, smile, and cry tears of happiness as the large, four horse drawn, chariot gallops closer until the horses slow until the two chariots are racing side by side through the empty sky.
Reaching up with her hand, Kirke takes Lamia's hand in her own, and pulls her with her as she steps from one platform to the next as she says, "Feet only on my chariot Lamia."
Lamia laughs as she easily pulls her tail inside, and changes it into human legs. One there, Kirke leads her to the front of the chariot and takes the reigns with her hand either side of her daughter.
A click of her tongue and a shouted "Onwards" sees the chariot pull away towards the earth.
Left on Selene's Chariot, Beth is startled out of her awe filled exploration of the sky, as she suddenly realises that she's alone on a chariot that she has no idea how to drive.
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After a few spans of time, the fortress that the cup has been secured in becomes visible at the edge of the sunlight.
As soon as it does, Lamia reluctantly points it out, "That's the fortress to the north. I wish I could stay here for longer."
Kirke nods as she releases the reigns on one side, before stepping to one side and taking hold of the reigns.
As she does Lamia reluctantly turns her face to the sky and whistles.
With their respective manouveres done, Kirke puts her hand on Lamia's arm, "I know, but once this is over we can both come up here and spend private mother and daughter time without it being unseemly."
Lamia just nods as her own chariot races to catch up with them, along with an ashen faced Beth, who is gripping the edge of the chariot so hard that her knuckles have turned white.
As she steps aboard the chariot, Beth transfers her grip to Lamia's waist in an unseemly display of intimacy.
With a crack of the reigns, and a wordless warcry, Lamia points the chariot towards the fortress and the cup.
With strong beats of their wings, the horses pull the chariot down through the sky to the courtyard outside the fortress in less time than it takes the sun to move a single fingers width through the sky. The glow of moonlight glowing as brightly as the full moon on a solstice.
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Madam Bones sits pensively behind the top table in the Great hall. One of the causes of his discomfort is laying in front of her, just outside easy reach, on the table. Namely her wand, that's sitting beside a picture of both James and Lily from their time at school at around the same age.
The other thing is the fact she is, in effect, the sacrifice in case Lamia Potter attacks first. On the side of the table nearest the professors entrance sits Lamia's bow, as well as the tablet she dropped as she was escaping.
Behind her stands the other sacrifice on the altar of 'please don't kill everyone here', namely Junior Auror Tonks, who has been voluntold to act as the Potter's bodyguard, guide, and hopefully peace keeper.
As she glances at the bow, she can't help remembering the moment when someone handed it to Hagrid, and he gave it a test pull. The words, "Nice bow, it has a good weight to it" haunted her dreams last night.
An Auror runs in on shaky legs, and calls, "They're here!" before he stumbles into the antechamber on unsteady legs.
A moment later, a nervous Professor Babbling walks in wearing something out of a picture book. "Um, is it safe for Lamia to come in?"
Bones nods, "Are you alright professor?"
Beth nods a little too quickly for Bone's liking, "Yes, I'm fine."
"Professor, are you here under duress?"
Beth shakes her head, "No, no, not at all. I'm just checking that it's safe for Lamia to come in."
"We have absolutely no intention of attacking Miss Potter. In fact she should have had safe passage yesterday."
Beth nods again, "That's good, that's good. Um, I'll just go and get her then."
"Professor, I can have a couple of Auror's take you through the greenhouses to safety if you're not here willingly."
"That's not it, that's not it at all. I'm not worried about Lamia. To be frank, I'm more worried about you at the moment."
"Then, yes it's safe, her bow is on the table over there, along with the tablet. We've had to keep the arrows as evidence I'm afraid." Silently she adds, 'And I'm sure the missing arrow heads have already made their way to the Department of Mysteries.'
As Beth leaves and comes back, Bones can't help gasping as, instead of a monster, a young woman walks in looking every inch like she could be an ancient queen from one of the North African countries. Around her head is a glittering bronze circlet with a pair of horns rising above her eyes. Her finely spun bleached tunic is embroidered with what seems to be gold edging, and her bare legs show a level of grace that speaks of hours of deportment lessons.
Bones eyes snap back up to the face of an exotic beauty, with glittering emerald green eyes that seem to glow with their own light. Behind her Tonks mutters, "Merlin, she's gorgeous."
As they're both observing the young woman, Lamia is warily looking around the hall. At some undefined moment, she nods and relaxes slightly as she walks confidently towards her bow and the tablet. With clearly practised actions, Lamia unstrings the bow, before inspecting both for damage, and then places the bow in some loops that run alongside the quiver on her back.
As she's inspecting the bow, Bones asks Beth, "Professor, if you're not scared of her, why are you so nervous?"
Beth looks Bones in the eyes, "Madam Bones, I have just spent the last three hours, alone, standing in the back of a chariot so high above the earth you can see the entire disk. Once she got back on the chariot, we flew down to the courtyard so fast even a firebolt would look like it was standing still. I'm not scared of her, I'm still recovering from what I experienced."
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Lamia looks down at the tablet in disgust, and reluctantly picks it up. As she does, the old warrior picks up her weapons and sheaths it, before walking to a door in the side of the room and saying "Νομίζουμε ότι το κύπελλο βρίσκεται στο γραφείο του διευθυντή. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο."
Beth nods and walks over to the door too, before turning back and beckoning towards Lamia.
Warily, Lamia lifts the tablet with one hand and watches the red string disappear into the wall somewhere above the door. Nodding to herself, she follows Beth through the door.
After walking through the fortress for nearly a fingers worth of time, Lamia is finally led to an ugly statue that's sitting in a corridor, the red string leads almost straight up through the wall.
When Beth suddenly draws her wand, Lamia steps back warily, only to relax when she creates a stick of white rock. Slightly nonplussed, she watches as Beth draws on the wall beside the statute.
#The chief teacher has the cup in the tower behind this statue. Nobody has been able to get in since he sealed it with magic.#
Lamia frowns at the statute, before trying to move it with just her arms and legs. When it doesn't budge, she allows her tail to return, and successfully pulls the statue away from the wall, to reveal another statue that smoothly moves to replace the statue she just pulled away.
With a frown, Lamia pulls two more statutes away before gesturing for the white stick that Beth used. #I'm going to try and get in from outside.#
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Albus looks up from his desperate search for some way to destroy this accursed cup before it kills the Potter's only child. He might be a foolish old man, but it's the least he can do after everything he's done to hurt the poor child.
Then it happens again, a flicker in the light as a shadow goes past the window. Shaking his head, he goes back to his work. The schools defenses will ensure that they try to break through the illusionary window lower down in the tower.
It's because of that confidence, that when the red flame of the cup flares with fire, he's caught off guard by the stained glass window shattering as a Lamia breaks through the enchanted glass. As she does, Albus pushes himself out of his chair away from the window and raises his wand to attack the monster.
The only thing that stays his hand is the clay tablet in her hand that and the red thread of light that appears between the goblet of fire and goes through the tablet into the creatures heart.
As his brain puts the facts together, Madam Bones steps through the glass, wand drawn, and calmly says, "Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of a child under your care. You are under arrest for the attempted murder of the last living survivor of the Potter family. You are under arrest for the attempted murder of a national hero. Lay your wand on the floor in front of you, otherwise I will be forced to subdue you."
Albus all but ignores Bone's demands, as all his attention is taken by the pure hate that is being leveled at him by the lamia. As she approaches, Albus bows his head and lowers his hand while he waits for her to strike him dead. Instead, she rips the wand out of his hand, and snaps it in half. Golden dust pours to the floor in front of his eyes.