Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 116: The Missing Fragments
"Well? How many times are you going to revise it?" Morgan's tone showed her increasing frustration as she watched over Harry and the magical circle before him.
Harry, on the other hand, was calmly scanning every single inch of the magical circle he had drawn.
It was a large and complex design, made with a special ink of his own creation, and contained two rows of runes across its diameter.
Two smaller circles were placed on the north and south parts of the main circle. On the southern one, the broken Excalibur was resting, and on the northern part, there was a complete map of the world, with detailed information and coordinates.
"I just want to make sure everything is correctly set up," Harry said. "A small mistake could end up being catastrophic."
"We have plenty of materials," Morgan huffed.
"Yes, but the sword could also be destroyed in the process if something goes wrong. And we don't have plenty of those," Harry pointed out.
"Now… let me focus."
"Fine."
Harry continued the slow process of examining the circle—the composition of the ink, the materials placed at certain points of the construction, and even the conditions of the weather. Everything had to be perfect.
The moonlight filtered through the tree canopy and reflected into the small pond next to them and the grassy clearing where the ritual circle had been drawn.
Harry had specifically chosen the same part of the Forbidden Forest where he met the Lady of the Lake for the last time as the ideal location to perform this ritual.
"I am ready," he finally said.
The moon was right above their heads as the clock reached midnight.
He found no errors, and the timing was perfect.
"We can begin," Harry added.
"Finally." Morgan moved to the other side of the circle. Harry would be the one performing the magic, and her only job was to pay attention to the map.
If everything went right, the locations of the other fragments of Excalibur should be marked on the map.
Morgan just needed to make sure that no information became lost, in case the map was damaged during the process.
Not wanting to waste a single moment, Harry produced his wand, closed his eyes to focus on the spell, and tapped the circle with his focus.
The black ink was composed of over a dozen magical ingredients. The instant Harry activated the ritual circle, it absorbed his power and began to glow with a pale silver light, very similar to the moonlight itself.
The glow changed in intensity, almost simulating a heartbeat.
The ingredients carefully placed across the circle were starting to become consumed one by one, feeding the ritual and empowering it.
Morgan spotted the broken piece of Excalibur reacting to the magic around it. The sword was shaking but remained inside its circle.
"Be ready," Harry warned his partner. "I can feel them already… the fragments of Excalibur… they are not too far."
Without opening his eyes, he pointed toward the map. "There!"
From the circle, a single drop of ink separated and floated above the map for a moment before shooting down and marking a spot.
South of Italy.
Morgan took note of the exact location the drop of ink had indicated.
Soon, another drop flew out and shot at the map.
"There!" exclaimed Harry.
North of Britain.
Then another one.
Morgan flinched. "That's… one of their bases." She immediately realized that the third spot marked was in Spain, and not just that, but at the exact location where they had already marked one of the Argent Flame's main headquarters.
This meant that Harry was not the only one looking for the fragments of the sacred sword, and that they were already in possession of at least one of them.
Harry was too focused on his task to react. He then pointed to another one.
"Tsk!" Morgan also recognized the spot. The fourth fragment had been marked east of France, in the Cirque de Valgaudemar, the location of another of their bases. "They have two…" she muttered.
"Last one!" said Harry, pointing at the map once more. "There!"
A drop of ink shot out and hit the map with enough force to pierce the paper, but Morgan had been paying attention and saw exactly where it hit first.
"Wait, what?!" She was surprised because it was extremely close to where they were standing.
The last marked spot was on Hogwarts' grounds.
"The last fragment is here!" said Morgan.
"Here?…" Harry opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
As he removed his wand from the circle's surface, it began to lose its glow. All the materials had been completely consumed, leaving only the sword and the stained map.
"Show me," Harry told Morgan.
She lifted the map and brought it closer to him, pointing at the spot where the ink had made a hole.
It was hard to see the exact location because the map covered the entire world, but Harry estimated it was somewhere east of Hogwarts.
"Mmm… let's go take a look from above."
He picked up Excalibur and held it in his left hand.
Morgan transformed into her Animagus form, that of a raven, and flew into the sky.
Harry had his own magic to fly. He summoned a gust of powerful wind that lifted him up.
A moment later, he was hovering over the Forbidden Forest and moving in the direction of the castle while his eyes scanned the fields, looking for anything that could catch his attention, or perhaps something he could detect with his other senses.
Since the ritual had just concluded, Harry could still feel some connection to the other fragments of Excalibur, so the moment he flew above it, he immediately felt a pulling sensation. "It's here!"
He stopped right above the spot.
"Here?" Morgan landed on his shoulder and looked down. "I can only see a tree…"
"It is definitely here." Harry was staring at the large willow tree on Hogwarts' grounds. "Let's go down."