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 118: An Unexpected Encounter
Two weeks later
The Cirque du Gioberney, South East of France.
Harry and Morgan stood atop a mountain, gazing out at a massive waterfall.
"The fragment is somewhere in this area," said Harry, while holding the sacred sword.
The blade had grown significantly, going from the size of a dagger to a short sword after they had recovered two more fragments of Excalibur...one in the north of Britain and the second one south of Italy.
They took a while to find, but they had been easy to collect, as they had been buried in unpopulated areas.
However, they both knew that the remaining fragments would be much more difficult.
"The Argent Flame base is also here. Can't be a coincidence," Morgan reminded him.
From the decoded book they obtained from the last raided base, they were able to find out the coordinates of the three main headquarters of the organization. This area was one of them.
Harry produced his staff and tapped it onto the ground. "The base will likely be hidden using magic."
Morgan shook her head. "It's kinda ironic, isn't it? They hate magic so much, but still make use of it when it's convenient to them."
There were many examples of the Argent Flame using magic to their advantage, like their enchanted bullets, reinforced uniforms, and goggles capable of seeing through magical protections.
"Wait, that's it!" Morgan suddenly had an idea. She reached into her bag and pulled something from it.
"What is it?" Harry looked at her with curiosity.
"We should be able to find the base if we use this." Morgan showed him a pair of anti-magic goggles, the same ones that Harry had retrieved from the dragon rider that attacked him near Hogwarts months ago.
"Ah… you may be right." Harry had given the loot to Morgan and then forgotten about it, but those goggles had allowed the rider to bypass Hogwarts' protections and find the school, despite being a Muggle.
It made sense that if the Argent Flame was going to use magical means to hide their bases, they would need to give their agents a way to access their facilities.
Harry was about to request the goggles, but Morgan was faster and had already placed them on her head.
"Let's see…" She scanned the surrounding area beneath them.
Harry pointed in one direction. "Try to focus on that side. I can feel something coming from the rocky area."
It only took her a few seconds. "I see something! I think it's a door. It's half hidden in between the boulders near the cliff."
"So it must be an underground facility," Harry muttered. "Let's try to take a more subtle approach this time. We don't know what kind of defenses they can have inside."
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Next to the small door that Morgan had seen, there was a massive gate that had been covered by some rocks.
From this side, it became evident that those rocks were only a façade and that they formed part of the door system.
Gaining entrance into the base was a fairly easy thing to do. Despite the magical protections hiding the facility, there was no magic protecting the locking mechanisms.
Morgan and Harry placed an invisibility charm over themselves and ventured inside.
The entrance tunnel was absolutely massive. It was large enough for big vehicles like planes, tanks, or even a dragon to pass through.
They found the first people after walking for a minute or so, but by their simple uniforms and the tasks they were performing, these were only normal workers and not actual agents of the organization. So they decided to ignore them and continue forward.
The corridor opened into more properly constructed walls. What began as a crude passage carved through earth transitioned into bricks, cement, and steel.
Large lamps hung from the high ceilings, illuminating everything clearly and not leaving many places to hide.
Faint lines were traced across the walls, with inscribed runes on them.
Harry and Morgan had taken notice of them, but there was no time to analyze them and find their purpose.
The air grew cooler the more they walked.
A set of archways appeared ahead, tall and narrow, just enough for a person to walk through. Above them were much larger openings, and those were clearly designed for something else.
There were no locked doors or any security mechanisms they could see at first glance.
Harry and Morgan exchanged a glance.
The security seemed very relaxed for such an important base. They also had not come across any soldiers, just a few workers.
It was like they were being welcomed.
They took the archway to the left and moved through the narrow tunnels until they arrived at a chamber.
The ceiling rose high above, vanishing into shadows. The room was supported by thick pillars arranged in a circular formation. Each column bore the same intricate engravings as the walls they saw before.
The floor here was also different, a wide expanse of smooth black stone.
At the far end of the chamber stood what could only be described as an altar. Its surface was scarred and torn, as if it had endured countless centuries.
Harry grasped Morgan's arm as a warning. He could feel a single presence in the chamber.
And it was not a Muggle. Harry could almost see the tendrils of dark magic extending everywhere.
Suddenly, they both heard something and moved at the same time.
An object flew in between them and buried itself in a nearby column.
When they looked over, they saw it was an arrow, and it was glowing with an eerie blue light.
It was then that they found the attacker, standing near the altar at the end of the chamber, a figure clad in full plate armor and holding a bow.
Morgan narrowed her eyes when looking at the old knight and muttered a single name.
"Galahad…"