Chapter 52

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The plans of the Grindelwald family did not stop because of what happened. Although it had been a shock, Henry's and Helene's visit to the Auror's Office did bear fruit.

As much history there was behind the Grindelwald name, Aurors were highly trained agents, so it did not take long to find the truth behind the attack. Ethan did not get the details; he did not risk asking his parents because he was pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten an answer, but in any case, not only were they let off, but they also profited from some protection.

Since they were here for a vacation, the added protection was welcomed. It wasn't like they had anything to hide, and the Aurors were capable of making themselves discreet, as Ethan did not even manage to catch one of them. They were pretty good and raised his opinion of Aurors in general.

Their vacations brought the Grindelwald family and Tracey all over northern Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza was especially grand, and while Ethan regretted they couldn't visit inside, it wasn't much of a surprise. Most pyramids were forbidden for tourists, both because of the dangers inside and because the Egyptian government wanted to preserve them. The Great Pyramid of Giza being the crown jewel, Ethan never expected to get to visit it.

However, it was in the second week of their vacation that the really exciting visit was to take place.

Ethan and his family travelled down south of the country, next to Lake Nasser, to Abu Simbel.

Ethan's parents had managed to get them a visit to the Twin Temples of Pharaoh Ramesses II and his Queen Nefertari.

As they approached the Twin Temples, looking for the team of Curse Breakers they would be going with, Ethan took in the majestic entrance to the temples.

Carved straight into the rock were the giant statues of the ancient pharaoh, his wife, and children carved at his feet. Unfortunately, the great monument had withered under the sands of time, and one of the four statues of the pharaoh was missing its whole upper body. Still, all in all, it was pretty well preserved.

There were quite a few tourists present—muggle tourists, that is, so none of the wizards dressed conspicuously. Still, they easily found the group of Curse Breakers sent by Gringotts.

It was a rather small group, with only five of them. There were two women and three men. Both women were Caucasian, along with one of the men, while the remaining two looked like locals.

The leader of the group seemed to be one of the two women. She had long, wavy red hair and deep blue eyes, and her face looked haughty. But she had the right to look haughty because Ethan recognised her. Not from his past life, but from reputation, as this was Patricia Rakepick, famed as the greatest Curse Breaker alive.

Seeing how Tracey's eyes widened, she recognised her as well.

The other girl, however, he could not recognize. She had short, messy brown hair with bleached tips, but what caught his attention were her lavender eyes. She was very young; she looked like she was barely out of school.

As for the Caucasian man, he was young as well, maybe about the same age as the girl, but it was hard to tell since wizards' ageing slowed down once they reached maturity, which took place not long after graduation from most magical schools.

The man looked like he could be from Rakepick's family, though, with similar red hair as the famous woman. His red hair was rather long for a man, and funnily enough, when he looked at him, Ethan's first impression was that of a rock'n'roll fan.

As for the two Arab men, they looked very similar to one another, most likely twins. Their olive skin had strange green hues, however.

As Ethan and his family approached, Patricia Rakepick barely spared a glance at Ethan and Tracey, her eyes lasting on Henry for a while before resting on Helene. She smiled arrogantly as she said, "The Flash Wizard and Loki, it is a pleasure to finally meet you and be able to put a face on those names."

Loki was the name Helene used as a cover for her Rune Master job. Although she was recognised as the best in the world, it hadn't always been the case, and so when she started, Helene had chosen to hide her name to not draw away any potential customers. And with the years, she had decided to keep the alias.

Not many people knew that the famous Loki was named Grindelwald, even today.

Henry smiled and shook hands with Rakepick, who was about the same age as him, and greeted him, "The pleasure is ours. Having a Curse Breaker of your renown is reassuring, especially with the children here."

This drew Rakepick's gaze to Ethan and Tracey, making the latter tense up, but she was swiftly ignored by Rakepick, who focused on Ethan, a small smile tugging at her lips. "This one looks like a fierce one. Looks just like his grandpa."

Ethan wasn't surprised she knew about him; half of Europe probably knew his face from the newspaper, if not half of the world.

Rakepick nudged towards the two young Curse Breakers with her and said, "Since you were bringing kids, I decided to bring these two as well."

The two's expressions did not change, but Ethan assumed it must not have been pleasurable to be compared to two eleven-year-olds as professional Curse Breakers.

Rakepick then gestured towards the twins, "These are Zaid and Bilaal. They will be our liaison once inside."

"Why do we need a liaison?" Tracey asked with bright eyes.

Rakepick gave Tracey a look when the girl behind her explained, "These are known as the Twin Temples. The main funerary chamber remains unknown to this day because it requires runes to be activated from both ends of the temples, and without perfect coordination, it is impossible to enter."

As everyone looked at her, the girl grinned and added, "Merula Snide, by the way." She turned towards her fellow Curse Breaker, "and handsome over here is William Weasley, but we all call him Bill."

Ethan and Tracey looked at Bill in surprise, both knowing the name very well. Not only was it one of the Sacred 28, but they also had quite a few boys of the family at Hogwarts, one being in their year.

"And I am Tracey Davis, and this is Ethan Grindelwald, but you probably knew that already."

Tracey got several nods. Meanwhile, Rakepick and Ethan's parents finished their small talk as Rakepick addressed the entire group next: "Alright, time to go. Once inside, you should all follow my instructions. Don't touch anything, as everything in there is possibly cursed, and believe me, you don't want to be on the receiving end of an ancient Egyptian curse."

As the group entered the temple, the first part of which was conjoined into one, Ethan observed the inscriptions on the walls. The hieroglyphs were not magical in the slightest, since they were still in the muggle part, but trying to decipher them and their meaning while moving in deeper was an interesting exercise.

The muggle part of the temples had this feeling of surrealism, however. On the one hand, there were the ancient texts carved into the rock walls and the withering of the stone over the centuries that placed this location back to the very start of civilisation.

But this sentiment was broken by the renovations, the wooden floor added to the ground by contemporaries, and worst of all, the smell.

Ethan did not expect to be bothered by the smell, out of all things, but the moment he entered, it was the first thing he noticed.

It didn't smell like an ancient tomb. Instead, it smelled… fresh, and clean.

That was disappointing, but fortunately, they weren't here for the muggle part of the temple.