Chapter 73

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The change had been sudden, but Helene had felt it the moment it took place. When they became trapped within the temple.

The moment they entered the magical part of the magical part of the Twin Temples, a pulse of magic had come from Patricia Rakepick, and the entire area had been shut off. Moreover, she could feel a gaze on them, one who thought he was being sneaky.

She shared a silent look with her husband, and it was all she needed to know that he too had felt there was something wrong. He could feel the gaze on them as well.

Neither of them said anything though, because they already knew it was too late. Helene could tell that it would require tremendous effort, thus a lot of time, to break through the spatial restriction set on the temple, and Henry's gaze told her that whatever was gazing at them would not give them this time. It was strong enough to threaten them. Adding in Rakepick, who was a formidable witch herself, as well as possibly her two fellow Curse Breakers, this was not a fight either of them wanted.

So they played along, heading in deeper. When they arrived at the end of the part of the temple that had been discovered already, and the seal that trumped explorers for thousands of years, it was with great reluctance that she separated from her family's group to go with Rakepick.

Although she knew that Ethan had grown up and was more capable of handling himself now, she could not help but think of the Kitsune incident over and over on her way to the seal.

It had given her the scare of her life, and had caused them to bunker up in their house for the remaining of Ethan's childhood. It was not all though.

She and Henry believed that Hogwarts would be a nice change of pace for Ethan, that him finally being around other children would be great for him. Of course, they were worried his name would result in adversity, but they were confident their little boy would manage to go through it.

That was also why when the holidays came, they had him stay at school. Although they really did go on a trip, both of them would have much rather gotten to see Ethan after several months of absence than visit a country they had already been to a dozen times.

Even when the rumours of Ethan leading monsters to attack Hogwarts had spread, Helene and Henry still decided to leave him in school, because deep down they both knew that magical talent was not the only thing Ethan had gotten from his grandfather. It had taken Newt Scamander a single look to see it, the charm Ethan exuded.

This was why they decided that leaving him in school would be the best way for him to salvage his reputation, and make friends. And Ethan had done wonderfully, clearing himself of the stigma on his name by the end of the year, and making great friends he would probably keep for life.

But the road had not been easy, as Hogwarts had ended up not being the safe place they believed it to be. When they received the news of the accusations thrown at Ethan for killing a man, and that Aurors were on Hogwarts grounds to chase him, both of them were ready to storm the school.

It was only after a persuasive visit from Dumbledore himself that they did not do so. Then Ethan faced off against an Elder Vampire, and actually managed to win. That did not stop her from worrying.

And now, this.

These vacations were supposed to be a breather, to allow them to relax. Things should have been safe, but first there was an assassin, and now the temple was turning out to be a deadly trap.

They had not chosen this temple at random either. Several others crypts related to Ramesses II and his family had been found through time, and not only were nearly all of them relatively safe for ancient Egyptian temples, but they also contained what should have been nearly all of his wealth. The only two things of importance that were never found were his body, and his legendary artefact, but both were believed to have been lost in the sands of history.

And even then, they had ended up accepting this visit only when they learned that it would be headed by Rakepick, the best Curse Breaker in the world.

Yet, despite all the precautions they had taken, something still had gone wrong. And Helene knew enough about magic to understand that this was not natural. This was not just bad luck anymore. What confused her though was that the target seemed to not be herself, or even her family, but Ethan himself instead.

Had someone cursed the Grindelwald name, she would have understood, her father had been hated, but the first incident had taken place when Ethan was four years old. How could he ever have someone who hated him enough to give him such a terrible curse?

After all, to have so big an effect and be this insidious, it had to be a powerful curse, which must have required an immense sacrifice. In other words, it was not the kind of curse one would randomly throw.

But as much as she wanted to get her hands on the curse user and break every bone in their body, she already had something on her hands.

As she arrived at the door and Rakepick looked disappointed, Helene inwardly scoffed at the woman. She might fool others, but Helene knew that they would 'somehow' find their way in, one way or another, if Ethan failed to open the seal on his end.

Which he did not. It made her proud that Ethan was able to do what someone like Rakepick could not.

But once the seal was lifted and the passage was revealed, Helene discovered something else. Although it looked like a normal passage, she could tell that it was actually a portal that had opened. It was completely see through, and the edges of it were hidden in the stone so it looked like a regular passage, but she could tell.

Then, after some more walking, and a set of surprisingly tame traps, they arrived at the last room. Of course, the golden pyramid was eye-catching, but as a wife and a mother, her gaze first went to the other side of the room, where another door opened, revealing her family.

The moment she saw them, she knew there was something wrong. Something happened.

She could tell by the tightened jaw of her husband how tense he was, and the slightly furrowed browse of her son that he was shaken. It was not something the entire group had shared however as Snyde did not look like anything had happened, and Tracey…

On a second look, Helene did feel like there was something strange about the little girl. She did not know her well enough to judge her current state of mind by minor twitches of her expression like she could with her family, but she could still recognize that her expression was not exactly normal.

She was unfocused, as if she was talking to someone. Something she would later discover to be true.