Chapter 74

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Leading his family in a giant death trap was not quite the idea Henry had made of this vacation, but it was what he had to deal with.

When they arrived next to the golden pyramid, he could tell there was something amiss with it, as well as the black ball hovering in front of it. A shared look with his wife gave him all the confirmation he needed.

So, even as the twin brothers lunged for it, Henry did not move. But unlike the others, as the darkness consumed the brothers, Henry felt a familiar sensation around him, that of space twisting. He instantly realized they were about to be teleported away.

So, before that could happen, he silently placed a marker on everyone. It was a self-made spell that he was quite proud of, and which aided him with his teleportation. It was nearly impossible to detect because more than marking the people themselves, it marked the space they stood in.

Helene was the only one to have ever noticed him placing a mark.

Then, they were teleported.

Henry found himself in complete darkness, but his marks told him everything he needed to know. He had been teleported along with Rakepick. Ethan, Tracey and Bill had been teleported somewhere else as a group, and finally Helene, Miyuki and Snyde formed the third group, teleported in yet another place.

What was more interesting to Henry however was the location they had been teleported into. They were all in different pocket dimensions.

Forming pocket dimensions was not as hard as it sounded, in a way the Expansion Charm would create a pocket dimension in whatever it expanded. But the ones they were in were quite elaborate. They had most likely been made from scratch.

"Looks like it's just the two of us, Flash Wizard."

It did not shock Henry in the slightest that Rakepick would know he was here, despite the darkness. A simple Homenum Revelio would have revealed his presence, and he could think of another half a dozen spells that would reveal his presence from the top of his head.

Using a spell of his own which he had made by inspiring himself from echolocation, Henry quickly mapped out the area around himself, while saying, "So, are all things going according to plan."

Henry noticed that Rakepick started moving, which he replicated, and soon the two of them were circling around each other, telling Henry that she could somehow see as well. She tried to deny his words though, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Although she was denying, Henry could still hear the pride in her voice, as if she did not really care whether her plans were exposed or not. As if whatever they tried to do, she would succeed. She would have fit perfectly in Ilvermorny.

"Whatever it is that you have planned, you obviously don't quite measure up how dangerous that pyramid is. Even if Ramesses' artefact is in there, you will die before getting your hands on it."

Unexpectedly, this caused Rakepick to burst out laughing. "Please, do you have any idea how many artefacts I have found that once changed the face of the world?"

Henry replied coolly, "Is there such a thing as too many of those?"

This made Rakepick snort. "I suppose you're right. Well, if we're on about greed, I've always wanted to know how I would fare against you…"

This was the only warning Henry got before Rakepick attacked. It was easily dodged by him however with a simple side-step, but the spell did something unexpected as it swerved in mid-air, tracking him.

Henry hesitated for a moment, before deciding to keep his hand for now as he used a Shielding Charm, parrying the incoming spell and firing one of his own.

His spell was much faster than what Rakepick anticipated however, prompting her to make a mistake as she believed she had the time for a second attack. She had to forcefully stop herself and create a hasty shield.

The spell had been a fireball, and it created a strong shockwave as it exploded, making the structure around them tremble violently. Both of them stopped for a moment, carefully observing their surroundings in a careful way, making sure the roof was not about to fall on top of them.

After a few seconds, when they were both sure they were not about to die crushed, Rakepick said tentatively, "Let's stop here, right?"

Henry looked in her direction in the dark, he could tell that her protection earlier had come a little late, so he must have done some damage. But he had no idea how much exactly, and without that information, he was not comfortable getting into a fight with her. So he ended up agreeing.

A Lumos later, Henry was glad he did not as he discovered he had only done some damage to her clothes, but none to her. He suspected she had a magical item on her to protect herself, as her hands should have been singed, but they were pristine.

As much as he disliked the woman personally in their current situation, she was no doubt an excellent Curse Breaker as she easily led them to the portal. They swiftly dispatched the guardians, and although the idea of trying to go through the portal and break it behind him passed through his mind, he did not act on it.

He did not even know if he could manage to do it fast enough, and he did not know if it would have consequences either. Besides, for all he knew, the presence he had felt spying on them could open it again.

Back in the room of the golden pyramid, Henry was glad everyone was okay, but things quickly went awry. Rakepick sneakily attacked the Weasley kid, which was good for them since it meant they only had to fight to of them, but that was also the signal for the fight to start.

As the kids rushed for the pyramid, Henry apparated all over the room, firing spells quickly at the duo of women. Snyde was clearly struggling to keep up, but Rakepick was proving herself to be formidable as she laughed, "Three First Class Order of Merlin fighting each other, people would pay millions of Galleons to see this!"

Henry clenched his teeth, having had enough of them already as he teleported next to Snyde, his right arm bulging unnaturally as he turned it into a gorilla's arm with self-transfiguration.

But before he could punch her, Rakepick fired a spell at the kids, forcing Henry to drop the attack and try to stop the spell.

He was too late. But as it was about to hit the possessed Tracey, the spell was stopped by the pyramid. This was actually unexpected.

After that, as much as Henry wanted to end the fight, both women were more careful of his self-transfiguration, and had erected strong shields around them that worked extra well against physical attacks.

Still, this could only take them so far, as Henry and Helene were a far better team than them, and they were quickly gaining the advantage.

But then, the balance was thrown out the window as the pyramid started opening. A strong presence asserted itself over the room, freezing everyone in theirs steps as they bore the pressure on their mind.

Even Henry, who was quite accomplished in the mind arts, was forced to take a stop. All their eyes turned to the pyramid, and they saw Tracey's spine had straightened up, her body completely frozen up.

Ethan, on the other hand, was fine, and even yelled at Tracey, "Take Snyde down before he controls you again!"

Then, he jumped at the top of the pyramid, shocking everyone in the process. But at the same time, the weight on their minds disappeared, and Tracey regained control over her movements. Or rather, Nefertari did.

Strangely, she did not hesitate to follow Ethan's orders as she turned in Snyde's direction. The woman tensed, likely aware that she was not just facing a little girl anymore, while Rakepick knew she had to help, but Henry was already on her, punching her with an augmented punch and forcing her on the defence.

Meanwhile, Helene did not go for Rakepick, and wanted to help Nefertari instead, but it ended up not being necessary.

The little girl ran for Snyde, screamed out, "Avada Kedavra!"

Everyone was shocked she would decide to use the killing curse, she had likely broken down mentally, but Tracey showed no emotion in the face of the ominous green light as her body shrunk rapidly, turning into an inky black raven. She twirled in the air, the spell missing her as she transformed back into her human form in mid-air, and landed a solid punch in Snyde's gut.

The magical defence offered little resistance as Snyde flew backwards like a ragdolls, slamming violently into the wall. She did not get up.

Then, three pairs of eyes turned towards Rakepick, and assaulted her at once.

Now in a three versus one, they took a new tactic. Nefertari moved with the agility of a cat and the power of a rhinoceros as she quickly delivered strikes that exploded the air around her, while Henry was constantly harassing her with dangerous curses from all directions.

The two were really earning time for Helene, however, who was casting a large runic circle above their heads.

Unfortunately, Rakepick was a formidable witch, and was quickly proving herself to be a veritable cockroach as she managed to endure long enough. Ethan could no longer contain the presence in the pyramid, and jumped away from the pyramid.

"Miyuki, let's devour the fucker!"

Henry and Helene shared a glance as they heard their son. This did not sound like him. Meaning he was passing a message.

But before that, they would have to take down Rakepick, as well as Nefertari, who was now looking at them with empty eyes.

They would not be able to rely on Miyuki, since the Kitsune was by Ethan's side, helping him with the mental battle.

"Game over, bitch."

Helene's voice was frighteningly cold as the runic circle above was completed.