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 73: Here Lies...
"I found the— why are you collecting bones?" Morgan asked after just landing and seeing Harry taking some bones from the wall and placing them inside a box.
"I want to make sure to place them somewhere peaceful, so no one will disturb him again."
Morgan looked confused. "No, what I meant is, where did you— hold on, who was that?"
"An old, tired knight." Harry did not wish to elaborate further. "Did you find the way to the lower levels?"
"I did one better. I went there already!" Morgan exclaimed.
"You went down by yourself? Why didn't you wait for me?" Harry demanded to know.
"Relax… I only went to take a look, and I was mostly disappointed with what I saw. Some office spaces and a lot of factory workers," Morgan said. "This is not what we thought it was."
"What about the one responsible for this base? They must have had a General or some other high-ranking individual." This was the biggest base from the Organization that they had found.
So Harry didn't quite believe they wouldn't have someone important in here.
"I didn't say there was absolutely nothing. I did find the Commander of the base, and this…" She produced a small book from her bag. "This was well secured inside a large safe behind the commander's desk. It must be very important." She handed it to Harry.
As he skimmed over the contents of the book, he realized something. "I can't understand anything… what language is this?" They appeared to be random words and numbers, as well as some symbols he had never seen before.
"I don't think that is a language. I'm sure it's some sort of code. Military folk like to use those things to protect important information," Morgan explained.
"Fine, then let's ask this commander to decipher the code," Harry suggested.
Morgan flinched. "That… won't be possible."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing! The idiot shot himself in the head the moment he saw me breaking into his office. I couldn't stop him in time," Morgan said.
Harry sighed. "Any other higher-ups left in the base?"
"No, just around a hundred workers. They are still in the basement. The rest… we have already dealt with." Morgan shrugged. "We'll have to find someone else to take care of that."
"Mmmm…" Harry was pondering about it when he suddenly heard a loud commotion. It was quickly getting louder. "Is that…?"
"The workers." Morgan sounded as surprised as he was, because a moment later, the nearly hundred workers of the factory emerged from the basement, rushed across the hallway, and went into the chamber where she and Harry were standing.
None of them was visibly armed, but they charged toward them nonetheless.
"Are they suicidal?" Morgan was about to ask Harry what they should do with the workers. Unlike the normal members of the Argent Flame, these workers were likely innocent people recruited from some nearby town or city.
"Der Selbstzerstörungsmechanismus!"
"Rennt! Rennt um euer Leben!"
They were all yelling in German while running in a panic.
"I don't think they are trying to attack us," Morgan pointed out, as she didn't perceive any hostility from the workers.
It became more evident when they shifted directions and rushed toward the chamber's exit.
"What are they saying?" Harry asked, hoping that she would have picked up a few of the words.
"I'm afraid that my German is a bit rusty… something about running," Morgan said.
At this point, they had already left them behind without even giving them a second look.
"Die Bombe! Die Bombe!" one of the last men yelled as he passed close by.
"Okay, I understood that." Harry and Morgan exchanged a worried look before lifting their wands.
A moment later, they both apparated away from the chamber and reappeared outside the base.
"Do you really think t—" Before Harry could even finish the sentence, the entire base exploded violently, forming a massive ball of fire.
"Protego Omnia!" He immediately raised a magical barrier to shield them from any incoming debris.
"Yikes." Morgan grimaced. None of those workers had a chance to make it outside. "That commander must have activated some sort of self-destruct mechanism before blowing his brains out."
"Yes, we got kinda lucky. If that bomb had taken us by surprise, it could have been really bad…" Harry said in a somber tone.
"Sorry. I should have realized sooner," Morgan said.
"It's okay, Morgan. It could have happened t—" A large fiery rock impacted his shield and made the ground shake.
"Perhaps we should get out of here first," Morgan suggested.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Harry extended his hand to her and grabbed it.
Morgan then got closer to him until their faces were only an inch away. "You know… tonight it's drinking time." She licked her lips.
"Oh…" Harry knew he was not going to get much rest today.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
The next day, Harry stood on top of a cliff that overlooked a tranquil-looking grass plain.
He remained there for a long moment, taking in the scenery while looking into the distance. "Sorry it took so long to come visit."
Harry shook his head. "Who am I even apologizing to at this point?" he wondered. Now he was feeling a bit silly for this.
He turned around and got a better look at the cliff. His eyes scanned the surrounding area in search of an appropriate spot.
When he found it, he used his magic to create a perfect rectangular hole, several feet deep.
"This will have to do. I hope you like it. I think it's very close to where Camelot once stood, and you get a great view from here." Harry knelt down and produced the box where he had stored the bones and carefully deposited it into the hole.
He then used his magic once more to cover the hole and transfigure a rock into a cross.
"Are you going to leave it with no name?" Morgan, who had been resting her back against a nearby tree, finally spoke.
"No." Harry tapped the stone cross with his wand, and words began to appear on its surface.
"Here lies Sir Lancelot. Loyal knight of Camelot, valiant warrior, and member of the Round Table."
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