Chapter 87: The Heist

Hogwarts Castle, Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands

July 1st, 1050

–

"Have you packed everything you need?"

Helena asked Selena.

"Yes."

Selena answered shortly.

"Are you sure?"

Helena asked again.

"Yes. I made a list, you know."

Selena replied a little snappish. Today Erik and Selena Ravenclaw were leaving Hogwarts for their travel around the world. For the last five years, the couple has been working hard to put the dots on all the 'i's and cross all the 't's so that the school could run without their constant intervention. Rule books were made, contracts were signed, and personnel was trained. Aside from that, they had Helena and Robert's ghosts keeping an eye on things, so if they see that something is escaping the control of the staff, the two ghosts had a way to 'summon' them back to the castle. Which takes us back to the scene that was happening. On one side, Selena and Helena were talking with each other about what she should see. On the other side, Robert and Erik were having their talk.

"You know, kids are starting to call you the Bloody Baron."

Erik said with some amusement in his voice. The ghost just sighed at the nickname.

*sigh*

"Yeah, I know. I've heard it before… But what can I do? Vampire blood stains! And it's not like I could change clothes."

Robert replies to Erik while pointing to his heavily stained robes.

"So, everything for your alone time with Helena?"

Erik asked offhandedly. Robert nodded his head and Erik could see that he had a small smile on his face.

"Yes. Don't worry too much. Selena drilled us for long enough about what to do in any situation. And in case we have to interact with something, we will call a house-elf to help."

Robert replied to Erik, who was nodding his head. He and Selena had left instructions to the house-elves to answer to the two ghosts.

Finally, the girls' talks were done and they joined the boys. Selena came to Erik's side, who snaked a hand around her waist. They looked at the ghostly pair, who were joined by hands.

"Now kids, behave while we are gone."

Erik said in a joking tone, which made the ghosts roll their eyes and Selena let out a giggle. He then smiled at them.

"Well, that's a 'see you soon, then."

Erik said and, before anyone could say anything else, he apparated him and Selena out of the castle, letting two hanging ghosts behind. That marked the beginning of the travels of the Ravenclaw family. And while they were traveling, for the rest of the magic community of Britain, the Ravenclaws were retiring after fifty years of 'service'.

–

Atlantic Sea

July 4th, 1050

–

The couple had embarked on a ship yesterday. Their destination is Rome. At first, Selena was afraid of going into the church main territory, but after the reassurance of Erik and the hiding snake monster that he had given to her, the same type of the one that he had used during her Ritual all those years back and allowed him to hide from the very powerful beings. But there was another reason that she agreed with their trip to the capital of the 'Holy' Roman Empire.

"Tell me again, Erik. Why did I agree to visit the capital of the ones that are burning witches alive?"

Selena asked Erik. The couple was sitting in chairs on the upper deck, enjoying the ship trip. Each had in their hands a book about some random subject of their interest. Erik raised his eyes from the book and smiled at Selena.

"The book love, you agreed for the books."

Erik replied to Selena and went back to read his book.

Yes, books. Selena had only agreed with Rome as their first destination because of all the books that they could find there. During their 'purges' of witches, the church had confiscated all the assets of the purged ones and between them, it was bound to have been some books of magic. And Selena, being her mother's daughter, could not resist the temptation of getting her hands on those books. Just imagining the huge collection of magic books that the church had gathered through all their 'purges' was enough to put a smile on her face. The smile just wasn't bigger because she knew exactly how they had gotten their hands in these books.

'Yes… It will be a kind of retribution to liberate all those books from their hands.'

Selena thought with another smile on her face and then went back to her reading.

A week later the couple was disembarking on the harbor of Rome.

–

Rome, Kingdom of Italy

September 10th, 1050

–

Erik and Selena were revising their plan. After arriving in the city two months ago, the couple bought a small villa while passing by a just married couple and had warded the place discreetly as possible while hiding the wards at the same time. They had spent the first month knowing the place and enjoying it. They visited all the viewing spots in the city and nearby it, including the almost destroyed temples for the old Roman gods. After the first month, the couple started to gather information about their target. Well, it was more like compiling the information since Erik's monsters were the ones responsible for the gathering.

Their target was a clear one. The Church's Vault. They had found that all the books that were confiscated by all of their agents were sent to this one place. The problem was that the vault was a heavily guarded place and that's why they were planning everything so carefully.

"So, you really wanna proceed with this plan?"

Selena asked again to Erik, who nodded his head.

"Yes, Selena. We already discussed this same thing a lot of times. It will work, trust me."

Erik replied to his wife.

"I really doubt that…"

Selena said, full of doubts about the plan.

Five hours later they were inside the Church's Vault.

"See, I told you that it would work."

Erik said to Selena with a smirk on his face.

*sigh*

"Yes, honey. Yes, you did."

Selena replied tiredly. It was the third time that Erik was saying that. Who would have thought that some mosquitos could deliver a concentrated type of confounding potion so efficiently? After they had just to dress as members of the 'inquisition' and enter the place while pulling a big chest. The guards didn't even check the chest contents after Erik had asked if they wanted to learn witchcraft. The wards on the place were avoided by the combined use of magecraft and Erik's hiding snake monster. The little creature's ability was really handy.

The couple was now walking through a path that was filled with chests by both sides. The couple then deposited the chest that they were bringing to the side, free of any obstruction, and started to leave the place. They quickly exited the Vault, not even greeting the guards on the way back, just like they had seen a lot of people do while monitoring the place.

Back home, after taking off their clergyman clothes and taking a bath, the couple prepared themselves for the second part of the job. The one that would be the heavy work.

Erik and Selena walked down to their basement and there they saw a big magic circle carved on the floor. They walked to it, stopping right in its middle.

"Are you ready?"

Erik asked Selena, who gave him a nod of her head in confirmation. He then started to pour his magic into the magic circle, which lit up at the moment that it started to receive magic. Soon, the couple was engulfed by a bright light and both disappeared from the basement of the villa.

In another room, this one covered by wood on all sides, the ground suddenly lit up with a magic circle on the wooden floor. When the light faded, two figures stood in the middle of the room. They were Erik and Selena.

"See, no problems."

Erick said by the fourth time with a smug look on his face.

"Okay, okay! Your plan worked. I get it. You don't need to keep rubbing it in my face at every opportunity!"

Selena replied, already getting angry with it. Erik smiled at his wife and immediately hugged her, pulling her body closer to his.

"I know. I just like being right for once."

Erik said to Selena and started to give small kisses to her neck. Selena stood quiet but started to squirm at Erik's ministrations. Slowly, he got to her ear and lightly bit it, getting a moan out of Selena's mouth.

"Stop… Stop it…"

Selena said with difficulty and Erik stopped.

"We have work to do. And if you continued doing what you were doing, we would never get to finish the job."

Selena said while trying to recover her breath. Erik nodded to her and let go of her waist. He then walked to the only apparent exit of the room: a staircase going up that ended at a trapdoor. Erik walked up the stairs and stopped waiting for Selena. He didn't have to wait much, as she soon joined him. Erik then, after looking at Selena and receiving a 'go ahead' nod, opened the trapdoor to the inside just to reveal another trapdoor. But this one was different. It had a half-cylinder shape and was covered with some kind of cloth. If one decided to pay more attention, he would notice that the 'outside' of the first trapdoor was too covered with the same cloth material, just like all the space between the trapdoors. Erik put his hand on the second trapdoor and a 'click' sound was heard. Then he slowly pushed it, silently starting to open it. When the trapdoor was completely opened, Erik started to climb through it. Outside, he waited for Selena to exit the trapdoor too.

When she was out, they looked around and found themselves exactly where they should have been: in the middle of the Church's Vault. Behind them, with its lid opened, was the chest that they had brought in earlier. The chest had an altered space inside it that allowed magic transportation in and out only through its engraved magic circle. That was done to circumvent the wards of the place that prohibited any form of magic transportation in and out of the vault. The best of it was that if other than a Ravenclaw were to open the chest from the outside, it would only show a normal chest on the inside with a lot of books in it together with some fake wands. And just like that, the couple now had a hidden way in and out of the vault.

They looked at each other and smiled widely. It was time to pillage a vault.

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