chapter 51

After what felt like 4 hours of non-stop questions by Umbridge and Fudge, Harry was finally awarded the Tri-Wizard Championship Cup after Dumbledore had removed any enchantments upon the glowing blue Cup. Harry accepted the prize from his Headmaster with a skeptical look on his face as he looked over his shoulder to Heir Emrys. Asking her to check the trophy for any charms or enchantments as Harry's Head of House ring thrummed slightly at the proximity to the silver and blue Cup.

Freya looked slightly confused as to why Harry would ask her to double-check the trophy rather than Hope. The Immortal Viking Witch waved her hand in the Cup's direction as she stripped away Dumbledore's tracking charms and some other charm that apparently would've repelled Hope away from the Cup if she attempted to grab it. Freya had frowned slightly at that, but overall ignored it due to the charm not actually coming into effect since Harry had touched the Cup first.

Hope was massaging her forehead in annoyance at the ridiculous scene that the Ministry Officials and representatives from the attending schools were making as they called variations of cheating by the Hogwarts Champions. All four Champions had rolled their eyes at this.

Viktor had approached Hope when he got the opportunity and apologised for trying to kill her. Hope waved the Bulgarian gentleman off with a smile as she didn't blame him at all. He was Imperius'ed by Barty Crouch Junior who was currently being escorted by half a dozen Aurors to the Ministry of Magic to await his trial by Veritaserum. Viktor's Headmaster, Karkaroff was nowhere in sight which had Viktor look around in confusion as he wondered who would be looking after the Durmstrang students for the remaining week at Hogwarts.

Hope and Freya shared a glance as they grew more and more frustrated until Freya snapped first, banging her staff on the soft grass in front of her in anger, silencing the entire attendance.

"ENOUGH!" Freya called out with authority. "All students are to head to bed! It is ten minutes to midnight and you should all be in bed. Go now!"

Everyone under the age of 18 flinched slightly at the order but followed it nevertheless as the students either respected or feared Heir Emrys. Hope stayed with her Aunt for a few more moments before Freya gave her niece a meaningful glance that told the auburn haired girl that she was not exempt from this order.

Hope gave a soundless scoff as she currently did not have a mouth like everyone else before pivoting on her heel and heading to Daphne and wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist. Hope held her other hand out in Fleur's direction. The Veela's hand was almost in Hope's hand before the silvery haired girl turned to look at her parents for permission with a pleading expression in her metallic eyes. Sebastian and Apolline gave Fleur their approval either with their eyes or shooing her away with their hands. Fleur would've had a blinding smile on her face if Freya hadn't removed everyone's mouth as she clasped her hand into Hope's.

The Tribrid led her two lovers back to the Slytherin Dungeons. The students all regained the ability to talk once they entered the castle but with Heir Emrys' instruction firmly on their minds they kept moving to their dormitories, only stopping long enough to say their goodnights.

The girls exchanged kisses as Hope requested if she could sleep in the middle tonight as she wanted to be able to touch both of her lovers without needing to strain herself. Daphne hopped in first so she was closest to the wall. It was her normal side of the bed as Hope generally wanted to be closest to the door so she could protect her even though Hope's barrier spell makes it near impossible to enter the room.

As soon as Hope crawled under the covers Daphne immediately moved over so she was able to rest her head on Hope's soft chest right over the top of the Tribrid's steady heartbeat, curling her body comfortably into her lover's smaller frame. A pleasant sigh escaped Daphne's lips as she relaxed into Hope's warmth.

Silver hair came into Hope's vision as Fleur settled herself on Hope's right side, resting her hand on Daphne's arm as she caressed soft patterns into the Ice Witch's skin. Fleur pressed a gentle kiss on the corner of Hope's lips before lowering her head to rest on the Tribrid's shoulder. Hope moved her arms to cradle the girls closer to herself in an effort to calm herself after her stressful day.

Hope tensed up in her sleep as she tossed and turned frantically trying to remove herself from the overbearing weight holding her arms down. She managed to free her right arm with some considerable effort and turned her body so she could gain the leverage to pull her other arm out. Daphne had been flinching in her sleep as she dreamt of Hope without her humanity. Killing her friends and family from both worlds without remorse. The blonde witch gasped as she woke up from her nightmare and heard Hope whimper beside her. Daphne jerked her head in Hope's direction at the frightening sound to see that her soulmate was in the throes of a night terror.

Daphne felt as Hope was struggling to pull her arm out from underneath her and Daphne placed a hand on Hope's sweat-coated face cupping it softly. Daphne brushed her thumb softly over the wet skin applying her ice magic to cool off the overheated girl in the middle of the bed.

"Darling?" Daphne softly called not wishing to wake up the other occupant in the bed.

Hope flinched slightly at the touch on her face as she brokenly whimpered out. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Daphne's icy blue eyes expressed the sadness and grief that she was feeling at Hope's mournful cry in her sleep. The Ice Witch placed her forehead against her wife's. "Hope, baby. You're having a nightmare, please wake up."

Daphne murmured sweet words to Hope as the Tribrid eventually slowed her movements and opened her eyes, flashing gold in her fear as she tried to scan the room but was stopped by the reassuring hands on her face.

Hope's hands quickly moved to cover Daphne's as she stared at her soulmate's bright blue eyes.

"Darling I need you to breathe and match my breathing." Hope barely made out as she sucked in a greedy gulp of air at the reminder to breathe.

"Daph?" Hope managed to say through her jagged breathing through short breaths.

"That's it. Just breathe. I'm right here." The Greengrass Heiress muttered quietly as she moved her hand down to Hope's hip, slipping under her singlet, rubbing small circles against the bare skin there.

It took a few minutes for Hope's breathing to settle into something more rhythmic and a little longer for the amber eyes to dissipate. "Sorry for waking you Daph."

"It's alright. It's the least I can do considering you've done the same for me in the past. Although this is the first time you've ever dreamed about actually killing everyone yourself." Daphne muttered to which Hope flinched slightly.

"I forgot that you could see my dreams or nightmares." Hope sadly replied as her sea blue eyes looked downcast.

Daphne managed to free her other hand from where it was trapped underneath Hope's body and the bed as she threaded this hand through their bodies to grip Hope's chin gently as she angled the shorter girl's head to look Daphne in the eyes.

"It's not your fault Hope. Our emotions affect the soulbond in ways we still don't fully know and I'm not expecting you to be able to control your emotions in your sleep. It's impossible and to be honest, when you asked to be in the middle tonight I was expecting a nightmare. That Wampus Cat did a number on you."

Hope just nodded as she turned onto her back carefully making sure she didn't lay down on Fleur's long hair. The auburn haired girl was able to softly lift the Veela's head up and place her back onto her shoulder as she brushed her fingers through the silky silver hair. Fleur hummed in her sleep as she released a soft sigh.

Hope and Daphne remained awake curled into each other as they watched Fleur sleep peacefully after her Task. The Emrys couple mentally chatted to one another so they didn't disturb the sleeping woman.

The next morning was almost as bad as the day after the Quidditch World Cup as the Daily Prophet was delivered during breakfast. Whispers of rumours started nearly immediately as Hope and Fleur both leaned over to read the newspaper in front of Daphne since she was the only one who was subscribed to the Daily Prophet.

Hope releases a long suffering sigh. "Oh… Would you look at that? Harry and I are being slandered all over the paper. What a big surprise!" Hope sarcastically snorted at which the two blonde women exchanged duplicate eyerolls.

Daphne found the exert at the bottom of the page which showed the Wizards who had been murdered in cold blood by Hope: Goyle Snr, Mulciber Snr, Rosier Snr, Selwyn, Thorfinn Rowle and Peter Pettigrew.

"Hmmm… Isn't that interesting… I've killed 3 out of the 5, 4th year Slytherin boys fathers and then there is Lucius who is a known Death Eater. I think that Blaise is the only 4th year Slytherin boy who hasn't been on the wrong side of my wand." Hope noted with a curious expression.

"I think you are safe there Lady Emrys." An Italian voice sounded from a little further down the table as the aforementioned boy replied. "My father's been dead since I was 3 and my mother isn't interested in involving herself in politics."

"Fair enough." Hope replied evenly to the boy she's never interacted with whereas Nott, Crabbe and Goyle all fell off the bannister as pain shot through their bodies thanks to the Slytherin Wardstone activating.

Barely any of the Hogwarts students batted an eye at the mouthless Slytherin students as they have gotten used to Slytherins randomly falling to the ground in muted pain. Whereas this was one of the only times this year that a Sytherin has tested the Wardstone in public since the other schools have arrived.

The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were staring in shock and fear as the boys were flailing on the ground in pain, unable to make a sound. The older students looked over to Freya who was chatting amicably with the Ancient Runes Professor, not even paying any attention to the boys on the ground.

They turned to face Hope who just looked bored but noticed the stares. "The Slytherin Wardstone stops all forms of violence from the Slytherin students by inflicting pain to the attacker and sealing their mouth shut as in the past Slytherin students used to bully their classmates into submission, telling them to remain quiet or suffer through more pain."

"Isn't that a little overkill?" One of the girls from the French school mentioned with caution.

Hope shrugged. "Salazar asked me to stop the bullying in his House and to save the students who were being sexually assaulted by the older Slytherin students. So I did."

The students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons looked absolutely appalled by Hope's explanation while Dumbledore did what he could to save his school's reputation as he glared at Lady Emrys' back.

Snape sneered as he stood up to levitate the 3 boys to the Infirmary. As he passed Hope he gave her one of the most impressive stinkeyes Hope has ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Hope shrugged to herself as Snape's hatred of her was pretty low on her list of things to be bothered about. Especially when the Tribrid heard a loud gulp from the lovers and turned to question what had them worried. Their eyes were locked on the 3rd page of the paper.

Mass Breakout from Azkaban Prison

"Well crap… Does it say who escaped?" Hope asked as she tried to pull the paper towards herself so she could read the text attached to the article.

"Most of these are Death Eaters… All except one… I think you need to talk to your parents." Fleur informed Hope with a concerned look on her face.

"Your Death Eaters are Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Fenrir Greyback, Mulciber Jr, Rabastan and Rodulphus Lestrange as well as Bellatrix Lestrange." Daphne read aloud as she gave a small frown, looking over to Fleur with confusion on her face. "Who is Grigori Rasputin?"

"Rasputin?" Hope echoed. "Do you mean the guy who spearheaded the execution of the entire Russian royal family in the early 1920s. Except for the youngest daughter… I think her name was Anastasia? That Rasputin?"

Fleur looks completely floored as she observed Hope in thinly veiled curiosity. "Actually yes. How did you know that?"

"I learned it in History at my old school." Hope answered honestly with a small shrug. "Why does Rasputin's escape have you more worried than the Death Eaters?"

"It's said that he's immortal. He split his soul in half and hid it somewhere no one would ever find it as he made an eternal vow to kill all the Romanovs… Nicolas and Perenelle are the reason the last Romanov was still alive. They hid her away, gathering enough families to imprison Rasputin for the rest of his life, using the Dementors to trap him." Fleur replied quietly in French as she stared blankly ahead almost as if she was retelling a story she was told long ago.

"... Your family was one of the families Nic and Nelle got help from, weren't they? Why else would you know this information unless it was told to you so the Debt could be passed down your family, generation after generation." Hope questioned in French as well since the Veela seemed to think this conversation was important enough to switch languages.

Fleur could only give a tiny nod in response.

Hope made a displeased noise in the back of her throat.

Owls were still flapping around in the awnings as they were holding onto letters from their masters before they glided down in groups between 10-20, dropping their loads in front of Hope and flying away before either the Phoenix or Thunderbird familiars burned or shocked them with their elemental abilities. Hope looked at the large growing pile of letters in front of her and blinked.

Hope looked over to Daphne. "Wanna make a bet on how many letters are spelled with hexes or curses?"

Daphne glanced over to her soulmate with an unimpressed look on her face. "No. Because if the answer is anything other than 0 I will lose my shit and attack anyone who sent offensive mail to you."

Freya was suddenly standing at the end of the table as she regarded her niece. "Don't destroy them." Hope jumped at her aunt's order as she turned to face the dark blonde woman with a curious expression.

The ancient Viking Witch groaned as she explained her reasoning as she magically flicked through some of the mail, eviscerating any of the mail from the Dark Families that Freya has memorised. "As much as destroying the mail would be easy, we made a promise to cut correspondances with anyone who has sent booby trapped letters to us. Besides, some of them might be from other magical creatures, thanking you for donations now that they know you are a Werewolf."

Fleur tapped Hope's shoulder as she located a specific letter hidden within the masses. "You'll have to open that one. It's a challenge letter."

Hope looked confused as she turned to face Fleur. "I'm sorry? A what?"

"It's like a Wizengamot summons but for magical creatures. You have to answer it or suffer the repercussions that were mentioned in the letter after 24 hours of receiving the letter." Fleur told the auburn haired girl who scanned the black envelope for traps and picked it up.

Hope opened up the letter.

Hope Mikaelson.

You have been formally challenged to a fight to the death against your Alpha, Fenrir Greyback, on the 13th of June 1995 at 10pm sharp at the Stonehenge. If you do not show then I will claim your life as my own to do as I please as well as that blonde wife of yours.

This fight to the death can not include any magic or weapons. Only fists, fangs and claws are allowed. If you use your magic then the barrier around the arena will take your life for not following the rules of the challenge.

See you soon. Or not.

Alpha of the Werewolves, Fenrir Greyback.

Hope's eyes glowed at the threat the older wolf made against her wife. "I'm gonna kill him."

Fleur looked at Hope curiously while Daphne took the letter from Hope without any trouble and read it quickly.

"Wow… He sure didn't waste any time." Daphne mentioned as she extended her other hand to thread it through Hope's fingers, reminding the Tribrid that she was not alone.

Hope's eyes glanced down to Daphne's hand in fascination as her fingers trailed over the Greengrass ring and engagement ring as she gave a small hum.

The Tribrid looked up to see the terrified faces on the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students while the Gryffindors looked at Hope skeptically as their hands hovered over their wands.

Hope rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Do you want any help with that?" Hope asked her aunt.

Freya shook her head. "I've got the sorting. I'll pass the safe mail to you later to read and respond to."

"Thanks Auntie Freya." Hope muttered as she pressed a small kiss to her aunt's cheek before leaving the Great Hall with Fleur and Daphne following the Tribrid.

As Hope approached the Grand Staircase she pivoted on her heel causing the two blondes to stop suddenly at the movement as a stray thought crossed Hope's mind.

"You know something really strange? I don't think I've ever taken you on a date Fleur." Hope mentioned with a frown on her face.

At the auburn haired girl's words a frown appeared on Daphne's face as well when she realised that Hope was telling the truth. Neither of them have taken Fleur on an actual date. They aren't including the Yule Ball since Hope had taken Daphne as her partner.

"No… We haven't." Daphne admitted slowly as regret coated her words as she turned to Fleur who looked surprised at the admission glancing at both girls with a hopeful look on her face.

"My sweet, beautiful Fleur. Would you allow us the honour of taking you on a date today?" Hope questions as she gives a confident but beautiful smile that makes Fleur's heart melt.

Fleur nodded her head absently for a few seconds before seeing the cheeky smiles on the blonde and auburn girl's faces as they tried to hide their amusement at Fleur's ridiculously happy grin as she hasn't even blinked yet.

The Veela blushed as she lightly shook her head. "Uh, sorry. Yes. I would love to go on a date with both of you." Another smile graced Fleur's face as she agreed to Hope's request.

Hope chuckled slightly as she brushed a thumb along Fleur's jaw and pressed a quick kiss against the French girl's lips. "You're cute."

Thankfully for the girls it was a Saturday so they didn't need to worry about any classes for the day. Hope did write a quick note to Freya and her parents explaining that they were leaving the school for a date. Daphne sent another note to Professor Flitwick informing him that they would be taking today off from their Duelling activities, knowing that the Professor wouldn't mind since they always show up for classes even when he was busy officiating Duels with Heir Emrys.

Hope had managed to persuade Myrddin to flame travel them out of the school but the Phoenix only agreed if Hope would visit one of the properties belonging to the Emrys family as he wanted to see what artefacts lie within. Hope's brow furrowed at the ultimatum the midnight Phoenix offered but as she thought more about it, the more appealing it sounded. Both Fleur and Daphne would be intrigued by being one of the first people to enter a lost castle from the Middle Ages. Being present for when Hope brings a piece of history back to life.

Lady Emrys agreed, asking if Myrddin could drop them off in Wales as Hope believed that a majority of Arthurian History was based in Wales and theoretically should hold the most memorabilia.

Alexandria appeared in a crack of lightning as she landed on Hope's left shoulder with a small flutter as she regained her balance. Her excitement was pliable as she bounced around happily with small whistles.

"What's got her so excited?" Daphne asked with a smile as she laughed jovially.

Hope gave a little smirk as she patted the young fledgling. "We're going to visit one of the Emrys properties."

Daphne's eyes widened as did Fleur's. "Wait. What? But you haven't even visited one of these properties before. Why now?"

"Myrddin convinced me that I really should be activating at least one of the Emrys properties Wardstones so that it looks like I actually have a home rather than living with my parents who are a Most Ancient and Noble House from the French Wizengamot rather than one from the British Wizengamot. On the other hand, I can think of multiple things to do in Wales for our date other than looking at an old castle from over a thousand years ago." Hope answered as Myrddin shuffled the other two girls closer to Hope.

Daphne placed her hand on Hope's left bicep as she cooed at the golden bird above her hand. Hope held out her hand in Fleur's direction and smiled at the beautiful girl. As soon as Fleur made contact with Hope's hand Myrddin engulfed them in flames as he fire travelled the small group to a cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a large landmass in the distance that Hope assumed was Ireland if her Geography was correct since a majority of Wales borders the Irish Sea.

Hope gingerly released Fleur's hand as she looked over to her right with large eyes as she took in the massive castle which was over 50 feet tall and longer than the Buckingham Palace.

"Whoa! That is a lot bigger than I was expecting." Hope mutters to herself as her eyes trailed up the expanse of the building.

Daphne blinked in astonishment as she turned her head away from the beautiful landscape to see what captured her wife's attention. "Well… I can definitely say that your ancestors certainly didn't do things half-assed."

Hope gave a hum of agreement as Fleur turned to face the two starstruck girls with a curious expression on her face as she looked in the direction her lovers were staring in and frowned slightly. "What are you both talking about?"

Hope and Daphne turned to Fleur with confusion on their faces until Hope came to a swift realisation. "Oh. Right. Family Magic. Daph can see the castle because she's Consort Emrys. Give me a sec. I think this will work."

Hope pressed a palm against the magical barrier surrounding the castle as the magic scanned the Tribrid and the ring on her right index finger glowed a bright blue as a flash of power flared out from the ring.

The castle hummed with life as it shifted on its foundations as it shifted into something more akin to Hope's old home in New Orleans. The structure altered its materials to bricks and concrete rather than large stone bricks making the castle look a little more modern. The ward around the large Abattoir pulsed, sending a small but powerful shockwave in every direction as the ancient magical house reinserted itself back into society.

Hope sensed a magical being appear behind them and summoned a fireball to her hand as she turned to see a creature with pointed ears in a low bow in Hope's direction. The Tribrid held the ball of magic fire in her hand cautiously while Fleur also summoned her own silver Veelafyre into existence at the possible threat. The air became chilly as Daphne created an iced rapier as she held it loosely at her side.

"Lady Emrys." A raspy but elegant voice sounded from in front of the three girls but echoed from around them causing Hope to scan the area with her enhanced eyes.

The shimmers of light moved gently as the creature in front of the three girls spoke again. "It is a pleasure to meet the newest generation of Emrys witches to this sacred site." The dozen or so shimmers reacted as Hope could hear more voices surrounding her, indicating that there were more of these creatures around her.

"Reveal yourselves!" Hope called out as she subtly flared her magic in time with a pulse from the Emrys Castle, creating a small and unintentional show of power.

The creature looked up revealing a sharp angular face with angelic features. Hope was finally able to distinguish the gender of this being as a male as she watched his Adam's apple bob slightly as he signalled for the other creatures to reveal themselves. More similar creatures appeared around the group of girls with a subtle show of magic that outclassed most wizards and witches Disillusionment charms.

Hope took another long look at these creatures as they stood still with their hands placed in front of them as if they were awaiting orders. Their eyes were the brightest shades of colours ranging from blues, greens, greys, browns and even a few purple and amber eyes stared back at her. They were all another foot or two taller than her, standing at roughly 7 feet tall with long braided hair falling halfway down their backs, allowing them to showcase their pointed ears.

The Tribrid looked around as the fireball dissipated slowly out of existence as she put the pieces together with a furrowed brow. "Are you… the Emrys Elves?"

Daphne and Fleur turned to face Hope with incredulous expressions before taking another look at the large Elvish people and withdrawing their own magic as the original male Elf gave a small nod in Hope's direction.

"Yes. We have been lying dormant for over 750 years until a member of the House of Emrys could awaken us from our slumber." He replied.

Hope felt somewhat uneasy around the Elves as she felt a powerful magic surrounding them. The auburn haired girl moved forward until she was only a few metres away from the Elvish male as she held a hand out to perform a silent diagnostic charm on the Elf. Hope's hand shot back in disgust as she felt a joint bondage and enslavement curse on the Elves that made them absolutely subservient to their masters. In this case the Emrys family.

"Oh my God! What the actual fuck?!" Hope blurted to herself as Myrddin gave a sad trill at the information he had learned through his bond with Hope.

"What's wrong?" Daphne asked while Fleur stared at Hope with wide eyes at the impressive language coming from the auburn haired girl as Lady Emrys paced angrily in front of the Elves.

Hope had a horrified look on her as she answered her wife's question with a disturbed tone. "There is an enslavement curse placed on them. Forcing them to be entirely submissive to their masters and their life belongs to the family that cursed them. I.e. me and anyone in the Emrys family. My ancestors in this universe enslaved an entire species to follow their rule… I need to make this right. In my opinion this curse is like 10 times worse than the Imperius Curse and my family used it."

The shame on Hope's face was completely genuine as she looked at the Elves in regret. "I swear that I will do everything in my power to free you from this sorrowful life. I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

"I need to talk to Aunt Freya. She knows more spells than me. Maybe she might already know a spell to free them from this unjust bondage." Hope muttered to herself.

"Hope… Please tell me that you know this isn't your fault. This isn't even your universe. You don't need that kind of pressure on your shoulders. Taking on the responsibilities of two worlds. It's not on you." Daphne tried to reason with the guilt-ridden Tribrid.

"But they are bonded to me without their consent and without the ability to even voice their opinion on the matter. They shouldn't have to live like this."

Fleur pursed her lips as she regretfully spoke her next words. "You know that there is probably some book or talisman within the castle that would allow you to break the curse? It's what other Houses of power have done in the past. Hiding their most valuable secrets within the walls of their home so that no one other than family can enter and learn their family secrets. It's where the idea for family magic came from."

Hope gave a small sigh as she hung her head. "Alright. I'll head inside and find the Wardstone so I can let you in and we can have a look around. If the counter-curse exists I'll release these guys from their forced servitude then we can continue on with our date."

Daphne waited outside with Fleur so she wouldn't be left alone on a cliffside. Myrddin and Alexandria were able to pass through the ward without any troubles since the Phoenix is bonded to the family house while the golden bird was Hope's familiar.

The Thunderbird remained perched on Hope's left shoulder as she chirped reassuring whistles in an attempt to cheer up the upset Tribrid. Myrddin on the other hand flew ahead and turned his head to look into the rooms with an appraising eye before making a quick fly to the next doorway while keeping relatively close to Hope as she made her way to the centre of the castle.

Hope didn't pay any attention to the rooms as she passed the doorways. Only having a one track mind currently to free the Elves and to locate the Wardstone. As Hope entered a courtyard that was eerily similar to the Abattoir except for the fact that there were 6 levels rather than the 2 back in New Orleans, she made her way to the fountain which was spitting out a lovely dome of water as it lands in the basin below.

Hope walked over to the fountain with narrowed eyes as she was certain that this water feature was at the centre of the castle. Lady Emrys looked around the fountain and even in the water to see where the Wardstone was hiding but as she placed a hand against the edge of the marble the top of the water spout rose into the air still somehow shooting out water as a deep sea-blue crystal revealed itself.

Hope had attempted to summon the stone to her so she wouldn't get wet but the crystal didn't move an inch. The Tribrid frowned as she wondered why she wasn't able to affect the Wardstone. The part Werewolf stalked around the edges of the fountain as she tried to figure out what was stopping her from using magic and watched as Myrddin landed on the marble and edged forward slowly before a flash of magic forced the bird back with an undignified squawk as he regained his balance giving a uncertain look on his small face.

On her third or fourth rotation around the fountain she noticed some near invisible etchings on the inside of the marble which was lined up perfectly with the water level as to distort the runes.

"What the–?" Hope broke off as she looked over to the Phoenix as if asking for help.

Myrddin hopped along the marble as he wished to get a closer look.

"How do you remove the runes to a runic barrier when at the very least no magical creatures can enter?" Hope asked herself more than anything as she began to circle the decent sized fountain with a thoughtful expression on her face, grazing her fingers along the solid barrier keeping her out.

Something on the edge of Hope's vision captured Tribrid's attention as she moved to the outer edges of the courtyard, approaching a triangular pattern on the ground. There were three dark coloured triangles connecting by their corners to the other two and creating a light coloured upside down triangle in the middle. The upside down triangle had nothing of significance inside but the three dark ones each held a different type of mount for a specific item.

The triangle to the top was a well of small stones stacked up perfectly to allow a rod-like item to slide into the structure without any room for the rod to tip, holding the pole securely in place. In the bottom-left triangle there was a small stone in a trapeze shape in the middle of this dark triangle with a slit that was wide enough to slide a straw through and was about 2 inches long. The last triangle in the bottom-right had a small pillar which was about waist height with a metal holding structure in the middle.

Hope observed these stands for a few moments as she wondered what they were there for and what could be placed into the holding structures. Hope's right hand subconsciously rose above her head as her hand curled around the handle of the legendary sword. The blade hummed as it left its scabbard but continued to hum the closer she got to the bottom-left triangle.

The auburn haired girl turned to face Myrddin for a moment as she mentally gave her theory that Excalibur most likely would fit into that opening and Hirdman, the Staff of Merlin would probably go into the top triangle with the well of stones. Hope and Myrddin spent the next few minutes questioning what would go into the last triangle and what would happen if they only placed one of the items that previously belonged to Merlin into one of these pedestals.

'If you shove that sword into that dais I'm not saving your ass if it kills you.' Myrddin stated with the rise of his feathered eyebrow.

Hope tilted her head to the ageless Phoenix as she shook her head with a severely unimpressed look on her face. "Thanks Myrddin. I appreciate the vote of confidence."

'Not my fault that you want to mess with a building that you know nothing about. Aren't you the one who is normally more superstitious of screwing with things that shouldn't be touched?' Myrddin countered.

Hope sighed loudly. "Yeah, yeah. But we don't know what goes into the last triangle and trying to think of every item Merlin used in the past is giving me a headache. I just want to free the Elves and go on my date with a clear conscience. You're the one who bargained with me to visit one of the Emrys properties!"

The midnight Phoenix let out an affronted noise as he flew over to Hope and batted her over the head with a wing after he landed on her right shoulder. 'You need to take on more responsibility as Lady Emrys and you damn well know it! Freya's been taking the brunt of the workload onto herself! It's time you pulled your own weight!'

Hope glared at the black bird in the corner of her eye as she twirled the sword off-handedly. "Hmmm… Well I would love to do that. Except for the fact that I need to figure out how this bloody building works before I set off a booby trap that randomly kills me or someone that I invited into this castle. And I won't figure that out until I get to that damn Wardstone!"

Hope struck Excalibur into the stand as the metal of the blade scraped along the stone walls as it thrummed with power the further down the sword went. When Excalibur's hilt was about an inch off the ground the sword locked into place with a loud metallic ring.

The water from the fountain stopped spraying out water from its sprout and there was movement from within the fountain as a mechanical claw rose from the base of the water feature to grip the Wardstone. The claw dragged the stone down and out of sight making the Tribrid uneasy as she didn't know what was happening.

After a few moments the edges of the light triangle glowed and the stone lowered down slightly into the ground as it split into another triple triangle, sliding away underneath the floor. The mechanical arm rose up from the ground holding the Wardstone and Hope released a shaky breath at its appearance, thankful that it didn't disappear.

The claw faced towards Hope as it extended itself until it was hovering over the dark grey triangle Hope was standing in and lowered its claw ready to release the stone into the awaiting hands of the Tribrid.

Hope held the deep blue stone in her hand as she closed her eyes, wishing to sense the magic within the Wardstone before making any changes. The newest descendant of Merlin was thankful to learn that this Wardstone wasn't desecrated like the Slytherin Wardstone but she did learn that the curse on the Elves was actually tied to the Wardstone.

When Hope placed a finger along the rune that held the curse she was shocked into a memory of an elderly man promising to protect these Elves with his life and that his descendants will also keep them safe. These older and more human looking Elves required to be placed under this runic array to keep them alive.

Hope came back with a gasp as she groaned in frustration. "For fuck sake. Why can't anything be easy?"

If Hope released them, they would die as the Legendary House Emrys is the only House that held a vast amount of magical artefacts to keep the Elves alive indefinitely even if the House was to go dormant. She doesn't think that Merlin was aware that there wouldn't be enough magic to actually keep them healthy rather than in the slightly desiccated state they are currently in. Like they have only just woken from a centuries long nap.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with these Elves?" Hope turned to look at Myrddin. "Do you think that if I order them to live their own lives that they will?"

The black bird shrugged as this was out of his wheelhouse. These Elves were possibly older than him and even more rare than a Phoenix as they need to be bonded to a powerful witch or wizard to survive.

Hope placed the names of her lovers, family members, friends and Daphne's family into the Wardstone's directory. Allowing these people to enter the castle as they had Lady Emrys' permission. Hope had also added in a couple of extra names such as Sirius, Amelia, Auror Tonks, Regent Longbottom, Mr Lovegood, Professors Babbling and Flitwick and King Ragnok.

Hope held the Wardstone underneath the claw and the arm retrieved the stone and snaked back down into the ground to replace the Warstone back into its original place. There was a loud ring that went through the air and the water from the fountain started to spew water again and the top of the spout lowered to hide the Wardstone from sight once again.

Excalibur was ejected slightly from the stone pedestal on the ground and Hope reached down to slide the weapon the rest of the way out of the keystone.

Hope pursed her lips slightly as she looked over to Myrddin.

'Don't you dare say 'I told you so' or so help me, I will set you on fire and leave you alight until your aunt pleads on your behalf of your stupidity to put you out!' Myrddin threatens the Tribrid with a cold glare. 'You didn't have a clue what you were doing so wipe that smirk off your face!'

"Why are you so mean to me?" Hope cried out in faux anger.

Myrddin rolled his eyes at Hope's theatrics as he stretched his wings wide and took off further into the castle.

"That's rude Myrddin!" Hope called out with a laugh while Myrddin huffed in exasperation through their link.

Hope made her way out of the castle only taking a few moments to look into some of the rooms. There were a lot of study rooms and bedrooms along the corridor she took to get back to Daphne and Fleur. The youngest Mikaelson wondered what else could possibly be in the castle other than those two rooms. She expected at least one library somewhere and an artefact room as well but other than that Hope suspects that most of the rooms will be bedrooms.

Daphne's head turned to face Hope the second she emerged from the entryway and smiled at her wife. Hope instantly returned the smile as she leaned against the brick archway, happily watching as the two blondes chatted and flirted as Fleur's hand brushed some of Daphne's hair behind her ear.

Fleur eventually realised that Daphne kept glancing past her and turned around to see Hope with a relaxed smile on her face that only really appeared when she was with Daphne, herself, the Flamels and her aunt. Which was a shame because when Hope smiled like this it was absolutely beautiful and contagious as it made the people around her smile at the young girl's happiness.

"So how did it go?" Fleur asked softly.

Hope raised her hand and motioned the Veela forward with 'come hither' motion. Fleur's feet moved of their own accord as she walked towards the alluring auburn haired girl, stepping across the threshold without a thought as she stood in front of Hope for a second before leaning down to kiss the other girl.

Hope happily returned the kiss as she felt Daphne approach even with her eyes closed. The Tribrid broke the kiss and pressed her finger against Fleur's lips. "As much as I'd like to continue this. I do believe that we should at least have the date before falling into one of the many bedrooms in this abnormally large castle that is much too large for just one family."

Daphne was the one to respond as a cheeky grin stretched across her face before it turned scandalous at the thought she had. "Well then… We should probably get started in christening each and every bedroom in this castle before Freya catches us."

Hope's eyes widened. "Even with our sex drive I don't think that we'll have the time to get through every bedroom before the end of the school year, especially considering that school ends in two days and Fleur heads home tomorrow."

Daphne blinked as she wasn't expecting that reply and by the expression on Fleur's face, she wasn't expecting that answer either. "Wow… That's a lot of rooms."

Hope nodded as she bit her bottom lip. "I've only been down one corridor and there were either 7 or 8 bedrooms. One… Just one corridor. There are 8 levels… Actually there's at least 8 levels going up. I'm not sure about down yet."

"Please tell me that we are not going to be exploring this castle for our date? I mean we can but wouldn't that be a bit boring if we aren't having sex during our date." Fleur blurted out with a low groan.

Hope laughed slightly at Fleur's half-hearted complaint. "God no! I mean we can go locate the artefact room or just go to the courtyard for a bit and chat there. Otherwise I'm more than happy to continue our date in the Snowdonia National Park. There's a few hiking trails that I'd like to take you both on. The sites are absolutely breathtaking and I'd also love to let our animal side loose for a bit. Stretch our legs… and wings."

Fleur and Daphne turned to face the castle for a moment before turning back to Hope. "Park." They replied simultaneously.

Hope bobbed her head in agreement. "Fair enough." Hope turned to the Elves as she called out. "I, Hope Mikaelson, as named Lady Emrys, descendant of Myrddin Emrys, do so declare that the Elves placed under the rune of servitude are free to make their own choices and live their lives to their fullest potential while being under the protection laid out by Myrddin Emrys."

The Elves looked up in surprise at the freedom the newest Head of House Emrys allowed them and bowed their heads gratefully before soundlessly teleporting away.

"Remind me not to get on their bad side." Fleur mentioned with a small frown as the Elves disappeared with such ease, similar to what she has seen Hope do in the past.

Hope was also concerned about the Elves as she could hardly feel when they used their magic and she couldn't sense them any longer. Hope made a quick hum of agreement before finally moving off the archway and pulling the two blondes away from the massive castle with a flash of magic as Hope apparated them away.

Hope had placed them at the bottom of a trail that leads up to the top of a summit. Hope gave a small smile as she pressed a kiss to the two stunning women before starting her accent. Daphne and Fleur looked around at the new surroundings as they weren't completely ready for the sudden apparation Hope made. They noticed the large tourist sign to their right announcing that they were at Snowdon Peak located within the Snowdonia National Park.

The two blonde girls noticed that Hope hadn't stopped for them but had taken to humming a song to herself as she swung her arms as if there was nothing weighing her down. Fleur and Daphne smiled at the rare sight as they began walking quickly to catch up to the energetic Tribrid.

The triad of lovers shared occasional touches as they made their way up the mountain, their smiles never leaving their faces as they exchanged little stories about their lives and families. Hope told them about her other aunts, Rebekah with her nurturing nature and large heart, Davina who like Hope had the weight of the world crash on her shoulders at the age of 15, who hated her father but would do just about anything for her Uncle Kol.

The youngest Mikaelson also laughed her way through some of her tales about her Uncle Kol as he had a tendency to teach her little tricks that would ultimately get her in trouble with her mum who got exasperated at the youngest brother's jokes and pranks as she threatened more than once to keep him away from Hope. But it was impossible to do since Hope had gained a bad habit of astral projecting to visit her uncle, even if she couldn't use magic while in astral form.

Most of Hope's stories with her uncle/brother Marcel usually included Rebekah once they rekindled their relationship after The Hollow. Marcel would normally bring gifts from her aunt since the pair was unable to be in the same city, much less the same state, without unleashing a plague upon the world. But Marcel was able to cheer her up with his endearing charm and wit, being one of the only people to get the young girl to smile when there wasn't a whole lot for the lonely Mikaelson to smile about.

Daphne shared some stories that mainly featured her little sister, especially in the last couple of years. Now that Astoria has been cured of the Greengrass' Blood Curse, Marcus and Annabeth have been making the time to take their youngest daughter on trips around the world during her summer holidays. Daphne and Hope also featured in some of these events as Hope would join the Greengrass' occasionally with their permission as she wanted to spend time with her future in-laws.

The days Hope joined the small family on their vacation Astoria would trail along with Hope and Daphne as the youngest Greengrass would talk about anything and everything to Hope. The auburn haired girl listened to the brunette witch as Daphne added in her side of the story when her little sister skipped over something in an attempt to draw out a laugh from the Tribrid.

Sometimes Nic and Nelle would join them as well and the two older couples would just watch the kids with a gleam of unbridled joy in their eyes.

The French girl offered some insight into being the granddaughter of the Wing Leader to the Veelas. The expectations she was to achieve at a bare minimum to keep her grandmother and mother satisfied with her progress to possibly inheriting the mantle of Wing Leader. Although if Fleur's performance during the 2nd Task was any indicator of Fleur's potential to become the next leader of the Veelas, then the silver Veelafyre certainly proved without a doubt that Fleur certainly had the capability to lead her people.

Another thing the silver eyed woman told her lovers, well mainly Hope with a tiny smirk in the corner of her lips, was Gabrielle's crush on Hope. The Tribrid had opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to articulate a response but couldn't find the right words to say and just shook her head slightly as Daphne and Fleur laughed at Hope's blush.

It was almost 3 hours after they started their trek up the mountain when they reached the summit. Hope conjured a blanket and placed it on the ground overlooking Llyn Llydaw, the sun shining brightly along the calm water, shimmering in the distance.

Hope also summoned a picnic basket that she had Mixy put together for her as the Tribrid communicated to her Aunt through the Familiar bond that connect them to Myrddin and Freya managed to pull Nic away from his Alchemy long enough for the dark haired man to call his House-Elf on behalf of his daughter to put together some food for a picnic.

The girls had a wonderful lunch at the top of Snowdon Peak as they rested their legs for a while. Hope summoned some of her art supplies from the Flamel Cottage as she wasn't sure if the Hogwarts Wards would allow her to summon things from within its boundary and she didn't want to bother Myrddin again until they had to return back to the school.

Alexandria had left halfway through their trek as the girls were moving too slow for her so she joined the older Phoenix in the skies above Wales. The birds watched over the throuple throughout their date, keeping them safe from any unseen dangers. Hope probably had the ability to sense when someone used magic around her but they still wanted to keep these three women safe, even if they are some of the most powerful witches in this generation.

Daphne rolled her eyes as she watched Hope set herself up to start drawing. "Seriously?"

Hope looked up from her sketchpad and nodded. "As a heart attack. I want a painting of our first date and I can create a moving painting more easily if I can see the landscape around me."

A smirk appeared on Daphne's face as Hope lost the smile on hers as she asked. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"I want you to draw… But if you start drawing then you can't join us until you finish." Daphne looked down as she saw Hope's pencil on the paper. "And since you touched the pad that means you can't join until you have a moving painting."

Hope tilted her head to the side in confusion as she wondered why Daphne was smirking but she shook her head and started tracing some lines for the landscape but slowed down when she saw Daphne crawl over to Fleur.

Fleur licked her lips as she watched the blonde witch approach her on all fours until the Ice Witch softly pushed at Fleur's shoulder requesting the older witch to lie down on her back which the Veela happily obliged as Daphne hovered over her.

"Hope, I don't hear pencil moving across paper." The blonde witch called out as she leaned down to kiss Fleur.

The youngest Mikaelson watched her two lovers make out in front of her and she whimpered as she finally realised what her wife was indicating when she smirked at her earlier. "You're evil."

Daphne lowered herself completely on top of Fleur, bracketing the Veela in her arms as she moved her body against Fleur's, arousing the woman underneath her.

"Draw." Daphne prompted quietly as she returned to kissing Fleur as the Veela's hands cupped Daphne's face, angling the blonde woman's face so she could deepen the kiss.